SOME CONTRADICTIONS AND TRUTHS ABOUT THE LIVES AND HEARTS OF MEN, AND SOME THOUGHTS ON THE WORDS OF GOD
(NOTE: ALL THOUGHTS IN THIS PAGE ARE MINE, THOSE GOD BLESSED ME WITH. BUT, THERE ARE SOME IN HERE (VERY FEW) WHICH ARE CHANGED THOUGHTS AND TRUTHS FROM OTHER AUTHORS WHICH TOUCHED ME DEEPLY. I HAVE CHANGED THESE (VERY FEW) TO BEST TELL WHAT WAS GOING ON IN MY OWN HEART. IN THE END, WHAT WILL COUNT IS THE TRUTH AND NOT THE PERSON WHO WROTE IT. TRUTH WILL REMAIN WHILE ALL AUTHORS WILL SOON BE GONE FROM THE EARTH. BUT, TILL THEN, "WE SPEAK WISDOM AMONG THOSE WHO ARE PERFECT; YET, NOT THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD, NOR OF THE RULERS OF THIS WORLD, THAT COME TO NOTHING...", 1Cor.2:6.
Every one believes, one way or another, that God controls things or, at least, nurtures some secret hope that He is indeed in control of everything. So, if something goes wrong or different from what is expected, the tendency to doubt and the temptation to question is huge. When in right standing with God, tribulations and persecutions are great trials for all those who truly believe that God controls all things. They are true tests to trust, and the sort of faith that survives such tests is, indeed, genuine faith.
"...If you do good and are not afraid (startled) with any terror", 1Pet.3:6. To fear no terror means not being afraid of the consequences of any of our actions because it is God who justifies. But, whoever is not transformed to the point of "doing good", has many reasons to fear any surprising terror - especially from God.
Faith has its rewards. It has its challenges and its rewards. It is not always that faith gives what is expected and it does not always give only what is expected. Usually, it grants above what we ask. Many don't even receive what they ask. The man who was helped through the roof to reach Jesus was rewarded. At first, he was not given physical healing and Jesus rather granted him the forgiveness of his sins because he and his helpers had believed Jesus was able to heal. Such faith should be rewarded with something greater than physical healing. I believe that his physical healing was attributed to him because of the dispute against the truth about Jesus' power to forgive sins as a fact, especially because that fact had been disputed by believing unbelievers. His faith was able to make righteous and whole in forgiveness. "By faith Noah, being warned (...) prepared an ark (...) and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith", Heb.11:7. That is, Noah received justice (righteousness), which means the ability to be right with God who sees everything as it is. God does not pretend to see something different from what He sees. He sees things as they are. It means, Noah was indeed righteous. The reward was to be righteous from a certain point on.
Scripture states that we find God by seeking him with our whole heart. However, there is a great difficulty in finding Him and we see many people crying out and lots of prayers being made in that direction. Yet, everything remains the same. Wherein, then, resides the difficulty of finding Him? Wherein lies that difficulty? It is certainly not ascribed to the distance. He's very close and there is no problem to his ear. He listens very well. He does not see us? There is nothing hidden from him - not even in the deepest darkness. So, what is it that makes it so difficult to find Him in a real manner? Many lie when they say that they have found God. We're talking about truly finding Him, it is, in a real way. The difficulty resides in people's sins. Some seek Him with no intention to abandon their sins and without desiring to find a permanent solution for them and that once and for all. Others seek to be blessed by keeping their sins. If someone truly seeks Him for the right reasons and with full intention of abandoning all his own sins, he shall surely find Him! (Is.59:1,2).
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord shall man live”, Dt.8:3. This means that it doesn't matter what sort of word it is, but by whom it is spoken. A good word from the devil or from men does not make alive and a strong or undesired word from God does not kill. Man shall live by any kind of word spoken by God.
Why does religion accuse truthful ones to be false? For the same reason why blind people accuse other people to be blind.
"Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe", Dt.8:1. It is good to see the reason why we need to keep the commandments of God in our hearts: it is to be able to do them. We do not learn the commandments to be able to hammer them into people's heads and conducts. These commands should be preserved in the heart. However, they must be preserved within the soul to be met and accomplished faithfully. Save all commandments to the heart, but remember that to remember them all the time is not walking according to them yet - even though remembering them is a great help. Many are content to have the commandments saved in the heart and to be reminded of them constantly. That is how many only condemn themselves. We should not take to heart only, defend and fight for the commandments and our doctrines (if those come from God and truth) in order never to forget about them. They must be stored in the heart to be kept as well. We should not be content by knowing them - even if we know them all.
Paul says: "Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway", 1Cor.9:27. If this could happen to Paul, it can happen to any of us. Having these words in mind, we may assume that there is a huge possibility for any person to enter the world of wisdom and become so involved in it that he overlooks the fact of having to live according to what he knows, interceding relentlessly to find the necessary grace to be able to ensure his own conduct. Let us remember that to stop preaching to others because we do not live according to what we preach or teach is morally correct and honest. However, to stop preaching does not prevent our own condemnation because to stop teaching others does not transform us to the point of obtaining the necessary heavenly conduct. Usually, the problem is not in the word we preach, but in the preacher himself. Paul preached the truth. However, he had in mind that even preaching the truth, he could be disqualified and see the clouds filled with blessing being blown away without having dropped their blessings because he had not been able to live what he preached. Our preaching should be an exposition of our personal experience and not the result of learning, general knowledge or study.
Many parents say: "Today's children no longer respect their elders". It seems they assume that rebellious attitudes are caused by the times we live in and not by the homes we live in. If these times caught up with your children, it might be because it caught up with you as well. Parents should think that children are what they have learned and have become what surrounds them at home. If they love us as parents, they shall also love what we are and shall become much like us. The Germans say that an orange never falls too far away from its tree. The adults of today no longer teach children according to standards of respect, fear and love. They themselves do not respect children who are told to respect them; adults are not moved by the needs of the elderly; do not comply with the laws of society; etc. Today, it is believed that the child will learn on its own and the world assaults our homes with filth and endless evils. Children left to themselves do not have the experience and knowledge to choose and to know what to reject and what they should not learn. It is up to adults to have that wisdom for them, choosing correctly for the child with love, kindness and good expositions of truth about it. Remember that your child is your neighbour - your nearest neighbour.
Hypocrisy might be defined in many ways. However, malice can not be mistaken with hypocrisy. Many do not realize or, perhaps, choose to not realize that they have become hypocrites before God. Hypocrisy in the eyes of God is to come to Him with a subject different from what matters to bring to God at our approach to Him. If life goes wrong to someone because of his sins and he comes to God to solve the problems instead of solving his dreadful sins, he is hypocritical even if he does not know or does not admit that the cause of his problems are his own sins. If anyone cries tears before Him, but does not fix his living, does not change his bad attitudes at home, doesn't discipline his life, house or household, never returned what he stole, does not ask for forgiveness for the lies he committed in word or deed, it is obvious that it will be considered a hypocrite before the altar even if his tears and feelings are deeply felt. Deep feeling does not define sincerity or hypocrisy before God. Feeling has nothing to do with sincerity. Feeling go hand in hand with expression and with being expressive.
"Now, the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart", 1Tim.1:5. Many seek to love and be turned into loving persons in order to be blessed, seen or even rewarded. Some even seek to love in order to be loved. For them, the end of the commandment is not love, that is, that one can be enabled to love anyone through a clean heart without any secondary motives. For such, 'love' is the vehicle or the means to achieve what they want when, in fact, all things must and can contribute to achieve a true heart-love as the end of everything. The purpose of every thing we have or possess is to achieve this purpose: love out of a pure heart.
We all know that the opposite of love is sin and that sin amounts to selfishness. The opposite of the law of love is selfishness. Hatred is just another form of emotional selfishness. The opposite of love is much more than simple hatred or lack of sentimental love, for every form of selfishness breaks the law of love. Carnal love breaks the law of love. However, there is a fact beyond dispute: when we want things that are excellent and heavenly, we desire them for ourselves - although we wish the same for others as well. Therefore, we conclude that people may desire after excellent and heavenly things for themselves without breaking the law of love because it brings glory to the Lord. We are even told that "whosoever hath this hope purifies himself as He is pure", 1John 3:3. This means doing everything to be pure longing for precious things. This is pure obedience through a changed heart.
It is not necessary to teach wrong things to have error propagate itself and to disseminate its seeds all around. The only thing it takes is not to teach the right things the proper way by living out with the proper attitude. Many talk about truth as if it is a lie. The only thing that is needed to have the law of God condemn us is to neglect the proper teaching about how to be able to keep God's commandments - and that includes living as an example.
"He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward", Mat.10::41. If this is true, then, if one receives a righteous man as an hypocrite, one shall surely receive an hypocrite's reward; and by receiving a truthful man as a liar, one shall receive a liar's reward because one has a liar's heart. Only a liar's heart can be opposed to a truthful man and shall surely receive its corresponding reward.
"But, those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man", Mat.15:18. This fact raises many questions and issues. Imagine that nothing comes out of the mouth for some reason when the heart is evil. This is possible to happen. It doesn't make man good. If a person doesn't say a word by resisting the impulses of the evil heart, he might want to do what is right. But, it doesn't change his heart and only avoids transgressing. But it can happen, too, that the person be silent by malice, wishing to bring about a greater evil. In this case, the silence defiles man and that kind of silence is also transgression.
"Voice of one crying in the wilderness (...) make His paths straight", Mat.3:3. We see a few remarkable things in this verse. First, it is a voice in the wilderness. This means a lot. It means that John spoke alone or at least started off in loneliness. Truth was a desert and no one lived there; only the fields of sin and lies flourished. The lands of lies were not deserted. Secondly, there were many things to straighten out. These things should be straight before the arrival of Christ and His appearing to the people. This voice was meant to have people preparing (repairing) the way of the Lord for His coming. Finally, there were evil paths that shouldn't be straightened, but destroyed - only the ways of God should be straightened, repaired and prepared, just as Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord. This means much more than it seems. The paths, the doctrines, the means, mechanisms, motives, aims and many other things were twisted and bent. The Devil's ways were to be simply destroyed and discarded and the ways of the Lord straightened. Can you understand these things?
"Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart", Mat.11:29. Learning has a certain relation with wanting to learn because learning is laborious - it is works. However, there are things in teachers that can disturb learners. A professor full himself often causes an aversion on the part of the learner. Another of many problems is the lack of patience in those who already know and try to teach as if the student is at the same level as he who teaches. Under-estimation, pre-estimation and miss-estimation can also be a problem. So, people earn a certain aversion to learning because of the way, attitudes and ways of those who teach. In this world, everyone has a bad image of those who teach, for those who teach are arrogant and harsh when they teach. Their way of teaching is mundane because their hearts belong to the world. So, Jesus had to assure us that He is otherwise and teaches in a different manner, into a different world and through another attitude. He is meek and lowly in heart, and if what disgusts most in learning is the arrogance and rigidity of those who teach, we believe, then, that nothing in Christ will prevent us from learning from Him - as long as He is real and is no longer a fictional Jesus. It all depends, henceforth, on us wanting to learn or not. If Jesus is still an image or a mirage, we will, too, and of course, have an image of how He might be when He teaches that resembles much of what we've come to know from this world. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols (images)", 1 John 5:21.
There is a widespread misunderstanding that, quite often, paralyzes people's souls. That is the deception which causes to believe that if someone knows the commandments everything is accomplished. But, it is necessary to assault the heavens to be able to fulfil all the commandments in the same way and by the same means they are fulfilled in heaven. These means are closed to carnal men. To attain to the way to accomplish is what enables us to fulfil them all, without exception. The pride of man makes him believe that he can do or accomplish whatever he already knows about. But fulfilment is far from knowledge and the important thing is to be fully able to do naturally, that is, spontaneously from the heart. There are those who perform without knowing, Mat.25:35-39. It means knowledge didn't play a role in fulfilment of the commandments. The heart needs to be transformed to that point and to the point, too, to be able to receive grace for the exclusive purpose of being able to fulfil spontaneously and heartily. "And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments", 1John 2:3. A heart that still struggles to fulfil the law of love is still divided. Effort is to be exercised on those works which require effort and not to be what we should be. The person who strives to be, changes his appearance and not his essence. There is far more beyond knowing the truth instead of believing lies and resemblances of truth. We need to know that. "I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it", 1 John 2:21.
"And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities", Mat.11:1. It is known that as soon as we set out in obedience - "hating father, mother and children" - God blesses our families and all those we left behind. But, if the person looks back penalizing those who could become children of God through his work, that is penalizing the future family of God, his own family shall suffer similar penalties. Our dearest ones will be the first to benefit by our obedience and the first to be penalized for our disobedience or our going back - unless God has other individual plans for any of them in particular.
"For they do not know to do right...", Amos 3:10. It is common for people to feel excused or justified when they do not know how to do or can not do something. In fact, this theory of "who does not know cannot to be blamed" is a falsehood. By having God close by - if He is indeed with us - we learn and we are enabled to carry out anything through Him. If we do not walk with Him, we should walk; and if we walk with Him, we should know. Not knowing is no excuse - it may be a cause for condemnation. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", Phil.4:13. "Learn from Me, for I am gentle", Mat.11:29. If ignorance was not a crime, God would not say: "They do not know to do right (...) An adversary shall be all around the land; He shall sap your strength from you...".
Despair is dangerous because it causes people to despise what they want most and to trample what they would like to see exalted.
"But (He) will arise against (...) the help of them that work iniquity", Is.31:2. You have to know that there are people against whom God rises. These people are afflicted with various things. They, therefore, seek help and those who help do not always understand that their help is against God, that it is opposition to God to provide that sort of help. Thus, they are clashing against God and are not aware of it. And God rises against those who help. He will be against the help of those who practice lawlessness. The only aid that may be awarded to them is one that leads them to repent of their sins. So, never put yourself in a dramatic position inadvertently. It is human to want to help, but we must follow God and not oppose Him inadvertently. "When the Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together", Is.31:3.
When someone is talking about stumbling or stumbling blocks, what's the first thing that comes up to your mind? We know that stumbling blocks cause to sin. But, keep in mind that it is not only sin that can cause someone to stumble. Jesus may be the main stumbling block for many. When you walk along with Jesus, sin is or may be the stumbling block; but if your walk with Him is crooked, wrong or wrongly motivated, God will be the stumbling block. "And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel (...) And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken", Is.8:14,15.
If you wish to measure the amount of love people have towards worldliness and sin, see that even under the threat of an eternal suffering in a hell of fire inside a lifeless abyss people do not let it go and they rather choose to disbelieve truth and facts to be able to carry on with their sinning.
Wherever there are still open wounds and sadness, one must try to find out whether the inner soreness is in a process of healing or if it is in a process of deterioration. It is one thing to have a wound healing. It is another to have a wound that is getting worse and worse by the day or if it is not healing. Even though both are wounds, they are quite different situations.
We see, sometimes, that receiving grace or seizing it comes to us as a commandment. That is, to receive grace and to reach a state which enables to have God's knowledge guide our lives right through is a moral duty - it is a commandment of God. When theologians talk about grace, they create the impression that it comes as inactivity or makes a person passive when, in fact, it is a strength and a very active power in man, which makes man very active through the right powers in the proper directions. However, one also needs to have the proper heart. The biggest problem to grace is the alternative powers of the flesh, which may want to switch from grace to it occasionally, or even replace it entirely and be mistaken for grace at work. Grace operates on such who can become operative through it. Not all can achieve that state of heart and fulfil all requirements to have it work hard on and through the heart. Many speak as if anyone who receives grace becomes inoperative and passive. It may be true in those who can not be educated through it in God's ways; in such who do not receive it; and in those on whom grace does not work as they believe it does, seeing that grace manifests itself only in the ways of God and through a heart fully and unconditionally committed to Him. Grace abstains from working to have man's will or desires fulfilled. That is why many become passive expecting grace or talking about it. They talk about it and, in practice, they never receive it. Soon, those who try out the things of the flesh become idle expecting grace to operate under such circumstances. Grace is an active power, it is a river that can not be stopped, which will flood with life everyone around in whom it finds a proper lodging. Paul tells us to take hold of grace; Jesus was growing on it; and we see in Prov.3:3,4 that under certain conditions, man needs to work or keep the work in order to receive it, find it or even grow in it, or through it. Grace is a free gift, but is not distributed in vain. It is not vanity. We read, also, that the eyes of the Lord turn the earth upside down to find someone whose heart is perfect towards Him. This means that God chooses who meets certain conditions or meets certain requirements to give him certain gifts of grace. "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour (grace) and good understanding...", Prov.3:3,4.
God answers all the prayers of the righteous. If a "yes" can be considered an answer, we must believe that a "no" is also an answer. When people do not get any response from God, they must make sure they are fulfilling all the conditions that lead to God answering us. We must see if we really believe, or whether we are separated from God by any sin either against a person, God or against self. God answers one way or another. All that really matters is to receive concrete answers, clear guidance or sure hope which is not self-designed nor self-indulged about the subject, even if the response is contrary to what we would expect to receive. We must insist and persevere until we get answers. Unless that is so, it is sinful to carry on that way.
"I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple unto that which is evil", Rom.16:19. All who do evil make plans and think hard about how they will achieve their purposes and devices. They want to be wise in evil and, therefore, dedicate much of their time making plans and designing schemes. Now, we are told to do or are required to do so in relation to well-doing. Let's be wise in doing well. The meaning of being "simple" is not to think about it, not having the initiative and not being prepared to be evil. The person who does not think things out is simple. This kind of innocence is a crime if applied to well-doing and faithfulness and is a virtue when applied to falsehood and evil-doing.
It is not only the preoccupations and concerns that have the power to hold someone far away from the practice of the word of God, killing the soul through suffocations and strangulations. The many 'good' occupations - whether they are happy ones or even sad ones - are also able to have similar effects.
The fight to be different or to be distinguished has ceased in me. With that I became different and I feel different and at peace with myself and God. To wish to be an example doesn't make me an example. Were I an example, I wouldn't wish to become what I have already become.
Man's chief problem is that he does not stand or support the idea that he is the one who needs to change. So, he assumes that reconciliation is another's task towards him and God, when in fact, his share of responsibility is the only real work at hand. By changing, he helps others to change as well. We should know that personal transformation is a moral duty, which needs to be accomplished by us and not only by others. But, keep always in mind that we should not be transformed into what others require of us, but in what God transforms to, which is in accordance with the standards He requires of us and is accomplished through His power. When people want us to change, they actually want us to change to fit them and not to be solely faithful to God. The kind of transformation that God works is rarely pleasant to people.
"Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days", 1 Kings 3:2. If there isn't a place where a truthful preacher has a chance to explain according to the Lord and live his heart out, or a place where truth is held up high, there is no reference for the practice, or knowledge, or acknowledgement of truth and people will carry on sacrificing to the Lord (or to some other god) in the high places. Truth needs to be settled down and established before it can mean anything to sinners all over the world. If it isn't, people will always seek high places to sacrifice and high things to serve with. They will despise lowly and truthful things. "For who hath despised the day of small things?", Zec.4:10.
"Now, a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord", 1Sam.21:7. Many people are "detained before the Lord". They can't miss a service, they sing and praise with all their strength and wish to appear in the service of God and to make themselves felt. They fulfil all rituals and don't miss a prayer meeting. They keep themselves "detained before the Lord". However, none of their many prayers are answered and their works are proof of their dead religiosity. That kind of religiosity convinces only self and is disdained and refused by God. Just like Doeg, the servant of Saul, they don't really commune with God and neither God with them while in the Temple. Doeg did the wrong thing after Saul's complaints against his servants. Once outside the Temple, he did not do what God would expect from him. We can easily see that he had been detained before himself for the sake of self and never before God. He used own strength and own fire to fight for own desires inside the Temple of the Lord. He couldn't execute the will of God and, instead, ended up killing God's priests believing he was doing a good thing.
Faith results from a genuine relationship with Jesus. If this is true, unbelief results from a non-existent or broken relationship with God. We are able to believe in whom we know because we come to know Him and His power. Thus, the unbelieving person feels an overwhelming need to feel supported by God and men. And if he has that urge to feel supported, it is because he is not being supported or he wouldn't have that urge. Such happenings lead to fake things and to try believing carnally, wanting to see signs by receiving blessings and other things. All these people want is to feel loved and supported by God. This is one of reasons why God does not give them signs and, therefore, refuses to feed unbelief and the deceptive illusions and demands of the heart.
"...Because his sons made themselves vile, and he (Eli) restrained (rebuked) them not", 1Sam.3:13. We see that Eli caught the attention of his sons while they kept sinning against God and man. "And he (Eli) said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them", 1Sam.2:23-25. Therefore, we can easily conclude that reproving has a different meaning for God than what we give to it on many occasions. Humanly speaking, Eli rebuked his sons, but, in the eyes of God, his sons had never been reprimanded. In his case, reprimanding them could mean excluding them entirely from the house of God and even from their father's lineage. Speaking against them and drawing their attention upon their sins was not rebuking. As Eli's sons were not excluded, the whole household and his offspring was judged to the point of never being able to serve the Lord again. It is sad to see that Eli placed himself in a dramatic position because of his own sons. He was a man whose word did not fall to the ground and we see that the things he had said were fulfilled (in the case of Hannah). Still, the wrath of God hovered over him and over his offspring. God did this for the sake of His people - people like Hannah. It would have been better for Eli to feel that God was not with him. He would have had the opportunity to reconcile himself with God. But, in a way, the fact that his words did not fall to the ground gave Eli a false confidence until the day he stopped caring about it.
Whoever is confused with voices or can't distinguish between voices, it is, whoever is enticed by the devil and believes it is God speaking, shall surely believe the devil is speaking when it is God speaking. We need to be made real sheep instead of trying to discern between voices. Sheep hear their Shepherd and run away from the wolf's sounds and voices. The main secret is to be transformed into real sheep. Sheep hear and know.
"Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord", Judges 13:16. Manoah desired to sacrifice without really knowing it was the angel of the Lord. This means he would offer to God without knowing it was God. This sort of offering is idolatrous. We may be bowing down to a Jesus of our own minds while standing before the real One. We may have an imaginary Jesus in our minds while dealing with the real one. Or we may want to serve the real One the way we would serve the Jesus of our minds. There are many ways of being guilty of the sin of idolatry.
"But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord", Judges 13:21. It is interesting to notice that Manoah knew that it was the Lord who appeared to him because He never appeared to him again. False ones wish that God appears all the time and they even insist on such doctrines, inducing people to do what they should not do or in a way they should not do.
Many argue that they are grounded on God's promises even when the reality shows otherwise, I mean, even when promises are not being fulfilled. Things do not work out with them and they use that situation to hope more and to believe even harder. There are some similarities between trials and being denied by God. People easily forget that one who lives for the promises in expectancy is the one who is able to remain fully holy all the time. To be expectant is like expecting a baby: a pregnant woman knows that she is carrying a baby and that it is a baby and not fat growing inside her. She is fully aware of the baby inside her and cannot deny it and her hopes grow as fast and as sure as her belly does. Most Christians, however, have imaginary hopes and 'live' by them. Their 'hopes' grow even when they are aware of the fact that their bellies are not expanding.
Holiness is a promise and should be the ardent desire of all those who do not entertain the idea that it should be or that it can be used as an exchange asset to make God meet some desires of the flesh. When it is rated as an exchange for something, faith vanishes after the exchange has taken place as well as when no exchange is done. Everything that is offered to be exchanged for something shall be replaced by what it is exchanged for. If I take some property to exchange it for a car or a truck, I lose my property when I gain the car or the truck. I cannot keep it after the exchange has taken place. That is what happens to faith or holiness which is put forth to receive something for it.
We know that Israel did not destroy all the nations that God had sent them to destroy, and those which were destroyed have not been destroyed to the uttermost. Several reasons led to that. It wasn't because they did not want to destroy them. I believe that many wanted to, but could not. "But they (Judah) could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron" Judges 1:19. It is not enough to want to do God's will. We must be in the state to be able to carry it out through His power. Those who wanted to do it lacked power to be able to bring God's will to utter fulfilment. They were not in right standing with God and they did not seek God's way and, therefore, lacked that initial power to expel all sin from their land. "Wait (rely) entirely in God's grace," said Peter. We must be able to do so. (It doesn't mean that they had been in right standing with God before, but, after having entered the Promised Land, each one added to that state a seeking of own things by trying to live an own life - something they were not able to do in the desert). For things to work out by grace and in order to get them work successfully that way, it is required that we are able to maintain a very close walk with God, having God's desires burning in the heart continually and having that as the only known way of life and not just an occasional happening prompted when necessity is pressing. We achieve that state of heart by being close to God and not by force. If we have not that kind of walk with Him, the bigger expectations will be in vain - if it is possible at all that anyone can exercise real hope without being in right standing with Jesus.
"Take good heed unto yourselves, therefore, that ye love the Lord your God", Jos.23:11. Allow me to humbly translate this: "Take good heed unto yourselves so that you can be made able to love the Lord your God". Unless our heart is available to the Lord to work on it and to be attracted (drawn) to Him, we shall not be able to love Him the way it is required. If our conscience is not cleansed, we shall not be near God and, consequently, shall never be worked on by His Spirit to be drawn to Him to love Him unconditionally. We cannot love an unknown person and, if we do, we love an image (of our minds) and not the person. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols", 1 John 5:21.
It is very common for people to exchange eternal things for what perishes. There are even really useful things that will perish or pass away, such as science, prophecy and other important things. "But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away", 1 Cor.13:8. It is very easy to become dependent or addicted to what we are capable of doing, to what we know or to what is manifested, or to the things we can achieve personally or visualize. Science is good, but obedience is better because through it we have full access to what God knows; prophecy is good, but the walk with Christ is better and, unlike prophecy which will cease, Christ shall never be taken from us if we walk with Him truly and truthfully. Furthermore, Christ brings with him his reward. If we seek and find Christ as He is, if we find Him truly and if it is no longer a Christ of our minds or of our hopes living in our illusions, the rewards come surely with Him. But it is not at all guaranteed that, seeking and finding only the reward beforehand, it shall bring Christ along.
"The roads to Zion mourn because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness", Lam.1:4. It is worthy of notice that Christ has been afflicted and never became bitter. Bitterness comes in during afflictions that are caused by sinning or that come over unclean people. It is born when the soul is not in full synchrony with God or when it works against God. It is a final blow on a true relationship with God. Bitterness is preferred above a genuine reconciliation with God. If the soul is found in full synchrony with God, no affliction makes bitter because God takes full care of the soul.
"We don't trust in the flesh", Fil.3:3. A fleshly trust or confidence is something that assures us or convinces and gives assurance, either emotional or of some other kind. Now, a false assurance or confidence is misleading. Misleading or not, it causes you to trust when you should question it and cause to be suspicious of whatever else you could or should trust. Confidences can become forms of stubbornness and obstinacy. There is exaggerated and emotional confidences and there is stubbornness that is turned into false confidence. None of this is faith, but is the very mind cheating you by playing dubious games with itself for own, uncertain motives. (However, we must not confuse the fact that true faith is determined and persistent and that the world takes it for stubbornness). The flesh does not cause to trust it for no reason. It pursues a fleshly heart or fights to keep it. The confidence of/in the flesh keeps it alive and active. But the worst thing that may happen is that a person with a false confidence does not seek alternative paths and is faithful to own thinking, and own beliefs or hopes, which are always preferred as assurances or 'certainties'. It is satisfied with own stuff. False confidences do not create the need of making sure about something or to obtain certainty from truth or from realities of God. True faith is a certainty about truth and not a mere confidence. The confidence of faith comes from a certain, undeniable and heavenly fact.
There is deadly danger after every victory. After a victory over any trial the temptation to become negligent in the relationship with God is enormous and subtle. A day of victory should be seen just as another day. We are not done yet. And even if we were done, we should remain with the Lord for the Lord's sake. Let us not rejoice and be carried away because demons are subject to us. If the person is dedicated to God only in order to be able to achieve something important, even if it is something heavenly, it means that, in fact, he is not consecrated to God but to the purpose he is aiming at. Having achieved that purpose he may cease to be as devoted to God by not feeling the need to be so. But, our need must be Jesus, not what He can add or bring along by relating Himself to us. The person who becomes slack in his relationship with God after having achieved some promise or victory in Jesus was, actually, never dedicated to God for His sake, but for own sake. We must know that our life is of utmost importance to God. We must save it for His sake. If we want to save it, we must do so for Him and His sake and not for our own. If our life is still important to us, we are not saved. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate (...) his own life, he can not be my disciple", Luc.14:26. There is another fact that I want to emphasize: the one who becomes slack in his relationship with God after a tasty and important victory is the one who, during the trial, was easily discouraged, unmotivated, stranded in his own thoughts of despair, and felt adrift and abandoned by the Lord.
Concerning us, God must not only have the last word, but the only word as well. He shall always have the last word, but we should be found in such a way that His words are also the only ones. No one should murmur along the way and should never expect anything else but the mercy of Jesus.
Deplorable is the state of the person who is delivered to himself. Any person in this state is dominated by desires that he can not control. He is delivered to paths which he can not chose, prevent or control, not even under the threat of death, poverty, illness or misfortune. And a person given over to himself is not just the one whom God has abandoned, but one that has abandoned God - or any of his ways.
"Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb", Lk.24:1. It is so common to find people going through many pains and hardships in search of a dead Christ! They sacrifice more to find a dead one than a living one. They sacrifice and wake up very early to do that. If you have set your heart to find a dead Christ, you will find it very hard to interact and live with a living one. They are quite different. And there is only a Living one who is dead to the world and the world to Him. Entertain no hopes for worldly things if you seek the Living One.
Negligence does not occur only when laziness has the upper hand. It occurs when we get to do what is not primary and what is primary remains undone; or when we do God's work in a worldly manner, however zealously it is done, and little pain is taken to carry out through grace to do things with the help of the Spirit because we can do it our way. To be able to do things in the way they are done in heaven - it is, through grace - requires full surrender to the Lord and His ways of doing things. We must be faithful to the point of finding grace in a real way beforehand in order to be able to carry fully out in a way it should be performed and which is able to accomplish what pleases God. Unless things are accomplished through grace it won't be pleasing to God - even if they are accomplished somehow. It is possible to do things in the power of the flesh. The flesh's main aim is to work in the Temple of God and be accepted instead of being dead. It will rather be a slave than dead. Whoever does not seek grace and the power through which things must be performed or doesn't seek any other necessary virtue or means in God to be able to perform the way it should performed, is negligent. There is no doubt about that. What else can we think of someone who seeks the ends without finding the means?
Everyone who is not found doing what he should be doing, either because of laziness, lack of time or any for other reason, ends up doing what he should not do or ends up performing in a way it should not be performed. That is a law in the spiritual realm and no one can avoid it being so.
To be more than conquerors, especially to end our journey still as a conqueror, does not mean having to present works, progress or miracles achieved by faith. It means having finished still abiding in Christ, being found in Him at the end of everything - if that relationship is real. "I know your works and your labour and your patience, and how you cannot bear those who are evil. And you tried those pretending to be apostles, and are not, and have found them liars. And you have borne, and have patience, and for My name's sake you have laboured and have not fainted. But I have against you that you left your first love. Repent ... ", Rev.2:2-4. That true, royal, intimate relationship that few know of or experience for real should be as fresh at the end of a life course as if nothing else had happened during a difficult during it - or even at the end of an easy life. Whatever happened does not count unless our relationship with God is kept in such a way that surpasses everything else. The love must be equal or fresher and more simple than it was in the beginning of our journey - if our start was real and true at all. "...That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death", Phil.3:9,10. "If a man abides not in me, he is cast out", John 15:6.
"It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer', but you have made it a den of thieves", Lk.19:46. It intrigued me that Jesus could call people who traded in the Temple as "thieves". He doesn't use misplaced words. To be a thief, one must steal what does not belong to him. Now, people sold what was theirs as far as I believe. They only used the temple for that purpose. The Mosaic Law provided for the possibility of people having to sell their tithes and offerings at home to buy what to sacrifice with that money in the city of worship if it would be difficult for them to transport to Jerusalem that which was to be offered to the Lord or enjoyed in their feasts. What was not legitimate for them was to create dealers in the Temple. Why? It is common in this world to have copyrights and image rights, which can be used only by those who hold those rights. Those rights must benefit their rightful owners. In order to be classified as thieves and robbers it would be needed to use the rights or the resources they did not own to sell and buy. We can not take advantage of God, or of circumstances, or of any person to negotiate or become rich. And if we can not do that with God, we can neither do that with people. We can not take advantage of the weaknesses, the wishes, desires or the obligations of others to take advantage of them. We can not take advantage of anyone and under no circumstances. And it should be noted that whoever bought also became a thief and a robber by complicity. Whoever bought in the temple was an accomplice of those who sold in there and also contributed to this sin that offends God greatly.
"Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me", Lk.18:4,5. The original word in the Greek for "weary Me" means to make tired out to the point of being defeated, as in a fight where, after being tired, a final blow is applied. There are two possibilities: either the person who asks is defeated and tired out, or the judge to whom the request is made is 'won' over and meets the request. Certainly, one of these two things will happen and there is no grey zone or alternative. There is no midway about it. Let us remember that this is "a parable that men always ought to pray and not lose heart", Lk.18:1. And the rule or its teaching is for everyone with no exception. All are bound to its teaching, whether you are a Paul or a lost one beaten at the roadside.
In this world, when strikes are promoted, it is required to guarantee minimum services. I believe that is a common law in most countries. This means that those who are on strike do the least. They work upset or unhappy about something if they work at all. Remember that whenever you give your minimum in God's work and when any work is not completed or is left undone - you are on strike. Many strikers also disturb those who carry on working as they should.
When we walk to please people and to have them like us, we also walk to displease some others because people are not always heading in the same direction. It is said by the world that we can't please everyone. God says we cannot please anyone. In an environment where people are pleased, we usually tend to talk too much, say things which need not be said and are conditioned by many other things which we find difficult to control.
The mind is quite fertile in imagining. The devil often uses it and entices it in many ways. One of the ways is to cause people to visualize whatever they are not allowed to have or whatever God shall not grant them. The sensation of lack or of loss keeps desire alive.
What would you think of someone who grabs a hammer and often smashes his own nail to cry out? And what would you think or what would your reaction be if you didn't know what caused the cry and the pain? I know a lot of people with that attitude in them. They sin, offend and debate against truth and, afterwards, seek a shoulder to cry on. If they do not find that shoulder, they feel victimized, despised and rejected by others. They smash their own hearts and lives and still hope to find all sorts of happiness along their lives.
One day, I went to buy bread and the employee that attended me gave me more change than she should have given. I realized the mistake only when I got home. I returned to the place to try to correct the error. The lady was corrected and was happy about it. She thanked me heartily. I just do not understand the reason why people feel so offended when they are corrected in God's ways, something which will have them gain more valuable things than a mere loose change. To be in synchrony with the truth is more valuable than all gold this earth can offer. It is much more valuable to have eternal life than any coin this earthly life makes available to anyone. We should be extremely happy whenever someone comes to correct any errors in our steps, in our attitudes or even in our way of thinking. Shouldn't we be grateful and satisfied with the altruism of someone who goes out of his way to have our steps assured in the proper way for the right motives?
"If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word", John 14:23. There is a lot to be said about this statement Jesus made so clear. How can one try to keep His words without first loving Him with all his heart? And how can anyone claim to love Jesus when he cannot keep His words alive to walk heartily and joyfully according to them? Many try to 'keep' it to avoid being condemned or to become an example to their children. Translating this to truth, it means that they attempt to keep the Word because they love themselves. And they fail to keep it. No one is able to meet God's demands unless he loves Jesus above life itself. "He who does not love Me does not keep My Words", John 14:24. In other words, he can't keep them.
Teaching and educating are not the same thing and do not always go together. Teaching is to extract from knowledge and to distribute it; educating is to offer from what we really are - if we are. Both need to leave the impression that whoever hears and learns must not stick to learning and must still find God and grace to become and to keep being. If we are something in God, we must be open, available and walk in the light so that nothing can be hiding behind our actions. Our actions should manifest and reveal in all truth all we really are in utter simplicity of heart. This is the teacher who knows how to educate. Knowledge teaches and serves as an ally to education, but knowledge is a servant and not a master. Life is the master and the master is life itself when it is lived and exteriorized in all simplicity and sincerity of heart.
Those who truly walk with Jesus with a true heart, hear God. If you hear the wrong voice, it is because you still hear the voice of desires and own-willingness. The heart that is still tempted by the flesh and its desires may be forced to hear the voice of deception, which, often, impersonates and imitates God and talks as if it is Him talking.
"Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out", John 12:31. Interestingly, for the world, it was Jesus who was being tried and thrown out. But, with this act, it was the devil who was expelled and judged. There is nothing to fear if you, in truth, live in Christ. You should not fear to be judged by the world and to be expelled from their synagogues. That works in your favour and should be a cause to joy - to real joy. It will mean something to the world.
People are very quick to judge the right way and to stand up against it because it opposes them silently. When that right track is believed by some wrong people whose walk is strange to truth, they feel even more justified to oppose it. "The name of God is blasphemed among the nations because of you", Rom.2:24. If they already judge who walks according to truth, imagine how many stones shall they throw at truth because of those who go astray and say they carry on believing in the Gospel. However, no one in the world is quick to judge his own ways. In fact, they are quick to cover them up and keep them secret. Had they been able or willing to judge own ways, they would be close to the salvation of Jesus. "For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged", 1Cor.11:31.
"Others said, 'These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'" John 10:21. There are people who are led to believe in the words of Jesus because they have witnessed miracles. This means that, in fact, they do not believe or did not believe in the Word itself and are led to believe in it by external means. On the other hand, there are people - like the Samaritan woman and those whom she has called out to see the Christ - who believed because of the very word itself. "And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world'", John 4:41,42.
"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill and to destroy", John 10:10. This means that whoever destroys, mutilates or steals is of the devil. If you destroy your own marriage, life or somebody else's you are a thief working for the devil to rob people's lives off them.
If we pray to spend time lost in prayer, we are not praying for things to be solved or sorted out nor to find concrete answers for concrete issues. It's true it is not all about asking when we pray, but we must be able to receive some guidance and direction whenever we pray, or praying is sin.
If I do not change under the circumstances where I am found now, I shall never change when those circumstances have changed for the better. It is not circumstances that have the power to change us - they serve only to show us what we truly are. Better circumstances are not able to transform us. Good circumstances are able to cover up what we really are secretly and bad ones have the power to unmask our true self or to get it waking up from the deep sleep of hibernation.
Whoever sins, not only arranges excuses for his sins, but finds always fault in others, blames others for own transgressions and easily accuses them of any obvious defect that can be spotted in them. The constant search for mistakes in others and the gossip about them are proof that own sins are being concealed or disguised. Such people shall surely die in their sins and shall be lost while covering them up, that is, while finding guilty ones, blaming them for own mistakes or finding excuses or even explanations for own sins. To excuse own sins is a way to cover them up. Everyone who conceals any of his sins shall never find mercy - neither now nor later (Prov.28:13). Make no mistake about it.
"If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains", John 9:41. This reminded me of the words of Jesus, which underline the huge danger of dying in own sins, that is, that our sins are found with us when we die. Jesus takes away sin, both in its origin as well as in the inevitable consequences of guilt and cyclical power of sin, which increases every time any sin is committed because it weakens man and ruins that kind of faith that is able to save from it to impose a false faith which considers self as saved while holding on to sin. It is only true faith that is able to overcome the world and to exterminate the sins of those who believe in Him. Sin brings forth death and ruin. Jesus in man overcomes that kind of death by annihilating sin and its power. When sin remains, death remains too. Whoever falls in the trap of sin, shall sin more and shall accentuate the trend of blindness, that is, shall get more excuses to blame others of own sins rather than to be able to recognize and to acknowledge them, that is, to recognize in order to seek and find salvation from those sins. Jesus saves from sin. Whoever does not acknowledge all his sins; or conceals them stating that he sees and is not blind; or claims to have Christ while in sin; or remains in his sins or his sins remain in him for any other reason, will never be saved from them. How can anyone be saved from something he does not recognize or acknowledge? And if he does not acknowledge them, he shall surely be deprived of the blessed vision that it is Christ who frees from sin in an unthinkable way. "So I told you that you will die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am, you will die in your sins", John 8:24. If we do not allow or do not reach out to Christ to save us from all sins, we shall surely die in them. Sin also remains and gets a stronger grip when we say we are believers, saved ones or make some similar, hypocritical statement while in sin. If we stay in sin, from what have we been saved?
"Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled", John 6:26. The Jews and those who will not believe always seek a sign to have a reason to believe. In fact, anyone who would like to prove himself right always seeks to see a sign which he believes will not happen. The search for a sign is a defying attitude and is, in fact, wickedness at work. It is a wicked response to truth and to life. Some even challenge God with this defying attitude as if He won't be able to perform - which would prove them to be right by not believing. The prospect of people about God is evil. From the perspective of God it is faith that should produce the sign and from men's point of view the sign should be good enough to produce faith in Him. Faith in any other or in any other thing is easy to produce without a sign. All men perverted the principles of truth, their prospects are controversial and their hearts became rebellious. Their starting principle is to be always otherwise and to be in a state of constant disagreement with God. The heart of man is controversy itself. Its nature is to oppose whatever comes its way against selfishness. However, we see Jesus say that there is something even worse than seeking a sign to believe: it is to seek Jesus only to be able to eat. This ruins all claims of those who hold on to the doctrines of prosperity. This means that people 'believe' to eat. This kind of opportunism or of opportunistic faith is falsity and comes from a heart haunted by falsehood. We can conclude, then, that God gives a different emphasis and meaning to believing than what sinners are willing to give to it. Jesus said that to believe and to have life go hand in hand. So, to believe is to live - it is the ability to live in accordance with the law of God and in full agreement with what He really is.
"I do not receive honour from men", John 5:41. The word "receive" is often used in this portion of Scripture and, also, in the Gospel of John. When Jesus says that He does not receive honour from men, it could mean two tings and only one of them is what Jesus wishes to convey. It could mean He doesn't receive it because men do not glorify Him - which is half true. Men indeed, and unlike all nature, do not give glory to God. But it can also mean that Jesus does not receive it even if it is given to Him. He may not accept it in any form and He doesn't depend on it. He refuses to receive it and to depend on it.
"I do not receive honour from men", John 5:41. The best evidences that someone still receives honour from men are: the the promptness with which he rejects good advice; how offended he feels with accusations; and how much he still defends himself before others.
Most wars - wars between individuals, family members or even between countries - get its strength from dirty and aggressive consciences. Any person with a dirty conscience learns to be aggressive, retaliates to defend himself and lives from deception. When the conscience is stained, it accuses. That charge breeds an aggressive reaction from the accused person who resists coming to the light to have everything clear and fully transparent by acknowledging his sins. This reaction can, in turn, become unmanageable and filled with justifications - something which is able to stain conscience even further. The most obvious sign of a stained conscience is the aggressiveness with which someone protects own ground and tries to defend himself. Sometimes, the person is found in a state of continuous self-defence, which defends self even before having been charged with anything. That person guesses what is coming his way. This defence can be carried out with anger or with a smile. Any accused person reacts that way if he doesn't have a heart that fulfils God's law. The person who is right with God and is found at peace when his conscience is illuminated by genuine light never reacts against aggression. Responding to aggression is a vice or addiction picked up by someone who has or had a stained conscience. If you had a dirty conscience before and no longer have it because you washed it in the blood of Jesus, but you still react to accusations and aggressions, the addiction remained. You are in great need to deal with that, too, after being cleansed from all sins without having missed on a single one. Nobody needs an old habit to live the new life. The worst aggression that may exist is that of your conscience - it is, at least, something that people consider an aggression. People who are not used to have peace of conscience react in a bad, unhappy way only to escape this type of aggression. No one can ever escape the aggressions of conscience and it angers sinners more and makes them more aggressive. And anger makes people unaware of what they are - it makes them, at least, careless and causes them not to care about it. Don't try to evade the pricks of conscience by accusing others or by masking yourself with a look of innocence. No masked person is what the mask says he is. All who walk around with a dirty conscience always react the same way because of everything and because of nothing. They live in a continual state of alert and warfare, and react even before they are accused of anything. They harm to prevent the aggression they imagine is coming their way.
"He was the burning and shining lamp", John 5:35. There are lamps that burn and do not shine. We should burn and be light. We shouldn't burn to throw only smoke and no flame or no light. The smoke can hinder light when the lamp burns.
"He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him", John 5:23. This is true in every way. Every person who does not honour or is unable to honour whom the Father has sent to him - whoever the sent one is, whether it is a child or a grown up - does not honour the Father, not even if he claims to honour Him.
When we find the way, we should consider a few things and have them in mind. The path is right, pure and untouchable. The person who enters it is initially the wrong kind of person. So, we have someone with the wrong heart heading towards the proper way. Will there be conflicts? Of course, since there is no wrong person in this world who does not believe to be right. The path can not become wrong or consider itself wrong hypocritically to adapt to evil and to agree with it since only those who are in agreement can walk together. Soon, there will be conflicts and only a persistent patience on the part of the truth - without compromising itself - can achieve the total transformation of the one who is wrong. Quite often, the holders of truth are accused of being stubborn due to their unchanging persistence in the way of truth.
"He implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe'", John 4:47,48. It's not easy to discern that someone seeks a sign when he has a dying child and nears Jesus for help. But, Jesus saw it. It's sad, too, to know that even with a child at a death bed people seek a sign instead of hoping to find healing in Christ.
God may call us for His works or we can offer ourselves to it. However, we must all learn to wait upon Him for the proper time to be sent out.
There is hatred and indifference. Some say that indifference is worse than hatred. But some say that indifference does not take revenge and doesn't punish. Regarding God, indifference is hatred against Him in hibernation. It is concealed hatred. It is pure, dormant enmity asleep. There is no one in this world indifferent to God. Those who have not visited him in prison for being involved and busy with their own lives are, were or will be punished with the same sentence of those who put Jesus and his friends in prison to mistreat them mercilessly. It is true that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. But all those who hate Jesus or are indifferent to Him and to His loved ones will suffer the same eternal damnation.
Responsibility and increased duties should lead us to a greater and more sincere approach or proximity to God so that He can perform the doing in us. We must also change our habits with increased responsibilities so that we can adapt with joy to a new reality. Each increase of responsibility should achieve these results in us. Keeping the same routine, the same habit of life and the same courses of action are not compatible with an increase of responsibility. Get ready for practical changes and transformations if God delivered His talents to you as a servant - or if you need to make up for those who have buried theirs and have not been faithful.
Life is an opportunity for schooling and we are all students. However, there are some that are more determined to learn and more and better dedicated to truth than others.
Purification
Many wonder how was it possible that David's son started, afterwards, hating the virgin that he loved so much. Before he had forced her, he loved her to death. However, after he had possessed her, he hated and despised her just as much. This happens quite often to many of those who have pre-marital sex: after they get it done, they start despising the person they have been using or misusing. I know many couples who became frigid after getting married because they have done, before marriage, what is meant to be done only after getting married. Pre-marital sex leads, quite often, to frigidity once relationships become lawful or after sex becomes a duty. It is appealing only while it is unlawful. However, that is not the only cause for frigidity.
Many believe that the fear of the Lord is the passport that enables to enter the kingdom of righteousness and purity. However, we know of one man who feared the Lord and, frightened, hid his talent in the earth; and he delivered the talent intact and well keep to the Lord. Fear, alone, does not mean anything if mixed with negligence, self-interest or any other carnal drive. Fear must lead us to bear fruit, to fulfil, to be faithful and to do God's will. Forsaking evil is not doing good yet; to stop stealing is not giving from what we have; to stop killing is not distributing life yet; to stop lying is not telling the truth. "We do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that the mortal might be swallowed up by the life", 2Cor.5:4.
When those servants received each their talents, we do not see the Lord explaining to them how they should use them. Each servant used them as he thought best.
"But, if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays His coming..." Mat.24:48. There are several things that go unnoticed in many verses of the Bible. This verse is one of them. The question is: does the servant become evil by saying what he says, or does he say what he says because he is evil? Here is my opinion: who speaks against God is already separated from Him by other things or through other offenses. Then, having become a wicked servant, he says what he says. Who knows if those extended trials come only to help reveal what he truly is and what sort of servant he has become. All servants tend to believe they are faithful and pure. Becoming a servant is enough for them. They do not care what kind of servant they become. Many serve without having been purified; others serve to cover up their sins; and others serve without remaining cleansed. The secret is to wait, keeping holiness while waiting and never become stained, sinful or impatient along the way.
Frankness is a commendable virtue. But, it is a virtue that cannot stand alone, that is, cannot live unaccompanied by truth. Truth is love. Imagine an honest person who believes a lie - he will be frank without realizing he is holding the fruit of the serpent; or someone who believes error honestly without recognizing it and taking the error as sure sign of life. Frankness is commendable, it shall always will be. But, we must know that it must be associated with truth, goodness, kindness and the love of God. If not, that kind of openness becomes a weapon of destruction and a source of serious problems.
The person that seeks the truth with all his heart will never end misled or deceived. In fact, it is truth that seeks such people and truth shall never miss them. Truth seeks a true heart where to lodge itself and to feel at home, and a heart where it can accommodate itself comfortably. No one will remain deceived being of a true heart seeking the truth in order to absorb it, and with the intention to practice it without hesitation. Truth mixed with hesitation is a source of trouble - it is an offense to heaven.
"Be reconciled to God", 2Cor.5:20. Doesn't it sound strange to tell firm believers to be reconciled with God? One might ask whether they are not reconciled to Him already. If Paul was found saying that in nowadays' churches, many would, certainly, be offended and scandalized. But, the reality is that there is much more to be said about reconciliation with God than what today is preached or believed. Reconciliation with God implies that we are in unison with Him, through Him and for the same reasons He upholds, being able to use the same power and having full access to it all the time. It's not only to accept His will, but accepting to become someone who can perform it the same way, with the same joy and through the same power it is used in heaven. "Here on earth as in heaven".
Many of the sins that people commit being believers occur when they are exposed to temptations that could be avoided. One can visit old friends who drank with him; many are exposing themselves to temptation when they could avoid nudity and pornography; they could prevent disbelief by seeking to know that God is faithful and by seeking the real reasons or causes for any trial and thus avoid being exposed to useless doubts and questions - it is through the truth that we are made to stand; one could avoid own ways preferring reconciliation with God at all times; etc.
The biggest problem in the world among those who are deceived is not the inability to see error, but to reject it in favour of the right things. To be able to see error or to refuse evil is not the end of the course. "We do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that the mortal might be swallowed up by the life", 2Cor.5:4. Deceived people often reject things with bitterness and never with confidence - if they reject it at all. When they reject it, they might do so in appearance to accept those sins in secret. The basis of their rejection is never a trust in the truth, but a drive of anger and jealousy. However, the vast majority ends up reconciled with error and accept it due to the insistence of falsity and of false ones upon them and their souls. Falsity never stops and does not hesitate to use its vast number of heresies over and over again until people find themselves living with it as if it is the normal way to live.
One day, even the married ones and children will be placed alone before God. We need to keep that in mind with joy. However, we must use what we still have to exercise loyalty, faithfulness, love and all the other virtues that enrich a heart, a life and a world. When everything else has passed and we are put before God, we will be faithful, virtuous and full of Jesus. We shall be what we have learned to be and what we have become. It is what it is all about in this life. Everything is exercised around this important issue. All we have, possess and do now is given with the sole purpose that there be, one day when everything is over, a people which God can choose.
"For the extortioner is brought to nought, destruction ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land" Is.16:4. Any violent man or sinner has his end announced a long time ago. His end can occur by getting him converted. He can cease to be bad or he shall be destroyed. Either way mean his end. Most sinners have already gone to judgment. They can't be found anymore. If you are not fully converted yet, be assured that your end is near and it has been announced.
If money is a source of problems and trials, the lack of it also brings its sort of ordeals. Thus, only a right and pure heart is able to keep the good way both in time of plenty and in times of want and lack of means. And if we speak about the lack of money, we can also speak about the absence of opportunities to use well what we have or about the absence of ideal circumstances to exercise faithfulness. We must be faithful at heart and not depend on circumstances to show off. If the rich go astray more easily, the poor also have their thorny tribulations which keeps them from seeing the truth or even to practice it when they have found it. The thorns that choke the Word can be found both in good and in bad ground.
We all have already said something, one time or another, about God's time. "Oh, it's because it was not the right time!" But, we must take into consideration some things about God's time. The first thing is that there is, in fact, such a thing as God's time. This fact is undeniable. We must take this into consideration when we pray, when we hope, watch or ask for something in prayer. But, we talk about the time of God in the sense that it is He who determines things to happen. That time depends not only on the clock and calendar, but also on the circumstances, the state in which the person is found and some other things. Because it is God who determines what and when shall happen, many good or desirable things may never happen when we are found in a bad spiritual state. It is not only the clock and the season that influence the times of God. Many still go on hoping to receive when God's time has already passed. However, they still carry on hoping because they have not received for some other reason. Others do precisely the opposite: they force to anticipate what is yet to come.
Many insist on believing they have or we detain rights that must be protected and assisted by all others. But, before God, we have only privileges that we do not deserve. There are rights between people and people, which must be respected. God speaks of "the rights of the poor of my people". However, these rights are those of others before us and not ours before them. We must safeguard these rights that people detain before us by God's will and providence. The ones perishing have the right to receive the spiritual food from which we eat; the poor have a right upon our salary and possessions; etc.
If I am intolerant towards evil people, I am also able to be intolerant towards anyone else. Everything I do, I do because it's what I am. The world believes that our attitudes depend on what people do to us and with whom we deal. But the truth says it depends on what we are and not what others are or do. It is good to feel bad around evil and among the scornful. However, we cannot say that it is because of these scoffers that we feel bad. We feel bad among the scornful because of the transformation that occurred in us. And evil ones feel bad on the table of righteousness because of what they are. It is never righteousness' fault. And if it is not righteousness' fault, then it isn't evil that causes discomfort and nausea to the righteous, but it is mainly because of the heart that the righteous has received.
"My son if thou be surety for thy friend, thou art snared" Prov.6:1. We cannot answer for the lives of anyone. We shall answer for our ways and duties before God. If we have done all to have the best spiritual food served in due time, we cannot answer for anyone's life - not even for our own children or wife. Each shall answer for his own life.
"...That he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of disaster", Hab.2:9. Many fall into the trap of wanting to be rich or healthy so that their nests may be set on high and supposedly safe from evil happenings. But, we are safe from evil only by delivering our ways to the Lord, whether rich or poor, healthy or sick. No one dies if God does not want it to be so and no one lives if God does not cause to live. Let us give ourselves over to Him.
"Put away from thee a deceitful mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee", Prov.4:24. Many do not believe or do not wish to believe that the way we talk is the best portrait of our heart. It is not only the subject that shows us what is in us, as Jesus said, but how we express it shows what we are made of. Our form of speech became a habit and a culture. This causes a problem to many because they attempt to change the way they talk, that is, the habit, without changing the heart. In fact, many avoid changing their heart. It would work like drying up a floor where there is a constant dripping. It is like drying up a place that will be wet all over again. Before drying it up, one should fix the dripping. Also, we should never underestimate the seriousness of the warning that commands us to do away with the deceit of an own mouth and lips. Many underestimate this kind of sin. Any sin is very serious when looked at from the side of God. The sins of the mouth are also responsible for crucifying Christ, and those are sins from which God saves us as well. The same can be said of sins of the eyes and of all our senses. What we like to see feeds the lusts of the heart we have. What we most like to hear reveals what the heart craves for and which illusions it keeps within to hold on to. If we put ourselves to the test by giving freedom to our senses, then, shall we get a more accurate perception of the real state of our hearts. One needs a mirror to be able to see oneself.
"Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life", Prov.4:13. Nobody likes to be corrected; however, most wish to be seen as correct. How does someone become correct without being corrected? Everyone wants to reach out to the ends without going through the means. For that purpose, many brag about themselves to achieve some unlawful recognition. Here, we are told to love instruction and to desire it deeply. To allow "patience to have its perfect work", we should get to the point where we cooperate fully and gladly with instruction and listen to correction without resentment, and showing forth great joy while being corrected by God. We are instructed because we are loved. Carnal love has as a standard to be accepted in any condition. Spiritual love corrects having a good end in mind. It is very easy to believe that we are corrected or punished because we are despised, unloved or abandoned. A carnal mind makes such assumptions very easily. We seem to hold correction as a weight when it should be an easy, desired yoke to bear. Correction should be a joy knowing that if it is the Lord who corrects us, we shall, certainly, come to fruition. If you can find out what is the target of correction and which is the end that corrective instruction wants to achieve, eagerly cooperate with it and show God that you are one with Him in what He does and seeks to achieve.
"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men", Prov.4:14. There are many ways and reasons to opt for a bad way. When God denies something to someone as a rebuke, that someone may choose to do things another way instead of listening to the rod of reproof; or when the delay seems to be too long, one might go astray and deviate from the proper way believing to be doing the right thing. Abraham went into the slave woman because the waiting seemed to be a dead end to him. Nowadays, the seed of Ishmael persecutes the Holy Seed - and Christians to this very day. There is a number of reasons for someone to go astray into an evil way and most of those reasons do not seem to be bad at all and neither the ways we put ourselves into. Some ways of death seem right to the eyes sometimes. Let's be careful.
Whenever things go wrong or do not result in God's ways, people look for alternatives to make it work rather than seek the reason for failure. God may have a reason to deny the person in front of men and angels and it is that reason that we must seek and solve in a way satisfactory to God, instead of trying alternative ways to achieve the things that have been denied by God. All alternative paths will be considered as means of idolatry or as opposition to God. We should pay more attention to the rebuke of God instead of trying to ignore the warnings by recurring to other means or mechanisms to resolve whatever God has jammed. We cannot abandon the path of wisdom and salvation by ignoring a warning of correction coming from the Lord. "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord", Prov.3:11.
Someone may start a way insinuating that he is already a master in it. This can happen for various reasons. One of the explanations is that a ray of light in the darkness causes such an impression that it can be believed that the whole sun has been discovered. And whoever believes to have discovered the sun or live as if he had discovered it, does not evolve and can finish his way believing to be a master without ever having learned better or more. But, the opposite can also happen: one may end being a master believing that he is not. The humiliation suffered to destroy all his arrogance during the years he is instructed might induce him to believe that he cannot be useful in God's hands.
Many people know that if you ask God for wisdom, He gives it without reproach. That is what James says in the Bible. And many also know that it is true from experience. However, we must know that Scriptures also say that, "He gives sound wisdom to the upright", Prov.2:7. If faith is a condition to find that kind of wisdom, we must not forget that there are other conditions that also must be met for that wisdom to be received or conditions that must be met through it when and if it is received. Righteousness, purity, confidence in the truth, the rejection of lies and of false wisdom, the absence of double motives and sincerity of heart must be taken into account, in addition to many other things. But one thing is certain: those who receive it, have God's approval or they would not receive it. Bear also in mind that true wisdom is a life and not mental knowledge which one gets through study. Studying is good so that there may be words to explain what we experience. But, do not confuse personal experience with study and neither wisdom with learning from books. They are not the same thing.
It is good to know many things. But, it is essential and necessary to take one thing at a time and come to fruition with it. Bringing everything to the end can not be seen as incompatible with knowing much. However, if we know too much and we do not take everything to a good end, if things are not fully accomplished, all knowledge will serve to condemn us and not serve as a precious help on the way. Wisdom is supposed to be an aid on the way. This is true both in this life and in the spiritual life. We must deal with each subject, with each sin, with every virtue, with each truth until we get to a successful conclusion of every thing that is delivered to us to be faithful to it, with it, because of it or through it. "My food is (...) to finish His work", John 4:34.
Many talk about watching. But I believe that few know what it really means. Watching is to be aware and wide awake expecting something. But, to what shall we be attentive? It is true that the devil comes to steal and destroy. But, is it true that he only enters the house which is not on guard against him? Or does he enter the house of any of those over whom he has power regardless if they are watching or not? I leave that question in the air, because the devil is shameless and daring as well. He is able to face an opponent or victim head-on. He isn't always subtle. Looking deep into Scripture, however, I see Jesus expressing His views on watching in another sense as well. Jesus describes Himself as "the thief that comes in the night at an hour when no one expects". "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching!" Lk.12:36. Our real vigilance is a state of expectation. "And if He shall come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants. Therefore, be ye also ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when ye think not", Lk.12:38. I could guard against the devil if the power to save myself was in my hand. But, as it is Jesus who saves me from any of my sins, I must always be awaiting the salvation from Him when I am found in trouble. For this cause will I keep watch. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved", Hab.2:1. He may arrive at any time and I cannot be found sleeping. I must be ready to receive this salvation willingly and joyfully, without having a sense of loss when Jesus takes any sin fully away from my world. I should not allow my house to be undermined by any other sin before He arrives just because my heart says, "My Lord delays his coming" - if He delays indeed. I must be found in a good state of heart by the time He comes. There will be no opportunity to clean up after He comes, unless to be cleansed is the reason for my watching and waiting fervently. I shall be treated as a thief caught in the act if I am found in a state that God disapproves when He comes. This is why real revival must be preceded by a thorough cleansing or it will be our judgment day when it happens.
"...Because I called, and (...) I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention...", Prov.1:24. How often do people label themselves with innocence when, for some reason, they do not pay attention? "Oh, sorry! I was not paying attention! Can you say again?" And no one is offended and all repeat what they were saying when no one was paying attention to them. Everyone thinks it normal. But if someone is busy with other things, if you are distracted, too concentrated when it is God speaking, not paying attention is a very serious crime. Use extreme caution, too, with your mood, because a bad mood works with a refusal to hear what others have to say. There is nothing of more importance or priority than the words of God, especially when those words are so scarce. Use extreme caution because God can speak or express Himself at anytime. Stay tuned and keep that possibility open. "And you yourselves be like men who wait for their lord so that, when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately", Luc.12:36. Whenever you are focussing on anything or are emotionally moved by something, keep open the possibility that God may intrude to say something. He will want to be heard immediately, no matter what is happening to you. For God, it is not normal that someone does not pay attention when He speaks. "But whoever listens to Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil", Prov.1:33.
"Rejoice in the Lord, O righteous ones; praise is becoming for the upright", Ps.33:1. Why is praise becoming for the upright in heart? Because righteousness itself depends on the Lord. Without Jesus, righteousness would not be possible. Therefore, praise should exist simply because there is righteousness. Righteousness alone is by itself a matter of praise - it is enough reason to praise God for.
Every thing people have, God has given; every thing people do not have, God has taken away. And it is true of everyone, righteous or unrighteous.
There is no difference between one who claims to be an atheist and he who believes in God and acts in his practical life as if God does not exist. "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God!'". However, God also speaks of all those who "acted corruptly; they have done abominable works, there is no one who does good. The Lord looked down from Heaven on the sons of men, to see if there were any who understood and sought God. All have gone aside, together they are filthy", Ps.14:1,2. If an atheist says there is no God to be able to walk in his own ways or the way he understands as a way, or if someone chooses to go astray saying that God exists, both act as if God does not exist. Both are unbelievers and strange to the faith in Jesus. God takes into account how you live above the faith you express. Atheist or not, the carnal desire is to live in sin and in own ways. Some prefer to believe that God exists and that He will suffer them or even fulfil their carnal desires; others prefer to believe that He does not exist to live carnally and as they like. The flesh does not want law. I believe that there are more atheists among those who claim that God exists than anywhere else, because "all have gone astray" and live their practical lives in darkness as if God does not exist. Believing in God is a comfort to their consciences and not a saving power. They wish to bribe God by saying He exists and by believing the way devils believe.
When there are false witnesses or false rumours, one should be able to distinguish between those who are intentionally false in order to crush and destroy righteous ones; and those rumours or falsehoods that originate in ignorance. However, we should not get any illusions: both are equally destructive. Never be a witness against your neighbour, not even in ignorance; instead, try to save those who are about to be stoned. Keep your mouth shut or keep it exclusively able and ready to express the salvation of Jesus, who saves both 'good' and bad ones from their gross sins.
It is thought that those who hate us or simply do not support us improve their attitudes toward us when we perfect ourselves. Many try to become perfect in order to be well accepted by those who reject them. Their motives are not upright. But, the truth says that the opposite occurs: those who hate or oppose do not stand the fact that holy ones become holier. In fact, they wish to see errors in them instead of successes and perfections. They seek their downfall and imperfections to have something to talk about. Perfection increases the anger and bitterness of those who hate God and His children. Remember that you must give an account of your life to God and not to those who hate you and abhor righteousness. Pray for them in secret, having a heart full of mercy, bleeding with supplications, and do not try to do it to be accepted by them. If you do, God will see you as a hypocrite who pretends to be accepted and not that his enemies be saved.
Those who seek the Lord only when they have problems for the sake of those problems will cease to seek Him when their problems are sorted out and solved. We must seek and find God for His sake and not only because of the problems we have, and must be able to rejoice in the fact that we have Jesus and not the solution to problems. It is true that someone can start off wrong or have the wrong reasons in the beginning and end well, that is, you can begin to seek God because of the problems you have and end with Jesus for what He is. But the sooner the heart changes its motives, the better for everyone's sake in every way.
"Therefore, the prudent will keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time", Amos 5:13. To keep silent during bad times is prudence at its best. We may be taken to evil thinking and evil believing about God - let us keep our thoughts silent and pure, especially if we cannot think on anything to praise God about yet; we may be tempted to take the wrong direction or to make hasty decisions to avoid what God is intending for us; we may decide without God and without contemplating Him; our words may come out harshly and hard; our complaints may call upon uncertainty and unbelief and it may carry us into the reign of the devil and darkness. It is good to know at all times that there is great wisdom in keeping quiet every time we should not say or do anything.
The way I speak can determine a course of a life. It is never good to be a stumbling block with words. If I have the right words at an improper time, or if I utter them in a wrong way or with a wrong attitude; or if I have the wrong words and speak in a good manner to entice people; I might be the stumbling block of a life. It won't be good for me and neither for those who hear me.
I don't need to ignore bad things around to prevent being affected by them. I need to know they are out there, expecting me to lose my guard. I can't be taken by surprise if I know they are around trying to strike my soul. However, if my mind is found in Christ and the expectations are of Him and are alive and genuine, evil cannot touch the core of my soul even when I look it into the eyes. I shall be absorbed by the Lord and shall not be entangled by the thoughts of evil. God will grant what is good to be involved with and to keep me busy.
"He brought us forth by the word of truth (...) So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath", James 1:18,19. It is good to know that we are born again and brought forth by hearing, it is, through the word. The importance of hearing and listening is outstanding. It means our life and eternity depend on it. "Take heed therefore how ye hear", Lk.8:18. If we do not hear, we can't be regenerated. Whoever speaks a lot, can't hear - let's be slow to speak. We can't listen and speak at the same time; whoever is hasty, impatient or angry has his mind busy with other stuff and can't hear - let's be slow to wrath. However, we should distinguish between those who hear as they should and those who listen only to be able to figure out how to reply.
The way of God is a life and not a theory or a doctrine. Whoever doesn't live according to what he preaches (if he preaches the truth) should never mention doctrine or teaching to avoid being condemned further. It would be far better for him not to have known what it is all about.
"Where there is no vision (prophecy), the people perish", Prov.29:18. Think of a person without direction, a sheep without guidance, a life without law or someone who does not know what to do. A person does not become just disorientated, but idle. Any idle person still thinks and can rarely control thoughts, worries or any other mind issue. In fact, only an idle person can give full freedom to his thoughts. Without Christ, anyone imprisoned for his faith becomes uncontrolled. He shall not be able to bridle his own thoughts. If someone is in a prison cell without anything to do and a lot to think about, he has a good opportunity to sanctify his mind because thoughts arise at rampant, uncontrolled and loose.
If God does not do what we want, the tendency is to doubt Him and His love for us. There is an appeal to doubt when we are still of the resisting sort. When someone is put to the test, as a rule, he will not get what he wants, or will not receive in the form he expected to receive, or in a timing he would wish to receive. There is a saying that true friends are manifested only when we have no money. Sometimes, Jesus is presented to us "as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not", Is.53:2,3. Do not be surprised if Jesus presents Himself to you in such a way. If He does, it will be revealed if you are His true friend or not.
Who is the person that, being tried, understands everything that is happening to him? Job understood that he was being tried. However, he understood only that far. He did not understand the reasons and the means used to try him. He only concluded that he was being tried and no more than that. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons why James advises us to ask for wisdom if we need it under trials. Wisdom is, also, prudence in the words we utter; taking control of the thoughts we have or allow to take hold of our mind; not taking hasty conclusions and much less unjustified ones. "Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust - there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever", Lam.3:28-31.
"The testing of your faith produces patience", James 1:3. As faith is the result of a relationship and a child of a genuine fellowship with Jesus, we must consider that for it to be tested successfully and to be able to end up producing patience, the fellowship with the Lord must be maintained at any cost at all times. It is not an issue of keeping the faith but rather of keeping the fellowship with the Lord in the absence of selfishness, personal reasons and interests, and all that it entails. Without Jesus in a real way and without depending exclusively on the true aid of the Holy Spirit (provided it is real) we and our faith will not pass the test and it shall not have its perfect work. It is necessary to pass the testing. If we are not able to pass this testing, it will produce impatience rather than patience. Patience is also the result (fruit) of fellowshipping with Jesus. If this is true, impatience is the direct result of the lack of this fellowship, or of a kind of fellowship where selfishness and personal interests are actively and continually harassing the Lord. If a sincere communion with Jesus is not maintained during trials, we will not pass the test and unbelief shall be tried and not faith. Not passing the testing can only end up in impatience, complaints, ugly and harsh words along with bad thoughts towards God and people around.
Every one of us experiences moments of complex situations through our lives. A preacher must learn to preach the Word, but he must also watch over his personal life. He must live twice as much as he preaches. Only then can he consider himself a preacher of the true word of God. For this reason there are times when we read the Word just to take care of our own hearts and souls, and there are other times we use to outline a sermon or a bible study that must correspond to what we live and practice already. "... Lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified", 1Cor.9:27. However, the whole of all sermons must be soaked with encouraging and charging intuition that takes any listener to be a doer of the Word and not a mere hearer only. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves", James 1:22.
Faith that heals sickness is not always able to save the soul. "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and glorified God with a loud voice. And he fell down on his face at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan. And answering, Jesus said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were none found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And He said to him, Rise and go; your faith has cured you", Lk.17:15-19. To nine, their faith cured them of leprosy; but, to the one, it also saved his soul.
"It is impossible (inevitable) but that offenses will come (...) Take heed to yourselves", Lk.17:1-3. It is common sense that everyone must take good care of what belongs to him, whether it is a house, car, children or marriage. No one will do it for him. The offenses to which Jesus is referring here are serious threats. This is not only a serious warning to those responsible for the stumbling blocks - it is also a warning to those who stumble. That is why Jesus says, "Take heed to yourselves". It is impossible to avoid offenses coming from every corner when we live for God in full synchrony with His ways and power. Let's feel warned. These offenses may come from where we least expect. They may come from a spouse, a mother, a child, a father or any loved one or even any trusted one. "For from now on, there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three", Luc.12:52. Let's thank God for women and men who have married a saint and let's pray for those who married a serpent.
When you are unhappy in a certain place, you shall never be happy in any other place. A change of place or circumstances won't change your soul. The problem resides in the heart and not where you have been placed by God. The place is the excuse and not the reason for your complaints. It is the excuse not to fix your heart with the Lord and people around. Give thanks to God that He provides places and circumstances where the worst of you comes out and is made visible. Use those situations to judge yourself better, in the light, and you might not be judged in the last day about it. And if it is true that a certain place is able to bring the worst out of you, it is also true that it can bring out the best that has been planted within you heart and has never had the chance to be revealed or manifested. However, goodness must be exclusive of the heart where it resides. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit", John 12:24. Evil must be dead and goodness must reign in an exclusive way.
From the first times that I started reading my Bible, everyone says, "we need to know the Scriptures". I even found people that memorize Scriptures. I have heard of someone memorizing the whole Bible for fear that communism would, one day, deprive him of it. Jesus said that the Pharisees knew the Scriptures. They did not live the Word out, though. They did not live it out, experience it or taste Jesus as the Word itself. I don't think it is wrong to have the verses of the Bible memorized, but, I also believe that if Scripture means a lot to my heart and understanding, I shall know it by heart anyway, or perhaps, in a better way than to have it merely memorized.
If I am correct doctrinally and am found in right standing with God and use my time to confront or attack wrong doctrines or evil, there shall be no time left for me to preach the true gospel. It is a fruitless course of life we take by trying to devastate falsities of any kind, especially because they tend to die by themselves. Besides, if I do so, my works and preaching shall be fruitless because I have been spending my time involved with strange fire, have put the gospel aside and my intentions have not been pleasant to God. Let's keep weeds away from our own heart and garden and have in mind that weeds shall grow in every careless or neglected garden no matter what we do. The reward for a wrong heart shall always be a wrong course of life or track. And, if I attack evil, I am doing what evil seeks from me. It seeks confrontation all the time. Evil seeks that I stir it more by confronting it. I cannot be found fertilizing its soil for it. The best way to annihilate or counterwork a wrong path or way is to be found in God always doing the right thing the right way through the proper power, working at the proper garden. If I am not found doing just that, even if I am right doctrinally, I shall have no true fruit to put forth because I have been too busy with a sideway and not with the true gospel of Jesus. My right doctrines cannot bear fruit because I have not been busy with the gospel. My works and lack of fruit will not convince wrongdoers to change because I have been charging against them and have not been working for the truth and with its changing power. And in case they listen to my words and I cannot put forth any true fruit myself due to the course of life I have been taking, it will harm truth greatly. The only way is to be right and do right and never to charge against a wrong course unless I am fitly led to do so. "As I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me", John 5:30.
Everyone who gossips about people or mentions things behind their backs can be frontal and direct towards those he talks against only by being rude, cruel and unhelpful. Only a devilish heart can talk against other people behind their backs. And that same heart is able to talk in a rude and harsh manner to those same people, who he would prefer never to confront. People seek attention at the cost of the annihilation of others when they talk against them. They have an urge to be against people, whether they do so behind their backs or confront them plainly and harshly.
All sorts of impatience are like thorns deep in an important muscle: it not only hurts, but incapacitates the body part which it serves. And when a body part suffers, the whole body is limped because we have only one of each body part to serve the body in the whole.
Spiritual authority is a vast mixture of many virtues and of personal characteristics. However, all of them are based upon a foundation of humility. As the foundations stand for a house or building, so does humility stand for authority. A proud man might be, at the most, an autocrat. He doesn't have a solid foundation. Nevertheless, the foundation is not the house. And the house is nothing without a solid foundation.
"Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, he loves little", Luc.7:47. This truth is not referring to those who have sinned little, but only to such who have been forgiven little. If it were about those who sinned little and have been forgiven all their little sinning, then, it would be a contradiction to say they love little. Let me explain. The opposite of sin is love. So, if people sin little, it is because they love much and that is why they sin little. Those who sin little have abundant love and have little selfishness in them, since love is the opposite of sin. This verse of Scripture means only that, for some reason, people have been forgiven little because they might have not been sincere about their sins; or they ignored them or miscalculated the greatness of their guilt; or, perhaps, they are blind to their sinning; or simply refuse to confess them by being ashamed or to proud to be fully exposed in the light. Then, they shall be forgiven little or even nothing. This doesn't mean either that whoever loves much does so not because of having been forgiven. Abundant forgiveness brings thankfulness about and not love. Instead, one is forgiven by loving much because, by loving, it shows one has been converted from selfishness to love. And conversion is a central condition to receive forgiveness. No one can ever separate confession from conversion. No one shall ever be forgiven by missing out on one of the two. Nevertheless, confession must lead to or end up in genuine conversion.
Hearing and obeying God is a life and death issue. Whoever doesn't listen to Him will get lost along the way and shall go to and fro according to the direction the wind takes. Doubts, emerging bad imaginations and deviating or distracting thoughts is the heritage of all those who do not hear God. To hear God one needs to have a heart that is according to God. They must be alike. Only sheep hear Him, the Shepherd. And it doesn't help forcing our ears to hear if we are not fully reconciled with God. Hearing God is very simple and all it takes to hear Him is to be made sheep.
If God is speaking to your heart, take care not to interrupt Him with arguing, with thriving bad thoughts or counter proposals because all of that shall be seen as resisting God. "Do not resist the Spirit of God".
"Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" John 21:15. The thing that is asking to stand out here is that John was loved by Jesus (perhaps more than others were) and that Peter loved Jesus more than others did or were capable of loving. Jesus loved John more, and Peter loved Jesus more. Then, it is interesting to see that Jesus appointed as leader the one that loved Him most and not the one He loved more. The one that loved Jesus more than others was asked or appointed to care for the ones Jesus loved and to be their overseer. Jesus does not appoint according to His preferences, but according to the inner heart and personal constitution of a future servant.
The relationship we must have is not with the Holy Spirit, but through the Holy Spirit. It must be a relationship with the Father and with Jesus. We must know Jesus and have the Holy Spirit assisting us to know Him.
"He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me", John 14:21. No one is able to keep a commandment that he doesn't have in him. The commandment that is kept is the one that has taken hold of the heart and turns to be part of the being who keeps it. "I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts", Jer.31:33. The heart must become the commandment itself. Then - and only then - must it or can it be kept. Transformation has taken place. After that, it is the duty to seek and find grace and its means of power to be able to maintain and keep it in a way satisfactory to God. If we have the car, we must find the proper means to run it. We cannot push it around or use own means to make it move. And to find both (it is, the heart and the grace to have it run) one must remain is such fellowship and communion with Jesus that it becomes our only way to exist. A transformed heart can do nothing unless it remains in God. Without Him or the commandment no one shall ever have the commandments, or be able to keep them if one has them already inside or burned in by the fire of God.
"I go away, and you shall seek Me and shall die in your sins", John 8:21. This is sad indeed. Jesus said once that whoever comes to Him shall never be rejected. But, here we read that people shall seek Him and, even so, shall eventually die in their sins. It is possible to reach a point of no return in a sinful life, or, should I rather say, a point of no way out for our sins. Let's fear.
"He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her", John 8:7. It is interesting to see that the only one who had no sin and could cast the first stone did not throw that stone at the woman. "Neither do I give judgment. Go, and sin no more", John 8:11. But, what Jesus "threw" at her was, perhaps, something harder: "Go, sin no more".
The discourse of Jesus in John 6 was hard and unacceptable to many who were listening with an open heart. However, Jesus did not detain Himself from making it even harder. "Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you also wish to go away?'" John 6:67. Thank God the twelve remained with Him or Jesus would not be able to say to them, later, that "You have been (you have remained) with Me from the beginning" John 15:27. But, there is something we must have in mind: one of the twelve who remained with Him was a devil. Not all who stay with Him to the last moments is heavenly and not all who remain stays to represent the values and the virtues of God to man.
When a thorough confession of all sins (by name) is not accompanied by the abandonment of those sins which are confessed, even if that means a great loss to anyone, the near future or the near end shall be worse off than it was before sins have been confessed.
One of the faculties of the flesh is to become able to believe in fantasies and lies, to fight for them and live as if they are goals which must be reached at any cost. And when people do not repent from their many fantasies by coming to the faith, they shall easily deviate from the way and start believing their powerful Lord must fulfil the desires of their evil heart and their own expectations. The flesh does not have as a goal or as a 'dream' to do God's will and to have it fulfilled here on earth right now. The will of God is to know Christ as He is - which is eternal Life itself - and to have the people around just as saved.
Many believe faith is an end in itself and not the means to an end. They preach as if it suffices to come to the faith in Christ. But, faith is the means which shall attain the end God wills for us by adding perseverance, expectation and holy endurance to it. "Add to your faith...", 2Pet.1:5. Why would one need to add to it if it were an end and not the means?
"My God shall cast them away because they did not listen to Him. And they shall be wanderers among the nations", Hos.9:17. To become wanderers among the nations, these days, may mean to have nothing to do and to have too much time to think the problems over and over without being able to solve them; may mean to breed hopes which are never fulfilled and to keep breeding them over and over again without realizing those hopes keep repeating themselves without being fulfilled; etc. If you are going through such a situation, perhaps you may consider to repent from all your sins and come back to God. However, do not expect to be rewarded by going back to Him. Expect only to be saved from your sins and to have you true inner life restored.
The great majority of the so-called gifts we see at work in churches today are self-attributed. They cannot be regarded as gifts, but as own-mindedness. Somewhere people started believing it is God's duty to listen to them and to so-called words of faith to fulfil them at their command. According to their practical views, they decide and God must act accordingly. Their decisions are law. However, I believe that anything that is self-attributed ceases to be a gift to become deceitfulness and selfishness at work.
"Because of the greatness of your iniquity and the great hatred...", Hos.9:7. Many people came to ask me how could they get rid of hatred and grudges. The answer should be easy and simple. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. It is true that hatred becomes a habit or a way of the heart, a routine of the mind. The machine to hate is there, ready to work, and any fuel shall ignite it. It flashes all around and shoots at random. Sometime, somewhere it all started to be that way and you could not help it any longer, but being nasty. But, before it became an 'unconsciously' autocratic and anarchistic habit, it had an origin. By sorting out the origin of it, we may, by the grace of God, deal with the ways that have been turned into habits afterwards. Justification leads to sanctification. Hatred is not the opposite of love - selfishness is. Hatred is just one of the many manifestations of selfishness. If we are found separated from God in some way or because of something, selfishness is what awaits us to take over the heart. If we cannot live for God or use His means to do so, we shall live for the sake of self and make use of carnal means because spiritual means are cancelled. Then, hatred may become great and uncontrollable. Being away from God will lead to grudges against people and God, surely. Soon it will become unbearable, especially if one has already tasted eternal life before. It goes from iniquity to great hatred.
"...All that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread is for their soul and shall not come into the house of the Lord", Hos.9:4. What if we talk about the house we desire, the car, the marriage, or any other thing which serve only to satisfy appetites and not to honour God and His service? Does your house serve God? Have you tried but it doesn't work? Is your marriage a living example of peace and heavenly harmony? Whatever serves only for bread for the soul is polluted. It is not acceptable for the service of God and shall never enter the Temple of the Lord. But, this verse may also mean something different: it may mean that because it is polluted, it shall serve as food to selfishness only, which is the centre point of all sin. It means that if something is sinful or stained by wrong motives or sin, it shall serve only to pollute man further and to fill up the measure of his greed. Because it is polluted it is cursed and shall not enter the Temple of God to serve Him. Not even when people dedicate it to God can it be acceptable. It shall, consequently, serve to turn man more and more selfish and against God.
Someone who walks around with a stained conscience and is, consequently, blind shall always see his own faults and sins on others and judge them according to the convictions or the perceptions about sin he has. In fact, when judging others, he is judging himself and he is not aware of it. But, that is not all. Usually, he attributes to himself the virtues or good things he is able to spot in others. Own sins are seen in others and others' virtues are claimed for self. If you ever wish to know what sins you need to confess and bring to the light, and what sins you should be saved from, make a list of the faults you see in others. It shall be a credible hint or guide for your own salvation. And if you wish to know what other people have that is good and virtuous, make a list of the good things you believe you are when others are around.
"They have set up kings, but not by Me; they have made rulers, and I knew it not", Hos.8:4. God could also say the same things about many issues and about many Christians: "They chose their husband or wife and did not consult Me"; "They decided this or that and did not enquire from Me" "They travelled and I was not their leading motive"; "They chose their pastor and it was not I who decided"; etc.
"Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him", Hos.8:3. When we speak of the enemy pursuing us, we easily think of problems, disappointments, sickness or troubles. However, we must realize that most of what shall happen consists of temptations and sinful downfalls. By abandoning God, we are handed over to ourselves, to temptations and to our own deceitful hearts. The devil will play around with us as a cat does with a mouse. The persecutions will be mostly inner ones backed up by discouragements and disappointments in God, anger, unbelief, resentments of all sorts and hardness against repenting. That is mainly how the enemy pursues those who left God, to push them further and further away from Him.
A firm, direct, cutting, righteous, precise and truthful preaching will obtain genuine results only if accompanied by its corresponding manifestation to the soul of the hearer. It must be pressed to the soul and spirit of man directly and personally by the Spirit of God, which is holy. If the Holy Spirit, for some reason, doesn't manifest and press truthful words to the heart of the hearer, the results will be disastrous. It is the full responsibility of those who preach to be always right with God and to depend on Him to have the Work bear its proper fruit. We cannot depend on the preaching, but on God. If God doesn't accompany the preaching, the hearers shall be antagonized and put off. Why could John the Baptist say to his hearers, looking into their eyes, that they were vipers and opportunist snakes and still, they would come again and again to listen to him and to repent by confessing their sins before him? We confess sins only before whom we trust. And why do many leave their churches for much less than that? It is required of the preachers who preach as they ought to be the Gospel themselves, and to be a living proof of God's power and holiness. They must make sure nothing separates them from God and there must be no outstanding issue that they must fix with God or people - whoever those people are, either enemy or friend, family or stranger, child or grown up. But, in case they take notice that their gospel and their preaching is antagonizing people, they may never fall into the temptation of changing their right ways to accept a more popular way of preaching. They might do it instead of resolving all issues that stand between them and God and which stain their relationship with God. Rather humble yourself before God and carry on preaching as you ought and may God bless you richly.
God created joy and made it available to those who belong to Him. Those that belong to Him can enjoy it any time for any reason and under any circumstances. This kind of joy does not depend on the greatness of the motive, but only if we have it by being right with God and if our conscience is clean and accessible to the Holy Spirit. If we are in right standing with God, having confessed and abandoned every know sin (having been cleansed through His blood), this joy is always there and needs no known secondary reason to manifest itself at any time. We simply have this joy in us. It dominates us and we cannot miss out on it or help it up - it simply exists and anything can cause us to be joyful. Our laughter is there not because of what we laugh about but because of the joy that is there. Circumstances are unable to influence or change it - not for the better and neither for the worse.
Many believe it is enough to distinguish between evil and good and to be able to discern between them. However, the Bible says expressly that there are two things which must be mastered: one must know how to reject evil and how to submit one's soul to the goodness of God to be able to become like Him. One must know to accept goodness and to reject evil. These are two different things altogether. Both must be mastered and accomplished independently through the means of grace and not by any other means. No one can do it for somebody else and one thing does not lead automatically to the other, even though these two virtues are inseparable. We must, also, take into account the fact that many people say evil is good and that good is evil, that sweet is sour and sour is sweet.
"I waited patiently for the Lord", Ps.40:1. It is interesting to know that David did not say that he waited impatiently for the Lord. For some people it may even sound as a virtue to wait impatiently for Him. David waited with patience and not in despair. It is important to wait on the Lord, however difficult or troublesome it may be. However, I believe that waiting with patience is more rewarding for the soul. I don't know if any who say that he waited for the Lord, but impatiently, shall also say, later on, that "He inclined unto me, and heard my cry". I honestly don't know. Perhaps, such a person might still be rewarded in the same way for having waited, but I cannot say for sure.
Before asking what God wants to accomplish through your life, you should ask if He has your life in His hands to do with it as He wants when He wants. Your life must be His unconditionally and without hindrances. Only after that is accomplished or being accomplished should you ask what He wants to do through it or around it. The testimony must be alive first - it must be a living one before anything else can happen.
"And they do not say within their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their own doings have hemmed them in; they are before My face", Hos.7:2. There are many ways to have God recall our sins again, even those that have been forgiven before. All it takes to have God remember old sins again is to go become fit to commit them again. God must remember forgiven sins to condemn backsliders because the fact that they had been forgiven before must speak against them. "For he in whom these things are not present is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from his sins in the past", 2Pet.1:9. If conversion makes God forget all committed sins, backsliding will make God remember them all again.
"And I sought for a man among them who should wall up a wall for the land, and stand in the break before me, that I should not destroy it. But I did not find one", Ez.22:30. To "stand in the break", as God says, one needs not only to pray and to intercede, but, one needs to be or become someone whom God hears in prayer. There is a lot more in intercession than one thinks of at first impressions.
"...All of them moaning, every one in his iniquity", Ez.7:16. This may not mean that those who moan are aware that their heaviness is resulting from their sins. It only means it is because of their sins, but not that they are aware of it as a fact beyond dispute. It means only that their own sins are responsible for what they become. In case they knew their sins did bring that heaviness upon them, why would the Lord find Himself in need of sending the prophets day in and day out to convince them or call upon them to repent? They never believed the prophets that God sent to warn them. They even killed some. "The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble", Prov.4:19.
If man complains, let him complain about his own sins. It is sad that people do not listen to what the Bible says. Everybody easily and promptly complains against other people's sins and never against their own. They rather feel sorry for themselves and angry against others. It is true other people have sins; however, let them complain against them themselves. Allow them that duty and privilege. How different would this world be did everyone complain against his own sins! God would easily forgive them and help them out of corruption and people would get along with each other. "Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord", Lam.3:40.
It is not possible to find communion or understanding between a wrong heart and a right one. A wrong man gets along with another wrong man, and the rightful person with such who are as right as he is. Those who gossip get along with people that gossip and will never get along or understand those who refuse to talk against others or refuse to listen to such talk. One of the reasons why people may think all goes well between those who are wrong is the fact that they are alike and get along, and not that they are right. The flesh cannot deny itself, but only what is spiritual and upright; the spirit denies the flesh when it comes to God and is made alive. The idea that people are right when they have lots of supporters is a lie from hell. Another lie is to say that upright ones do not have supporters and are not loved or appreciated.
"...The iniquity shall be sought for, and it shall not be found; (...) for I will pardon...", Jer.50:20. We read this same statement in many places in Scripture: Sin shall be sought, but never found because it has been forgiven or blotted out. Now, in order to be forgiven by God, one must be truly converted, being able to abandon all those sins which have been confessed in all its sordid details. To be able to abandon sin permanently and effectively, one must be able to seek and find grace from God for that purpose; a temporary abandonment of sin shall not work and shall not bring pardon. There must be genuine conversion before forgiveness can take place. Therefore, if sins shall not be found when sought, it means people are converted fully and changed permanently.
I don't know why it happens, but a great majority of people feel guilty or ashamed when other people sin in front of them as if they are participants of it. Sometimes, they even fear the consequences of other's sins. I think it happens because either their conscience is not at ease or they are not solidified in truth. They cannot easily hold on to facts as they are. They might not be able to believe their innocence or they might not be innocent in some aspects of their lives. Sometimes, they even feel unjustified guilt. Others, on the other hand, see only the sins of other people and overlook their own. When they hear a sermon that they understand or that touches them, they usually say, "So and so should be listening to this". Is there a greater sadness than the one where people do not see their own sins and, consequently, see the reflection of own sins when others sin?
It is possible to show impatience having the heart already changed because of temptation - if temptation happens or if it has a smart grip on the actions of a changed man. It is also possible to show forth patience and calmness without having been changed by God. We should not be virtuous in appearance only.
Anyone who talks of another, speaks against himself. He shall be condemned by his own words and sins. It is not others who are condemned by your cutting, accusing words or remarks, but you only. You are drinking the poison which you hope others will die from.
"I looked and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness", Jer.4:26. Some times, we blame God for the failures of His words and works on earth. However, we see that the desert that now prevails is, was or could be fertile soil in a land He created with the purpose of becoming productive and fertile. After sin has stepped in, the need to plough and work on it was created. It needs to be prepared beforehand and, afterwards, the needed rains fall from heaven. "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns", Jer.4:3. "I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light", Jer.4:23. It is sad to mark that God uses, here, the same expression that was used before the earth had been created: "And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep", Gen.1:2. The conditions of the earth, as it is found now, seem to be the same as when the earth was in need of the first intervention of God. At least, it is so in the eyes of the Lord. "Though you dress with crimson, though you put on ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes large with paint, you shall make yourself beautiful in vain", Jer.4:30. There are many who work hard on appearances thinking they are doing a good thing and little do they know that they are working on covering up the world's defects and deflections by using means which only change its appearance. But, God sees the heart and not the make-up. The heart is not changed by the way we talk, but the talk is changed by the way the heart is. We need to plough deep into our hearts and break through the fallow ground of appearance. We should not plant among thorns and in shallow ground. Our hearts must be able to guarantee growth and to retain the waters from heaven faithfully. We cannot hinder God's works by working on appearances as if we are working on holiness.
Grudges or intolerance against people is a sin that never walks alone. Anger lies, quite often, about many things - it is never objective about issues; it has answers even before it hears the questions; it has vain imaginations and conceptions only to be able to justify itself; it is always defending itself, even before it is attacked or even when it is not being attacked - and God said we should under no circumstances defend ourselves or take revenge, not even when attacks are real. I could, perhaps, mention more sins resulting from intolerance and grudges. However, I shall leave it to you, to your conscience and to the capacity you have to enquire all to keep what is good.
There is a law in nature which no one shall ever be able to change: if I am able to be unpleasant to others for personal reasons, I am still of the kind that search to please people, however occasionally. And if I still please people, I am still able to be unpleasant.
No one may trust anyone who speaks of other people, for various reasons. Firstly, whoever speaks of others behind their backs is seeking something for himself, like attention, affection, or support against others, or something else, and is not objective about what he says. Such people accuse to find something they guess they might get in return, especially if the hearer has the same mind or is feeling as bitter. There is always some sort of complicity involved in backbiting or gossiping. People who gossip are dishonest at heart and are not honest people, not even towards themselves.
We all know we always reap whatever we sow one way or another, one day or another. However, many believe they shall reap only things proportional to the seeds that they sow or plant. They seldom believe that little seeds can turn into big happenings. Even a giant starts off as a very small embryo. "And when you sow, you do not sow the body that is going to be, but a bare grain (it may be of wheat, or of some of the rest)", 1Cor.15:37.
If it is indeed true that the "woman is the glory of man" (1Cor.11:7), then, it is also true that she can become his main source of dishonour, friction and weariness. Whatever is honourable to someone can become the opposite by moving away from God. The things and plans of God work out only near God and by Him. Let's remain in Him.
Any form of idolatry is intimately linked or associated with the fleshly desires of some practices of evil that God and conscience don't approve. The idol is unable to reprove or chastise and is able to grant some religious comfort to the sinner who is in need of consolation due to the aggression of conscience and the Law of God against him. The biggest danger to the soul of man is to believe that God upholds his lifestyle. Such a lie is able to create terrorists. People choose the kind of gods that suits them best. "We may not be lusters after evil, even as those indeed lusted. Neither be idolaters, even as some of them, as it has been written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play", 1Cor.10:6,7. Lusts and idolatry have always been associated and found together. Religiosity and evil are twins. They can't live apart and work hard together.
Any person inclined to enter, accept or believe an erroneous doctrine has the wrong heart in him. Consequently, the main problem to solve in such a person is not of the doctrine kind or teaching, but of heart. The (wrong) doctrine becomes the barrier or the protecting wall around the heart, though. It must be destroyed fully one time or another, one way or another. However, the real problem lies in the heart and the acceptance of the wrong thing is held on to because of convenience and not because of it being truthful. A wrong doctrine is the main protection of a wrong heart. It is the wrong heart's main defence and surrounds it to protect it from war. It suits people's sins to have a wrong doctrine and to have war face the wall instead of confronting the heart. By sorting out the heart before God in all truthfulness, wrong doctrines tend to perish by themselves because the heart ceases to be in need of them to protect itself.
Paul (and wisdom) say we must not sit in a table filled with meat sacrificed to idols in order not to have weak brothers stumble because of us. They may be scandalized by our actions or attitudes. However, that is a completely different thing from when Jesus entered a Pharisee's house and allowed a (ex)prostitute, who was also a woman, to touch Him. It was a scandalizing stumbling block for the Pharisees and, perhaps, for some of His disciples. We must never exclude this type of action from Jesus as wisdom at work as well.
Whoever cannot love bad people or indecent ones, won't, surely, love good ones for the proper motives. Such shall love good ones because they treat them nicely and it only proves how much such people love themselves.
We don't rest from God but with God.
Separation or segregation from evildoers may not mean holiness to those who separate themselves. It can help to be holy, especially in the beginning stages of the Christian experience, and as long as that experience is real. But, if we do not preserve or maintain our fellowship with and closeness to the Lord, separation from sin is unable to keep us. We must trust the Lord and not our separation from sin.
There are those who don't know what they do, as Jesus also said and confirmed. However, there are also those who don't know what they say, hear, see and watch.
A question for today's preachers, many of which use and dominate today's pulpits unceasingly: Do you wish to have truth prevail or that you be the preacher?
It startles my heart to see how weak or useless is the faith of many. It is troublesome and worrying. Doubts storm in at the slightest accusation or persecution; concerns and doubtful thoughts at the slightest lack of food or clothing. The most insignificant trial is enough to have the heart troubled and concerned to the point of wishing to change their way or move back into worldliness and its ways of accomplishing or getting things. It is easy to mark that their foundations are not strong or that they are inexistent. They cannot maintain their joy in trouble and persecution. To be persecuted may mean we are on the proper track and we are advised to keep that in mind. God might not be against us. "...And not being terrified in anything by those who oppose, which (...) truly is a proof of salvation to you, and this from God", Phil.1:28.
"And no hair of your head shall in no way perish", Luk.21:18. It seems strange that someone who is being killed and tortured for his faith should believe that not even a hair of his head is perishing. It makes sense, though, if our eyes are set in heavenly things and look at the word of Jesus by having heaven in mind. "It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh does not profit, nothing! The Words which I speak to you are spirit and are life", John 6:63.
"Then, put into your hearts not to premeditate to make a defence", Luk.21:14. There are two ways in which we must understand this verse from Scripture: the existing or dying selfishness to save self as if it must live; and the lack of confidence in God who leads faithfully and as if He is non-existing or if He shouldn't save from selfishness. Whenever someone attempts to save himself through his own efforts, he must think on what he is doing. It is not a good thing that which he is trying to do. "And blessed are you in that you have kept me (...) from delivering myself with my own hand", 1Sam.25:33.
Everyone that attempts to save himself from anything whatsoever, is trying to do something he shall never be able to do.
When Jesus says assuredly that the cares of this world suffocate the word of God, He doesn't necessarily mean that it hinders our understanding or remembering it, even though it can also be the case. In fact, what He means is that it shall surely become a stumbling block to the practice of the word we understand correctly. It is a word that has fallen in good ground. One cannot serve two masters at once and to serve is to be practical about it. It is impossible to have anyone fully available for a practical life in Christ for which grace must be asked for and found in time (beforehand), if the worries of this world are still affecting our mind and spirit.
What would you think of someone who throws seeds of weeds around in his field expecting to harvest corn that is good to eat and that only? What a 'faith'! How can someone sow thorns and get good corn from a field? What would you think of someone who throws any numbers in a calculator having a certain result in mind beforehand? Who imagines the result first? Our end result is a consequence of the numbers we put into a machine. So is our life: we shall harvest precisely what we have sown. Unless we clean our fields of old seeds and old plants that bear alike bad seed, which we have been using in our lives, we shall bear no other fruit than the one the seeds are supposed to put forth.
What determines if there is revival or not is not the amount of praying but the amount of prayers that are heard by God and attended to.
Christ never said that He would win the world over (as the devil tempted Him to do) but rather that He overcame the world. By overcoming it, it is assumed that the world is an enemy and not an ally or friend. We overcome enemies and not friends. Many wish to please the world to the point of winning it over to their side. Imagine a team that, on the field, instead of playing the important game, rather uses its time to convince the other team to let go and play on their side. It shall lose the game, surely! Our adversary doesn't play the game of life to lose, but to hit us with death. To become an ally of an enemy is the worst kind of treason and the worst manner of surrender in warfare.
What God wants more than anything else is to have people around whom He can't deny.
Anyone unable to teach himself shall never be able to teach others as he should. Teaching others is more difficult than to teach oneself because, in order to teach anyone effectively, one must be already living what he teaches. Yet, people choose always the hard part. The high point of hypocrisy is to teach whatever we don't do ourselves. Such a sin is quite a bad.
We don't see Jesus repeating the Sermon of the Mountain. Yet, His disciples never forgot it. What did the Lord have that His disciples and hearers recalled with precision everything He said and taught? Do you have what Jesus had, at least when you are taught? "Ask those who heard me what I have said to them. Behold, they know what I said", John 18:21.
Many people fear reality. It happens because they have been denied by God all their life long. They have been excluded from life and learned the many habits of unbelief. They prefer fantasy and illusion, which, in practical terms, disappoints more, but doesn't disappoint them. Unbelievers are able to trust lies and shadows of truth. To find realities is, for them, to set out in search of disappointment. Therefore, unbelief rejects reality and angers heaven to the uttermost because it chooses the easy way out which leads to death.
"Until now, you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full", John 16:24. This word of Jesus may seem very strange. The disciples had asked many things till then, including to sit at His right and left hand. They had, also, performed many miracles. How is it that they till then they had never asked anything in Jesus' name?
It is only expected that we shall go nowhere by listening to the right things without being able to listen to God. Knowledge on its own will never become true, genuine life that way.
It is possible to be "in Christ" and not breed fruit. If it weren't so Jesus wouldn't have said, "Every branch in Me that doesn't bear fruit is cut off and burned", John 15. We must be careful because we might be believers and mean nothing to heaven.
"...So that your joy may be full", John 15:11. Joy shall never be full unless we have true joy substantiated alone by being in the Lord. If we can be in the Lord and still be joyful and at peace in Him, if we have nothing else to take joy from, our joy is genuine. Few people are able to be at peace in the Holy presence of God - if it is genuine - and to be content only with Him and His will.
Every time someone's sin is revealed to him, it is expected that such a person repents from it and work on being converted or changed through the power of God which is sought for that purpose exclusively. But, it doesn't work out that way all the time. Many times, the opposite is achieved. When the person is convicted, he hardens himself. When Jesus mentioned Judas his sin, Satan got into him; when Stephen showed the Pharisees their sins, they stoned him to death and cried out, even though they have been cut to the heart as happened to those who have been converted by Peter's words.
Sometimes, Jesus seems to arrive late at happenings, as in the case of Lazarus where He got there four days after he had died. However, it doesn't matter how late Jesus arrives at a scene. He is never too late. Even if He is late, He is not late. "If it tarries, wait for it; it will not tarry", Hab.2:3. To wait for it is a commandment. It cannot be taken lightly. To heaven, there is no acceptable reason to despair or to give up. Expectation must always be kept ablaze and alive because "it will not tarry".
Whoever can't trust is suspicious of other people. You cannot unlink one thing from the other. However, mistrust can also be a firm foundation, depending whom you trust or mistrust. "Yet, they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers", John 10:5. To trust the Lord means you avoid the devil fully. It means you don't trust the devil and worldliness. To stop giving good credit to the devil means faith in the Lord if we are found in Him. If you are capable of trusting the Lord, you cannot possibly trust the flesh, worldliness or any devilish thing.
It is a common thing that people will rather not listen to men who speak the words of God faithfully. Those who reject shall attribute such words to anyone but God. However, whenever something goes wrong with those who reject, the person that spoke is blamed as if he or she is responsible for whatever has gone wrong. It was so with King Ahab, who blamed Elijah for the mischief of Israel. "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that (...) I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word", 1 Kings 18:36.
Faith is to trust in whom we cannot believe or to believe in whom we cannot trust in order to make it possible for us to abandon all the things we do not wish to let go.
Unbelief may think it shall receive. If it weren't so, James would have never said, "Don't let such man think that he will receive anything from the Lord", James 1:7. It is quite remarkable to see how many unbelievers assume or hope they shall receive.
If it is true that "the Lord is near those who call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth", why are so many people calling on God and nothing remarkable is happening? Why is everything around still crooked and wrong?
Discipline is a good thing for whoever has it or has a heart filled with good things, which need to be directed properly. However, if someone has never become used to discipline, the struggle is great under it. But, let's know that discipline is not all there is to it. Discipline must be an instrument of the heart and it shouldn't replace the heart. Discipline which is not used with a heart is like a rod without love.
To wait in the Lord is vital for many things. To wait on Him or for Him means that we abstain from any other means to achieve those things we are commanded to wait for or to expect from the Lord; it means to let go on own means and own strength, especially when we have them; it means the right kind of trust in the Lord only (and that kind of faith is able to save); it means rest from own means, the absence of love for fleshly means, conclusions and power; it means to be unable to trust in the flesh; in fact, expectation or hope are many things in one. However, let's be careful because it doesn't always mean we are trusting or expecting from the Lord when we deny the flesh. Paul said we might even give our own body as a sacrifice without being bound by the bonds of the love of God.
Many times we ask ourselves how can people go astray from what they have learned from the Lord and from godly teachers. There are people who build the right things on the wrong foundations or build amiss on the right ones. It is understandable that they go astray. But, there are those who leave the proper way which they walked on properly. What shall we say of such? How can we explain that? There are real revivals that last only for a short time. If we learn directly from the Lord, revivals shall be established if we remain in Him. "I have not departed from thy judgments because thou hast taught me", Ps.119:102.
"...those who remember you in your ways...", Is.64:5. The important part is to be able to remember the Lord in the ways and to gain that sort of lifestyle, much more than to remember the ways themselves. The ways teach us to know the Lord. God uses them to cause us to know Him more as He is. God remembers the ways as we remember Him because He is a God who "works for those who wait on Him", Is.64:4. We cannot assume that God shall work for those who are unable to wait on Him, from Him or to stick by Him.
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart", Ps.97:11. It is interesting to notice the fact that many call on God for light without a willingness to become righteous and a desire to have gladness in the heart without being upright from the heart. That is one of the reasons the world learned to complain.
In the same way that I expect anything bad coming from the world in any measure (because the world has no limitations or boundaries for conscience), I also expect anything good in utmost measures from my good Lord - far above what I can ask or pray for.
There are moments when the power of silence reaches far more than the best, chosen words. Our life, when lived in wisdom, must be a wonderful, synchronized combination between words and silences. Our motives must be purely to honour God. The goals of words and silences must never be in conflict with each other. Every time we reach out to achieve the purposes of God for His sake (and not for ours), it doesn't really matter if such is achieved through words or through silences. But, there are those who keep silent for fear just as there are those who keep from talking because they are courageous. And there are those who talk a lot, as they say, to reach souls but mean only to show off. And there are such who keep silent under the excuse of being wise while they can talk a lot about many other issues that do not matter for the world to come.
I have come across many complaints from many people who say they cannot hear God or that, when they hear something, things do not work out as they have heard or understood it. However, experience tells us that every time I am doing something for God's sake using the means of God and not my own, I am being led in a secure way. You must seek and find the will of God as well as all the means to carry it out. Do not be content only to know what God's will is. Reach out to the means to be able to carry it out. Those who perform the will of God are the ones who shall be applauded by heaven, and not those who knew what it was. You must be able to execute it through the true fire of God and never use a false igniting to have the fire going in your soul. Rather despair than use a false fire on God's altar. Take care to be or to become a sheep-like child of God who, instead of trying to discern between voices, they are familiar with God's. Sheep hear Him - goats and wolfs don't.
Whoever knows how and when to learn shall know when and how to teach; if you are unable to learn, you can't teach. If you cannot listen, you cannot speak as you ought; if you don't discern what and when to listen, you won't speak what and when you ought; if you cannot understand properly, you cannot explain properly either; if you can't face death with a smile, you never knew God the way you should have known Him or, perhaps, you are simply denying Him.
God can be offended under many circumstances and for a multitude of reasons. Some times, those reasons may seem good reasons in the eyes of man and, yet, they are offensive or become offensive to heaven. People may offend God under hunger when hunger is the trial; an unmarried person may demand to get married and trouble God about it instead of asking for it or of expecting it from Him; somebody in loneliness may complain having God close by. We should never offend God because of being found in the wilderness, Ps.78:17,40. We must know how to wait on God under any circumstances. Desires may cause hearts to complain or cause people to do their own thing the way they wish it to be done at the timing they think is best.
God is always good. Even when we are rejected by Him, He is being good.
It is so important to take note that when we lack time for certain things because we have been busy and blessed with the word of God, He blesses whatever we believe suffered a lack of our attention. We shall find out that God is indeed a "God who works for those who wait on Him". However, the reverse of this might not be true, it is, if we neglect our spiritual duties to be able to attend so-called worldly duties, the Word can't be blessed. The word shall not be blessed and neither "the other things" if we have it the other way round.
"Give strength to God...", Ps.68:34. How can we give strength to an Almighty God? It is not God who needs strength or to be strengthened, much less by us. We are the ones who need Him. As I understand it, because we are a fortress which defends itself continually and for obvious reasons, we need to hand the fortress over to the Lord. We need to lay down those self-righteous rights we detain for ourselves, which we use by defending ourselves from anything.
Faith comes by hearing, undoubtedly. We not only need to believe it, but can experience it as truthful. However, it doesn't mean we need to establish faith relating it to the thing we need to trust God for. Faith can be a gift, but it is part of the fruit of the Spirit as well. In fact, real faith is fruit of a real relationship with God. We have it by communing and relating our hearts fully to God by contemplating Him as He is. No one will ever be able to believe concerning a certain point or object which God performs unless the main work in the heart is already accomplished. If the main work has not been performed inside beforehand, faith shall not be working in its details and it won't help forcing our hearts to believe if it is so.
"Oh bless our God, O peoples, and make the voice of His praise to be heard; who holds our soul in life, and does not allow our feet to slide", Ps.66:8,9. When Scripture says that God does not allow our feet to slide, it means two things. It means that He does not allow it to happen because He holds and assures the saints in the way of all truth. "He is able to keep you without stumbling", Jud.1:24. In another sense, it also may mean that He does not allow us to feel unable to stand upright and truthful all the time. We are disallowed to stumble. We may never think of stumbling as an inevitability. Besides removing the power of the enemy from the heart, He restricts us to walk only upright in truthfulness.
"The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust in Him", Ps.64:10. This means that before anyone can trust in God, one must become righteous. One must inherit the righteousness of God and have it abounding in the heart to be able to trust Him. Sort communes with sort. Not everyone can believe. Many simply can't. The unrighteous shall never be able to trust a righteous God and Lord. They would rather believe in an unrighteous one. "If you can believe..." Mar.9:23. People cannot believe unless they have cleansed their hearts and life in the blood of the Lamb. One thing leads to the other. Any bad conscience cause faith to shipwreck and failure to the soul. It is undoubtedly so.
When people sin, they react each in his own way. Some react with sorrow and repentance; others with aggressiveness, anger and impatience because they cannot stand accusation; some hide with shame; and many others react in many other ways. I don't know how you react to it. But, there is something we must know: there is a huge difference between sinning and being tempted. There is also difference between an unexpected burning arrow thrown at us and a temptation for which we are responsible by putting ourselves in a situation where we are easily tempted. For now, let's talk only about sinning and being tempted. If we ever confuse the two, we cannot react the way we should under each of them. We cannot afford to react towards guilt the way we should react towards temptation. That would mean we would defend ourselves. And we cannot deal with temptation the way we deal with committed sin and guilt, walking around as if we are either guilty or responsible for the devil's behaviour. The way to deal with guilt requires of us that we are indeed guilty and the way we react against temptation depends a lot on whether we are guilty of something else we have not brought to the light before and opens a door to the devil and his arrows. It is not good to misjudge our situation because we do not deal against temptation the way we clean up our souls from guilt and sin. When we are tempted, we are not guilty of sinning. We may not walk as if we are or we would miss the whole point. The worst of all is the fact that whoever looks to temptation as sinning, shall decidedly deal against committed sins as if it were mere temptations. When we sin, we lay down our defensive weapons to plead for mercy in a way that we find it. We expose our hearts fully and confess openly our sins before whoever hears it. We also plead people to forgive us in case the sins offended them in some way. We do that instead of hiding in shame. However, when we are tempted, we rise our shields and weapons of light (and not other weaponry like hiding or fear) and remain close to the Lord who teaches to use them effectively. It requires surrender, a learning and abiding spirit and experience in the ways of the Lord. There is no shortcut to it. We cannot extinguish a fire by using matches and can not set aflame up the fires of God with a fire extinguisher. Reacting the wrong way towards sin and temptation can lead us into catastrophic situations. We must know how to deal with sin and how to deal with temptation either separately or together. Even when both happen at the same time, they need to be differentiated carefully. Even though there are common things to them, like the surrender to God, we may never act the way we do against guilt whenever we are being tempted. If we do, even if we surrender, we shall near God with settled ideas of how we shall deal against it or how God should deal with it. It might be catastrophic for a soul if we err either in the medication or in the diagnosis of the real state of our heart. That means we miss the point and the truth about it. Once one lands up in such a situation, it happens, usually, that God is not put away from a life all together and an alternative life or 'faith' is held on to. People start believing in a convenient way and fight for their ideas. This is what Paul calls "a faith that has shipwrecked" (1Tim.1:19). And those that have shipwrecked give a lot of problems to the real work of God. The lack of spiritual honesty and sincerity of heart will take hold of people and they shall conceive doctrines and leaders that are able to sooth them in some way. Most nowadays doctrines have been conceived to fit dishonest Christians in them.
"Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults", Ps.19:12. Sins or faults are hidden in proportion to the quality of light I enjoy and of the communion I hold with the Lord, as well as my willingness to fix it the right way, it is, through the Lord and by exercising faith in Him (which is often a fearful way to deal with it by those who fear the consequences of sin). Unless God decides that time is not ripe enough to reveal what shall surely be revealed one day, it all depends on the sincerity, exclusivity and the intensity of the communion we have and keep with the Lord of light. If something is hidden, it means light is absent or hasn't reached it yet. Light, pure and real light, shows all. The less sincere the fellowship with God, the more faults shall remain hidden.
There is a serious problem in people, which they are not always fully aware of: there is a way that seems right and ends in a very bad manner. It happens all the time with those who do not walk with God the way they ought. It is very rare to have a sinner recognise or admit that whatever he has done is wrong or wrongly performed. His ways, his manner of thinking and of believing will always oblige him to believe whatever he does is right. It is proven as a fact that if he is unable to trust his own ways in some degree, he feels insecure and uncomfortable. If we come to know God as He is, however, we must be able to live on without trusting our own ways and thinking, especially if we realize that our walking is not exclusively biblical or fully inspired by the Lord. In fact, we shall not only need to deny trusting own ways, but need to mistrust them fully spontaneously.
"As we have heard, so have we seen", Ps.48:8. I don't know how much of this word can be served to unmask hypocrisy during praise. There are people who praise God to bribe Him and not to praise Him for something they know have been or have seen being performed. They praise Him and, yet, they have never come across His greatness and works for real. They imagine God in their own lives and believe that is what faith is all about. If faith can be false or shipwrecked, so can praise. God shall never accept false words of praise. If things are not working out in their lives they should repent and not praise. When people praise God for something He has not performed for them, through them or in them, they will suffice at that and not search for better or higher things of heaven. We must abstain from bribing God with words of praise. Praise must be truthful or it shall condemn us for many reasons and in many ways.
If doubting God is sin even before we know anything about Him, imagine how great a sin it is to do so when we hear the word distinctively and directly from His mouth, it is, "having received the promises"! "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief", Rom.4:20. You may stagger because of other things, but never "through unbelief"! It is lawful to doubt when we are being deceived, but never to doubt God under any circumstances - not even when you are being deceived. The Lord doesn't deceive. If doubting is not brought about by unbelief, it is not sin. Truth causes us to doubt lies sharply. We cannot believe lies and, to come out of them all, we must be able to doubt them at first to withstand them firmly.
The chronically unsure fear security. They abhor having to feel secure, avoid assurance and are always found in direct opposition to genuine faith because it is firm. They easily accept a false and imaginary faith, though. Let me explain. People trust themselves a great deal. Even those who are very unstable always lean towards what they know of themselves to take refuge in there. Whatever they have become is their hiding place. Outside of it they feel like a fish in dry land. They aren't in dry land when secured, but they feel so. Being unsure offers them the feeling they seek to have. Consequently, they cannot be solidified in Jesus because they do never deny themselves to be secure in an unknown but real way. The old person must be dead - as dead as a decomposing corpse is to this world. If that is not a fact beyond questioning, people will only believe they are secure - and they aren't. Unless they are dead for real to themselves, they shall always converge to what they are and shall be attracted to it because that is where they feel at home. And every home is "sweet home". People seek comfort and not reality. And at home is what they have learned to be and the way they feel. This kind of sentimental refuge is to them as a mother is to a little, unsure child - however mean that mother may be.
The great majority of nowadays' believers speak of/about God as any daydreamer would speak about the beautiful spouse that lives only in his/her own wild dreams and who is always absent and inexistent. Every time David said that God was with him, it was for real - He was indeed with him, so much so that he said his heart or soul was refreshed! God was so visible that it stirred up the enemies of God against him and those enemies were, also and in fact, the only enemies of David. What would you think of someone who always says convincingly (emotively self-convinced) that his beautiful wife is with him all the time and he is always seen alone and complaining of loneliness? That is what the world thinks sees of Christians and Christianity today because Christianity talks a lot about a God who is absent. Let's live otherwise. Unless our life is our message, let's stop preaching around and the world will be hopefully better off. At least, they shall nurture a better hope (in Christianity) instead of looking to other religious abominations to settle down. I have myself come into places of worship where people say God was there and they even sang so. I saw God absent and far from their words and hopes. They sing because they like the songs and not because it describes the reality of what is going on. Where God is present, no Ananiah or Sapphira will remain there for long. Today, we see many an Ananiah and many a Sapphira singing in church and even taking over the leadership. However, Scripture says “the ungodly and the sinners shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous”, Ps.1:5. What we see most nowadays is the ungodly standing around in places of worship and in the services being 'happy' there, while righteous people feel awkward in the same place. The godly do not stay in the congregation of the unrighteous.
Praise doesn't buy God off. No one can ever pass that idea without being condemned for serious crimes. God is never bribed, much less with praise. True praise to God is sincere and erupts from genuine, visible and truthful conclusions. It always happens whenever anyone comes face to face with Jesus. "My praise comes from You", Ps.22:25. Praise doesn't bring blessing, but blessing brings praise about. Besides, true praise is the direct opposite of pride. True praise is humility at work. When sincere, man wants praise for himself, not for anyone else.
Pride is the opposite of sincerity. Whenever people are not sincere, they cease to be humble. True humility is to be ourselves when we are in God. Hiding, manipulating, covering or adding to true self is what pride is all about.
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting (refreshing) the soul...", Ps.19:7. It is good to know this is true. The main reason why people deflect from the true way and become bitter and disappointed in it is because they do not spend enough quality time with the Word of the Lord. To despise the word of God or to be disrespectful to the point of not to keeping it is enough to turn people bitterly against God and against people. They wish to add any kind of numbers to the sum and, even so, get the result they plan. They do not think of the numbers they add, but on the end result. One cannot plant thorns to enjoy cornflakes.
We must be able to distinguish or to discern between the winters and the summers of our lives. They exist. Let us never doubt about it as a fact. It is a duty to distinguish between them. If we do so, we shall be able to know when are separated from God and when we are only being tried and are not separated from Him. Trials are not punishments. They can be corrections, but not punishments. The "good" stuff that we find while separated from God can deceive us as much as the bad things that happen while we are found in Him. They can give us the wrong perceptions. We must stick to the testimony of God within us. We mustn't be like Saul who blamed God and everybody else for not being able to hear the Lord anymore. We must be able to believe the truth about our true state and work accordingly.
"The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: you hold my lot", Ps.16:5. I have come to know many people who affirm they have been trying to live for the Lord and do His will without success. They cannot reach the point of holy satisfaction. It puzzled me quite a lot. They could never say: "You hold my lot". Let's see what kind of people can be served by God in His will. They are those who can say beforehand: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; I have no good apart from You". And those lines and boundaries are beautiful to such people. They want no more than that. Their lot is assuredly God's responsibility and pleasure. All others shall remain confused and mistaken by deluding themselves continually.
"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, (...) and speaketh the truth in his heart", Ps.15:1,2. Normally, we hear of those who are truthful towards other people. Here, we hear of those who speak the truth to themselves in their hearts. The way of truth is for all - even for ourselves or towards ourselves.
"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God!' They acted corruptly; they have done abominable works, there is none who does good", Ps.14:1. I can't see any difference between those who say they don't believe in God and those who believe in Him and sin on or those who sin and believe they shall never be condemned. Both live as if God doesn't exist.
"The wicked walk on every side when vileness is praised by the sons of men", Ps.12:8. What do we see happening in the world today? Singers are profane and immoral... and praised; corruption is the goal; dishonest people are the ones who are running for elections and win them; actors who show evil and nudeness are praised and desired most; homosexuals gain ground in the media everywhere and are commonly accepted as normal ones, etc. When that happens, wickedness is spread and exalted everywhere and good people won't be found. "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men", Ps.12:1. Think of it next time you are found praising an evil singer or idol. If a father is able to exalt a worldly singer, surely the world will settle down in his house most easily and the results won't be good.
"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Ps.11:3. All buildings must have strong foundations. The bigger the building, the stronger the foundations must be made. It cannot work out in other way concerning heavenly towers of light, heavenly houses or households. We must all know we cannot build where foundations have not been laid securely beforehand. If we do, the fall will impress us deeply. There is no miracle to avoid that happening. Even if God makes a miracle, it shall be the miracles of putting foundations and not of holding the building together without them.
"The wicked has said in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity'", Ps.10:6. Every attitude of the wicked is similar to the attitudes of true faith. In fact, many Christians who walk disorderly and are not in right standing with God have the same kind of talk. They believe the good Lord shall bless them and no evil will ever reach them. They need to believe that to carry on being evil. They talk about God in their pride.
Trust conquers hearts and doubts obtain more followers and addicted fans. Also, people love to be found near those who are able to trust in the truth before God and be associated with them because, many times, they don't wish to believe themselves. Insecurity and its associated feelings seem to be a fortress to all those who are not found rooted in the Lord. They feel strongly "at home" by mistrusting. Yet, they seek the company of the strong.
Many believe we must suffer like Job to be able to groan before the Lord. But, I believe all it takes to groan that way for the right things is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be one with Him.
Trust is a deliberate decision which is taken in sobriety. It is a sober decision. Sometimes, it is a sober resolution if taken against emotion. It is taken after having pondered carefully, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual". Once truth is pondered soberly and carefully, the decision is taken. It needs to be taken immediately or it shall be rotten the next day, as happens always with the manna of God. We cannot base trust on what we feel. Perhaps, it is advisable to trust on what we feel by touch when we touch Jesus. Touching is not feelings. We may feel the touch and that has nothing to do with feelings of emotion. My fingertips don't have feelings, but I can feel something when I touch it. The devil waits for the moment that God speaks to a thirsty soul to 'lead' it astray into wrong assumptions or self-minded conclusions about what man desires for himself. He knows man follows his own heart greedily or preferably. Feeling is the playground of the devil and we lose nothing by never trusting it. In fact, we gain eternity and spiritual stability by trusting the Lord only and denying it. Not only the heart can play tricks within us, but the mind also. Besides, trusting in what we are feeling is to trust self. Feeling is self and not God. To trust in another besides God is idolatry. "You cannot make a hair white or black", Mat.5:36. It is not wrong to feel as long as you know it is you. You can not honour feelings as you would honour God.
Many adventure themselves into what they call faith and launch their heads against an unbreakable wall to break their necks through future doubts. They adventure themselves into what they desire, trusting God will uphold them in that. In other words, their heart is not circumcised and they dare to trust something else will happen besides their conversion. Adventure will end in doubt. They tempt God by demanding Him to uphold their uncircumcised desires. And when God doesn't uphold their adventuring, they become angry and irritable against people and God. Faith has nothing to do with adventure. Faith is exercised when Jesus sends out or speaks - not when desires and feelings send out or command loud. You may ask: "Is it wrong to desire what is good?" I would say, no. However, it is wrong to 'obey' in pursue of it before God has spoken His heart out about it. It was right to cleanse the Holy Land of awful sinners. However, David never went out before inquiring from God. I must put every holy and pure desire before God and, as Habakkuk said, wait "in my tower and watch to see what he will say unto me". To decide for God is a calamity and to demand from Him is worse than extortion. It is sin to expect a blessing from God upon something which has not been undersigned by Him. It is equivalent to putting God as disciple and us as Lord. Is there a greater mischief for the soul than that one, or a greater sin?
"Blessed is the man (...) who doesn't stand in the way of sinners", Ps.1:1. Allow me to translate this. "Blessed is the man that does not stop, lose time by looking at and ponder the way of sinners because he has found the bounty of God". Here where I live, some car accidents happen in highways. It is interesting to notice that the traffic jam is as bad on the other side of the highway where cars move in the opposite direction. People slow down and even stop to watch the mischief of others on the other side of the road. This is what I believe this verse is conveying to us. When we stop to criticize, "study the depths of Satan" or even to take some delight in the way of sinners, we might not be as blessed as we believe we are. We have the Law of God to hold our full attention captive night and day, non-stop around the clock.
Some times people say I seem angry and defying when I preach. I have been giving some thought to it. I haven't come to final conclusions yet, although I already decided I cannot exchange sincerity for anything else. I will still be instructed by God and shall, perhaps, change. But, my heart is also troubled when I think of changing. And an emerging thought came to my mind these days, even though not all has been said about it: the sin of a preacher is when he doesn't live according to what he preaches - if he preaches truth. The way he preaches may be bettered by God or not. However, to sin is to preach lies or to preach truth when we ourselves are not living according to it. Such preachers are assassins and shall answer before God for the souls they killed with truth or half-truths and lies. They shall also answer for their own souls and what they have done for or against it.
Be extremely careful when you think something is too good to be true. Because you believe it is too good to be true, you can fall into the trap of unbelief just as when everything is too bad around you. Bad things evoke thoughts which create a bad, unbelieving heart. There is nothing to good to be true since God is extremely good, even beyond our comprehension. There is nothing too good to be true. We may expect anything from God.
Every word produces something, it has consequences, whether it produces them in those who pronounce it, or in them that hear it, or both. Whoever speaks shall always give a full account to God of all his words. It wouldn't be so if words were not producers. Those who hear shall also be held responsible for whatever they have heard. The way we hear is also something we shall be held accountable for. "Take heed how you hear", Lk.8:18. When words are directed to us in a flattering manner, we must repulse them because they are lying words. If words in the mouth of people come from God, we must take heed to hold them in great honour and never forget about them. And every person who is able to believe false prophecies must know he must be converted to God, because he doesn't yet have the capability to run away from a stranger's voice. He is attracted to them because sort seeks sort. Sheep do run away from a stranger and those who don't must know they do not belong to the sheepfold. I must also be able to distinguish between words directed to me and those meant for other people. Words can make alive or kill. Words shall make me holy or unholy, whether I speak or listen to them. It all depends on the state of my heart and whether I already have a sheep's heart or not.
"Overcome evil with good", Rom.12:21. This does not necessarily mean we need to pay back with good on the spot. We can do so for our own sakes, I mean, if a bad situation causes evil to erupt in us and we opt towards a contrary way instead. However, I believe this verse stretches far beyond that. It means we must be able to carry on with our lives as usual and unhindered if we indeed live for the Lord and for His sake to the full. Nothing should be able to trouble us. "Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your victor's crown", Rev.3:11. If the wind blows you dress up, hold the dress and not the wind. This verse doesn't induce us to answer back, but rather to keep the way whatever happens. Evil has as a hidden goal to stop our course, to discourage us on the way or even to make us to abort truth in the beginning stages or later on. Its aim is mainly never to allow a good way to end well, or to allow it to start off in the promised degree.
Running away from a voice which pretends to imitate God's voice is not sin. Many people fear to run away from a commanding voice as if it is sin to do so. To doubt the wrong voice is holiness and to believe or obey it is sin. Doubting can be holiness and believing can be sin. It all depends whom we believe and whom do we doubt.
Many people decide to "sin no more" because they fear hell and are afraid of being damned forever. They get a fright and decide so. Sometimes, they make such a decision to avoid being condemned by mother, father, friends or family. However, unless you stop sinning because you hate sin and love God, any such decision against sin won't last for long.
If we, indeed, live by the words of the mouth of God, it becomes necessary that every word spoken by us comes from Him without a shadow of a doubt. If we want people to live for real, we must speak those words God has spoken for them. But, if we speak outdated, misplaced words that did come from the Lord once upon a time for a certain purpose or meant for a certain time, people won't live. The same shall happen in case we revert to others a word which God spoke for us or towards us.
An adversary is not the person we hate, but someone who hates us. Some so-called Christians ask God for revenge because they cannot be at peace with someone. That means that anyone may ask God to take measures against the righteous in case the righteous is the one hated or despised. However, God doesn't please people and won't displease them either for the sake of somebody's wishes of revenge. Our adversaries must be those who hate the truth and Jesus, whom we love with the love of God for the sake of the Lord. If God can, indeed, change the heart and save someone, why would He hear any prayer that asks for the destruction of any such man or woman?
A life of sin is the consequence of having attained a sinful heart. When people commit sin, they shall turn and gain a sinful heart unless they repent on the spot. Homosexuals are what they are because they left God and have been left to themselves. They exchanged God for something else and receive fitting wages of death upon themselves. Any uncontrollable sinful way or attitude is what people get by not seeking forgiveness from the Lord immediately. Even when those people who claim to be believers, their works show they despise God and repentance.
A lie can cross the whole world while truth is still preparing itself. The good part of it is that lies seldom live for too long without being caught. That is why the devil uses one lie after the other to keep people busy, for he knows one lie is always short lived. The amount of people that believe or trust lies shows how many liars there are because only a liar can believe a lie. It is a God given curse that people rather believe lies. Truth shall always outlive everything. It shall remain forever, no matter what happens or how ingeniously it is attacked or distorted. Truth goes out to live forever while lies start off to die.
There should be such intimacy between man and God that one could delight in His presence and suffer outside it. Also, one's senses concerning what God does and thinks can be such that one is completely aware of what is happening in God's mind and heart. That is what it means to stand before God. When Abraham prayed for the righteous that could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah, he instantly knew when God put an end to the conversation after he had asked if God would spare were there ten righteous people. "And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham", Gen.18:33. It was God who left the conversation at ten. But, the fact remains: Abraham knew when it happened. He sensed it fully "and went his own way".
There are millions of wrong paths and only one right one that is found everywhere. Usually, people mistrust the right way because it is not wrong. If, however, they can trust it, they do so because they have either been converted or because they treat it the way wrong paths are handled in daily life.
When our words are from God and truth carries power, we do not need to repeat, emphasize or use any other means to be heard and for those words to be remembered.
Now, an issue to think about to all those who are still tempted to distinguish between sins. Many still consider certain sins more harmful or more deadly than others. If I take the smallest calibre gun and shoot to the head, it shall kill, surely. The same will happen if I use a canon or a missile. Will anyone be more dead by being shot by a missile than when killed by a bullet? The size of the weapon doesn't really count when it comes to killing. So with sin: its size or moral importance to the society doesn't kill less or more. It kills regardless of the size of the condemnation it causes to erupt.
People who have not a real relationship with Jesus, especially those who do not know or experience him in a real way (Job 42:5), need to grab on something exciting, intriguing or motivating to "keep the faith". This is why many are so actively concerned about end times, and such like doctrines. Should they have a genuine and close relationship to the Lord Himself, they would need nothing else to comfort, encourage or even motivate them. This is why many seek signs, tongues and whatever else. And every time God refuses to grant what people insist on is what the devils uses to impersonate or even to try to imitate with a great deal of deceit inside the church to create a great deal of havoc and destruction. It is mainly from such situations that false prophesying and tongues emerge. It has always been like that.
If Paul talks about a "good hope", (2 Thes.2:16), then, surely there must be a hope which is deceiving and bad. If there is a way that seems right in the eyes of man and the end of it is death, then there is a hope which seems good also and ends up in disappointment or even death, certainly. We can also mark certain verses that speak about "good courage", and so on. Let's be ware: not all hope is a good hope. Many things are not what they seem to be and, consequently, not all that seems good in the eyes of man is good and not all that seems bad in the eyes of man is bad. "And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight (...) But God said to Abraham, 'Do not let it be displeasing in your sight'..." Gen.21:11,12.
When we read about the Living God and that people turned from "idols to the Living God", it implies more than modern protestants cause people to believe. That means that God is avtive and living among people. He is not alive there far away only, but among people. Every one experiences Him, whether it is for them or against them.
Some times, when people uphold us, we won't know if they do that out of politeness or duty, or if they do it because they have realized God is using us in some way. What we say must be a true expression of our perception of truth.
"Let love be without dissimulation", Rom.12:9. This means love should never be feigned or forced down upon the heart, but rather that the heart should be able to overwhelm our whole expressive being. Instead of forcing the heart to love, one should remember that God can pour down His love in us to love as we should. "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good". To stay away from evil with the heart's consent and desire and, consequently, to become able to cling to what is good as an alternative to evil opens the way to have our prayer answered in case we are asking to be filled with that love which is poured from heaven into our hearts. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me", John 14:21. Staying away from evil is a part of love - of real love.
"Be of the same mind one toward another. (...) Be not wise in your own conceits", Rom.12:16. Being of the same mind means moving together as one man, doing the same thing the same way with the same joy and heart, lifting up the same Lord with equal sincerity. Being wise in one's own conceit hinders all of that. No one can be of the same mind with another if there is still any remains of self conceit, whether that conceit causes to feel inferior or superior to another. When we are nothing, we cannot feel less nor more than anyone else.
Scripture says that if two or three agree in prayer, it shall be done to them. This means that the Holy Spirit is free to work in those hearts according to God's will in what we can and should pray for. This is to be well understood before one prays. Many agree for many other reasons. Some agree because they have the same heart, culture or even the same sort of desires and attitudes, which have not been worked by God. That cannot be the same as agreeing because God has shaped up the heart and the desires of man in Him.
"But if you, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live", Rom.8:13. Many words in this chapter of Romans are so meaningful one cannot express the fullness of it. One can talk about many things here. The flesh is not to mortified only, but it needs to be exterminated through the Spirit and not by any other means. If tried any other way, it can't result in holiness. If one has the Spirit of God indeed, how is it to be achieved? Surely, one cannot be found fighting the flesh all the time. Paul says the flesh has to be considered dead if the Spirit reigns, as dead as a corpse is to this world. If considered dead because it is dead indeed, one can be fully involved with real life, entrusting our whole being to the ways of that life. If temptations come, one should be found holding on to that life instead of being busy fighting sin or temptation. "Hold fast to that which you have...", Rev.3:11. The more I think about this, the more I am convinced that the cracks of the whole matter is to be filled with the Spirit of God. You shall find Him if you search for Him with your whole heart. Only finding Him in His fullness shall things work out as Scripture says.
If I judge the Law, I am not busy fulfilling the Law. That is what the Bible says. This means I am not able to do do two things and the same time. When I am not fulfilling the Law of God, I am breaking it. There is no such thing as indifference towards the Law of God: one either breaks it or fulfils it.
Every time someone falls into the trap of feigning humility or by pretending to be humble without destroying the haughtiness of his own evil heart for real, the door to real humility is closed up for him, along with the door to the true knowledge of God which is granted to the humble. An alternative way blocks the way the the genuine one. False humility is pride and is the opposite of walking in the light.
The fact that wisdom remains with backsliders should be held in mind by all those who slide away from God. Salomon said that his wisdom stayed with him when he got drunk and did what shouldn't be done. Many comfort themselves with lies after backsliding, telling themselves that they are still with God because they remain wise, can preach and counsel. The wisdom that remains with backsliders is there to condemn them sooner or later and it shall be used by the devil, surely.
Paul talks, in Rom.7, about the man that doesn't do the good things he wishes, and practises sin instead, which he doesn't desire. He is talking about someone under the law. Let's mark out some things in these statements: most people desire after sin and many do so willingly. Paul, here, talks about a man whose main desire is to be holy or God's. He is not talking about a man whose desire and purpose is sin. He talks about someone who approves the law of God in his heart and desires intensely to fulfil it. Secondly, he says that such a man tries to become pleasant to God by the works of the law even though the law is good. Such a man hasn't tasted grace yet as a means to achieve the good purposes of his heart. Thirdly and against many preachers' beliefs, he says that such people who experience such a struggle under the law are bound to a body of death. It is not a body of life. It means, they shall not live under such a struggle. It is bad news for all people who hope in eternity by experiencing such a struggle by sinning on. Christ needs to free us of such a body of death. "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Rom.7:24,25.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", Phil.4:13. This is, perhaps, one of the verses of the Bible which is most frequently misused, misunderstood and most wrongly applied. Let me explain. By the will of God, sin weakens a heart and it takes strength away, especially if the man is spiritual. It is by a heavenly decree that it happens, which no one can change. But, this strength is of the kind that enables to become or to remain holy. The strength in man lies in his holiness brought by a close walk with God. The lack of strength of an unholy heart is of the kind that it cannot become or remain holy. The strength we are talking about here is of the kind that enables people to become and to be holy and the lack of it enables to be unholy. It means that the weakness is not discouragement but rather an incapacity to be holy. Usually, honest people under the law are the ones who wish to be holy and they find they can't because they do not reach out to grace exclusively. That is how the law is weakened by sin, as Paul puts it. It is too weak to make holy because the blood of rams and bulls cannot take sin away from the heart. Now, there is a lack of strength brought by sin which is the will of God for man. No one can change that: it is God's will that sin weakens people. It is an eternal, unchangeable decree. However, many try to change that by calling out for strength from the Lord for other purposes, but not exclusively for the heart to become holy. The kind of strength these misled people look for is of the sort that could strengthen their sinful life for them and which would encourage them to be able to solve the problems sin brings about due to the eternal decrees of God. They want God to work against Himself and against His decrees. Besides, they ask for strength so that they can solve their own problems by themselves and without God. People love to be able to do all things themselves. That way, they can have it their own way. They wish after that power. They do not wish for the strength of grace for the purpose grace is available for - they look for a way to be able to do it themselves. Paul talks about the weakness or lack of strength to become holy and claims that the law is weakened by sin. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly", Rom.5:6. Let us be reminded of the fact that this kind of lack of strength is very strong towards sin. If it wasn't so, Christ who not need to die for the ungodly. This means that weakness to become holy is a powerful strength to be or to remain unholy. In other words, this lack of strength which is an outstanding power towards sin, keeps people away from God. That sort of weakness is the will of God for all who remain in a sinful state. It is a heavenly, eternal decree which people often try to change by misusing the verse that says, "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me". They mean that they can do all things, but not through Christ in them, working for them for the sake and purpose Christ died for. They want to believe a lie. The strength of God makes holiness possible and available. God does not grant animal strength for those who remain in sin and wish to keep it that way by finding strength and encouragement to carry on as always. It is sin that strengthens them in that direction. You cannot overcome by sin because a heavenly decree says so. Once people are handed over to themselves, they sin more and more easily. It means they have less and less strength or less willingness to be holy. Some come to a point where they don't even waste a thought on becoming holy. Even their politeness is hypocritical because it asks for acceptance and not for holiness.
Homosexuals (according to the Bible), are people that have been given over to themselves and it was God who handed them over. They claim for rights they don't have, try to live a kind of life they can't experience and try to force other people to accept them as normal people, even though they try to have an unpractical life. Because they cannot find what they look for since they are handed over to themselves, they fight hard to have more and better rights than any other human being and they try hard to stand out above others. And the governments of this world are putting them above others by granting them rights which are taken away from others. They take rights from normal people to grant them to depraved ones.
If we indeed walk with God, and it happens that there is no way or solution for something that is God's will, then I am sure that the outcome is about to happen.
"You hate to be taught...", Ps.50:17. We must be careful with ourselves when we resent being taught. It might be the upper part of an iceberg of unwillingness sticking out.
We have certain laws in nature - even in the spiritual nature - that cannot be avoided. They shall stick with us for as long as earth and heaven exist. For example, a liar listens to a lie and believes it; or liars get along with liars and truthful people hear the truth. There is always a natural resistance to truth in the heart of any liar, and it doesn't matter what kind of truth it is. Even if it is a truth concerning himself, one that the liar knows to be a fact, he shall resist it. His way is to resist. Even before hearing it, he shall be found in a resisting mood. Now, there are many people that believe and spread what they believe. Some say Jesus was not born of a virgin; others say Jesus is not God or cannot save from sin; some believe Jesus is not the same today and He doesn't do the things He has always done anymore; these are all lies that people easily and promptly believe. If we apply the laws I have mentioned, it means that every person that believes such things are liars. They believe lies easily. If they are able to believe lies, it means they are liars.
Any person that doesn't eat as he should, will feel less and less hunger. We know that children who become sick lose their appetite and will, consequently have less and less appetite unless they are forced to eat at least something. This means that a good kind of appetite that is not satisfied, that is despised or neglected will diminish as time passes by. It seems to be a sort of law in nature that good hunger lessens if it is not satisfied completely. This we can see happening, also, in the reading and living of the Word of God, in genuine prayer, in good works and, in fact, in all fruit of the Spirit. If a good thing is despised or neglected, the heart shall slowly move away from hungering after it and shall start hungering for something else.
We all know that Jesus is the way. It means much more than we can think of. He is the way in many ways and for all thinkable situations. This also means there are a lot of alternative ways, but He is the only one. If it wasn't so, He would not have stressed the fact that He is the way - the only way to come to the Father. All other ways are deceitful and deceiving. And, from my experience, a parallel way is thousand times more dangerous than a way that opposes you directly. A parallel way is more dangerous than an opposing one, even though all parallel ways mean to be an opposing obstacle to the real Ways of God.
Sometimes, we have this ultimate idea that all commandments have a moral principle behind them and that by being able to keep them, we are holy. In fact, it is true that the Lord aims at our holiness and so should we. However, we read in the Word of God that there are many things God commands so that we "may remember the Lord". That means, perhaps, those commandments do not have morality as the prime goal, but a love towards God and His means. We may become morally correct, respectful and have no vices without knowing the Lord. We do not remember the Lord in our ways. Those ways are our ways and not the Lord's. It is very important to remember the Lord all the way, and to know how to do and think through grace, remembering that God's way is not our own and that His means are different. He has some other means by which we move on and live. "You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways", Is.64:5. "And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way (...) And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power", Dt.8:2,18.
If you have plenty success in the work of the Lord, even if your work carries a great blessing, remind yourself constantly that however great your work is the need remains immeasurably greater.
If the Lord is first and above all in your life, everything you do or think about becomes very important. All of it rests in the blessing you find or, should I say, in the blessing that finds you. However, if the Lord is there and He is not first in your life, whatever you do is a waste of time. Then and also, Bible feeding will be, for you, as picking up crumbles from the floor which fall from the Lord's Table.
"If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes", Gen.18:26. This explains why many cities and many countries in the world are spared from disaster or destruction.
There is a certain kind of language in the Bible which disgusts some people because they prefer to understand things in it their way. That is the main problem with beliefs and superstitions: it must believe according the way it wishes to believe and to understand with pleasure what they wish to understand. I may say, for example that cars have been made so that people may go from one place to another. And it is a common, true affirmation. However, that affirmation may have a lot of parallel interpretations. It could mean cars have not been built to crash people to death, but to turn life easier. And, even so, many people die by getting the car of their preferences. It is easy to conclude a lot of things from my affirmation. But, do people apply the same rule of understanding to alike language in the Bible? We read: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved", John 3:16,17. Let us pay close attention to what we may conclude from these verses. Can't we conclude that many people get lost or could go lost because Jesus died for us and especially because of it? "That whoever believes should not perish...". Could it mean it mean that people could perish even or because He has died in the Cross at Calvary? Is this verse a warning as much as it is a blessing? If so, then, we can grasp in an easier way what it means that "He is a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient", 1Pet.2:7,8.
Our best is not always reached through effort. Our best is reached, sometimes, by making use of holy creativity, solid imagination, spontaneous readiness and lightness of spirit. Effort is useful under certain circumstances, but is an error under other situations. In fact, there are things that become imperfect because of effort. To lift a rock, I need effort and strength, but not to deal with fragile things or fragile and weak people. If I go about fragile things applying strength and effort, I err grossly.
Many times, when talking of goodness and doing it, we start believing that the only issue is centred around doing and that it is easy to will and difficult to do. "But now also finish the doing of it, so that even as there was the eagerness in the willing, so also the finishing, giving out of what you have", 2Cor.8:11. But, what shall we say about the reverse of it? Have you thought about doing without willingness under the light of God? "And herein I give my judgment: for this is expedient for you (...) not only to do, but also to will", 2Cor.8:10.
The Bible talks, many times, about the rod. According to the Word of God, God uses the rod; fathers and mothers should use it with all readiness and wisdom; and the oppressors also use the rod. "... The rod of his oppressor ..." Is.9:4. We should not disregard, delay or hate the use of the rod just because oppression also uses it. When we look at the world and the way people deal with each other, we realize that they continually accuse and attack one another verbally and physically. Mutual accusations is one of the weapons of the world. In fact, it is one of their rods. However, corrections through the rod are used by God and by holy fathers in God. Conscience also uses the rod, both a bad and a good conscience. The bad conscience uses it against others when it feels attacked and affected; a good conscience uses the rod when it is illuminated by God, that is, makes use of it to correct itself and to get itself cleansed by the blood of Jesus. We must lose the habit of using the rod as oppressors use it, who change good motives into bad ones and exchange the good means God established for bad ones, by using threats, which should be denied and abandoned forever. "And you, forbearing threatening..." Eph.6:9. Could it be that the use of threats might be one of the reasons why we have unclean lips and we live among a people of unclean lips (Is.6)?
Even when God hides His face from us, we still need to wait on Him. We should despise the idea of looking for alternatives when we are waiting for God, especially if He is hiding His face from us. "And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him", Is.8:17.
There is big difference between covering and concealing. Eve concealed her shame by trying to hide her sins. But, the seraphims covered their faces and feet in the presence of God. Seraphims covered their feet because of the humility of their hearts and that cannot be seen as refusing to walk in the light. It is true that he who conceals does not walk in the light, but that was not what was happening with the seraphims. However, Eve hid from the light when she covered herself up.
"And He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry", Is.5:7. Either there is righteousness in the heart or a cry; either people are righteous and pure or they are oppressed. There is no midway: they either shine with joy and peace resulting from righteousness or they they shall complain against oppression and lovelessness.
It is extremely important to know that holiness is a pre-condition to achieve God's works. It is so for several reasons. However, we do not achieve things because we are holy. One of the reasons holiness must be there is that when entering the path of holiness, one finds direction because holiness of heart is the very work of God. Everything we receive must operate in favour of holiness. Therefore, if we seek holiness because of other things, we are not seeking things to operate towards holiness but rather that holiness operates towards things. It is an obstacle to have a mind that thinks that way - it is an upside down way to reason about the whole issue. We can not dare to believe that the works of God are resumed by achieving the "other things", and that we achieve them by becoming saints. Holiness can never be the means towards whatever we wish to have or to do. Holiness in an end in itself and not the means. If you have not entered holiness, you haven't tasted the works of God yet. So, whenever certain things are not achieved due to lack of the works of holiness, we cannot believe that they are not achieved because of the lack of holiness. We do not achieve them because we are found in the wrong track. Trying to achieve other things and settling our hopes fully on them, whether that is done through works or without them, is the path of error. The right way is to seek and find the right kind of holiness which comes through Jesus who is the way (the means) and never through any other legalistic means. It is necessary to find holiness immediately, but never because of other things. When the lack of holiness hinders certain achievements, it means we are on the wrong course and it cannot be ascribed only to the lack of works. The reason is because we do not seek holiness as the main thing and those things we seek must be prepared to achieve that kind of holiness which is achieved through Christ. Now, when we seek things away from holiness or through it, we are entering the paths of error. Consequently, we will not achieve those things we are looking for and will neither find true holiness in/through Christ.
If, in Salomon's time, it was silver which had no value due to the abundance of gold, I hope and pray that during my ministry gold loses its value due to the abundance of life and heavenly treasures.
If it is true that "David went on and became great because the Lord God of hosts was with him", (2Sam.5:10), that means many decrease and become insignificant because the Lord is against them for some reason.
It is good to have good doctrine. However, what is doctrine good for if I do not catch up with the life of the doctrine? I need to get the life of the doctrine and not merely the doctrine of life.
Some times, we ask many things without being able to specify what we are asking for. I acknowledge that it is not always possible to specify our own needs, especially if we have become spiritual and we are seeking God's will for our lives. We do not always know what we need to pray for. But, when we ask for "everything we need", our mind starts to play games with us. If we ask for everything we need, we automatically assume we have nothing of the whole yet or that, whatever we have, is not good or enough. And, how many times do we need only some detail of the whole because we have already received the rest? The whole does not work out when it lacks some detail. This is something we need to have in mind when we ask for those things we don't know what they are. We have to be open minded to the point of accepting the fact that we already have something of the whole we are asking for when it is indeed so. We cannot always dump away or despise all we have when we are asking for "everything we need". We cannot despise a detail when it causes the whole to work out.
The strength of the flesh and its alternative ways will be as useful to a man filled with God as the armour of Saul would be for David before Goliath. It would only hinder and would not be helpful. If we wish to be dressed up with some kind of clothes, we need to get rid of the ones we are wearing. To be clothed with God, one needs to get rid of the flesh and, to be carnal, one needs to be without the Lord. Any carnal man is on his own.
There are many people who wish to be great, especially before man. That spirit has found lodging among God's people. There are many who prefer to be great in church rather than do or to be God's will. It is unthinkable how many efforts are spend to achieve that sort of greatness that does not count before heaven. Jesus talked about becoming the least to be great. And there is another source of greatness: "Whoever does My commandments and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven", Mat.5:19. The real secret of greatness resides in being fulfilling and not on teaching others alone. Whoever fulfils is great in the sight of God if he teaches how to fulfil as well.
The man who loves wisdom asks for forgiveness a thousand times when he has forgotten about something important which God revealed to him. He feels like those who lost a pearl of unthinkable value, regrets deeply having lost it and seeks hard to find it again.
"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently on Him", Ps.37:7. To wait on God is and shall always be an option put before the will of man. While we are waiting, many things will appear before us as valid options to stop waiting on God. If God has promised, He will meet our need soon. Impatience may cause someone to take an alternative way which is not waiting on God. It is like not waiting for God's bus and we take another because it arrived first. It is a way to show we do not really trust our Lord and Saviour. Besides, another bus takes always another route and ends up somewhere else.
Throughout Scripture we read how God supports, helps and keeps the righteous because he is righteous before God. We cannot deny it as a fact. However, that does not mean we must become righteous in order to be helped by God. God is not bought off and never will be. What this means is quite different. God has a truth to defend. If God would help the wicked, he would be settled in wickedness by being supporting and the Lord would be working for wickedness. To help the wicked is to help wickedness, because the source of the wickedness is the wicked.
We can not afford to cleanse our souls to achieve certain things God refuses to grant because we are not found spotless before Him. It is true that certain things are not reached because we are not found as God wishes us to be. But, we can never clean up our souls to achieve those things. We clean our hearts and our lives to the full with the sole purpose of being clean for God´s sake. God will grant righteousness to those who want to be righteous and we should not dare to expect something more than righteousness when we are resolute and determined to become clean. God is not a negotiator and will not talk to those who sit down to negotiate with Him.
Whoever puts forth conditions to do something he should do, he is the same person who is capable of threatening if things do not go according to what he wants. "...Stop your threatening...", Eph.6:9.
Logic tells us that those who stay in bed awake are sick. However, there are many people who stay in bed in the morning wide awake and are not sick.
"Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints", Eph.2:19. If you are a fellow citizen with holy people, it surely means you are holy or that you became holy. There is no such thing as an unholy fellow citizen with the saints.
Time plays in our favour when we wait on God. There are people who wait in vain - even if they wait on God - because they are not right with God and their lives are not found spotless and up to date in relation to all their past and present sins. It may be the case, too, that they have not been faithful to something they have received and for which they have been waiting faithfully before. Consequently, they are waiting in vain - if they are waiting at all - because of not having been faithful, or because they have not corrected themselves in time to receive grace again. Faithfulness does not end with the waiting, but must persist after having received. However, for those who have obtained a fellowship and a real intimacy with Jesus, time goes on in their favour. Everything works for the good of those who truly hope in God, for their hope does not deceive them, will never disappoint them, is not based on pretentious assumptions and is not made up by wishful thinking nor is it fake.
When we say that we are doing something for God because He did much for us, we must think on what we are saying and what intentions cause us to say such a thing. If we are speaking as if we are giving something in return to God, we can be sure that it has very little value in heavenly terms. What has value before God is the voluntary work which emerges from a will that has been made free to do as God does, full of love and without conditions or pre-conditions to do something good. Whoever puts forth conditions to do something he should do, he is the same person who is capable of threatening if things do not go according to what he wants. Doing to pay back is doing conditionally. If we give because God gave us, we can be considered as grateful opportunists. But, there is another thing that is very true when we say we do something because God has done things for us first. Jesus fulfilled a work on the Cross that must still be carried out in the hearts. The work of the Cross is still done today. It goes on in time and it still changes man. When this inner work is completed satisfactorily (in the eyes of God), we can love voluntarily because His love has been poured and can be continuously poured on us to love through it. So, we are able to do because He did first. The misinterpretation of this fact is what leads people to understand that God should be repaid because He did something first. When God is 'repaid', it means that the person is carnal and tries to give back by own strength and through sacrifice. Possibly, this does not come from faith and is not operated by grace. Everything that is not of faith is sin and all that is not substantiated, operated and completed by grace is false fire inappropriately placed on the altar of God.
Intimacy with God is not determined by the work we do, nor by the gifts we have to exercise faithfully, nor by the virtues and power that God shows in our work for Him. Intimacy with God should and can exist without any particular reason besides belonging to Him. It is true all the works that we do need the blessing of God. However, each one of us must take care of his own life as if nothing else needs to be done for God, and as if the only real work in life is to be or to become close to God in all holiness. The real work of the Cross is to make us belong to God. Miracles, power, powerful preaching and full of conviction don't have the power to make the worker get closely related to Jesus. Being closer to Jesus and work are two different things. Far beyond what is being done for the Lord or people, anyone should present himself before God without a thing to give, but only himself. The task of our life is to be God's and to belong to him unconditionally. The rest, that is, everything else we do is important for others so that they can also get closely related to God themselves. The work we do does not benefit us in anything besides the privilege and pleasure of doing something important for the Kingdom. We must take care of our lives along with the work we do, so that we shouldn't be found gaining the world and lose our soul. "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers", 1Tim.4:16.
Any false prophet seldom believes that he is false. In fact, I don't believe there is one false prophet who believes he is false, even though I may be wrong about that. They are, usually, deceived people. The false ones usually speak with greater conviction than those who walk close to God because they do not fear to be wrong.
When God chooses someone, He does so having His will in mind. Consequently, that which is good for the Lord means goodness to those He chooses.
"But, unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath", Rom.2:8. If there is such a thing as obedience to sin, the disobedience to that sin can easily be considered a virtue of unspeakable value. We need to be disobedient to sin without remorse. Remorse of that sort could mean a temptation to look back to it again and be made offensive to truth and to the Lord.
We should never forget that the Word should be life and not a mere study we need to master. To learn or master the Word is to become living. It is not to learn how to recite it.
Some lie to hide and some tell the truth to hide too.
It is far better to give no hope to someone than to give a false hope. Therefore, rather strive to obtain real hope, the one which never fails and never deceives, Rom.5:5.
"You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape'", Mal.3:14,15. Whenever one has an earthly mind and whenever one considers earthly things as the greater or as the desirable blessing, such a person sees a curse in anything that is lacking. If this would was true, the terrorists and murderers would not be on earth. And while people believe is the ultimate blessing is earthly, God can hardly pursue the enemies of the Gospel and the bad ones, because it would stabilize this belief even more, I mean, that goodness and the ultimate blessing is to have the things of down here.
It is not always true that working for God is to preach the Gospel. There are people who work to see the fruits of their works. Now, while the work is done merely because of the fruit it brings, it is not done for the sake of Jesus. Then, people do not acknowledge that work is important to God because it is too important to them. And working for Jesus´ sake grants and brings more fruit from work than any other kind of work. Probably, the person who works hard for the fruits will not see the fruits of his labour - not even if there comes fruit from it in a far future. It might also happen that he shall not see the fruit of work for a time only, in order to become or to be more sanctified and fully dedicated to Jesus rather than to work. Only the wise and the selfless can understand, grasp and embrace this truth.
There are certain truths that are as a garment of wool that has not yet been completed: many seek the end of it to continue the work, while others seek it to pull and destroy what has been done.
Legalism destroys in many ways. One way: it puts people against the preaching of the law. In fact, the preaching and dissemination of law is fundamental to achieve the death of the sinner. "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me", Rom.7:11.
If wisdom is something easy for me to obtain, then it must be because it is difficult for others; if money is easy to get, then it must be because it is difficult for many who need it and whom I can help; if knowledge is within the reach of my hand, it is because it is difficult for others who will survive through what I find. Nothing is given to us by chance. Everything we own and receive is meant for all. It is more of a responsibility than a gift. May God continue to bless us even more, then.
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully". Have you ever wondered what it means to be clean of hands? Today I am thinking about it. It must be the way we do things, and the dedication to perfection in whatever we do. "He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation", Ps.24:3-5. Many want to get other things, but God promises righteousness, that is, He promises to make fairly clean. Is that what you expect to receive from God by cleaning your hands and by purifying all your heart? Or do you expect to receive something else in return? If so, your aim is not to be spotless to please God.
"Depart from evil, and do good; and you shall dwell for evermore", Ps.37:27. The Catholic idea that doing good is to help people and to help the homeless is widely spread. But, doing good is to fulfil the law of God in all its aspects and not only to help our neighbour. Because the churches have been denying God all these centuries, the idea was settled that doing good to people is the way to avoid feeling guilty and to avoid denying God and His works. Good works have become a camouflage which, in fact, does not hide much because it is a lie trying to cover up another lie.
Wisdom is to experience what one learns, is the active part of everything that happens to us and not merely the knowledge about it. Wisdom is a personified way of someone walking in the ways of God, it is the agility of behaviour and words about what happens on the inside and on the outside.
The problem with wisdom is that those who obtain it are always seeking to know more and better. Let me explain. When we want to sort out something, the target is to solve through the wisdom and power of God. The target is not the wisdom itself, because wisdom is a tool and not the goal to achieve. People, as a rule, despise what they already know when they hear it again as if what is known had lost its importance because they already know it. Do you despise your child simply because you already have and know him or her? What we know, we must remember and not forget nor neglect. "He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you" John 14:26. "I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it" 1 John 2:21. How many things are confirmed by remembering what God has taught us? Peter said: "I remembered what the Lord said", Act.11:16. In fact, we shall be able to remember with great agility only those things that have been able to transform us and those things that were able to make us new, I mean, those which are able to keep us new as well.
According to the Bible, Balaam was a prophet (2Pet.2:16). However, who can believe he is in heaven now?
All pains and sores pass away, but, we don't. "He who does the will of God remains forever, 1 John 2:17.
"You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God", Luc.16:15. Now, someone who loves to justify, or feels flattered when justified before men when they approve or applaud this kind of justification, has as a target to be seen or to remain under the spotlight. So, when someone wants to please others or get close to them, he needs only to justify his neighbour. This nears who flatters to him who is flattered. Then, if it is true that one can be justified before men, it is also true that what men will think of people is very important to hypocrisy. The opinion of other men is crucially important to any carnal man. Any carnal man is a hypocrite. When this truth is viewed under this light, all those who flatter and justify others seek a closeness to others by setting a snare to their feet. It is a double crime we are speaking of here. If someone depends on self-justification, death to God lies at his door. To justify someone is a contribution to the deceit living in the heart. "A man who flatters his neighbour spreads a net for his feet", Prov.29:5.
Joy is like thanking: there needs to be something that happened to make us rejoice. Today, there are many fools who try to cheer themselves up without being truly experiencing Jesus. They are hypocrites about "joy". Just as we can not be thankful without having received anything from anyone, the same should be said about how joy works in the heart.
"How great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You; You have worked for those who trust in You before the sons of men!" Ps.31:19. Trusting in the presence of men does not always mean we must say that we are trusting. Imagine us being surrounded by evil men who want to take our life. Shall we trust or will we convince them that we trust as long as we are found in their presence?
"My sins have taken hold on me, so that I am not able to look up", Ps.40:12. Men of God, when they sin at some point, cannot not look up. Today, it seems that there are no values of truth and deception took care of everything, because we see millions of people trapped in their sins, looking up as if God were to answer and to meet what they want. There is no longer any shame in dishonouring God and no fear in using His name in vain.
Where there are false prophecies, or words which use the name of God in vain, or sentences of comfort that something is not from God, or condemnation which does come through the conviction of the Spirit, or any other situation where people try to speak for God deceitfully, we must keep several things in mind: the deceived believe with great conviction in what they say, and the force applied onto their beliefs prevent them from being convinced otherwise; and, secondly, there is no good in ending prophecies where false prophecies are found, and there is no point entering a opposing path to prophecies by saying there is no such thing as prophecies anymore. The only way to overcome error is to do things the right way and it will only happen when people are found in good terms with Jesus and stop using God's name in vain. And it is good that things begin to happen the right way as soon as possible, lest God turns his back in a definite way.
What would be the love of God good for in or for an anointed (to guide or help others) if there is no love for those who will be guided or helped by it? We must not think that just because we are not designed to achieve certain things in a certain way, we are not as loved as those who are able to guide and help. Remember that the aim of the gifts of others is you and people like you and me. People do not have gifts for themselves. It means God loves those He is aiming at with great love.
The hardest thing I experienced in the living Gospel is to try to convince someone who has not experienced the real Gospel and believes he has. It is not easy to instruct someone to seek what he believes he has already found.
"...To humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not", Dt.8:2. There are errors that are costly. One of them is committed when we are being tested. When we are being tested, we doubt this and that and even put the power and goodness of God in doubt. Sometimes, we neglect our work to remain obsessed with some concerns and accusations against God. However, we must have this in mind: the degree of loyalty or faithfulness that we present under intense trials is proportional to the degree of loyalty or faithfulness we shall reveal when everything is going well and when we have already received. Joseph was as faithful to God after he had been turned king of Egypt as he had been inside Pharaoh's muddy dungeon for two years. Nobody may believe he shall be more loyal, more dedicated or more loving when trials come to an end. Faithfulness shall be the same as when one is being tried relentlessly.
To ensure hunger for obedience, for discipline, for loyalty or any other fundamental virtue ensures much more than what we can imagine. These virtues when exercised under the pressure of duty do not last for long, even if the duty is part of our life. Duty without hunger for duty will not seek to be fed for a long time and, even though it seeks, it will not eat when it finds because it doesn't feel hungry. Doing without the hunger to do shall eventually lead to love God less and less and will soon lead to rebellion.
"You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess", Deut.5:33. There are several crimes when we do not follow God in all He shows, and some possible consequences. God is God and there is no better guide. By not following Him all the way would amount to suicide, and is a huge lack of respect for God. The enormity of this sin has a lot to do with the greatness of God. Another crime being committed by not obeying God is the infamous negligence of this huge privilege of being able to follow the surest and most correct way with all the assurances and promises of a brighter future. Therefore, disobedience not only triggers a series of curses upon man, but, also deviates him from the only way that can be blessed.
"...Oh Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed", Ps.6:2,3. This means that even if the bones are troubled, the soul is not disturbed disturbed along with it. One thing does not imply the other. But, we can reach a point where the soul is also disturbed and vexed.
There is a lot of piracy around the truth. The pirates of truth created walls, barricades and barriers around what is truthful and real. If we want to get to the truth, we have to march confidently over organized trincheirs, jump hurdles and suffer ambushes from all those who claim to be preachers.
As as rule, whoever doesn't want to do something which needs to be done, sends people around to do it for him.
There are and there will always be examples among God's people. But of one thing I am sure: all those who have some man of God in his spotlight needs necessarily to get to the level of the example that is given to them (by God). I'm not saying that they need to do the same kind of work, but we have to achieve the same fidelity, the same kind of heart and the same level of moral and spiritual truthfulness that has been graciously placed before our eyes. Who does not achieve the same life as the example given to him, will be failing before God. There are examples stronger and more salient than others. But one example that is given to the flock is the minimum required of the same flock.
False prophecy é rebellion. Whenever people prophesy falsely, they say just the opposite of what God would say. And they do it in the name of God. The prophets and those who are inclined to hear these prophecies own a kind of rebellion much worse than witchcraft. "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he caused you to trust in a lie, (...) I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed. He shall not have a man to dwell among this people; nor shall he behold the good which I shall do for My people, says the Lord, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord", Jer.29:32.
Don't use the Bible to flatter anyone, don't use God's words in vain; Do not hide behind the Bible or with it, but expose yourself; do not be led by preconceived ideas or misconceptions. If you flatter anyone you are using God's word in vain or, at least, you are misusing it. And you also hide behind a kind of love which does not love your neighbour and create many misconceptions which would never come into existence by any other sort of means. You must also be extremely careful to guard yourself against any tongue which flatters you. Soon, it shall criticize you. Whoever pleases people also displeases them and those you praise you are also capable of saying things against you. It all depends in what kind of mood the person that talks finds himself. Whoever flatters shall also be able to engage in gossiping.
It is not good for people to be saved through wrath. Let me explain. We are saved from our sins and indirectly from the coming wrath. Thus, where there is a genuine conversion, there is genuine forgiveness, that is, there is this natural impossibility to sin. When the person does not want to give up all sins, that means he doesn't want to be saved from them as well. Soon, through the wrath of God the conditions to stop sinning begin to emerge here and there. The grip of anger and the pressure it exerts on the hearts lead many to stop sinning. But, what happens after anger ceases and after God stops reprimanding? The possibility to return to some sins is huge, because the person ceased from sin to divert the anger of God. The goal was not to stop sinning but rather to quench the wrath of God. When the anger ceases, sinning may start again. Soon, those who truly begin to abhor sin - regardless of having been reprimanded or not - are the ones who shall remain pure in heart. Therefore, it is highly advisable that the person reminds himself continually of the wrath of God until he is really converted. However, it is necessary that the person gets to experience the ways of love (which leads to abhor sin) and gets a heart that hates sin with a natural instinct. Anger will cease as soon as people have returned to their original state of creation. "Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease" Ps.85:4. The prayer is not for God to stop being angry, but to convert people and, as a consequence, anger against sinners will cease. There is a chronological order in the words of this verse that we should not underestimate. First, we return to our original state, and then anger ceases. But, once anger ceases, we should remember that to obey by fear is not perfection yet.
Clocks which are not working show the right time twice every day. However, it does not mean they should be approved. In the same way, people who are false or live through a false gospel might be occasionally right. However, that should not be an appeal to our hearts to listen to them or to give them some credit.
"...According to His good will", Phil.2:13. There are many words in the Bible which are easily misinterpreted due to the meaning our normal languages automatically link to them. This expression "good will" is one of them. We could, also, talk about "good courage" or any other expression where the word "good" is attached. When the angels announced the good will of God to the shepherds in Bethlehem, they were not merely talking about a willingness towards man as if God's attitude has suddenly changed. In fact, they were saying that God's will is good, whether people approve it or not. They were describing the will and not a disposition change in God. It is a will which God will look at and and say: "And He saw that it was good". The will of God is good and can easily be accepted with great joy, it is, with the kind of angels announced it.
"And he, trembling and astonished, said, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' And the Lord said unto him, 'Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do'", Act.9:6. It is interesting to notice that when we are confronted with the Lord, He doesn't always change our direction, but only our ways and heart. Jesus didn't change the way Paul was going. He did not redirect Paul back to Jerusalem or anywhere else. He was told to enter the same city he had planned to enter to kill. Jesus didn't change his direction, but only his life and heart. By having the person changed, everything changes. Even if circumstances, town, country or place don't change, everything changes. Occasionally, God might change our circumstances for some other ones, but it seldom works like that. Righteousness must be fulfilled in the place where we are found - right there where we are confronted with Him and His reality.
"Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people", Act.6:8. It is not only by faith that the things of God are performed. Faith is not the only thing responsible for wonders and miracles. One must still live in the centre of the power and of the wil of God. It is the power of God. If faith is a gift of God, so is the power. That power cannot be given to people who do not experience an extreme humility. Man may never feel greater than others or proud. He is just like others. It is the power of God at work and not man's. It means, it is God at work. Faith is in the heart of man, but, the power works outside him when greater works are performed.
"And some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprung up and choked them", Mat.13:7. There is always a serious problem once thorns grow: they choke whatever might be good or fruitful. However, if they are able to grow, it means the ground is proper for them. Never allow yourself to breed illusions: wherever or whenever the cares of this world outgrow the confidence end the hoping in the Lord, something happens that not even the devil is able to achieve directly, which is to choke the very words of God.
"But, I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment", Mat.12:36. What can be seen as an idle word? An idle word might also be a word which we speak because we don't wish to feel awkward being quiet before people. We simply speak for the sake of speaking and not for the sake of contents.
"How can you, being evil, speak good things?" Mat.12:34. That was an old question we should have always in mind. However, there is a newer one: "How can you do evil having been transformed?" Today's gospels put pressure on people against full holiness. Let's take heed against those gospels. They are not godly.
Jesus sent His Disciples without silver or gold. We read they couldn't even take as much as a bag with them. We may understand, in some way, that not all are called to live that way. Some are called to provide for those. We cannot be called to live that way by the arrogance of our hearts. However, all should be able to trust the Lord: some for the provisions they need and some others for the provisions others might need from them. We must go obeying God. We cannot afford going disobeying Him being sent by arrogance and own mindedness. Disobedience is arrogance - it is stubbornness.
Many believe that the Kingdom of God will be after they die. There is no idea more wrong and more deceiving than that one. The Kingdom of God has come to earth and it is here where it begins - in us. Unless we start living in it now, there is no chance we will experience it after death. Concerning the Reign of God which starts right here, we read: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven", Mat.5:19. There are so many preachers who complain about not having revival and about their lukewarm congregations. They don't seem to be very effective in preaching the Gospel the way they ought. They work harder, exhort harder and become exuberant preachers to stir up dead people into some sort of life which is not eternal life, as if dead people can be stirred to anything. They should, perhaps, read this piece of Scripture to understand it better. Perhaps they are either small or even insignificant in the Kingdom of God because they break the least of the commandments of the Lord and their example is followed by their congregations. It is no wonder there are so many deceivers today and perhaps we might find here a reason why so many cheap gospels are proliferating around us more and more and with greater speed.
Whoever is not able to live up to criticism will surely fall with the praise from men.
To blaspheme is to use God's name in vain, to make unrighteous references to it when one is joking or praying in vain. We should be more on our guard when we use God's name, because the commandment is still a very serious one: do not use the name of the Lord your God in vain.
It is far better to die unmarried and be right with God than to marry having been driven into marriage by sin instead of being led by God. "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season", Heb.11:25. This verse uses the word "choosing". It means it is our choice. You need to take that option: rather unmarried than married driven by feeling of sin. God will not choose it now for you. If you keep delaying that definite decision it shall affect your future life accordingly, even if you take the choice path later on in life. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?", 2Cor.6:14. It is so obvious that such a decision shouldn't even be a matter of much thought because you must choose between light and darkness. That is what it is all about. You must choose speedily. Choose whom you shall serve. "They feared the Lord, and also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence", 2 Kings 17:33. Do you fear God and still guide yourself according to the rules of novels and romances? Has the world's ways and views still the last say in your life. Does it still influence your decisions? Will your feelings know better than God and can they decide better?
You might be in bad terms with God or God with you and be unaware of it. It is also possible to be in good terms with God while you believe God is against you for what has been happening to you recently. However, many of those who are not that right with God usually say things like this: "If God shows me, I will leave this altogether. When He shows me, I will make the decision. God is not speaking to me about it!" We should read in between the words when people say things such as those. In most cases, God is already speaking or has already spoken and people are not hearing that well. And if God is not speaking, He should be. I am sure God will fulfil His duties all the time. Are you in a state to hear properly? You are a sheep already? Sheep hear gladly and easily. But, only sheep do so. Perhaps you are not searching to have and to keep a sheep's heart. Now you are saying God will speak or will say something about it when your own heart is far from hearing from the Lord. Only sheep can hear from Him.
The enthusiasm of faith, the joy of receiving or of knowing one shall receive is a natural consequence of believing in the Lord and of trusting Him for something. However, we must know that enthusiasm may come from a lot of sources. Someone may become enthusiastic and joyful because of the sign itself; these are the unbelieving ones who consider themselves believing. Another situation that occurs frequently is when someone receives something he waited for a long time or something he desires deeply. Being emotionally or personally involved in the issue causes joy to burst forth. And there are those who honour God and are touched by a deep joy once they realize God's will is being accomplished by an answer to prayer. Those, usually, are peaceful beings, quietly happy and their joy is so great they have no words or gestures which are capable of expressing the kind of joy they experience. That is why they are always found quiet and peaceful. They are believing beings indeed.
Patience that is not associated with an intense desire to accomplish or reach the things Jesus has promised and to have them accomplished and received the way they are promised cannot be seen as patience at all.
It is unquestionably true that there will never be a genuine, overflowing revival without holiness. If there are no holy vessels, there shall be no revival either. If there is, that revival is false. However, we can never believe the reverse of that, it is, that if there is holiness there shall be a overall, spreading revival. We know Jacob cleansed himself and his people and there was one of the first revivals of the fear of God. But, Elijah and Elisha were continually holy and there has never been a revival in Israel. Things are not as linear as many might wish them to be.
Today, someone from Cuba wrote to me and there was said: were I as righteous as an angel, I should still lay down my righteousness to be dressed up with Christ. "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ", Rom.13:14. I will not comment any further on that.
Many times, people who go through many kinds of tribulation comfort themselves with words such as: "Did it not happen, I could have been dead or something worse could have happened to me". However, I believe this is a misleading thought. Even though God is solemnly sovereign to use tribulations to deviate anyone from a greater trouble, one may never forget that God does not need any artificial means to do so. In fact, tribulation have only one goal in mind: to prune obedience. Obedience is the great issue at stake when we are tried by anything. Many fail in that.
Transparency is the greatest ally to holiness. In some cases, transparency is holiness itself. Walking in the light is the assurance of holiness, especially if we walk in the light the way Christ does.
An error or sin is never alone. One sin always brings another with it. Solomon sacrificed in the high places, even though He sacrificed to God. Perhaps, this is one of the key reasons why many strange woman got into his life, it is, between him and the Lord. It is true one sin may be committed without having other sins as the cause or the call to it. However, if there is one single sin which is not properly cleansed and fully dealt with, it shall surely call other sins into its fellowship.
Here is a truth: if I am indeed led by the Lord, if I am His child indeed, if I am not mistaken about it, any kind of tears I shed concerning myself are tears shed in vain. I should rather keep my tears for those who, far and near, are lost around me.
When we are found in a way which seems right and which is not God's will for us - however noble that way may seem - and if we believe it to be God's will for us, we shall seek to hear voices of convenience which will only confirm what we believe. It is needless to say we shall despise every other contradictory voice. This is a way which leads to disappointment and false endings. We shall be easily deceived by the voices of our own heart which shall, also, be put on fire by the fires of hell. We shall mistake our own hearts' voice for God's voice. It is very difficult to correct someone who believes he is right. However, it is not that difficult to wrongly convince someone who is indeed right. If the flesh has the upper hand, things will go smoothly towards a fleshly way. We should become sheep. Sheep hear God's voice because they are sheep and not merely because they are eager to hear. Unless we are sheep indeed, we shall easily disregard God's voice because it is contrary to what we wish to hear. This is why a way which seems right is able to lead to death.
"The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted", Ps.12:8. Sometimes, people ask themselves why there are so many robbers and assassins in certain countries around the world. In many countries, these bad people swerve around freely while honest people live closed behind the iron bars of their own homes taunted by fears of being robbed. According to the Bible, that happens because those who lead those countries have not the proper motives in leading them. They seek their own things and not God's will or the benefit of the people they lead.
I read this today: fear knocked at the door; faith went to see who was there. No body was there.
I do not need to believe lies to believe what is possible with God.
If I am a faithful person and no one trusts me, if people around do not expect me to fulfil and keep reminding me of my duties, I will surely be offended or feel wronged. Even unfaithful people feel injured when they are not trusted. Having that in mind, think of how great a sin it is not to trust God and not to take Him for what He is.
When someone is being 'treated' by God through trials and is not corrected in the midst of those difficulties or reprimands, he will not become any better when things start going well again. Changing circumstances for the better shall not cause the heart to become better if the person has not submitted to God or to all His requirements under correcting trials. Imagine that a marriage faces certain difficulties and poverty, which intend to unite the couple and to teach them to understand each other through those trials. If they do not unite under difficulties and trials, the disunity will worsen as soon as the circumstances start to change for the better. The disunity and disagreements will be of a worse degree. We cannot feed the vain hope that things will improve in the heart if circumstances change for the better. That will not happen. It is a law of nature and is applicable and extensible to all other possible human situations. If someone steals, being poor, he shall steal after becoming rich and will become even more dishonest; if someone lies under pressure, he shall will be a greater liar when the pressure is lifted off; etc.. We need to change now, before circumstances change, regardless of what problems we may face now. The circumstances have nothing to do with the condition of the heart. They are separate things altogether and must be dealt with separately.
If the greatest honour to man is to be freed of himself and to be saved from himself and from his own sins - and if that is what honours God most - that means that the biggest disgrace is to be delivered to oneself and to be left in those most wanted sins. "And even as they did not think fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do the things not right", Rom.1:28.
"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him", Ps.37:7. Many can only be 'in the Lord' by not resting in Him and by not waiting in Him. If they 'rest', they are not in the Lord, and if you are in the Lord, they cannot rest. It is necessary to achieve a quiet being while in Him and He in us, without being fake. These never get tired because they expect Him truly and continuously.
"As for us, our eyes failed waiting for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.", Lam.4:17. How many seek after those things that can not save them from anything! There are things we need which not even gold can buy.
All half-truths always become great lies one way or another. There is no half-truth which will not become a big lie sooner or later - if it is not dealt with in time.
If you know that people are inspired by actions and deeds, try doing instead of talking. Obey the commandments of Jesus and talk less.
Work does not tire as much a part of that work done perfectly. Doing something is less fatiguing than doing it well.
Debating oneself against life is to fight in favour of death. God is life and our consciousness the barometer. If God is against us, we must hear His reasons and understand them in the way He understands them before we exalt ourselves against Him.
God can guide and lead someone without being noticed. He can guide without us realizing it. But, that does not edify obedience or build the kind of heart that God desires for all of us.
Unbelief openly opposes the idea of a real God. A real Jesus scares the unbelieving sinner. That's what defines unbelief. Unbelief marvels with reality, rejects or fears a real Jesus. However, it believes in an inactive Jesus and search him eagerly.
Often, prayers, intercessions and fastings of many are driven by wants and desires of their own and not by a search of God's will and that things are materialized as God's will.
Distraction is, as a rule, a fight between at least two thoughts that demand the person's attention. Attention is one and thoughts more than one. So comes the distraction. Under these circumstances, instead of being struggling with various thoughts, we should stop and decide which of them will we give priority.
The Apostles used the words "this present age" to describe something that would be difficult to describe as "this life". Life in this world is not life and, therefore, they had some difficulty in using the word life to speak of what is happening here. So, they started using the words "this century" because it won't last for long.
Roses have many similarities to those who carry the fragrance of the Gospel of Christ around. Grace grows among thorns, but its perfume and beauty are not affected by them in the least. The petals and the fragrance do not become bad because of the thorns. The thorns do not poke the flower but only those who try to destroy it.
Have you ever seen a child who does not know how to write well and tries to write his name on paper? When such a child learns to write his name on a sheet of paper, it always starts with big letters just to find out that the name will not fit on the sheet. Then, the letters are gradually reduced to fit in. Would it not be better to start with small letters? In fact, this is precisely what many do with spiritual things. The way some talk about certain true things when they come to Christ, in the beginning, is so disproportionate that, in the end, it does not fit in the sheet of their own lives. It could fit if the letters were of the right size. Does the size of the letters really matter to describe great things? Will big letters describe great things better or would it make any difference in the greatness of a great thing? If I write "universe" in small letters, will the size of the universe be affected in any way?
My rest is to be with God. I do not rest from God, but rather with God.
Abraham saw the womb of Sara becoming stale and dry in front of his own eyes in the course of the years. This aging was constant and daily. But the promise of God kept reviving itself and living in his heart. While Sarah's womb was drying up, the fire of the promise was growing in him. He could not deny any of them. No one could hinder it either. Each passing day, the contrast increased. And it all ended well. So does our God work. We should be suspicious only if things are not working that way. But, if the workings of God are in line with what happened to all men of God, we should not be concerned. It is a standard. The stories of the Bible are clear and confirming if we are led and taken by the Lord. If these 'contradictory' things happen to us, we should take them to heart, because we are within the program and within the standard of God. There is nothing better to confirm that God is indeed with us.
I do not exist to make friends or to have friends, even though I have them. I exist to give children to God and to edify them as such. Even if they all become my brothers and sisters, I do not exist for that purpose and am not not working to gain such results. It is all about the Lord Jesus.
I experienced life in a real way. Then, I made faithful drawings of what it stands for. Now, some try to achieve the design and not the life. Some learn to draw and not to live. Why is it so? They also try to paint from my picture because I painted what is real and good. All I wanted was to picture true life and not that people should seek an image. I had only in mind to make it easier to understand and that some could see the difference between real life and the false gospels that are proliferating all around.
Learning is to learn by living or learn by experiencing genuine, abundant life. The Bible speaks of some who are always learning and never coming to the knowledge of true life. Moreover, it is not necessary to know or explain everything that happens in us when we live and experience the eternal life that God has given us to live by now and always.
How can we distinguish between the leadings of the Holy Spirit and the impulse of emotion? Emotion is always a consequence of something. It comes from man. The voice of God is the source. Therefore, simply distinguish between origins and results, and then see what is the origin of what you feel and seek to live by the origin instead of seeking the consequence or outcome to build your hopes on.
"...Do not be conformed to the former lusts in your ignorance", 1Ped.1:14. It is necessary to look at this verse a few times. Only then can we understand its true meaning. It speaks of former lusts. That is, they no longer exist or are no longer lusts. There are good things that people are able to lust for. But, if there are no lusts anymore - not even in the form of temptation - how can someone still be conformed with them? It sounds like a contradiction, but, we know that it is not. Paul also writes to the faithful in Rome not to comply with the lusts of this world, Rom.12:1,2. He spoke to people who were already believers and whose lusts were, also, "former lusts". Therefore, we may conclude that to be conformed to lusts might not have anything to do with personal temptations, but, with acceptance of sin around. That is, we can be indifferent, conniving, ignorant or approving what lust stands for and the way it operates. Paul talks about those who "have pleasure in those that do" wrong things (Rom.1:32). This may mean a lot against all those who delight in wrong movies and novels. For example: our words and ways of speaking may give the impression that what they call romance is not a form of adultery; or that dishonesty is just 'business' and that it is not necessary to estimate our neighbour as ourselves, seeking merely to gain profit from them, etc.. There are many ways to be conformed to the lusts of this world in deeds, acts with words or without them. Even the meaning of our words should be revised if we are to live without becoming disagreeable or offensive to God.
"For they have worked falsehood. Therefore, the thief comes in, the troop of robbers plunders outside", Hos.7:1. There are certain laws in nature from which no one escapes. The same happens with spiritual laws. The thief enters where falsehood is practiced. Although there are exceptions to the rule because of other things that God may want to achieve, we must bear in mind that even today those who kill by the sword, die by the sword; he who speaks of others, shall hear rumours about himself as well; he that practices falsehood will be stolen; etc. "And they do not say within their hearts that I remember all their evil", Hos.7:2. It might be a way of God remembering certain sins.
"For your goodness is like a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goes away", Hos.6:4. How many things in your life come and go? How many good attitudes do not remain for long? There are many people whose good intentions last until the first trial. It happens that the Bible calls those as unstable and divided of heart. When will their attitudes and decisions become heavenly and stay forever?
"For your people are as those who strive with the priest", Hos.4:4. There are those who quarrel with the husband, father, mother and even against the authorities of their country or of another country. This can never be considered a minor flaw or sin and rather as a grievous transgression. Whoever cannot agree with someone for whatever reason, does not need to respond unmannerly. And it might not always be necessary to answer when it is God who answers for us. However, sometimes God answers through us and we need to do it as God would.
"It obvious that you are a letter from Christ", 2Cor.3:3. The fact that it is evident that someone is a letter from Christ doesn't mean he shall be generally accepted as such. Anyone will be manifest as a letter of Christ because of having fixed his doings and life with Jesus and with all people concerning all former and present sins, abandoning them forever and pursuing the life that God alone can give. Soon, such a person is able to express another kind of life and not just another profession of faith. That life speaks loud and shall intrigue all who previously knew the person before the change has taken place. However, not everyone will like what is visible, though the transformation might impress deeply. Now, being a letter from Christ, that is, if it is truly a letter of Christ, does not necessarily mean it shall be generally accepted as such, since it is possible to be rejected as such. Normally, the last ones to recognize the transformation - if it is recognized at all - is the household of that person. Most people are not easily aware of what goes on into their close relatives because they believe they already know them too well.
Every form of hope is legitimate. By that I mean that I can always expect something from God. But, to avoid disappointment, I must distinguish between a hope that is based on a word of God addressed to me (whether it is in accordance with what I had expected and hoped for or not), and a kind of hope that is only mine and about which God has not yet declared as His desire. Those things I may wish that God would give can cause hope and it may be kept as such. However, I must bear in mind that God still has to express Himself about it. And until that happens, there will be a 'legitimate' hope which may disappoint if maintained as a certainty. We need to accept a "no" with the same joy as we would accept a positive answer from God about what we expect. A "no" from the Lord is good news. It means He is guiding and is around, caring for us. Only legitimate hopes, which are based upon a word spoken by God, do not deceive and do not cause anyone to roam about aimlessly without being safe and without being reassured on a regular basis about it.
"Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth", 1Cor.13:6. This joy with the truth is a kind of relief of a weight. Injustice, i.e., the existence of iniquity, is a burden to the righteous heart. It is not a threat to the righteous, but to the unjust one that has never been changed. Yet, it is burdensome to the righteous. This makes it a weight to any righteous heart.
Those who are accustomed to exercise a kind of 'faith' which is based on own hopes, own desires or own conclusions (that did not come from God and were not brought by His Spirit to the spirit of man), will certainly have great difficulty in believing otherwise, i.e. when God pronounces a word or speaks to the heart. This is because the two sorts of heart operate distinctly and antagonistically. To be able to believe when God has not spoken beforehand is not faith. And if this is true, we can say that the one who can believe when and where God speaks, cannot believe when it is the heart that is speaking instead of God. To doubt it can not be considered as unbelief. However, there is a huge possibility that there are people trapped up between these two things who become stagnant and hesitant.
"Be not overcome of evil", Rom.12:21. If evil is able to affect our peace and to cause us to respond in an unkind way, we have already been defeated by it.
If we do not have any evil preventing faith in the heart, faith will prevent all evil in there. Nothing is immaterial in this earth. Anything means something all the time.
The same way that faith knows that God will settle all his accounts with the wicked, in the same way we know that He will draw near to the righteous to reward everything to them because of the existing justice in their hearts. Believing in something without being able to believe the other can not be regarded as faith.
"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in any of his thoughts", Ps.10:4. This does not mean that everyone who doesn't seek God says that God does not exist. It means only that they act as if God did not exist, living without being guided, without being ruled by God and His Spirit and acting without the fear of the Lord. It also means that whoever does not seek God for guidance and to be reigned by Him is wicked - even if the 'search' after God is there for other purposes.
Faith may require of us to believe in absurd and impossible things, like a virgin having a child without knowing a man. But, even that requires such a thing of us, the word given to us demanding such behaviour of the heart is not given in a ridiculous and detached way. The Word that we believe should be backed up by the substance and strength of the One who promises it. In the case of Mary and the husband of Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel appeared to them. The bigger ordeal fell upon Joseph who received divine information through a simple dream. Anyone can doubt a dream. But it should not be easy to doubt an angel that stands night and day before God and who, when he appears, doesn't need to tell his name or who he is.
"...And Moses spoke so to the sons of Israel. But they did not listen to Moses because of anguish of spirit and because of the cruel bondage", Ex.6:9. How hard is it to tell the truth to someone who does not want to believe that or not able (willing) to believe! Then imagine how it will be even harder to explain or tell a truth to the unbelieving, at the same time, has no hope or do not want to have her afraid to deceive. Here are already ill and disabled two virtues very important for the normal life of any man: the true faith and hope which does not disappoint. And if we add to that the fact that this word is actually addressed to a hard heart that does not love and do not want to love, we have so many serious problems, and in many cases impossible to solve. Glad that everything is possible with God! "Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love", 1 Cor.13:13. "Love covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things", 1Cor.13:7.
All sins have a judgment on them. Although its sentence might not be as immediate as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, it will always reach out to all guilt that was not entirely washed away. And even those who are clean can never get rid of certain consequences the many sins they have committed. Imagine a girl who became pregnant before marriage. The baby will never be returned and must be created as a child of God after His forgiveness has been granted.
God acts differently with people. He deals in a certain way with those He sees will be faithful and in another way with those liable to stagger between various thoughts. That being true, God cleanses the clean ones more through trials and situations where their faith is put to proof. Those who are not faithful are challenged with situations that will provoke them to believe. One is the dealing of a God with a Jacob who needs a wrestling with Him, and another is His dealing with an Israel that has already wrestled with God and has overcome. The unbelievers are challenged with signs and other things that can provoke them to believe, but are not tested because they have no faith to be tested. Only faith can be tried. Those who already believe are tried to be more clean.
"I know that this great storm has come on you for my sake", Jonas 1:12. How many times the evil things that happen to people around have us as the cause? Have you been disobedient to the Lord lately?
"For, in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted", Heb.2:18. Let's turn this verse the other way round. Are you in a disposition to be tempted and helped in these things Jesus was tempted by? Or do you look for other sort of help? Figure out in what things Jesus was tempted and determine whether those are the things you seek to be helped with.
"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows", Heb.1:9. Two things about this. Many envy the joy of certain people who walk with Jesus continuously. They want the fruit or the outcome, but avoid sowing and planting. True joy lies in the fact that a person loves righteousness and hates wickedness. But we must have something in mind: it is not necessarily the iniquity of others that is hateful, but one's own. This verse talks about personal holiness, righteousness or wickedness, and not other's. Justice (righteousness) inhabiting someone makes that person righteous. This justice (righteousness) must be nurtured, cared for, loved and cherished. And it is the possibility of an own iniquity that must be hated, interrupted, abolished and despised. Doing this with the iniquity of others is proof of cowardice.
"But, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and have no care in the lusts of the flesh", Rom.13:14. Here are two things to be noticed by all those who want to stop sinning. One is to put on the Lord Jesus, it is, to be fully coated with Him. And it needs to be real. The second thing is to not give any leeway, allowance or thought to the possibility of sinning. As a rule, people only do one of these things and they stagger in the way. They either engage only in a fierce war against sin, or excuse or put the blame on God while seeking sin and visiting, looking, thinking or fearing the things of darkness.
Any continuous and uninterrupted tribulation, even if it of a mere light kind, albeit lighter, is more difficult to bear than many occasional tribulations that come and go, that is, begin and end. A drop of water that drips every second throughout the night disturbs more people than a bang that lasts in a moment.
"Persevere in prayer", Rom.12:12. The word 'persevere' is different from 'insisting' on many senses. The main characteristic of someone who is able to persevere is that such a person has a well defined and definite target which he knows he is going to reach. At least, he knows it is within the reach of God. But, I never saw anyone managing to be persistent in the prayer for much time by depending, in daily life, on own strength, or by flirting own ideas and having own schemes to get to what he intends. Whoever does not hand over everything to Christ - even those daily things of daily business - will not be able to persevere to the point of obtaining a concrete answer to any prayer. There must not be the least dependence on anything or any other power besides the power of Christ. If anyone claims to have the power of God while some other power or some other means are flirted with at work or even while in holiday and rest, such a person is a liar.
"Be patient in tribulation", Rom.12:12. This patience referred to here is not only patience about the tribulation itself, but overall patience during times of tribulation. This patience must reign faithfully during everyday life and towards anything else besides the tribulation itself as well. However, we must be able enough to distinguish between tribulation of a clean heart and those conflicts of mind which occur due to the lack of spiritual hygiene and steadfastness.
Grace needs to be received. When God delivers it out to us, it that does not mean we are receiving it, but, only that it is being offered. And to receive grace, though it is good, it is still not to depend on her. And to be able to depend on grace and having learned to do so should not be seen being able to depend wholly and exclusively on grave for everything. Grace is put before the nose of man; then, it must be received willingly and cheerfully and there is nothing better to cause joy than finding after an intense search; if it is not go welcomed with a smile and joy at this point, it will be an insult to God. And when it is accepted, it is necessary to exercise willingly a kind of dependence which is whole, exclusive and complete. "Let patience have it perfect work", James 1:4. Though one thing takes to other one, one thing is not the other thing. They are different things altogether.
"As to diligence, do not be slothful", Rom.12:11. We need to understand God's Word properly to never give it a meaning that it has not. This care or diligence Paul mentions here is one of taking care and of doing all things with all readiness, i.e. taking diligent care of all house duties, of all the duties of a mother, of work, of reading the Bible, of praying, of needs of people and of everything else which needs to be cared for. By being enthusiastic in everything, we will not be slow in anything. But, be careful lest you are hypocritically enthusiastic. Do not leave your heart behind when you are doing everything for the sake of God. Why would you offend the truth of the Gospel and be a shame to the Children of the Great King? Doing His things or doing anything for Him should be seen as the greatest privilege anyone could ever think of.
"Communicating with the needs of the saints", Rom.12:13. I have seen many people giving leftovers to God and for God's work. I also saw a few ones giving to God of the little they put aside for themselves. But, hardly ever have I seen someone who tries to inquire about the real needs of someone who asks nothing and tells no one anything about his own needs. The true saint does not communicate with others about his own needs. According to Paul, it is those that can help who must communicate with these needs and be informed about them one way or another. Today, only those who ask in the services receive provisions. And they should be preaching the Gospel of truth instead. The honest and sincere ones will preach the Gospel from a pure heart without thinking of own interests or personal needs. No one hears them complaining or mentioning any need when they pass the message faithfully. In fact, one will find that any true servant of the Gospel will not even think on any personal needs while the greater needs of truth lie before him. It is as if a servant of Christ has a lot to say about his Lord and about truth and the time is too short to speak about anything else. Everything else becomes irrelevant when we face the true Gospel.
We know the parable of the ten virgins, of whom five were foolish. And they were foolish because they did not prepare and did not prevent for the possibility of a long wait. However, there is something in this parable which can be easily missed. The struggle of the virgins was to remain awake. As usual, the person fights against something which is not the main problem. The true problem was not even the wait, the lack of sleep and the fatigue, but, the lack of oil that has not been provided for when they were not tired and were still confident. When the moment of truth and reality came they all realized that the real need was the oil which is provided before the time - much before the time.
Anyone can be firm or, as Paul says, steadfast. However, few are secure or secured in God. Let me explain. There is no firmness in someone who is not firm at heart. To be firm in God, one needs to have firmness inside or to be able to react firmly in a natural way. A person who changes constantly will not be firm because such does not exercise firmness as a way of life or never got used to exercising steadfastness. A person who had been firm in sin has his own kind of firmness. Soon, that capacity can be based on God because of having exercised steadfastness before, in case such a person is fully reconciled to God and to His ways. Being steadfast in sin is an aberration. But, firmness in God is a virtue. However, it must be an eye for eye of what we were able to be for the world, only that now we are so for God and towards Him. And anyone who was changeable, uneasy or unstable in his previous life of sin, when approaching God he must learn to exercise steadfastness until it becomes his nature or his natural way of life. Only the steadfast will manage to be firm in God. One cannot expect to be able to exercise steadfastness without gaining a steadfast heart and mind, which, in the world before, could be seen as stubbornness. Stubbornness is a sort of steadfastness which does not cooperate with anyone, much less with God. Steadfastness works with the Lord and keeps gathering with Him right through.
Without grace, people cannot enter God's ways and they walk on in own ways in this world under the patience of God. The person without God has the capacity to choose between bad ways, but, has not the option to enter the narrow door and neither of remaining in the narrow way when it has been granted him to enter by grace and resolved to do the things in a way that denies grace afterwards. The Bible is clear about the fact of each one having the capacity to follow his own ways by himself. Grace enables us to stop following own ways and to remain belonging to Jesus right through.
When it is laws, standards, decisions or stimuli that are opposing or rising against any sin or against any shadow of sin, we cannot rest assured that such sin will be exterminated. It is a good beginning to have certain reasons, standards or even measures to prevent transgression. But, applying those standards or rules hardly extinguishes the fires of sin in the heart, even thought all those measures and standards are praiseworthy and appreciable. Nevertheless, none of those reveals, exposes and erases the sin from the heart. There is no law that accomplishes purity of the heart as grave does when activily engaged in transformation and forgiveness. Any moral beginning avoids the transgression, but, does not do away with the fountain of sin.
"For circumcision truly profits if you keep the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, circumcision becomes uncircumcision", Rom.2:25. Many talk about being elected and predestined in the way the Jews talked about circumcision. Suppose we change some words in this verse and say something like this: "Election truly profits if you keep the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, election becomes destitution". How wrong or how right would this statement be?
We recall how God told Joshua "only have good courage and be strong". If we compare translations, the idea that we get is that of "having a good and motivated spirit" and that this is put forth the only condition to what God has promised Joshua. Now, there is a truth about this which we may never ignore. This truth is the fact that no one can be without any sort of spirit for a long time. Any lack of motivation doesn't last for long. However, if good encouragement is not there, a bad sort will be. If one cannot be rightly motivated, a bad kind of strength will take over. It shall happen to anyone. There is no way anyone will remain for a long time without any kind of spirit. If a good spirit is not sought a bad one will surely take over.
"Elisha said: Yes, I know. Keep quiet", 2Kings 2:3. It is interesting to notice that the true prophets of God will not always speak and they shall not always reveal what they know. They will rather act according to what they know and will tell people who also know to keep quiet. This is indeed interesting. Most so-called prophets speak to much and to quick. They would never be quiet about something, especially if they knew it would come to pass. They would easily grab the occasion to shine and to stand out. It is so easy to sell the soul to evil and call upon others to applaud.
It is very easy to speak for God or about His deeds while being in opposition to Him. "Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of Egypt," 1 Kings 12:28. Who brought the people out of Egypt? However, half-lies and half-truths have their power to deceive. This sort of lies and truths can 'paste' or attribute the deeds of God to false prophets, false prophecies and even false powers; and they can, also, attribute to God the wrong deeds.
Before, in the time of the apostles, all good teachings and doctrines were ways of life. It was always a profession of life. People would speak about what they experienced. Today, it has become a profession of faith. Those who preach (right or wrong) are content to strive to be able to believe the doctrines they consider right. For this reason, so many make a point of having certain confessions, discussions and professions of faith they consider right and for which they war assiduously. I wish they had a confession or profession of life and not of faith and that their life would express the truth of the Lord clearly! Instead of speaking about grace, they should reveal grace in practical ways and in their own lives without acting it out.
It is not only the true children of God who speak the truth. I believe even the devil speaks the truth on most occasions. The striking difference between the children of God and those who are not children of Him cannot be detected by what they say or teach, but by what they are. The children of God are the truth itself. “The good seed are the Children of the Kingdom”, Mt.13:38. The others only speak of the truth and are unable to be truth itself. Therefore, it shouldn’t be enough to be a convincing preacher who preaches very well and has the capacity to influence the listener’s eyes and ears towards the truth, because such a person can talk about the truth without being truth himself, being unable to live all he teaches. The normal way is to live more than we can preach about. The cup only overflows and if it overflows, it must be full. I don't understand how many 'overflow' without having been filled.
Where we are able to hope (wait) to end for all good things from God, the results are always superior to the expectations of the waiting time and higher in contrast to the ‘delay’ which has been endured to the end. This fact, however, can only be properly understood and fully accepted by those whose time of probation has passed and can hurt anyone who is still going through his waiting time of trial, expectation and probation.
It would be good if people cared more about what they are above worrying about what they do. It is true that a normal person, someone who is not conditioned by laws of performance, will act according to what he or she really is. The works of people who are not conditioned by laws of conduct, shame or an other will make manifest what the person really is inside. However, there are people who are so conditioned (especially in religious, academic or even evangelical circles) that they manage to avoid showing what they are or are capable of being. It is possible to conceal one’s own heart even from self. Let there be light where no one is aware of facts and possibilities! That is why the doctrines that say people keep sinning after knowing Christ as He is brings such disastrous results and they are worthy of all the shame they are able to bring upon the Cross of Christ. These are doctrines that excuse those who do not see their way out of sin to enter an inner transformation or those who don’t really desire to be deeply changed. Usually, many apologize and ask for forgiveness in order to remain as they are. We can also understand why prostitutes and thieves come up in front into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is because they do not have words to apologize or to explain away any of their heinous deeds. They can only focus on changing what they are, and look for the change that grace can turn possible. The others will always have the morbid, tiring and exhausting tendency to cover up what they are, mutilating their thoughts and actions to appear good and Christian-like without having changed.
The will of God is to be done. We may be doing the will of God without realizing it, as we can refuse to carry it out knowing what it is. Someone who does not realize that he is doing the will of God, exercising it, will be doubly blessed. This reveals that he has a heart as God’s. On the other hand, knowing what God's will is does not guarantee that the person will do it or even that he shall become what God is. Only those who gain a heart according to God will be able to do His will the way He wants it to be done, as it is done in heaven. "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?" Amos 3:3.
There is something wrong with those people who praise God superficially and 'magnify' His name by saying that He does great things when He has not done them. Falsehood can never be a praise to God. However, when we are able to magnify the Lord's name, it must be a fact indeed. "And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and the hand of Saul," 2Sam.22: 1. David was not pretending, nor was he a liar in his approach to God or people. He really praised the Lord for what he had really done, and not because David wanted to praise Him for things which had never been confirmed. The unbelieving mind doesn't mind 'praising' God superficially because it doesn't really expect great things to happen - it only says it does.
Only a faithful man can believe a faithful promise. An unfaithful one will rather believe an unfaithful promise.
If it is a serious crime to have someone's blood in our hands, imagine how much worse is the crime of having the blood of someone's soul found in our hands!
"And Saul said, 'Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and you did not come in the days appointed, and the Philistines gathered themselves at Michmash, and I said, the Philistines will come down now on me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord. And I forced myself and offered a burnt offering'", 1Sam.13:11,12. Here, we see the first signs of idolatrous reactions to fear and unbelief in Saul. Idolatry does not consist only on whom it is offered, but, what sort of power we attribute to offering. There is no power in sacrificing. There is power in God and He is never bought off or bribed into something. This is why I believe most seasons of prayer and fasting are totally wrong and twisted or, at least, wrongly motivated. Fasting must be an act of obedience of the soul. If we attribute any power to prayer, we are not convinced it is God's power. Prayer has no power. Now, it is very important to deal securely against sin and to react immediately and instinctively against it by moving towards God to be fully and unconditionally saved from any of it. If we do not do that, the heart we have will carry on being as he has always been. It will cause to stumble in future occasions. We see Saul trusting sacrifice above being willing to obey and trust God and His providence. Later (1Sam.1:22,23), we can see clearly how he still believed in sacrificing and offering above obeying. He didn't deal according to the first conviction in the beginning. He dealt lightly against sin in the heart. That heart made him stumble over and over again in future times. Unless we react promptly and immediately against any odour of sin with grace and the spiritual intelligence and effectiveness that comes with it, we shall be caught up in it over and over again. And our salary shall surely be death.
To thank is not the same thing as being thankful. No doubt, we can reveal our thankfulness by saying thanks, but, saying thanks does not always mean we are thankful. To say thanks to someone is good, it is educated manners. But, we need to be thankful to be approved by God. And when someone says thanks, it doesn't necessarily mean such a person has thankfulness in him.
"And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men", 1Sam.2:26. The same thing is said about Jesus, that He grew in favour towards God and men. However, we must realize and accept the fact that many bad things are occurring today because of popularity. There are people that reach many hearts for God because they are themselves pure and holy in their motivation and work. However, during my lifetime, I have seen people becoming greedy after the success has been reached. It is not every person that remains the same after success has been attained, as Joseph remained after becoming king of Egypt. The sudden change from slave to king in one day's time did not change Joseph. Only circumstances changed and not him. I have seen people bringing the world into the church after having reached many for God by holy means. Then, one may ask: why is did such a person change his ways since holiness and purity brought all of that? Why change now? One cannot understand it. But, it happens more often than we realize. If being as Christ brought many to the Cross, why does one bring in the world and other things into the church or into the ministry after many have come to relate themselves with the Lord of holiness? We might not realize how hungry for truth and holiness many people are. Once they see truth working out in practical terms, they come by the hundreds or even by the thousands. They come and magnify God, honouring Him with their living. This is what is meant by becoming graceful or in favour towards men. But, those who minister become easily greedy and start to to launch other means to increase their success or achieve more and more in a so called quicker way and it works out the other way round. I have seen it happening many times. And because people are hungry for truth, once the ministers or the congregations change their ways of purity, only the bad ones will remain in the congregation and they might even increase in numbers. It is there, in that congregation, that many sins will become manifest, just as the Bible said it would happen.
The Word of God is like a cake: we bake it wholly to eat it in pieces afterwards. We cannot eat the whole of it at once in one bite. We cut it to pieces to be able to eat. But, before we can do that, it must become a whole. We must have the word of God in its whole before we can enjoy the detailed pieces of it. We must have a global knowledge of His Word before we are able to enjoy the broken pieces of it.
"The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces", 2Sam.2:10. To become an adversary of God is to go against Him. In other words, when God, a man of God or an enlightened conscience speaks out and it is not taken to heart or is rejected, one is made an adversary of God. Those are the people who shall be broken to pieces.
"Talk no more so very proudly", 1Sam.2:3. One translations says, "Do not multiply words of pride". It is very easy to speak like the world does. What we talk about is not the matter here, but the way we talk about anything. Words multiply easily. One word becomes a sentence and a sentence becomes a conversation very quickly. These conversations become a way and build up a style or a spirit (a culture). The spirit that starts a conversation or a worldly talk will easily take hold of entire communities. They shall talk very proudly, even when they talk about God. We must exterminate it from our lives. "Remove arrogance out of your mouth. The wicked shall be silenced in darkness", 1Sam.2:3,9. "Withhold Your servant from arrogant sins; do not let them rule over me; then I shall be upright, and I shall be innocent from great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before You", Ps.19:13,14.
The only thing that can cause a heart to fail is sin. Only sin can be responsible for a heart failure. Even if people can excuse themselves with many things, only sin can cause a heart to drift apart and to be caught up in discouragement, which, on its turn, tries to blackmail God into pitying those who are refusing to bring sin to the light. "My sins have taken hold on me (...) and my heart fails me", Ps.40:12.
If a family does not pray together, it won't stay together. They will fall apart into dissensions, indifferences of many kinds and many other pits of hell. Prayer is what cements the walls of a home together to keep it from falling apart.
When there is a deficiency in discipline in a home, family or an individual, we should consider it as a extremely serious problem. The lack of discipline can be compared to a building where one of the pillars is missing. In that case, it shall fall to one side, to the side where discipline is missing. In other words, pastors must be careful when they do not have a working schedule; children must have to time to love their duties and perform them; etc. We must be extremely vigilant against this spirit that does only what it wants when it wants. Discipline is one of the pillars of the Christian life.
We often hear the word "joy", especially in the Bible. However, its meaning is very important and can be quite different from what we are used to. The true meaning of this word is like when two people who have been separated for a long, long time are reunited again. It doesn't matter why they have been separated, whether they were incompatible or merely separated. They experience inexpressible joy when they reunite because they belong together and were apart. That is what we should be experiencing every day of our existence in the Lord. This is why the Bible talks about having joy in the Lord and not outside of Him. If we manage to be fully united to the Lord while experiencing His fullness (if that fullness is not a burden to conscience or to daily living), we shall come back to where we belong by creation. We shall, then, be able to experience that sort of joy that the Bible talks about.
I need to be on my guard against the way people talk to me as much as the things they say. What they say and the way they say it are two different temptations which achieve different answers or even sinful answers and reactions. I may say the right thing in a bad tone because I was spoken or neared in a bad tone or way. "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips", Is.6:5. I cannot follow the way it is opened up before me as a fish would be enticed or lured by the the bait in a hook.
Jesus talks about those to whom He talked in parables because they would hear truth without understanding it. Paul also mentioned people who are "ever learning and never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth", 2Tim.3:7. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that one comes to know by doing. We may easily assume, then, that all those who can't come to the knowledge of truth, even if they learn much and believe they are learned people, are people who don't do God's will or are hindered to do it through those sins they refuse to bring to the light. There are, also, people who try doing certain things they need not to do in order to refuse doing those things thy must do. They won't come to the knowledge of truth either.
Every trial or temptation comes with the intention to kill and to create havoc. The intention of God when He allows them, is to make alive and to clean even more. We can say it is a battle between life and death, for it is indeed. The trial or temptation may turn the heart either bitter and angry or one can use those circumstances to clean further, to make more perfect and to do away with the shadow and spots in the soul. The option stands always at the door of whomever is tried. One may wish to live or die. No one can take an indifferent stand when tried and that is what many do. However, we must make sure all trials are really trials and not merely consequences of some sin which is driving the soul into the domain of fierce vengeance of dark powers.
"But, He must first be rejected by this generation", Lk.17:25. I believe many have read this portion of Scripture without paying the attention it demands. Why was it necessary that Christ be rejected? Let us think. "This generation" is a hypocritical one. It believes in God, talks well of Him and, at the same time, lives in sin. It doesn't know God and yet speaks as if it knows Him intimately. That is one of the reasons it must reject Christ. It must appear as evil as it is. It has already rejected Christ, but, lives as if it is accepting Him. It cannot be kept under the cloak of falsity and praise to God. It is necessary that it rejects Christ.
Some times, we have more serious problems than the ones we can imagine or think of. For example, let us imagine we have some practical problems we need to solve and, at the same time, we also have some sins which hinders God to sort them out in our lives. The first thing we might think of is to confess and do away with those sins because of the problems we may have. We fix our lives with God because of the problems and not because it is the right and only thing to do. However, sin is a huge problem in itself. Those motives might hinder God's work as well. We cannot near God having secondary intentions in mind. In fact, these problems might even be the main reason why we near Him with our sins. "Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, You seek Me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the loaves and were filled", John 6:26. We must know that to be separated from God by any kind of sin is a serious problem on its own. It is the problem. We cannot wish to solve it with the intentions of solving other problems. We cannot love this life to the point of of sorting out our sins for the sake of it. That is an idolatrous thought.
"So likewise you, when you shall have done all the things commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, for we have done what we ought to do", Luc.17:10. Today, we see all kinds of preachers and ministers. However, very few are 'unprofitable' servants. In fact, many wish to have God serve them and their ideas. I am not able to see anyone singing and selling music and still living with the belief or conviction to be an unworthy servant. No such person believes he is worthless, especially if popularity shows otherwise and proves he is a gifted 'artist'.
"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received freely, freely give", Mat.10:8. We should pay a closer attention to these commandments. This commandment, it seems, has not been given to one individual, but to groups of individuals. This could mean that a group of people will perform God's works together. In their midst may exist various people with different gifts. Nevertheless, it must be the group's work, having all the others backing up the one who has the gift in use, whatever it may be. Then, everyone shall know that it is not the person and neither the group that heals, but God. God's works will become works of obedience and won't be a decision of any person in particular. God has determined beforehand which works must be performed. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them", Eph.2:10. We won't be able to carry God's works out unless we all have a tuned ear and a willing heart which shall obey as God leads and move as one man.
The cares (concerns and worries) of this world do not only choke the words of God which we need to recall and remember on appropriate occasions and during the course of our duties and days, but it may also cause the heart to be in a fighting mood against God occasionally. This kills the soul in two ways: it neglects, refuses, despises or forgets those words which bring life; and it 'fights' against the One who gives life to those words and, in fact, to anyone. The concerns for this life choke the word and, also, fight against the One who opens, reveals and blesses the way we need to take and follow by paying attention only to that word which has been spoken.
Every person that works hard and well only under supervision, even if it is under the supervision of the law and even if the work is well done, is considered lazy and unfaithful, especially if without that supervision the work is not done so well.
Many ask themselves why the church, today, is the place where most sins are committed and, in fact, most of the grievous ones. It seems to be a mystery, but, only to those who do not take every word of the Bible seriously. The Bible says that those who do not hear and who despise correction and instruction will fall into many sins inside the Congregation. If anyone despises exhortations, listens more readily to doctrines which are taking over these days - doctrines such as the ones about prosperity, about once saved always saved and others which allow sin to be acceptable - the Bibles says that such a person's evil will appear "in the midst of the congregation and assembly", Prov.5:14. It is there where sinning will emerge. No one can avoid it happening that way. The previous verses tell you never to live in a way that you shall say: "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised correction. I have not obeyed the voice, nor bowed down my ears", Prov.5:12,13.
The wisdom of which the Bible talks about can only be despised or treasured. No one will stay indifferent to it. "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her; and happy is everyone who keeps her", Prov.3:18. To forget later on, or not to take it seriously enough, to ignore it, or not thinking on it according to the line of thought it intends to lead into is to despise the whole of it. That is why the Bible often talks about those "in whom these things are found", and why Jesus laid the emphasis on "those who abide in Me and My words in them". Any word coming from God or the Bible that is not able to remain in man has surely been despised or looked upon with contempt. "He who is careless of his ways will die", Prov.19:16.
"In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths", Prov.3:6. I could say a lot about this verse. The word "acknowledge" derives from knowing. Before one is able to acknowledge, one has to know and to be known of God. Our ways must be experienced by Him and they must contain the Lord in them before we are able to acknowledge Him in them. We can acknowledge only when it is true. Many acknowledge Him out of their mouth but not out of truth. To acknowledge is the responsibility of all those who have really experienced the Lord fulfilling their ways.
Many feel bad or discouraged when a commandment or word goes against what they think or wish to do. They react to it as if it is a word of death. Immediately after that, they start blaming themselves or God. Some even find in it a reason to turn back to the world. And if they do, it is because they wanted that reason. They quickly forget that every word that comes from the Lord is a word of life and not of death. These people are unable to rejoice when exhorted, seeing that the Lord exhorts those whom He loves. If He wasn't interested in their lives or if He wasn't paying attention to it, He wouldn't have exhorted them. We should never dare to offend God by taking His words as words of death. Maybe, that is why the Lord leaves many people to themselves. Isn't it what they want? God is a real gentleman and will respect the choice people make.
Why is it that when someone is under trials, whether they are heavy or not, the first thing that is thought of is of being abandoned by God? Why isn't the mind inclined to suspect that it is being tried? To think one is abandoned is backed up by self justification. Job became aware of the fact that he was being tried and few people in this world have undergone the kind of trials he has been through. The feeling of abandonment in a Christian is directly related to some sort of self justification.
In the Bible it is confirmed and said that the "righteous shall live by faith". But, we also read, "Keep My commandments and live", Prov.4:4. We cannot deny the fact that both things come in the Bible and that the Bible does not contradict itself. So, there must be something we might miss here. The theologians make it look as if doing and faith are opposed. They ascribe doing to the Old Testament. But, Jesus said, in the New Testament, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled", Mat,5:17,18. We must understand that doing and believing work together and are not opposed. We still live by fulfilling and we fulfil through faith. Faith enables us to fulfil faithfully from the deepest points of our hearts.
We read, in the Bible, that all those who really come to the Lord, from the smallest to the greatest, shall be taught of God. In case you don't know, this is one of the conditions to be able to stay true to the Lord right through. We find many people who are taught and who even teach well from Scripture. But, unfortunately, most of them have not been taught by God Himself. This is why they and their 'converts' soon fall away from the ways of God. They cannot stand because they have never made a point of being taught by the Lord. "I do not turn aside from your rules, for You have taught me", Ps.119:102. We shouldn't desire only to be taught, but, to be taught by God Himself. This implies that we have and maintain a close relationship with Him. Now you know why so many called genuine Christians fall away and backslide: they are not taught by God. "I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths", Prov.4:11.
"The proud have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts", Ps.119:78. It does us good to find such people as this psalmist. He did not use his time to think on the evil that has been committed against him or to question it, but rather to meditate on the law of God. "For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes", v.83. He did not question the reason for being like a wineskin in the smoke. He simply used his time and mind to remember God's statutes. Are you like that? If you aren't, you won't grow spiritually. "I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law", v.109.
Every time we are tried in the faith by certain circumstances or things, we must know that it feels like a trial only because of the kind of heart we may still have in us. Trials do not feel like trials because of what is happening, but because of the heart we still have. The intensity or degree of the trial can only be ascribed to the condition that the heart is found. It cannot be blamed upon circumstances or sufferings.
Many people are confounded or confused in the ways of the Lord. They do not hear properly or do not wish to hear properly. There are, certainly, explanations for this. The Bible doesn't leave anything untouched. But, I cannot see the reason why those who are confused persist in the error of their lives. Some go to the point of striving to believe their error is the right way. That is bad and the confusion is accepted as the normal way of life. That is how deceitful man's heart can be: it can start believing in the confusion it refuses to explain. Let us look at it this way: God's word is straight, to the point and truthful. It has many other attributes, but, let's stick to these for now. God's word has no other intention but to save from sin and to change the heart. To live with a truthful word one needs to have or to get a truthful heart. Sort seeks sort and only alike things are able to match and to walk together, Amos 3:3. It is a lot of work to obtain such a heart. Besides, the heart must always fit into the new realities of a new, incoming life. Alike things seek to meet and to get along. They call upon each other. Now, if we put a bad heart in touch with a good word and the person who has that heart tries to stick by that word, it so happens that the heart tries to fulfil to avoid a change. To adapt is not to change. And everything must become new. That is where confusion starts or takes over. "Let my heart be sound (sincere and wholehearted and blameless) in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame (confusion)", Ps.119:80. We need to work with the Lord to have a new heart or the pure word of God will become a stumbling block and a source of confusion. We cannot put life and death to work together without having injuring consequences.
Sin is something which is committed. After it is committed, it calls for more sin. Sin calls upon sin. And having sin calling upon sin, soon it shall become a way of life, a lifestyle. Sinning becomes a habit, a way of life. Transgression and violating an own conscience is taken for granted and the feeling of impunity starts taking over, reorganizing the mind against the reality of judgment and against the certainty of the wrath of God. The habit of not believing that sin brings wrath settles down to deceive till the Judgment Day shows it otherwise. The mind will get used to believe and to rely on impunity when it has enjoyed sinning for a long time. Once we are free from sin by the work of God in the inner soul, there are certain habits, beliefs and patterns which must be worked against by God's word and which must be actively changed. We need to be renewed in our minds. Our whole life calls upon sanctification and change. After one is made just (justification), the whole of the mind, thoughts and all we are or have learned to be, need to transformed fully (sanctification). "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect", Rom.12:2. This will amount to the same thing as changing from the heart a culture or a nationality. Has everything indeed become new in you? Has eternal life taken over all you are, think and believe?
One thing is to wish to be humble or, at least, to look humble; another thing is to be really humble and take the position of a servant as if there is no other way to live. In the position of a servant, the Lord is exalted by the servant who makes a point of revealing His Lord as exalted because He is indeed exalted. There are humble people, so to say, who are able to look inferior than others or, at least, in the same level as others. But, it does not mean the Lord stands out as exalted in their lives, since their humility is not an exaltation of the true Lord and Saviour. There are various combinations of attitudes and ways to which we must pay full attention. For example, we may be able to exalt the Lord without words just as we may be exalting self using words which exalt the Lord. One can exalt the Lord in sermons, words and songs without having taken the place of a real servant. One can do all that without humility. And such shall also be opposed by God. "God resists the proud", James 4:6; 1Pet.5:5.
"Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more", Is.1:5. The love for the world, besides being sticky, is terrible. In fact, it is disastrous. How shall we ever understand that people will defend it to remain in it at the cost of their own lives? Sinners will rather rebel and be punished and, by that, blackmail God into what they would Him do for them: accept sin. "From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores", v6.
"Looking for these things, be diligent, spotless, and without blemish, to be found by Him in peace", 2Pet.3:14. It is not only demanded that we be spotless and without blemish: we need to be naturally and consistently in peace of mind having nothing but godliness, nothing of the world, its means and resources and none of its ways. We must be found in peace in the presence of God and to remain sp in Him. Looking back is enough reason to be cursed on the spot if, when He comes, we are found longing for what should be left altogether. We must be found in complete joy and peace living a spotless life. It must be our joy. In the same way, our good hope and taking courage must be sincere and real in such a heart, v.1. Have you ever seen people with long faces simply because they cannot enjoy the things of this world, even when they have left them behind?
To be able to rely on the providence of God is to be able to be satisfied with today.
"...Confirmed in the present truth", 1Ped.1:12. Peter did not make a mistake using these words. He talks about a present truth. By that, we assume their is a future reality or truth we must look out to. "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be", 1John 3:.2. The word "truth" in the way the Bible wants it to be understood and commonly accepted is a present reality and not merely a word which is not or cannot be experienced to the full. Truth is experienced. Unless truth becomes real and living, it cannot be truth. Under this context, Peter talks about the "present truth". It means there is something better, more glorifying than the fullest abundant life one may or can ever experience on this earth, which is, by itself, far above what any human can conceive or imagine for himself here on earth. He might be able to imagine it for others like Peter and Paul, but seldom for himself. But, this "present truth" must not only be real: it must be confirmed and established by God Himself. We must live in it and through it in such a way as if we have never lived any other way before. That is what it means to be confirmed in it.
"By faith, also, Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him who had promised to be faithful", Heb.11:11. Sarah laughed when she overheard she would bear a child in her old age. It seemed she was unbelieving or that she had an unbelieving moment by laughing. However, this verse states clearly that "she judged Him who had promised to be faithful". It can be confirmed that Scripture does not contradict itself. However, it is easy to ask why did she laugh being a woman of faith? Was it unbelief at work? Perhaps, Paul is not referring to a moment of temptation of an unexpected surprise which she might have taken out of her mind already. Even Abraham had his mind made up concerning Ishmael, Gen.17:18. Perhaps Paul is talking about her whole life of faithfulness to the Lord and to Abraham who lived with this 'strange' idea or ideal of being blessed by God, believing even against hope. She had had God in a very high light for many, many years - during her whole life! She was not unbelieving - she had been tempted to disbelieve the word she overheard and which had always been a dream for her, which a woman in her time and under her circumstances always had. Besides, she had exercised faith after Abraham was reprimanded because of her laughing. How else could she have had a child unless she believed to the point of relating herself physically to Abraham again? We all know there are certain things old people don't do anymore. She must have decided to do it again to conceive Isaac.
"Abraham, by faith, lived in the land of promise as a stranger", Heb.11:9. Abraham had a promise and lived for many years where God has put him to live. In fact, the world is God's and everything that is in it and He could give it to anyone He wanted. However, Abraham lived in that land as a stranger. He did not live in it as if he owned it. He could have done so legitimately. But, he didn't. He even made a vow that he would never take as much as a shoe string for himself or by himself. Only God would do so. Didn't David refuse to kill Saul who had been an enemy of God and of Israel? Why did he refuse to kill him? Wasn't it because God had promised David the throne of Israel? This is a death blow to all those doctrines who say we must take hold of this and that. Appropriation is not the same thing as receiving. And the Bible talks about receiving the promises by taking hold of eternal life, it is, of Christ. Abraham's heart was not in this world - it was set on God and on Him alone. "For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God", v.10.
Every deed starts in the heart. Take good care of it instead of concentrating only on your actions and acts. The more you take care of the heart, the the easier it shall be to control, change or make your actions perfect. "Above all things that must be kept, keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life", Prov.4:23.
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord", 2Ped.1:2. Many talk about the peace and the grace they have received. But, the only kind of peace and grace that is worth something heavenly is that kind which is full of grace in the presence of God, it is, when God is a reality. If I can live in full peace and feel at home having God present in a real way, than my peace is of the kind that God gives. Jesus won't change for a moment, not even to adapt Himself to man or to man's circumstances or beliefs. According to Peter, real peace must not only be there when God is there (as He had made Himself present in Pentecost), but, it must go beyond that: it must be able to be multiplied under such circumstances. This can mean that our peace and comfort needs to experience a multiplication and an increase as we get to know and experience God in a real way by getting closer and closer to Him in motives, in reality and in truth. Can you live in peace and at be at rest experiencing the fires of God? Can you face all He reveals by approaching you? He is light. He shall reveal all. Only by being able to live with that sort of light and going as far as accepting it with joy can grace and peace be multiplied. Multiplying it any other way, under other circumstances or through any other means is the way of error and it shall never be real peace or real joy and grace. "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?", Is.33:14.
Once, while talking to a certain man, the Lord revealed to me that His wrath was hanging over him. I was caught by surprised. I instinctively put some distance between the two of us and made sure he wouldn't wish to be my friend anymore. This man had a good job, a prospering lifestyle, an apparently happy family along with many other things. He died shortly after that and his death was a terrible one. Yesterday, as I was thinking on it, I realized that the so called prosperity people preach so much about is no prosperity at all. This man had it all and he was under the curse of God. Let no one believe that God is with him only because he has some degree of material prosperity to rely upon. And if this is true, let no one think God has left him under any kind of trial or under poverty. God does not leave His own for a single moment. Let's stop believing lies by looking at things as they appear to be.
In many aspects, evil operates and works more intelligently and using more intuition. In practical life, we must exceed evil in the means to be holy and practical in the faith. Evil knows that to overcome good, sin must be practiced and committed. We must know that, to overcome evil, we must do good, Rom.12:21. Many take it for granted that God is with them even if they sin in some way. "...Let us do bad things that good may come? Their condemnation is just", Rom.3:8. In fact, their condemnation shall be doubly just: they believe they can do evil and stand because God still accepts them. It is a double sin. To believe that God accepts evil is the opposite of faith because faith is to believe that He is good. "He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is good...", Heb.11:6. If God would accept evil, He wouldn't be good anymore. Those who are able to believe God accepts their evil are not in the faith anymore - if they ever were!
"We know that whatever things the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law; so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be under judgment before God", Rom.3:16. There are people who believe God made the world condemnable so that He could be exalted in glory. But, there is a lot in this statement that is misunderstood. Let me explain briefly. The world is evil and does not look condemnable to all yet. The world is sin and is, was and shall always be condemnable for its evil. However, it doesn't look condemnable in the eyes of the people who live in it because they are still in love with it. In fact, it must look as condemnable as it is evil. God works to make it look as it is. For example, today when we think of the devil or hear about him, there is a clear image of evil attached to him. His fame (name) is evil. The devil is synonymous of evil. No one links the devil to any kind of goodness anymore. He has to work under disguise, without letting anyone know who is at work. Maybe, in former ages, the name of the devil did not sound as evil as it sounds today. Nowadays, anyone thinking of him knows what he stands for. He is condemned and also sounds condemned. Even his name and fame talk about it and confirm it. Now, the world might not yet be seen as condemned and as evil as the devil already is. The devil is seen as an enemy, but not the world - yet. It is not looked at as a bad thing yet, even if it is condemnable. The world must be judged by what it did at the Cross. It killed the Creator of the world. It showed just how bad it is. It can't lie before truth anymore. But, it is still able to lie to people. However, the day will come when people will also look at the world as evil and condemnable or condemned - just as the devil has his fame go before him nowadays. The fame of the world will be like the fame the devil has. The world must be condemnable in our own eyes as well, just as it is in fact and in reality. It is already under the judgement of God and we must believe it and look at the word as condemned or, should I say, as evil and condemnable. We must look at it for what it stands for.
If it is the love for sin that hardens the heart, than hatred towards it makes the heart soft and meek. Do you wish to be meek? Hate sin and the more and better you are able to hate it, the more you shall be meek.
When the Bible talks about "the lie", it gives a more extensive definition than the one we do. To God, a lie is, also, truth that does not work out. If your faith doesn't work out in practical life and if it does not bear fruit, then, it is a lie - even if is based upon the name of Jesus.
Passive faith (or unbelief) is always the proof of the lack of dignity of the soul of the man who thinks highly of himself, and does things only to be seen (otherwise, he won't do them). Such a man believes unconsciously to be better and wiser than God and does not realize it. He carries a stone in the place of his heart and believes it is a piece of gold.
We often talk and hear about faith without deeds or even about faith with deeds. Under that light, we must know that being able to wait legitimately on the Lord is a deed of faith.
There is a serious problem awaiting those who make continuous use of jokes and meaningless attitudes to be friends with others: they often refuse to think seriously about more serious subjects. Besides, many of them do not see the point of going back on their actions and words to ask for forgiveness for comments and remarks which are loveless when analysed under the light of God and of love. By being frivolous, there are many offenses which are never regarded as such and which need restitution. Few will go back on their actions and words to ask for forgiveness.
Humbling ourselves beforehand and in time is a precious pearl which God can bless richly and multiply easily. However, there is nothing like humbling ourselves during moments of exaltation and blessedness. Nothing can be compared to such a capability.
Let's imagine Moses didn't go to see why the bush was burning without being consumed. Or, let's imagine he ran away from the vision out of fear thinking it was a spell. If he had done that, he could have missed God's will for his life. His whole existence would have lost all meaning and he would have roamed around with a meaningless lookout about the rest of his life and, perhaps, so would millions of people (Israel) because of him. Sometimes, people come to me and say they can't hear God's voice about His will for their lives and that they don't know why they exist. And we, who counsel people, sometimes wonder why it happens too. We even pray about it and there is no voice and no vision to guide us. It can, also, bother our hearts if we don't stay at God's side to uphold Him before anyone.
There must be moments when we must read a lot of God's word to understand it. However, reading a lot is not always synonymous of practicing a lot. Practical things are done one at a time and carried to the end. Only what is done to the end is considered as doing the word of God. To read with understanding from the Spirit is good and special for future occasions. God can use, in the future, the word that is stored up in the soul and in the heart. Seldom does God use a word stored only in the mind - only if it has reached the heart. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance", John 14:26. That is the only goal of the stored words of God: to feed in proper moments of need - or of great need. That is not the same thing as reading a lot and learning a lot to stand out and to feel above others in any kind of wisdom or perception. If we read to stand out or only to know about it, we read in vain.
In order to be helped, corrected and established in a real, practical way and to have God cooperate with us in such interventions in the soul, we must have an exact diagnosis of what is disturbing our peace - if it is disturbed at all. If anyone still has some respect or love for his own evil, or if such a person exaggerates about or above the real view of it to produce some false humility which is a lie before God and people, one shall not be helped by God at all. We can only be helped according to truth and must be fully identified with what truth reveals, without adding or taking away from it. Our perception and reaction must be in accordance with the view (vision). "Write the vision, and make it plain", Hab.2:2. We cannot write more than the vision and neither less. May God help us.
One of the ways to love the world and to let it become imperceptible to our consciences, is to allow it to become familiar and usual. To allow it around us is what the Bible mentions as being "friends of the world". It shouldn't feel at home near any of us and neither any of us near it.
To have a good way look like a good way, sometimes, the contrasting of a bad way is of great help. Therefore, never become discouraged or dismayed when you ask God to straighten you ways and you become, instead, more and more aware of how bad your ways are, Ps.5:8b.
"I am he man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath", Lam.3:1. It doesn't really matter why we go through a stage or place where God's wrath is felt or experienced. Whether it is because of our own sins or only because of other's sins, all is well after sin is fully purged and taken away - even when wrath was used as the means to do so.
"You shall not add to the Word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it", Deut.4:2. When it is the Lord who gives us a word, it might look like an insignificant thing because temptation will be at work against it and against us from the moment we receive that word. It might, also, seem wrongly written or badly explained when we review it (if we have written it down, as we should). It happened to me, quite often, that people listened to something I preached about which seemed to me as something that wasn't so good or so significant and they rejoiced about it and even came to me thanking for "the word they just needed to hear and prayed about". In my mind, it often seemed to be close to a useless word. We must stop the idea that we must always say or understand "wise things" when God is willing to grant only the appropriate life or understanding of something practical and simple. Therefore, when something comes from the Lord, let us despise the temptation to add, to change or to take away from what God has given us. Let us handle it as it is given, hand it over as God gave it. Let's rather be obedient instead of wishing to shine. It is possible to wish to change a word that seems insignificant by adding unto what God has given or said, just as it is possible to take away from it because we believe it shall hurt people. Such people, usually, say "we must be wise". Sometimes, we believe it is not the proper time to speak out what God has granted us and we even choose another subject to preach about. In fact, we are being foolish enough to reject the words of God. We should not take away or change it in any way - not even the meaning of it.
"Oh Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you", Deut.4:1. Can you see the sequence of facts and happenings in these words? First, there is "observe". By observing, it is made possible to enter the Land; "by going in", it is possible to conquer. Obviously, after having conquered it, it is made possible to live in it. However, Israel did not keep the motives pure after entering it. Maybe, that is the reason this verse does not add "and live in it" as the following step after having possessed it, even though other Bible passages do. Anyway, no one can conquer a land from far away. One must be in it. In other words, one can only conquer the soul from the grips of sin to hand it over to the Lord by entering the land which is possessed by sin, it is, where sin fights back and resists terribly through temptations and accusations. There is no other way to conquer it but only by entering it with courage and full faith.
After entering to possess the Promised Land, comes a serious problem: the reason why such a land had to be possessed. Everything must be done for the Lord's sake after the possession of it, just as it has been before taking possession of it - even when we are directly and gladly benefitted by any achievement. We must keep the motives always updated and the motivations, after we have received, must remain pure. Unless we are able to do all for the Lord, nothing of what we do has any value in itself. If we do not strive to conquer for the Lord, we might not even enter it. But, if we have conquered it because we have done it for the Lord and for His sake, we shall only remain in it by keeping doing all for the same motives and for the sake of the Lord.
We easily realize that Joshua couldn't have done better than he did, even though the people of Israel could. After a extremely obedient Moses, who had very pure motives in leading God's people, Joshua had a hard challenge ahead of him because all humans cannot easily accept someone unless such a person outstands the other. For the disobedient people of Israel, it wouldn't do being like Moses: Joshua would need to stand out more. That is the way of the flesh. It reasons that way.
We only know those truths which have become practical to us. The rest is never real knowledge, even if some consider it as such.
It is very important for us to be in a state where we can have answers to any prayer any time, whatever the circumstances we may find ourselves in. Otherwise, we may incur the danger to find ourselves in a life and death situation, pray for help and not be heard by the Lord. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to be ready all the time.
"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed", John 3:20. This means that everyone who feels exposed and annoyed when exhorted, corrected or counselled does not yet love light the way he should love it. Light reveals all and if one still needs to make use of force to expose sin or anything else, then light doesn't feel welcome. Therefore, it is left over to man to expose it himself and to make an effort to start loving light. Let's get to the point where we love light in such a way that we shall be able to rejoice in case anything bad in us is revealed.
There is nothing like the Word of God to make a man humble when it is fully understood and put into practice.
Many wish to teach others to gain a place of authority among the brothers. Only a few wish to serve with the Word of God. "I exhort the elders who are among you (...) Feed the flock of God among you, taking the oversight, not by compulsion, but willingly; nor for base gain, but readily", 1Ped.5:2,3. To teach the Word of God to stand out is to do something "for base gain".
One of the many problems we can come across by not waiting in the Lord is the fact that we might not be found where we should be once the Lord comes with whatever we have been waiting for. Because we have not waited, we are simply gone from our post. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look forth to see what he will speak with me", Hab.2:1.
Prayer doesn’t find answers by force, but by fulfilments and by abiding to conditions God made eternal and non-negotiable.
If we read the Bible, we will cross many truths about the weak and the strong. However, we become aware of the fact that the Lord says that the weak will never fall (if in Him) and that the strong will never stand without Him. So, what good is it to wish to be strong and in power?
The first thing to know when we seek a life of prayer which brings forth fruit, is that one must start to pray. To know about prayer is not praying yet. The first step is to start to pray.
Never forget that to read the Bible is not an end in itself. People, usually, think that to be religious is pleasing enough to God and by spending much time reading their Bible with devotion is their whole religious duty. It is a good thing to read the Bible and to understand it - the more, the better. But, remind yourself constantly that the Word of God is a mixture of powerful means and not of powerful ends. The Word has to lead us to a real Christ. Reading the Bible has no virtue in itself unless it leads us to the Lord to have and to maintain a continual, uninterrupted fellowship with Him. If the Word you hear doesn't lead you to the Lord and to be His intimate friend in a real way, once you know the Bible very well, your times of devotion will become vain repetitions and not times of wonderful, unexpected fellowship with the Lord of Lords. Don't stumble holding truth in your hands or mind.
Joy is not something you decide to have, even if it is a commandment. Joy depends on the honesty of your heart when you are looking to Jesus. The lack of joy often gets settled by living in the normal carnal trend, especially when Jesus is at work, either in your life or in someone else's. The opposite of stealing is to give; of lying, is telling the truth; of dishonesty, is to do to people what you would wish to be done to you; of joy, is to be carnal.
"And He said: It is written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of thieves", Mat.21:13. The Lord condemns as a thief anyone who uses the temple or the pulpit to negotiate.
The Lord gives, but not according to merit. God gives according to need. That is mainly what we understand from the parable where the master hired the workers at different stages and all received the same wages. Those who were hired later had the same needs as the others. Working less did not diminish their needs and having worked more did not multiply the needs of those who worked more hours.
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord", James 1:6,7. Here is my point: does this verse also mean that if one is wavering and unbelieving about one thing he shall not receive any other thing as well?
Why is the truth about the real estate of any sinner an offense to him? Why would that truth hurt? Isn't it because the sinner wishes to think higher things of himself? Isn't it because he wishes to think better things of himself?
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith", Rom.12:3. The problems people face or will have by thinking highly of themselves are many. We can only mention some of them. One of the dangers or problems it can bring in the future is the disappointment which makes someone avoid thinking soberly of himself. Allow me to explain. Whenever people think highly of themselves - especially in the ministry - God resists them along with whatever they say. "God resists the proud", James 4:6; 1Pet.5:5. Whatever they say shall be resisted and not blessed. They will surely be disappointed in God and will start doubting Him for two main reasons: God resists them; and they can't make use of the self-confidence that made them think highly. Consequently, once they become humble and blessed, there will always be a temptation either to doubt as God leads, or to think highly of self again so they can 'trustfully' walk on. There is a kind of trust that is unbelief. It shall be easy, then, to fall into the trap of disobedience and unfaithfulness. The temptation to be unfaithful will be right at hand. Besides, all those who think highly of themselves will always strive to do what is not meant for them to do and to neglect whatever is meant for them. It will create a pattern of thinking and of going through life which can cause many to stumble. Soon, if they are enabled to carry out some of the things God has for them, they will also be easy preys of temptations to do other things or other's things. They will easily neglect the duty that is at hand to do what is not meant for them. That is how the mind learned to be and to react. Sins of omission will, consequently, lie at the doorstep if the mind is not renewed after one has ceased to think highly of self. Next time you act or react to anything prompted by the highly thoughts you have or breed about yourself, think of the dangers and of the consequences you are running for.
Many believe that to speak of judgment is unkind. However, we read that "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment", Ps.37:30. Further, it says it speaks that way because "The law of his God is in his heart", v.31. It is unthinkable to talk about any law without being reminded of its sanctions. Any law has its blessing for fulfilment and its curse for breaking it. Even the supreme law of love has it. That is why it is called a law. In other words, it is impossible to uphold the law of God in the heart without thinking of judgement. Judgement is part of any law. And the tongue shall speak only from what fills the heart.
You can desire to have new things and new experiences every day. However, it will never make you grow spiritually. What causes you to grow as a person is to build upon what you have received. You can choose to do things better or to search for new experiences.
"Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil", Prov.3:7. There is a definite connection between being wise in one's own eyes and the ability or capability of practicing evil. This means that being able to use carnal weapons and own wisdom will surely lead to death and ruin. We may say the same thing, among many other own things, of being strong in own strength or being convinced by one's own heart instead of being convinced by God.
If we are indeed dead and crucified with Christ for this world, we are made just. It means we are justified with Christ. When that happens, there shouldn't be bad or good moments in our lives anymore - there is only Christ in us.
I am often accused of lifting the standards of God very high up beyond the reach of people or humans. Even if it is true that the standard is high, I become more aware, each day, that it might even be higher than I think. May God help us.
"Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God (...) lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and lived in them (...) then your heart might be lifted up and forget the Lord your God", Dt.8:11-14. This is not easy to explain. However, the truth is that whenever someone is able to forget the Lord or spiritual duties, it means the heart has already lifted itself up in some way. Any person who is able to forget the Lord has still some pride lifting the heart against inner life. Such a person is not as humble as it seems to be. By being able to forget a great God or by neglecting any spiritual duty is proof that pride is still there or that it has crept in again. Anyone capable of forgetting the Lord is capable of anything imaginable or unimaginable. Forgetting about God makes any person the worst of creatures in the universe. However, very people believe it to be such a serious crime. It is possibly one of the greatest sins there is.
God has promised His bread on each day and not on the day before. He had already given the manna on the day it should be used and we believe He hasn't changed to this day. It shall be still be done the same way. This is the way things are done in heaven. Let's hope we are able to do things on earth they are done in heaven.
Lack of faith is disobedience, Heb.4:2,6,11.
"If I worship you because of the fear of hell, send me to hell; if I worship you having paradise in mind, exclude me from it altogether; but, if I worship you because of you, Lord, do not hide your face from me". (Rabia, 800 DC)". I believe I couldn't say it better. I subscribe it. This is my prayer too. Amen.
In many places in Scripture, we read that God is long-suffering. This means, He takes a while before He reveals His wrath. In other translations, it is said: "He takes long to manifest wrath or anger". In other words, we must be very careful when believing God approves many things our conscience is troubled by simply because we are not punished yet. This does not mean God is approving it, but that He is only taking a while before revealing His full wrath. Make sure you are right with God before you misinterpret the fact that God is not doing anything against you - yet. Take the fact into account that He is long-suffering.
"...accounted to him as righteousness", Gen.15:6. This word, "accounted" is the possible translation in the English language. It, however, doesn't express the full meaning of it. This word means: "to plait or interpenetrate; to fabricate". In fact, it means to "input" in a strong sense. We have the word "amputation", which may well be the precise opposite of this word. To amputate is to take a member of the body away from it. To input means to put it back where it is supposed to be. This said, let me go on with this thought of my mind. When God created us, we had this righteousness in us. We were made righteous. Sin amputated righteousness from us. "There is no righteous one". Now, when this righteousness is put back into its place, the English translation only says, "accounted" or "ascribed". The true meaning is that it is put back again. We must take it into account from them on. In other words, this kind of righteousness is put back into man, where it belongs and from where it should have never been amputated. This happens because one believes in the Lord. This doesn't mean that a branch is put back into the tree, but, that the whole structure of the tree is make sound again and the tree lives on instead of being cut off. Now that it has been justified, it is, made just, it can produce good fruit again and be sanctified. If this righteousness is not put back into man, he shall only suffer from self-righteousness because he shall keep trying to be righteous and only self-righteousness can be fabricated by the efforts of man without God. This is how important it is to be justified by the Lord. We must be made just (righteous) again.
Whenever a sound heart is talking about "feeling the presence of God", it means a feeling of touch and not of emotion. Feelings of emotion prove only that a person has a heart and never that God is present.
Every troubled person is troublesome. A troubled living works out like a snow ball - it gets bigger by the day. Disturbed people often disturb those who wish to help them.
All good works are normal things to normal beings created according to the image of God. There is nothing more to it beyond normality. Good works cannot save anyone. However, without them, anyone is condemned.
Conscience is a wonder. It is a mysterious wonderwork. According to the the Bible, it is able to defend and to accuse. However, most people, when referring to conscience, only have in mind its keen ability to accuse wrong as it is committed or thought of beforehand. According to the Bible, it is also able to defend, Rom.2:15. In order to have it function in all perfection, it has to be left alone in all freedom to perform. It mustn't be pressured, influenced or hindered, unless it is the wisdom and the word of God instructing it. It must be free to express itself according to all truth. It can only function in freedom having Christ lighting it, instructing it and reviving it. Under those circumstances, whenever conscience is not left alone to talk, decide, hinder or support, it becomes confused and disturbed. It is like wishing to see our face on the surface of the water and someone splashes on it. It doesn't mean the face is not there, but only the vision of it is disturbed. It is also true that conscience is not only hindered in its ability to accuse aright, but, also in its capability to defend and to stand firm supporting truth or supported by truth and the wisdom of God. How many people loose on their peace of mind because they feel like accusing themselves all the time when conscience is trying to defend them? We see that whoever does not grasp the accusations of conscience is also unable to listen to it when it is defending or assuring aright. It can defend or accuse amiss as well and that might be one of the reasons why people prefer to have it accusing all the time. They feel they are on the safe side by having it accusing. But, it is an illusion. It is a limp conscience the one which only accuses. It is, therefore, very important to leave conscience alone in the light of God and to listen to it carefully instead of being its instructor. If we create a pattern of hindering it, we shall easily become confused and abased. Soon, we shall take our own way, Is.53:6. The only guide and helper to our conscience should be God's word when it is fully lighted.
We have plenty of proof that, in fact, there is such a thing as a false faith in Jesus as there is the true faith in the Lord. A false faith has a strength of its own backing it up and from which deceit takes its advantage. We can never underestimate the strength or the capability of deceit. Deceit is very keen. It is even able to deceive those who know they are being deceived. It is not very hard to deceive anyone who has a deceitful heart. To deceive a deceitful heart is to grant the heart what that heart desires behind the scenes, to grant it the sort of comfort it desires and where it feels at home.
Life separates from sin and sin separates from life.
We know it very well that all great things are mixtures of many details. Some of those details are bigger than others and some are smaller. However, all of them have the same importance in the whole since each detail has its role in holding the whole together. Whether they are bigger or smaller, they have the same importance. Obedience is one of those great or greater things that can happen to us. Light about all details make it possible for us to be diligent both in minor or bigger details. And more light shall be given as we walk on in full obedience. Obedience brings in more light and more light bring more and better obedience. We must know that all details of our obedience are important. They are the jewels of that crown we shall receive and in which we are working on. We must know that our crown is obedience. No obedience, no crown. And each jewel must be placed in the whole or the crown shall be defective and, possibly, unaccepted.
"And it happened when the time was come that he should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem", Luc.9:51. We know there was still some time before Jesus would be crucified. However, He started showing that steadfast desire to show up in Jerusalem from very early. His main mission was in mind and His mind was exercising steadfastness before the time. We must, also, be exercised from early on so that we will be a prepared people when the time comes for us to faithful and obedient unto death. We must start exercising steadfastness from the first moment. However, let us do it having God's will in our mind and before our eyes. To be steadfast in something else is evil.
I wouldn't advise a compulsive or an impulsive obedience to anyone. However, we may never consider an immediate obedience as impulsive. When something is impulsive, we may say it is superficial. It doesn't come from deep and doesn't last for long. It is like a baby trying to run when he can scarcely walk. It won't run for long till falling down. True obedience requires from all of us that everything is fully understood before it can be obeyed in the next moment without any hesitation or doubt. Whoever knows how to run doesn't need to think much to start running. His response is immediate and ready. Let those who can run do it well and let those who can't do more than walk, do it well too. Let's do our best, whether we have received one talent or ten of them.
Many believe it is necessary to solve some personal problems before we may think of spiritual things or spiritual problems, such as sin in the heart or lack of communion with the Lord. When it happens, we may rest assured that the problems that hinder our wholeheartedness in the Lord will go without solution until the Lord is fully satisfied with our spiritual dedication and progress. We need to take a stand to choose life and to concentrate on celestial things. By doing so, we are choosing between heaven and earth. So, instead of solving those problems - which He can do - the Lord chooses the ground to make it the "valley of great decisions". We need to choose what we shall pay attention and dedication to. The war has just started and the Holy War has taken off.
The disagreement with your own hear is called confusion. One can disagree with self for two main reasons: the heart has goodness in it and evil makes an approach to lodge in there; or the heart is evil and goodness and the Lord make a move to live in there. One may never forget that the gospel creates confusion among people for that main reason. It can be seen as fruit.
When our heart does not easily approve what is good, it becomes a good candidate to evil things and evil misleadings. And the longer it takes to come to the point of approving goodness, the longer the torture shall be in the heart and in the soul. Also, the longer it takes, the more persistent and nasty shall evil be as a candidate.
Obedience is the key that opens that door which cannot be shut.
"Take heed how you hear", Lk.8:18. The first step towards a false faith is to neglect to take heed how you hear.
The Lord Jesus is the centre of the world.
The future belongs to the day it shall happen. Today was yesterday's future and tomorrow shall be today's future. Let's keep the future where it belongs and take care of today. The rest will arrive soon.
If what we ask amounts to the illusion and fiction of the religious ways of any religion, we shall receive only according to the way we ask. Our life shall be fiction and illusion which passes away soon. If we are able to ask for Jesus and to see Him the way He is, we shall receive Him the way He is. If we ask for the Jesus we have in mind, we shall receive accordingly. If we ask reality in an illusionary way, we shall have lots of illusion to keep us busy with. If you wish to know what you shall receive, look to the way you ask. The way gives you a close hint of what you shall receive. If you ask for a real Lord through a real heart, that is whom you shall get. If the Lord you are trying to meet is not the real one, you shall have the unreal one with the same name.
The heart that is not prepared to take the worst from the hands of the Lord is never prepared to take or to receive the best from Him either. For the righteous, whatever comes from the Lord is able to work out eternal goodness and peace of mind, even if it is achieved only in the long run. Both 'bad' and good which comes from the hands of the Lord has very good intentions behind it, however bad the intentions of evil are, driving it. Evil cannot harm beyond recovery whenever we remain in the Lord. Te aim must not be to remain unharmed or untouched, but rather to remain in the Lord. Let's not be protective about self.
The way to do something is more important to learn than to do any proposed thing. The way leads to the work, but, seldom does the work lead to the way it is carried out. I believe it is far more important to learn the way things are done in heaven than to do those things themselves. To learn with or from the Lord is far more important. "Your will be done here on earth as it is done in heaven". We know God's will is important, but we see clearly Jesus teaching to pray for the way above praying for the will itself. The way brings the will along. We need to learn to live with the same kind of power heaven lives from, depend on the same kind of power it depends, reject the same kind of power heaven rejects. Motives must be the same, the goal must match, the kind of power must be the same and we must learn how to handle it all the way these are handled and used in heaven. Any sinner has in his ways a last resource of survival. Unless our ways die, we will never be dead as sinners. The last remains of sinful hope is to try to carry God's things through the strength of the arm of the flesh, to trust having money around, to mistrust when we are poor or in trouble, to bless when we are blessed and to rejoice only when the world would have reasons to rejoice. The flesh cannot serve in the temple of God anymore. You are that temple. We cannot dare to rely on lies or lying attitudes any longer. Let us be exceedingly glad whenever we cannot do things our own way anymore, especially when God is around and we can feel Him in the air we breathe.
Every person who is not in full tune with the Lord will wish to have own things done by the Lord or the Lord's things done his way. We cannot avoid it being so. It simply works out that way. No tree can avoid bearing its own kind of fruit. And that sort of fruit shows that the tree is not tuned with the Lord. Only the fruit can show with certainty what kind of tree it is we are thinking or talking about.
I cannot justify the wicked before the Lord, not even when the wicked one is me or someone I love dearly. If I do, then it shows I am also able to judge him and be angered, jealous, bothered or even hindered by his ways. If the wicked makes me stumble, then my heart is not what it should be. It is the heart that must be fixed. Let us remove the stumbling blocks from there and not the wicked from his table so we could sit around it. If the Lord commanded Moses to turn gold into ashes because it belonged to sin before, let us not desire to preserve any of it for personal purposes. Let us rather go without gold than with the stench of any sin sticking to it. Gold is not always pure.
It is enough to be suspicious of any known lie. Suspicion is sin. However, certainties are not sin. To be suspicious of any lie is very little compared to the true virtue of faith. It must be impossible for any true believer to believe any kind of lie or to fall into any of its traps. Besides, Jesus said that sheep "will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers", John 10:5. We all know that liars are good with words and can become very convincing sometimes. In fact, they have greater abilities to lie than truthful people often have to tell the truth. If suspicion is sin, how can any lie be turned obvious and clear to make way for certainties approved by God? We know it is not good to talk about suspicions or suspects. Well, the fact is that the Bible says that the wicked shall not be able to stand in the congregation of the righteous, Ps.1:5. Has your congregation been criticized lately because the wicked left it? Be glad, for it is a good thing which is happening to your congregation. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us", 1 John 2:19. It works like this: it must be made impossible for a lie to stand in the field of good corn. It must feel like leaving from there. And it shall happen only when the righteous become "even more righteous". We won't need to be against lies if lies are against us. In other words, if any sort of lie or illusion still has some hold on us, or some enhancement for our eyes, some beauty or goodness in our views, whatever its appearances are, then lies won't easily feel uncomfortable enough to leave and to speak out their views against us. Remember that the power of any lie is to please people and when people do not feel pleased, they will feel like going away from you in a resentful way. The consequences of not pleasing who seeks to be pleased and seen is a revenge of some kind. If the world still seems fascinating to you, which is the same as believing a lie, you must stop and put your heart honestly in the light to find out whether the world has really anything everlasting to offer you or not. Make sure about it. If you seem unable to do that, I am sure it is impossible to have true faith fully settled in your heart either, I mean, genuine certainties. Then, you must remember what James said about double heartedness and what its causes are. Faith is not unstable in its views because it has investigated all truthfully to be make sure about things. And we need to be truthful about all or we cannot expect truth to feel at home in us. Unless we are truthful, how can we feel at home sitting around truth's table? We need not only know to express truth, but we need to be truthful ourselves as well. To be able to explain truth does not make us truthful.
No one puts on effort to be himself in the Lord - only not be himself. In other words, no one puts on effort to be humble, but only to be proud.
Why do you cry and feel sad because you are unable to think positively about things? Do you really need positive thinking while Christ is there to think about and to be reminded about? Why should you still try to have any good thoughts about self? "Isn't there a God in Israel?" 2 Kings 1:3. Why would you still trust self? When will you dare to entrust yourself to the full cares of the Lord Jesus alone? For how long more will you keep delaying it?
Unbelief is an incapacity. It can be a crippled capacity. In makes it impossible to trust truth or reality. Don't we often see people ducking away from reality and facts? Don't people feel happy fantasizing? That is why there are those who can believe and those who can't. Christ mentioned the fact that there are those who "can believe", Mark.9:29. Consequently, faith is an unique ability or a capability to trust and believe truth and to express itself according to it; and unbelief is the ability to rather trust a lie.
The lack of faith has many causes and many origins. But, all of them can be called sin. It also has many grievous consequences. And where there is lack of faith, there shall always be a great deal of self-confidence and trust in the arm of the flesh. If there isn't self-confidence, there shall be an idolatrous search after it as 'the thing'. Self-confidence is idolatry just as covetousness is, or, shall I say, trust in money. Man needs to trust to feel confident and he will rely mostly on himself or something like him when he is unable to trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord is a capability and it is a disability for a lie or unbelief. You cannot separate lies from unbelief and neither the ability to trust them.
To start and end any issue in prayer demands from us that we become upset or resentful against repetitions of prayer. We need a kind of discipline which refuses to repeat things before the Lord as if He is deaf. "Let man examine himself" instead of falling into the temptation of vain repetitions which offend God greatly. Prayers without answers shouldn't be repeated until the key to its answer is found, gained or obtained. Any person who seeks answers and isn't satisfied with merely having his 'religious duties' fulfilled, will seldom fall into this net of vain praying. Repetitions are offenses to God and man repeats himself because he refuses or neglects to cleanse his life of all things which makes God turn His face away from him. Doesn't God see all things? If He sees all things, why wouldn't He be able to hear all things? In the same way that he sees the tiniest thing in any corner of this vast Universe, we can assume the He can hear the tiniest sound anywhere as well. Those who yell and are noisy like to have themselves heard by all and do not take prayer seriously. They seek to be seen like the Pharisees who used to pray in the corners of the streets to impress others - and themselves. They sound as real warriors, but, I take them as unbelieving, pitiful creatures who wish to impress themselves as well. Some think they will be heard by the repetitions they make and others by the amount of noise they make. Others think that prayers are the means to impress others and that they will be answered by having as many as possible impressed by them or by their ways and by showing off. Why would people still act as if they are the ones responsible for opening doors or to show forth answers? And if the doors open up for real, why do they act proudly as if they were the ones who opened them? Most Christians, today, are good actors or actresses. They know just what to do and to feel in their deceit. Man easily finds a way to boast of anything he thinks of.
Remember to have manners when you pray. Do not try to open a door which is not for you to open. Have manners. You knock - God opens. Do not presume the answer and to not wait on a presumed answer as if taking it seriously through a false smile in your face and by a hypocritical attitude. If you start distributing promises or possible tips about what you "have not seen" as if you have seen it, you are a false prophet. "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a appearance of humility (...) intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind", Col.2:18. Do mot promise anything God has not clearly answered you about - even if He has promised. We still need to inherit the promises. The promise is something and the inheritance of it is something else.
Any prayer that gets an immediate answer or any other kind of answer is a challenge only to the one who prays and not to the One who answers. A prayer shall never be a challenge to the Lord. Is it still for you? Are you still surprised when God answers? And do you take that sort of surprise as praise? Have you ceased to pray, giving up before the time and before the answer? If you have, didn't it tell that God is not faithful or didn't it take God for a liar?
Have you ever seen any presuming person, it is, someone who solemnly believes his own understanding of everything is ultra reliable and worthy of admiration? And how many times have you heard people assuming things about others? "You can stand on my word Such and such is a trustworthy person!" People easily become surety for others and pawn their own word. I believe only pride or the remains of it can speak for another person. To become sureties for others is a presumptuous attitude. No one can say for sure if anyone will fulfil what is thought of him and, besides, no one knows if that person shall live until the next day. I believe only false humility can give such honour in such a way before people. Pleasing people cannot be humility and it cannot be love. We must know, we do not need to praise others to love them. John loved those people he called "generation of vipers". "My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and plead with thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler", Prov.6:1-5.
We all know that we can, must and may have a heart according to God's. It is not news to us even though there aren't many people with such a heart. We must get a heart which delights in what the Lord delights. However, there is a small detail we are not often aware of: we must not only delight in what He delights, but must also delight in it the way He does. Have you ever seen the Lord yelling and making a big fuss when He achieves something? Have you ever seen Him wavering before a small thing, wondering if He, being so great, should carry it out?
Many say, believe or assume God does not harm anyone and that all bad things that may happen to anyone has its origin in the devil. The truth is that even the bad that the devil performs is allowed by the Lord's providences. All those who can believe that God or His providence makes room for evil doings also believe that in the end all shall work out for the general good of the Kingdom of our blessed Lord. All those who can't believe that will not only suffer under the yoke of evil, but will, also, suffer from bitterness, misunderstandings about the Lord and His doings, doubts, despair, hatred, a murmuring heart and many other things. Because of some of those things they will not feel like stretching their arm and heart towards the Lord. Whoever is capable to trust the Lord under any yoke of trials, shall "be strong and of good courage". People who cannot trust the Lord under heavy yokes often justify themselves and go from bad to worse. They believe their venom can blackmail God into something they believe they have a right for.
Ignorance has a lot of stairs. Let's use them to get off it instead of going up and up on it. There is nothing we will find in ignorance besides more ignorance and presumption. Ignorance invites people often to take the stairs up. It appeals to people and makes evil sound good. It sounds wise, but, it is hypocritical, foolish and will pretend to be good or even do good.
"Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit", John 1:33. It is interesting to mark the fact that God chose a dove to symbolize the descending of His Spirit upon Jesus. Allow me to explain. The Bible talks about the descending of the Spirit quite often. However, there is something else the Bible talks about as well to which few people pay full attention. It talks about those upon whom the Spirit remains - just as it was mentioned about Jesus. In other words, we cannot say that those "who have not the Spirit" (Judas 1:19) never received Him. If the Spirit doesn't remain on the person He has descended upon, such a person "does not have the Spirit". We all know what a dove is like. It is something which can fly away or remain. Isn't it interesting to know that any person can be without the Spirit by making it "fly" away and become sensual again? That is the sign that made sense to John. Jesus had always been full of the Holy Spirit. In other words, coming down upon Jesus was a sign to John and not to Jesus.
Eternity is a big today. This is why we desperately need to learn how to live the day we find ourselves in now as living beings. If we do not live out of the border of today, we shall never mix the things of this day with tomorrow's. Are you a confusing preacher or a confused person?
No one is able to kill a living being. But, a dead being must never consider itself living. A living being cannot die because death cannot reach out to it. Unless living beings sin in some way, they shall never die.
Accusations are gossiping thoughts which mix truths with lies making both of them look like half truths. At the end, they create an attitude, which, by insistence, create a pattern of mind and personality that becomes difficult to straighten up. Later on, truth finds it difficult to persuade an accusing mind or to break through to cause it to listen. Accusations are the gossiping of the mind. And when it speaks, it often talks about others too or, at least, talks about others with the same spirit - whether it says good or bad things about them. You cannot separate gossiping from a self accusing mind. They are always found together.
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good", Rom.12:21. To overcome evil is not to laugh at it, but to exterminate it.
The Bible says that even a fool looks wise when he is quiet enough. If that is true, then we can say that even the wisest person will look like a fool when he speaks more than he ought or speaks in a way which he shouldn't speak.
By rule, the person who judges and condemns sins in others is not someone who takes care of his own life. His own sins and heart are close to abandonment. At least, the temptation to neglect exists. Such a person is not someone who "takes the seed to sow in his field", as Jesus said. He shall rather try do sow what he receives and sees in someone else's field and won't save himself from anything.
Have ever seen someone who reacts violently or aggressively to an own error when it is pointed out? Don't such people usually throw back the accusations to the one by whom they think is accusing them? Anyone who accuses back or judges back is someone who, somehow, felt accused of something. That is why he reacts that way. Well, when someone judges it is because there is some kind of accusation in him. If the conscience accuses, people react by judging. The basic principle is the same: one feels accused and throws back the judgement. This is the whole truth behind bad judging. People easily judge when they see their own sins in others. They react by judging because they feel accused. They react badly when that happens. That is a poisonous spirit reacting to some kind of accusation. It is the bad spirit of self-defence rising to sting back because it feels accused by his own conscience. That is why he judges. He judges because the image self has about itself has been affected and must be protected and preserved by any means for the sinner's sake. It must either look holy or others must look bad. Therefore, judging is a poisonous reaction to the accusations of an own conscience.
Every person who is not fulfilling his or her marital duties towards husband or wife when they can easily be fulfilled has an adulterous heart and doesn't know about it or doesn't admit it. Even if adultery is not committed, the heart is adulterous.
Grace is an active power and not a passive waiting room. It is not a passive 'hope'. Grace really works! We must get hold of it and grow in it.
"...In the faith that is in Jesus Christ...", 1Tim.3:13,1;14. This means there is another faith outside Jesus Christ. Many, when separated from the Lord, are taken in, comforted and held in error by a false faith which is quite deceitful and they are not even aware of it.
When I was a child I learned to live on my own and I struggled through life without a father or mother. It was me and the world, me and darkness and the world's muddy streams. I have learned a way to 'stand' and to overcome which I must let go now because I have a Father now. I can't rely on the strength of my fleshly arm anymore. And my arm became strong indeed. I must lay down my weapons and surrender, but not to this world. I will surrender to the Victor. I must be able to do it fully and unconditionally, however strong the old habits of survival are.
A person, to change, must desire to change and not merely to be understood and accepted. Therefore, every time a person tries to explain himself, tries hard to be accepted and believed or tries something else which is not a willingness to change, nothing will happen. And to try to help people through a gospel of acceptance is evil. If you really wish to change and that for real, then, you must stop trying to get into the sheepfold by climbing over the wall. You must enter through the gates of grace with a willing heart to do as shown, having only a real change of heart in mind all the time. You must be able "to remember the Lord in His ways", Is.64:5.
There aren't many differences between rich men and poor men concerning entering the kingdom of God. Let me explain. Poor people are worried people, taken captive by the concerns and ways to make a living. Their day is a busy one and they seldom rest to look for peace of conscience - which is not the same as the peace of the world that satisfaction grants. They believe in the same god rich people do believe in. Their thoughts are often as consumed as the rich people's thoughts. They have as many thorns as rich people have and they hardly looks up to the Lord wholeheartedly. The only difference between rich people and poor people we can find is that poor people cannot trust poverty, they cannot hope upon what poverty grants. They extract no hope from their practical life. Poverty has no promises, nothing to offer besides bitterness. Rich people can still trust riches and be deceived by its promises. However, poor people put their hope upon the same god as rich ones, if there is still hope left in them at all and if Mamon has not disappointed them beyond any possibility of trust. Rich people serve Mamom and poor people only hope upon him.
When we lay hands upon people, one of two things can happen: the person shall partake of what we have and are, or we shall partake on the sins of those we lay hands upon. Paul warns us against laying hands upon people in haste.
"No one can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit", 1Cor.12:3. There are a few verses that say this same thing. However, from other pieces of Scripture and from a practical point of view, we know there is a great misunderstanding touching this truth. Let me explain. In Mat.7:21 we read, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven". These say Jesus is Lord, but they do not enter the Kingdom. I often thought about this and came to the conclusion the secret of this truth lies in the word 'say'. This word does not mean literally to speak, but to say about us or to explain about our truthful state of heart and mind. Can I truthfully say I am mastered by the Lord and that He is indeed Lord over me and over all I am and think? Is that a truth, a fact beyond doubt? Am I fully submitted to Him to the point of being able to say He is Lord over me indeed? Is this statement a realization or a mere 'faith' thing? People are genuinely submitted to the Lord only through the working of the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to 'say' Jesus is Lord. If I am not flying, I can't 'say' I am flying. Saying I am flying does not lift me up into the air. But, I can 'say' I am on the ground.
Unfortunately, most of my work is to un-twist Scripture that has been twisted. I find it very hard to preach only the Good News (Gospel) because most of my preaching and time is completely absorbed by making straight what has been twisted and crooked from Scripture. "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints", Jud.3.
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved", Act.2:47. There are many misinterpreted verses in the Bible because of the many doctrines that emerged from past centuries of deceit and search. This is one of them. Many believe this verse is referring to predestination, to the past. But, it can't be. I am not saying anything against predestination. I am only saying this verse does not refer to predestination. This verse is referring to the near future of any new believer in Christ. Do you recall the words of Paul to the prison keeper? "Believe and you shall be saved". As such, you also find more verses in Acts alone which put the verb in a future sense to all believers (Acts 2:21, 11:14, 15:11). These verses refer all to the near future of any new believer and it is not pointing to eternity, as some wrongly suppose. Those who surrender and believe can and may confess their sins and be pardoned; those who are pardoned can, then, be made free of any sin because the way is open to them - and it doesn't matter how huge and ugly that sin is. This means people can be saved from their sins after believing and surrendering fully to the Lord. Now, referring to the verse: this means those who believed would or, rather, should be saved from their sins by believing - after believing. God added to the church daily all those who would be saved from their sins, all imaginable and unimaginable sins. This refers to the near future of new believers and not to the far past of predestination.
Everyone puts himself forth as an example. However, only a few are indeed examples. And, of those who are indeed examples, only a few have the courage, the confidence and the daring attitude to put themselves forth as real examples in humility. Because they are too aware of what Jesus saved them from , they are unaware of how exemplary their lives really are.
When do I need to persevere in prayer? Have I received what God has promised and is according to His will? If not, it is time to persevere and not to give up. That is what praying without ceasing means: pray without giving up.
"No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven", John 3:27. Why do people still live as if all depends on them and not on the Lord, obedience and His grace?
The Bible never expresses itself against "works", but only against "the works of the Law" - circumcision, sacrifices to obtain God's grace, etc. Whatever people consider as works today is not what the Bible considers as such. In those times, people instinctively thought of works in another light than we do today. It was mainly understood as the works of the Law and not as the works prompted by a normal Christian love.
"We have different gifts based on the grace that was given to us. So if your gift is prophecy, use your gift in proportion to your faith...", Rom.12:6. The things you say, are they shown to you by God or do you speak and give opinions according to you wishes or to look wise before others?
Have you ever seen people who exist to contradict? Perhaps you are one of those who say no to yes and yes to no. When someone says left, you say right; and would that persons say right, you would say left. It is a common habit all over the world. It has always been. The favourite habit is to be in the opposition side. Scripture says, however, that a contradicting heart is a rebellious one. When John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, it is said that he came to "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord". This is the precise opposite of a people with a contradicting heart. Are you prepared for the Lord? "All day long I have stretched forth My hands to a disobeying and gainsaying people", Rom.10:21.
Usually, people have this idea that a stumbling block to others' lives is the way they talk or what makes people angry or upset. Are we not allowed to talk frankly? The fact is that a stumbling block is something in our lives which contradicts the gospel. If people are angry against the truth or against the sincerity of the heart that speaks the truth out of love for the Lord, it is fruit and not a stumbling block.
If you makes jokes about God or about God's things, you shall soon be a joke yourself and you shall be laughed at. "I also will laugh at your calamity", Prov.1:26.
"...And they kept Your word", John 17:6. Many times I asked myself, even during moments of struggling prayer, what is needed to have converts keep the word to the end. And I have been looking for a distant solution and all the while the answer is so close and so clear. "Keeping the word". The first condition is that it must be the words of God indeed and not a word extracted from the capabilities of reasoning and from our knowledge. Knowledge is a treasure we get old and new things from, but not all knowledge is applicable to certain moments. Specific words must come from the Lord at specific times. That is one of the conditions which must be fulfilled: the words must be the words of God. The second condition we can easily come across in this chapter of John is that people must recognize and realize it is the word of God and not of man. How much praise do you give to the preacher? If it is the word of God, why should the preacher be exalted for it? "Now they have known that all things, whatever You have given Me, are from You. For I have given to them the Words which You gave Me, and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from You", John 17:7. Jesus struggled to have people believe what He had or said came from God. These are two of the conditions that must be fulfilled so that disciples can be able to keep the word to the end.
It takes a living one to see another living one. Dead people see dead people and commune; and the living ones see each other and commune because they have much in common. "You see Me because I live, you shall live also", John 14:19. Living people see Jesus because He is alive.
What does it avail us if we consult God in everything and we don't receive answers in everything? The answer is what we should seek to find and not the religious habit of praying and praying at all times about everything. It is good to receive answers about everything we pray if we pray about everything. "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son", John 14:13.
"The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit", 1Cor.7:34. This statement is true only in a few cases. There are unmarried people whose mind does not serve the Lord because it is always pleading Him to get them married. Their minds is absorbed by marriage even if they are not married. They are distracted by the thoughts of marriage. Remember that the aim is "that you may serve the Lord without distraction" (v.35).
Faith reaches out to the will of God - not to our own will. Real faith turns it possible for us to achieve the means to carry out God's will for our lives and for the lives of others.
"Your boasting is not good", 1Cor.5:6. Paul mentions this referring to sin in the church and to the fact that people are not removed from the church having sinned. He calls it pride. Let me explain: he says that people who are not able to remove sin or sinful people from their midst are people who boast and are proud. This is a strange statement because most people would say precisely the opposite. They would say proud people - those who think a lot about themselves - will be unloving enough to expell sinners from their midst. People see 'acceptance' as love. But, Paul says it is pride. It means it is too humbling for them to get rid of sin. Now, Paul commands the whole church to be cleansed because they did not expel sin from their midst. They should clean themselves from pride as well.
Many preach so that they themselves might not land in hell. They preach out of fear and not out of love. Others preach to save other people from their sins. To which of the categories do you belong? "For I myself was wishing to be accursed from Christ for my brothers", Rom.9:3.
Doctrine is something to be followed by those who teach. Those who learn follow Life.
Self justification has deep roots and is never found apart from accusations against others. In fact, it often accuses God. If these accusations do not appear at first, be sure they will soon be visible. It is just a question of time until they are seen.
When things do not work out the way God said they would, or if they do not work according to expectations, why does man, at first, blame God instead of himself? Why does any sinner first think God is on the wrong and not he himself? Would man seek the missing link in his heart, he would receive beyond expectations!
We know there is a huge difference between doing things and doing them through Christ Jesus. Those who try to do the right things without grace and by themselves will sooner or later give up or despair at some point. They shall take the easy route of the enemy sooner or later. That is the same as giving up, or even worse. Whoever fails has as first thought giving up. The second thought shall be of doing the opposite of the true way and life. However, we cannot consider it as the opposite way, since doing things without grace can never be the opposite of sin, but of the gospel. The opposite of the Gospel is sin. Now, listen to me. There is an alternative which makes more sense: try it in another way. Try doing all through the Lord Jesus. If you feel like giving up, you must know you are only giving up on own ways or because of them. Maybe the Lord has never been your Shepherd, as you think He has been.
"...Power, according to the Spirit of sanctification", Rom.1:4. The real working power of God in a place or person is never separated from the genuine holiness of that place or that person.
The amount of praise you give or feel like giving to man is the amount of praise you would like for yourself. You won't solve this problem by stopping to praise man or you will resemble bitterness when man listens to you. Bitterness happens because pleasing man is still in the heart and you are going against it. However, man will understand it as having something against them. Now, you will solve it truly only by getting a good look into truth: was it God who did or who does something? Was it really God, or was it man? "At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt", Ex.16:6. Do you really know it was the Lord? Make sure and, then, be sincere about the praise you give. And if man deserves the praise, give it to Him. However, if God does, give to Him what belongs to Him.
To allow the Lord to have His way with us to the uttermost and to guide our lives fully is a decision as important as the one when we at first turned to Him. And to decide to turn to Him and believe in Him was, perhaps, the most important decision we have ever made.
There is a truth no one can run away from: if we know how to wait on the Lord and we wait unhindered, then time runs fast and His timing might even take us by surprise. But, for those who are impatient with God, especially when they have had a word from Him, time passes very slowly and waiting (which is a fundamental issue in any true child of the Lord) becomes so hard! However, those who can wait having a stained conscience are waiting in vain. And those who are clean will receive even what they have missed on and even what has been eaten by the locusts for some reason.
Is there still any doubt that God treats us according to our ways? He does not deal with us according to what we believe, but according to our ways and lives. "So they returned and said: 'Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, So He has dealt with us", Zec1:6. The promise may take long, for either good or bad, but it shall surely come. We all know we shall reap what we sow. Has anyone ever reaped something different from what he has sown? Can we sow thistles and thorns and expect to reap good fruit? Or sow good fruit and reap thorns and thistles?
Have you ever tried to make Jesus king over your life by force? Have you ever wondered why such a thing is condemnable? Usually, people try to make Jesus king by force because they want Him to rule over flesh and blood. In fact, He needs to be forced to rule over such a thing, and because He doesn't, many are disappointed in Him. Jesus, however, doesn't need to be forced to rule over spiritual or heavenly things. People who want Jesus to rule by force are aware of the fact that they can't have or do certain things by themselves nor by any other means. Therefore, they try to make Him King by force because they know or suspect all power is in His hands - including the power they wish would be working together with the flesh in their favour. The idea of knowing (or guessing) that Jesus has plenty of power, mixed with the wish to have all working together for self, makes people force Jesus to be king and ruler over their selfish lives and wishes. These people are called Christians today. They think that is what Jesus came for: to achieve their goals for them. And Jesus came to make us achieve His goals for Him and to have it done His way because there is peace in doing so. Therefore, there are these two sides in the heart of man: if you are forcing Jesus to be king, it also means you are not working on your repentance and conversion from sin to holiness. In fact, it shows you are trying to strengthen the strongholds and hideouts of sin by nearing Jesus for the power to do so. These are the two sides of this truth and fact. If you find yourself trying to force Jesus to be king - Him who is already a King - it means you must stop and repent because the flesh is ruling in you.
I know there is a huge association or relationship between faith and faithfulness. One does not exist without the other.
It is good if we can translate thoughts into words, then words into teaching and teaching into life. Whoever does not do that, does not grow - such people grow old and cold!
One of the reasons why God does not work as He can, is that He can't find the environment, heart conditions and all other virtues in people such as faithfulness or truthfulness. "You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts", James 4:3. We must work hard on the conditions which will bring God down to work for His Kingdom and for it alone. Otherwise, He can't come. Would He come without the conditions being met, He would be strengthening His enemy, the flesh. "Prepare the way of Jehovah, make straight a highway in the desert for our God", Is.40:3.
Sinners who have never been truly converted have the habit of being impatient against other people's sins and patient towards their own. They even seek attention towards their own sinfulness or even try to ignore their own sins by highlighting others's. But, when Christ changes our lives it all changes and we start becoming impatient against our own sins and patient towards others's.
Isn't it strange that, just after the Red Sea had been opened in front of people, Moses had to tell people, "At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt"? Ex.16:6. Didn't they know it was the Lord? They still thought it was Moses! How many times we mention the person when a prayer has been heard and say, "such and such a person prayed and I was healed"? Shouldn't we rather know or say that it was God who healed?
When we expect things (wait on the Lord for things) which God has never promised, we shall have two kinds of problems: we will be unable to see or to be aware of what God is giving because our eyes are set on something else; and we shall not be receiving what we expect because God loves us to the point of not giving outside His will. But, either way create the ground where the devil can establish despair and faithlessness and, consequently, unfaithfulness. The cure is a change of heart or motives because wrong motives is as good as wanting our own thing.
"The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates", Ps.11:5. The first part of the verse means that we are being loved when we are put to test. This also means that the wicked is not tested. If this is true, why do righteous people so easily believe lies when they go through tests and when they see the wicked prospering?
"The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts", Ps.10:4. This does not necessarily mean that the wicked says there is no God - he just acts as if the Lord does not exist. In fact, the Lord does not exist in his thoughts and in his practical life. The wicked never takes God into account when he sins and neither when he does some good. We must know we need to be dependent on God for all we are and do and the wicked does not practise good through grace. We should be able to do good through grace and not merely do good. This is why the wicked sins even when he does some good.
"For the wicked boasts (...) He blesses the greedy", Ps.10:3. This is a truthful consideration. And how truthful it is indeed! The wicked is never indifferent to the riches of the greedy. But, there are other truths we can think of about this. If we turn these word around, it says that those who praise or bless the greedy are wicked. Do you do that? Another truth is that whoever criticises the greedy for having riches, however he got it, is also wicked. One must be able to resist the temptation and to trust Jesus, for He is our sufficiency and anyone else's. "You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever", Ps.12:7.
The aim of the Judgement of God in the final day and before that is the extermination of all sin and even the remembrance of it. The final aim is not punishment, but extermination of evil from the face of creation.
Every person who is not spontaneous in the truth has created many complexes in the heart along his lifetime. And everyone who is spontaneous in darkness has lost all sense of dignity and shame.
It is the disobedient fathers who have disobedient children.
We are either children of heaven or children of the country where we have been born. We cannot possibly be both. We must be careful about this idea of nationalism. We belong to heaven and not to earth. Besides, any heavenly citizen is a faithful child of God. And that faithfulness will overflow to the normal life on this earth. Citizens of heaven are good citizens anywhere - even in a country where they were not born.
Be sure of this: if someone considers certain sins less grievous than others to the Spirit of God, then you must know there are some sins, also, which such a person does not consider sin. Make sure you deal with that before you pray for such people. Do not become part of deceit by praying, and keep yourself pure. "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure", 1Tim.5:22.
It is true that fear is not perfect love. However, there is no perfect love on this earth which has not been fear of the Lord at first.
"Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right", 2Kings 17:9. When people do things in secret, it means it is wrong and it also means they know it is wrong. However, because people do many wrong things, they do a lot in secret. This creates a pattern in them and an attitude to do things permanently in secret. Many times, it creates another pattern of trying it the wrong way first, because secret doing and wrong doing are associated to being wrong. I knew a man who would try lying first, even when truth would clearly benefit him more; and he would tell the truth only when there was no other way out. The truth about this is: when those patterns are set, people will either do the rights things in secret because a pattern of secret doing has been established; or they will try to do the wrong things in the open. That happens because evil is what they approve and feel comfortable about. And we can never measure the amount of evil that can come from this style of sinful life. We may not afford to do the right things in secret, because what we do attracts people's attention and many learn it.
If Salomon's words in dream counted to God, how much more will our words count when we are awake. Let's be careful when we talk. God hears all.
A testimony can be considered as such only when it testifies about God and His reality. Many people testify, but not about God. They testify, mainly, about themselves. They talk about how they accepted Jesus and what they suffered, but seldom can we trace a reality of God in their testimony.
To this world, it is an offence if we don't do something for ourselves or through our means. "Mocking, (they) said, He saved others; himself he cannot save", Mk.15:31.
Perfection is not an easy subject for many people. However, I believe most people are confused about it. They easily define perfection as they would have it and not as God would. It would be good for all of us to define correctly and according to the Bible what real perfection is all about. However, the first firm step towards perfection is: actions must match with the heart and vice-versa.
There is something I always believed and which makes more sense to me as I live on. It must be easier for us, creatures of God, to live a holy life than to live in sin. With that I don't only mean that it is lighter for the soul, and more reviving for the heart, but it is far better and easier in all aspects. I mean that it is easier to have access to it as well. Think with me: if you are dumped into water, is it easier for you to try to remain dry or to be wet? I believe it is not that easy to be dry inside water and neither to remain wet outside of it. Now, God is everywhere and, according to the Bible, we live in Him, even though the soul is dry and He does not live in everyone, Act.17:28. Sin is not everywhere - at least not in the sense that God is. Sin is in the heart. This is why it seems stronger and it looks as if it is everywhere because where man goes, sin goes along. Sin is a parasite of nature which clings to man as he goes. People in the world fight hard to remain dry from God and to be ruled by a hard master: sin. God is everywhere. If we can change man's heart, we can change the world. Therefore, it should be easier to live a holy life than a life of sin.
Jesus did not die when He was crucified. He even said He would be in paradise with the man who died on the cross beside Him. How could He be dead and in heaven at the same time? From Paul, we hear He died to this world and to sin, Rom.6:10. That is the kind of death He died and the only one He works in those He reigns. Whatever He is dead for, will be clearly manifested in those He lives.
Usually, people do things taking their feelings into account, not to betray them, while we are called not to betray our enlightened consciences instead of our feelings. I know a woman who loves her own family dearly and does not like her husband's. When it comes to share expenses with her family, she makes a point of it that they get above what she thinks is right. She says it is because of conscience. But, whenever it comes to share expenses with her in-laws, she wants to give only the minimum possible and seeks a way to lawfully reduce her obligations towards them. In both cases, she does not wish to betray her own feelings. Conscience has not the upper hand in her conduct as she thinks it does, and she does not deny herself in both circumstances. She cannot abhor her feelings towards her own and cannot love those she believes are outsiders of her heart affairs. She believes she is being faithful to conscience. However, she is only being faithful to the way she feels.
In the Bible, we come across something that called my attention. It is often said that God curses blessings. "I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already", Mal.2:2. In other words, the blessing comes to show the faithfulness of God and, afterwards, the locusts and the maggots eat it up. God does this to all those who are called by His name and say they belong to Him when their ways do not show the godliness and faithfulness of the Lord. If this is true, if God can curse a blessing He has granted, there is another side to it: God can bless some curses. God blessed the curse that astonished Job; He blessed the persecution against David inflicted by Saul. And we could find many more such examples all over the Bible.
A sinful person is always searching for own righteousness to lean upon and to justify himself. A saint seeks own sins to cleanse his heart.
For God, there is no such thing as human rights, but only God's rights. Unless we deny all possible and imaginable rights in favour of the Lord, we shall stand in denial before Him. Deny yourself and leave all the rights to your life in the Lord's hands. Hand them over to Him. We have no rights. Holiness is not politics.
Once people give room for the reality of salvation and for the Word of God to live inside them (so that it won't be dead there), people enter into a phase of pre-conversion. The only thing people need to do is to make room for the possibility of a real Jesus and deny the dead one they keep on to and hold in their minds. Conversion starts as soon as a word made alive is put into practice in a most natural way.
We are all familiar with the words of Jesus which say, "Seek and you shall find". However, Jesus also said in the gospels that, "You shall seek Me and you shall not find", John 7:34. It is because we did not or do not come to where He is. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully", Ps.24:3,4. Those who are not clean will seek and not find.
Revival is to convert Christians. It starts through the genuine conversion of Christians.
Today someone talked to me about feeling suffocated by responsibilities. She talked about how her husband left her because he argued the responsibilities of marriage suffocated him and he wished to be single. Little does he know his irresponsible way is the great burden of his whole being. How sad that people have such strange ideas and excuses to be able to live a careless, burdensome, irresponsible and promiscuous life.
It is believed that the love of money applies only when it is to be used on or for self. However, we see many people loving money and stealing from the poor to sustain their gospel and their false doctrines. One can love money to have it and it doesn't matter where it is applied or spent. The love of money is settled in the heart and not where it is applied. "The greedy shall not be called generous...", Is.32:5. This means the greedy can seem generous and righteous - even to himself. If people use their money for other purposes than their houses, it does not mean they do not love money, and that they do not feel safe by having it or that they do not feel powerful having and using it. And when servants of the living God buy a car by the will of God and spend something on themselves, it can't mean they love money and feel comfortable by having it to spend on themselves. They belong to the will of God. God takes care of them as well.
Have you ever given a serious thought to the words of Jesus when He said people will rather jump over the wall to avoid going in through the door? There are many circumstances where it happens. Let's think a little about it. For example, pleasing people means the use of an alternative way to love. Because people refuse to love for real, they enter into being pleasant to camouflage their lack of real love. This is why I firmly believe that everyone capable of pleasing people has the capacity in the heart to be unpleasant and inconvenient. And we will find many other subways which people will rather take to avoid the true virtues or the reality of the true essence of love, faith, godliness, prayer among many others. People will rather try hard to believe than to make sure about the Lord and His truthfulness; they will rather pretend and be polite than finding love in the Lord to be able to love from the heart. And we all know it is harder work to jump over a wall than to get in through a door.
We often complain about the absence of fruit or, especially, of immediate fruit. Today, I was struck by the fact that Jesus says the things of the Kingdom of God must be leavened before it can be useful, Mat.13:33.
The Word of God says (and we can easily confirm its truthfulness on daily life) that the wrath or anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. Now, if this is indeed so, we can also state that the wrath of God does not work the justice of man. In other words, let us not hope God will avenge or take revenge on behalf of man.
When the sun shines on us, our skin tells about it; when we face cold weather, our skin tells about it too; and when the light of God shines on us, our whole being tells everyone around what has been happening to it as well.
To add or to take away from God's word is just another way of not fulfilling it. "You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you", Deut.4:2. Haven't you heard of how deceitful the heart of man is? It makes a new commandment by changing it or by 'interpreting' God's word its own way so that it won't have to obey it as it is. It soothes and quietens the conscience to obey some commandment - especially if it is a changed one. We must know it is the Word which must change the heart and not the other way round. If we read God's Word and do not reject it, we shall either be changed or change the Word to suit us. The heart entices a change in the Word and the Word appeals upon the heart to change. It is the eternal war between the Word and the heart of man. It has always been like that.
We can speak of an immediate glory which God receives and glory in the long term. For example, when our prayers are answered on the spot, God is glorified by it. However, when it happens that way, it means God has already been glorified through our total sanctification or commitment to the truth. And when we become holy (and to some people it takes a while before they are like Christ), then God is spoken good of because of the purity everyone sees in His children's lives. Now, I believe that not all instant or immediate glory to God is always a sign of salvation to the person through whom God is glorified. We know how Pharaoh glorified God through his condemnation. It was good for God, but not good for Pharaoh. Blessed are those who are glorified in the glory of God. "...Heirs with Christ (...) that we may also be glorified together", Rom.8:17.
One of the main conditions to be "slow to speak and slow to anger" is to be spontaneous and without those barriers which delete our good sense. If we please people or go out to please ourselves or anything else, we have a barrier which hinders good sense. And we know all inspired talk or holy conversation is filled up with good sense.
When the Bible talks about the arrogant, it means specially those who do not, will not or cannot depend on God. The arrogant stands in contrast with those who can wait on God and expect all from Him. "You ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that'. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil", James 4:15. This means dependence on God is the opposite of arrogance.
We so easily talk about the abundant life God grants. And it is good that we talk about it because there is such an abundant life that there will be no more need. However, we must have in mind we have come from a life of dryness and of great need - of great inner need. In other words, we have adopted and conceived habits of our own which fit in a way sinners conceive to manage to live in a decaying spiritual poverty. We have adapted our ways to a life of poverty. If we change the wine, then we must make sure we also change the wineskins. We cannot live an abundant life as if there is still a need. Abundance means there is no need anymore. And if we do not experience a life of abundance, it doesn't mean there isn't such a thing as an abundant life. The woman at the well knew from the words of Jesus she would never again need to fetch water as she became used to do. It means Jesus made it clear to her that there is more to His words than we are able to believe or live with. There is more which will never end in which we must remain as if we have never lived any other way before.
"If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth", Jer:15:19. Oh Blessed promise! However, this does not mean we shall automatically be as God's mouth when we utter only precious things and stop uttering worthless ones. No, there is more which needs to happen after those conditions are met. God has still to speak and be our mouth. He needs to take hold of the whole of us because the best precious things we can ever utter is not close to the words of God which are easily fulfilled. We must know that the words of God will become ours and not that our words will become His.
Just as there are people who talk out of "the deceit of their own minds" (Jer.14:14), so can people speak having "the mind of Christ". However, even when we have the mind of Christ, we must discern whether God has spoken to us or through us. We must be able to recognize facts and be able to say, "I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy", 1Cor.7:25.
There are people who become proud against truth simply because it was God who spoke. What I mean is, if God speaks, these people resist instinctively because it was the Lord speaking. Just the smell of the Lord causes them a sort of nausea. "Be not proud, for the LORD has spoken", Jer.13:15. Why else would God warn beforehand against pride when He speaks?
It is obvious the prosperity doctrines around the world, today, will create a lot of dishonest preachers and Christians. The main reason is the lack of blessing upon what they preach and believe. God will not bless lies. Consequently, they will need to fill up their main needs with money which they take from people through dishonesty. They create debts through their filthy words and need to make up for it in some other dishonest way. I mean, they need to show what they say works.
When Christians sin, they not only get the curse of wandering heart, but they are put into many sorts of problems which they are unable to solve. They also get the desert in which a wandering, dry heart has to dwell. They get a dry heart and a dry desert in which to dwell. It is a double curse they get as a reward for sinning.
There is no other way to be a useful instrument in the hands of God but by being cleansed of all types of sin. "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work", 2Tim.2:21. And when I say no other way I really mean nothing else. There is no Bible instruction, no degree - in fact, nothing else - that will ever make someone an instrument in the hands of God. One can become any kind of instrument, even one that preaches the Bible correctly. However, it is altogether a different thing to be a clean instrument in the hands of God.
Many children are never corrected because many fathers have the wrong motivation when they correct them. Parents punish their children when angry or impatient, but little do they realize they should use a rod only to save them from the wrath of God and from sin. Can you see, now, why many Christian's children have become little devils? It is because we need grace which can be bestowed only on proper motives and on living truth. Others, on the other hand, stop using the rod on them because they see it is useless, even if the Bible says the rod works. By not doing it, they are conformed with the ways of this world and make believe that what the Bible says does not work out and does not bear fruit. They make God a liar because they have the wrong motives. Besides, they cannot genuinely believe their own children are going to hell. That is one of the reasons parents become slack in taking care of those gifts God has entrusted to them to take care and to prepare for eternity. Did you think God gave your child for your sake? No, it wasn't. It was for eternity's sake.
Here is an interesting thought. "...If God, perhaps, will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth", 2Tim.2:25. Let me explain. I have heard many Christians, pastors and theologians pray something like this many times: "Lord, let these people come to the knowledge of truth so that they may repent". Now, here, Paul puts it in other way: let people repent so they may know the truth. It just shows how much Christianity has drifted away from truth, because this goes against all modern theology. It says, too, that people who repent do not know the truth yet. "Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away", 2Cor.3:16. They shall know it if they continue in the way, and, by knowing it, they shall be made free of themselves. And people who repent also will "come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil" - only those who have repented already. In other words, after repentance there is a lot of work to do and before repentance there is nothing to do.
Those who trust people or self cannot trust Christ and all those who lean on people become independent from God.
Nothing good comes out of disobedience and nothing bad comes out of obedience.
Jesus never talked to people to give the impression that coming to Him is the end of the way. In fact, He emphasized that coming to Him is the beginning of the way into which He shall lead further. He often talked about finishing what He has started. It all starts by coming to Jesus. That is why He is the way.
"Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the fool", Ps.39:8. The believer shall always be an offense to the fool. However, this verse says more than that. It says that a believer who is not free of sin shall be the reproach of the fool. He shall be stamped on because he is salt without taste. This means an unclean believer shall be a few degrees below a fool. Actually, such believers are worse than fools. Even Jesus talked about people who believe and shall be laughed at because they do not find grace to end what they started.
Any worried or worrying person does things or wants things because of troubled self and, consequently, for the sake of self. Worry demands self satisfaction. It demands to be pleased and appeased. It asks to be able to spend on own lusts, I mean, to spend on a worrying mood. Only those who do not worry can do things for the sake of others and for the glory of God. Worry is a totalitarian master.
Usually, when we read about being heirs of Christ, for some reason, we think about having a place in heaven or some inheritance outside or ahead of us. But, when the Bible talks about it, it is referring directly to the nature of Christ. Our inheritance is the very nature of Christ. That is the Promise, or, should I rather say, that is our Promised Land. And that is promised for us to look for with all our hearts.
Revival is to be able to fulfil the Law of God. Many people think revival are miracles and signs, but, genuine revival is to change people in such a way that they are turned into the very Law of God. It shall be written in their hearts and what is in the hearts is clearly seen outside. Never expect more than that as the only goal of any genuine revival.
There are many ways through which God's promises are fulfilled or not fulfilled. If they are not fulfilled, it shall cause further mistrust and greater self-trust or self-justification against a living God. It is not only lack of faith that can hinder what God has said to become true. If the motives are not aiming at God's glory things won't happen as God said. Another possibility is to have an expectation which is different from the true interpretation of any promise. Find out what the conditions are to the promise you created expectations about to see who is on the wrong and what is on the right. It is very easy for any sinner to blame God instead of self when things do not work out according to what God has said. And there are many reasons why any sinner can be blamed for besides lack of faith. "But does this mean that God cannot be trusted?", Rom.3:3.
Many people say there is nothing wrong with going to the cinema or to watch worldly filth and violence. They say and believe they do not practise those things themselves and are just taking pleasure and enjoying themselves. The Bible, however, talks against those who do wrong things as well as against those who "have pleasure in those practicing them", Rom.1:32.
The big question is: does the Lord work and speak because His Children are pure, clean and holy or do the Children speak for God when they are clean, pure and holy?
Many people have problems like speaking too much. They say or believe they speak a lot and try hard not to do so. However, we should be reminded of the words of the Lord which say that what the mouths speaks originates in the heart along with its desires or loves. In other words, the first step towards quieting the mouth is to deal with the heart and to exterminate what causes it to speak so much. Then - and only then - may we apply the adjustments needed to change habits and patterns, whatever they are.
Didn't Judas betray Jesus with a kiss? Why do people think one cannot betray Jesus with reading the Bible or even praying? There is a lot of praying and of reading the Bible which deceives self to carry on hidden as it is.
"Pray that you do not enter into temptation", Lk.22:40. What does it mean to enter into temptation? Does it mean we must avoid places or situations where there are temptations or hardships? No! It means we must not have our thoughts and mind running the way of temptation or thinking its way. We must be found thinking, believing and having reality and holiness under the circumstances we find ourselves in. The disciples were not taken from the place or circumstances of persecution when Jesus told them to pray not to enter into temptation.
God made things in such a way that the lives of Christians should always be spoken about. We cannot avoid it. It is a kind of law of nature. In other words, whether we live properly or whether we are truly open letters written by the Lord, we shall be spoken of and commented by people everywhere. We shall either be a good testimony, a sweet smell of the gospel or we shall be worse than the heathens, depending from what we live.
Many believe that to have an own view of things is to have an idea that we do not read about in the Bible. How gross a mistake! To have an own view means that we read the Bible and interpret it in a way that suits someone or even us.
Jesus handed His spirit to the One who was smiting Him for the sake of the sins of the whole world. Would you do that? Would you, still, entrust your spirit to the One who was destroying or dilacerating your body?
God is not yet spreading vengeance. He is spreading salvation and transformation for His enemies. Is there any sweeter thing than that sort of vengeance which turns a killer into a saviour? "Vengeance will be sweet".
Mercy is to show forth the way out of sin for always and never to breed a feeling of acceptance towards any sin. Because mercy has the way and walks on towards purity and holiness, it shall never accept sin. To accept sin is to pervert the reality of what mercy really is. There is no virtue which accepts sin less than mercy: mercy knows the way, it knows the way out of sin. How can mercy ever accept it as a factor which cannot be solved in the lives of those it tries to save from it?
Faith must be like the mustard seed and not like the mountain. People often have it the other way round so they can blame something for their failures. Having excuses for failures causes people to carry on as always, believing the same things and holding on to the same stuff that keeps them away from the Lord. If we do not take God's things as simple, plain and objective, we cannot fix errors when we fail. We shall blame the lack of faith, the timing of God or whatever excuse people may have conceived as an excusing doctrine instead of acknowledging it is not working. Were people able to acknowledge it is not working out with them, they would search for what hinders them to be backed up by the Lord.
Faith is often a mystery to many. Many try to convince themselves and to convict themselves of truth. And some try to do so by convincing others about what they say and wish to believe so as to cause themselves to believe better and more. But, it is not what faith is all about. Faith is to be already of and by truth. To have faith, truth must have already spoken to us and fully convinced us. To try the reverse way is like trying to get the child before the embryo is created or conceived.
Wrath in man dos not always originate in the devil or through temptation. Wrath can emerge in man because the Spirit might be convicting him by striving against him and man opposes it to be able to do something else. A greater power than man's which hinders his ways are always annoying to him. It annoys the spirit of man - even a dead one. Because the Spirit of God strives with man silently and does not give up, man becomes upset and, most of the time, he cannot figure out why he is upset. He is upset because he cannot be free to do whatever he wants do do.
Prosperity doctrines are very hard doctrines. They are hard on people. Actually, it hinders people to get into heaven and even into the right perspective about the lovely doings and dealings of God. If someone has sin or faulty ways in his life and God would bless such a person materially for some exclusive believing reason, then, the prosperity doctrines would rise the thought that there is no need to fix what is wrong anymore since God has already blessed. Since the aim is prosperity, people won't care about holiness, especially if all goes well with them. On the other hand, would God deprive such people from some material thing to correct the heart, they would not be able to believe God loves them by depriving them from what is taken. It is a very hard doctrine that works against truth and opposes the love of God.
Many say people must have holiness and good fruit from the heart. I agree with that. One of the best ways to get that done that way is through examples. One cannot conceive how deep and how well any good example works. It works deep in people and a good example can often do more than a thousand words. Be holy and you shall have holy people around you desiring to be holy from the heart. On the other hand, there is no greater and no deeper hardness than the one which strives against fruitful examples. Be an example anyway, because you "make a tree either good or bad", just as Jesus said it must be done.
"...He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God", John 3:18. Most people stumble over the gospel and entangle themselves in the things they believe by reading from the Word of God and and still missing the point. This is one of the issues most Christians stumble all over the world: believing in Christ. Let me explain what it really means. We are saved by faith; we are saved by Jesus and there is no one who can be saved from sin unless it is through the power of Jesus. So, by not believing in Jesus the person is already condemned because he shall not get out of his sins. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes sin away from the world". By not believing, people everywhere shall be surely condemned by their sins and by their sinfulness. By believing Him, they shall be able to enter the narrow way and be purged and cleansed along the way. Do you believe that believing in Jesus will cause you to avoid entering and walking the narrow way of cleansing instead and that it will allow you to live on in any kind of sin?
"But that He be revealed to Israel, therefore I have come baptizing with water", John 1:31. This verse has a mighty meaning of which few people are aware. In the first place, we should know what it means that Christ is revealed to us. It means we really get to know Him, and to touch Him, to hear Him and to confide with Him. In order to do that, we must surely go through John the Baptist, so to speak. People came to him confessing their sins and receiving the baptism of repentance. This means that if we really wish to know Christ and experience Him the way He is, we must first bring all our sins to the light, one by one. There is no such thing as getting to know Christ without a thorough confession of all past and present sins. To start knowing Christ as He really is, one must go through John the Baptist.
There many attitudes which can induce people into error concerning what it proves or shows. For example, carelessness may resemble confidence because both are not worried or concerned about certain important things. But, we all know confidence is never careless about what is important. It just knows in whom it trusts. Wrath may resemble zeal; glorying may resemble praise, and so forth. Let us be on our guard against the resemblances of things in heaven and earth. "Thous shalt not make any resemblance of what is in heaven or on earth".
We read in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man how the rich man in hell would be content with a single drop of water. This shows many things, but, it reveals mainly that judgment, rewards or punishment will always be an eye for an eye for what we have done. Lazarus would be content with a single crumb of bread before. Now, it was the rich man's turn to be content with a single drop of water. The other thing about this is that we all know that a drop of water would never satisfy the rich man in hell. Most people there crave after the illusionary 'relief' of their burdens still. Illusion carries on with hem in hell still. They lie to themselves by not wishing and searching for the real thing and for genuine satisfaction of their real needs. Instead, they keep the lie alive by looking for a drop of living water when God's will and commandment are rivers of living water. Are you doing the same thing while here on earth?
"Therefore, be careful that the light in you isn't darkness", Lk.11:35. We know that when earthly light shines somewhere, one side is light and the other is taken by shade. There is shade only because there is light and because the sun shines. One side of the earth is lightened because it is turned to the sun and the other side is night because it is in the shade of earth. This is what Jesus must have been warning us about: there must never be any shady spots in us. We must seek such a position under light that no shady spots are found in us. We also read about heavenly light that shone upon Paul or even upon Jesus in the mount of transfiguration: it was light all around. It seems there was no shady spot under that light. "Now if your whole body is full of light...". This is the kind of light we should seek, to walk under it because there is a kind of exposition to light that brings darkness and shade on some spots of our hearts. Earthly light, man's doctrines and churchy ways give people a hiding place and cause them to hide many things beneath the "light" of religion. Be careful and on your guard against it. But, be also on your guard against sins which are hidden because you have confessed some other sins.
We must have heard a lot about Jonah and his doings a long time ago. But, according to Jesus, his disobedience has been used by God as a sign to help convert the city he went to. Jesus said that it was a sign to the Ninevites. It means his fame preceded him before he got into Nineve. People may have heard a lot about him before he got there.
"And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon and cried out with a loud voice, saying (...) I know You, who You are, the Holy One of God", Lk.4:34. How many unclean demons walk around in our synagogues today? And how many of them manifest themselves 'praising' and 'exalting' God? Demons walk around in churches today and feel at home there. They even play their part in the services and many are not aware of it. Many of those demons also refer to Christ and tell the truth about Him, lust like it happened in that day when Jesus entered that synagogue! And any lying heart will easily listen to demons' lies. Let those who can take this hearken and take heed.
Be careful never to ask or demand from the Lord that a stone be transformed into bread simply because you don't believe Him. Many Christians do that even when they are not aware of it. One would be surprised to know just how many revival Christians do that. And that is why the bread of Life is turned into stones to them. I often hear people say, "How is it possible that so and so hears such a pure gospel and senses the power of God and he is not genuinely converted?" This might well be one of the reasons.
"Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many", Lk.2:34. Right from the start we see that where Jesus appears, things are never the same again. They just can't be. Some will fall and some will rise. The tree is made good or bad and no tree will be the same ever again. Even at the Cross we see one man being risen to heaven and the other one falling down into hell. No words need to be spoken for it to happen. It just happens. And if does not happen, it means a false gospel s presented. It means that if one holds no to sin, he shall fall and if someone forsakes sin, he shall rise.
"And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger", Lk.2:12. Have you ever thought that a normal baby wrapped in swaddling cloths could be a sign to anyone? Let me explain. Angels appeared to half-asleep people, they sang as they do in heaven. Yet, that was not considered to be the sign. We find the angels commanding those shepherds back to earth. Even though the angels did not need much more to say or do after that appearance, yet, that something so 'insignificant' and earthly could be the sign is amazing. They abandoned their flocks and what they held very dear to them to look for such a sign. This should teach us something, especially those of us who look for big things and become negligent towards the will of God thinking it is insignificant compared to what we hold dear. Modern preachers would not consider this as a sign.
We read how an angel appeared to Zacharias to tell him his prayer had been answered, Lk.1:13. I believe Zacharias had offered many prayers about the same issue or problem and the angel said it was a single prayer. The other thing I am sure about is that Zacharias had, at that stage, already given up praying for the child he wished to have. He was too old by then to pray for it and so was his wife. So, the angel was referring to a prayer offered a while before, which was still on fire before God. Have you ever thought your prayers could be forgotten if you have no sin hindering them? If you have, repent.
"And instantly he saw again. And he followed Him, glorifying God. And seeing, all the people gave praise to God", Lk.18:43. How many people are able to do the works of God in such a way that all those who follow them glorify God for real and not them or their church? And can their works also cause such an impression on all those present to glorify God by giving real glory to Him from the heart? Jesus could receive glory for all His deeds, but, it was the Father who received it when He worked. And He did not tell people to act that way at all. Can you work in such a way that you do not need to repeat yourself again and again saying "all glory belongs to God" or any other known 'slogan' people often use? Do you find yourself always in the need to 'divert' the attention from yourself through words? Isn't there a better way where the deeds speak for themselves and where you free yourself from that responsibility of repeating yourself about it all the time? The fact is, everyone who keeps repeating that the glory belongs to the Lord gives the impression he is struggling to show himself he doesn't wish the glory he owns or deserves. Only those to whom things 'belong' give it away to someone else. And, if people part glorifying the Lord it means it has never belonged to them or to you indeed.
"...Stood and prayed thus with himself..." Lk.18:11. We easily miss the main point of these words. This means that one is merely praying to oneself, inspired by self and, sometimes, giving the answers himself to be able to carry on believing a lie. This must be a terrible state of mind where one finds oneself 'praying' with himself thinking to be praying to the Lord! It could be so otherwise and simple! Are there more foolish people than deceived believers?
Many, when mocked by others because of holiness, feel strangely uneasy and accused of something they can't really express. The accused or mocked one feels the pressure is upon him and feels as if he is on the wrong side. But, the fact is that the ones that mock, accuse or despise the words that speak deep, or despise the example that talks or the lives that shine, those are the ones upon whom the load of responsibility is or should be transferred. This is mainly why they respond by accusing and mocking. Make sure that you know the accused often accuses as a means to find his own false stability along with the peace that the world gives. When Jesus talked against the love towards Mammon, we read that, "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him", Lk.16:14. They did not ridicule him because He was wrong, but, because they wished to carry on loving money. Ridiculing the only Way was the means to deceive themselves about it. It is not Jesus who should feel bad about being accused or ridiculed. He didn't. He did not feel any guilt by speaking this way; He did not feel bad about the young rich man feeling sad and going away unconverted; He did not feel any remorse by leaving His home or hometown; He did not feel bad because Peter and the other apostles had to leave their families either. Beware, because accusations have the power to make the innocent feel guilty about what they have not done and, on the other hand, have the power to cause them to receive good exhortations of truth as false accusations. This is the other side of this truth.
You can always try to fulfil whatever you promised by remembering it and try to do it. But, there are a few problems in such a way. One is that you might be thinking to use your own fleshly strength to do so since you are relying mainly on yourself. The other is that memory can fail people for many reasons. One of those reasons might be the occupations and cares which have the power to absorb our being completely. Now, if you have promised to be a faithful person or to produce any other good fruit, make sure you know that the only way to fulfil it without a doubt is to gain a heart and a being which shall be faithful even when you have forgotten about the promise you have made. Make sure you get a praying heart before you vow to pray every dawn; or that you live in the real presence of God before you promise to think of Him all the time; or that you get saved from the love of money before you promise to be faithful in your business; or that you are capable of fulfilling all conditions to pray effectively before you promise you shall work on having answers to all your prayers. We can mention many other examples, but God can show them to you if you ask Him.
It is true the Lord blesses according to the intentions of man as well. Good works with bad motives won't be blessed at all. But, the reward will be according to the works and not according to the intentions of man. "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works", Mat.16:27.
The believers of evolution are more fascinated about the idea of it than they are believing it. People love to explore the unthinkable and muse themselves with the imagination of any non-existing thing or of any other kind of occupations which 'feed' their empty mind. It keeps them busy since people far away from God have nothing to do and nothing important or lasting to think about.
There are many excuses or arguments that people use to be sinful. The unbeliever will say, "There is no God". And that is why he corrupts himself. It is just a way to assure he will carry on in sin. The believer with whom God is will say, "God is not with me" and corrupts himself as well for the same reason. When God is with them and people are able to say God is not with them, it just means they wish after sin and not after the real Emanuel. On the other hand, the 'believer' with whom God is not pleased will say (and take for granted) God accepts his sin and looks over it. He will say "God is love and God is with me" and will take for granted God understands his sin and will forgive it even if it is not repented from. For him, God is not a God who purifies, but who accepts. People will always seek a reason to be sinful when the intention of the heart is not holiness.
If you are capable of pleasing people, you also bear the capacity in you to displease them and, also, to commit all sins associated to pleasing and displeasing people, sins like jealousy, gossiping, bitterness, etc. Let me explain. Pleasing others is selfishness. It is not done because of others and whoever tries to please others, does it for the sake of self and not for the sake of others. It is not others' best interest that is chased after, but self's. It means that, when there is no return from others whom you pleased, no appreciation, self won't be satisfied with it and won't feel fulfilled. It will, then, seek revenge. In other words, only those who seek to please others have in them the ability to displease them.
Pessimism can be the opposite of hope. Pessimism comes from a bitter heart and it exists only because the heart is bitter or its ways or its carnal foundations are being contradicted in the deepest, unseen parts. Pessimism does not exist because it is true or because it speaks the truth in some way. It exists only because the heart is bitter. Man believes in himself and the amount of pessimism, often, reveals the amount of trust in the flesh there still exists, (whether unseen or merely not acknowledged) and which is also practised. Because it is practised in daily life, the Spirit of God opposes it at the level of its foundations. Once the Sign which will be contradicted (Lk.2:34) starts to operate, man is made to see from deep within he cannot trust self. For him, it means he cannot trust, especially if he is still carnal in some way. This is where pessimism steps in to dominate the tongue, the thoughts, the talk and the ways of those who are able to kindle trouble in the hearts of all around by contaminating them through many sins associated to bitterness, Heb.12:15. The most common contaminations we shall see in such cases is jealousy (because they do not attain what they see in faithful people); bad thoughts in a general way; unfaithfulness (because of the lack of motivation brought by pessimism); the spreading of the smell of hopelessness and the lack of truthfulness about the Lord and His sovereign power to change things at all times. And because these people do not trust their God in their ways by not acknowledging Him in them from the heart, it shall seem as if their thoughts and beliefs about things are confirmed. But, the truth is God is not establishing their ways because they do not trust Him and that is why it will seem that what they say and believe is true or becomes true. What they hear about God is never confirmed in practical living because they do not acknowledge Him in all their ways. Pessimism is a lie resembling truth.
Daydreaming, even if it is dreaming about the things of the Lord, has two main problems: if things do not happen according to what is dreamed and comes in another shape - even if it comes in a better shape - it can mean disappointment in a fleshly soul. The carnal soul does not reach out beyond what it sees, feels or believes. The other problem is that it makes people unfaithful, since they use up their time in a wrong way when they should be doing the right thing for the Lord at the right time. Hasn't the Lord given you something to be faithful to while you spend your time dreaming lately?
If we are holy through living for the Lord, by having a real fellowship with Him, we represent Him here on earth. This is what it means that we pray or do things in the name of the Lord. We are here in His stead, representing Him in His 'absence'. Now, we read a prophecy in David's time, about Jesus, that says, "Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession", Ps.2:8. Are you doing this in Jesus name, in His place? Are you pleading and asking this as a representative of the Lord Jesus?
Many believe they are in a position where they can demand many things from God even out of season, especially if they believe to be fulfilling what God requires of them. The fact is that when we are planted near the waters of Life, we shall bear fruit in the proper season and not in the season we want. The promise is that a tree which is planted near the waters shall bear fruit in its proper season, Ps.1:3. If it were possible for a tree to bring forth fruit out of season, it would be a bad tree. We read in Malachi that it is a curse to receive blessings before its proper time. For example, if we pretend to bear the fruits of the Spirit before meeting up with Him in a real manner, the curse will be hypocrisy. And we may say the same thing about every good gift that can come from the Lord.
There shall always be a great difficulty to serve God and to be faithful to Him if the use of our memory is poor. How can we serve Him without remembering what the Lord has said here and there? Memory is also trained and educated. However, the biggest problem to memory are the thorns and the cares for this world. They cause people to become forgetful beings.
There has always been some confusion between being wise and having knowledge. Knowledge is what we know and being wise is how we apply what we know. They are not the same thing. And there are people who have knowledge and are not wise and vice-versa.
Have you ever apologized for things you shouldn't have been apologizing for? It means there are other things you should apologize for and you aren't. It just works like that. People are often tempted to cause an impression of humility on others which gives them the ideal hiding place for their sins. Besides pleasing others, those who apologize for things they shouldn't be apologizing for, must know they are keeping back something or trying to hide much. And we should all walk in the light instead of trying to use the ways of light to hide. "O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the Lord", Is.2:5.
The more I am blessed with the wisdom and the words of God, the more I realize that Godly things are in ruins in this present age. It is not a fully erected Temple anymore and it is not a beautiful palace which attracts dry people to it. I just wonder where are the engineers and the workers to raise it in its full splendour again.
We all must know that the long term changes or decisions we make are the ones that count before God. It doesn't mean that the short term decisions are not taken into account for us or even for judgment purposes. It just means that what counts is how we end, even if the way we start is bad and even if we know everybody must start somewhere to end up well. Didn't Judas Iscariot start up well to end badly? Let me speak more about this. Suppose you find yourself sinning in some way and you promptly decide to do away with that sin. Then, you cut the act quickly off and, because of it, you leave the heart untouched or unchanged. It means the heart has not been given the chance to change along. You have dealt with it in haste. Sooner or later there shall be temptations or sinning in that area because the heart has not been dealt with and because of the hasty dealing against something which has roots. Haste is, often, superficiality. Have you ever dealt with sin as something that has no roots and seem to lie superficially at the surface? If you do that, sin will come back or, if it doesn't come back, despair will, because the heart has not been changed along. When you deal with sin, deal with it in a long (eternal) term, instead of dealing with it as those who haste to have it quickly covered up and forgotten. Sin doesn't die by forgetting about it. We need to expose and not to cover up. It is exposure which is able to kill sin just as, supposedly, sunlight killed vampires.
When we bless others, we must be careful not to do so because we feel somewhat superior to the person we bless. Usually, a blessing is pronounced by someone who is close or closer to God. But, in order for the blessing to take place and full effect, and it to mean something more than empty words, there must be no feeling of superiority in the one who pronounces it and neither a feeling of inferiority in the one who receives it.
We need, quite often, the authority of God, especially when we preach the gospel or speak out the words of the Lord. One of the holes through which authority often leaks out is a life which has not matched itself up with the knowledge of God it experiences and with the Truth it has been taken by. If we live less than we know of God, authority will fade away for two reasons: one is that God will not reveal Himself as our friend because He cannot afford to back up whatever we say or do - he will no grant a false testimony through us; and the other is that people, by seeing clearly that we live less than we preach, will be inclined to despise us or our words. The other hole from where authority leaks out is when we try to match up with God's Life and principles through own means and strength or, we could say, without grace in the heart. When it is our heart which is forced to equal the principles, we should know it is not the same as having the principles match up with our hearts. Do you remember what God said about David, that he had a heart according to God? Then we must add principles to our life, because a good heart without principles shall become slack. Unfortunately, people want a God according to their heart and not a heart according to God.
People often don't take their own words seriously. That is why many say things before God and do not fulfil them or simply forget about them. The fact is that a request is recorded in the Bible made by Solomon in his sleep, in a dream. If words in our sleep or in our dreams can count before God, how much more what we say awake! Do we take the words we speak before God and people seriously? Do they count for us as they do for God? Do we know God means business with us and will never play games? "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil", Ecl.5:1.
In Israel, in David's time, it was believed that to lie down with a virgin was a foolish thing. "And as for you, you shall be as one of the fools in Israel", 2Sam.13:13. But, as time went on, this world started to work hard and patiently on causing the impression upon people that it wasn't so bad a deed at all. Now, it is not even considered a crime anymore. Eventually, it started to be assumed it is a good thing to commit sins and that sin is not an act of a fool. Now, in worldly ways, secular thinking, movies and minds, we find this perverse idea or ideal so established that people assume it without giving a second thought about it. It is common and natural to sin. The idea that people cannot go on without sin has taken hold of the whole world and, worst of all, of church people's minds. Time must come when Christians start assuming again that sin is foolishness because it is indeed foolishness. We should assume truth again.
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live", Deut.30:19. We see there is life and death before us. Yet, God says "choose life". Let me explain. Dead people cannot choose death because they are already dead. Sin makes them dead. The only thing they can choose is to be revived and to have life in them again. This is why God says "choose life" since they cannot choose death anymore. Life is the only thing people are able to choose since sin has made them literally dead.
"And every one that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bring forth more fruit", John 15:2. Here are two interesting thoughts to which we do not always pay attention. One is that God prunes only those who bring forth fruit. Those who don't bring forth fruit are not pruned. The other thought that struck me today again is that God prunes the heart so there can be fruit outside. He doesn't prune the outside so there can be fruit, but the inside. So, we cannot expect God to change circumstances for our delight, but rather to use them according to our inner needs.
We all have things we are right about and things we are wrong about. But, man is always a surprising creature. The thing is, man must believe he is right about everything or else he will fail to trust and to be confident. It is because he is the one in whom he trusts most. Man's own strength and his confidence in himself is very valuable to him. He will feel lost without it. Now, those things man is right about give him the confidence to carry on in a wrong track as if he is right about all. The fact that he is indeed right about certain things makes him unconsciously believe he is right about everything else or, at least, makes him put forth and hold on an attitude that he cannot be wrong. Man without confidence in himself feels desperate and he doesn't want it to be that way. The flesh demands that he must believe in himself all the time and to argue as if he is always be right. Believing in yourself is a world's weapon man is fond of.
We know the story of Saul and how he failed to be fully obedient to the Lord's command concerning Amalek and his people, 1Sam.15. It was difficult for him to carry out the right thing to the full. But, it was not so when he did the wrong thing. It was easy for him. We read how he killed all the priests of God in one town and killed all that breathed in there, 1Sam.22:18,19. Faithfulness is one of those things we have been created with when God made us according to His image. It is part of us since creation along with many other things. Now, if we are not able to be fully obedient to the Lord, we must know we shall be able to be fully obedient to something else, even to the wrong thing. No one can hinder that happening that way, because it is a law of creation. We have been created as faithful beings. We shall always be faithful to something, whether it is the wrong thing or the Lord. "If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God", 1Sam.12:14. Didn't Paul mention the fact that people in sin have their members fully yielded to it and to the world? They are, so to say, completely faithful to sin. And James also speaks out stating there are half-hearted people in the courts of God because they love sin and have not fully repented of it all.
Sometimes, God needs to speak through a dream or during people's sleep because they are too busy to hear Him when they are not asleep. There might be other reasons why God speaks to us during our sleep, though. God can try someone to see whether he or she will yield to sleep or to His voice and to obedience as well.
Those who do not please people, have no conscience of it. If people have conscience of pleasing others, that is when they start pleasing them. That happens when they become conscious of it. Sometimes, they even become unpleasant because only those who please people are able to be unpleasant. Consciousness of that sin makes people react some way or another.
The peace of God is not like the world's. It doesn't work the same way, it doesn't come at any cost and it doesn't produce the same results. I mean that God will not change or adapt for the sake of our peace. If His presence is real and not imaginary, we must be changed beings and not adapted beings, I mean, if we wish to feel at home in Him. There is no such thing as peace in the presence of God unless we have indeed been changed and transformed by Him. God did not come to make us feel comfortable, but to change us. Once changed, we shall have peace in Him. If we have not been changed, His presence will be a torture to us. This is one of the reasons many abandon 'the faith'.
There are many people who are concerned about hearing the voice of God. To a certain extent, it is good that they are concerned about such things. But, I believe we should be concerned about becoming sheep, since Jesus said it is sheep who hear it. Instead of being concerned about the voice, let's become sheep and do all to that end. Besides, there is something better for people who are filled with the Spirit of God and live by Him: they can feel or sense how God feels about certain things because they live close enough to Him. "My soul follows close after You", Ps.53:8. That could be a greater intimacy than hearing His voice only. However, "can two and two walk together unless they are alike?" Amos 3:3.
Many put certain sins in a different category than others. Let me explain. Some have prostitution or pride as a big sin and gossiping as a minor one, even if they consider it sin. And there are, also, sins which those people do not consider sin at all or, at least, not as dangerous a sin. For example, people may consider that love for an own country, its culture or anything about it or its pride is a good thing. That is what the tribe of Benjamin thought when the rest of Israel asked them to deliver those evil men who raped and killed a Levite's woman. Instead of delivering them, the whole tribe of Benjamin gathered as one man to defend evil doers because they belonged to their tribe, Judges 20:13,14. We should be very careful and guard ourselves against what people call nationality. Our identity is, quite often, something which stands between us and God and many people are not aware of the fact that it keeps them from having answers to their prayers because they can't see that as lifting or downgrading ourselves before our fellow men - and both are pride. In heaven, all people are alike and our hearts should aim to live as it is lived there. "If, then, you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God", Col.3:1.
After Moses, God gave Joshua as a leader to Israel. However, God gave no leader after Joshua. It can mean a lot of things, but, the most significant one is that people would now depend on God completely after the way these leaders have depended on God. In the new land we must depend on God and in times of abundance dependence on God is crucial. They had their chance now "not to do according to all that we do here today, each doing whatever is right in his own eyes", Deut.12:8,9.
How many people have committed great mistakes, or even changed the course of their lives by not enquiring from God? And how many did the same by not waiting for a clear answer or until God spoke if they enquired? There will always be a next difficulty if the flesh is kept alive: if one is not too busy, too confident or too proud to enquire from God, one might not be ready to wait for an answer or to pray in such a way that the answer comes.
We are often encouraged by testimonies of other people. And it is so good that the workings of God are able to encourage us, since it enrages many around the world. Yet, we must know we need to have an own story to tell and we must be encouraged by the presence of God. His presence should be such a reality to us all that the Lord Himself would be able to take us, encourage us and bear us in His own holy hands. He should be able to be our encouragement at all times.
It is true lukewarm people are responsible for many a spiritual crime. Many people are not born again because of them, since they do not enter the door of salvation and block the way to others because they gather in front of the narrow door to block it for others. But, these lukewarm people have another power: they can determine some of the ways or attitudes on warm people. Let me explain. Remember Isaiah who called out and said he had unclean lips and lived among people of unclean lips? Isaiah was warm, yet, he learned the ways of lukewarm Israel, especially the way they spoke. He acted like them. Now, if warm people act as the lukewarm ones, they become the main stumbling blocks to these half hearted people because they do not look different from them. Even though they are warm, lukewarm people can exercise a power which brings a conduct out of them to make them act like hypocrites. That comforts and establishes hypocrisy - even if warm ones are not hypocrites or even if they do not have the intention to act like them. This makes warm people the main stumbling block to lukewarm ones, just as lukewarm ones are to cold hearts.
Here is an interesting sequence: "Behold! I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil", Deut.30:15. It is good that goodness does not come before life and we can see that evil doesn't come before death either. Goodness follows life and bad things follow the spiritual death on people. The Kingdom of God and His righteousness is to be found first, along with its Life.
We often talk about the glory of God and many people say, "all the glory to God", while keeping that glory secretly for themselves. There are many reasons why people seek what is not theirs. Some people seek or steal glory only to seek attention because they feel lonesome. They want to feel acceptable and work hard on it. Loneliness can make people steal. However, loneliness is solved by having God with us for real and not by seeking glory. His presence is able to deal against that sort of glory seeking, even though there are other sorts. Others seek glory to be self-assuring or assured. Maybe it is their 'faith' that has a need to be 'accepted'. They lack confidence in God. We should be able to make a sound diagnosis of the real reason why we seek glory for ourselves or why we talk too much, instead of pushing it aside by saying, "all glory is to God". That makes us sound like hypocrites. We need to come to the point where God can afford to exalt us for the sake of His Kingdom and name. By then, we should be able to live and feel comfortable with His glory because our hearts know all belongs to God indeed, and people see clearly that is true. Let's deal with whatever hinders it to happen or God will never be glorified through us. "You have today said that the Lord is your God (...) and that you will listen to His voice. And the Lord has taken you today to be His peculiar people, as He has promised you, and to make you high above all nations which He has made, in praise and in name and in honour, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God", Deut.26:17-19. Does your life speak by itself of the glory of God, even without words? Does your life exalt God and all His doings even when you are not thinking of it or are not aware of it? We cannot do two things at the same time: we cannot exalt self (which makes us self aware), and exalt God at the same time. Choose today whom you want to serve.
According to the Law of God, a negligence which leads to someone's accident or crime is sin. Anyone who is negligent and causes someone to suffer, besides being guilty of negligence, is also responsible for or guilty of whatever happens to his neighbour; and if negligence makes someone else's crime easier, the negligent person is a co-criminal.
The Lord told Israel that they should bring an offering according to a previous blessing of God, Deut.16:17. This means the offering would speak out loud and clear and everyone around would clearly see how bountiful God's blessing has been. This goes against the doctrines of the so called prosperity preachers who say people must give first to them in order to receive back from the Lord. The offering must be according to the blessing of God and it is not the blessing of God which must be according to the offering. They have it all wrong.
When the Lord talks about freedom or liberty, He means us to be free from ourselves and from sin. The worst slave holder is self because it holds self captive. It means the slave and the slave holder love what they do. Therefore, once we are taken into our heritage of freedom, we cannot do things according to an own vision or own opinion because it would mean self shall be in charge again. God has also intended to free us from that - especially from that. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God", Rom.8:14. The main sad complain God holds against people is that they have wandered into own ways. "You shall not do according to all that we do here today, each doing whatever is right in his own eyes. For you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God gives you", Deut.12:8,9.
"You may not eat the life with the flesh", Deut.12:22. We know how the Lord threw man out of Paradise and cut off his access to the Tree of Life so that sin or the flesh wouldn't eat of it and live forever. God had already separated light from darkness as His first act of creation and, after sin had entered the world, He also separated the flesh from Life as to confirm He doesn't want anything to do with sin or sinfulness that looks godly. And here we come with this symbolical commandment concerning blood (life) and the flesh: they cannot be eaten together. People should either be cold or hot. Everyone who eats from the flesh and from life at the same time shall be lukewarm and shall make God sick to the point of nausea or of vomiting. How is it with you? Are you trying to put Life and sin together by eating from both? You may never eat from the bread of life unless you decide to let the world down along with all sin and its fleshly moods or ways.
We read in Deut.2 that God says He has thrown out giants from certain places so the children of Esau and the Moabites could live there. I am sure they never admitted that it had been God doing it for them, by destroying extremely sinful nations. They must either have become proud or praised others gods for these achievements. Either way can be taken as forms of idolatry. Whether you praise yourself, your own wisdom or strength or praise other gods so you can look humble, you shall always be guilty of ugly idolatry. You can also be guilty of that sin by blaming God of those bad things that happen to you or to anyone else. It is just another way of exalting yourself and diminishing the Lord. "You shall have no other gods before Me", the Lord said. Don't be the one you praise for anything that happened.
Many are always in a hurry to get to work in time or to get to any other early business. Perhaps they are in a hurry because they weren't in a hurray to get out of bed.
A complicated mind is nothing less than a mind pressured by distractions and affairs, whether good or bad ones. These distractions press present duties and responsibilities aside and start a war inside the soul of man. By exterminating desires which are not according to God or by dealing diligently with those desires which are Godly but not appropriate for the moment, one will enter into the simplicity of Christ and shall start to enjoy it and to live from it to the full.
Half-heartedness in the things of God or double heartedness are liars. The principle behind double heartedness is deceit. It tells people they belong to God since they are not cold. It causes them to put a foot in the grounds of God or of truth while they use the other foot to walk in the world. They limp. One foot in the temple comforts them and gives them an unacceptable equilibrium. Only God can see they are not warm since they may have become fools and too foolish to see. Halfhearted people know they are not cold and, therefore, it becomes hard for them to see they are not warm. They won't be able to realize they are not warm since they don't feel cold. Double heartedness keeps them near the courts of the Lord and grants them a feeling of comfort and of hope in the backslidings which they refuse to acknowledge as ways of death. Another truth concerning double heartedness is that it is a great offense to God since it lives for the devil right in the face of God. These people are not cold enough to go and live for the flesh or the devil somewhere else, far away from the courts of God. They bring unholy things into the Holy of Holies and rub it in the face of God to force Him to take it in, absorb it and accept it from their hand. They believe a God of love would do just that. In case they would go far away and become cold, they would be, at least, truthful about many things. That's why cold people are better off since they show forth a degree of inner truthfulness within them. Didn't the Lord praise the unjust steward for the wisdom of being, at least, truthful about his whole situation and because of having made the correct diagnosis of his true standings? (Luk.16:8).
Many excuses are put forth by people who are not ready or don't feel ready for something yet. Ignorance causes people to say they can't do something because they are unable to do it. Capability comes through devotion and preparation comes from the Lord before or during the work we must be prepared for. It takes years of faithfulness in smaller things until we become naturally faithful enough to be entrusted with the greater things of God. If people are not ready or prepared to do something, it should serve as an accusation to them rather than as an excuse. Jesus did not look over any lack of readiness or any lack of preparation, just as He will never ignore ignorance. Lack of wisdom accuses people of not having walked with the Lord of wisdom long enough and lack of readiness confirms people have not been faithful in former smaller things and have not been seeking the Lord during periods of trials, however insignificant they may have seemed to them then. They have not remained in/with the Lord to the end of their trying season. Can the Lord say of you, "You remained with Me since the beginning"? John 15:27, Luk.22:28.
By reading the story of Korah again and the two hundred and fifty men who died with him, I was amazed at what God said. He said that the censers were holy because they were brought before the Lord, Num.16:37. It just amazes me because people were rejected and the censers accepted. We read in the Bible, many times, that the right order of things is that man be accepted first; and we also read how often God said, "Him will I accept". It is people who should be accepted and not the censers. God said about Job: "Him will I hear (accept)", Job 42:8. Isn't it amazing? Sometimes, God can hear a man whose prayer is not uttered because it is man who is accepted. The right order of things is that God accepts the man before accepting his prayer or any other thing brought before Him. Are we acceptable sacrifices to the Lord? Can we be accepted? We know there are a few people who are rejected and whose prayers are accepted because of the glory of God or even because (for the sake) of the people they pray for; yet, they themselves are rejected. "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!", Mat 7:22-23. And this piece of Scripture is not talking only about those false prophets who say they do some wonders or pretend they do them to deceive people.
It is strange that sinners who rebel against God or His ways always try to serve the same God they rejected in a way of their own. It was so with Korah and will still be so in many churches: people will always try to serve on their own and or their own might to live from self-righteousness and to keep it alive for the sake of fleshly stability or fleshly trust. We should know that when we reject the way God established, or if we reject the people He put there to lead, we reject God. It is not possible to serve God the way we wish to serve Him. Let us remember that Jesus says "The way it is done in heaven" and puts it above the will of God itself. God does not want the devil or the flesh to serve in His Temple. Serving the Lord in an own way or through "the arm of the flesh" stabilizes a false faith and tranquilizes a dirty conscience. It takes the conscience out of conviction. You wouldn't want it that way, would you? Beware, since any person (including yourself) who lack righteousness in some way will surely hold on to some indulgence or foolishness which tries to turn to God or serve Him in a rebelling way or in a way God considers rebellion. (Rebellion is self-righteousness or self-righteousness is rebellion. Beware of any form of it!). Unless such people hold on to some sort of strange 'righteousness' they will feel at loss and, besides, conscience must be lied to so it may be stilled by force or by double heartedness. Double heartedness is the food of rebellion because it allows people to feel they still swerve around God, His words and His Temple. Religion takes the place of God in their lives to fill the void for them. Religion is stubbornness. It is not possible to serve God with the spirit of mammon, serve the devil inside the Temple of God, or even serve God in the temple of the devil. It just doesn't work at all. And one of these will happen as long you have or hold on to some kind of self-righteousness - however small it is. Self-righteousness and a false faith are rebellious attitudes and not nice pets. Be careful, therefore, with your own or your church's doctrine which tries to impose itself above the commandment of the Lord; of own inspiration which carries the heart captive into some wrong track; some heart feeling which plays the role of God; some self-justification which is not Christ defending your case against false accusations; self-congratulation which is not the praise of God. Rebellion is self-righteousness and self-righteousness is rebellion. We cannot use the weapons of darkness to turn to the Lord. Double-heartedness is the main food of rebellion and self-righteousness. Double-heartedness comes to feel safe in the Temple of God often. This is why so many people in the world of sin are religious - and some are fanatically religious!
True prayer has many secrets and the reason they are seldom discovered and practised is that these are very simple secrets. Complicated things seem to have a greater hold on people's minds, conducts, and, especially, on the wholeness of the mind. Discipline is one of these secrets. However, very few people can be disciplined and spontaneous at the same time, burning in holy desire as they pray in an orderly way. We all know how true prayer needs genuine fire. And when there is no genuine fire, people establish some sort of strange fire to make up for the loss of the participation of the Spirit in their prayer life. It is common to see discipline robbing people from their wholeheartedness in the Spirit when it should rather be able to increase it. Another problem is that few people can separate one problem or request from another. They are too eager to solve all at once and seem to be unable to deal through with one problem until God's answer opens way to the next one. And when they are able to deal with one single issue wholeheartedly at a time, they don't seem to be able to let it stand to walk afresh into a new talk with the Lord. For example, if they talk about themselves or about personal spiritual needs wholeheartedly, they seem to lose sight of others spiritual needs after they have done so because they have reached an answer to their prayer; and if they wholeheartedly pray to solve others' needs, they seem to neglect their own important ones. I could mention a few more of these secrets and problems in prayer, but, it seems there is always some dispute which robs people from the genuine spirit of simple prayer.
We see God commanding Aaron to sacrifice an animal before entering the presence of the Lord. But, it seems to me Moses did not need to do it. He entered the presence of God without the need of sacrifice. Maybe it is because he was always in the presence of God, inside and outside the Tabernacle.
"Do not drink wine nor strong drink (...) for a distinction between the holy and unholy, and between the unclean and clean", Lev.10:9,10. Even when people are not addicted to wine anymore or any other sinful practice, even if it is only for the sake of an example, even if it is only for the sake of others, one should not touch certain things, even when they might be holy things unto us already. "...So that you may teach...", Lev.10:11. No one can teach without being a practical example.
Sometimes we wonder why God has put in His Law, the one given to Moses, that people should not eat certain kind of animals, birds or reptiles. Then we read: "To make a difference between the unclean and the clean", Lev.11:47. We should all know that to distinguish between the clean and the unclean has always been a great issue to the Lord or He wouldn't make that an object of promise through the coming of Christ, Mal.3:18. We can easily conclude from these laws that the peoples living in the Promised Land prior to the Israelites had some religious link to all those prohibited things or God would never have intervened through prohibitions such as these. Israel should set an example and be excluded from falling into those religious traps and beliefs, just as we do nowadays with wine or any other thing people link to sin or to the 'enjoyment' of this present world. There are many reasons why Peter could eat from the birds and animals coming from heaven on the sheet he saw. There was nothing impure about them. People defiled those things through beliefs and idolatries. Besides, the work Christ came to do within man established another inner law, a personal one we desire after ourselves; also, most of those beliefs had already vanished from the earth by the time Peter was here. Nowadays' beliefs 'do not eat' many things out of religiosity and by concepts about God which miss the mark. Times have changed and so have beliefs and religions. Our external ways should reveal we belong to the Lord and not to laws. Once they cease to show just that and that we do it for the Lord's sake, then they become useless and empty commands.
Many talk about the crowns they will get in heaven forgetting that the crown is a "crown of holiness", as Lev.8:9 says. Have you ever realized that it is a crown holiness? Holiness is the crown. Does it fit in your head? Do you desire that sort of crown? Do you look out to bear such a crown? After the Lord, holiness may well be the most precious gift there is for us.
Talking a lot and repeating oneself over and over again concerning what one believes or about what has happened to us in the past might be a hidden sign of lack of surety or even of security. Beware, because we preach the truth only to save others and not to assure us before people whose breath is in their nostrils.
It is indeed true man shall not live by bread alone. But, in the same way, we may confirm that man shall not rest by sleep alone, nor quench thirst only by drinking. The needs of the body are not the only things man should think about. They are not even to be compared to the spiritual needs. There is more and better needs which man should care for to be satisfied and whole. The fact is that many people eat and drink to sin and it makes them more hungry for true food. In the same way, we may be assured that much sleep takes true rest away from any of us. Beware and never try to make up for your spiritual needs by overdoing concerning physical food, rest or drink.
We all know what adultery is all about. If all of us would stay away even from touching our promised partner before marriage, I am sure adultery would also be made impossible through a principle which drives our behaviour along with God's blessing. It is a good thing to be pure and one can only continue in purity if pure already, since we all reap what we are able to sow.
"No offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire", Lev.2:11. Many people have some fermenting stuff in their heart which they stubbornly ignore in order to be able to pray to God about certain other things they consider important to them. If they do not ignore it, they should not be able to pray. And here we read it is unacceptable to offer anything to the Lord with leaven. It is better to deal with the leaven first and exterminate it from the heart before we pray. Ignoring it won't work. Others try to be nice while they pray and they are not the same people when they pray as they usually are. They put honey in their offerings. They put on a heart they do not have. And God says "you shall put no honey in a burnt offering". It is better to let a prayer stand until we can be ourselves and the heart we have may express itself and be revealed while we pray.
The Lord made Aaron high priest and so his sons after him. The Lord is able to work on people for a certain purpose even before they are born. This is why He can appoint priests in a successive way even before they are born. The blessing of the Lord is capable of creating responsible people through succession. We can see the same thing being promised to David and his sons succeeding him to lead God's people. Did you know your life is important for your descendants? (Ex.20:6)
Real wisdom and real words, to be heard, do not need noise or anything else pressing it through. Wisdom catches the attention of any heart inclined to it and is best listened to and understood in quietness. "The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools", Ec.9:17.
The best way to keep someone quiet who talks too much, is to give him something to think about. Much talking is often synonymous of an empty or a striving mind. And thinking about something is often the cure for both. It is very difficult to do two things at once and very few people can talk and think at the same time. "Because much talk comes from dreams and things of no purpose", Ec.5:7. Grant such a person a "purpose" or "thing" to think about and you shall have some quietness coming along.
The main secret towards obedience is not authority, good commandments or even wrath. The secret for obedience is the attainment of an obedient heart which can see itself portrayed in those good commandments it is able to receive directly from God.
"They have turned aside quickly out of the way", Ex.32:8. It is interesting to see what God means or understands by the word "quickly". God was talking about forty days in the desert where people were breathing sand, were thirsty and away from the comfort of any own home - and much more. (There is another context in which God applies the word "quickly" in Mat.5:25. It just shows when things must be quick, people have it slow and those same people can't wait when God is delaying certain things for a reason). For the people, forty days were to many days and for God it was not so long. It was too quick. God says that people "quickly" went astray. They couldn't wait. This stupidity cost them their lives and another forty days by which they had to be proved all over again because Moses had to go to the mountain again. We delay important things whenever we believe God is taking too long with some others or with purifying trials. " ...The sons of men (become) snared in an evil time", Eccl.9:12.
There is always that doubt concerning the next generation, especially when revivals or the greater works are experienced and lived close by. Will the next generations know that God is real and powerful? The truth about this is that people do not take God as real and powerful by seeing miracles and good or wondrous deeds, but, rather by experiencing God's presence - as long as it is for real. His presence talks by itself. It is His presence which will convince and impress them deeply that He is indeed Lord over all that exists. No preaching will achieve what His presence achieves. "And I will dwell among the children of Israel... And they shall know that I am the Lord and their God", Êx.29:45-46. Let people only work hard on those conditions which will assure the presence of God and Him to feel at home among them and they shall know that He is God indeed.
God said to Moses: "You shall take offerings from every man that gives it willingly with his heart", Ex.25:2. We cannot afford to believe that the modern ways of extorting money from people in churches are able to encourage free giving and much less voluntary offerings. In fact, people are moved by own interests when deceived by these robbers who use the gospel as their assaulting weapon. Any person who gives voluntarily to a robber has some selfish interest or some kind of sinful ignorance which drives him to give to such. People who give to extorting preachers are greedy themselves in some way. They try to deceive God through their giving and try to talk Him into blessing them as if God is not good enough to freely bless them. I do not believe that sort of giving can ever be considered free offerings at all. In fact, that kind of giving is the precise opposite of free giving. Preachers who extort do not only steal from people but extort them from their good senses as well because they start thinking they can fool God.
A good rule is not always the best option for a living standard or for an exhortation. Wisdom teaches us to apply things which can cause works and fruits to emerge. Only if there is no wiser or better thing to do, should the rule be applied even if it is only for the sake of protection of the truth's point of view.
The worst thing that can ever happen to the heart of man is it to believe God approves some evil it is seized by or used to. There is no more slippery ground than the one where people start believing God approves some kind of evil they prefer, love, nourish or keep alive. "Blessed is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves", Rom.14:22.
What can be worst to man than when God says, "I will not again pass by them any more"? Amos 7:8.
A person does not necessarily need to understand before becoming born again and, most probably, not even after. "The Spirit breathes where He desires, and you hear His voice, but you do not know from where He comes, and where He goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit", John 3:8. But, as soon as the new birth takes place anyone will understand something wonderful happened for which there are no words or explanations. There shall always be a proof of the truth and of the truthfulness (reality) of God inside man when God has touched him. "He who has received His testimony bears witness that God is true", John 3:33.
There are many diverging and some converging ideas about Jesus. I believe from the bottom of my heart that the more Jesus becomes real to us or reveals Himself as He is, the more diverging ideas will spring out of men's hearts. People will be converging around a false Jesus and diverging around a real, truthful and operating one. It just works that way since people are not used to reality concerning God. They will, however, subside doubts and fears before an illusionary God. Besides, a real God confronts people who are sinful and encourages or stands by (in a real way) all those who strive undivided towards holiness. This, alone, will cause inner conflicts on its own already. The more so when people around do not want to change and, yet, want to keep believing in an existing God Whom they do not wish to be real among them to disturb their ways. These will surely say believing in God is to believe in His existence and not to entrust our whole being to Him to be exchanged for a real new one. People who do not wish to change and still want to keep a belief in God will converge either immediately or on the long run concerning their ideal of a false Jesus. Even when in disagreement, they shall seek a way to converge and to get along. These will, also and surely, converge as one person against the true sons of the Lord.
It is often said that Jesus wants our all. But, it could be be said with all certainty that for Him it is either all or nothing. It is better to be cold if one is not warm.
"...For the ruler of this world comes, and he has nothing in Me", John 14:30. When the devil comes to us, the best weaponry against him is presented by not having anything in us or any attitude that belongs to him. Let him be ashamed and have reasons to flee from us when we resist him. How shall the world ever know that we indeed love the Father unless the devil himself comes to prove it by himself?
Synchrony between the right time and the right thing is, usually, the best way to remember important things or, should I say, not to forget about them.
When we pray, we should be inspired by God's faithfulness and mercy above being worried and presumptuous. By worrying or by being presumptuous, we act like those who wanted to make Jesus King by force thinking of what self could benefit from Him as King. We should never allow ourselves to be taken by ways which confuse us concerning God's will. By being presumptuous or by worrying, we can't easily know what God's will really is concerning the thing we pray about. In other words, we forsake the way of faith and, possibly, the way of life as well. We should know that worrying or presuming will surely take us to pray about things God does not will or things He wills and we would want it done in some way or time God does not approve.
"From this time many of His disciples went back into the things behind, and walked no more with Him", John 6:66. To which thing are you tempted to go back to? To a past sign to find assurance through it? Whether it is something of the world or something good which is behind, the moment you step back you have ceased to walk through/with Jesus.
Jesus cannot be made King by force, John 6:15. He will simply slip away to hide Himself discretely. Anyone who uses force to cause Jesus to be king over his life, has something which he does not wish to give up. Such a person is avoiding the ways of God in dealing with the heart. There are things which we need to give up for the sake of Jesus and there are things which we only believe we must give up to please self. By forcing Jesus to be king over one's life, one is neglecting those simple truths and things which will cause Him to come near or into the heart. Cleansing one's heart will surely cause Jesus to come near to fill the void. "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones", James 4:8. People who force Jesus to be their king by force are, generally, refusing to be saved on God's terms and are working out an own salvation. To make Him king by force means one is trying to jump over the wall into the sheepfold. Making noise and creating heavy emotional backgrounds which will cause people to have a strange faith or to kindle a strange fire can also be seen as trying to make Him king on men's terms.
Many say that if God spoke to them openly they would believe Him or would believe in His existence. But, the Bible says that if one cannot believe the written words of God, one shall neither be able to believe in God had He spoken or had a dead person been resurrected (John 5:47; Luke16:29-31). Did people not believe it was thunder or an angel when God spoke from heaven? (John 12:29).
No one is able to bar a holy revival, but, only by staining it from the inside. Only the used instruments of that revival are capable of stopping it. If they sin or take wrong ways to carry out God's will, then they will surely have that revival killed away.
The Bible talks about "walking in the Light" instead of talking about "entering the Light". It means Light is in the word already. We must only walk in it revealing all and being fully transparent. "He was the true Light; He enlightens every man coming into the world. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men", John 1:9,4.
All worrying is and shall always be very painful thorns whether the person still feels their pain or not.
Whoever does not know what God's will is for his life has only one problem: he wishes God to do what he himself wishes to accomplish. If it were not so, he would surely know what God's will would be.
The doctrines of greedy preachers who love money protect them and support them. However, truth does not. They preach about prosperity in a way that causes people to give them what they own. For these preachers, preaching is an investment and not obedience. They act as if Jesus is an ignorant and blind Lord who ignores sin. And we must know that anyone who gives them money is as greedy as the person who receives it. Sort seeks sort. Species seek the same species to live together. By showing off their riches, these preachers apparently live what they preach about. But, truth will eventually condemn them.
In the older times, Paul would say about Satan, "For we are not ignorant of his devices", 2 Cor.2:11. However, in case people were honest and truthful, they would say something like this today: "We ignore his devices and became quite ignorant about him".
If you are one of those people who do not easily believe the devil has a definite plan or strategy to have your whole life ruined, you are ignoring truth. The devil has that plan to destroy you. Do not close your eyes to any of His plans or devices to ignore them and make sure you remain close to the Lord all the time.
The sort of wisdom that comes from God is malleable and like clay in the hands of the potter when learning; and it is firm and sure when it is teaching and carried around.
We should all know that it is very difficult to stop a holy revival where its leaders stand close to the Lord answering to Him for every moment of their lives. However, the devil will try many evils to discredit it before people. One of the ways is to create fake revivals or, as we call it, counter 'revivals'. People from outside will avoid becoming alive because of what they see in these counter 'revivals', which they associate to the real ones.
There are a lot of ways to add to God's words. If you find yourself in any emotional state, whatever it may be, you must make sure you believe you are capable of interpreting God's words and ways your own way. Anxiety, happiness or sadness, worrying or careless attitudes, along with any other way people may feel or think can cause them to interpret God's words according to their state of mind. They hear the state of mind and not God, applying His holy words to what they feel, think or wish to think.
We have this wrong idea that we need to speak about God or use His name to be able to use it in vain. It is true we can use God's name in vain by speaking. However, it is a huge mistake to believe that is the only way to use His name in vain. "...Lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain", Prov.30:9. Here, we hear the writer say he can use the name of God in vain by stealing even without saying a word. How? If you are a child of God and are able to trust Him, it should be obvious any act of stealing is an outrageous act against the name of God upon you. You have trusted in vain. You have taken His Holy name in vain upon your heart. How many other ways can you think of one can use God's name in vain?
We should never try to divert or avoid the confrontations between good and evil. It is not possible to avoid any of them. It is like a law in nature that evil will always confront goodness and that goodness will work against evil. "An unjust man is a hateful thing to the just; and he who is upright in the way is hateful to the wicked", Prov.29:27. Righteous people often try to avoid this sort of confrontations because of the wisdom they have been able to stand by. However, evil will never avoid such confrontations and will always try to establish itself through an aggressiveness which cannot be hindered. These are the two main reasons why evil gains so much ground. Righteous people should live their lives openly and fearlessly without taking evil into account. Goodness can only be established that way.
Fears can cause people to imagine things. It causes people to see mischief and danger where there is no danger or mischief. Fear makes people suspicious. We should be aware of the dangers of the mind and its consequent feelings. Don't greedy people dream a lot to bring some kind of relief to their greed? Fearing people, also, create their own lions. "The fear of man brings a snare", Prov.29:25.
"A child left to himself brings shame to his mother", Prov.29:15. It shouldn't be necessary to explain this truth. How many mothers and fathers leave their children decide things for themselves as if they have enough life experience to know what course of life they must take? How many mothers and fathers leave their children to their borrowed ideas or twisted ideals? How many children learn only what they feel like learning and do what they feel like doing? Should we leave a ship in a tempestuous high sea to find its own way to land?
One needs to be a liar to believe a lie; an illusion needs a deceived heart to find roots; and it takes a truthful heart to become aware of truth in the lips of anyone. Sort seeks sort. There is a natural attraction and common understanding between alike things and alike beings.
We should never give anything above indifference to foolishness. We cannot give any attention or heed to any of it. Even talking to it or answering it is foolish. "If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he rages or laughs, there will be no rest for him", Prov.29:9.
If a bad man does something good, he is still worse than any righteous man who is trapped into some undesired sin. And we know how serious righteous people's sins are! Imagine how serious it is to have a bad man pass for a good one! "He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is a hateful thing", Prov.28:9.
"A man who flatters his neighbour spreads a net for his feet", Prov.29:5. How many people take this truth seriously? How many mistake flattering for friendliness? How many are aware that a flattering tongue is a murderer of souls?
"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool; but whoever walks wisely, he shall be delivered", Prov.28:26. This means that those people who walk according to their heart are not wise and they can never be wise as long as they are able to trust it.
Greed comes from the heart of man and not from need. Its origin is in the heart. This means that no one is greedy only by being rich and that no poor man is free of any of it. A rich king may, indeed, oppress people to become richer and to take hold of many things he doesn't need. However, any poor man who desires such a man's riches is as greedy as he is.
It is often said that promises make debts. I believe it is true to a certain point. However, we must acknowledge that the contents of any promise counts more than any other moral value we may associate to fulfilling it. I can never make a point of fulfilling the wrong thing, not even when I have promised to do it. Doesn't the Bible say we must deliver ourselves from the snares of our mouth? (Prov.6:1-5). We can go back on any promise. We should choose what to promise and see if there is any virtue in fulfilling it. Fulfilling the wrong kind of promises amounts to sin. Is it good to fulfil a vow made to the devil? Or to fulfil threats spoken in rage? Shouldn't we rather repent of such sins instead of fulfilling them because we promised them?
No one who is easily tempted to feel wise in his own eyes will receive wisdom from God. To such, real wisdom is not given. It can't be given. God shall not grant wisdom to anyone who uses it to glory against truth and for the sake of self.
Have you ever heard about the saying that the spell turns against the witchdoctor? One way or another, all evil will, eventually, eat up the head of the evildoer. How much more will evildoers suffer by that sort of evil which tries to lure or harm good people! "Whoever causes the righteous man to go astray in an evil way, he himself shall fall into his own pit; but the upright shall inherit good", Prov.28:10.
"Evil men do not understand judgment; but those who seek the Lord understand all things", Prov.28:5. Do you seek understanding and real wisdom? Seek the Lord in such a way that you find Him. Then, understanding will be added unto you. He is our wisdom.
There is no midway about this: "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law plead against them", Prov-28:4. Are you really aware of this truth? This assures us that whoever forsakes God and His laws from within the heart will end up approving, defending, agreeing, believing and even praising the wicked or his wickedness. There is no alternative way or alternative consequence awaiting such a foolish behaviour. On the other hand, by keeping the law of God from the heart, we may also be assured there will always be some sort of life and death confrontations between us and the wicked. There is no alternative way out either. It shall be so indeed, whether it is the wicked who starts the confrontations or whether we speak the truth due to duty and love.
To bless any lazy man in his sleep; to try to reason with a stubborn, angry man who believes he is always right; to wash with cold water someone who feels cold; or to sing songs of happiness to sad people who choose bitterness above life is always a waste of time. "He who blesses his friend early in the morning with a loud voice, it shall be counted a curse to him", Prov.27:14.
When any person finds real life in the Lord and is able to live it out in the full measure, that sort of living is an answer to all evil which easily and promptly manages to say goodness and God do not exist on earth. We should never forget that. "My son, be wise, and make My heart glad, so that I may answer him who shames Me", Prov.27:11. Do you live with the real Jesus? Do you live His real Life out? Have you found it?
"Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before envy?" Prov.27:4. Envy does not have a face. It seldom reveals itself as envy. Therefore, it is very hard to pinpoint it. It is a very subtle and very hypocritical enemy. Envy is, often, a hidden enemy.
As a rule, when things are carried out only because conscience drives people to do them, then those things are seldom carried out in all perfection. We know works exist for the sake of people and not people for the sake of works. Works and providence procedures are meant to perfect people's hearts up along with most ways of people. Therefore, if people are set up only for conscience's sake, there is a lot in them which still needs to be perfected. It may also mean that those kinds of works might need to be repeated over and over again until the full perfection of the heart is attained.
"The curse without cause shall not come", Prov.26:2. How many people blame God for things sinners are to be blamed for? How many pregnant teenagers blame the curses and hardships they are mainly responsible for? Should God be blamed for Adam's sin in eating of the fruit of disobedience? Is it God's fault if His own creatures have wandered so far away from Him that they start despising Him or simply ignoring Him and His existence?
"He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a broken down city without a wall", Prov.25:28. Many associate this verse to a bad temper and alike sins. It is not bad to breed this association. The bad thing is to have this verse associated only to such sins. In fact, there are many other sins to which this verse can be applied - if not all sins. Let me explain. If you cannot control your eyes, mouth or ears; whenever you give in to temptation, whether it is to laziness or any other sort of sin; whenever you give in to sadness for less honourable reasons or for selfish reasons; those are also ways to lose control over your spirit and heart. We should never allow our hearts to slip into sin. Sin is deceit trying to look important, awesome or fearful.
We know many work hard in order to have things eased up and made available for many others. The farmer works hard so that everyone may have bread at home in an easy way; the pioneers of the gospel have suffered so we may have it all available in an easy way. However, many preach as if everyone else needs to go through the same hardships and difficulties they have experienced or still experience in order to learn and make wisdom available to others. We cannot force other people to go the way we may have gone, unless it is God's will for them as well. Let's not be deceived by strange feelings of bitterness and of plain ignorance. "And in this is the saying true, One sows and another reaps", John 4:35.
Many take advantage of the gospel and its preaching to shine and rob something from God, whether it is glory or money. They even sing, "Shine, Jesus, shine" so they can be seen, take advantage of situations and be applauded. Evil is deceitful indeed! "For men to search their own glory is not glory", Prov.25:27.
"A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring", Prov.25:26. There are a lot of ways to give in to or before wickedness: we can be ashamed of truth and of being honest and truthful before a wicked confrontation; we may become impatient and angry as if wickedness means something; we may give in to wickedness by losing our temper as if God is in favour of the wicked and easily neglects the righteous. In fact, there are a lot of ways to allow wickedness to achieve the purpose of its existence. "Do not allow yourselves to be deceived!"
"An angry countenance drives away a feigning tongue", Prov.25:23. This is one of the main reasons why the wrath of God is something people should be aware of and see. It can cause people to become truthful.
Isn't quietness and peace a fruit of the Spirit? Why should I accept a noisy service and craziness as a service to God?
The best thing you can do for someone - anyone - is to share what you are above sharing what you have. Give most of yourself along with your possessions.
Whoever buys what he cannot afford or spends in what he does not need, is sure to sell what he needs most to pay up for his greed. Only by selling what he has will he be able to pay for what is not needed. And, usually, people sell Christ out to do an own will.
We cannot expect to receive more from God than what we are given or surrendered to Him. The abundance of the Spirit in us shall always be proportional to our surrender to Him and to the existing death to ourselves - not the supposed death.
"My son, give Me your heart, and let your eyes watch My ways", Prov.23:26. When the Bible tells us to give our hearts to God, it does not uphold or encourage those liars who go before the altar and say a sinner's prayer, or, should I say, a liar's prayer. In fact, giving our heart to Jesus means a lot more than that. It means that we accept His way to the end and exchange our ways for His for always; it means we shall, from then on, seek the influences of the Spirit of God and will always move towards the light to be lighted, move to where we can see well and beyond mistake, and where all become visible to all. It also means grace will become our ways instead of force and own-mindedness. There is a lot more we could add here, though.
"He who has a bountiful eye shall be blessed", Prov.22:9. Even Jesus said that the eye is the light of the body and that our eyes must be good. A good eye sees good things and a bad eye sees bad things. Sort seeks sort. It is indeed true that many things depend directly from the way we look to them. I am not a in favour of the so called positive thinking mode. I believe positive thinking, the way psychologists have it, is a great mistake since it means people should lie to themselves while they could believe in saving truth instead and be above positive and real. I uphold the standpoint that we should look out for good things because God has created thousands of them. They are out there. Let our eye be good and we shall be blessed indeed.
Adults burn their fingers one time after the other, even after being warned. (This thought I got from somewhere - I can't remember where). They work on destroying their own lives one time after the other. Yet, they are the ones who beat children up for not walking the right way or for committing childlike mistakes due to their lack of life experience or lack of practical wisdom.
The only truth is this: the only singer that matters to me is myself. I will leave all others receive their praise from their hearers, as they usually do. Should we lie by saying we sing to the Lord and receive the applauses and praises ourselves? Shouldn't we know how to give to God what belongs to Him?
When some bandit or evil person does me wrong or even squeezes me into a corner, I will expect salvation from the Lord. But, never must I expect God to avenge the wrong that has been done to me or to pay me back for whatever I may have suffered or lost. "Do not say, I will repay evil; wait on the Lord, and He will save you", Prov.20:22.
Wisdom is life experience or a living experience and not consequences of much studying.
There are things in this world which will always be in opposed fields. As an example, we have sin and saving wisdom, or understanding and iniquity. These can simply never co-exist in the same heart at the same time.
Many become annoyed and wilful against others in a sort of wilful vindication or vengeance. They believe they hurt others by doing so. However, these hurt themselves only, believing, by it, they can kill others through the poison they drink themselves, as someone said. Sin hurts self only. "His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin", Prov.5:22.
When we are still learning, if we are still in the learning stage, it is more important to do well than to do all. If we attempt to do all at this stage we will surely do all wrong. This is why Jesus taught us to pray to do the things of the earth the way everything is done in heaven instead of doing the things of heaven. The way is of much greater importance.
"...So you shouldn't ponder on the paths of life..." Prov.5:5,6. One of the main weapons sin or the devil has against the soul of man is to cause him to avoid, neglect or dislike pondering and meditating on the paths of life. The main consequence of stumbling in sin will be a mind which is too busy, to annoyed, too distracted or too entangled to set aside some quality time to ponder on how to be saved from a bad pit, bad heart or from a bad way. Make sure you always find time to experience and understand the ways of life and to be able to ponder on them with easiness, willingness and with the intention to cause your feet and heart to follow it without delay through the Lord.
"...My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will", John 5:30. You must be assured that every time an own will influences or enhances a deed or word, all judgments will always be cruel, bad or evil, even when those judgements amount to pleasing people and praising them. However, if we indeed seek God's will and not our own, even a hard word will be love and loved by God and, eventually, accepted by people around us.
"Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before you", Prov.4:25. This verse says that either false people turn around and around the issues; or those who linger to do the right thing the right way become false. Never avoid being direct and simple, having a simple and unconscious meekness pointing out truth with truthfulness. Sometimes, people tend to receive or give according to what they like or dislike in a person; or they are influenced in their thoughts and opinions through circumstances around them. Are you honest and do you keep a sober look beholding heaven? Or do you live according to the way you feel under trials or feel about people around you? And when you need to hear something, do you tune you ears according to the feelings you think you must breed towards the ones speaking to you? If a false one would speak, would you listen because he seems nice? Or would you reject a holy word from a man who, according to your views, seems rude?
"The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble", Prov.4:19. Just as the wicked may never know what they stumble at, many times, the ones who walk in holiness tend to forget or ignore what or who keeps them alive and holy because they get used to the holy life. Do you often recall what keeps you alive and pure? Or have you been tempted or even subdued by own righteousness lately? Have you become too used to walking with God, so much so that you ceased to take care of your own heart and life the way you ought? Forgetting what keeps you as you walk means you are clinging and depending on self-righteousness again. There must be at least some self-righteousness. Truth says there is.
It is a blessing when we have no way out and are solid in God's will and providence. An alternative way is just another way of giving up on God or on the way He intended for us in the beginning. And, many times, people wrongly take an alternative way as a gift from God. Did David kill Saul, or did he rather hold on to the purpose of waiting for God's timing and way to turn him king? What a curse it would be to kill Saul and despise God in the face of his own people! Would you kill Saul or would you rather prefer to remain in God waiting and sticking to His word?
There are street signs in all roads, just as there are the words of God in a Christian's life. However, sometimes people stop to talk about the colour of the traffic sign, how beautiful or ugly it is, or that it could be put in another position and such sort of things. People do the same with God's words: they admire it and discuss a lot about it instead of obeying it. This is what the Bible describes as perverting or twisting the Scriptures.
Once God makes a promise, He does so because the circumstances or the conditions which assure the sustenance of the promise once it is fulfilled, are not yet met. This is mainly why He promises instead of granting right away. Therefore, we must work hard on all those things which will assure the conditions for the promise to remain and to live on and on to the end. Let me give you one or two examples. Let's suppose God promises you a child as He promised to sterile Sarah. Then, you must work on those things which will assure that the child will find a healthy spiritual environment to live for God, such as a holy home, a holy relationship between mother and father and all other things which a child born of God will live by. Another example: if God promises you a job or some financial nourishment or backup, make sure you start working right away at becoming free of all greed, concerns, worrying, day-dreaming or whatever else accompanies or sustains the love for money. All unfulfilled promises have things to be worked on. If you have any promise, start working right away.
Never underestimate the words of any man who has been through trials and has overcome them. His words make sense to heaven and the flesh does not review itself in them anymore. Sin is not expressed through them any longer and the approval of God goes from great to unlimited, depending on how much of His good works still remains to be achieved in the heart and how perfect the dependence on Him is.
Thorns may or must be removed. It is possible to have them all out. No worrying or concern should remain if we are closer to the Lord than we are to ourselves.
Legalism is always proof of a withdrawal from God and a refusal to have our lives fixed on His terms or things done His way. There is always something one refuses to fix God’s way when any kind of alternative way is made up - and that is where a legalistic life starts.
God promised that the descendants of Abraham would inherit the Promised Land. How much are you contributing to make children of faith? Are you adding descendants to that Land? Are you helping God fulfil the promise He has made? Is your whole heart committed to that solemn work?
Long trials work out, perhaps, against superficial needs better than any other kind of danger or hardship. Abraham waited twenty five years for his beloved son; Moses waited forty years to have his people saved from Egypt; David and Joseph waited thirteen years to see what God has promised them. Are you going to keep up the strain and wait on God faithfully until promises are fully fulfilled?
"I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you", Gen.12:3. God would curse those who cursed Abraham mostly because he was a carrier of many a blessing to anyone who would cross his way. We cannot curse any kind of blessing without being cursed ourselves. And God had made him a blessing and not a curse.
There is some difference between people who are occasionally faithful and those who are occasionally unfaithful. One has a wrong nature or heart which tries to live the right way. The other one has the right kind of heart or nature which tries to live out in an unstable way, tempting God to see if it might work out or if he might escape with it because he is faithful. One is an unstable, double-hearted person trying to live in a stable way and the the other one is a stable person trying to live in an unstable way.
The strength of a gossiping tongue is curiosity. To be inquisitive is a faithful instigator of many sins to a bad tongue. And, many times, people talk about others to find out more about them, just as much as they find or search things out about others' lives to gossip more. "...But they even become gossips and keep busy through curiosity about other people's lives...", 1 Tim.5:13.
Once God operates through some signs, whether they are considered great or small, there is something wrong with the useful doctrine which states that God does things when we are faithful or holy, even though it might be occasionally true. Let me explain. If it were true, miracles wouldn't be signs but rather rewards and there are both signs as well as rewards for faithfulness and holiness. Any sign should encourage us to become holy above measure. It cannot work the other way round, I mean, that faithfulness should entice us to seek signs. And, along with that, we should avoid creating a mind which believes the sign is the end of the road, the goal, and that after the sign or miracle has taken place, one may relax in unfaithfulness because the goal has already been attained. Avoid believing that sort of lie which tells you God is happy about your spiritual state or He wouldn't give you a sign. Do not put the cows following the plough. It won't work out. Rather, become an example to the faithful, 1 Tim.4:12.
Jesus promised to answer all our prayers. Therefore, if any prayer is not answered, surely there must be something wrong with either the prayer or the one who prays.
"...Having children in subjection with all modesty..." 1 Tim.3:4. If a modest person keeps children humble, it means children are humble towards a very humble person. How wonderful are such children! How precious they are!
To hand over to feelings our decisions, to listen to what we may feel to decide about things, is the same as taking a lot of money and throwing it up in the wind hoping it to be an investment.
People hear better someone they consider their equal. They feel the exhortation in a much deeper way when it comes from the mouth of a loving, trusted friend. So, if you are friends to someone, avoid pleasing that person and talk plainly instead. Make use of circumstances to show forth real love.
Things become responsibility only after they cease to be mere dreams.
The best way to love my neighbour as myself - the way I serve or care for myself - is to become my neighbour and to take his place. That makes it much easier.
The great majority of people who turn back to the world or into sin, do so because their heart has never changed. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us”, 1 John 2:19. They may have changed some habits or even attitudes, but not the heart. To have the heart changed for real one needs to clean up instead of trying to change. To live a changed life is what demands perseverance and strength from us and a changed life comes after transformation. Transformation does not require force – it is worked out through cleaning the heart and thorough exposition of all things in the light.
Many implore God for His blessings just to despise them after they have received them. People who have an unsatisfied heart will be as unhappy as when they did not have whatever they desired to have. The point is: you should rather desire what you already have. There is a special reason why God disallows greed or covetousness all together. Did you stop desiring your husband or wife after marriage? Desire whatever you have already. "Be content with such things as you have", Heb.13:5.
Giving coins to someone who has holes in his pockets is the same as God giving something to people who do not have their lives straightened with Him, secured and cleaned up in all their aspects.
We live in the era of confusion of knowledge where people know nothing and, even so, believe they know all because they are still able to interpret things their own way. They tear Jesus' words apart to understand it the way it suits them. That is the main reason why people believe they know a lot. The wrong kind of knowledge is not meek. The other side of such hearts is that they can only trust themselves. If you boast in the knowledge you think you have, you cannot trust the Lord, but you are made to trust only yourself. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding", Prov.3:5. Genuine wisdom and trusting God go hand in hand. Trusting self and lack of wisdom also go hand in hand.
Everyone who glories in himself has the other side of him which assumes good things do not last for long or that goodness is something unusual or unseen in this present age and era. If man did not think that way, he wouldn't take the glory upon himself. "Why do you boast yourself? The mercy of God endures forever", Ps.52:1. The Psalmist has seen this point clearly.
Truth is never helpless. Speak to the point, in the shortest, wisest way possible and never fear the consequences. Then, trust God to cause truth and His words to bring forth fruit, even when hearers hate what they have heard from you.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love", 1John 4:18. Many, when they find themselves in fear, believe they must do away with it because of this verse. In fact, by doing so, they are trying to climb over the wall into the sheepfold. Instead, they should do away with lovelessness, which, on its turn, will do away with fear naturally. This verse does not entice people to stop fearing, but rather exhorts them to love since it is love which drives fear away. Those who do not love have many reasons to fear. Love does away with fear automatically and naturally, since conscience and the peace of heart grants people the desire to face God without fear. If you do not love, you should fear. And if you try not to fear without training your own heart to love from deep within in all sincerity, you become a dishonest person. Do not try to get a false peace of mind and never try to get into the sheepfold unless you get in through the proper door.
Faith does not generate the occasion. It is the right moment, the proper timing which is able to generate faith. Outside the proper timing there is no faith at all - only stubbornness.
If we heartily walk in the light in a natural way, if we are transparent people, we shall never choose before whom we will walk in the light. Walking in the light is a way of life, it is not an occasional happening. Walking in the light or being in the light cannot be a choice for certain moments only.
"O Lord, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded", Jer.20:7. Jeremiah was easily persuaded by God. But, there are those whom God tries to persuade and they just aren't convinced or persuaded by Him at all. Usually, they insist upon their own feelings and thoughts and try to persuade God to their side instead. Trying to tell God what His will must be is as close to tempting God as can be.
"You are my praise", Jer.17:14. For many Jesus is problem and not a praise, especially if they cannot do whatever they wish to do.
The Word of God is not a science in the very sense of the word. The Word is more of a reality than of a science. It aims to experience the truth in a sound way. That is why it easily confounds the wise of this world.
Robbers often seek caverns or dens to hide away. Many Christians take God as a safe den and not as a Saviour who saves from sin. They sin and steal and run fast to hide in a den they call God. This is why they start believing they can or should sin after coming to Christ. "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know; and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?", Jer.7:9-10.
"They have denied the Lord by saying, It is not He", Jer.5:12. It is not needed to deny God openly through a statement against Him in His face. The only thing it takes to deny Him is to say that something He did is not from Him because it does not suit us to believe it. It can also happen by accepting something as His which is not worked by Him. Many say that the sin against the Holy Spirit is only to say the devil did something God is did. Them we may ask: what is it to say that God did something which was the devil who did it?
By reading about sanctification there will be no doubts in us that it means we should become holy. By reading of justification or righteousness we assume it means us become just and righteous. And when God speaks about purification, we all know He means us to become pure. It would be a very strange sanctification where people are not made holy; and a justification where people are not made just and righteous; or a purification where people are not made pure.
"These have chosen their own ways (...) Therefore, I also will choose their delusions", Is.66:3,4. This is the danger of following our own ways and even more so when we say those ways are God's! We will not have a say in the outcome of our ways and cannot chose the consequences.
To love as we ought is seldom to love as we can. Duty is less than capability. Grace demands more than the law. Duty, morality, discipline answer to conscience, whether that conscience is alive or not. Capability is the use of our whole being and not of conscience only. Conscience is only a part of us. And if our being is full of eternal life from within, if it experiences eternal life in the promised measure, our capability increases remarkably. "The love of God which He poured into our hearts..." This relation between duty and capability can also be taken into other areas such as believing and solid trust; awaiting and expecting from God; expectation and genuine hope. Duty is the minimum requirements for a holy life if we are indeed made free in Christ Jesus and are able to move freely in Him. However, duty is not the full measure of the capability of a loving, trusting or hoping heart at all.
Whenever God does not show us anything, whenever He does not say no or yes, the best thing we can do is to be still and quiet. Unless we do so, we might be disappointed some time later by realizing God did not say what we supposed He said. It is especially in te occasions when God is quiet that the heart of man is liable to rely upon itself and its deceitfulness, to speak up for God and to assume it is doing God's will by doing its own. In fact, it tries hard to push God int own will and deceives man into believing God wills it that way. We shouldn't force God to answer whatever has not started in Him. Man, usually, does that driven by impatience and a kind of fear that is worked up by the flesh. Man also feels pressured by circumstances or by people's opinions, by poverty or lust, by greed or even unbelief. Unbelief is a driving force. The heart always feels pressured one way or another when it has not learned to wait and to rely fully on the Lord. God is not responsible for the direction or the way man's own heart drives him. If man dares to follow an own direction or to do something in an own way, man can only answer for not having waited upon God the way he ought to and the amount of time he ought to have waited. The quality of waiting is also very important because it shows what we really think of God. When man does not wait on God and adventures himself into own ways believing God will bless them, those ways will soon end up in disappointment and grief. Man must cease to point out to God what He must do and learn to wait fully on what God has promised to him personally.
Not even the wrath of God lasts forever. Why should man believe his own wrath will?
"Little children, guard yourselves from idols", 1John 5:21. The worst obstacle of any man or woman are the idols living in the mind, those which are kept alive by suppositions. Because they are dead things, man can only suppose through them. All idols serve the main idol living there: self. There is no idol or idolatry which does not either serve or suit self and, on the other hand, everything that serves self is idolatry.
The person who understands truth is not necessarily a converted one, even though many converted people may have a good knowledge of truth by experiencing it. However, just as there are many converted ones who cannot explain or express what has been happening in their hearts, there are also many who have a thorough knowledge of truth gained through studying and reading who never experienced truth for real.
To be able to obey faithfully and thoroughly one needs to hear well too. No obedience can be consistent and neither can it be considered as obedience when obeyed at random or through guessing. That cannot be considered as obedience at all. If you don't hear, you cannot obey. Many teach obedience in a way that confuses new converts greatly, since obedience should be taught along with hearing and hearing with a sheep's heart. <only sheep hear. One must have ears to hear before one can be told to obey unconditionally.
It is very hard for a religious man to let religiosity stand because he thinks he has a lot to lose. People near God because of self-interest, believing in a Lord that can achieve all for them. The main reason why they pray or near God is self interest. And we all know God does not answer to selfishness. That is where religiosity is born since people are not moved by a supreme love towards Jesus. Prayers are offered and often repeated over and over again and there are no answers to them because of that. And, by ceasing to be dead and religious, people feel they will lose the expectations they have been working for so hard along the years and which have become the earnest subjects of their prayers. They often say they must keep believing and have faith concerning those things. In fact, they handle self interest as a non-negotiable right they seem to have built along the years of deadness. By becoming alive or, at least, by coming to the door of real salvation, people feel instantly religiosity and deadness is over for them. Along with it, all their self interest and rights are pointed out to die. They just see its death coming. Self interest is the main cause for dead religion, whatever that interest may be. We cannot near God for the things He is able to grant. Unless we come to Him to find Him, we shall not become living beings. "Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, You seek Me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father sealed Him", John 6:26-27. Jesus is food indeed and Him alone should we seek to find.
"You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sins", Ps.85:2. I couldn't grasp the full meaning of this verse till I prayed. What did it mean that all sins are covered? How are they covered? Then I understood. It simply means all sins are covered as soon as there is no possibility to fall back on them or as soon as there is no possibility to fall back into the already forgiven sin. God imposed a heavy punishment on Israel for their sins through the Assyrian army and there was no way they would go back to their former life after that. Their sins were, therefore, covered. This is what the Psalmist is trying to put across to us. Genuine conversion grants the gift of forgiveness. And every confession should be able to lead people to that sort of conversion or there will be no sins covered.
The important part is never to end above obstacles or above water, but rather to end the race in full peace with God and through God. This means our first love must at least stay the same if it has not grown.
The widow of Zarephath told Elijah after her son has been brought back from death: "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the Word of the Lord in your mouth is truth", 1 Kings 17:24. This means a lot. She means the word of God in some people's mouth is a lie. Another thing we may learn from this is: she did not take it for granted Elijah was a man of God, not even after she saw the olive oil and meal multiplying daily. That was not enough to convince her. However, she had been humble enough to be obedient to a man's word about whom she had been in some doubt. She baked the cake for Elijah first putting her son's life at risk. Her obedience had filled the void unbelief left in her. This kind of obedience opened the door for her to be assured about the mouth of Elijah later on and, consequently, about God's word. By obeying, she came across the knowledge and the confirmation of truth. She, now, became assured she was not being deceived by another bubbler or false miracle maker. There were many false prophets at the time. She had more than enough reasons to handle Elijah carefully and to keep him at a certain distance. But, her obedience caused her to make it to the end.
Many think they are special people because they know God and hear from Him. There is nothing special about that, even though the word of the Living God is scarcely dealt out these days. And, if someone's prayers obtain real answers and the evidence of the Life of Christ is clear in such, others will think of such as privileged ones. But, the more I live with the Lord, the more I believe there is nothing extraordinary about that either. In fact, such thoughts offend God greatly. Is it God's fault if people are not used to see Him around or to live in His presence? People should not have become so estranged to the Lord and the Lord to them. The unusual part of this whole matter is that people live far away from the One who should be nearest to them in a constant way. Living far from God as His creation is what is strange about all of this. "Be amazed, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be completely desolated, says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water", Jer.2:12-13. The fact is that any genuine servant of God who is able to hear Him all the time - any time of the day or of the night - lives the normal way. Living so estranged from God that one starts believing that hearing Him is a special occurrence is offensive.
"And you shall eat it in any place, you and your households (...) And you shall bear no sin because of it", Núm.18:31,32. All offerings were meant to be eaten at the place God chose, the Temple. And it should be a feast to God. However, God opened an exception by allowing holy people to eat it anywhere. The only condition was that people who eat it should be holy. They should have no sin. Their feast, speaking of God out loud, should be a practical demonstration of how God really is. Our lives should reveal the reality and the truth about God anywhere we are found.
In the Law of God, the best is required for Him and whatever is left, is meant for us. However, today the best is given to us and whatever is left goes to God - if there is no one else to give it to.
There is only one way for me to be abandoned: that God becomes too weak to help me out.
"A man can receive nothing unless it is given to him from Heaven", John 3:27. Tell me: just how many things did you refuse to accept because you knew they did not come from heaven?
Sin is a product of proud acting. It is a worm trying to look like an irresistible ruler.
"...Not purposing according to the flesh, so that there should be yes and no...", 2Cor.1:17. It is clear, from this word, that changes of mind are, mainly, consequences of not consulting the Lord. "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps", Prov.16:9. This means God can change man's decisions upside down. We need to consult God and His will along with the way we should carry it out before we decide. It is also true that an unstable heart is unable to remain with the Lord or with whatever God says. An unstable heart swifts its decisions from no to yes even when God has indeed spoken or has been consulted.
Exhibitionism means there is some sort of deceit ruling the heart. To show off, or to impose things which do not work out any other way, creates dead religious beliefs. It is a deadly poison. Exhibitionism is the worst kind of deceit there is, since many people believe in it easily. It can make likenesses of things in heaven. It can imitate and impersonate a life of heaven. Whenever truth is unable to speak by itself through the power of God and through a personal experience of it, people will find in exhibitionism a way out to impose and to lie. Imposing truth upon others can be translated by the wise as something like this: "I do not live what I preach! I am not what I try to look like! I need the arm of the flesh and its strength to resemble the living. I need to show off or impose so people may believe I am a living being".
The interpreters of truth seldom live it out. Whoever finds truth and experiences it in an abundant way does not interpret it - he lives it out. Such people experience what they, quite often, are unable to explain. And, whenever they read Scriptures, they find those explanations they have been looking for understanding what has been going on through them.
Whoever knows little is often self-assured person unable to measure or to see what he or she does not know. Only wise people are able to evaluate or measure what they lack on knowledge. The wise are people who, quite often, say they know very little.
Any bad thought that does not become practice has more of temptation than of sin. On the other hand, any thought that is transformed into behaviour has more of sin than of temptation.
Many tasks at once delay perfection; many alarms confuse guards; many signs kill faith; many advices deviate from the counsel of God.
For anyone to understand inspired truth, he needs to be as inspired as the person who received it from the Lord.
Normally, running means running away from something. If our lives are ordered before God, running away may mean we are avoiding His work over us or in us. Transformation is hard, it is like entering into labour or having birth pains. Don't run away from it, but try to rather face it.
Why would God put us before situations we find unable to solve, accept or perfect up? It is because we must come to the point where we acknowledge or realize there is enough grace to accomplish it!
It is easy to see why so many people are so easily tempted by the devil, even though this cannot be applied to all. The Word says: "Israel has thrown off good; the enemy shall pursue him", Hos.8:3.
Laziness or the absence of it is put to the test mostly when people have nothing to do. When people have nothing to be busy about, the kind of heart they have reveals itself, especially in the area of promptness or laziness, patience or impatience. If you have nothing to do, do you still get out of bed early? Can we see you holding your Bible, reading and understanding it during easy going times? Do you rejoice by having some more time to spend alone with Jesus?
Have you ever seen anyone swimming upstream? "What a weariness", you would say. This is precisely what happens every time an unrighteous person tries to be righteous; or a selfish one tries to be loving for a time; or when a liar tries hard to speak the truth all the time. No one can easily practice righteousness unless he is righteous. This is the main reason why so many people get tired on the Way. Our concentration must be on the way and not on being righteous anymore. Being righteous must not be a goal any longer, but rather a way of life by the time we are able to walk with God.
Let us talk about goals and targets. If you know how to use a bow and arrows and you wish to hit a certain target, do you adjust the arrow or the target? Do you put the arrow in the proper position to heat the target or do you adjust the goal? If you do not adjust targets and do not move them around to be lined up with the direction of your arrows, why, then, do you wish to change God's goals and will for you? Why do you try to adjust truth to your convenience and His objectives to your wishes? Why don't you rather adjust yourself to the best wishes of God?
God cannot motivate us unless our motives are His. And He cannot help us, unless His help is able to drive us towards Him.
To a um twisted person straight things are twisted, justice is unrighteous and to sin is to have pleasure. Such a person has it all twisted, indeed.
There are those who put out the flames so the fire of sin can remain invisible and untouched deep in the heart. By taking care of appearances they find a way to 'protect' the heart from salvation. Oh hypocrisy! The worst kind of it is the kind which we practice towards ourselves. "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom", Ps.51:6.
If the devil had been the main source for any of my own sins, then my flesh wouldn't be the one in need to be crucified with Christ.
Praise is usually a sort of emptiness when given to flesh and blood. Real honour is silent while being given or received. Do you tell people how much you receive as a salary? Why, then, would you want to proclaim how much honour or praise you receive?
We read that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, became dumb for a time because he did not believe an angel's words. Many wish to hear Jesus speak to them. And Jesus is far greater than any angel. I believe some people do not know what they are asking for when they ask Jesus to talk to them. Just imagine what would happen in case Jesus spoke to you and you did not believe Him! "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren; unto Him ye shall hearken", Deut.18:15. "And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people", Act.3:23.
Every time we see someone living all his moments near the Living God, expressing His wisdom with easiness with perfected enthusiasm, we say: "Oh, I would love to be like that!" That is not what Jesus would expect to hear from someone who would love to be that way at all. To be as that person we shall need to be ourselves and listen to all his words carefully. Rather be willing to hearken to what such a faithful child of God has to say. Be willing to listen instead and to be yourself in the sight of God.
I can distinguish between people, but not differentiate between them. I can assume people are not the same, but never should I dare to value some above the others under any circumstances nor in any practical way.
Those people nearest and the more intimate to us are the ones who grant us more freedom to be ourselves towards them. However, many use this opportunity and this sort of freedom to be mean and disrespecting. This should be the opportunity to care and respect and not to be the opposite. "Only do not use the liberty for an opening to the flesh, but by love serve one another", Gal.5:13.
It is good to attain to the depth of these words: "He acting unjustly, let him still act unjustly. And the filthy, let him be filthy still. And the righteous, let him be righteous still. And the holy, let him be holier still", Rev.22:11. In Daniel, we read something in that line of truth as well. We see through many examples that stand out for us in the Bible that all those who overcome some sort of trial are made ready for the next one and not ready to skip future trials. However, it doesn't work out that way with those who do not overcome a trial. (Let's have in mind that to overcome is not to solve a certain problem which came to try us, but rather to end with Christ and to be spotless, after the trial and whatever happens to the problem). Job was pure in God's eyes (and not in people's eyes). However, he went through the unexpected because he was indeed pure. Joseph also went to prison after clinging to purity. We also read in Rev.2:8-11 about a church which was pure and to which Jesus had no wrong to point out. To that church He said: "Do not at all fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil will cast some of you into prison, so that you may be tried. And you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful to death...". We do not see Jesus distributing trials to the churches which have fallen back in some way. Those were told to repent and to go back to the starting point. We do not see Jesus warning them that they would be tried. Trials are the privileges of very few. Pure people are tied to become purer. Heaven lies still ahead of them. We may at least take two lessons from this: It means many people have an inner friction resulting from sin and they ascribe it easily to trials to avoid repenting. We know people who need to repent are not tried. They are, at the most, punished by their own ways. And, on the other side, people who overcome because they have kept purity are easily tempted by the idea that they will finally relax because they have overcome. They feel they must have reached the end of their way and are become too hasty and too eager to collect their reward after trials. In fact, people who overcome are just ready for the next step of purification. We must have in mind that these classes of people can assume from own expectations, each in its own way, which are not according to truth. Let pure ones never look back once they have taken up the plough into their hands; and do not allow stained ones to look forward unless they look backwards to find the spot where they have fallen. They need to fix whatever needs to be fixed first and before they can look forward, whatever it takes.
Idealists strain themselves for ideal situations and circumstances. They end up frustrated because there are no ideal situations. And even if there were, it wouldn't last for long because everything works much through cycles. Creation and nature has its own laws to abide by. "That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been", Ecc.3:15. Harvests repeat themselves, rains come and go and come again. Everything starts all over again at its own season. Even a real Life with Christ starts afresh each day to be as it has never been before. Contrasting idealists, we see the real conquerors in Christ on the opposed side. They are able to achieve what idealists would easily call heroic acts, and, through that, idealists only reveal what they would rather not have come their way. Conquerors are people who find themselves content wherever they go and whatever they do. They look for things to transform through the acting of God and not for ideal circumstances. They know just too well how to gather with Christ and how to do so under any hardship. They also know their rest comes at the end. They never waste a circumstance - they use it fully up for the glorification of God. Conquerors expect to meet unchanged situations, unregenerate people and confrontations because of the truthfulness they carry with joy. Regeneration is their work and they work hard at it. They do not look for ideal things, but to obey the Lord and the truth. Idealists are not like that. They cannot be conquerors at all. They only trust under ideal circumstances and we all know this present world is not the ideal place - it shall never be. Idealists wish to inherit and not to work hard at their present inheritance. They squander whatever God has left to them to be faithful unto. They want changed things and not to change things as they walk on, starting that change at themselves. They cannot stand the idea that today can be a harder day than yesterday. They rejoice according to what happens to them and not in the Lord. They often look back because they cannot endure - they do not wish to endure. There is only one way to find ideal situations and people: we are the ones ready to become ideal and fruitful. Often, unmarried people look for the ideal partner, forgetting they are the ones who need to become ideal. Bosses wish to have the ideal employees disregarding the fact that they are the ones in need to become or to be made ideal. The same must be said about employees who look for ideal bosses - they need to have or to attain to the ideal heart. For all conquerors, all situations are challenges upon their spirit and upon their spiritual enthusiasm. For idealists, such situations work out much like a torture. There are no people so different and so apart from each other than idealists and conquerors.
If depression is a mountain of sins which have not been cleansed, (and it is), then stress is the fight of conscience against them or the load of sin as you try to carry out something else which is not cleansing all your sins one by one.
A deep desire towards the things God has for us is a condition to receive all answers in prayer concerning those things. However, we must have in mind that any deep desire is often what leads to feign a living. Deep desires are often responsible for the creation of appearances which resemble what we deeply desire. For example: people who desire to be holy can easily slip into an apparent holiness because they cannot believe it is possible to be holier than what they are; someone who desires to be rich often acts as a rich person does and does not wish to be seen by others as poor; those who wish to be fluent and expressive will rather change their voice and try to be eloquent instead of gaining the genuine kind of wisdom God has to offer to all those who ask it from Him. We must always bear in mind that appearance is the greatest hindrance to real living, no matter how good that appearance looks like. Appearance is a way to hide those things we believe we are unable to change or those things we do not wish to change at all. As I often say that appearance is not transparency and only transparency is walking in the light. And walking in the light and being transparent is what changes us from deep within. Try to remember that next time you deeply desire something God wishes to grant you. Do not rely on the works of the flesh or on its strength to accomplish what only light and transparency (in the Lord) can accomplish for you.
Every behaviour which is not spontaneous, natural, determined and exclusive is hypocritical. Be yourself.
Usually, no one sees as hypocrites those people who please them. However, God sees all as it is. We should also see things under the light of God and as He sees them.
If you would love to walk on towards truth and you find you can't, especially if the truth you are aiming at is God's and not your own, then your feet must be entangled in something the world has to offer. Entangled feet or legs turn walking very difficult and hard. Do you find it hard to trust at certain difficult moments of your life? And do you become jealous of people who can easily trust the Lord as they walk on? Do you complain easily as God leads you on? (It could work out well if you would complain when He is not leading, but not as He leads). When you make a point of loving your neighbour as yourself, do you find it hard to serve and love them? Do you experience some degree of difficulty hoping, waiting and expecting in the Lord? Are you expectant and happy waiting or do you see yourself as a victim? Whenever you wish to be truthful, do you often lie? Do you need to promise and decide to tell the truth? Or is your truthfulness spontaneous and obvious? Do you feel at home in the presence of God? I will explain why holiness is not so easy for you: you are entangled in worldly stuff and your feet cannot walk according to truth and according to your holy wishes. Your legs and feet do not follow your wishes because you are bound to the world or to some sin. This is the main reason why you stumble as you try to walk and why you are unable to fulfil all your vows. You deny the Lord when the world blinks at you and, consequently, the Lord denies you as you try to be truthful and to walk accordingly. Any smell of worldliness in you turns walking in the Lord hard and, sometimes, impossible.
Jesus stated that whoever does the things of God understands them. Understanding comes through practice and by experiencing the things of God. Practicing leads to understanding. "If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know...", John 7:17. Whoever does things the way they are done in heaven shall never be confused or lost. No living practicing Child of God shall ever be without spiritual understanding. Fulfilling is the only way to gain understanding directly from God. "O that my ways were fixed to keep Your precepts! Then I shall not be confused, when I have respect to all Your Commandments", Ps.l.119:5,6. The best way to misunderstand the things of God is to study them to preach to others or simply to be religious and dead about them.
We don't practice sin so that we can see God all the time, Mat.5:8. "Blessed are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek Him with all the heart. They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways", Ps.119:2,3. Sin and blindness, sin and not finding are always related. One thing leads to the other. Seeking God to find Him for real implies that we leave sin forever or we won't find Him at all. And we may as well take into consideration that sin is what God says sin is and not what man says it is. Usually, man sees as sin what is done against him and God says sin is what we do. Are you living enough to be able to see the difference?
The great majority of people to whom God gave promises personally end up forgetting what God said simply because they do not commit themselves completely to become wholly dependable on them and do not heartily seek and wait upon their fulfilment and that only. They do not give their hearts over to what God said He would do for them or in them. They do not turn their vision and expectations wholly to the promise and end up forgetting because the painful businesses of daily and corrupted earthly living deviate their mind and attention. We may state the same thing concerning God's commandments: people simply forget about them in their daily life because they do not take heed to fulfil them. By not being committed, people create the occasion to be forgetful. This is what James means by "forgetful hearers". Practical negligence is always responsible for most kinds of forgetfulness.
Believing and having faith only when all is well with us is not faith. "Do not the heathen do the same?" Allow me to ask you: Does God change when things seem hard and when circumstances become dark and unbearable? Why do you bear them then? Don't! Do circumstances change God at all? Loving only those who love you cannot be considered love; believing only when all is well cannot be real faith; being patient only when we carry out those things we love most cannot be considered patience; talking about Jesus only to those we appreciate more cannot be considered spreading the gospel; being happy and joyful only in our own environment cannot be considered happiness at all; being extravagant and liberal when we are full enough to give leftovers away cannot be considered loving. Any sort of heathen could do the same or even do somewhat better!
Many do not reach the rising of the sun because they cannot stand going through the night. Every soul that wishes to see the sun rise, must face the dark passing by; to reach the promised land, especially when we are coming from Egypt, we must go through the driest desert there is because we are not only going through dry sand, but, we are getting out of the only life we know as such; be assured that there is no rest before all work is fully accomplished. I am sure many people do not reach the Morning Star because they kill themselves before it rises in their soul and they use bad thoughts against God to do so as they walk on.
God's desire is that we become living gardens which harbour the Tree of Life in the centre of it and harvest from it. Even if you are found in the desert, and most especially there, you should and can be a living garden. God demands of all of us that we be whatever seems impossible to earthly creatures. And heavenly minded people are no more earthly creatures. Then, it should be easy enough for all of us who are made holy. It is in the most impossible ground where we need to be fertile and abounding. That is what God requires of all of us. "Lord, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter", Mat.25:24. Didn't God command that man shall have all dominion over the stronger elephants? Did God not say man will exercise dominion over the birds which fly so high up where man can't reach? Man must even have dominion over the fish and he doesn't have enough breath to enter the environment where fish feel at home. Seemingly, God demands impossible things from all of us. God demands that we be gardens where there is no water, no good soil and no shade from the heat or the cold. We should fear this Lord who demands that we have unfeigned joy where only the saddest things happen and who tells us to shine where everything is dark and evil. Can you be so close to God that you can live only out of Him, by Him and inside His reality? If so, it must be easy to be a garden in any kind of desert and under any sort of tempest.
Jesus said that what chokes His words and hinder its fulfilments are the cares of this world and not the power of the devil nor circumstances. The devil, or even circumstances, do not have that kind of power to choke God's word. I believe this illustration of thorns used by Jesus is a most appropriate one. Can you imagine having thorns bothering your skin and your side continually? What shall be left of your mind and heart to think on anything else besides the pain, the thorns and whatever concerns it? Can you think in a continuous way about anything else if you are tormented by thorns? Wouldn't your mind entertain itself only around accusations, pain, bitterness, worries and concerns? Everything you think or do takes nothing else into consideration but those thorns. It is fully consumed and deviated by pain and by painful thoughts. Isn't it? Unless your heart changes, your mind won't think of anything else. The only way to avoid this is to have your heart fully changed and heading towards heaven only. Then, you won't be able to think about anything else besides the joy and the fulfilments of heaven here on earth. It is the inner man which needs to change and not circumstances. Then, you won't forget important things because your mind is not distracted by painful thoughts and by bitterness; you won't easily neglect duties because you are not called to attend unimportant things; you won't lose time with things which lead nowhere. All of these (and much more) happen only because thorns call your attention continually back to it. You really wish to be useful to God? If so, have a full change in the inner man and allow your motives, ways to carry out things and mind be fully changed from deep within. There is nothing that God wishes to do more than to have a man changed that way. And I firmly believe that if you can change men's hearts, you can change the whole world. The concerns of earthly hearts are the main sources for the problems this world is facing today.
Thorns can be a big problem in any life. The only way to avoid being bothered by thorns is to have your heart fully changed instead of trying to change circumstances around you, even though God can change circumstances as well. However, we should not dare to neglect the heart work to try to change what God's providence promised to do itself. Unless circumstances are part of the Kingdom we are to seek, we should allow God to fulfil whatever He promised to fulfil through them.
Have you seen a star lately which came to lead you on the way? If, by any reason, you have lost it, then it is because you headed towards Jerusalem as soon as the star started leading towards Israel. "Oh, Israel! Let's go to Jerusalem!" That is where you started to think on your own and ceased to mind the star the way you should have minded it. No wonder you found the enemy of God in Jerusalem! You shouldn't seek in Jerusalem what can only be found in Bethlehem. Now, Ramah will weep its children again because you thought you knew where God would lead you.
Today I have confirmed something: an impatient person or a person with an ill tempered heart can never be right about something - not even when what that person says makes sense. Even if what he or she says is right, it ceased to be right and blessed the moment impatience stepped in.
If it is so easy to misinterpret or misunderstand those people we know and talk to, how easy, you think, is it to misunderstand God whom people do not know and scarcely hear?
When people have nothing to do (or think they have nothing to do) they usually stay in bed. It would be the same us saying: "Since I have no food, I will eat some poison to have my stomach filled!"
The main secret of how to be heard by people is not to speak according to what the public opinion or the public desires demand from us to speak about. When we hear God and speak accordingly, even those who refuse to hear will hear and be bothered by what we say.
When a woman has birth pains she is ready to give birth. Spiritual mothers and fathers also have strong and unbearable birth pains. When we bring many spiritual children to the light, we may have these birth pains for a long, long time. And if there are no abortions, surely these pains will cease only after children are really born to God and made holy. People will surely be brought to the feet of the Cross one way or another through these pains. Can a baby hinder its own birth?
God said of man: "And let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth". We all know man could not have the strength to exercise dominion over an elephant or over the huge animals that lived at the time. How would man exercise dominion over a fowl which flies up very high and very fast? We can only assume dominion is not exercised through force, but through God and wisdom. Man does not have the strength to dominate an elephant, can't fly to dominate a bird, does not have enough breath to dominate the fish under water. However, God determined that man indeed dominates over all of these. We know all is possible through God.
Whoever speaks much listens very little; whoever sends people around obeys very little; and whoever yells a lot at people says very little.
"And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace", James 3:18. This does not mean that the fruit of righteousness is not sown in adversity at all. It means it is sown in peace to those who seek peace. To those who do not seek peace, it shall be sown anyway. However, it shall not be sown in peace because they are not peaceful beings. Let's work hard to maintain our conscience clean and at peace in the presence of God who reveals all.
No joy is truthful, no hope secure, no future promising whenever we wander far from the Lord. There is nothing with worth away from God and Life. It would be a happier thing for us to feel our sorrows, unhappiness and hopelessness away from God. To visit a mourning house would be a happier achievement. "Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones. Be afflicted, and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness", James 4:8-9. And, if this is true, it is also true that no sorrow, no hopelessness, no discouragement is ever truthful if we walk with the Lord in all holiness. They are all lies just as joys away from God are lies. All these sorrows will pass away, all discouragement and all lack of hope are sure lies if we are found in Him. All these will pass away, just as the sun and the earth. But, not so with those who have, experience and perform God's will! They will remain forever, 1 John 2:17.
Teach your own heart and you shall be enabled to teach others. That is morality. Teach others first and you shall not be able to teach your own heart. That is immorality!
Anyone who postpones things; or starts things and does not end them; or does something to avoid doing another; or does not teach his own heart to take to the end whatever is good, but also gives up on anything; or a person who does not exercise faithfulness to his immediate duty for any reason whatsoever; any such person creates a heart in himself which is a curse and will be always a curse in him. Habits which disable people to persevere with and through goodness are curses. A persevering man also makes sure he gives up any wrong thing in whatever stage it is found, whether it is close to its end or still in its beginnings. Persevering people are courageous enough to give up even on own dreams which seem easily attainable and affordable. Are you one of those?
Many people say, sometimes, they are lost as to what or where they should read in the Bible. There are many reasons why people feel lost in that area. However, I will mention only some of them. One reason is that they do not ask or enquire from God for their daily bread, or fail to ask for it in such a way that they will get answers. They do not take the matter seriously enough. The other is that they know more than they are living out. This second problem is a more serious one than we can imagine. It means people are outdated or out ruled. It is very dangerous to know more that we are able to put into practice since it should work the other way round. I mean, because of the communion with the Spirit, we should live more than we are able to explain, know or be aware of. If that is not happening, God cannot reveal where to read since people have not become faithful to what they already know. However, we could also mention that God may not reveal because it might be time to rest and become fit for what is ahead. We are at loss because we may have our seasons the other way round, I mean, we want to read when we should rest and rest when we should be up and reading. There are more reasons why God does not reveal where to read, though. Care to find out by asking knowledge from God.
It is not good to preach about faith to people who do not believe. Preach Jesus. The fact is that only those people who have already become spontaneous and sincere believers may ever benefit from definitions of what faith, love and hope is. In fact, such definitions may be mere confirmations of what has already been happening inside them. Everyone else must see and realize just how faithful God is, how He fulfils all He has spoken, etc. To define virtues to people who are not virtuous is to create hypocrites and never shall it create faithful believers.
"Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I have given that to you, as I said to Moses", Jos.1:3. When you are really led by God in total, spontaneous and intelligent dependence on Him, whatever happens to you is given to you by God. The providence of God is very active with such people. All holy ones should be able to recognize such things as signs of God's will for them. They should be able to realize they are simply where they should be, especially if they are holy and completely dedicated to God. If they are able to be easily and spontaneously instructed by God, it simply cannot work out any other way because they are simply taken and led by the Lord. If you are holy and faithful I am sure you are where you should be right now. Let all doubts down and fill your mind with ways which can assume the place and the circumstances you may find yourself in today. Refuse to doubt the way John the Baptist doubted when he was imprisoned. Take the land of your mind because it is yours. Has your foot tread upon it? It is yours to take. Make the best of the moment and bring glory to God under such circumstances you may find yourself in today.
The opposite of life is not death only. According to truth, the opposite of life is sin and the opposite of death is holiness lived in the Spirit, as well.
We should know the degree of faithfulness we have during times of abundance shall always be proportional to the spontaneous faithfulness we show forth during the hardest times we may ever face during our lifetime and vice-versa. You cannot expect to be more faithful during the season of fat cows than you have been during the hardest moments of the hungry cows. If you, during those hard times, are spontaneously dedicated to God and to God's work, if you do not fail God during such times and there are no thorns found in your heart during the hardest time you have ever been through, if your heart is found fully in the Lord and there is no bitter thought during it, no resentment, no worrying, surely you are a man fit to have it all as well. You shall surely be faithful in happiness, in riches and during times of great joy and miracles. Do you remember how Job had been blessed after he went through an unconceivable time of hardships? Are you such a man? Joseph remained close to God and was able to interpret God's dreams with great precision on the spot during the harshest period of his life. To interpret those dreams in such a way amounts to having a very close relationship with God. What a relationship he had! That was also the man who remained faithful to God and to his work after he became the ruler of the greatest country of the time. All that mattered to Him was his relationship to God. The rest would be mere bricks which would help build that wall of relationship.
For God, there aren't things more difficult than others or easier things than others. There is nothing to Him more difficult or easier than anything else. All amounts to the same thing to Him.
The important thing is not to see many miracles during our lifetime. The important thing is to see all the miracles we were supposed to see. In other words, seeing many miracles does not mean we have seen all we should have seen; and seeing few miracles doesn't mean we haven't seen all those we were meant to see.
Asking the right things without the knowledge that God can answer our requests at any time amounts to complaining about what we believe we should have. And without that confidence it shall never cease to be more than complaints before a holy God because he shall not receive anything from the Lord. "For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord", James 1:7. Asking is not complaining. Complaining is asking without that sort of confidence that God can do and that what we have been asking is found within the range of His will.
We submit ourselves to God to remain submitted and not so we will never need to submit again.
No human will become holy and full of virtues through compulsion. Holiness is hard work and it is prepared, worked on, received and shared to make it experience. All virtues work out that way. Can you build a house in a moment of compulsion?
People, even when they see sinning is bad, still try to look away from guilt by smiling and by being polite and smooth towards or against it. Try being polite and smooth towards bees! That is the same as trying to hide something which will sting you to death anyway, whatever you do to it. And we know from the Bible that whoever entertains sin will not prosper, Prov.28:13.
Whoever still feels hopeful in sin has a false hope. False expectations are responsible for most of those lies sinners tell themselves, to avoid repenting. And all those who feel hopeless when they sin are one small step away from taking refuge in Christ Jesus forever. Hopelessness is not always a bad thing.
Turning things real and assuming them as such is the ultimate end of the struggle to believe. God allows man to 'fight' with Him for that purpose: to have man convinced by granting him an assuring answer. Once that answer is out, man should be able to take it in such a way that he spontaneously believes it shall be as God has said. That fight is useful to convince man and not to have God convinced to grant our requests.
Living the kind of life God demands of all of us here on earth should be easiest for weak people who consider themselves only human. Let me explain. An own life is a direct competition to Eternal Life within. The weaker the man is, the easier it should be for him to live for and through Christ since holiness is experienced and lived through the Lord in people who died with Him. Therefore, the Lord in us is always in direct conflict with whatever makes man strong or self-sustained. People often excuse themselves by saying they are only human. In fact, being weak is a main reason to be holy through Christ and not an impediment. "Let the weak say, I am strong". Why should the weak say such a thing? Will you look for strength if you feel strong? Will you look for wisdom if you believe you are already wise? No man feeling capable will seek to be made capable of doing things through the Lord. It is obvious the best candidates to live a holy life are all such who feel weak and unable. They are halfway gone into the reign of Christ already. However, they should not be put down by this vain assumption that weak people should rather give up on the Lord or on His Life, since that is usually what they do. Those who give up still believe in themselves and usually wait on the Lord to strengthen self. I hope God's grace is enough for you as it had been for Paul and all others, and that you aren't reaching out to strengthen condemned flesh through God.
Jesus told us about the sower that went out sowing his seed and how often the seeds fall around in bad ground. It is amazing how things have changed nowadays! Today, bad people sow a gospel in bad ground and, sometimes, a seed falls in good ground. It works much the other way round nowadays.
Aren't there lost bullets that hit people all over the world? Every time you preach the gospel out of a sound and pure heart have in mind that the gospel works much like lost bullets and hit people whom you never thought about. God works that way quite often.
If it is true that God takes care of our subconscious world to feed it daily and faithfully, it is also true that we become responsible for our conscious world. God will care for our deepest being.
I know one day men will praise me so they can duck away from the responsibility of fixing their lives. They will praise what I say to escape the aim of my words.
The only, just and righteous punishment for sin is eternal death, it is, a state of continual dying without being able to die. The Law of God demands an eye for an eye and the horrors of hell are just the precise 'eye for an eye' in time, in dimension and in greatness of what heaven would be for each condemned one. People have a righteous reward in eternal death for having rejected eternal life. However, many teachers and theologians assume too easily Jesus paid the price sin deserves at the cross. It is not true because, if it were true, Jesus would need to suffer an eternal penalty. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law of Moses and the Law of Moses required as far as what humans assume would be the penalty for transgression. For man, only earthly things count and to take man from earth sounds righteous enough to him because man does not see eternity and nor does he see the reach of transgression. The Law demanded an offering for transgression because it helped man assume forgiveness after ceasing from sin. What Jesus did is enough to save man and the aim is to save man and not to pay for transgression. Jesus saves from sin. Man's sins die through Jesus and it makes man acceptable to God. Jesus' blood mean purification and spotlessness to us all who come to Him. That sort of cleanness is what assures forgiveness for us, Prov.28:13, Is.59:20. He is able to make us free of sin and of ourselves indeed.
When someone steels from his neighbour everyone talks about it because it is bad and abnormal enough. However, if there is no stealing, no one talks about it because everyone assumes that is a normal conduct. People talk about others being mean to each other and, when neighbours get along, we have it as a normal behaviour and no one talks about it. Even sinners attest to the fact that a holy being or a holy living is the normal way to live. Holiness is what man accepts as normal behaviour because that is what man has been created for.
"...Neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord", Mal.3:11. Are you one of those who ask to have tomorrow's things right away? Did you know that receiving fruit before its proper time is a curse? Are you an impatient being? Do you neglect today's work by stressing your mind and heart with tomorrow's things? However, we must distinguish between not receiving today because there is some sin in us which annoys God and not being the right time for the right thing. There is fruit which must be there all year round and there is certain fruit for certain seasons. Just try to find out whether you are out of season or in season. Then, it shall be much easier for you to know why God is not giving now what you are pleading for now.
Many people's faith is a curse. Let me explain. To many, faith amounts to believing in a simple way about whatever suits them. It is true real faith is or should be as easy as breathing. However spontaneous, faith is a certainty of the right thing carried out through the right means. Faith is being sure and assured of some reality God has whispered into us beforehand or any other time. Faith is not believing - it is the ability to believe the right thing the right way and, sometimes, at the right time. Being assured never made people right about what they believe. However, being right about what they believe makes them assured and confident. That is what faith is all about. The proper assurance is faith. The wrong kind of assurance cannot be considered faith at all. "Now faith is the assurance of things...", Heb.11:1. Faith is not the ability to believe, but the capability to believe truth - it cannot be mere believing. "If you can believe..." Marc.9:23.
Be extremely careful when you expect from the heart that God should come your way. Make sure you expect Him to deliver you from the right things or you shall be disappointed in Him as many have been already. The Jews were oppressed people and hungered for the coming of the Christ. However, there is a problem: Christ comes unto us to deliver us from ourselves and not from our problems. Whenever He comes, he solves the kind of heart we have and not our problems. Seldom does He solve our problems. The Israelis expected the Christ to deliver them the way Moses did a long time before. They did not expect the Christ to deliver them from themselves, from the force of hatred, from all fleshly things they had been so used to. To deliver them from that was to kill away the only source of hope they knew until then. They did not expect the Christ to do the right thing, but rather to perform their thing. "Behold, He comes, says the Lord of Hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? (...) He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And He shall purify the sons and purge them as gold and silver(...) And I will come near you to judgment. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those who do not fear Me" Mal.3:1-5. Do you really hunger after Christ? What do you expect Him to do when He comes? From what do you expect Him to rescue you? Make sure you won't be disappointed by His coming into your life in a real way. He came to save you from all your sins - not from your problems. "Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer?", Is.50:2. Many want God only because they see Him as powerful enough to do what they cannot do themselves concerning earthly things. Most even demand that it be done through a miracle. Do not be disappointed when He starts to do what He came for. There is another thing you should be careful about as well. Maybe the Lord takes you out of some of your problems for a reason He only knows about. Maybe He can't use those problems as instruments for holiness and He solves them for you. If it happens, now is time to avoid believing He came for your problems' sake since you see them solved. It is so easy to believe the wrong thing when He solves some problems for us! It might be one of the reasons why He does not solve most of our problems! The same principle must be held before our our minds in a continual way when it comes to holiness and to holy living. You cannot afford to believe you must become holy so God can perform certain things you wish to be carried out. You cannot afford to believe you must be kind so the Lord can be kind to you in return. Virtues are not the means to achieve certain ends - they are the ends themselves! The means are the miracles and the other things you usually seek to have from God. They are not the ends, but the means. You cannot become patient to be blessed since patience is the blessing itself. Virtues are the ends and not what you exchange things through. Have you been committing the same mistakes the Jews committed a long time ago? What are the means in your life and what are the ends? Have you been changing the order of things lately? Whenever the right order of things is kept from the heart, we shall face any kind of problems with joy because we shall know those problems God allows in our lives mean to achieve some important ends for us. You should try looking at it the right way. It really works that way!
The difference between idolatry and truth is that idolatry is a god created by man after his own desires and conveniences, and truth creates or recreates man. Man has certain ideas or ideals based upon which he creates a god who he thinks will satisfy them. Through the truth we know man is the one who has been created. We have been created according to God's holy interests and image. We have been made to fulfil all His wishes and purposes. Man's god is man's creation and it is dumb, deaf, and, in case that god is human, it shall be unkind, full of himself and rude. However, man is quite stubborn about his gods and seldom gives up his way to worship the Living One instead. This means that all kinds of idolatry is born in man's heart and is maintained by man's stubbornness. There is always some kind of the convenience of man in idolatry. That is why I believe idolatry requires a lot of stubbornness to exist. On the other hand, God's creatures (truth's creatures) are never deaf or dumb as men's creations are. But, most are dumb towards God.
Dirty water is seldom dirty because of one component only. Usually, we say water is dirty without really knowing what it is dirty from. There is a mixture of things which darkens or poisons water. With people and the hearts of men the same can be said. It is usually a mixture of sins which is globally responsible for the overall and spontaneous behaviour of man on the long run. Behaviour is always a consequence of many things. This means that a sound behaviour from the heart is a mixture of virtues which are established in man. Globally, such a man behaves in a holy manner. There is seldom a virtue in a saint which stands out above others because man is holy in the whole or he won't be holy at all. The same can be said about unchanged sinners: we cannot afford to see a certain sin as the root of man's overall behaviour. Sinfulness is a mixture of many things man does being away from God. Dirty lives have learned to live their own way because they learned to live with no Shepherd. This is the main reason why sin must be abandoned globally and totally along with its environment. The main curse of sin is the birth of a bad heart which is responsible for a bad behaviour and conduct.
Being reigned is not the same as being dominated. Demons dominate and possess a person. Having a King in us means we are softly led and the hard part of it is to be led in a way we would easily deny and not recognize as a way at all. The King we pledged to serve is soft and easy to hear. It is the heart of man which is hardened and expects hard ways. Man is hard to convince and is used to be driven the hard way. "Do not be like a mule...", Ps.32:9. God does not use hard driving means to be King over us because He assumes we must be soft and tender towards Him ourselves. Having a King and a Master in me means I have someone who knows me better than I know myself, and who rules me according to my original image of Him. If that image is lost, I should work and do all I can to have it back. I will answer for my life before Him because I have all in me since creation to be led through His tenderness and love, and have all available in Him right now to accomplish anything a great King usually desires.
There is a kind of life which works for the salvation of others and which strives to be divine. And there is a kind of life which saves others and which is divine by striving to save itself. One is earthly and the other is celestial. The life of God in saved ones manifests itself as the Life of heaven and not as a kind of life which looks like heaven's. A divine life does not struggle to be divine because it is divine. The life which struggles to be divine is not divine. It can't be and uses means that can't be divine. What really counts is the essence of holiness and not the mere appearance of it. Jesus came to us as One who had no appearance and had nothing in Him which we should desire, Is.53. Yet, He was and still is holy. It means He acts the same way still. "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display. For the kingdom of God is in you", Lk.17:21. That person who struggles to be divine still has certain earthly aspirations and dreams which are driven by fleshly motivations and uses earthly means to reach them. They will rather have those than work hard on a heart change in prayer. God is not in debt to the flesh and none of His promises are meant to satisfy carnal people or carnal desires. Read the Bible the right way and you will immediately come to that conclusion yourself. If you, perhaps, find yourself still struggling to be holy and to be at peace in the presence of God, you must know you must change the kind of life you work through and you must, also, exchange the motives, the means and the goals in you for celestial ones. This is often a double problem and needs a double solution.
"No one calls for justice, nor does anyone plead out of truth", Is.59:4. In another translation this verse says that no one calls for justice out of a truthful heart. It does not mean people do not call for righteousness and justice. There are many who fight for causes of selfishness and sin with the whole heart using any means to win them, even the means of apparent truth. Are you one of them? Some use truthful means to defend a lying heart's causes. Some others are engaged in the causes of truth half heartedly using the weapons of darkness. Is your heart fully set in the causes of God the way it should be? Is godliness fully settled in you? Does God feel at home inside your heart? Does your heart feel at home in God? Do you feel at home with truth and do you feel at ease being fully transparent? Or does light annoy you often and makes you uncomfortable? Is your whole heart engaged in the manifestation of truth and righteousness to reveal itself fully through the light? What do you have in mind about righteousness? Do you still believe others are the ones who must be made righteous? The main ground and battle for truth is inside each fighter and not on the outside. "The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his own field", Mat.13:31. God expects you to be righteous when He talks to you about righteousness. Do not easily assume those words He speaks are meant for a sermon or for someone else to hear them. They are meant for you. Do not try to carry out on the outside what must be fully accomplished inside. Do not let God say you trust yourself. Let it never be said of you! "They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief and bring out iniquity (...) Their webs shall not become clothing, nor shall they cover themselves with their works...", Is.59:4,6. These people who do that experience some sort of typical problems, according to this piece of Scripture: 1. "They do not know the way of peace". This means they are constantly in a fighting mood and that there is a continual fight going on inside their hearts. 2."They have made crooked paths for themselves". This is something we should expect, because people do not wish to deny God openly, but only His ways. Their ways become self conceived and self-satisfying and demand the blessing of God. This really happens! This is a triple-sided coin. And it happens in such a way that people are seldom aware that they are doing the wrong thing. What a curse this must be! The way of a dishonest heart is a terrible curse! It is the curse itself. Can there be a greater curse than to make our own ways out and to plan and outline them by ourselves? This will give the impression we are righteous and are defending the right causes. But, God will deny them along with us. "I never knew you". I have always believed that appearance hinders transparency anywhere, anyhow and all the time. Make sure you work on truth; that you work it in yourself and avoid preaching to others to skip putting yourself in the light; and, whenever you do so, make sure you do so with a truthful heart.
God does not have time or respect for a bad temper or for a bad mood. And, usually, respect and attention is what anger or a bad spirit demands most. Just take some time to find the truthfulness of what I am saying here. On the other side, whenever my temper or mood changes, I must know God does not change along with it, because this is what a bad mood usually expects and believes so it can carry on being bad. The other side of any kind of bad mood is the assumption it is not wrong in itself. Self-justification is the other side of a bad temper. And God works assuming my bad mood shouldn't even exist! He assumes it must be kicked out of me by me right away. And that is why He carries on with His work as always and He expects that sort of action from us as well! Make sure you work on it along with God because any bad mood usually works against whatever it should be doing. And the best way to deal against a bad mood is to stay side by side with God and work on what we should do as we would were we in our best mood or in heaven.
Many assume almost unconsciously that a difficult thing must be accomplished through grace and an easy thing should or can be carried out through self. Some won't even be aware of the way they perform easy things. That is a simple way to feed self and to keep it alive. The main secret of the gospel is to do all we do through grace, not because of what we do, but because of how we do whatever we do. The flesh is fed and kept alive by using other means strange to grace. Things must be done here on earth exactly the same way anything would be done in heaven. The important part is how we do and not what we do. Therefore, you must be aware that, whenever people say they must pray a lot because they are facing something they consider very hard, the other side of them is assuming easy things do not need to be done through God or through a praying heart. Doing an easy thing through the arm of the flesh is like smoking only one cigarette more whenever you are trying to quit the whole of it. Doing easy things through the flesh amounts to feeding this strange monster, which is abnormal to creation and which rises up against God within us and against all His knowledge as well as against the knowledge and acknowledgment of Him in us, 2Cor.10:5.
So many question what they hear, having certain doubts about whether what they hear comes from God, the devil or the flesh. There is no easy way to solve this problem, though. The only way there is, is to enter into the Sanctuary and to get so near God that we shall, so to speak, see His lips moving and easily recognize His voice and realize who is speaking. You won't solve such doubting problems or moods unless you can make sure. And, to make sure, you must get near without your doubts. Are you moving that close to God? Make sure you know that people who hear God do so at the cost of getting near Him. It is not your ear which must be tuned only, but the whole of your heart and being. Jesus said that unless you become sheep you won't be able to hear Him. The main secret is not trying hard to hear, but rather becoming sheep from the heart. Sheep will hear.
We can only be saved from something or some place we are found in. We cannot be saved from hell because we are not in hell. The only people who could be saved from hell are those who find themselves already there. I cannot be saved from drowning unless I am found drowning in the water. I cannot be saved from drowning in dry land. Therefore, there is no such thing as being saved from hell. Even the Bible does not speak of us being saved from hell. But, it nevertheless talks about salvation. So, what are we to be saved from? We must be saved from sin and from ourselves. That is the kind of salvation the Bible talks about extensively. "You shall call Him JESUS; because He shall save His people from their sins", Mat.1.21. "You saved my soul from corruption".
When we have extensive knowledge of truth and we are not right with God (whether we realize it or not), God's promises can, even so, seem real to us. It seems the devil doesn't do anything to cause us to doubt such promises at all, especially if we are not clean and spotless before God. If there is no opposition, there won't be doubts in a self-assured person. The way of error puts little or no hindrances in such a way. It will serve the devil best if you have mirages of water in dry land and become disappointed in God later on. People can look at the promises of God as they would entertain some hallucination. Such deceiving hallucinations are worked out by mixing the deep desire of reaching out to some kind of promise man would feel pleased with and the mirage of water in the deserted soul. "It shall even be as when a hungry one dreams, and behold, he eats, but he wakes and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint and his soul is longing. So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations who fight against mount Zion (or fight against their conscience to convince it otherwise!)", Is.29:8. Any man dying of thirst in any sort of desert is always so sure he is seeing water afar off. But, that kind of assuredness won't quench his thirst at all. That is how the promises of God will become deceiving mirages to all those who are found in the desert of sin. God's promises can become deceiving mirages instead of real lakes of water. Those promises can kill or bring to life. They won't become indifferent, inactive words at all - they will either kill or bring to life. These promises can become mirages to thirsty souls who refuse to clean up or they can be turned into the real essence of the testimony of God in the heart, or even into a fragrance of truth. However, the inclination of all those who find out they have been seeing mirages from God lately is to start despising or even doubting the Words of God. They will rather do that than comply to the conditions those promises silently demand to be fulfilled in or even through us. God sealed those promises for the clean in the heart and there is nothing that can ever hinder such promises to be fulfilled in their own ground and under their conditions. Are you fulfilling all the conditions God's promises require to be fulfilled in due time? Do you walk and talk with God? Does He answer you for real, or do you talk alone during prayers? Are you pure from the heart? Is God able to gather with you without being ashamed? Do you do all things, even at work, through God or do you still lean on the arm of the flesh so now and then? Do not use the unfulfilment of God's promises as the main excuse to start living a fleshly life! Rather clean up and do not be so eager to cast away from you the cords of God's promises. "Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones", James 4:8. Maybe you never realized that an uneasy conscience is the main cause for the shipwrecking of real faith and the main strength for a false and feigning one. If you are pure or on the verge of becoming pure and clean through faith, do not fear to believe the same promises dirty people have often been disappointed by. God's word is a stumbling block to such. Nevertheless, it is still God's word and it shall remain so. Make sure you believe that. However, God's word is surely a fountain of real life as well. "And the glowing sand (the mirage) shall become a pool", Is.35:7. And if we talk about God's promises, we may apply the same binding principle on many other crucial truths important to all of us, such as election and being chosen. We have been chosen to be holy. That is the main thing we have been chosen for. Are you holy? Or will you sell your birthright for the sake of some sin? Do you rather choose "to suffer with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of (some) sin"? Heb 11:25. "Therefore, brothers, rather be diligent to make your calling and election sure", 2Ped.1:10.
Be extremely careful when it is the devil or fleshly intuition who is promising things in the name of God and which God would promise under certain conditions or circumstances. It is very dangerous in many ways. One of those dangers is that we can live towards something God has never promised to us personally and we will squander precious time expecting, doing or working on something which will eventually not work out for us. And, when those promises we believed come from God are not fulfilled because they were not directed to us, we shall easily doubt when it is God who is speaking for real leading us into something else. It shall happen because of the former experiences of unfulfilled promises, especially if we become honest people. If you wish to avoid that, do not allow the flesh to serve in the temple of God. You are that temple. Work it out in you and not outside of you. God can promise only when the flesh is not promising in His name anymore and He can fulfil only when the flesh is not trying to fulfil in His behalf by playing God for fear that it might not receive by waiting on the Lord. Do you remember how believing Abraham refused to conquer by himself the land God promised him? Or how David refused to kill Saul to reach out the the promised throne of Israel, using his own arm and the sword? Do not trust the arm of the flesh, not even when it does all things correctly, in a friendly way or even to fulfil a promised end.
Man was the only creature (as far as we know) that has been created according to God's image. However, man is the creature which is further from resembling God today than most creatures on earth. Man does not glorify God at all. Try something. Take your dog and your wife and close them in the boot of your car. Who will yell at you and who will plead to come out? After an hour open it and see for yourself which one is angry at you and which is thankful. Later on, who is going to sleep in another room? I hope you do not do this, but it just shows how far man has wandered from his original heart and image God has given him.
One of the reasons we shouldn't judge our neighbour is because there are things we do not understand as God does. Besides, there are many wrong things for us which might not be so wrong for our fellow pilgrims to follow. That is why the greatest struggle we might be in for is the struggle of coming out of our own doctrinal views and aptitudes. We must come out of them without stepping into error. We cannot step into error after coming out of ourselves. However, there are many right things we easily consider wrong and many wrong things we may consider right. May God grant us the vision of that door which leads us out of ourselves to escape for our lives!
"Not walking in craftiness..." 2Cor.4:2. This means not walking according to plan, but rather according to nature. We shouldn't be able to feign our own behaviour or attitudes at all. If we do, it means we are hiding something and hiding is walking in darkness. Rather jump out of feigning and reveal your whole heart.
Sins like jealousy, greed, gossiping, feigning and, to a certain measure, bitterness are character habits and not character roots. These are often habits the body of death left behind in new beings. You need, therefore, to make a point of implanting a strong and careful discipline upon yourself to be on the guard against feeding these character habits. These die only whenever you stop feeding them all together if you are indeed dead with Christ. Do not forget this part of discipline whenever you hand your whole being to the Lord. Bad humour or any such kind of selfishness must be kicked out of you and not merely resisted or withstood. If you do not do that, you shall surely return to a dead state of heart and spirit.
As soon as we obey, we shall understand all!
I found I cannot look into the same things for long periods so as to remember and understand them better. So, I felt the option is to see them in a clearer way because important things must be easily recalled. It makes a better and lasting impression to look upon the with more light and in a clearer, perceiving way. The clearer I see truth, the longer it shall remain fresh within me. Get closer to the Lord to have a better look and so that things will be clearer and more visible to you. That is one way to solve many of our forgetfulness in the long run. I have never forgotten any of those things which have been clearly revealed to my soul and expectations. After the vision has become clear, hold on to it to the end, whatever happens. Its fulfilment and implementation depends on what you do to it. Be obedient to the vision of the Lord. The revelations of the Lord are like jewels left in your hand to make you faithful in doing and performing certain important tasks of the holy will of God. First the heart becomes faithful and then the will becomes important.
It is better for me when my life is right with God to think there is something wrong with it than to think my life is right and feel confident when my life is not in order before Him.
There are those who watch because of Jesus, I mean, because He is coming to them anytime and from anywhere. However, there are some in a higher stage who watch with Jesus. Are you watching with Jesus?
When someone wants to enjoy the benefits of a Godly life but does not wish to know God Himself, it amounts to plucking off the fruit from a garden without the knowledge of its owner. Even humans call it theft. Our ultimate goal must be to know God and not only to enjoy the fruit.
It is easy to understand a child when it fears darkness. But, how can we understand an adult who hides from light and lives in darkness all the time?
God trusts only a heart which has the inborn habit of depending on Him all the time to be faithful. God trusts a work in which He has shared His powerful grace fully or which He has carried out to the end.
The main war of God is not against people who are mean, but rather against the mean heart of people itself. However, anyone who holds on to sinfulness will end up destroyed along with sin; and whoever abandons sin shall surely enjoy the Redeemer. "And the Redeemer shall come to those who turn from transgression", Is.59:20.
Helping people is assisting them in what they want to do or something they find hard to carry out. Helping people is not assisting them in what they do not wish to do.
A deceitful heart is the most obvious, the most direct consequence of a separation from God. Our independence from the Lord results in such disasters which we shall never be able to avoid happening.
Every saved one comes out of Egypt. Have you already come out of the love of novels and any kind of worldliness? Only those who really came out of Egypt can consider themselves free people or saved ones.
"Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew", Is.6:2. It is interesting to see just how these seraphs flew around with their faces covered. They did not miss their way at all! We can assume they had covered their eyes as well. It could only mean they flew around being led and taken by the Spirit of God. Wouldn't you love to be led that way, even when your eyes were not covered?
Blaming whoever is guilty is not the same thing as saving the guilty. However, let's be aware that saving a guilty one without pointing out sin and guilt with harmonious precision is not possible at all. It is like a doctor analysing a disease thoroughly to give it a final death blow.
Only fairytales have endings. My story is real and so is my walking with Jesus. I will live forever. It shall not end.
Did you know that searching and finding the wisdom of God applies a death blow to all sorts of pride? "But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy", James 3:17. Many refer to poor people as "humble people". Through that assumption we are tempted to believe that rich people are proud. And that is not what the Bible says because pride and humility lives in the heart of man and does not consist of external circumstances. It depends mainly on what man is like inside. There are many poor people whose pride runs over. And we also know how humble and how rich Job and David had been, even though they were very rich. Have you ever felt a deep desire to be really humble and simple? Do not associate it with poverty at all, but rather to the wisdom of God and to a fully surrendered heart, whatever the circumstances are. Try to live out, experience and enjoy the wisdom of God in all its fullness and you will have a deep kind of humility resulting from that!
A friend called my attention upon something that made me think a lot. He talked about the revolution brought by the washing of hands in hospitals after each patient is treated. We know that most infections have been reduced to very low numbers. Then he said: "If the washing of hands made such a difference in hospitals concerning contagious diseases, how much more would the washing of hearts decrease the infecting of souls of men by sin!"
When man desires something, he undoubtedly considers it a good thing because he desires it. Consequently, if there is any blessing coming from God which man cannot recognize as such, it will be as a bad thing to him. If it is not what man wants, then it will seem like a bad thing.
Things become important only in the day they belong. Outside their proper day they can't become important and neither can they be seen as a duty. We need to maintain the overall vision God blesses us with but, we should never confuse one day with the other and the work that belongs to each day with some other day's work.
Give your words to the dumb, your legs to the lame, your eyes to the blind, your money to whom is in need, your love to everyone. Never think of receiving back anything at all, not even applause. Do not merely lend your legs, eyes or your sleep. Simply give it away. Have you given your whole self to Jesus?
My life is a continual management of promises and is my cooperation with God in them in all obedience.
Anyone becomes much richer by giving to the meek than by receiving from the proud.
Every time a family member gives himself to greed or to the love of money, fighting starts at home. "He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house", Prov.15:27. It happens because such people might choose money above buying food and other essentials; will prefer to steal from what should be given to God because we all know every rope breaks first where it has its weaker point; such a person will, also, try to dominate other's lives at home to satisfy his own greed. However, the worst part of it is that such sins always resemble good management of resources and the children at home learn those attitudes from fathers and mothers more than from anyone else. Children will the first to reflect the most obvious consequences of those attitudes at home. If this is the case with you, don't you think it is time to stop with it now? Will the outcome of any such sinning pay off in the long run?
I am so sure that I will have more hope and greater expectations at the door of death than anyone who doesn't know Jesus will ever have during any special moment of his whole living. I know all things God promised and talked about will be fulfilled then. Don't people get into a plain to go somewhere? The coffin will take me to heaven. What a marvellous thought! Are you also prepared?
The person who hides, ignores, neglects or buries away whatever God granted him to be faithful to, creates a graveyard in his own heart. God will always call upon such a person to answer for the smell of death coming out of him.
The idea that "prayer changes things" is not as true as the one that says that God changes us and we change things. However, none of them is completely right. It is true that God transforms us every time we near Him in prayer with a truthful heart and a honest cry. Transformation is a direct consequence of nearing God. But, we know we near God for the sake of many of those things we seek solutions for. The truth is that those things are transformed by us in God and by God in us. And we are also transformed along, this being the main reason and aim of the need of prayer created by God. Such wisdom is simply too wonderful to explain. But, if we manage to near God for the sake of God alone, the transformation which occurs in us is purer, more lasting and more adequate to holy beings - even though it might not take place in a quicker way than most half transformations we see by nearing God to find something else and not Him alone.
The person who less accepts advices from others is the one who can easily refer to past experiences which are not experiences anymore. Every time someone's life is not up to date, all references such a person has, entice the heart to believe it knows all, knows better and has close to nothing to learn from anyone else. This is the kind of danger Jesus warned us about when He said, "If, therefore, the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Mat.6:23.
When anything is robbing the peace of God from your heart in any way, one of two things is happening: you either have some hidden sin in your conscience which you refuse to put in the light and which you excuse off continually; or your relationship to Jesus is falsified, forced, forged and untrue. Would like someone near you in a forced way, trying to please you being present with an absent heart?
The worst enemy of love are those natural preferences we show towards people and which man easily assumes as being love. The worst enemy of sincerity and honesty is the appearance of honesty man often shows off with. The worst enemy of speaking the way we ought is eloquence. We could carry on and find many other worst enemies of all kinds of virtues.
Jesus never demanded that we accept Him the way people do it in church nowadays. That doctrine is not biblical. What Jesus demands from us is that we be fully surrendered to Him in all aspects of our lives and in all aspects of His will, both His will for us and His universal will for all. I mean that you cannot wish less for others than you are able to wish for yourself. That is the law and the prophets. In fact, the nowadays doctrines of accepting Jesus as they are put before people hinder that kind of surrender which God demands from all of us. I don't have any respect for such deluding doctrines which deceive people into believing they have peace "where there is no peace", Jer.. It hinders dead people to become living beings.
I cannot set as a goal for myself to do many things or many things at once. My only goal must be to do the best of one thing I need to do right now or today. This kind of discipline and dedication to what belongs to today are the foundations for the days which are still to come. Eternity is an infinite today. Be faithful to what is in your hand to do right now through the blessing of the Lord. That is how you become an eternal being.
God will surely dress me up with a garment of righteousness, just as Jacob gave a colourful garment to his son, Joseph. Jacob made it himself and so will God make mine. I will be righteous and pure and I will wear a colourful garment which will speak of God's love and mercy. My garment will be even more wonderful than the one Joseph had on him. Mine shall not be worn out and stained.
Kindness is not acceptance of evil. Never think that accepting evil is what goodness is all about. That can't be kindness because that is to make an alliance with evil. Goodness works against evil much like a cancer works against a body. It destroys evil from the inside. And no one will ever cooperate with his own death and no one will ever approve an own death. However, if you ever feel you are a bad, unkind person in any aspect of your whole being, you must walk towards Calvary. And we all know what happens there. Make a point of walking that way freely and willingly. There Christ shall kill you forever, so you shall rise a new being. The kind Life of God is what the Bible often mentions as being the seed which is able to save man from the inside. That kind of seed is corrosive in the heart of evil - it is not kind towards evil at all. That is why John says that the seed is able to preserve us and evil cannot stand against it in the long run. "Everyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God", 1 John 3:9. That seed works as a cancer against any kind of evil - not as a healer.
If, by any reason, all my work burns down or is destroyed, I will feel like having lost a precious son. I would feel like Job felt when he lost all his family to death. May God preserve me from that!
"...Those who delight in the perversities of the wicked...", Prov.2:14. Have you ever wondered if watching worldly movies and novels is wrong for you? Well, here the Bible talks against all those people who use their time to watch with pleasure what evil does. Watching worldliness is a kind of lust (of the eyes). "My eyes will behold no evil thing".
If the Bible talks about the "prosperity of the fools", it means that fools are often rich and prosperous. And if that is true, it can't mean that God has left me when I am poor. When Job lost all, it never meant God was against him.
When I owe money to a bank and I ask for another loan from them, it simply means I wont get my loan. Banks do not lend to anyone who hasn't paid them back before. If you owe anything to God or to people, how can you expect God will answer your requests? Will you have the confidence you need in prayer if you haven't been faithful to what God has given you in previous occasions? What do you still owe God? Your life or some of your money, perhaps? Have you given your whole life to God already? Can you trust God in all aspects of your whole living? It belongs to Him in the whole. If you still owe Him anything of it, I am sure you won't near Him with the confidence you need to have.
Greed takes away the life of anyone who befriends with it. You must choose between greed and being alive. Greed is soul sickness - it is a disarrangement. Unfortunately, people do not deal with sin the way they deal with some illness. If I have diarrhea I instinctively start figuring out what could be the cause of it or what bad thing could I possibly have eaten. But, when people are spiritually disarranged they don't do that. If you feel impatient and without peace, if you lost control over your heart and soul, if your heart is disarranged, why don't you try to figure out what the cause of that disarrangement is?
"My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent", Prov.1:10. There are many forms of enticement and seduction into sin. The devil can entice directly or lure people into sin indirectly by promising something 'good' through it. For example, someone may hit or rob your child and you can react in a wrong way. And afterwards you realize all the devil wanted was to use a reason for you to fall into some sort of temptation. We should be careful about all sorts of strategies the devil is able to devise against any of us. "Put on the whole armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil... For we are not ignorant of his devices", Ef.6:11, 2Cor.2:11.
The deeper the well, the purer and the cleaner the water shall be at the surface. The deeper you immerge into God, the cleaner your life shall be from the outside. Do not try to look good only when you can change for real. "Walk with Me and be perfect!" This means the main issue is to walk with the Lord. Perfection will naturally follow.
Never fear to refuse hastening or speeding up the proper time of the Lord for certain things. People usually fear to be delaying things which they are impatient about. Do not fear to deal thoroughly with impatience because the man who refuses to hasten the time of God will also easily refuse to have the proper timing of the Lord postponed or delayed. One thing leads to the other. That is the way a normal heart works. To refuse to hasten the time of the Lord is not the same as postponing things at all. It only means we want the right things to happen in their proper time and place. Today belongs to today. In fact, by trying to quicken or hasten the right time for something, often delays it. It means we are busy trying to hasten things and, by doing so, we cannot be busy with the preparation those things require to be fulfilled and accomplished in us. You must rather choose to be "a prepared people for the Lord" instead of trying to skip or avoid cooperating with God by whatever means He uses to have you dead and fully crucified and, consequently, resurrected with Christ and prepared forever - prepared for eternity. So, here is this double truth: if you try to hasten things, you will surely delay them; if you refuse to hasten them and rather use your precious and short time for the sake of your own preparation, you will undoubtedly "redeem the time". And the other truth is: if you find yourself busy with hastening times (which means you are filled with impatience and mistrust towards God and His timing), you cannot be busy preparing yourself for when those things shall happen and neither can you be filled with God. We cannot do two things at once or serve two masters at the same time. And woe to the servant who is unprepared when the Lord comes with what He has promised!
"Music are organized sounds; philosophy are organized thoughts; science is organized knowledge"; melody is organized beauty. Get organized!
As a rule and by the laws of spirituality, every person who understands something is someone who already practices in some way whatever he or she understands. That is a law of creation. Even Jesus said, "Whoever practices shall know". If you understand sin, it means you practice sin. If you cease to practice sin, you will gradually cease to understand it. The same principle can be applied to all aspects of our lives, whether it is our prayer life, cultural life, language or any other. If you understand English it is because you already practice it in some way, or you would not be able to understand it at all. Therefore, if you understand the ways of holiness, take courage and carry on living as God told you to. Do not be misled by accusations if you already understand and easily accept holiness. Find more of it in a practical way and you shall surely be given more and even better to understand. This is a rule which often causes people to waver to launch themselves into a life of faith and of undisputed trust in the Lord. People often do not understand it before they start practicing it. It is hard and too daring to hand our lives over to the unknown Lord of all. It will often seem too risky because we do not understand a thing about the practical consequences of what we are doing. But, let there be faith! Let there be more people who practice so they will gain good understanding. It will mean more people will have understanding or, at least, people will have more and better understanding. This is the main reason why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. It means people who fear the Lord start practicing out of fear and will gain the consequent understanding through what they do, or by what they are and, most important, of who God really is in or through them. Understanding is the main consequence of practicing.
We may be very busy with the things of God without being busy with God Himself. We may, also, be busy with the things of God outwardly while our hearts are consumed by worldly affairs. But, we may also be busy with material affairs while our hearts deeply hunger after God and to be with Him only. However, every time you are busy with God Himself, make sure you heart is wholly there and is not divided by anything else but is wholly filled with the Lord. That is what it means to seek Him with your whole of our heart. It means the heart is not divided between Him and something else.
Joseph learned many things during the years he had been a slave. He also unlearned many things. I believe it is more important to unlearn than to learn, even though we do both during heavy trials such as these. However, I believe the most valuable lesson Joseph learned was to do all and nothing but his best without doing it for a reward. He aimed at the reward of God alone. That is why he could rule the whole of Egypt later on. He was "a prepared people for the Lord" and he used his time very well during slavery.
All people who are led by a faith set ablaze by the Spirit of God always break some rules which are always valuable to society, to the religious circles they belong, to their cultural background and even to their communities. Tamar left her widow clothes and put on prostitute garments; Abraham sacrificed his own son and, being rich, sent the other away without anything but bread and water; David ate the bread which only priests were allowed to eat; David also used the ephod, something which some people were penalized for. We could mention thousands of examples more. This only proves that God is not bound to rules, whether good or bad, and much less to absurd rules.
If we put all we are and have into taking hold of Life, we are surely helping Life to get a full hold of us. This is why Paul says, "Lay hold of Eternal Life". However, we must never forget that Life allows us to do so because it seeks to get hold of us in every aspect of our whole living. By doing so, we often hasten times because the aim of God is to have "a prepared people" for Him. Then, our spiritual clock will be set according to God's and our heart will beat according to His. However, if this is the case, I mean, if we put all we have into getting hold of that Life which, by having us doing so, also gets hold of us, we must have in mind that we are putting all effort into finding the life we imagine as eternal and constant. I mean that we have an own idea of what that Life is. Therefore, when we seek to get hold of Life with all our might, we must add to our efforts an openness of mind which does not mystify or hinder the proper vision (appropriation) of that Life God has for all of us. By having an own idea of eternal life here on earth, many have taken hold of nothing and walk as if they have something to hold on to. Our hearts must be open to change its vision about Life without losing on perseverance because of having a short or wrong idea of what Life really is. When it does not happen that way, we shall surely enter the way of error and the proper ground for fanaticism will be created. Fanatic behaviour is to take hold of nothing. Consequently, God will need to pull those weeds of fanaticism out of us later on and through much pain on our part and, also, through much effort of His part.
When I lack comprehension and understanding of God and of my ways in Him, it can be only ascribed to some sort of disobedience somewhere. Spiritual darkness or blindness is always the fruit of some kind of disobedience somewhere, whether it is a direct fruit of disobedience, or fruit in a second or third degree. Do you want light? Just obey the Lord and light will surely be there assuring you. And if you think for a while you might, also, become aware that all religious fanaticism comes from disobedience because people become their own light because they lack the real one. Let's look into it the other way round. If you have much light and enlightenment and your life seems to go nowhere, be assured that you are obedient to God or you wouldn't share in that light at all. Do not be worried and rather wait on the Lord patiently. You will see that soon your life will be a complete whole and it will, then, make sense to you and to many others. "If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know...", John 7:17.
The average person has this intuition that we have problems to learn something out of them. Even if it occasionally may be true, the truth is that God wants you to unlearn something through your problems. Problems hinder us to be what we have become as well.
The reason why Jesus seems to be so strong-minded about all our relationships is that He knows that all relationships which do not have Him in the first place will inevitably end up against the rocks of sin and death. Are all your relationships based on that principle of having, honouring and holding on God first and above all? If not, you must assure yourself about how you will end, if it doesn't blow up in your face right now.
The generalized tendency of nowadays Christianity is to have people fully satisfied in a rut of wrong doings and wrong doctrines. All these doctrines are conceived to breed that sort of satisfaction in people who live in sin and to praise, talk about and commune with a Christ of their own minds. It works directly against the efforts of the Lord to get people out of that rut and have them believe and honour Him instead.
We who wish to be totally committed and faithful to the Lord don't talk much about personal experiences, but rather from personal experiences.
"Do not cease to pray". It means, do not give up before God grants all the requests which mean a lot to Him and to His glory. Unanswered prayers just don't seem to bring unbelief into us. We find we believe more and better as our deepest heart and faith is stretched to be reshaped. Hope needs to be sound and above suspicion, just as faith and love. Hope is to expect from God. And by expecting that way, we reject all means by which we are tempted to accept an easy way out for or an alternative way of attaining to what we expect to receive from the Lord Himself. Didn't David refuse to kill Saul with his own hands because it was God who would make him king over Israel?
Every time a wife or husband insists or demands from the partner that all things they do should be discussed among them, it means the one who demands does not wish to discuss what he or she does, but only what the other one does. If you complain against your partner on this issue be assured that you are the one who is unwilling to talk about what you do. If you discuss your stuff with your partner, however, so will you partner discuss with you what he or she needs to do. Remember that the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled whenever you do to others whatever you wish to be done to you. And an example is usually a teaching mode and soon the two will be doing the same thing because it seems the right thing to do.
We shouldn't only be motivated by the Lord but also have the same motives He has. God can't motivate us unless our motives are His.
No one is able to trust a man who is suspicious of everyone else or of everything else. Not even a dog can trust a man who is afraid of it. It is a law in nature. The suspicious man judges the lack of faithfulness he sees in others and we know what that means. It means that whoever sees such errors in others in such an unproven way has those sins himself. This is why a suspicious man can't be a reliable person since he himself is spreading around an odour of unfaithfulness. This is the explanation and the reason why we can't trust a suspicious man.
Jesus received many blows and many agonizing stings a long time ago. No one stood by Him at the time. Today he receives the same blows in the person of His holy children. However, if each of His children would walk two or three miles every time they were told to walk one, they would be distributing the wonderful fragrance of their Lord and would be glorifying Him. It is always the glory of God which is at stake. His glory is what evil is aiming at. And God allows it to happen because it may bring Him greater glory just as it can do the opposite. God risks His glory by allowing these confrontations with evil. Sometimes He achieves outstanding results from us. If we walk more than the mile people demand from us, we receive the blow aimed at the Lord. Now we can receive all blows aimed at Him. It is time to do so, just as at Gethsemane was the time for evil to have its way against Jesus.
The main reason why many don't know much about God's time for something to happen is that people easily become proud about what they know. Many are pleased with what they have and many are more so with what they know.
Our insistence in proving that we are right about something just shows we may not be right in some aspect of our lives, even when that aspect is not the one we claim to be right about.
Our insisting on providing for ourselves proves that we are refusing to wait on God's provision and on His perfect timing. It may also show that God is about to provide. The closer God's provision is, the more people are inclined to provide for themselves and to become impatient.
We should be able to smell truth out because the truth leaves its fragrance all around. Besides, we have all the means and capacities since creation to find and lodge truth as truth. This is why we won't have any excuse to miss out on truth.
God is not a hypocrite. He is good to bad ones just as He is good to good ones. He is what He is all the time. He does not depend on what we do to Him or to anyone else to be good to us, unless He chooses to exhort us through our circumstances because we are His Children. Children of the Lord experience the rod more than the average sinner does. However, humans are used to their sinfulness, which is to be good and kind to all those who do them good and to be naturally inclined to be mean towards all the rest, even towards those who are passive and indifferent towards them. Now, because they are like that, they assume that is how God is. And when they think of God as good, they believe it means He will do some good towards them. They shall also naturally assume God does them good because they are right with Him. Were they not right with Him, it means to them that He would be mean towards them in this present life. They conclude that God would never be good to them unless they had been acceptable to Him. They have an unconscious and distorted vision of God and think He is as an average sinner and expect God to act like the average human being would. Do not say you are right with God too quickly, especially not on account of what you receive in daily life. If God is good to you in some way, try to believe it happens because He is good towards anyone and not because it is you. Do not use the fact that God is good as an excuse not to fix your life right away. Do not easily assume everything is right between you and Him only because He has been good to you in some way. Remember that the Lord won't pull the weeds out of the corn field till Judgment Day. And if God is good, so should we be. "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?", Mat.5:46-48.
Every time water boils too quickly we assume there is too little water in the pot. And we may not be wrong about it. Whenever there is plenty water, it takes much longer to reach a boiling point, unless the water is already somewhat hot. We may state the same thing about faith and spiritual enthusiasm. Many boil in faith and enthusiasm too quickly and too easily. They haven't really thought deeply about many things and about the real character of the Lord. "Some (seeds) fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth. And they sprang up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth", Mat.13:5.
Be careful with those things to which God hasn't said no and about which He keeps quiet. If God hasn't said "no" or "yes", He can still say either of them. Don't make up your mind as to what God's answer shall be, at least not before He can answer you for real. Maybe you are the one hindering a real answer. And if God keeps quiet, it means He can grant you your request as soon as you are "a ready people for the Lord" and as soon as God sees the disposition in you to remain faithful to Him after you receive. God may also delay a "no" for that same reason. Perhaps He doesn't find in you the disposition to receive a "no" as an answer and to believe God has something better for you. You keep battling on and on with the same request only because your heart disposition isn't the best. Will you remain faithful to God if He says "no"? And if He grants you your request, will you?
If it would be possible, it would be much better for any of us to do the wrong thing the right way (through the Lord), than to do the right thing the wrong way. It is worse to use strange fire on the altar of God than to put there the wrong offering. That was the main reason why David refused to kill Saul when he could have done so, even though Saul was destined to die. David realized he could not become king the wrong way, by own hands. We should always refuse to save ourselves, to provide for ourselves and to do anything else for ourselves which God is about to do Himself.
When God speaks to the heart of man, it does not mean it is the heart speaking at all. God speaks to the heart and not through the heart. And whenever God speaks, the heart does not speak - it listens in stillness. However, whenever you answer God, make sure your heart also speaks. John Bunyan said: when you pray, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
Avoid any form of life that does not take into account the possibility of evil and sin. Avoid an unprepared life. The prepared life watches knowing it must live God's life without resisting evil. By taking into account evil is out there, it helps us not to pay attention to it when bad things happen because we expected them to withstand us in some way. It doesn't come as a surprise and we carry on living God's life as if nothing happened. A prepared life is not surprised by evil and, therefore, is prepared to carry on doing whatever God has left in its hands to be faithful to right to the end.
Every cause of God is important, but God is more. The same principle is applied to us by the Lord: we are more important to Him than the work we do. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?", Mat.16:26.
There is no time more confusing than when our goals or motives are being changed along with us. It is a time when we lose all. However, press on and soon the rest will be there. There is no alternative way. We must get through it.
Whatever is limited is also limiting. Let me explain. Usually people come to God and are satisfied with very little from Him. They have never experienced peace and the little peace or a fragrance of real love they experience is already more than overwhelming to them. Consequently, they start limiting God to their experience because they can't figure out how great God is yet. Little is more than they expected and little is just too big for them. They hold on to a limited view of Him and of His power from then on. They are happy with a fountain when God wishes it to turn into a powerful river. The vision is limited and, consequently, it shall also be limiting the person in daily life because such people do not take into account that there is abundance in God for which they are not able to make provision for. Whatever we receive from the Lord needs to be multiplied and must become according to Him. "Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power...", 2Pet.1:2.
Every pure man who is in fellowship with Jesus is someone who will always allow God to convince him instead of convincing himself. That is mainly how he avoids being in error about many things. That way he also avoids pressuring God with his own will or with the will of any other man. Faith is to be fully persuaded and fully convinced by God and by His word.
The work of God is mainly what we are and not what we do for Him.
The best vision you may have is the vision of your heart under the Light of God because no one knows himself but through Jesus, even though light and Jesus are the ones who change the heart; the best gift is the ability to fix our lives under that light; and the best revelation we will have as soon as our lives and hearts are spotless and clean.
Any unbeliever or faithless Christian has many sorts of difficult problems to solve. Here is an example. Whenever God says something it is supposed to happen as God said it would. However, the faithless man shall not see it happen even when God has said it. That will make the unbeliever or faithless Christian even more unbelieving since he does not see God's word being fulfilled at all. The right voice disappointed him. Next time he hears God again he might not take it as God speaking. Whatever God says may never be associated with unbelief and lack of faith or God will become a stumbling block.
The more I understand of the Bible, the more I am aware that theologians, Christians and preachers have abandoned the right way. The Biblical truth is thrown into a corner and piled up in the selves of hatred and threats of nowadays Christians, even if they do not admit it. These times are worse than those we read about when the priests found the Book of the Law thrown in dusty places somewhere in the temple of God, 2 Kings 22:8.
There is a wrong way to do the right thing and many try to do the wrong thing the right way. Let me give an example. You can try to do God's will through the arm of the flesh or you can plead to God for His power to carry out your own will. Beware because there are many ways to enter the way of error.
An ignorant person who does not make use of wisdom in his daily life is usually an unbelieving person who also trusts no one. He is always suspicious of everyone else's opinion. The reason for that is very simple: all ignorant people believe they know all because their lack of knowledge does not make them people who can evaluate what they do not know. And because they believe they know all, it so happens that anything they consider new to their knowledge or experience is enough motive to be suspicious about because they do not believe there is still something to know outside their range of experiences, expectations and knowledge.
Let's talk now to people who usually walk with God. Have you ever taken notice that every time you step out of the way of the Lord or out of the relationship with Him (even if you are not aware you are doing sot) temptations become stronger than ever? Have you given some thought to it? Why does it happen that way? I believe that is so because God leaves us at the mercy of the devil and sin since we have abandoned Him.
Timid people are proud people and the daring are humble and often receive from the Lord who "gives grace to the humble". There is a huge association between humility, daring and receiving. If the daring receive, they must be humble people or grace would not be distributed to them at all.
Ruth was a Moabite, a stranger to the people of God and to the ways of God. Yet, she was an example to the very people of God. Isn't it strange? We would think that she could be, at the most, a consolation or a joy to them by equalling them. However, she outstood them. Her virtues and dedication outstood those of the people of God. How shameful!
Samuel was dedicated to the Lord by his mother. However, that dedication wouldn't avail him anything unless the dedication became a personal issue and an intervention of his will. His mother's dedication of him meant only he could count on God's blessing from birth. He had still to dedicate his heart to God personally so that God could find a dedicated heart in him. If someone else dedicates us to God it won't affect our own will at all. Slaves were forced to be slaves and they were seldom dedicated to their owners. No one owns our will and it needs to love the Lord freely and out of itself. Dedication and consecration is the dedication of the will of man to God.
John the Baptist was not only full of the Spirit, but he was famous and spoken about since birth. God prepared everything inside his heart as well as on the outside.
Both Elizabeth and Zachariah, the parents of John the Baptist, have been filled with the Spirit (Luk.1:41,67). Their son needed parents filled with the Spirit so they could raise him and instruct him in the true ways of the Lord through a personal example. It wouldn't be enough to be believers. We all need to be living beings to walk on living ways.
The public opinion seldom matches with the opinion of God. Do you remember how people wanted to name the baby as Zachariah whom God wanted to be named as John? (Luk.1:59-63).
Have you ever taken some time to think what things are the real hindrances to God's work in us and through us? Think of all the conditionals you put forward when God or your conscience say something. Whenever you are able to put forth a condition so you may do something for the Lord or by the Lord, you must know you are withstanding the Spirit or your own conscience. You should rather cooperate with Him.
Paul and Barnabas had a huge argument in Antioch against the circumcision people who arrived there, Act.15:2. There was nothing strange about it, though. However, the strange part is the church sending Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to enquire what the apostles had to say about it so that the matter could be settled. Paul and Barnabas were one of the interested parts. Even so, they were trusted to the point of being the ones commissioned for the job. When Paul came to Jerusalem it seems he did not mention anything about the matter and it came out to discussion by itself. Paul was indeed trustworthy and trusted the Lord would cause the matter to be on the discussion table. I don't know about you, but this story calls my heart and attention towards many things. The church trusted Paul and Barnabas to the point of believing their opinion would not be used to influence the apostles in Jerusalem; they trusted in God so much that they knew the trust bestowed upon them by the church would not be in vain; and God worked according to their expectations. It seems Paul did not mention a word about what had taken them there, and yet, the answer they looked for had been granted as they expected.
The instinct to hide has started with Adam and Eve. Sin caused people to think of hiding first, even before they have sinned or done anything wrong. That sort of instinct has a life and a power of its own now. I have seen people hiding or excusing themselves even when they do something good. Now we have to deal with these new realities of lies which, at the time of Adam, were mere unknown consequences of sin. They are not mere consequences anymore. People need to learn to expose as well as to live with God. In fact, exposing must be the first thing they must learn to do. People need to know it is not possible to hide any sin from God and, eventually, from people, no matter how hard they try. Even if it were possible to hide, the desire to expose must be there. They must also know that hiding is useless and is a waste of energy. It is, also, a squandering of precious time. We cannot consider hiding or abstracting oneself from people as a part of personality at all. It isn't. It is a parasite clinging to personality. We cannot become new people and have old habits of hiding and nor may we remain old and change some expressing new habits to avoid a real conversion. All must become new in us, in and out. There is nothing which shouldn't be new in us.
It is very important to know that when we are found under great trials for the sake of God's will, we are always put before a double choice: we may seek God for the sake of our problems or we may decide to seek God for His sake. You must know every trial is an opportunity to decide whom you shall serve. What are your motives behind your seeking of God? If you indeed seek to find God for His sake alone, you need to know that your problem will also be surely solved one way or another, one day or another.
"Then, indeed, the churches (...) they were increased with the help of the Holy Spirit", Act.9:31. Let me tell you what this help of the Holy Spirit was. We easily say we have done something with the help of God and much of it is nothing but false humility. Remember when Peter preached and thousands were converted? That was the help of the Holy Spirit. Remember when Philip was taken from one placed to another? That was the help of the Holy Spirit. I am trying to make two points here. One is that people often say they did something or achieved something through the help of the Holy Spirit and any honest person can realize it has been done through the flesh or for fleshly purposes. The other point is that the apostles lived with these great things and described it simply as "the help of the Holy Spirit". They did not describe it any other way and nor did they entice people into emotional sign-seeking or sign-praising. Today these things would be considered great miracles and would create great havoc among people because few people, or no one, would consider it merely "the help of the Holy Spirit". Many would even consider it as the goal and not as the means or the help of God. Beware when people are easily flirted and proud, or emotionally active as if "the help of the Holy Spirit" is something strange, unknown and unusual to them. Don't trust such people who say emotion is the help of the Holy Spirit.
Make sure your enemies persecute you because of the gospel and not because of you. If people persecute you, let it be because of the truth and not specifically because you might have wronged them in some way. "For what glory is it if you patiently endure while sinning and being buffeted? But if you suffer while doing good, and patiently endure, this is a grace from God", 1 Pet.2:20.
When God frees us from the persecution of our enemies and from the enemies of the gospel, it should feel sweet only because by that we know God is with us. It is not the same as feeling happy and revengeful against our enemies. It is sweet to know God is with us since persecution creates in us many opportunities and situations to doubt Him.
Any small or weak man always thinks highly of himself. He feels always strong and powerful. The great man, on the other hand, feels small and insignificant or he wouldn't be great. And what makes any man great is not the way he feels, but his active nearness to Jesus and His powerful life. The more I grow towards Jesus at the cost of self, the stronger I will be. However, when man experiences his own death, he feels weak and is tempted to feel worthless and tempts God. We should know that the more we lose of ourselves, the greater we shall become in God's own eyes and it won't matter what people say about it. Let's look to find our way towards being small for real instead of looking for greatness. Let's find a type of smallness which can never be faked or be apparent only. Finding smallness for real is the kind of greatness that counts. Let's seek to be small and not great.
Pride or vanity is a feeling of inferiority. Whoever feels unconsciously or ignorantly inferior to others is tempted to make up for the diminishing loss he feels or "experiences" towards others. Feeling proud or presumptuous is a way to make up for the lies people believe easily. We should know we are alike. It doesn't matter how much you strive to be better than others - you will always be like others. It is your mind which tricks you into thinking that you can be better than others.
God doesn't give because I am faithful. No. It is I who am in a state of faithfulness which makes it possible for me to receive from the Lord. God isn't good only when He gives - He is always good. It is receiving which is good to me. God is good, whether He gives or takes away.
It is surely true that God does not answer our prayers if our lives or consciences are stained with something, whether it is something we consider great or small. However, we cannot say God grants because we are clean. No. He hears us and we hear Him because we are clean and are found in His presence. Granting our request is something which comes after that. We are heard and spoken to because we are clean. But, being heard is not similar to being granted the request at all. We are heard because we are clean and granted because we have asked under such conditions. We cannot take for granted God will grant anything we want because we are clean. We have, however, the assurance He will hear us when we are clean. Being clean in the heart makes it possible for us to see God and ask Him in a way He shall ponder all our requests.
Any man ashamed of God is always someone who might never be ashamed of sin. This coin has two faces. But, if you happen to be ashamed of God and of sin, choose your way and stop being greedy.
"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes", Dan.9:1-3. The whole expression of honesty in prayer is so visible in Daniel on this occasion. He didn’t care whether things promised had to be fulfilled by themselves, or expected to happen soon, as some hypocrites do. He went straight to God holding on to a promise and poured his whole heart and faith before God and was heard.
"And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh" Jud.1:23. God has called us to hatred towards the very garment of fleshly things - not to look away from it! How else will we pull people out of it if we do look back or away from it? Whoever looks away loves himself alone! He fears sin and not God, loves self and not people, preserves self from hell and not holiness within and without. Holiness looks straight in the eyes of any sin and overcomes anything. Self looks away from filth because it still loves it. Holiness looks into it because it fears it not, at least not anymore! His seed keeps him spotless. It hates sin. Dare to cut your hand off only when it is able to cause you to stumble. If not, however, use it to exterminate all kinds of sin within you. You cannot hate whatever you are not able to look at. What is the reaction in your heart when you look upon sin? Hatred or fear? Hatred against sin is a solemn protection against it. However, it is shameful when people hate other people's sins and not their own.
The contents of the heart must be made good first, just as creation was made good and acceptable to God. Once it has happened, the whole of it all must be poured out back unto God anyhow and anyway, using one effort or a thousand. The expression of the new nature is a acceptable sacrifice to God. But, the expression can be learned from culture or from sticking around with Christians. Then, it is hypocrisy and not an expression of the new nature.
People who pray are courageous, for they are never thrown down when their eyes are open enough to see things as they are. Negligent people run away from the sight of those horrors which are able to drive heroes to prayer. Did Ezekiel run away from the sight of bones filling a valley? (Ez.37). When God shows you disgrace, that is meant to drive you to pray for grace. He shows you the need as it is so you should provide for the solution.
You cannot expect God to hear the voice of your prayers if you do not hear His voice when you pray. If you are able to hear Him, it means He is listening to you as well. Then, how can you expect God to answer you praying if you do not obey what you know He has said as well?
Any real revival starts off only after all sins are fully dealt with and successfully and unconditionally confessed one by one and forsaken.
It cannot be regarded as sin to believe God is not with you when He is not and as long as you don't doubt the fact that He is not with you. Sin is, not believing truth.
It is commonly argued that one should feel at home here or there. But I found I need to be at home to feel at home, I need to be loving to feel loving, I need to have joy to feel the joy, I need to indeed have the Lord to talk to Him and experience His presence for real to state He is there and with me.
Doubt turns the need of faith visible just as much as unbelief tells us there must be something worth believing in.
What the Lord likes, I like; whatever He does not like, I put it in my heart to despise it utterly anywhere, anyhow, any time - even if I like it!
It takes a proud hearer to hear and listen to a proud prophet. There are false teachers because there are false listeners who wish to hear according to their own deceit. "...They will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, having itching ears", 2Tim.4:3.
The Lord Jesus was not born on Christmas day, yet He can be born in any heart. If we can celebrate Christmas and God Himself still blesses it, He not being born in that day, how greater a blessing will Jesus carry out in the heart where He has been born. We celebrate the fact that He has come to us and, for that purpose, any day will do. Let it be Christmas day.
All teachers who have a deep and sound relationship with God are never alike. One must show and teach different things to people according to their need and, above all, as one is able to put truth forth. Nevertheless, everyone deserves all credit for being a servant of God - as long as they are. Because needs are different, there must be different teachers as well.
Think for yourself: just how pleased and delighted are you when people speak and think well about? Perhaps you are your own idol and, if so, be sure there will always be people who please your idol along with you as well as such who despise it. If you have no idol anymore, who cares who despises it or applauds it? Put the Living God in the throne of your heart.
If even Barnabas was deceived into error by a dissembling attitude, Gal 2:13, how much more will a genuine, perfect life invite and lead into the right way!
To walk a most holy life will cause us to spare on time greatly, and people will easily realize what it is all about when we talk about God. But, to walk according to the course of this world, being a Christian, will not redeem on the time, will not salve or sanctify whoever is searching for God - it might delay or even close the way forever.
My little doggie is afraid of thunder and it hides away and seeks comfort because of fear when clouds roar far away – it believes it is in danger. When I hold it, it feels safe only till the next noisy thunder disturbs its peace again. If I only could get into his little mind to explain clouds roar like that and especially that it has nothing to do with us down here and that they will not reach us since those are disputes between clouds and clouds. If I could do the same to sound Christians in search of a deeper Life with God and tell them about a certain roaring, bluffing, lying and blaspheming lion as well who wishes to attract their attention away from God!
Any teacher who does not teach how to be taught and to be fully led by God, is not worthy of his title nor of his reward!
It is an experienced man who needs exercising. People who do not have holiness installed in them, need to learn it as much as they need to have and experience it. It is like a computer program: you hear and learn about it, how and what to download; you download, install it and later use it and learn how to make the best of it to create and live on with it that way. Updates will be installed if one needs to do so. "And this will we do, if God permit", Heb 6:3.
Whatever hinders man to reach out to God, will inevitably hinder God to reach out to man. Whatever makes man reach God, will turn God's face towards man.
"Listen to no man who often fails to listen to God", someone said.
You should never have peace if God is not around you or in you. If God is far from you, if His absence is felt and it strikes you deeply, you should neither try to be at ease nor at rest. It is better to be reprimanded by God because of unbelief, then to be assured by the devil that you are a believer. The only peace which will seal our heavenly passport will be the one we may experience or have in the presence of God. Seek to be there and believe because you have life and it causes you to believe the right way: "Whoever believes, has Eternal Life" already within him.
When you exchange trusting Jesus for Jesus Himself, maybe the world will speedily change around you. People easily relate themselves with trust and not with Jesus.
To delight in God, self must not be there to be delighted upon anymore or to be still seen as a delight.
When one is not taught of God or not teaching to be taught of God, one is breaking the New Covenant, Jer.31:30-34
Anyone able to discern falsity in a false apostle who is keen in preaching, is surely one who will spot Paul in a crowd as Barnabas did.
When people wish after something strongly, it makes them want to believe God will or is speaking to them about that thing. But, God speaks when He does and not when we are wishing to hear Him speak about something. Beware of your own heart when you are looking for a real answer from God which He will grant: it is not God who is confusing you, but the answer your own heart wishes to have.
If the greatest blessing is to have God in His fullness, even when we have nothing (riches, health or worldly business), the greatest curse must be when we have it all on earth and are not aware of God or the need of Him because we lack nothing, want nothing and don't realize we are just too poor, Ps.73.
I didn’t know what to think when God tells us something to do or to pray for and it does not work out. It is like when Jesus told His disciples to go and prepare Him a place to stay somewhere in Samaria and it did not work out, Luk.9:51-53; or when, after having expelled some demons out of an oppressed person, He could not enter the cities He was intending to go to preach to, Luk.8:39.
Disobedience is sin, sometimes it is the very curse for mingling with sin – so it is to obey the wrong thing, which amounts to the same thing. People just cannot get an obedient heart and ear because they do not enter the narrow door. Sometimes disobedience is sin and, sometimes, sin it is the very curse of sin.
Being bored is being impatient. Being bored can be caused by wishing to do the wrong thing as well. "For if these things are in you and abound, they make you to be neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ", 2 Pet.1:8. It can be doing the right thing the wrong way, it can be doing the wrong thing the right way. Being bored is sin or caused by sin - even when you are doing nothing.
To love as we should is seldom to love as we can.
It is change of heart which God seeks from us. Hannah wanted a child for herself because she was scorned by others for being unable to have children. She kept the desire for a child burning within her and changed the heart of the request and promised to give the child to God. Instead of wanting it for her, she decided to give it to God. God says, “an eye for an eye” and by that we understand why Paul said, “for as you have yielded your members as slaves to uncleanness, and to lawless act unto lawless act, even so now yield your members as slaves to righteousness unto holiness”, Rom.6:19. Do not change the request when you see your motives are wrong. Rather change the heart or you will not fulfil the Law of God. The gospel is a change of heart, an eye for an eye: whatever you would use or do for worldliness, now you use or do for God.
It is so strange that the word of a living God, who said “let there be light” and there is still light to this very day, can be made fruitless – not by the devil, not by opposition of any kind, but by breeding cares for this world, through impatience and concerns about what we shall eat and dress tomorrow or even further ahead!
If you live well without those things that God takes away from you and stay undisturbed close to Him all the way and almost unconsciously, you will live well with whatever He grants you as well. As you can see, it is very important to be satisfied in God and with God all the time. If you are satisfied with Him under heavy trials, you will surely satisfy your soul with living bread even when you are rich. We should be content to live in or by His abundant Life anyhow, anywhere.
After God has heard any prayer and you know it, the amount of prayers concerning the same request just shows how selfish you are about it all and why God needs to delay it to give you time to separate the chaff of selfishness from the wheat of holiness.
People under a heavy yoke, if they live with God close by and still complain about the yoke because they are more conscious of the yoke than of God and love, will surely either complain against God or deny Him once that yoke is removed. Once they find themselves free of trials they will not be faithful to God because they have not been faithful at all and have chosen to seek Him and have Him alone under the heaviness of trials and under temptations. The Israelis who complained against Pharaoh are the ones who complained against God in the desert. They died in that desert by the curse of God because they complained against Him and His will. We read that "God knew them" under that yoke in Egypt where they complained, Ex.2:25. Unsatisfied people are always hungry to feed self - if they complain because they do not feed themselves under Pharaoh, they will also deny God. Were they faithful in Egypt, they would be faithful in the Promised Land or anywhere else.
If words are fire already, they need not be put on fire anymore. Many pastors put a lot of trust on the way they preach and scream. However, it is the words which need to have the fire of God, however simple they are. It is one thing to express our whole hearts and God's - it is another to try to gain some credit and consideration by the way we speak.
Jesus came to make us free to do and not to make bound to do. Beware of overdoing when God wants you to do. Freedom may, also, cause ex-slaves to be slothful because they don't know how to deal with something they never experienced before: freedom. Any bondage causes people not know how to do things out of a will that has been made free and willing.
God is not merciful towards sin - He is merciful against all sinning and sin. The more God is against sin, the more merciful He is.
Presumption is there because we either do not see God or we have not God to see Him at all.
Everyone thinks to get into a door before it closes, go to a store while its doors are still open. Yet, many just do not search to find grace to use it in a future time of need. Only fools wait till they have to knock at a closed door which will not open again. There is a certain time to go to the store of Grace and there will be a time when even virgins will stay out.
It is not wrong to think mathematics when we do it with the Lord. It is not right to read or think about the Bible when one is doing it without God.
People, nowadays, are not rejecting God – they are rejecting Christians.
“Behold the Lamb…” should always become the only words coming from people who wish to cause praise to erupt from everyone else. They should not say “Let’s praise the Lord”, but rather, “Behold the Lamb of God”. They should direct people to the vision. Then praise will be natural and spontaneous.
Unbelief is the fruit of a sin somewhere, just as much as faith - genuine faith - is the fruit of a genuine fellowship with a HOLY Spirit. This is the main mystery of faith: "Having the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience", 1Tim.3:9. Are you unbelieving perhaps? Repent and go back to where you have fallen. "Holding faith and a good conscience, which some have put away and made shipwreck as to faith", 1Tim.1:19
Unbelief is fed by stubbornness and to be stubborn is to be unbelieving and to be unbelieving is to be stubborn. Hence, a believer is obedient from nature by being free from the world and bound to God as He is. To be bound to God as He is not, is to be bound to oneself and it is as good as being unbelieving.
Every temptation has the power to put you into sin just as it has the power to make you take a stand against it. All temptations have the means, as well, to put you into a useless battle which is already won inside you – beware.
You can measure the success in the Christian life by the amount of obedience to God and to His words which is exercised willingly and faithfully - that kind of obedience that you are mostly unaware of.
If riches are not the things which lead us to Christ, surely, poverty is not what will be able to separate us from Him either. We may assume that any man who is selfishly worried during times of lack, is someone who will easily be tempted to neglect His Lord once his needs are fulfilled. Those are the reactions coming from the same heart put before different situations. If you pray to God because you are poor and find Him, make sure your heart changes before you become rich or blessed materially! We must look beyond being sustained by God and beyond receiving answers to prayers. We must, also, look beyond not being answered and fulfilled. Whoever seeks God because he is poor, will cease to follow Him once He has made rich. Whoever is not faithful in the little he has because he uses his mind and time to worry, will never be faithful in greater things that God may grant. This same principle applies itself in all areas of our lives, including marriages or sickness. Make sure you change (or make sure you see the need to change) before rather than after God has blessed you in some unexpected way. Maybe, He is blessing to work out a need to change in you and you did not understand it that way.
We all know we need grace and graceful means to be able to live with God and for God. Many people become worked up and discuss things doctrinally about our need to meet God. How will you meet me without knowing me? How will you know Him without meeting Him for real? How would you ever meet God without Him being fully present? And we know, to be saved is nothing more than to come to know God as He is.
When we do things for ourselves God’s way, it can’t be selfish at all. Whenever we do things for others or supposedly for God our way, it is the fulfilment of selfishness.
What tires man out is self and not work. Let self die and the yoke of Christ will be lighter than a feather, as natural and as light as nothing else can ever be.
God says we should ask “Where is the Lord” and not say “The Lord is here” unless what we say is true and real. People in charge of the things of God quite often tell others to believe God is there among them as make them feel safe far from God. “And they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me. The priests said not, Where is the Lord?” Jer.2:8. True revival starts when we ask “where is the Lord”, looking back to the way He has been with the twelve apostles - including Paul - just as Israel should be inquiring about the Lord that brought them out of Egypt and out of the slavery of sin.
Eve hid things behind leaves simply because she became aware of the things she tried to hide. She was hiding it from herself merely, not from God. But she believed she was hiding from God. In fact, she was hiding from her own shame. Scripture says she was hiding and not hiding from God. It is like a child closing his eyes and believing he is hidden from everyone else. Hiding from God is like trying to hide things from ourselves. We cannot hide from God!
People fight for the opinion of others because they do not want to loose the opinion they may have about themselves. In truth, it is not the opinion of others that matters for them, but rather the opinion they breed and have concerning whatever they are or believe they are. They are afraid others' opinions will change their own. The opinion of others sustains them in thinking and believing highly of themselves.
Many people hide things for many reasons. Adam and Eve did hide, yes, simply because they were ashamed and felt lost - something they never experienced before and did not know how to handle. But, these days people hide through pride, because of stubbornness and due to that delight of showing to others they are not wrong, trying to win the prize which exists only in their minds. They cannot stand to loose a mere argument or be taken as bad. The fact is, people nowadays decline to reveal for more reasons than the ones Adam and Eve had and we should never comply to any of them nor take those as acceptable reasons, especially for us. The fact is that one that hides is a looser thinking and believing he is gaining something.
I believe a rich man who is holy in and through his money is able to achieve great things, even though he might go through greater hardships and temptations than a poor man who has only self-pity and pride to strive against. One can and may have a holy marriage or no marriage and also be holy. One should be found faithful in or through any gift coming from God, whether it is health or sickness, apostleship or computing - let us do all for the Lord, whatever it may be achieved for Him and through Him.
If you have a living encounter with Jesus, you either become like Him or like the devil. The disciples managed to live with Jesus and they turned to be like Him eventually and eternally, while the Pharisees became extremely bad by having Jesus too close. Jesus' living made trees either good or bad, Mat.12:33. Profound conviction may turn us into most holy beings or into people who stone Steven. No one will ever remain the same after a genuine, real, unmistakable encounter with Jesus or with truth. If that encounter is real, we will either end up as Judas or as Peter and John. Never again will we be the same. If you are praying for real revival, you should expect these things to happen this way because people will suffer real encounters with the Spirit of Jesus. Do not dare to believe all will be well after the way called "Holiness" is opened up in the desert where you live, Is.35:8. Things will be really different among bad people as well as among holy ones. You shall see holiness as you have never imagined it possible and you shall see evil as you have never seen it before. Make sure you aren't surprised when it happens. And, if bad ones are converted to the Lord, you should also know that, the worst people are, the better they may become because God is really at work. Never be dismayed nor stunned by the realities of the workings of God. The waters will open up and it will separate between a nation for God and another for hell. Before that, the difference was minimal or difficult to detect. Make sure you don't become numb when it happens. Do not offend God by being stunned when God is at work. Admiration is unbelief in disguise. Unbelief reacts that way when things happen. It admires because it refuses to change. If you prepare yourself for greater works now, you might not offend God through admiration and by acting surprised when He comes down.
Prayers with no answers or with no concluding outcome (a yes or a no), are not prayers at all. They might be a waste of time. Make sure you are right with God before you pray.
There are times we believe we are fine and we aren't; there are times we believe we are not fine, but we are well and only do not feel it that way; there are times we are not well feeling fine, and not well feeling bad too. Feeling well when we are well is a perfect feeling - so is feeling bad when we are in a bad state.
There are people who are afraid to do, since they fear to do things without God and there are people who overdo things because they feel they need to appease their consciences by doing. We may rest assured, either way, that there is no man as active and actively engaged in God's will as he who stands up to take his full rest in God continuously. Find your way into the rest of God, that kind of rest which still remains to be found by the people of God all over the world, Heb.4:9.
If we love ourselves, God’s work might be done. However, it shall be done at our inconvenience. If, however, we love God’s work and God above all, there is nothing to deny because all is denied and replaced for a better love already.
If God talks to us we will become either meeker or harder, depending on how we react to Him. One thing is certain: we shall never be the same again. If we hear and obey, we shall change for the better; if we hear and neglect His voice, or disobey it in some way, or obey it partially, we shall become harder, more impatient and more obstinate than we have ever been. No one can avoid it happening that way. Have you ever seen someone becoming more obstinate and yell more than ever? Has that person heard the gospel or has he heard God speak to him recently? The conclusion you may take is: that person has not been obedient. When God speaks to us we may either become like angels or like demons.
Each of Jesus' prayers has been heard by the Father. He has prayed that we be one with the Father and the Father with us, (John 17). Unless we become one with the Father now we will be very lonely people because of that prayer. If you refuse to be one with the Father through ignorance or unwillingness, the fact that you feel lonely proves that prayer has been heard. Now, the choice is yours: you either become one with the Father or remain lonely forever. You cannot stop feeling lonely by trying to have the company of people instead of being one with the Father. Only He can fill the gap.
"Through Your Commandments I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way", Ps.119:104. This does not mean obeying the commandments is understanding, but rather that it grants access to understanding. After obedience, understanding and knowledge is easy. "If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know...", John 7:17. However, my hope cannot be set on the fact that I fulfil all but rather that I know Jesus. He is the one who enables us to fulfil and to understand afterwards.
One of the reasons why people move away from God or draw away from obedience is that they are not instructed by Jesus personally. We may become learned people, church addicts or even theology students. However, none of that can be compared to the personal instruction Jesus promised us. He promised we would receive it individually and from Him personally. "I have not departed from Your judgments; for You have taught me", Ps.119:102. It is very difficult to depart from God when we are taught by Him personally. It is not necessary to stop going to church or to stop listening to the brothers to be taught by Jesus, unless my hopes are settled in them. Jesus can instruct us anywhere and anyhow. He still is the Teacher.
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him", John 3:17. People easily assume they may carry on sinning after they read verses like these. They say Jesus did not come to condemn them and saves from hell and not necessarily from sin. However, we cannot afford to misunderstand this piece of Scripture to suit the flesh. This verse intends to say that we should fix our lives before or when Jesus comes to us. "Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I not come and strike the earth with utter destruction", Mal.4:5-6. Jesus did not come so this would happen. However, the greatest stumbling block in the Universe is Jesus Himself. We should fix our lives immediately, before He comes to us. "And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil", John 3:19.
We have the responsibility to reach the point where we can easily distinguish between the leading of God and the impulse of emotion; between good-sense and impulsivity; between doing with the heart and doing for the sake of the heart and its feelings. The sooner we reach that point the better it shall be for anyone of us. We shall avoid being misled by the devil and by ourselves. We shall avoid being misled some other way when God speaks and when He doesn't speak. We cannot reject being led on account of the possibility of being misled; and we cannot refuse to make the best use of good sense only because emotions are part of us. The voice of the Shepherd must become so familiar to us that we should know it better than our own. We need to become eternal, constant beings to distinguish between God and us.
God gave a staff to many pastors and preachers so they can use it to lead the flock and not to lean on it. The same must be said about offerings and tithes. The leaders should know that the aim of those offerings are the people in the congregations and not the pastors and leaders only. Do you lean on your staff or do you use it for God's glory?
When we are tried and tempted, we should never believe that it would be enough to not fail. Avoiding a fall is good, but it might not be good enough. We still need to reveal the Life of our Lord in a continuous way. Not becoming angry is not the same as living in all patience and readiness of the Life God gave us; not stealing is not the same as giving out of a pure heart; not lying is not the same thing as telling the truth. Our aim should always be to live the Lord's life out to the full and not merely avoid missing the mark. Not sinning is very little for eternal beings which share in the eternal life God grants in this present age. We should rule through the new life and not merely avoid being ruled by sin. We should not expect to be without opposition or enemies before we can live through God. "Rule in the midst of your enemies", Ps.110:2.
You cannot expect God to bless you in those things He does not approve and neither may you ever think God won’t bless the person He approves in whatever He approves. Unfortunately, people start praying to God holding in the heart those desires which God can’t bless. They pray and God doesn’t answer. Once they clean up their motives and their lives, they go to God remembering the previous sinful experiences of unanswered prayers. We must assume everything has changed after we have really changed.
Another unfortunate thing that usually happens to humans is that evil people seldom have evil appearances. They are not used to reveal their hearts and minds. Once we come to the Lord and all becomes new, we have nothing to hide anymore. We shouldn’t be afraid to reveal all in the sincerity of our hearts. "He who practices truth comes to the Light so that his works may be revealed, that they exist, having been worked in God", John 3:21. Truth must be practised and not merely believed. In practical terms, we should be able to assume truth as truth, lies as lies and evil as evil. None of it should be hidden or helped to be hidden. We cannot afford to be divided between two thoughts anymore, 1 Kings 18:21. If Baal saves, let’s live for him or like him; if only Jesus saves, let’s live for Him alone or as He does. We shouldn’t be wavering between sin and God anymore. Let’s take a stand. If sinning is good for people, why should they hide it? And if God is good to them, why hide Him from people?
To Doubt is to disbelieve in a camouflaged way. Perhaps it is a feigning way to believe lies. However, we cannot afford to believe at any cost or for the sake of believing alone. We need to know we believe the truth. We need to experience the truth so we can exterminate doubts from its roots contrasting it to truth sincerely. We need to experience truth to extinguish any kind of trust in any lies or illusions.
Who is there that forgets to drink water? Only those who hate water or those who are not thirsty. And who is there that resents drinking water? Isn't it a sick person or someone who loves to drink something else? Think of it next time you force yourself to read your Bible and to drink from the water of life.
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart", Ps.97:11. Many wish to have light to become righteous. However, we read here light is sown for those who become righteous. "If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know ...", John 7:17. We shouldn't forget, as well, that joy is for the upright in heart and not the other way round. I mean, many wish to have joy and not uprightness. Their aim is joy and not the salvation from their sins.
Fear is a kind of excessive confidence in the flesh. Every time people suspect the flesh will not avail them anything, they fear because they have nothing to trust.
"I have found David, My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand shall be always with him... If his children forsake My Law, and do not walk in My judgments; if they profane My Precepts, and do not keep My Commandments; then I will visit their wickedness with the rod, and their sin with stripes", Ps.89:20,30. God can let the people go their way when they forsake Him. However, part of His covenant is that He will rather punish than let go of them. We should be happy and rejoice every time God reprimands us about something. To visit us with stripes is the fulfilment of His covenant.
Sin is an illusion. It it were not, it would get along with truth. (Let's assume truth and reality cannot be separated). Because sin hates truth, we may assume it is based on illusion. If it is by knowing the truth that we are made free of sin, it means sin is an untruth or a lie. Truth is reality and that's where the enmity of sin against it is born. Reality and illusion just don't match. And if sin is an illusion, then truth can't mislead people. It is simply not possible. You may trust it. Make sure, therefore, that the truth you hold on to works and saves - make sure it is practical and real. It must become practical and firm or it can't be truth at all.
Every time the providence or the operation of God grants us something, every single gift He gives to cover our needs means only to reach the heart we have and to assure us of His goodness. It is wrong to believe God does things only to satisfy us or our needs. He aims further and deeper than any of that.
Many times we fear that something bad might happen to truth since so many people despise it, change it and trample on it. It is sad and unfortunate what they do. However, try to picture a piece of gold out there in the streets. People will trample on it, dust will cover it, but nothing will be able to change the gold into something cheaper and worthless. Its value will remain and speak for itself. That's how it works with truth. Trampling on it will never change it. However, we cannot say the same about the ones who despise truth themselves, for they shall change for the worse. Truth won't change, but they will. Those who trample truth shall experience in themselves what any enemy of God and of truth experiences in the long run. Their own hearts shall testify against them and start speaking on behalf of truth.
All of us should learn to do all things from the right motives. All it takes is to start doing anything for the right motives. Start doing until you can do it the right way. Even when God ordered Israel to destroy cows and everything the nations owned, He only had Israel's motives in mind. The spoil should never be what motivated Israel to destroy the nations. "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them", Ex.15:9. However, every time Israel's motives against the enemies of God had been right and righteous, God allowed them to take home of the abundance of the spoil and divide it among themselves. David, however, would dedicate to God every piece of gold and silver taken from the nations.
"Yea, God shall wound the head of His enemies, and the hairy crown of him who walks on in his guilt", Ps.68:21. There is a natural enmity between the flesh and the Spirit of God. Sin is responsible for that sort of enmity and has a consequence of guilt and further transgression. It so happens because people walk in their guilt. That's the main reason sinful people along with sin are made enemies of God. They can't stand God if He appears to them in a real way the way He is. Walking in sin and hiding or holding on to our guilt to feel bitter and justified against truth and God shall cause us to be mortally wounded sooner or later. We must do all we can to avoid it happening to us. The sequence of happenings should be reverted and we should walk all the way back to cause our hearts to love God spontaneously and naturally on the long run.
If people do not change, it isn't because their time has not come. It can't be. People do not change because they are not willing to change and ignorance takes over the reigns of their lives. Whenever the gospel knocks at our door, the time to change has come. Whoever does not change then, is unwilling to come to God and rather yields to lies.
It is much better to finish one single task than try to carry out many things which we don't finish. It is far better to end one task in perfection than to do many and not perfect them. We should also have in mind that the last bit of any task is the most difficult part of it for many reasons. One of those reasons is that people love to celebrate before the time.
The evidence that I have been forgiven is the change in me which is visible to everyone around. The change in the person who pleads for forgiveness is, also, a sure sign of the presence of the mighty grace of God in the inner parts of the heart.
Pray until you can pray. Ask till you can ask and receive. Be willing until you are willing. Talk till you can say things the right way with fewer words. Listen till you can hear the way you should hear and delight yourself in it. Obey till you can be obedient and willing. Do not wait until you become willing to do something - just start doing it right away! Don't wait till you feel like praying - pray till you can be heard and until God is heard.
"You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow", Ps.60:4. It is interesting to know that God does not destroy the evil which chases those who fear God to annihilate them, but rather lifts up a banner where they can run to be protected. God does not destroy liars for the sake of truth, at least not now. The truth needs to stand out before them. We shouldn't need to fear the bow of evil - we should only fear to be found outside the banner of God. "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do", Lk.12:4. It is worth noticing that God calls it "a banner", where we would say it is a refuge or something alike. A banner is a standard. We nay conclude that it might be the banner of truth, of holiness and righteousness. We run to holiness to be guarded. Let us be holy all the time.
If joy is to be real and existing, there must be a converging of motives, life and ways between man and God. There must be communion between them. Have you ever thought about what a coincidence really is? Well, let's say there must be a incidence between man's spirit and God's before happiness, glory and joy can be real. This kind of match needs to happen. This is the kind of reconciliation we are talking about if we are to be fully reconciled with God. We converge towards the Lord, we start loving as He loves, do things the way He does them - in fact, we do them through Him so reconciled are we. Have you been that 'coincided' with God lately? Do you meet with God and with God's needs that easily? Are you that coincident? That's what cleanses people very easily. There is a synchrony, a real converging of minds, spirits and thoughts together with the way it should be done or carried out. And for that to happen, we must know God as He is - as He really is. Anyway, for that to happen, we must, at first, be a "prepared people for the Lord", Lk.1:17. The initiative must be on our side when the Lord is near because there is no better way to converge towards God. When He comes, we must already be willing and converging towards Him. Mercy hands the responsibility over to man so God may find man converging with Him. Man is the one who must become willing to change and not willing to change God. God is in no need to change. He shall be there for man to stumble over Him if man wishes God to change, whether man acknowledges that it is what he is doing or not. It is man who must change. "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you", James 4:8.
There is this false joy which people try out by showing something in the outside which is not happening inside them. It is not wrong to reveal the true state of our spirit and heart, especially if we are indeed joyful. But, I believe it is far better to reveal the sadness of our hearts when we are sad, than to reveal a false joy and to lie to people around about us. It is true hypocrites look like truthful people. However, true joy can never be considered a falsity; and falsity cannot be considered joy since it is just too given and too used to lying.
A son was promised to Abraham and he just wouldn't be born; the promise of a huge nation rested heavy upon Isaac's shoulders and his wife was barren; Samuel anointed David to become king over Israel and it just wouldn't happen, at least not as David expected it to happen; we could also speak about Joseph, Jacob and even Noah whose ark took about a hundred years to build. There is a pattern in all things God promises beforehand. It always seems as if they shall never be fulfilled. If you see this pattern gripping you, remember that what is happening is according to Scripture. And if it is, be assured things are happening to you according to the Bible's way. You need to be faithful to the end, until the promise becomes a reality. Its fulfilment is just a question of time.
"According to Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth", Ps.48:10. This is a true statement. Let's try to figure out what it means, though. We should always remember that the genuine praise towards God shall always be according to the reality of the experience people have about Him, of His presence and of His goodness. It shall always be according to the name of the Lord and the reality of His genuine presence. Have you been using God's name in vain lately? Is He a great king around where you walk and talk? Or is it only your words that say He is? Is He great to you for real or is it just your words which say He is great? Does He manifest Himself to you and through you as He really is? God's praise will always be in accordance to what is revealed of Him. There is much praise going on which is not according to God's name, but is rather in accordance to what people love to sing and to the way they would like to have it.
"The second greatest revelation man must have from God is the revelation of God's plan and will for his life". This is what a friend of mine told me today. It made so much sense to me. Christ being revealed to man is the greatest revelation.
"Be strong, and He will make your heart stronger", Ps.31:24. Strengthening and strength comes mainly from the fact that I walk close to the Lord. He strengthens the heart in a real way, then. In other words, for one to be strong, one needs to take good care of that relationship and that it is spotless. To have and to keep that relationship, one needs to stay away from any kind of sin. To be strong, therefore, means that we stay clean and spotless all the time.
The best way to avoid having evil people settled down in a congregation is to preach in such a way that they will feel like going away if they do not have plans to get converted. And if they go away, they might come back converted. However, the main reason for having them go away is that God does not work if the leaders are stained with some sin which they refuse to put in the light. The less evil people there is among the members of any congregation, the better and the more God works. Let people be few and pure. They will multiply according to their seed.
Wouldn't it be wonderful? If I touch, God touches? Wouldn't it?
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; you shall dwell in the land, and you shall be fed on truth", Ps.37:3. "...You shall be fed on truth..." How meaningful! Have you been looking for truth lately? Are you fulfilling the conditions to find it? However, never dare to separate truth from reality or it will become just another fantasy. Truth has the means and the power to become real. Dare to fulfil and to have it that way always.
Whoever knows how to wait (on God), surely knows how to receive and to be faithful to it. Every person you doesn't keep hope and expectancy awake and aflame, shall surely waste away whatever he receives - if he receives at all - or shall let greed hide it away somewhere.
Any holy man of God here on this earth of temptation is like a giant being attacked by ants: he just won't become an ant.
It is good when torture and persecution happen only for the sake of the fulfilment of prophecies. It means they do not happen for our correction anymore.
Having grudges is a very bad sin. However, feeling sorry when it it is not pure mercy is just as bad a sin.
Many believe prayer is talking and speaking to the Lord who reads the heart of men. If it were mere talking, what is this that David puts this way: "...Consider my meditation...Listen to the voice of my cry"; "For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping", Ps.5:1,2;6:8. These voices God hears so easily are not words but sighs. It is like recognising someone's voice whom we would love to hear. It would be like hearing a mere meditation in us.
No one can ever feel inferior to me near me without my consent and permission. However, I can't say the same thing about people feeling superior to me.
A complete, unconditional surrender which is also voluntarily is worth all we can ever desire or even more. It also serves as a proof of how faithful God is indeed. Our kind of surrender is what proves God to be right when people ask from us to descend from our crosses so they may believe.
"Let no one despise you", Titus 2:15. In order that no one despises me when I speak the very words of God as He would speak them Himself, I need to have a life inside, outside and in every aspect of my practical living where God can manifest Himself without being ashamed of doing so. So people may never come to despise me, God needs to be able to present Himself to people as He is wherever I am. "But, I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills. And I will not know the speech of those who are puffed up, but the power", 1Cor.4:19.
Whoever judges other people easily, surely loves appearances and unrealities. Judging is a kind of conspiracy to hide own sin - it is part of secret power against God and, especially, against walking in the light in a practical way. And appearances cause people to hide better.
Meekness is not being tolerant towards sin at all. In fact, the less tolerant people are towards sin, the meeker they become. People have an idea that meekness is more or less tolerant towards sin. However, the more tolerant we are towards sin, the less meekness we shall experience. If you ever whish to share in the fruit of meekness, which comes from the Holy Spirit of God, you must have an intense hatred towards any kind of sin in you. Truth in the mouth of a genuinely meek person does not hurt, however sharp and accurate it is when it strikes - even when it strikes like lightening. Meekness mixed with truth is like sharpness in a sword: it cuts deeper and better. Truth without meekness is like a blunt knife: it hurts more than it cuts. And meekness without truth is hypocrisy. We may not change truth because we are blunt, but should rather move closer to the Lord. Then shall truth mean something to people for they shall be cut deep in the heart.
Many use darkness and the dark places to walk on in order to avoid being seen. But, God commands us to walk in the light and not merely to walk on. Walking in darkness is not walking at all. "Walk while you have the Light, lest darkness come upon you. For he who walks in darkness does not know where he goes", John 12:35. It is good that we don't know how to walk when we are found under the darkness caused by any sin. "Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of the world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because there is no light in him", John 11:9,10.
If there is carnal love, surely there is also carnal faith; carnal hope; carnal meekness which is hardness; and we can think of many more carnal things, as many as there are virtues. Will God ever accept any carnal offer from us? Did He not kill Aaron's sons for putting strange fire on His altar, though it was fire? Why would we believe it shall work differently with anyone of us?
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you, says the Lorded of hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return?", Mal.3:7. Is it possible that the words of God are not feared even when we do not have a clue of what God is trying to say? Shouldn't we fear only because of whom He is? Why would we ever dare to waver, resist or question whatever God says because we don't grasp the reach of Hs words yet? Is His name not enough reason for us to listen and to listen carefully? Can't we believe Him only for the sake of who He is?
"I will be a swift witness against (...) those who do not fear Me...", Mal.3:5. To be a swift witness means, above all, being so efficient that the testimony of God remains for a long, long time with whom it struck. The effect of surprise plays a role here as well. To be swift by coming whenever no one expects causes a bigger impression than a thousand sermons on the subject. God comes to testify about Himself in a moment people do not expect Him to do so. But, for it to happen regularly to others, men of God need to be extremely holy and fully sanctified. "Because of them I sanctify Myself...", John 17:19.
Mutual trust between God and man will bring peace into man. It will also do away with any kind of wavering or double-heartedness. If we are honest concerning the kind of faith we have, we shall be able to trust God in the same degree that God can trust us. Trust must be mutual. We know that trust in God is directly related to the amount of trust God bestows upon us. Are you faithful? Or, perhaps, have you forgotten that genuine faith is both fruit of the Spirit and, also, a gift of the Spirit? God cannot trust you less or more than you are able to trust Him. Faith for miracles is a gift and honest people believe only according to what God has spoken. Faith is believing a word from God. Any other kind of faith is not faith at all.
Whoever applauds and encourages others is co-author of whatever they do, whether good or bad. And those who oppose good encouragement simply show how much they resent being good themselves. Also, whoever criticises evil and breeds a bitter heart just reveals how bad a person he is or, at least, how bad he wishes he could be.
There are trials and temptations which do not kill people at all. They are like the pit where Joseph was thrown: it had no water in it to drown him down. Are you still in the presence of God? Then be sure that trials are like a pit without water and they won't kill you. Remember Job and how his trials never managed to kill him at all? "I have freed Your prisoners out of the pit in which is no water. Turn to the stronghold, prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will return to you double", Zec.9:11-12.
Forgetting is a human asset. Forgetting can help a lot in many aspects of our faithfulness. Forgetting may be as good or as bad as remembering, depending what one remembers, what one forgets, and why. By forgetting temporarily or even eternally about certain things, we free some space and resources in us to be used or filled up by what we do, whether good or bad. We cannot do two things at once. Let's only try to forget when we need to and remember what needs to be remembered. Remembering evil can be bad.
Conscience does not need to be forced to function the way it ought. In fact, it works much better when not forced. Whoever wants to cause conscience to believe something it already knows, also knows how to try to make it believe something against what it knows. People try to deceive conscience by talking it into something they wish it to approve or not disapprove. The law of God should remain untouched, and yet, many people try hard to look at it from some other angle which will not be harsh against transgression. To force conscience into something is to lose the much needed spontaneous spirit which is so important for the sake of truth inside. And to be anything less than spontaneous in the ways of truth is the way towards error and hypocrisy.
The ways of the Lord, when real to us, are very beautiful and simply wonderful. Imaginations may cause us to think about the things of God as unreal. And the things of God shouldn't be anything but real. The ways of the Lord are practical ways. We can never talk about doing anything about them unless they are real. Imagination is good if it is an aid to thinking. But, in as much as it can cause a sane spirit to see truth and reality as it is, it also can cause people who taught their hearts to lie to be mislead concerning the reality of God and of all His works. People tend to imagine what is good and great. That is what they do touching wonderful things. Are you a real person about those things humans cannot possibly imagine? Or are you scared away when the things of the Lord work out for real? Fantasies are stubbornness and stubbornness always cries out to be satisfied. It also teaches the mind to avoid being real about certain things it would rather have as unreal. When things turn real, people cannot imagine them anymore. Imagining can be a vice or an addiction. Are you real? Do you take God's things as real or not? Do they work out? Only those who take them as real shall see them as a duty and as a responsibility. No one can ever become responsible towards fantasies or towards unreal things, no matter how hard he tries because we simply know they are fantasies.
Any kind of secret love towards sin causes any heart to be judgmental against others. It so works that a secret love wishes to remain secret and hidden. Judging others is an utility and an ability of a perverse mind because it helps to hide a bad conscience away by the judgments it makes. The mind believes it doesn't do what it judges. People easily assume and believe they are concealed behind judging. The mind of the judger tells him no one who judges is guilty of what he judges. But, Jesus says the opposite. He said one judges only because one has similar sins which use judging as the hiding formula. People judge those specific sins of which they are also guilty. This is why Jesus promised that whoever judges shall be convicted of the same kind of sins he is able to see in others. And many of those who are driven into a corner concerning their own sins often turn judgements upon themselves. Accusations are, also, ways the mind has to excuse sins or, at least, to maintain the approval from others it seeks to have. However, as soon as the love of Jesus is poured into us abundantly, all kinds of judgments cease, even those which accuse self of something. Clean people are not accused and, consequently, become unable to accuse others as well.
Habits and ways man learns over the years are always a kind of hindrance to a spontaneous good conduct, especially when changes in circumstances linger to take place or take a while to occur as promised. If it is not yet the right time for things to happen according to God's will, people may gain habits and attitudes which are not appropriate for a (future) life with God. Just as happens with obesity, a bad tongue, bitterness, many sins may be a consequence of being bored and of feeling useless. We should be careful if we have long term promises concerning circumstances to be fulfilled. Things within us must be fulfilled anyway, whether circumstances change or not. "And take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts are weighed down with headaches and drinking and anxieties of this life; and that day should suddenly come on you", Luc.21:34. I cannot dare to believe I shall change after things have changed. I won't change. The kind of heart I have now shall go on with me wherever I go. Let's be careful about getting roots outside the promises. Never allow your heart to become addicted to anything, however good it seems to be. Also, do not allow your mind to convince you it is not time to change yet. Change now and wait. To change now is a great part of real hope. To prepare is to hope. Doesn't a pregnant woman prepare everything for the coming of the child she is expecting? If you prepare, it shows, at least, you are not the one hindering the promises of God. "Though it lingers, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry", Hab.2:3.
Whenever you talk, you need to make sure your silence wouldn't be better or wouldn't achieve more on the long run. And whenever you keep quiet, make sure your words wouldn't be a better investment after all. Take the honour of God always into consideration. And whenever you need to say what God requires you to say, whether it is because He has given you a word to speak or because the written commandment demands it from you, especially then, do not dare to add apologetic words or attitudes to what you are saying. Neither add bitterness or any feeling to your words which may pervert the good things you were about to achieve by speaking. Those who talk and apologize for having said something and those who are harsh and bitter when talking, have one and the same heart.
Giving leftovers is never the same as giving from what we are needing. We shall be rewarded according to what we have left and not according to what we have given. What you keep back is what shall determine whether you shall be rewarded or not. However, there are many who give what they lack just to feel sad or accomplished afterwards, and there are those who are scarcely aware of giving away what they could use for themselves. There will also be people who shall be rewarded having still a lot which they have been unable to give away because the abundance of God was too great. It won't change a thing concerning their reward because God can read the heart of man from afar. What counts is the heart that God sees.
"Do not My words do good to him who walks uprightly?" Mic.2:7. To do good to someone or to tell a person that which needs to be told doesn't always work a pleasant feeling in the person who receives it or in the person who gives. Feelings cannot measure what has been good or judge whatever we may have done or not done. God can curse by giving blessings when man is not ready to receive them. And God can grant a lot of good things to His own enemies to uphold His name before their eyes in the day they shall be judged. Giving it to them will also cause them to be careless and unworried till the day they die to face judgment. That is a message Ps.73 teaches us clearly. The enemies of God don't always find a reason to repent under their circumstances.
Answers to all prayers, even if it is a 'no', means that we have a real relationship with God and that we have moved away from a fantasy-relationship.
If you ever learned something from God, you surely have heard His voice already. Maybe you weren't aware of that fact. Now, take it from there and learn how to distinguish it from other disputing voices which wish to have claims upon your heart.
Every reward from the Lord in this present age shall be according to the need of the man who serves faithfully and not according to the amount of work. Let everyone walk faithfully in the ways of the Lord and there shall be no lack and no surplus either. There is something wrong with anyone who receives less than the will of God; and there might also be something wrong with receiving more than needed.
Do not wait until you feel special or until you are special so you may believe you can change the corner of the world where you find yourself. Things just don't work that way at all. All it takes to change the whole world around is to have Christ as special to you personally. Hand yourself fully over to the Lord, surrender to His care and love. That is what makes you special anywhere, even to those who start to be against you because you have changed for the better. Neither wait until you change before giving yourself fully over to the Lord. How will you ever change without Him? Besides, Christ trusts and blesses a kind of transformation in which He has participated and for which He was responsible.
Let there be said whatever people wish to say, but there is an accuser only where there is someone who defends himself or is defended by someone. When anyone recognizes sin and acknowledges being guilty, surely, accusations shall cease. Confessing our sins also demolishes every accusation and it does not matter who accuses you. Just try to confess instead of protecting yourself and see for yourself what happens. The accuser shall be ashamed. The Saviour, however, shall rejoice over you. But, this does not mean that there needs to be a transgression so accusation takes place. All it takes is to have someone who does not acknowledge guilt. This is why the innocent are innocently accused, since they have no sin to admit or to acknowledge. They shall be accused continually.
Every time God doesn't give me something I desire deeply, it is because I am more important to Him than that which I want. God chooses often between us and what we should be doing for Him. The choice shall be clear then: He chooses us above anything else. The same works on this side of the field: if I have to choose between Christ and His work, I shall definitely choose Him. From the side of God, it works the same way: if Christ needs to choose between me and the work I may do for Him, He chooses me.
Many may ask: "Why does God tell us to seek Him if we have been chosen to be the gospel?" This is very easy to answer! First of all, whoever has been chosen to hear the gospel wasn't chosen for his own sake only: he has been chosen to save himself and to take the message further to people who may not have been as chosen as he was. If you, however, have been chosen and do not obey or hear the gospel the way you should, election will mean nothing to you. God shall choose another as He did by choosing David to replace Saul whom He rejected after having chosen him for the throne of Israel. You will just add unto your condemnation by trusting on your election and not on Jesus. Secondly, we know how things work with people who do not have a real relationship with God: they don't want to have it at all. They shall need to be willing, to desire and to have it with their whole heart the way it is offered. This said, let me ask: which better way is there to cause someone to want or to wish deeply after something he does not desire to have at all? Isn't it by handing the initiative over unto his hands? By having the initiative, unwilling people confront their own kind of (un)willingness directly and with greater success. Seeking for it works against the lack of willingness and makes people willing towards what they did not desire to have. They convert rebellion into willingness by seeking as if it all depended on them. To hand the initiative over unto man is the wisest way to make him willing.
Our faith is as real as the one we have under pressure, temptation and trials. No one has more faith elsewhere or any other way than the one he experiences and shares under intense trials. Trusting according to circumstances is not trusting at all. Trust must be based wholly on the faculties of God and on the kind of person He is and not in anything else. If we trust only in times of fat cows, does it mean that God changed when those cows became slim, greedy and hungry? If God does not change along with the cows or circumstances, could it mean my faith is only circumstantial if I am unable to trust Him under trials? Or could it mean I look at circumstances and not to the Lord as He is? God remains the same under any circumstances. Faith is trust in a person and is not dependable on anything else.
Dying with Christ means me getting out of view and getting into stage at the same time. It sounds like a paradox, but it isn't. If I die with Christ I have no need be concealed and hidden. Dead people do not have the power to hide either. Then, by being that dead, Christ shall surely be seen as I walk, talk and eat. If I move, Christ reveals Himself and whatever I do, He shall be seen. Getting out of view means Christ is immediately seen when people look to where I sit, walk or say something. But, this needs to be a reality - it needs to be so indeed. And who can avoid that being so if I really died and rose with Him, I mean, if it indeed happened and it is not only a mere doctrine to which I hold on to through the power of force?
When the Lord said to the house of Israel, "look at Me and live", Amos 5:4, Israel was, then, under a very heavy curse of destruction which had no return. Many bad things were hanging over Israel, including wars, hunger and things we can't imagine. By saying "Look at Me and live" God did not mean to lift those curses in case people started living. No. He meant people would become alive under them. This promise meant that the material part of their world would anyway cease to be and the soul would be saved from wrath because people had been able to believe in God and to trust Him for their salvation under such heaviness and because of those curses. It happened that way with Daniel: he believed in the Lord while in captivity and not because the curse had been withdrawn or lifted up from him. But, unfortunately, many nurture grudges against people and God under heavy circumstances or trials. That's mainly why the Lord says: "So the understanding ones shall keep silent in that time; for it is an evil time", Amos 5:13. Daniel was hit hard by the hand of God, lost his country, his family and a lot more we do not know about. However, he became an intimate friend of the Lord and respected those to whom he belonged as a slave. It could not be said of Daniel that, "I have bereaved them of children, I have destroyed my people; they returned not from their ways". "Yet the people have not turned unto Him that smote them, neither have they sought the Lord of hosts", Jer.15:7; Is.9:13. Even if God does certain things for the sake of mere trials we are not able to understand, we should hold on to His love and loving hand and never breed grudges in us against Him or anyone else. Job said: "Though he slay me... I will maintain my own ways before Him", Job 13:15. He meant it.
"Seek Me, and you shall live. But do not ... pass through Beer-Sheba", Amos 5:4,5. Many do a lot to linger or to make a longer turn on their way to the Lord to be saved from all sin. They consult this and that first, say goodbye to this sin and that one and are not straight forward and do not go directly to the Lord and away from sin - from all sins. They linger on the way out of sin. They go by Beer-Sheba first, consulting this man and that friend to delay the inevitable. Do you consult the things you are losing before going to the Lord? Do you look back to them? Why don't you just go to the Lord immediately and get it done? Are you still delaying, avoiding or postponing the unavoidable? You might never find the Lord if you do so. It means, you not live.
"Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so Jehovah, the God of Hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken", Amos 5:14. Many people say God is with them and it can't be true. In fact, God is nowhere near them. We cannot make God be with us because He shall be with us out of His own free will if we comply to certain conditions that make it possible for Him to be with us. Then, we shall be found in God's presence for real. As soon as we are faithful to Him, loving, unfeigned, true and truthful, God shall surely near us and say, "Here I am".
To many, being unfeigned means becoming rude and cruel. They see it that way. But, being unfeigned is being truthful, genuine and speaking and hearing the truth without wavering and with no need to raise our voice above what distance requires as if truth hurts all the time. Truth never hurts a truthful person.
When people change their hearts, when they manage to get it right the way they should, they realize it is not because they may have changed place, job or circumstances that they changed. Unless you change right where you are, changing circumstances won't work a change in you. Unless you change now it is not likely that you will change under different circumstances. Wherever you go, the heart you have now will go along and will still be with you.
Hypocrites always praise you, especially when they speak of you in front of you. They believe pleasing people is what love is all about. Moreover, whoever listens to them might wishing to believe what they say. Consequently, hearers easily start to put on a mask which is in accordance to what is said about them. That's how an hypocrite creates another.
There are so many promises in the Bible which God Himself has given. They shall all be fulfilled under the conditions they have been promised. Promises need to meet their respective conditions fully. If people do not comply to those conditions or if circumstances are not fulfilled and accomplished, promises made by the Living God will not become reality. When people do not fulfil the conditions to which promises are aimed, when promises have not the environment that will sustain them and, also, uphold the glory to God, people's lives and the lives of everyone around them shall suffer great losses and the blessings shall not take place. Faith is one of those conditions one must have in whatever measure. But, I believe promises are not the only things that create faith. If God pronounces a certain curse and people are able to believe it and not despise it instead (just as the second man who heard Joseph's interpretation did); if people do not hold grudges against God or people after a curse is pronounced to them; if they instead repent and give themselves to God and work to His glory; that kind of faith emerging from a word about a curse is also able to save further and to reach the deepest part of the soul of man. "And the people of Nineveh believed God", Jon.3:5. Faith is to be able to believe whatever God has spoken. It is so important, therefore, that people really believe that whatever overtakes them comes from God. We have examples of this in Amos 4. Here we may also say something about the two sides of the heart of man: whoever would be able to hold on to a grudge against God for a curse He has spoken, would surely feel proud and unfaithful were that a promise instead of a curse.
Many believers become confused because they have so many issues they would like to discuss with God and find genuine and resolving answers to them. The confusions come, mainly, from the fact that there are too many issues and doubts at once in man's own imaginations. If man could just reduce and distribute his own thoughts and "maybe" answers, he would surely be able to think better and to use all his resources in a better way. You may ask: what should I reduce from my mind? There are a lot of things one can stop thinking about to use the resources in a better way so doubts and useless thoughts would never multiply. For example, you can stop reasoning about those sealed things God will never discuss with you; you can stop thinking about inquiring God to negotiate on those things God is inflexible about, things like holiness and truth, and comply to it on the spot and unconditionally; you may reduce vain imaginations, religious thoughts which always use a great amount of power from you by increasing feigning and lying to self and others about you - (religion is the best or greatest enemy of God); you can stop breeding or cultivating false hopes about many things, since true hopes need to take the place that those false hopes fill up; you may reduce dreams and replace them for realities about the Lord for He is greater than you can ever imagine or conceive in your mind; in fact, you can do a lot more to reduce or even remove hindrances and stumbling blocks from your mind over which busy people stumble and hold on to so easily. Then, you may ask how can one distribute the amount of thought. Well, you can start by handling one issue at the time and finish it. It can be considered finished when God puts a full stop to it. Our mind and spirit works much like a hard disk of any computer: the less crap there is and the more the files are organized, the better it works and the faster it is able to function to solve real and important issues.
Any clean and spotless Christian will feel as bad in a worldly domain as any dirty Christian would feel near God or near a clean Christian.
If people, in this present world, feel encouraged and strengthened through false comforts or a kind of faith which believes amiss, can you imagine just how strong and how strengthened people could feel would their faith be based on truth and on things which really matter if they only accept those as such? Every person who walks after the "lies which... lead them astray" (Amos 2:4) always feels encouraged over nothing and needs nothing more than lies to carry on as always. Such people have reasons to be encouraged and to go on. But, how may times those who have real reasons to remain steadfast on their journey give themselves over to discouragement and trivialities common to a passive mind which has given up thinking the right way? Christian, if you are indeed clean and spotless or at least know how to be made clean and spotless, if God is indeed so near your soul that you can believe Him, why would it be harder for you to "take good courage" and to carry on with whatever God left in your hands to be faithful to, than it is for worldly people who have not met the Lord at all? Just try to think about it for a moment. Take some time off just to see the reality of what God intents to do through you. He shall indeed accomplish it fully. It is just a question of time and, perhaps, of timing. "Be strong and of good courage", Jos.1:6. These words could mean a lot more than we can imagine about them.
It would be good if every child of God came to a point where the devil, to tempt them, would need to show his face and reveal himself. It would only mean there is no more flesh through which he is able to tempt them anymore. If there is nothing more on earth that man considers worthy, if there is nothing more on earth the devil can tempt man through, then he shall need to show his face and come out of his hiding darkness to tempt. Direct confrontation is the only option left to him. It happened with Jesus at the end of His journey on earth. How victorious a stage is that?
We know depression is caused by a mountain of sins which have not been brought to the light by confessing them all one by one to the Lord, to people we have wronged. Doctors have many explanations for depression and so do psychologists. But, bring someone in that state of mind to the cross of the Lord with every single known sin, being able to trust Jesus and His forgiveness, and you will see just how marvellous a change shall occur almost instantaneously. However, we must distinguish between frustration and depression. People who only occasionally walk with the Lord are often frustrated people in their ways because their sins hinder them and the Lord to accomplish whatever is needed to be accomplished. Or, perhaps, they want to go a way which the Lord frustrates because He has another way for them.
There are two ways by which we may assume God's things in due time. One of them is, unquestionably, the providences of God. The other is the warmth, the inner assurance, the simple certainty which convinces or simply shows us it shall happen for sure. It is not our thing convincing us. For this, one needs to have or to be close to have the Spirit in the promised fullness. Faith, then, brings to life right there what we expect. This divine, living experience of knowing about something beyond doubt is what convinces us not only of God's will, but of when it shall take place. It is not us convincing God anymore, but God showing us.
"The seed is rotten under their clods", Joel 1:17. Sin in man is like having rocks and clods heavy on the seeds or on the words of God. Those seeds just do not bring forth what they must. Do you know that your grudges, your pet sins, to much talking, quarrelling, a disputing spirit, complaining and many more sins are heavy upon the fragile seeds of the words of God inside your heart? These words are fragile inside any heart who does not pay attention to them or mixes them with the poison of sin or of self. That is the only reason why the strong words of God become fragile. Can you imagine? Can you conceive in your mind that the words that made the sun and the moon to exist (so powerful they are) are made useless and are rendered powerless in people's lives through sin?
It is a shame that when man lacks everything earth can give, he is left with no joy. It just shows where his hopes had really been settled. It also shows they did not have the important part in them or, at least, they did not have Him in the proper fullness. "The vine is dried up, and the fig tree droops, the pomegranate and the palm tree, and the apple tree; all the trees of the field are dried up, of men and joy has dried up from the sons", Joel 1:12. This is indeed sad to hear. Here is the contrast of that: "Though the fig tree shall not blossom, and fruit is not on the vines; the labour of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food. The flock is cut off from the fold, and no herd is in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation", Hab.3:17-18.
Believing we know better or know all when truth is trying to convince us otherwise is an ancestral way of resisting the truth.
We may never be inclined to believe lies. Many people assume believing is what shall make the difference. Well, believing truth makes the difference because we do not take God for a liar. However, believing is not the same thing as believing truth. If something we believe in is not truthful and genuine, then believing avails us nothing. In case you inhale a poisonous gas will it help you by believing it is oxygen? Will it prevent your death? Let us stop lying to ourselves about things because there is real truth which needs to be believed and some good evidence about many things which leads to salvation every day. And the only reason why we should believe beforehand something happens is because we have heard it directly from the mouth of God. We cannot pronounce a word of faith unless God has said something about it beforehand, one way or another. Faith is to believe God's word. Abraham believed after God spoke to him and not before. If God is indeed there to speak, to help, to confide, why would we ever wish to believe at random before God has said anything at all? Would a faith based upon a lie avail us anything? There is nothing impossible for the Lord. We may, also, consult God about certain things, but, to say it will happen before a clear answer to that prayer is given, is foolishness especially if there is a real possibility to receive a real answer from the Lord. Promising only because that is what man wishes to hear or what false prophets believe they must say is what makes them false. There is no real benefit in a faith grounded upon a lie. "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied", Jer.23:21.
Many state they believe in God while they breed strange motives through their kind of faith. The only reason they believe is to strengthen self-confidence. And self-confidence is not faith at all - it is unbelief. In fact, it might be faith's greatest competitor. Faith which lives together with a dirty conscience is not the fruit of the Spirit. The only motives such faith has is the maintenance of sin and the possibility to keep hatching it. That kind of faith is an excuse to carry on sinning as always. It encourages people when they have many reasons to be discouraged from their ways.
God shall answer for His words just as we shall answer for ours. And God shall answer for the words we speak only when those are His words and we fulfil all conditions any holy man must fulfil to speak them out. "Let your speech be always with grace, having been seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one", Col.4:6. "Whoever speaks must speak God's words", 1 Pet.4:11.
If any person lies, I will not believe that person again, not even when he speaks the truth - unless I have a perception for truth. And when I keep lying to myself and to the Lord, shall I ever believe the words of the Bible I mention or memorized? If I am only pretending; if I promise things and do not fulfil them; if I make vows and do not keep them to the end; how shall I ever believe in the things that go on inside my own heart? It is important to realize we need to be a certain kind of people to be able to believe God's words inside of us because it is in the heart that man hears from God mostly. God does not become a liar simply because I can't believe Him concerning a certain matter. And unless my heart is made one with the Spirit of truth, I will always be striving to believe truth and shall, also, be wavering on account of it. Nevertheless, Jesus commanded us to believe Him and not our hearts.
I believe it is demanded from all of us to end our race fresher and more restful than we have ever been. Usually, people are more tired after a race than before it. But, the godly race works the other way round. We have all reasons to end in a much better state of mind, of spirit and of heart than when we have started it. Unfortunately, those who are used to applaud who runs a race will not experience this miracle of being less tired at the end and will not know what it is to feel more comfortable at the last breath. And this race is not an easy one. In fact, it is much harder than any other race we may ever com to know of. We run and do not get tired because we use more of God's strength and less of ours. Had we been using ours we would surely be tired out very quickly. Could you get tired if someone else worked hard in your behalf? Now, are you prepared to race a difficult road where there is no competition and no need to be better than others but only to give your best to race? Will you run using none of your own strength? We read: "Whoever serves must serve with the strength that God supplies", 1 Pet.4:11. Usually, determination in this present world is linked to pride and to the strength of man. How will you fare in this way using none of those and still be more determined and more willing towards the finishing line?
Man can imitate only what he is able to imagine. If we cease to breed vain imaginations, we shall also cease to pretend and if we all stop imagining the things of the Lord to have them for real instead, there would be much less hypocrites working in the fields filled with lost souls.
Whoever gives to others wins the favour of whom receives. Can you imagine how much more favour will the giver receive by giving away without any kind of selfish motivation concealed behind his giving?
There are many reasons for a heart to be divided concerning the things of God. When God leaves someone alone because some sin hasn't been fully confessed, or some sin has not been left and denied, and that person even so tries to live on as a Christian by sticking to the morals which the Law of God impresses upon the human mind, then it will happen that man shall conceive an alternative way of doing the things of God according to own justice. Strange fire is often used in the altar of God. Man's way shall resemble the right way and the curse shall be that it shall seem right to him. Under such a curse, unless man's strength is involved in whatever he does, things simply shall do not happen. The heart is divided because man knows evil and good. Did he know evil only or did he know good only, it would never be divided. Eve shouldn't have eaten from that tree. However, many can be blamed for not eating from the Tree of Life which shall make their hearts steadfast and real. Man is the only one to be blamed for having a divided heart in him. "Their heart is divided; now they shall be guilty (for it)", Hos.10:2. Touching, holding, nurturing, concealing or excusing any sin divides the heart.
Resisting God does not last for always, but obedience does.
It is good when we manage to hinder or avoid certain truthful prophecies against us. It shall be credited unto us as righteousness. For example, we read that, "They shall eat unclean things in Assyria", Hos.9:3. However, Daniel contradicted that prophecy since he refused to eat the king's food offered unto idols even though he had been taken to Assyria. He did not eat unclean food at all, Dan.1:8. And was God angry because Daniel made a prophecy not come true? No, God was extremely happy because that true prophecy has not been fulfilled with him. "...You are greatly beloved", Dan.9:23. Have you been able to counterwork anything that God has spoken against you as a sinner? For example, God did say that when the demon comes back to an empty or clean house, that house shall be made seven times worse. Can you counterwork it? If you can, just dare to have your heart full of the Spirit of God afterwards. God will be happy about you.
Many try to 'mislead' God concerning themselves. In fact, they believe they are tricking God into something. They give to God so that they may receive back. But, we must know that the deal is never accomplished until the receiver receives and not until the giver gives. God did not receive Cain's offerings even though he offered them. There are things God just does not receive from us. There are prayers He does not accept; there are money offerings God does not receive; long Bible studies God does not bless. It so happens because God accepts only the one who gives and not the offering itself. "But the Lord accepteth them not", Hos.8:13. God accepted Job himself and not merely Job's prayers. Because of Job his prayers, in behalf of his friends, made the difference. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much", James 5:16. Unfortunately, there are people who are worse off than Cain because Cain was able to be aware of the fact that God did not accept him. Many Christians simply carry on praying and even praising God for nothing. He has not accepted from them and they still carry on and on as if nothing strange is happening. They simply can't see that they are rejected! People deceive themselves easily. "They shall not pour wine to the Lord, nor shall they be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices shall be like the bread of sorrows to them; all who eat of them shall be defiled. For their bread is for their soul, it shall not come into the house of God", Hos.9:4. Are you sacrificing flesh or Spirit to the Lord?
"They have made themselves idols with their silver and their gold, so that they may be cut off", Hos.8:4. An idol is a fantasy. Many people do not consider themselves idolatrous anymore because they have become evangelical Christians. However, they still use their gold, silver or income to buy themselves fantasies of many kinds. They use their money and earnings (which the poor need badly) to buy themselves many things their idolatrous hearts demands from them. Just how many fantasies do you still think about to feed your mind with? Don't you think it strange that John said to people who already parted from idols that they should have no idols in them? "Little children, guard yourselves from idols", it is, from fantasies, 1 John 5:21.
A body without spirit, without life is a corpse. So, any church or any Christian without the Spirit of God is a corpse.
The power or the persuasion of any of our messages is or should be the genuine manifestation of God through them and not the amount of wisdom in them. God should be able to reveal Himself as we speak, whether we speak wisdom or not. Whatever we do should be filled with power.
Why is it so important to recognize and realize our own sins? There are many reasons, but let me highlight two of them. One good reason is that no one loves to be wrong or to be declared wrong. To realize our sins shall cause us to do something about it and we shall be blessed by doing something about it the right way and not like a mule would carry out some duty. A mule does right things by force. If done the right way God shall be with us. And if God being with us was the only reason for us to confess, it would be enough. But, there are many more reasons though. Another reason among the many others is that God's name shall not be blasphemed and spoken against so easily in the world. When Christians sin, whatever they say or do does not work out and the world takes notice of it. Bringing sins to the light shall surely hinder being spoken against God's name because the world shall say: "Christians are confessing and now we know why their words didn't worked out". They shall not say "God does not exist". If they say, however, God shall present Himself to them because Christians' words and works start to work out and to make sense again.
God does not become unfaithful simply because things do not happen when we expected them to happen. It does not change God if we lack the revelation concerning His timing. He doesn't change. He has never changed before.
For corruption to be there, there must be someone who pays bribes and someone that receives them. If one of these is lacking, the act of corruption is not accomplished, even though the bad heart exists. There must be fire and wood to breed a flame and these must come together. The man who pays bribes has the same sin and the same heart as the one who receives bribes.
The man or woman whose heart is corruptible has the same kind of heart as the one who corrupts. They are fully reconciled with each other and have hearts which get along. "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?", Amos 3:3. If there is a pastor or preacher who steals money from his hearers, there must be hearers who have the same kind of interest and greed in them as their preacher's or pastor's. Preachers who steal from the poor and the rich usually do so by promising a abounding return of the money they extort in the name of God. To say God will give people their money back is to lie to them. These preachers make good use of their hearers' greed, lust and lack of satisfaction to rob or extort them. Preachers who extort and those who are extorted have the same kind of heart in them or they would never combine. These preachers learn how to make the best use of people's sins and they promise things to settle and confirm those sins instead of saving people from them. It is not good to come to Christ to have our sins fed and fattened. Only corrupt people give to corrupt preachers. "They eat up the sin of My people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And it has become, like people, like priest...", Hos.4:8,9.
Many complain about their children being disobedient rebels. They cannot figure out why their own children do not listen to reason at all. There are many motives why this happens, but I believe the main one is what God says in Hos.4:6: "Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your sons, even I". And because we know that for every curse there is a respective or corresponding blessing, we may assume the opposite of what is happening to rebel children is what God intended to work out in them through grace. I mean that for every rebel there is, there could or should be a most obedient child. It is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth of what should be. What can you expect shall your children be if you remain God's friend forever and whatever happens?
The Lord sees the man who sleeps with a prostitute in a worse moral state than the prostitute herself. "I will not punish your daughters when they fornicate, nor your wives when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go aside with harlots, and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes", Hos.4:14. "Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does it destroys his own soul", Prov.6:32.
Sanctification is not abandoning sin. It is consecrating to the Lord the members and the hearts which have already left sin behind all together. Then, the demons shall come and find the house, which they used to tempt, full of God. They shall not come in to settle down there.
God trusts a salvation from sin in which He has participated and which He has worked out. If a sin is abandoned and Jesus was not the one who saved from it, I am sure that person did not stop sinning but only exchanged some sin for another.
Many times, lukewarm Christians are rejected by people and that does not happen only because people do not wish to hear their truth about God. It so happens because people do not wish to hear what they know are fantasies of the minds of worldly or lukewarm believers who are worse off than the coldish people of this world. In case Christians experience real truth and live the reality of the promised abundant life of God, people shall listen to them with joy sooner or later, one way or another.
Jesus promised we will reap whatever we sow. However serious these words are, most Christians just do not take them in consideration or as seriously as they should. We should take the Word of God as a whole and one part as serious as the other. God simply means what He says. We should never love or lift some parts of the Word above others. This relationship between sowing and reaping is a most serious one. Many sow sin and later at night they pray that their fields should be blessed with a good crop; others pay bribes and pray God will bless it; others steal from God and expect God to be with them when sick, troubled and abandoned. In fact, they sow thorns and expect a bountiful harvest of corn.
Bad people are often hypocrites who try to get along with others by trying to resemble what they are not inside. They manipulate feelings, smiles and whatever is able to cause a good impression or create a good opinion about them. They do so even when there is no need to do that. Whoever does it is a bad person. However, holy people get along by what they really are inside. It cannot work any other way with them. People get along by what they are, more than by what they say.
Screaming and noisy speaking is often the language of another kind of modern hypocrites in church. They are just as noisy in singing to God. And yelling at people means we cannot speak the truth or what we really wish to say without becoming angry and annoyed. We should be able to speak the truth in such a way that no yelling nor apologies should be traced in whatever we say. Many, when they speak the truth, do so in such a way that it seems they are not comfortable with themselves. They sound always apologetic and uneasy as if truth and the honour of God is uneasy to them as well. We cannot speak as if we do not mean what we say. Speaking the truth is good for all, even for those who speak. No one should need to yell using the truth. There is no need to do that if truths cuts de by itself.
If Paul had the kind of faith he had, if he exercised it as freely as he did, it was because he had the God he had. Unless God was trustworthy he would never believe God that way at all. He was sincere. Paul simply lived according to the reality of the Lord he served. I also believe Paul would never have such faith were he not fully honest in the views he had about God. God is the same today. We can trust Him the same way Paul did because is the same. He shall never change.
"Be reconciled with God...". This is a profound word and we should be open enough to understand its fullest meaning. Do not go slightly over it believing you know what it means. God has His purposes, His ways of doing things, His exact timing both to promise and to fulfil everything He does. To be reconciled with God means we are one with the Lord in all of that. Are you so reconciled with God that His will is the deepest desire of your own heart? Are you so reconciled with God that it is no surprise for you when the Red Sea opens up right in front of you because you expected something to happen more or less that way?
God allows many unthinkable things to happen when Christians move away from Him. And if these ugly people still use God's name (in vain) we should expect much more to happen to them than we can ever think possible. One of these unthinkable things that will happen is that the enemies of God prosper in many ways. "...And because of transgression... he cast the truth to the ground. And he prospered...", Dan.8:12. The enemies of God should not be able to prosper that way, especially when throwing truth to the ground. If an enemy of God casts truth down and plays around with it as a toy and even so prospers, Christians are the ones to blame. There is transgression among them. Such a thing coming from the enemies of truth is unthinkable and is a punishment to Christians' ways and lives. Remember what happened to Herod when he did not honour God? He was eaten by worms. Christians were sound and living in the apostles' time. It is a good thing if God is happy with Christians and the way they live in this present world. If He is not, they shall be overcome by the enemies of God. "Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies...", Ps.27:12. On the other hand, our enemies will be handed over into our hands to be fully converted to God if we live as saints live in heaven and if the will of God is done in us the way it is done there!
Daniel had his visions from God while in Babylon. He had them in the sanctuary of idolatry and harlotry. He did not have them in Jerusalem. What counts is our relationship with God and not the place we are found. All that matters is whether our relationship with God is for real and if, through it, it is our only and natural way to live and to do things wherever we are. We sin or are holy because of what we are and never because of where we are.
Here is a terrible thought: we shall give account to the Lord for everything we are and do. Have we been faithful people? Will we be faithful people? Do we walk in the Light, exposing all unto salvation?
Blind people use dark glasses. There are, also, those who use them because of sunlight. The only way one is able to distinguish between them, is by looking at the way they behave themselves.
So we may easily watch and pray, we need to live today's things only today and tomorrow's things tomorrow only. This is one of the conditions we need to fulfil unconditionally in order to be able to watch while praying in the right way, in all perfection and bringing good results.
The biggest predators of this present life are those weak people who pass for strong ones, the unholy ones who seem to be holy and above everyone else. These learned the ways of life only to imitate them so that the wolf inside them would survive and be hidden wearing sheep's adornments.
Every person who is able to live in sin and have an obstinate spirit is someone who is given over to his own ways, own nature and own thoughts. Then, the devil uses those things to degenerate the creature before the eyes of the Creator. Whatever the devil wishes to carry out through these people, he shall do because they are fenceless cities open to robbers. They are like a prey at the disposal of the hunter. "...Those at ease, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and there are no bars nor gates to them, in order to take a spoil, and to steal a prize", Ez.38:11,12. These people's lives have no walls and the devil comes in and out as he wishes. The worst thing that can ever happen to us is God handing us over to ourselves and to the ways of our hearts. There is no greater curse than that. "...God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do the things not right", Rom.1:28.
The people to be blamed for others' most hesitations towards important issues are those who understand the gospel, I mean, the so-called Christians. It is they who get wild and fussy about certain truths they should rather live out. They promise freedom to all others who may come to agree with them, yet, they show themselves bound to self and to many sorts of sins. In fact, they manage to convince those capable to agree with them and that cannot be said to be God's power convicting people at all. If someone is able to agree with you, he is surely like you or on the verge of becoming like you. You cannot always ascribe it to the convincing power of God. Religious habits and behaviours can never be considered as living truth from which we may live. We need to live freely and almost unconsciously in the truth or by the truth. To change habits, one needs to think a lot and to reason much. But, to change a life within takes something more than that. Nicodemus did not understand how it worked before he came to Jesus. This is why many people go to hell and limp between two or more thoughts when they should make an important decision once and for all against own sins. Most worldly people would be glad did they hear good news from the mouth of pure people. But, in the absence of them, a few are led astray to use God's name in vain and for no other purpose than carrying on sinning. "For you compass sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves", Mat.23:15.
It is possible to see when someone has been contemplating the Lord and if by reading his Bible he has seen the Lord for sure. Many read their Bible to search for arguments they themselves are not able to experience as real truth. They do so only to become able to argue and to reason with others. And to see just how much or how well a person has contemplated the Lord during that precious time of communion (or what should be a precious time), one needs only to see how much of the glory of God such a person's life or face glows out after contemplation, at work and being himself and himself only. It is not appearances that show how much or how well people have seen the Lord. But, when He becomes clear to the hidden man our whole life changes.
If we see Christ as He is, our inner being starts to change rapidly. The worst handicap, however, is that kind of life we thought and conceived in our minds as holy, especially before coming to Christ for real. Perhaps Christ is leading you towards what He has as holiness for you and your mind does not allow you into it because you are heading towards your own idea of it. What you may have imagined concerning a life with God shall be your greatest stumbling block and your worst enemy when nearing Jesus for real. An alternative life is like having another wife which is not yours: one of the wives shall dump you sooner or later. Tell me: if the other woman is polite, beautiful and attractive is it enough reason for you to have her? Shouldn't you live only with the one God united you to, the legitimate one? A parallel life is like having a polite mistress. Having a parallel life is just another form of adultery. It does not allow you to live spontaneously in all goodness and love. Even your joys will be faked and false. Appearance has no life in itself even if true life appears on the outside as well. Be sure that you cannot have two wives without neglecting one of them. If you care for the other woman or for the other life, your own shall surely die away and your own being shall become a stranger to you. You cannot live from appearances. It is impossible. You can only die through appearance, by showing or by showing off what you aren't.
There are facts, occurrences, and laws in nature (both physical and spiritual) which we may never ignore for a moment. For example: there is a huge similarity between the way sicknesses work out and the way sin works. There are viral sicknesses or fatal ones and there are those long term sicknesses which come into existence because people have long term bad habits in eating or are careless about eating properly and in due time. Sin works much the same way: there are sins which come through temptations (which we may take as viruses which come and go) and there are sins on the long term because we have not been eating properly or feeding on proper spiritual food. We know certain sicknesses are contagious and by sitting around where people sin easily and gladly, temptation shall try to lure us and to swallow us up through smooth talk. That is also a fact. Sickness is transmitted one way or another. However, health is not transmitted from people to people as viruses are. Good health is worked upon. Spiritual health is a good, long term work which may never be neglected for a moment. Health is not contagious as sicknesses are. You cannot transmit your health to a sick friend. In the same sense, holiness and purity cannot be transmitted from people to people - it needs to be worked upon with patience and without a moment of negligence. "Therefore, my beloved... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling", Php.2:12.
If you can't be alone and quiet, it shows you are still immature and childish. Only spiritual maturity is able to see God continually and as He is. "But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret...", Mat.6:6.
The voice of God has very little in common with the way we feel. What we feel or the way we feel is our own thing. The more emotional we are, the more we raise it. We need to know what God feels about certain matters and not what our feelings and preferences have to say about them. Unless you look away from the way you feel about things, you cannot be an obedient person. And if God feels the same way as you about certain things, it shall be harder for you to discern God's voice from yours. People should stop acting as if they are little gods which God must listen to all the time. Trusting your heart is the way towards foolishness and death. "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool", Prov.28:26. Can you live so near God that you can even sense the way He feels about something?
If it is true that whoever gains his own life loses it, it is also true that we might find ourselves loosing something or even all without realizing we are gaining life due to the sense of loss we experience. And we may also feel satisfied concerning our lives and be losing it in a real way; or we may be losing without realizing we are gaining. It is a shame that faithful people often feel unhappy when things do not work out the way they expected they would. You might be gaining life and despise it because it does not feel pleasant at that moment. Beware! Do no sadden the Spirit through unbelief and lacks of joy. Perhaps, the loss we sense is the answer to our prayers.
We do not fix our lives to be able to read the Bible, but rather read the Bible to fix our lives. The goal or objective is to have life and to be near the Lord all the time - as if we have never experienced any other kind of life before. But, many prepare themselves to read in such a way that it seems the only goal is to have their Bibles read. They exhaust themselves and find their souls in the same condition they have always been after having read a lot from God's word. Reading and studying which does not lead to transformation is worth nothing.
Arrogance is camouflaged weakness and whoever brags about things is trying to hide his own vulnerability. Humility is to be what we are without a second thought about it.
Aversion or lack of disposition is a greater hindrance or stumbling block than disability or incapability. A disabled person has the option of being helped. But, resentment or anger often makes people refuse to follow the way they should. Think of it next time you hand your heart over to a grudge or anything that is able to deprive your heart and thoughts from serving God freely. You shall be worse off than a disabled person if your allow your heart to breed certain resisting habits.
Whenever a sinner insists and repeats things, whatever those things are, it just shows how impatient a person he is. But, when God repeats something, it reveals how patient He is. The more He repeats the greater is the manifestation of His patient character. Man's impatience is often the mirror of his resistance against the Spirit. And where there is smoke it means fire can be in a extinguishing mode or it can be alighted.
"For not he who commends himself is approved, but he whom the Lord commends", 2Cor.10:18. If this is true, then whoever criticizes himself shall neither be approved because of it, but only those whom the Lord convicts. Whoever commends himself is the person who easily criticizes himself also. And the motives behind these two different and seemingly opposed behaviours are brought by one and the same selfishness.
It is necessary to stay in the life we started to experience in the Lord. Receiving it is never enough. What does that mean? Many have the wrong motives in them when they come to the Lord. I am not talking about those. But, all those who have the right kind of motives, I mean, those who want a job to learn how to be lead by God; those who marry to glorify God through a married life and do no fall in the so-called trap of happiness; they are the ones who easily fall asleep and die away once they believe they have attained the life the Lord demands them to have in them in an abundant way. In fact, once you have that life abundantly, you are at the starting point and not at the end of your race. Why would a student finish his studies if it leads him to sleep late and to breed the idea there is nothing more he needs to do? Real life starts after we have attained life in the fullness God promised. If you are now easily lead by the Lord, if you hear him joyfully and are able to obey Him unconditionally, than you are at the point where you can start living for the Lord. Do not dare to be amazed by receiving such a life. Live as if you have never known any other way to live and start living your God out in the promised abundance.
The bad man shall always avenge or take revenge and his preferential target is whoever is righteous. His revengeful habits make him apt to destroy the innocent and the righteous whose walk is directly responsible for the accusations inside his own conscience. Evil has always personal reasons for taking revengeful measures against anyone. God, however, by taking revenge upon His enemies has salvation, love and tenderness in mind. However hard it is to believe that, it is indeed true. God's Spirit does not remain with mankind mostly for that reason, simply because He is love. "My spirit shall not always strive with man, in his erring (...) The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them", Gen.6:3;13.
What we are as people is usually what drives to judge others. We look at things and judge them according to our feelings and not according to truth. Many even judge God's deeds according to what they feel at the moment things happen to them. "Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not My way fair? Are your ways not unfair?", Ez.18:25. Because our way is unfair, we think and believe God's ways are unfair. In case our ways were really fair, we would believe otherwise concerning God and His ways towards us. If you wish to stop judging, rather change your heart and your mouth and thought will be redirected. To change an own heart is the best way to stop seeing in others the evil we are aware of.
When somebody lives as he ought before the Lord and has in him the capacity to be kept clean and continually near Him, sin will be a form of treason. You cannot consider yourself a better person than Jude has been or Peter when the cock crowed. "But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die", Ez.18:24. A righteous man who sins is a traitor. He denies and betrays the Lord. He should repent from high treason.
"And ... being planted, shall it prosper?", Ez.17:10. This is a good question for you to answer! Facts show that many people who have been spiritually nurtured and cared for do not prosper. Are you one of these?
People shall drink once our cup runs over and not when it is being filled. Preach to yourself first and above all when God reveals Himself to you.
The understanding of God's word has more to do with the practicality of the word than with the knowledge of it. To know what it is all about is easy for anyone. We cannot separate understanding from obedience when it comes to God's word, because, according to it, they are the same thing. Most of the time, God's words, when read and attained, are a confirmation of what is already happening inside us and for which we had no former explanation. By reading, we come to know what is already happening inside. We get the explanation of inexplicable and surprising things we never expected. Memorizing and studying God's word as a worldly student would do to pass exams is, quite often, a stumbling block to the kind of understanding God wishes us to breed and have of His words. It is a parallel life. That kind of knowledge is like the mistress of a married man: it does everything the legal wife does. However, she is an immoral outsider. Memorizing is good only when it shall serve us in the near future by being reminded by the Holy Spirit when things start happening according to what we have studied and learned. Then, shall we believe because we shall say "Now I see with my own eyes". "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You", Job 42:5.
I always say it is not work which wears us down. What tires us most is what we are and not what we do.
Paul said he would forget what was behind to launch all he was to reach the goal set before him. He was referring to the great things God had done and achieved through him, mainly. He knew the past would not count if the present could not consume his full attention. However, sometimes God reminds us of our past sins so we will not feel at ease and so that our assurance and security don't become superficial and meaningless. Our security and assurance must be deep, practical, immediate, easy and simple. And in case it is not immediate, it shall not become of the wavering kind as time passes and as thoughts come and go along the waiting period.
Tears for holiness show we would like to be holy just as it shows we would like to work it out ourselves. Because we want to do it, we easily cry by facing the impossibility of being holy without Jesus.
Rejected people try harder and will do more to be accepted than any other person to jump over the wall into the sheepfold. Instead, they should reject and abolish whatever made God reject them.
It is a shame that there are people who are able to hear and understand things and, even so, refuse to hear and obey the way they ought. They easily cause the work of grace to fail. "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and hear not, for they are a rebellious house", Ez.12:2.
To be able to hear God's voice clearly, there are a few things which must happen. One of them is that God must indeed speak. Many hear their own heart and feelings speaking to them and they say it was God speaking. The other thing which needs to happen is: the hearts of men must be subdued and must not overpower the wishes of God. Even when our own wishes are like God's, we must take only God into consideration. He is the Shepherd and not the sheep. He is not the disciple. He is not the one who should be listening to us, but hearing from us until He fulfils.
Whenever a person refuses to take hold of God and clings only to the hope and faith others have, such a person is holding back some secret sin or some pet sin which he simply refuses either to see as sin or to give up forever. You may count on it, because this is a true statement. Such a person does not leave the entrance to life, but does not go in either.
"...So that you might have peace in ME...", John 16:33. It is easy to have peace because there is also a false peace which the reality of God slays to pieces. But, if Jesus is real, it is possible to have peace in Him only if we are spotless and clean. It is not possible to have peace in Him unless we are spotless and content with the kind of life He gives. Dirty consciences have peace outside Jesus and feel quite well there, however unsatisfied the heart might be. And what Jesus promises to all of us is peace while in Him. There is more behind His words than we might think or believe. Allow Jesus to become real in you so you shall know what real peace means. It is not that easy to have peace while in Him.
There are many differences between faithful and unfaithful people, especially concerning faith and what they usually assume in a practical life. Usually, unfaithful people cling strongly to the hope and to the belief that God is conducting their lives. I have never seen an ex-believer assuming it shall not go well with him. But, deep in their hearts they cannot believe what they assume as true. They are always wavering and unstable. Consequently, they do things their own way and carry on believing it was God doing it. Faithful people, on the other hand, believe deep in their hearts their lives shall indeed be conducted, fully blessed and guided by God. They cannot deny the kind of heart they have. However, many of them are unable to assume it openly, they who are the ones who have many reasons to assume practically God shall guide their lives. It would be good that those people who really know it shall go well with their soul, that they assume in a practical way and in all simplicity their life shall be indeed guided. They shall rest and not be wearied down, because they expect from the Lord. That's what waiting in God is all about. Waiting on God is expecting.
"...That He might present it to Himself as the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such things", Eph.5:26-27. To take wrinkles out of something we heat it up or fill it to maximum capacity. Let the church be on fire and fully filled with God and it shall not have wrinkles, no ugliness and no double standards.
Laws exist only because there are transgressors. It is the transgressor who brought the Law into existence. If people's hearts are naturally healthy and pure; if there were no sinners; if people felt naturally at home inside a holy, filled life; if they knew no other kind of life; if they would do the right things and preserve them naturally; then there would be no laws. "...We acknowledge that the law is not made for a righteous one, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane...", 1Tim.1:9-10. This is one of the reasons the righteous are not found under the law.
"...I will repay you according to your ways and your abominations that are in your midst..." Ez.7:9. If we take all kinds of abominations from our midst, there is nothing God shall make us accountable for anymore. But, let them remain and God shall not spare us at all. If our abominations, sins and thoughts still persist in finding a place in our midst, it is clear that God will correct us. We may never expect anything else from a loving Father such as the Lord. The other options is to treat us as bastards and not as sons. "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? Heb 12:8 But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons" Heb.12:5-8. Be sure of this: if your sins, your bad thoughts or even any source or cause of sin is not completely removed from your heart, house or church, you shall surely be punished until all is cleansed from the perspective of God's eyes. Do not dare to complain when that happens. Complain against your sins and not against God, who is trying to correct you. "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?", Lam.3:39.
It is a common thing to say God is good when He has done something we appreciate. Unfortunately, people think God has changed when He sends some plagues against us. And God does not change. He is still good and shall be good throughout eternity, no matter whatever happens to us. Because people believe God shall give them only what is good due to selfishness and to a great love towards self, once the Lord chastises, they blame God or the devil for it. Consequently, they do not repent and rather reprimand whatever is happening to them. They complain against the consequences and not against the causes. Some even use Jesus' name to do so. By knowing it is possible that the Lord sends plagues so people may either repent or straighten their ways by submitting them to Him, we shall be wise if we acknowledge God is good all the time and always, whatever happens to us. We acknowledge truth that way. "And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands", Rev.9:20. We see God promises that one day people shall be wise enough to repent. "Then you shall know that I am Jehovah, when their dead shall be among their idols all around their altars", Ez.6:13. "I will do to them according to their way, and according to their judgments I will judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord", Ez.7:27.
It is easy to men of fibre to be strong; to those who walk with God to believe; to those filled with the Spirit to be simple and wise. They shall be simple because they use no complicated stuff to do greater things. I challenge you to try to disbelieve seeing Christ clearly through a spotless heart! It is simply not possible to be unbelieving. Everything is easy to those whose heart burn with a fire they cannot avoid having in them. They know what they are talking about. They know why they are believing. That kind of faith is the fruit of a real relationship.
Every sin and all demons are always unpredictable. It is up to me to be constant and one-minded in the Lord. I cannot predict where the next threat shall come from. But, there is one thing I can do: I can live a simple, holy life which does not change according to threat or according to what happens. In a windy day any wise woman holds her skirt and not the wind. Lets hold our lives near the Lord instead of trying to calm down the tempests around us.
God pronounced certain judgments and chastisements against Israel, Ez.5. Those who would not believe the words of the prophets would stay in the city under siege and die; those who believed it would happen but could not trust a God who would do such a thing to them, would flee and die. But, what would happen to any such who believed the curse was irreversible and God's words were worthy of being taken into consideration? We know Jeremiah was kept alive and was granted freedom. Some others, God would take out of Jerusalem and protect them along the way. "Come out of her, My people, that you may not be partakers of her sins, and that you may not receive of her plagues", Rev.18:4. There would be two reasons for such to leave town: they would not partake on its sins to learn them; and they would miss the plagues which were unavoidable. We should take this as a lesson: let's not learn the sins of today's preachers who rob the flock in exchange for promises of pleasure and prosperity. Let's leave such false preachers alone! Whoever stays in there shall voluntarily or involuntarily partake of their sins and plagues. These shall surely divide your loyalty between God, them and the devil.
The men from the East who came to find Jesus were man of word. They were honest and faithful to promises or they would not leave all to find Jesus. Let's take in mind that they left all before they found Jesus. They knew how to be faithful to whatever they thought was good. These faithful men promised Herod they would come back to tell him where and who the Saviour was. However, to that promised they did not remain true. They did not fulfil what they had promised to do and it was holy to do so. They did not sin by breaking that word of promise. They were holy by not fulfilling a word they have given. They did not feel guilty about any of it either. They did not send a word of apology to Herod at all. It took two years for Herod to realize he has been deceived. "We must obey God rather than men", Act.5:29. What would you have done? Would you please God or a earthly king? Would you obey a dream and break your word?
"And He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you...", Ez.2:1. This happened quite a few times with the Prophet Ezekiel. We wonder just how many times God needed to repeat the same words when He appeared to him until he could stand before the Lord on the spot. God does no like to repeat things. Especially if we are in sin, God deals against us harshly if He has to repeat the conviction over and over. But, in this case, it was Ezekiel's religiosity commanding him to bow down when God wished him up to speak to him or to listen carefully. God is not very fond of religion. In fact, I personally believe He hates it because it makes God unreal. We do not know how long it took Ezekiel to be ready and to stand before the Lord every time God appeared to him.
Ezekiel and many others saw the heavens open and saw many of the things that go on in there. None of those men of God have been particularly overwhelmed by the things and signs they saw because they were believers. But, as soon as they saw God, they feared and humbled themselves down. They worshipped the real Lord as soon as they saw Him. It is good that the same happens to us. Many get so startled and impressed because they had a dream or that God spoke to them in some particular way that they talk of nothing else, think no further than the signs they have seen. And, once the Lord appears to them, they are to busy thinking about signs or to blind to see Him as He is.
The proof we have been forgiven is the ability and the capacity to oppose what we have been and to do the opposite joyfully as if we have known no other way of life before but the Lord's only.
There are many laws in nature which shall never change, at least while the sun and the moon exist. One of these laws is that species reproduce its own species. A dreamer reproduces another dreamer; evil reproduces evil; and goodness brings into life what is like it. Man is a mere consequence of what mankind has been. He thinks as he thinks because of the way he has been thinking. Man daydreams because he has been an unstable daydreamer. But, the Lord is far too real to be only dreamed of. Unless we are able to grasp, accept and multiply realities and to see things as they really are, we have little chance to feel comfortable near God. It is time that we start making sense and that we become real about all the things of God. A friend of mine said: "I have stopped lying to God". Hope you can say the same thing. It is not God's fault that man sees Him as unreal and mystical. What will you be? A dreamer or a reality man? Joshua did not become overwhelmed by having the Jordan opened up to let the Israelites pass through it. Peter did not jump up and down and neither did he miss the point in his sermon when that lame man started to walk and to leap in joy. That was as normal to Peter as drinking a cup of water would be, Act.3:12. Admiration is the first stumbling block a genuine, unfeigned faith. Whoever wants signs is not looking to be real about things. Such people simply refuse to become real! May God have mercy on us!
If faith is the certainty of the things we do not usually see, daydreaming and being emotionally influenced can't be hope. These imitations of hope and faith always end up in disappointment. God, however, does not disappoint. "And hope does not make us ashamed", Rom.5:5. If we have real expectations in us burned by God into our perceiving eyes, the moment they become like dreams they lose the ground to be fulfilled. Daydreaming is the door that leads to uncertainty and doubt.
Our soul has ways to suffer which our body is not able to imagine. The soul can suffer much more than the body. Pain in the soul is very difficult to bear. This is why the joys of the Lord inside us are impossible to be described as well. Everything that happens inside our souls is far beyond explanation, if real.
Jesus became flesh like us and not only similar to us. He indeed became like us so we shall be like Him one day. And, because He became like us, we do not need to put up a face or a mood we do not have to reach out to Him. Let's simply be ourselves and be as truthful as can be so we shall be heard by Him when we plead for renewal and salvation from all sins - if that's what you plead Him for, indeed!
When the Lord sends some plagues or evil against people so they might repent and get converted, many are too blind to see the reason behind what He does. In fact, many start to blame this and that, people and circumstances, the boss or the employee, the weather and many other things besides themselves. They should instead hit their chests with their fists. By blaming anything else besides ourselves, we take away the power of persuasion these things carry in them had we believed they came from the Lord. "And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands...", Rev.9:20,21. Many others have some other tactics: they convince themselves and others the servants of the Lord (by whom the words of repentance is sent out) are not God's servants at all. There is another problem, however, when people believe God sent evil against them: they seldom accept that as mercy and love, but rather as rejection and punishment. Punishment for sin is hell, not plagues. Plagues are corrective punishments. Therefore, they blame God. "Yet the people have not turned unto him that smote them, neither have they sought the Lord of hosts", Is.9:13. In the midst of the evil sent out by the Lord, there is the word: "Look at Me and live", Amos 5:4. "And men blasphemed God because of the plague ... for the plague was exceedingly great", Rev 16:21. Man in sin always defends and protects his own points of view. Under such circumstances, man seldom turns to the Lord to be converted and they are eventually and consequently destroyed. "I have destroyed my people; they returned not from their ways", Jer.15:7. Those who turn to Him, are wise indeed.
The new nature outside a continual presence of the Lord would always be without peace and without rest. It would feel like a duck in the desert where there is no water. It would feel strangely misplaced, awkward and in a strong unrest. Its comfort would be missing from it. The Spirit is called the Comforter for a reason. "But ... sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you", John 16:6-7. This is so because the new nature searches Him to find Him. The same uneasiness and unrest would be easily spotted in a sinful nature in the presence of God. It would simply feel misplaced. The new nature finds rest and peace by finding the presence of God and the old nature settles down and becomes joyful by settling down away from the Lord. The new nature prays to find the Lord and the old nature also prays without any intention to find Him as He is.
There is one thing to remember when wishing to discern between things: never talk to fast, never think ahead, do not give hunches as to what you cannot see clearly yet. Discernment is to see what is already there. It is not inventing things. Discernment does not guess - it sees. Discernment is not taking sides. Discernment is truth cutting deep where it needs to cut.
It is not my faith which takes care of me, but Jesus. According to the Bible, I am the one who cares for my faces indirectly. Jesus takes care of me. I trust Him and not my faith. That's why I am safe and why I am able to have faith.
There are fish in the water. But, there are people who can swim quite well even if they do not belong to that environment. However well they swim, they can never say water is their element. We can say the same thing about being in God: there are people who can swim quite well in grace, but are not at home in the Lord. We need to be in our environment when in God. We cannot be strangers in the waters of life.
A victory obtained now explains there has been another victory before this one and on which the present one follows or is grounded. And the present victory surely guarantees the next one. And before all victories there has been the one at the Cross. Today's victorious life is part of a sequence of victories we have been granted. One victory follows another and without one, the other would not be possible. Dare to overcome.
We read: "I shall give the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord", Zep.3:9. We know that people who have gained clean lips shall surely and consequently be praising God. No one can avoid that happening. Purity leads to seeing the Lord and by seeing Him we shall marvel. It so happens because people start being honest within themselves and clear-minded. Consequently, they exalt the Lord and uphold Him by becoming honest in their views of Him. However, the reverse of this is not always true. One cannot assuredly say all people who are found praising God have clean lips. "And then will I clearly tell them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity", Mat.7:23.
Whenever someone is unstable in the ways of the Lord, I mean, when such a person is always hesitating between the way of the Lord and his own way of doing things due to the lack of confidence in God's measures; or due to a heavy trust on own abilities or capacities; or due to a secret hope that God will do those things his carnal heart and mind deeply desire after; then God might finally hand that person over to himself and to his own ways forever. Right there, that man or woman ceases to be hesitating to follow the normal course of this world without giving up being a believer. They become firm and decided people, stern and stubborn and, usually, say they have finally opened their eyes concerning many things. By this, they mean to say the servants of God who preached to them before had been deceiving them all along and had caused them inner troubles and uncertainties and that now they have come to certainties and to better conclusions on their own.
Accusations cover up sin. The solemn, clear exposition of all sins annihilates any kind of sin forever. Putting in the light condemns sin to death and saves the sinner, while accusations condemn the sinner and keep sin alive. Putting in the light is a death blow to any kind of accusations.
Idolatry is to live as if an idol is God just as it is living as if God is like an idol. Unless God is real in our lives, we shall be guilty of idolatry and religious lies. Evangelical Christians shall be condemned along with many others who worship idols because they treat God as unreal. They do not find Him. They only pray.
There is much hypocrisy in many prayers. Many people ask God things like this: "Lord, how and when shall you do this or that?" In reality, all they wish to know is whether God shall do it or if the Lord shall carry out their fleshly desires for them.
Many times people wish to know what is still ahead in their future. But, by knowing Christ and by loving Him only and fully, we already know our future: Him. He is our future if we indeed love Him.
Whatever we are or do right now we shall certainly do or be afterwards. If we do not trust during a crisis, we shall not be as trusting and as faithful as we ought in times of abundance. Unless our heart changes now, it shall be a similarity of what it should be under any other circumstances. By having circumstances changed, unless the heart has changed along, we shall carry the same kind of heart into the next stage of our lives. The same heart follows inside the same person who changed job because of lacking satisfaction there; the person who moves to another house because of the neighbours; or the person who exchanges his wife or husband for another because of unhappiness in the marriage. It means wherever the person goes, he shall have the same troubles all over again. "Let your way of life be ... content with such things as you have", Heb.13:5. You cannot believe you shall change into a better or different person under different circumstances or in heaven after death unless you have changed on earth. And, if we can count on that, I mean, if we are assuredly the same kind of people whatever the circumstances are, we might easily believe God shall never change either. He shall always be faithful.
When the Bible talks about the devil, it says he does everything out of revenge as if someone else is guilty for the sins he has committed. When the Bible talks about God's revenge, it talks about a righteous way of establishing justice and holiness. God does so out of pure love, for the sake of all that is good, and the devil for all that is the opposite of good.
"If man does not turn (...) God has already fitted for him instruments of death", Ps.7:12,13. These weapons of death may be anything anytime. It may even be certain things man sees as good things. God may hand man over to sin and to slippery grounds so that man's way ends unexpectedly and abruptly. These weapons have already been set up long before man was born. Even before we are born, blessing and curses were already there. The law already existed. No one can avoid either being blessed or cursed according to the way one's life is conducted and lived under the eyes of God. Another issue about this, is that death within enters into man in a way man is not aware of. For example: if I inhale oxygen, I am aware of breathing but not of what oxygen does within me. When I sin, death works deep in me in a way I might mistake it for life. For this reason many people see death as life and life as death. It is no wonder many sinners consider themselves as living beings after having sinned. This is one of the deadliest weapons man has to deal with: the deceit of death which any sinner shall easily misinterpret. "He dug a pit and bored it, and has fallen into the ditch which he made", Ps.7:15.
If we do not experience the things of God in a real way and we talk a lot about them, we are talking about what shall condemn us sooner or later. To what avail is it to me to talk about the greater things of the Lord if I do not know Him as I claim to know? What kind of praise shall such a lie be? Unless God's things are made real unto us, we are liars in one degree or another. We need to find Life as it is and not as we suppose it is. And unless we loose ours for the sake of God's, we shall loose it for nothing. Loosing our lives for some other motive is not good. Terrorists do that when they explode to blow themselves up.
When man praises man there is always a certain hidden motive behind words. Praise to man is usually stained with some kind of self interest which amounts to greedy. Anyone who praises man has some kind of interest behind it. Praising man is a lie. And, consequently, when people praise God, many just do so for the sake of words and the way they believe praise ought to be done. They praise God the way they would praise man, having some kind of interest behind their many words. Usually, they handle words as if they shall gain something in return by praising Him. Their praise is not sincere. Is your praise there because you have experienced real things from the Lord, or because you believe you shall be given something back by praising Him? The Psalmist praised God "according to His righteousness", (Ps.7:17) and not according to what he imagined of God. He praised God for real matters and things and his praise had been according to them. We cannot regard such praise as words of interest but rather of real thankfulness and amazement. We cannot praise God as man would praise a girl, saying how beautiful she is so he may gain her attention for some dubious reason. Try never to praise God having something else in mind. Let your praise come out of a pure heart and because of real experiences of real Life. If not, keep quiet. Even fools are praised by being quiet enough. Before you seek to praise God, seek Him and you will have enough reasons to praise Him for.
People in sin feel judged any way and any time. Whatever a holy person does in front them, it shall always be seen as an accusation. If a holy man talks, the reprobate feels judged; if he keeps quiet, the same shall feel excluded. Whatever a holy man does shall call the attention of the grudges of sin and it shall judge itself. It is self blaming self, yet, the holy man gets the blame for that judgment. Usually, holy people do not have much to talk about in the company of unholy ones because their hearts are different and the heart is where the mouth gets its words from. One is reigned by grudge and resentment and the other isn't. What shall the subject of conversation be? What shall they talk about? Unless someone changes, there shall not be much to talk about. But, it annoys people who do not want to change for the better.
It is good to desire the good works of God with our whole heart. "Faithful is this word: If anyone reaches out to overseership, he desires a good work", 1Tim.3:1. But, unless it is not desired exclusively, it seldom works out. Suppose someone desires after God's work and, at the same time, desires to build something earthly for some other reason or for own glory. It shall be impossible to conciliate both works inside the same heart. Both shall suffer and none of them shall be carried out or accomplished in a perfect way. This is what shall happen to whoever lives for sin and 'for God' at the same time: he shall be limping between two ideas. He shall not live wholly in sin and neither live wholeheartedly for the Lord. It is not possible to live for these two masters at the same time, so distinct they are. There are a lot of things which just shall not work out together.
"There are many who say, 'Who will show us any good?'" Ps.4:6. I hope this shall never be said while I am around. My prayer to the Lord is that no one shall be able to accuse this way having me nearby.
We have the story of Lazarus and the rich man, Luk.16:19-31. We all know, however, that no one enters heaven by being poor and no one goes to hell by being rich. The rich man went to hell because he didn't know the Lord as he ought through his riches, and Lazarus for knowing Jesus the way he ought to - he gave his heart to Jesus and not to bitterness. If this is true, we may conclude Lazarus knew God while on earth and the rich man did not. Assuming this as true, we easily see God did not make Lazarus rich and nor did the Lord hinder the rich man to become rich. The so-called doctrines of prosperity have two setbacks here which opposes them. It says we shall be given back by giving to the Lord. The rich man did not give to the Lord and became rich. And Lazarus knew the Lord in a perfect way and was sick and continued as a beggar. These prosperity doctrines have no biblical ground on which to stand. They are lies - many lies put together.
Any person who spends what he has just for the sake of buying or owning has two problems and not one. That person reveals through his spending behaviour how unsatisfied the heart is. If spending could fill the heart, no one would waste more money after having spent. The other problem such a person has, is the idolatrous covetousness which rules the heart. Every heart has two sides which should be taken into account. I am so sure someone who wastes money in vain shall save it in times he should spend. The day that person needs to spend it the right way he shall not do so because his covetous heart shall not allow it to happen. Covetousness is idolatry because it causes people to be unsatisfied and to put their trust and hopefulness in a vain thing. Obviously, if you put your trust and hope in a vain thing, you remove it from what is not vain.
If we have put a request before God, if our prayers are always lighted and aflame before the altar of the Lord, and if those requests are important to the Kingdom, one of two things might happen: we may receive immediately; or it may take a while before it happens as promised and according to the answer. If it takes somewhat longer than what we expected it would, we may never drop our arms down nor our faith and holy expectations. The first temptation in the deep thoughts of man is to assume God shall not give only because it has been somewhat delayed. Maybe it has never been delayed, but is awaiting the right time to happen. Would it be easy for you to devote and consecrate to the Lord whatever you have received from Him? If it is not the right time and you despair and give up because God keeps it for some better occasion or heart you need to get. Take care not to start believing God shall not grant it. You should also bear in mind that receiving certain things does not always make it easier for us. The responsibility to be faithful is harder work than to be expectant, aflame and awaiting. It is easier to be hopeful and trusting, because people seldom realize that they need to be faithful through the same kind of faith which made them wait faithfully. Doing can be associated to the flesh and faithfulness is never fleshly. Doing must be of faith and through Jesus. It gathers with Him. Besides, people easily fall asleep when there is nothing more to be awake for or to wait for. They do not realize faithfulness in what they have received should keep them wide awake and alive. People used to be expecting need to change their mind once they have received. The future absence of expectation is not good, since it may easily tempt them away from living in grace and through its means alone in whatever has been received. Let's put in our hearts and burn our desire through the Spirit to be faithful after having received whatever we have been waiting for. After the joy of having given birth to a child, let's take care of that child. We do not receive to become happy people, but rather to be faithful people.
Someone who cannot wait on God and expect things at their proper time only, is surely someone who shall not be made faithful in what he receives. Would it be easy for you to devote and consecrate to the Lord now whatever you have received from Him?
There is no sin which affects only those who commit it. Sins are like earthquakes and affect many people far from its epicentre. If you are one of those people who still believe your sins shall not affect your friends, your children or any other person around, you are and have a deceiving heart. That's a kind of blindness which affects all such who refuse to look at facts as they really are, in order to see what they would rather wish to see. Many believe they have the freedom to err or some birth given right to sin. Even if the only thing that happens to you is the absence of light or the absence of blessing brought by sin, people around shall be poorer because of you. They shall not be blessed through you the way they should. People shall suffer because sin takes blessing away from your life. Anyway, you cannot believe divorce shall affect only those who break that holy covenant; or that stealing does not affect people who have been robbed or that the family of the robber shall not suffer; nor may you believe drugs and addictions will not affect people nearby. And, if all of this is true, then the opposite is surely a fact beyond question as well: there is no virtue, no holiness, no sin confessed openly which shall not mean something to all people around. Just try to do the right thing in a constant basis in front of people and be yourself all the time. You shall see just how much it means to people around you and even to people far away!
"Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting on an ass, even a colt the foal of an ass", Mat.21:5. This verse meant a lot to me today. It was quite meaningful. It made me recall how stubborn I was in my previous lifestyle, being like a stubborn animal which exists to be loaded with heavinesses. Jesus is presently riding me to the New Jerusalem.
The life with God demands from us that it must be us and God alone. If all of us decided to deal with God exclusively all the time and in a continuous way, mankind would get along quite well, having the same kind of purposes, the same kind of loyalty, love and realities. It can't be you and your wife and God or you and your wife will never agree in the overall; or you and your child and God. No, it must be you and God and you child and God! The Psalmist said, "Whom have I in Heaven? And besides You I desire none on earth" Ps.73:25. When he said that I am sure he was married and had children like any of us. Yet, he came to that wise conclusion.
If you do not bother, I am sure you are negligent. The widow who bothered the judge in the middle of the night was praised by Jesus, Luc.18:1-6. The man who bothered his friend in the middle of the night to have something for his visitors was spoken well by Jesus, Luc.11:5-8. If Jesus praised them, they had done something which deserves heaven's praise. These people did no hide their request as the man who hid his talent and was reproved by God
No one needs to imagine God speaking to him. In fact, as long as people are driven to hear a false voice (or false words) which their need drives them to hear, as long as need, worry, pride or anything else drives people to speak for God, He shall not speak at all. This is one of the problems unbelieving people need to sort out if they want to hear God's voice clearly.
"If we say we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves...", 1 John 1:8. Allow me to translate this verse for you: "If we say we have not sinned, we are the kind of person who is easily and usually self deceived". In other words, our mood, our heart is of the kind that deceives itself in many other things as well. It is very easy for a deceitful heart to hold on to illusion, lies or fantasies in all situations, especially about self. This is why a saint cannot say he is not holy either. "And if I should say I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His Word", John 8:55.
Freedom is easy to define: it starts at the point where we have no more freedom to sin.
No sin may ever be considered a secret sin or a minor sin. I know there are sins we are not aware of, especially if we are far away from that kind of light which shines to show everything there is as clearly as it is. And there are sins that only the person who has committed them knows about. But, there are no such sins which affect only the the person who commits them. All sins affect everyone around, even those sins which are known only to those who committed them. There is no way to avoid others from being affected by any kind of our sins. We are either a blessing or a curse to people around us. Even the so-called secret sins are dangerous for people around because it deprives them from the blessings we could have channelled to them. There is no mid way concerning this issue. The sins we commit at work affect our home and those committed at home affect our work and work place because sin causes us to be without God and without His blessing.
No one is changed by reading the Bible, but only through unconditional obedience to it. It works much like driving: no one is safe by reading and memorizing the street signs, but rather by obeying them.
Prepared or not, everything shall end for all of us sooner or later.
The sinner does not know over what he stumbles. In fact, he quite often upholds and defends whatever causes him to stumble. This means that he lives sin in such a natural and simple way that he is not aware of what is going on in his own life. He cannot describe what is happening to him. Therefore, the knowledge of good and evil is not the ability do describe it thoroughly. On the other hand, we do not need to experience evil to gain its knowledge since we already know it. We need to live goodness out the same way, as if there is no evil around. It should be an eye for an eye of the previous life. "For as you have yielded your members as slaves to uncleanness, and to lawless act unto lawless act, even so now yield yourselves to God, as one alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God", Rom.6:13. Many people fall into error because they believe they must go deep into what sin is all about. "But to you I say, and to ... as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak...", Rev.2:24.
"And they went after the vain thing, and became vain", 2 Kings 17:15. People become vain even when they believe otherwise concerning themselves. They are without real strength, without the ability and power to mean something to anyone around simply because they live in illusion and sin. They seldom realize they become vain in themselves by touching any vain thing. Be extremely careful and on your guard against futilities and vanities. Everything depends directly from the presence of real grace. By touching vain things God shall surely move away from you.
God became angry against Israel and destroyed them because they "had feared other gods and walked in the statutes of the nations", 2 Kings 17:7,8. It is a serious matter to fear demons and idols, to be afraid of them just as it dangerous to walk in the ways of the nations. Take care not to walk in the worldly ways of your nation as well, the one you have been born into.
To hear and to be obedient is important to be able to hear again. What we may have heard is much more important to us than what we have not heard yet. Let's stop being concerned about what we have not heard yet and use our resources to be fully obedient first to what we have heard. "If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know...", John 7:17.
If I am able to hear God as He speaks to me, it means He is able to hear me when I pray. One cannot separate one thing from the other. If I cannot hear Him easily, He is not listening to me that willingly either. The degree of difficulty in hearing each other is proportional to the distance my soul is from the Lord and how far away it is deviated from His presence. The further I move away from Him, the harder it shall be both to hear Him and to be heard in prayer. No wonder people scream and yell so much in nowadays' churches all over the world. The greater the noise, the greater the distance between them and the Lord.
Everyone has his brain fully protected by bone. Above that bone there is the skin which gives man his appearance. Without that bone our brain would be unprotected and we would be under serious risks of dying anytime. A person who has been transformed inside and is not fully sanctified, having some of his members or ways still old, incurs into the same danger of dying anytime spiritually. Whoever is not sanctified, has no protection over his justified heart. Unless people are fully sanctified they shall not reach everlasting life at all. The devil will make sure to harm them and hit the new creature they have been made. He shall find a way to harm it seriously, since the spirit of man is unsanctified and unprotected as would our brain under the skin. The devil hates new people that much and he shall never leave them unhurt. The only way one shall ever be able to see the Lord is to be fully sanctified in all aspects of our lives. Unless we are, there is some weak spot where the devil will hit with a deadly blow, sooner or later. Have no illusions concerning that. "Follow holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord", Heb.12:14.
I am fully dedicated to the Lord Jesus: I don't want to belong to anyone else nor to anything else. Under this dedication, I am sure to carry God's name around as I walk, talk or work. Whatever I do, the Lord's name shall rest on me all the time. Therefore, if the Lord would not fulfil His word concerning me, I would surely be like a nameless child and no one would associate the Lord to me or me to the Lord. Every normal child has his family name. People would say of me "the so called son of so and so has failed". They would depreciate the Lord along with me. And they would associate God's name when talking about my failures. This is one of the reasons I believe God shall fulfil all He promised concerning me anywhere, anytime. I am not expecting in vain. His name shall be seen as it is and shall be glorified. "The Lord has helped us thus far", 1 Sam.7:12.
Selfishness is the embryo of all sin. Unless something is selfish it cannot be sin. The opposite of love is not hatred, but selfishness. Hatred is one of the many types of selfishness there is. There must be some portion of self if something is to be considered a transgression of the Law of Love. Maybe God does not do the things He wishes to do because we would want to use it for ourselves in some way. Let's remember how Hannah got her boy by dedicating it fully to the Lord. She had many reasons to have that boy for herself but she got it only as she gave up on her personal motives. She did not give up the child, but selfishness. Now we know there was a dispute for the child between her and God. We are glad she did not give up on the child when she had been convicted of selfishness. Maybe we are the ones hindering God to do those things we prize most.
If small or great works amount to the same thing to the Lord, if feeding an ant or opening the Red Sea demands the same effort from Him, why do I need a greater faith to do greater things through Him? What is the great mystery of it all? I am sure it has nothing to do with God, but rather with us. The problem is within man. We are the ones who differentiate between works and works, or wish certain things more than others. If some things are dearer to us than others, we might consider them greater and better works. Our selfish or unselfish involvement in something is what causes the inner fight between believing or unbelief and the troubles our hearts may labour against.
Many people fear it so much to be exposed and lighted that they hide instinctively. They fear to admit something God sees when they hide. Why is it so? I believe it is especially before God people would wish to look their best. Just as someone has trouble admitting unfaithfulness to the wife, fiancé or husband, so do people fear to admit they have sinned against God. We easily deceive ourselves and our hearts drive us to hide where God can see us anyway. Will you admit all your sins by name, one by one without omitting a single one of them to be fully saved from each one of them? Unless you do, you surely deceive yourself and allow your heart to deceive you easily. You have a kind of heart which deceives itself generally. Now we can easily understand why the Bible says we are the kind of people who deceive the own heart when hiding sin. "If we say that we have no sin, we (are of the kind of people who) deceive ourselves", 1 John 1:8.
Self salvation is a serious crime. In fact, it is a suicidal crime. What would you make of a doctor who decided to carry out a surgery on himself? What do you believe would happen to him? Even if he could carry it out, imagine what kind of fears he would breed by being too selfishly involved in what he was doing. Can you imagine just how much he would blame himself by failing in some way? We cannot believe there would come something good out of it. It would be an abusive trust in own capacities and a distrust in others' abilities. "For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God", Rom 10:3. We cannot associate selfishness to salvation in any degree. I believe the main reason why people do not come near to be saved indeed is what they imagine shall be the outcome of self-saving efforts. Many run away from getting saved because of what they imagine salvation is. They turn their backs on salvation because of the idea they have concerning it. But, is that person less suicidal than the one who tries to operate on himself? What difference is there between those who turn their backs to such a wonderful salvation and those who try to save themselves? Let's hand our lives over to Jesus and trust what we consider most precious - our lives - into His hands. It should, also, hinder us to save ourselves. "And blessed is your advice, and blessed are you who have kept me from... delivering myself with my own hand", 1Sam.25:33.
Unbelief demands repetitions of undefined prayers quite often. That is why people repeat prayers so much instead of looking for one definite answer to a specific prayers. Without that answer prayer is worth nothing and never deals with whatever hinders it to be heard by God.
Unbelief believes its way. It has its own way of believing things. The sinner does not like to be seen as a sinner, the unbeliever does all he can to be seen as a believer. He does not want to be seen as an unbeliever, not even by himself. In order to be able to look at real things in a distorted way, the sinner conceives a special way to look at the things of God and maintains them as unreal and disordered. Many people conceive a Lord of their own. That's why people, often, defend themselves by saying "we have our faith!". They indeed have bred a faith of their own which suits their ignorant deceitfulness and which does not give them much trouble - at least not as much as loosing their own lives.
A fully sanctified person has a strong vaccine against sin protecting him right through in all aspects of his life. That person is someone who ceased to please people to please God exclusively. No genuinely sanctified person runs away from sin since sin cannot not touch him. Immunity is just one of the many assets and fruits of grace which breeds along each day of a sanctified life. Such a person does not fear to crash the serpents head under his foot only because it has the most deadly venom in its fangs. "The king of Israel is in your midst; you shall not fear evil any more", Zep.3:15. However, it does not work out that way with an unsanctified life.
Reading the Bible without light or in our own strength is sin and working in a corn field or in computers with or through God is holiness. If we do not desire to die forever, we should consider the possibility of doing all with and through God and to be found gathering with Him. Whatever God does not approve us doing, we shall do alone. And whatever He approves, He shall reject it if done on our own.
Paul was someone who, many times, walked around with old clothes, hungry and despised by people. And God was glorified in such circumstances. "We are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now", 1Cor.4:13. We do not see Paul being applauded and neither do we see the disciples thinking that applauding Paul was glorifying God. If it is true that people of the same kind walk together and agree among themselves, we may only conclude that those who applaud their singers or teachers and they who, by turn, receive secretly the applause given them, have the same kind of heart, it is, a heart which deceives itself by believing that's what glorifying God is all about. "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?", Amos 3:3.
Grace reaches where no man can reach and exposes to death anything wrong and to life every good thing. No doctor gets into the sickness to leave it as it is. We do no see any doctor carrying out a surgery on himself either. It would never be an easy thing to do, however we may look at it. Even being a doctor, he shall need to hand his life over to someone else's care and trust. And Jesus does more inside us than a surgery. He changes our whole life inside. This is why we need to entrust our lives to Jesus to be transformed according to His image. He is the Saviour.
The main obstacle in any sinner's way is his way of doing things; his own strength which he knows so well and how to use it to his comfort; and his own goals which he tries hard to have God comply to. I have seen people doing what they would never do normally, simply because they wish to be otherwise and keep control over what they think. They must be the ones doing something and, if anyone else tries to do as he would, he shall surely do some other way for the sake of being in command. They rather prefer to suffer losses than to have something done in a way they do not have the control of. It is hard living a sinner's life.
Faithfulness is not an emotion or a disposition of the heart in certain days: it is a nature which walks on its own, among friends, among enemies and even under heavy trials during which it feels God is absent as Job did. It does not deepen its roots through encouragements; it is not sustained by praise; does not die or change through enmity or criticism; doesn't become better through compensations or prizes; does not become worse by receiving nothing back; it does nothing for any other motive besides being perfect and finishing what it started to do. It is indifferent to gifts and to compensations. It lives as it is. If faithfulness does not exist by being only faithful, just being itself and for no special reason at all, it cannot be considered faithfulness at all. It is hypocrisy. Will your heart's faithfulness pass the test of the eyes of God?
It is not easy to explain what the life inside a palace is like to somebody who knows only how to live in the drain of sin, just as it not easy to explain to a blind man a life in the light. They need to experience it by themselves.
I am so sure that anyone of us can live such a life of genuine and real fellowship with the Lord that we shall be living inside great works and many miracles as if it is the most normal life to live; and, in the absence of any of those signs, we shall not even be aware of it being so or think it strange if we indeed live the abundant life. Christ and His will is what fills us. But, to be able to live that way, we shall need to get used both to the King being around us fulltime and to the lifestyle inside a palace. We need to live that way as if we have never experienced any other kind of life before. The first thing which is demanded of us to be able to live that way, is a spotless heart and life. There must not be a single stain anywhere in our lives - not even the smell of it! Secondly, we need to dress up our whole being with heavenly clothes and ways, His power. We cannot live as if those clothes do not fit us or as if they are not appropriate for us. There must not be an excuse not to ware them all the time. Thirdly, we must live in that life as if we have never lived any other way before. Do you think you can live that way? If you believe you can through Jesus, then seek to find it as a gold prospector would search after pure and abundant gold. The truth is you have no other option but finding it so. Unless you do, you shall die. Do not entertain the idea one minute longer that it is an impossible life for you to live. You need to know Christ that way for Him to be eternal life in you. That's what eternal life is all about. "And this is eternal Life: that they know You... and the Christ...", John 17:3.
Sex is not a biological need, but rather a capacity of a human being. The doctrines of this world are the ones which uphold it constantly as a physical need before the eyes of men.
God revealed to the prophets and to Elisha that Elijah would be taken to heaven alive. By looking at it as a mere Bible story we do not see anything unusual about it. But, the simplicity with which the prophets talked about it before it happened is amazing. They simply knew it would happen as they had been shown. They had never seen something like it before. They had no previous experience of something like that. Nevertheless, they easily took it for granted it would happen as they had been shown. God showed and they believed without exception. We cannot wonder as to the reason why they were real prophets. The words of Peter would never apply to them: "Men, Israelites, why do you marvel at this?", Act.3:12. They were unable to marvel at the things of God.
It would be a good thing if no proud person could resemble humility in any way, nor that a humble man resembles pride in some way. People value and appreciate appearances quite a lot. They do so because they seek to please one another and not God. They stumble because of what they see. And we are preaching to people who do not please God yet. How many times did sheep follow a wolf which had an appearance of or some resemblance with sheep because the sheep's main attitude and disposition is to follow? And, just how many times did sheep refuse to follow a holy man because he forgot to be transparent and clear about what his heart is like inside? Walking in the light and being transparent and plain about everything we do or are is important for everyone - even for unholy people! We cannot afford to live by being constrained and held back by old fears of being exposed, since we shall never be accused if we walk in the light. "Whatever is in the light, is light", Paul said. We have nothing to hide anymore if we are in Christ. Let's lay down old ways and all old concealing weapons of darkness which we so promptly and so instinctively use. Walking in the light, being transparent in a natural way, walking in such a way that people see what we think or believe even if we do not say a single word should be a common way to live. Let's not fear it because "everything has been made new". Let's not walk as if we are still old and dirty. Humility is to live as we are inside - it is to be what we are. We should even be happy to show what we have been before, so strong is the truth of having been forgiven.
Discontentment may exist for many motives and reasons. But, the main reason is the kind of heart we have within us. The origin of it, especially when we walk with the Lord and are led by Him, is a consequence of the kind of heart we have. Labour does not tire us down, but the person we are does. We cannot swim upstream for too long without getting too tired to carry on.
Feelings must be the ones following us and not the other way round. Once we follow what we feel, these feelings shall be turned into stubbornnesses which, if followed and obeyed, shall take the peace of a heart away very easily. But, if feelings are not followed and, even so, refuse to follow us, they are likewise stubborn. The mule also refuses to move when it can't go its own way. Can you imagine someone doing something for the Lord without being fully involved in it? What makes God happy, should be able to make us feel happy as well.
It is good to think. But, it is even better to subject all our thoughts to Christ along with their origin. We can and may dedicate all we are to the Lord. Errant thoughts and imaginations can easily distract us from our goal or work. So shall thoughts and knowledge left in standby remain unsolved and unsettled. Everyone who has the mind of Christ in Him should take the effort never go about without dealing with errant thoughts or anything unsettled or unclear in his mind - as long as it is the Lord who enlightens us right through. Errant thoughts may me the main cause for many distractions without a real purpose. However, they may turn into non-finalized right thoughts as well.
Many, when asking for strength from the Lord, assume their fleshly strength should be renewed and not substituted by a heavenly one. God wants man's strength dead and not renewed. Why else should the "weak say 'I am strong'"? If God ever renews our strength, He shall renew the heavenly one and not our own. He renews His strength in us and not the flesh's. He wants the flesh's dead and not strengthened. Are you prepared for that?
If it is possible for bad people to adopt and join in the ways of God in some shape or form, (just as the prophets of Baal might have adopted the evening sacrifice from the Law of Moses, 1 Kings 18:29); it is also possible that lukewarm Christians adopt and stick to the things of the world and of the devil. That's why many fall down in churches and say they have been baptized in the Spirit; others say it is fellowship to go to the movies together; and others make business out of the word of God and call it a blessing.
It is strange that people do anything do destroy their lives and, yet, do nothing to have it fully saved.
For many, trusting God from the heart is just too daring. For many others, it is obsessive madness, even when they do not dare to say what they are thinking of. For some others, it is a step into that kind of darkness which causes them to waver and offend God so much. Since most people are not that daring to step into God, the world is poorer by the day.
No spiritual man will know how to act or react towards the flesh or to use fleshly means. On the other hand, for a fleshly man to trust God and to walk in the Spirit is like living at risk. Such a man will not know how to live only through Godly means and will rather have a wavering life by mixing flesh with spirit.
When man cannot count on the strength he is used to (his own), whenever he cannot depend upon his own fleshly resources anymore, he shall not believe it is possible for him to be an active and daring person. However, we cannot say the same things about a genuinely spiritual man. A spiritual man believes on the spot he shall not be able to move on or act using fleshly strength and moves quickly when grace is granted. And, let's add that a spiritual man believes what is truthful only.
Every man who wavers does strange things and, when he does the right things, he shall do them with an unwilling and contradictory mood.
Losing our lives does never mean we shall not rise through a new kind of life which is outstandingly practical and daring. If we wish to avoid collapsing in some way after the great effort of getting at the starting point of full holiness, we need to live a practical life and learn in a practical way how to use the new weapons and the means of light. We used to hide before, now we need to put all in the light and live normally where all is visible and shown clearly. We need to accept the fact that the old way of life is gone and get used to the idea of having to live a new life Christ's way right through and exclusively so. Even the motives we had towards life need to be changed for always. Be careful never to leave your spotless house empty. Seven demons are on the watch to come and live there where one has left.
When we struggle against an old nature in us, we absorb this idea that once the struggle is over we shall be consecrated ones and shall have arrived at the end of our way. And, the more fierce the struggle is, the greater shall be the temptation (brought along by the rest we experience) to believe there is nothing more beyond that victory. It is like when one has quit smoking and starts thinking there is nothing else to deal with because that was the struggle. The truth about it is, however, that once the new nature is attained, we shall be able to live a new life which is there to absorb us totally into it forever. After victory, real life begins. Nothing ends there, except the old life. It is true that every step is important to finish a long walk. But, a step is not the whole of it. Gaining victory here and there are mere steps we have given successfully towards a wonderful ending. We should, also, take notice that because people easily believe a step is the whole of the walk, once they stumble in one step they start believing they have failed the whole of the way. One bad step may endanger the whole of the way, but it is never the whole of it. The way we think leads to beliefs, and a belief may easily be turned into stubbornness. If we stumble, we may easily rise and walk on steadfastly. Maybe, after stumbling we become even more careful and more daring. To know we do not conquer to become idle, is to be one step ahead in exposing lies of that kind. We shall not become idle after conquering anything we need to conquer. And, let's believe that the harder the fight, the easier we shall fall into that trap. By becoming conquerors, we arrive at the starting point and not at the finishing line. Let's remember that all the way through. Have you ever seen a good college student believe he shall do nothing more after the final exams are over or after one difficult subject is dealt with successfully? Shall we die at the beach or at the harbour after conquering the tempest at sea? What have we conquered it for? Shall we live in an old place after the struggle of getting a new house?
It is easier and less tiring to be perfect than to be sinful. Error tires us more and there is no one who shall not experience tiredness by erring his way. Be extremely careful and on your guard against that kind of 'perfection' which is heavy, forced and unnatural.
Inactivity and confusion in spiritual people is there only when they cannot wait on the Lord and expect from Him the right way at the right time calmly. Perhaps they are not clean before God. Anyone who knows how to await and expect from God is never idle in knowing God and in cooperating with Him. God works real hard, and so shall we by gathering with Him and through Him. Let's wait on Him so that we shall not become idle or inactive.
"The Word of God in your mouth is truth", 1 Kings 17:24. What the widow also meant through this is that there are some people in whose mouth God's words are lies. Not that the word of God is a lie, but that the mouths that speak are. There were many false people in Elijah's time who used God's name and words in vain, misapplied or as a lie. And this widow was careful in believing any sort of man. She put Elijah to the proof in silence. She waited for something to happen before she decided upon any conclusion. She saw Elijah's life was corresponding to his words. The truth is that not even the multiplication of the meal and the olive oil had convinced her. We may assume there were also some false miracles going on at the time. Are the words of God truth in your mouth? Usually, it isn't in those mouths whose hearts still limp between two thoughts.
One of the characteristics of someone who indeed waits on the Lord is the natural expectancy which abounds in the heart, I mean, the kind which is there without being forced into existence. Such a person shall promptly react at the right time to do those things he has been expecting to come. However, all those who do not have vivid, living, natural expectations as they wait on the Lord shall not react as they should once the time to fulfil things arrives. Expectant people have enough oil in them to wake up at the right time. But, I am sure expectant people will not move unless the right time has come because they know what to receive and what to wait for. I am also sure people who have false expectations or no expectations at all shall move at wrong times and their timings will be sporadic and never hit the target. Their timings shall always be uncertain like the foam of the waves of the sea. Every wave produces some foam which soon disappears. Everyone who is indeed expectant while waiting on the Lord, shall doubt when it is the wrong time or when something is not ripe enough to happen. It is like fruit: the farmer knows when it is the right time to eat it. But, people who say they wait on the Lord but expect nothing from Him shall never be quiet and trusting. Restlessness is the salary of that kind of 'faith' and hope which does not really believe every time it says it trusted Christ in some way. The words they say could have been truthful in their mouth, but they aren't.
"Therefore, without faith it is impossible to please God", Heb.11:6. This does not mean faith pleases God, but rather that through faith we can reach, achieve and do what is pleasant to the Lord.
Many of the things Jesus tells us are confidential. Some are not. Many others, on the other hand, need to fructify and need to be multiplied through wisdom, dedication and perseverance in all simplicity. If we tell abroad what is meant to be between us and the Lord or if we hold back what the Lord told us to proclaim from our roofs, we shall be held as unfaithful and unworthy servants. We are not doing things as the Lord told us we should do them. "And why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?", Lk 6:46. We could change this verse somewhat and it would be made sharper and would be likewise truthful. We could say "And why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do AS I say?"
Whoever does not seek the things of the Lord according to the rules of heaven, I mean on earth as it is done in heaven, does not expect to receive the way it comes to him. That's why such people do not distinguish between truth and lies, illusion and reality, force and faith. The Pharisees killed Jesus for that same reason. They did not expect the Messiah to come to them as He did, even if Scripture said there would be nothing desirable for us in Him.
We cannot serve two days at the same time, nor two masters or two different moments. Trying to live two days at a time is suicidal. Today is not tomorrow and tomorrow is not today. To mix one day with the other is the natural way of all those who fear things, even if the Lord is near. It is a fleshly way to try to live a spiritual life.
We cannot plan to fabricate our ammunitions once we arrive at the battle field. When the war starts we need to have everything ready and right. We cannot think we shall learn to live or stick by God when things go bad or wrong. We need to walk with God whatever the circumstances are right now. When worse troubles or problems arrive, walking and living with God must already be our only and possible instinct. Our heart must be one with the Lord right now, or it shall not be with Him under heavy trials and burdens and neither under great joys and times of unthinkable rest.
Every person needs to have, enjoy, obey and experience own rivers of life. We cannot live and admire others' rivers of life. We need to drink from our own water, as long as it is pure and holy. Just as we cannot have another's wife and only our own, we need to drink and live from our own rivers of life. If we have this idea that we must drink from our brother's or preacher's rivers, we shall also cultivate the idea from hell that other people have the duty to drink from ours since we are right with God. One kind of mentality leads to the other. No one can avoid it happening that way. If I learn only how to teach others, when or how shall I be fully saved? If we are not capable to present someone to Christ to drink from Him personally, we are worthless and false. Are you of the kind of person who believes we must teach others by using God's words sent to us? "It is right for the labouring farmer to partake first of the fruits", 2Tim.2:6. People shall drink once our cup runs over and not when it is being filled for us.
Our strength and courage in the Lord come unto us through the deliverance of our souls from all sin and spiritual dirt. That shall cause us to be near God, to feel near God without force and without any convincing on our part exercised upon our hearts. We shall be made strong in our inner man naturally. "...That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man", Ef.3:16.
If the only thing you know is how to walk in the flesh, by denying it you shall be inactive and dormant. You need to learn how to live and to stick by the practical life God grants and burns into us with simplicity. Care to fill the temple, the house and the workplace which demons and sin have left behind empty and desolate.
No one will ever be able to "be strong and very courageous" by not having or not experiencing God's strength; or by not believing it is possible to have God on our side during the struggle of our life; or by doubting about the kind of living strength in him. One of the causes for inactivity is trying to hold on to the wrong kind of strength because we are doubting towards the proper and only one. We are afraid to use the proper one. By maintaining the flesh at work in the temple of the Lord, we shall have God out of our lives. A temple where the flesh is at work (because the flesh serves to survive and does not live to serve) shall soon be made the house and the place of sluggards and of trading. This is why many make a business out of the church nowadays. If you try to lit a strange fire in the altar of God, even today, you shall be as condemned as the sons of Aaron have been. The fruit which comes out of it shall testify against you soon. There is no way for you to escape slipping into hell, not even by believing you have been placed above the sons of Aaron by living in the New Testament era. The sons of Aaron are some of the few chosen to experience heaven here on earth and, even so, will burn in hell forever. Lev.10:1,2.
It is one thing when God says we shall do something through Him and it is another when He says He shall do it Himself. He said to Joshua he would do certain important things. "...You shall divide for an inheritance to this people, the land which I swore to their fathers, to give it to them", Jos.1:6. God swore and Joshua would have to show through his doings God was faithful. But, there are cases when God Himself does the things He promises. We can and need to be able to participate of both willingly and joyfully. Are you able to distinguish between those situations? If you are, take good courage and move on.
Do not try to imagine God and how He is if you can experience Him for real. Only that way will you be really made holy and living and shall your faith be unfeigned and simple. "But the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned", 1 Tim.1:5.
"Men, why do you marvel at this?" Act.3:12. Admiration and delirious praising is surely an offence to God. It just shows how far people have moved away from His reality. It is not God's fault if we are not used to His wonders anymore. We are not that used to live having Him around or surrounding us. "Why do you marvel at this?"
Forced trust is not trust at all. In the first trial it shall turn into disobedience, bitterns or even fear to obey. It turns into disobedience because genuine obedience comes through faith and faith has got to be unfeigned if obedience is to be there as naturally as God wishes it to be; it turns into bitterness because any hypocritical kind of faith does not receive from the Lord and shall be easily offended; it is turned into fear because it finds itself without a sure source or course and any unsure person does not trust to the point of obeying anymore. Fear to obey is synonymous to falling back into the trap of trusting fleshly resources all over again. Whoever fears to obey God, finds relief by yielding to the flesh any way any how.
We have some choices to make once we start to deal with truths. We need to consolidate truth by having it turned into reality in and for us, as well as elsewhere; or we can move on with it without making sure truth is able to become real and, also, able to change for real. If truth is not fulfilled, people shall be hypocritical by saying God is faithful, even if what they say is true. Are you afraid that God's things work out for real? Why do you fear and avoid to have it that way? We may have the privilege to experience God being faithful instead of only reading and believing He is that way. Are you preparing your heart and lifestyle to be real and to be daring when it comes to God's things? If the things of God do not work out in a real way in your life, at least you know there is something wrong with it (not with God). Then you can fix it so God's presence can fill you and your day.
Any holy person in whom God's love has been poured, would love even in hell. This kind of love is poured into us so we shall be able to love and not so we shall be loved. Can we expect that to happen with you, that you love that unconditionally?
The Holy Spirit is light. And light is granted to whoever obeys. Whoever is not of the obedient kind and has not a nature in him which reacts almost instinctively to the Lord and to logical, plain and simple truth, shall not have enough light to see the way ahead of him. That's why we read, "...The Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him", Act.5:32. Light shows what exists. If a disobedient man says he has the Spirit, he is surely lying. It is just not possible to have Him through or while in disobedience.
God wants that every person becomes truthful and honest in such a way that it is turns impossible for any of us to be more sincere and more simple. Simplicity and truth are inseparable allies and are always found together. We also know that hearing truth, loving to hear truth and being truthful is not the same thing. Liars also like to listen to some truthful things. God wishes us to be truthful and real about the truth we hear. Reality and truth are one. The Lord is not competing with us when it comes to truth and to being truthful. God becomes a friend to any who becomes truthful and sincere. God competes with lies and not with truth. Let's be always truthful and without fearing that we are competing with God by becoming that truthful. That's where He shall be able to lead us. That's where He shall lead us anywhere. It is the flesh that leads the flesh. The Spirit leads whatever is spiritual and heavenly. Let's know Him as He is. Let's put aside all imaginations about God so we might come to genuine, living and real conclusions about truth and reality.
The word of God starts to make sense to all of us simultaneously with a thorough cleansing of our hearts by confessing every known stain and sin to people and to God. It shall become simple and understandable then. As soon as our lives are put in the light by us, as soon as we press on to agree to fix whatever light shows out and reveals, the word of God opens up to our minds and souls. The word of the Lord shall be a refreshment as soon as we become clean and spotless. Then shall it be easy to believe whatever God says as well. And the wind shall blow to take us where we see not and we shall not, even so, feel unsafe or wrong. God's word and a clean heart is the best combination there is against any sort of ignorance. Ignorance shall not survive under that kind of combination. Nothing shall remain as it was before.
Whoever talks to people with a crying voice all the time, it being the usual way of talking, is surely someone who easily commands people around as well. The same person has these two sides. The other side of the life of anyone who seeks attention from others is to send people around and to be boss over them.
"Therefore, judge nothing before the time", 1Cor.4:5. It is very easy to judge our trials before the time. We need only to look deep into ourselves to see whether everything in there is spotless and white. We need not set our minds on the outcome or on the results of our trials and difficulties. Let us never judge anything whatsoever before the time. Let's wait for the final results which it is God who shall say something about. Let's keep our hearts clean in all expectation. To wait on the Lord means we are expecting something from Him sooner or later.
"For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged", 1Cor.11:31. This does not necessarily mean we shall miss God's judgement if we judge ourselves in the light of God right now. This means that we shall not be condemned since we have judged sin already and in time, and have condemned it to death beforehand through Christ. We shall go through God's judgment now and shall be able to say as Daniel: "Before Him purity was found in me". What Paul wishes to say here is a double truth. He means, also, people shall not be able to judge us if we are the ones who judge ourselves in anticipation and before they do it. It shall close their lion's mouth and they shall not judge us because we shall take the words away from their mouths by judging ourselves before Him in front of them. That is why many innocent people are easily accused falsely: they cannot accuse themselves of anything because they are innocent. They cannot lie to satisfy bad accusers. Therefore, people's mouths are not closed by an own judging.
Those people who wish to be seen as examples by others forget, many times, they need only to report back to the Lord with their lives. There is nothing man can do to any of us with eternal consequences. On the other hand, those who answer before God daily and only, forget, quite often, their lives are very meaningful to all people around them. If they really answer for their own lives before God continually, they must have some knowledge of the fact that "no one lives for himself". Any life fully consecrated to God means a lot to people around, whether it is people in darkness or in the light and fully exposed. Blessing is the natural consequence of answering daily for our lives before the Lord. Let us, therefore, never show one thing and live another, whether you show less or more than you are. Let's be ourselves before the Lord and before all man. "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts", Ps.51:6. To be a real living sermon, a real blessing to anyone, we shall only need to live our lives as we are and to have them visible and fully exposed in the light. "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden", Mat.5:14
Why would I ever wish to have something which had not been given me by God? Why would I have it for? I can't see what the use of it shall be. Even life without God is an useless waste. And if this is indeed true, we should take real care of whatever gifts we receive from the Lord. We need to consecrate them back to the Lord forever, without a chance to have them return back from total consecration. We must consecrate all to the Lord, again, in order not to go astray by sinning through the gifts we have received from Him.
We are either totally surrendered to God or we are not surrendered at all. A partial surrender causes the important things of our lives to be either postponed, delayed, forsaken or taken away from us forever. Any half-surrendered heart shall always be wavering and balancing between uncertainties, lies and uncircumstantial things. "Do not let that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord", James 1:7.
For someone to know what is going inside his deep heart when Jesus takes hold of it or before, one needs to walk and to listen to Jesus. To know ourselves and to know the new creature we have become in Jesus, we need Jesus. Knowing truth as naked as it is, might save us to the uttermost. We need Jesus to know ourselves as much as we need Him to know Him. The truth of it is that we have many preconceived ideas about ourselves and about God which do not correspond to the truth. And we need to know the truth as it is. And everything we see in ourselves which does not look like Jesus, shall surely be transformed into His likeness if we walk firmly in the light with Him. Experimental knowledge of God and the experience of His genuine presence will make us free of all prejudices and of all those heart-ghosts we are reluctant to face before God. It is especially before God we are afraid to admit certain things and He shall be the first one we will try to deceive. But believing while in Him or before Him will surely expel those lying ideas which tell us it is not possible to be fully saved from sin and from ourselves. We shall return to the original image we have been created with if we truly and really walk in the light.
For David, it would be a very bad sin to kill innocent people or to be unfair. But, it seems it was also a very bad transgression to him to be delivered by his own hands! "And blessed is your advice, and blessed are you who have kept me from coming to shed blood today, and from delivering myself with my own hand!", 1Sam.25:33. Saving oneself is like a doctor performing an operation on himself! Will it work out? Won't he be too self-aware to do it?
Days are not always the same nor of the same kind. They do not always serve the same purposes either. There are some days different from other days. From some, we may extract a lot. From others, we enjoy less blessings or perform less. It depends on how much we can take and just how much God wants us to do and conquer. The goal of some days is not always work done. Even though sometimes it is, there are, however, days in which we (or God) need to accomplish some change within us through what we are doing. Therefore, the goal of a working day is not always the work itself, but the change. To achieve that change God may even hinder work to be accomplished.
One of the great obstacles people face by wishing to hear God's voice clearly, is the temptation to speak for God. Unbelief assumes God does not speak even if that assumption is undefined and concealed. Unbelief believes its way. And to continue as 'believers', people think they must always have something to say if God doesn't speak. Indirectly, they believe God is unable to say something about an issue, or even to perform and they seek to help God out. And that's how the temptation to say something for God arises and overpowers people. People speak up to avoid being or feeling ridiculed. If God does not answer prayer by Himself, it is not worth believing in Him! The other problem people often face concerning God, is the fact that He doesn't often repeat Himself. Unbelief demands repetitions over and over again. That is why people repeat prayers so much instead of seeking one definite answer.
"Though you were little in your own sight, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel?" 1 Sam.15:17. Whatever we may believe we are does not hinder God from doing something through, to or for us at all. It won't haste God if we think highly of ourselves, nor will God be delayed whenever we are belittled in our own eyes. God is not counting on our ability to perform His will. He wishes us to partake of His performances. He takes into account His own power, timing and ways. He trusts nothing else. Whatever we believe concerning ourselves may cause us to stumble one way or another, temporarily or even forever. But, what we believe concerning ourselves cannot be seen as a fundamental issue for God to decide to perform. It isn't the issue, unless we are proud and highly conceived in our own sight. People need to know and to yield to the fact that they must be perfected along the way while God performs. I am sure God will not cause us to conquer the world if it would cause us to loose our lives to hell. But, for God to increase His ways, or the quality of His work and to increase the work itself, is not dependable on how highly or how lowly we see ourselves, but on how great we see God and, also, on the willingness to change and be perfected along the way and as things continue prospering in our hands.
The person who enjoys immunity against criticism should know that such an immunity is also an immunity against applause and praise. Criticism and pleasing man comes from the same source and affects the same kind of people. Whoever is able to criticize has the power to cause someone to stumble through applauses and praise. The dangers which criticism exercise over us are of the same proportion as those coming from praise or from a flattering tongue. We need to take heed against both. Let's seek God's praise or God's opinion about ourselves concerning sin or wrongdoing. By doing so, we shall be immune to praise and to criticism. God does not criticise: He convicts. God does not flatter - He upholds and strengthens the truth by telling and showing everything we need to know about ourselves and our work if it is also His work.
Any person who has the need to speak the right way or at the right time, needs to know that the primary condition to speak well is to listen well. "Therefore be careful how you hear", Luc.8:18. We can never be faithful to something we have not been able to hear nor should we dare to be unfaithful to what we have heard.
When Jesus became sin, He was not sympathizing with us - He was identifying Himself with us so we would become like Him once again.
Faith is like the eye that sees: it sees everything all in front of it, yet, it does not see itself or anything else around it or counteracting it.
No one of all those who experienced a living through God should ever believe they cannot do certain things because they are not able to use their own strength anymore. To think so is a huge crime. In fact, there are more reasons to believe we shall be able to carry all things out to the end by forsaking our own strength than by holding on to some of it. Leaving the strength of the flesh behind should make us joyful, hard working and not sad or discouraged. We can do better through the Lord.
Whoever hands over his weapons to God, shall win the battle. Surrender is synonymous to becoming fruitful. Are you surrendered?
Faith can't be someone convincing himself about some supposed word he believes comes from God - even if these words come in the Bible! Faith is being able to believe God the moment He speaks - not after and not before. When people can't believe God when He is speaking, they shall surely make some effort to believe Him when He did not say anything. Such faith shall never bring any good fruit to the Kingdom. Believing God is not the same thing as believing what we wish concerning God.
"For we are not as many, hawking the Word of God; but in all sincerity of heart, as of God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God", 2Cor.2:17. "We speak in Christ...": this means we have the mind of Christ, we are His image and person. "...In the sight of God...": We speak in the very presence of God also, when speaking as Christ. This presence is genuinely felt and not only supposed. God needs to be present for real. "...As of God...": we speak only those words God has given us without adding to it or taking away from any of it. "We speak in sincerity...": what happens in us is real, it is not mere suppositions or fiction. If only one of the ingredients is lacking, we shall be guilty of hawking the Word of God. We cannot speak as we wish (unless we wish as God); nor speak before or after the right time; nor without having God present. God shall also be our witness if we hear from Him. He must be in the audience and must be speaking as well.
Many are concerned about their tenth and many other things they may have promised to God. But, God wants the giver above what he may give Him. The truth about it all is that, many times, people give things to avoid giving themselves as living sacrifices. By giving some of what they have, they rest assured in a false security which eases the strain of their minds and consciences without having given themselves along with all they are and have. However, one day "the fool shall no more be called noble, nor the miser be said to be bountiful", Is.32:5.
If those annoying people or things which come to kill your flesh are coming, will you step out and say "Whom do you seek"? "Then Jesus, knowing all things that were coming upon Him, went out and said to them, Whom do you seek?", John 18:4. Will you "go out" too and allow your flesh to die?
Faithfulness is not a mere emotional disposition: it is a kind of nature people have which walks alone or accompanied without knowing what the difference is.
The eyes of God are revealing eyes. They already see all, even to the infinite. In other words, when we read in the Bible about the eyes of God, it is prompting us to see what God sees, or as God sees. It does not mean God shall look at something He is not already seeing. We need to see what God sees deep in ourselves the way He sees it.
"...Inheritance among all those who are sanctified...", Act.20:32. There is no inheritance for people who are not sanctified. Do you know what sanctification is all about? When we leave the heart which craves for things and which causes us to stumble in some way, we are made just, it is, we become justified. Sanctification is to learn how to live without such a heart and to teach all our members and thoughts to live with and through a new kind of life - if we have received it indeed. Sanctification is, also, becoming able to use all holy things we would forsake before and live through it now for the sake of God alone by having it fully sanctified and dedicated to Him, just as we had dedicated our members to sin in the previous life style. In other words, whatever you did for the sake of ambition, or for the sake of bitterness, or for any other personal reason whatsoever, you shall need to be able and to be fit enough to do it for the Lord and for the Lord's sake alone. Hannah gave her son to God above denying to have a son (by seeing how selfish she had been concerning the issue), or above accepting the fact that she was barren. After she had received that son, maybe she cared for the little boy even better because he belonged to God since she fulfilled her promise. She not only gave her son to God, but cared for him even better because the boys was God's. Are you fully sanctified? All you are and have is ruled and administrated by God Himself? Even your tongue? The whole of your salary? Or are you happy by having the tenth of it administrated by others? Do you really have "inheritance among the sanctified"?
The Jews could not mingle with any sinful nation so they would never learn anything about any of the nations' many sins. There was no other reason why they should not mingle with the nations. It was not because of the nations, but because of the kind of heart Israel had. Their heart would always be treacherous and easily deceived when facing their idolatrous sins. The reason and the problem was in Israel and not in the nations - it was an inner problem and not an outward one. They were the reason why they could not or should not mingle with the nations. But, for some selfish reason they started to believe they could not mingle with them because they were made superior to them. It is a good spiritual exercise to stay away from the places where sin lingers and is settled. But, let us never be satisfied by being able to stay away from sin and by denying ourselves the enjoyment of any of it. Let's rather take advantage of the opportunity and work hard to change our hearts and ways from the beginning to become able to fully enjoy a new life inside God even when facing sin. There is no real virtue in staying away from sin if we still have a sinful heart. Staying away from sin will hinder transgression, but, does not annihilate the transgressor. Whenever we stay away from any sin, let it be only because we are fully settled and at home somewhere else where the ways and the places of sin are not even desired or thought of anymore.
The devil is a perversion of his original creation as a being. Nowadays he doesn't know what kind of a creature he is anymore. He has been made a worshipper and not to be worshipped, just as a woman is not a man. Trying to be different from what we are as creation is a distortion of our nature proportional to homosexualism. We simply aren't what we pretend to be.
They say idols or Roman Catholic saints want certain kinds of prayers offered to them. It is not quite like that. Actually, it is the prayer that wishes to have certain idols and saints it prays to. Let me explain. Idolatry is a creation of people's minds. People have certain ideas or even ideals and create an image or religion which responds to what they are seeking to have. It is the kind of prayer and wish which has its respective saint and not the saint that has that prayer. All religions are conceived by the people's minds who serve it. That's why genuine Christianity can never be a religion, because it is a way planned by God to save mankind from all kinds of sin.
Many times, people question themselves why God allows man to do as he wishes to do when he decides to do something. It seems, sometimes, nothing happens to man when he is free to be his own boss. The reason is very simple. It is necessary that man becomes voluntarily subject to God and that the power man uses is God's instead of man's, and that he does so seeking God with the whole of his heart and having God's present and future purposes always in mind instead of his own. Someone forced to be submitted is not really submitted until he himself is fully and voluntarily God's. People forced into submission shall live with God as those slaves who had mean bosses over them - at least that idea will prevail in them. They were never really subject to them. The only slave I know that could have used his power to stop being a slave, was Joseph under Potiphar. He could come and go as he wished to do. But, he chose to be a slave and to be subject to God's will, even though he had been forced into slavery. He was faithful to all the things which had never been his own and when they had never been done having his own well being in view. The heart he gained as a slave, he took with him throughout his future life. He was subject to God as a king, just as he had been as a slave.
Whoever is not opposing something is in some kind of agreement with it. I may be consenting the world into my life, or opposing it. There is no middle way about it. The same can be said of the Life of God. It will depend which I consent more until I consent it in an exclusive way.
When gifts are distributed or imparted by the laying of hands, God shall comply to it when the hands are holy and have the authority given by God to do so. We see that Philip did not have the authority to lay hands on people for the filling of the Spirit, even if he had authority to do many other outstanding miracles. John and Peter had to come all the way from Jerusalem to fill in for Philip's converts through the laying on of their authorized hands. Act.8. Paul also had the same kind of authority because he was an outstanding apostle. However, in some special cases and in the absence (or lack) of specials vessels, God may use anyone's hands to anoint a special person. Not the hands, but the vessel or the future vessel on whom hands are laid is important to God. Ananias was no apostle and laid hands on Paul so he should receive the Spirit. Paul had the authority to receive it that way even if we cannot assuredly say Ananias had more than an occasional or temporary authority to do what he did the way he did it. Only those people who are able to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit and receive answers may have the authority to lay hands on others to have them receive the Spirit.
Worldly people have their kind of uncared garden. Pure people also have a garden which they constantly care for. People in the world have no habit to care for their garden because they are not concerned about what grows in there. Consequently, they have never learned to take time to care for it. Holy people, however, need to work hard and in due time on their gardens because weeds and other things destroy its beauty. Therefore, once people get converted and cease to be worldly, they must know they have a need to change their lack of good habits and ways of life along with their hearts - they shall need to start to take care of their gardens from then on. That's something they have never done before because they did not care what grew in there.
Simplicity is the main secret to see better. Complicated people have a confused outlook, see badly and stumble over things very easily. There are people who are simple towards evil as there are those simple in well-doing. But, simplicity in well-doing shall not coexist with the simplicity in being evil. If people are complicated in well-doing, they shall be simple in evil-doing. The other way round is also a law of nature.
Let's distinguish between a step and a walk. A complete walk is a combination of many kinds of steps. When we stumble, we do so as we step and not on the whole of the way, even though it might occasionally affect the whole in some way. By stumbling we may easily stand up again and move on by restarting our way from where it stopped. "For a just one falls seven times, and rises up again", Prov.24:16. A bad way is also composed of many steps where people in it may fall into their senses and rise from it to carry on being evil. The narrow way is composed of many steps and so is the broad way towards hell and sin. Evil people, however, walk a way which is in itself fallen and it does not matter how many times they fall and rise on it because they are fallen in the whole.. Their way leads nowhere. It won't take them where they expect to get. "For their trouble shall rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin of them?" Prov.24:16,22.
Spiritual slowness or stagnancy occurs when people do not know when or how to wait on God just as when they do not know when or how to walk with Him through Him as the Israelites did in the desert. The fact is that people who know how to wait on the flesh and to expect from it shall never know what it is to expect from God. If you are expectant that something shall come from the right you cannot be expecting it from the left. You cannot do x2two things at the same time. God and the flesh are opposed sides. The same principle is applied to walking through God when people know only to walk in the flesh and to use its strength only. That is what causes most kinds of spiritual inactivity and slowness: people just don't know how to walk in the Spirit! They are not used to it once they enter into Life they need to learn a new way because they know only how to walk in the flesh.
"Fellow Israelites, why do you marvel at this?", Act.3:12. By being marvelled and bewildered every time God does something, we offend God. It just shows we are not used to have God as a normal companion or that we were not expecting what God did. Whoever marvels this way is not right with God. "Then Simon believed also, and being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing miracles and mighty works happening, he was amazed. But Peter said to him... your heart is not right in the sight of God", Act.8:13,20,21. God should not be blamed because we are only used to live far away from His realities! Be careful with people who are able to praise God's works and to be amazed about them at the same time. They might not be praising God Himself, but only His works. We praise God and not works. They easily exchange the created thing for the Creator. Miracles should be natural things to all of us. They should be as natural as drinking a cup of water when we are thirsty. Living that way is what glorifies God. "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?", Is.33:14. Are you used to live with God?
"Peter, seeing this, said to the people: 'Fellow Israelites, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk?'" Act.3:12. It is true the lame man did not start to walk through Peter's holiness. However, Peter was holy. This only means that once people are holy and fully devoted to God's glory, God shall do anything through them, for them or for others around them. It was Jesus who made that man to walk. Peter was holy. By being holy, God was given the freedom to do as He would. He does things according to His will and not according to our holiness. But, unless we are holy, He shall not do according to what He is willing to do.
The presence of God is the most uncomfortable experience one can ever go through as long as one clings to any form of sin in any way. When God comes down the way He did at Pentecost, the veil between darkness and light shall be rent and He shall separate light from darkness in front of us all over again. Therefore, once people repent and give up all sin, they shall experience such lightness and such refreshing times that they may jump up and down just as the lame man did when Peter commanded him to stand up and walk. They were feeling very uncomfortable and, because of it, they felt proportionally refreshed. "Therefore, repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, so times of refreshing shall come through the presence of the Lord", Act.3:19. This kind of refreshment is experienced as soon as the condemnation on sin ceases to hang over our souls.
"Be strong and have good courage..." It is possible to have a kind of courage which is not good. God did not say we must have courage, but rather that we have a good kind of courage. A bad temper or strength often does more and is more active than a good one. Few terrorists give up their ideals or ideas and they often encourage themselves to do even more evil things or do even better. Richard Wurmbrand said: "Because sin does such awful things, I promised myself to live fully out God's love with all I am and have!" He pledged to do the opposite the same way, with the same devotion and strength. That's the kind of reaction persecution brought out of him. How does it work with you?
If we despise the day we are living right now by trying to solve tomorrow's things through the new life we are enjoying, we shall surely be defeated when the right time comes for those things we are guilty of trying to solve beforehand. Unmarried people should not desire to live as married ones, just as married people should never try to live an independent life as they used to do before their marriage. We need to live today's issues fully out and be faithful to what is at hand to do. That shall prepare us for what has not come yet. Each day has its own bread available. As we do or are today before having all we desire, so shall we do and be when we have received it all. Unless we change, what we are or do now, we shall be doing then, after having received. Despising the day we are living right now shall surely lead us to despise the day we shall be living tomorrow. It is a habit we gain.
There are things and attitudes in us which mount up to very strange behaviours. As an example, let's use a child trying to do grownup things because he has the promise of what he shall be; or a clean man trying to speed up the times of God concerning certain things because he is clean and which God has promised to carry out Himself. Abraham refused to take as much as a shoe string from the land God promised to grant him in the future. Even when he had the whole land in his hand after freeing Loth and the other prisoners, he handed everything over to the peoples of the land. He had sworn before the Lord his hand would not play God. After that, God had to near his soul to assure he had done the right thing after such self-denial, Gen.14:22-15:1. There is a difference between when God says He shall do something and when He says we shall do it. He said to Joshua: "...You shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them", Jos.1:6. It is another thing, however, when God promises that He shall do it Himself. "Only be strong and of good courage". To be strong, we need to be busy with those things which shall strengthen us. We find strength easily by having our souls spotless because the Lord shall dwell in us under such circumstances and He shall be our strength personally. We shall have the strength of the Lord Himself because He dwells in us.
Sometimes despair is not accepting something different from what we would expect or not accepting it the way it is given us by God.
God may allow us to doubt a lie only. But, doubting a lie is not taking a firm stand against it yet. Doubting a lie cause people to waver just as doubting truth does. You should not be able to doubt the fact that a lie is indeed a lie once you know what it is.
It is so important to know how or when to pray just as it is important never to forget what we have talked to the Lord about - even if it is only for the purpose of learning why prayers have not been answered or why they have been answered. Forgetting what we may have successfully prayed about may hinder us from becoming perfect intercessors. However, we must never forget that answers to all prayers is one of the most important promises of the New Testament. Let's get there where all our prayers can be answered speedily.
Jesus promised that we would have answers to all prayers. This is a double edged sword. We must either receive all answers or pray only as far as we know God shall answer what we pray for. The way we pray is also important to receive plain answers. If there is no answer to a prayer, it might have been a useless prayer.
"For, if these things are in you and abound, they make you to be neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ", 2Pet.1:8. It is in knowing the Lord that we shall not be idle or unfruitful and not in anything else.
There is this mentality that we cannot live exclusively for the purposes and purity of God. Everyone who preaches the wrong gospel, or preaches the right gospel the wrong way, says it is impossible to live that way. These talk from a personal experience's point of view and not according to Scripture. Some even believe we rob God of His glory to live that holy. Because people believe it is not possible, they shall surely take it for granted that it is just too normal to live in sin and outside God's will. One kind of mentality leads to the other, or, maybe, it is the same mentality that thinks both ways. But, we need to know we can and may offer all things and all we are for the exclusive purpose of experiencing the purity of God in us day and night. We are "called to be saints" because God "chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy", 1 Cor.1:2; Eph.1:4. We owe nothing to the world. "Even so, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin... Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof. Neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from/among the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God", Rom.6:11-14. To believe we cannot live as Jesus did on earth is one of the ways to present ourselves or our members unto sin and to have it available for it.
If the kind of death we experience is not of same kind of death Christ experienced when He died, we shall surely never experience the same kind of resurrection Christ has conquered. Christ died to sin and to the world. That's the kind of death He died. He is dead to sin and to the world. "For the death that he died, he died unto sin", Rom.6:10. "For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection", Rom.6:5.
Many, through the force of doctrine, put faith in opposition to holiness. They say holiness is to work out our salvation through works and that to have faith is to skip holiness. The truth is that holiness is attained and perfected through faith. Holiness tells us we are believing the right way and for the proper purposes. "...For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith", 1 John 5:4.
There is no way to say how many kinds of hypocrisies there are. The reason is very simple. Hypocrisy is an imitation of virtue and for every goodness there is, there are a few imitations of it. There is no end to virtues and, for every virtue, we may find a few imitations.
If, by being sinful, people would be able to glorify God, they would never be condemned for sin. Shall we be condemned for bringing glory to God? We know that the salary of sin is death, whoever the person is who sins. Therefore, no one may ever consider himself happy about the idea of considering himself still a sinner, unless it is for truth's sake. Many wish to carry on sinning to find mercy, forgetting mercy takes away and saves from sin. Mercy is an active power. They believe they rob God of His glory by being holy as if holy people were in direct competition with God for what belongs to Him. People misunderstand the verse which says "No one is holy, but God". This verse is describing a very sad fact and not what it must be. Truth cries out that way, expressing facts with statements like those. It means it could be otherwise. The truth is that sin competes directly with God for His glory and not holiness. It is not demanding that only God be holy, as some may assume. Holy people have nothing to compete for among themselves - much less God! But, as soon as you step into sin, you start competing with God for His glory in you. You are exchanging Him for something else and it so happens that you are His creation. The holier people are, the less they compete with God. The more sinful, the more they compete with God for His glory. We have been created according to His image. What is so wrong with being as holy as He is then? Our ultimate goal is to bring glory to God. If being able to say we are sinners exalts God, then, we cannot be condemned for it. "For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why would I still be judged as a sinner?", Rom.3:7. Justice does not condemn anyone who brings glory to God. Stop believing you need to be sinful so that God may have all the glory. "You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, 'In what have we wearied Him?' When you say, 'Every evildoer is good in the eyes of the Lord, and He delights in them; or, Where is the God of justice?'", Mal.2:17.
There are many relationships where one of the partners does not correspond to the other. When we speak about human relationships we can easily spot whether it is an unilateral relationship or not. People and their actions are always visible, however hypocritical they may be about it. But God is invisible. Therefore, if the relationship between man and God is from man's side only, it shall be very hard to prove it is unilateral because we hear and see only one of the partners testifying about that relationship. People confess God before men easily. It is another thing when God confesses people to the angels or even before people, as Jesus mentioned Paul to Ananias, Act.9:15,16. "Demetrius has good report by all, and by the Truth itself", 3 John 1:12. God advised us to seek after the fruit to have some assurances about the kind of relationship people have with Him. Smart hypocrites can arrange some ways to put forth some kind of 'fruit' which resembles the genuine one. It is, therefore, up to every person to decide that his own life must bear the fruit of God for God. You must be the one demanding to have genuine fruit in your own life. You need to change yourself and not try to change God. It is only false relationships which work hard to change the partner. It is you who need to change, even when your partner has the same needs you have or a greater need to change than you have.
To measure distances we use miles or kilometres; to measure water we use litres or gallons; to measure temperature we use Celsius or Fahrenheit. The desire to give up under the yoke of God measures the amount of love one still has for himself and still keeps secret. A person walking the right way is worked on by God day and night. And God has only one goal in mind for that person: personal holiness. To be holy, self needs to die. Giving up is a way to protect self and to hold it untouched. If, therefore, man wishes to give up within trials and difficulties, surely, he is blackmailing God so He gives man his way back to him. But, in man's mind, he is not giving up heaven - only the way God does things in him or for him. When workers plan a strike, they are not giving up their jobs. Yet, they refuse to work. They are not against their jobs, but against their boss or their boss' ideas or ideals. Giving up on the way of God is the same as trying to force God into something man rather wants, so that the rope around the neck of self shall be somewhat eased up. If someone works against God, he shall surely try giving up as a last resource to resist. Giving up is a form of resistance. "Do not resist the Spirit". It is a weapon pointed at God to protect self from dying in a definite way. Are you defending the life God wishes to crucify and kill once and for all? Or will you work normally under His yoke and will? Giving up just shows how much self-love you still keep secret and to which (or through which) you may be blinded. It shows how much you still love your own life or, perhaps, your own ways 'of getting to heaven'. God shall always refuse to feed the demanding flesh for you. Be careful when you have a genuine relationship with God. Discouragement is very subtle and very selfish.
"For they changed the truth of God into a lie, and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the Creator", Rom.1:25. Are you, perhaps, serving someone more than you are serving God? Are you serving something more than Him? You mother, father, television, or anything else? Whenever you do not serve God through what you have and through what you are, you shall be guilty of changing truth into a lie. If your marriage does not serve God, if your salary, job, work place is not something God is served with, you are a spiritual liar. Let me assure you that if that is the case with you, the fruit of it shall be visible in your life even before you die. To live in darkness will be the salary of that sin. The most amazing thing, however, is that people who live in darkness always believe they belong to the light. If it were not so, these people would soon seek a way out of darkness. Because they seek a way to remain as they are and even fight for it, it shows they believe the wrong things concerning themselves.
There is a kind of theft which is never accomplished and for which we shall, even so, be condemned. The theft is to take tomorrow out of God's hands. This awful deed shall bring a double condemnation upon people if they do not repent from it. Besides, by taking tomorrow out of God's hands, people neglect the day which is called 'today' because it is impossible to serve two days at the same time. You shall either let tomorrow stand or neglect the day which is called today.
We shall never be of any use to this world as long as we are like it. And, if the world needs help, it is because there is something wrong with it. If the world, therefore, is not right, why should I wish to be like it? "... Do not be conformed with this world...", Rom.12:2.
There is a worse kind of slavery than all the others: when we are our own slaves! When we own ourselves, anything the boss wants the slave will do for him - at any cost. Do you really understand what the words of Paul mean concerning crucifixion? It is no self-crucifixion: it is a deadlier one. "I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me", Gal.2:20. Once you die, make sure a double death takes place because it is not only the slave who needs to die. The slave owner must die as well.
Prejudices or self-conceit is a fruit of a sort of selfishness people easily use to keep many kinds of wars going on inside and outside their hearts.
Because people believe that to be loved is what love is all about, every time things do not work out as they expected it would, they believe the devil is opposing them in some way and that he is their main source of enmity. Actually, all those people who believe God pours love into them for them, are their own enemies. God pours love into us with which we shall learn to love others and God. If God's love poured into you had the purpose to please you, it would be feeding your greatest enemy. There is no one in this world who can harm you as much as self. "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul", Mat.10:28. Sin makes God destroy the soul, and self (selfishness) is the root of all sin. If the devil had been be the main source of my sins, Jesus would crucify him and not the flesh.
Sinful people often cry because they realize sin has caused them to lose something. But, they cry because of the loss and never because they may have sinned. They are sad about the loss they face, but have no shame for the sin which brought the loss upon them. "The perverse knows no shame", Zep.3:5. "Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a harlot's forehead, yet you refused to be ashamed", Jer.3:3.
We do not become holy to be able to receive things or to lose things. We may receive things or may be taken from things so we shall become holy. The only purpose God has for us who are born again, is complete holiness. "...Called to be saints...", 1 Cor.1:2. God "chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy", Eph.1:4. This should be your only purpose as well. What is on the top of your ladder? Blessings or holiness? Is holiness at the top of the ladder you are climbing, or are the things of this earth there? Do you use your goals to reach holiness, or holiness to bribe God with it? One of these must be what you use to achieve the other. Many people say they must be holy so God shall not deny them certain blessings. Their goal is not holiness, but the blessings. It must be the other way round. " ...Indeed to those who with patience in good work are seeking for glory, and honour, and incorruptibility, everlasting life", Rom.2:7.
Many people become unsure in their life with God simply because there are things which do not happen the way they expected it to happen. They ask God for those things many things and receive very few of them. It brings some spiritual confusion in their hearts. Some even say God has left them and take the opportunity to wander away into sin. Some others even ask for heavenly things which they know will not work out. It is because they wish it to happen or to be done their way and not as things are done in heaven. You cannot expect that heavenly things should be run earth's way, but rather that earthly things should be done the way things are done in heaven, it is, "on earth as it done in heaven". The flesh cannot promote itself into the office of God. Besides, God promised to take us into holiness so that we become holy and not for any other reason at all. If you find that you are holier each day, assure yourself you are on the right track. There is nothing else which assures us more that Christ is with us, for He is our holiness.
There are trials by which our faith is tried, surely. But, whoever is in some sort of sin while on the way shall surely be denied by God and might find hardships because of a shipwrecking faith. Such people may easily be deceived to or by sin to the point of believing they are merely being tried for some purpose. Genuine faith has the final reward as an answer, but, it also has an inner testimony which assures us as we walk. Make sure your faith is rewarded after every trial, whatever that reward may be. Every tried life has a happy ending.
Many of the works of God are dependent on sound faith to carry them out. But, God shall never do something to make faith stronger, but rather make faith stronger to do something. Faith is never made stronger through signs and wonders. Faith is an inner issue, it is a personality matter, it is a fruit of a relationship. It depends directly from the kind of fellowship we have with God. Signs do not make better believers, but a real relationship with God does.
When our faith is tried, we must never fall into the temptation to test our feelings to see whether they are truthful or not. We should make sure God is truthful. Faith is to be able to believe God and not our feelings.
We must not believe God gives us things because He loves us. God may also take things away from us because He loves us. God gives as much and as easily as He takes from those He loves.
The faithful thinks on the quality of their work above the amount of it. Therefore, in the long run, much of what they do remains and need not to be repeated or corrected again. Hasty people, however, shall come back over and over again to do one more time what they did not do well and thought to have accomplished and finished. Faithful people also have the goal of perfection clearly designed in them. One thing perfectly done is worth more than a hundred half done. We shall be rewarded for whatever we have taken to the end. Walking slowly because of perfection is far better than haste which does things half way or in a bad manner because, unlike faithful ones, hasty people will come back again to do the same things all over again. And, we need to have in mind that the productivity of all faithful people shall increase because perfection becomes a second nature to them and soon they do not need to spend as much time concentrating on being perfect as before. Perfection will be their way. Habits and established ways shall lead the steps of any holy, faithful man or woman further. We cannot say the same about hasty people. They shall always have different kinds of problems to face because they are unstable and without pattern and, therefore, shall be unable to create ways and habits besides those of being hasty, impatient, and unhappy about everything they do. And, because faithful people seldom need to go back to repeat previous work all over again, they shall be quicker on the long run than any hasty man. They are always going forward and not backwards to redo things.
God does not bless in exchange for faithfulness, as many believe it is the case. It is man who has this commercial mind in him. It is true that God often makes use of the kind of mind man has to convert him. However, it does not mean God is a negotiator. The truth about all this is that blessing is found where God is. His blessing is with Him, it is found where He is. If, therefore, we come to God, we shall come to where things are naturally blessed and are a blessing. Even when blessing is not promised beforehand, after conversion, man shall surely find it. "His reward is with Him", Is.40:10. No one can skip being blessed near God.
"When I desire, I shall punish them", Hos.10:10. Sinners, in a general way, never feel bad in their sinful environment, (Ps.73:4-7). However, God cares to bother, as far as possible, those who can still be converted. All others might feel unhindered on their way towards hell, walking and talking as if nothing bad will ever happen to them. But, they shall feel that way only until God decides the day has come to bind their hands and feet to throw them in outer darkness. That day shall surely come like an unexpected thief in the night. Sinful people shall always believe righteousness is unfair when it is applied on them or demanded from them.
Suicide is an act of extreme selfishness of someone who refuses to acknowledge there is a way out by recognizing own sins concerning a certain matter. Such a person will rather hurt other people and shut the door to the solution forever. Most suicides are acts of revenge which people want to make sure are made irreversible. Suicide is a proud kind of extreme selfishness, no matter how understanding we may be towards a suicidal person, nor how valid the reasons are the person kills himself for. People simply refuse to accept there is a solution to the problem in a way difficult for the flesh to accept. Usually, the kind of solution is the very problem to the person who wishes to kill himself, for such has something against it in some way. Usually, there is a certain grudge against the solution itself. They simply refuse to accept there is a way to solve their problem. They want to make sure the solution shall never tempt them again to reconsider. It is a refusal to accept the solution as it is. Often, people also take the problem out of proportion or cause it to be out of proportion. Usually, suicidal people's problems are extremely exaggerated and made bigger than they really are. People who kill themselves need to know there is a huge amount of pride behind each act of suicide as well, whether such pride is visible or not, and whether such a suicidal act is a spiritual one or a physical one. There are spiritual suicides too, even when people do not harm themselves physically. By knowing this, one might be able to help such people even better.
There was a father who had a neighbour. This neighbour was his mortal enemy. The child became a good friend of the father's neighbour. It would come back to the father's house to eat when it was hungry. The strength the father gave to the child, the life, the food, it used to become a strong ally of the enemy of the father. Do you know such a person? Everyone who lives in sin and loves it is that kind of person! "Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet they think evil against Me. They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a deceitful bow...", Hos.7:15,16. Will you still be friends with sin? Will you come back to your Father occasionally for the sake of food and strength only, but, not for His sake? "Israel ... brings out fruit unto himself", Hos.10:1.
Every time you forsake a sin forever, make sure you forsake the places, the people, and everything else linked in any way to that sin. Change your whole life once and for all and cut on future temptations. "Ephraim mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned", Hos.7:8. "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of the scornful", Ps.1:1.
The most honest sinners (if there is an honest sinner at all), do not call on God because their conscience does not allow them to do so. They lack courage and willingness to let sin stand because they know God shall never accept sin. The less honest ones either carry on sinning while calling on the name of God in vain, or start to say God does not exist. Atheism is just one more religion of convenience. All those who say God does not exist are not honest people at all. Anyway, anyone who repents and starts to be honest with himself needs to give attention to the fact that dishonesty is an overall and generalized sin. I mean that, if you start becoming honest concerning the existence of God, you need to make sure you become honest towards people in all senses. You need, therefore, to realize you surely are dishonest in all aspects of your whole life as well if you say God does not exist. Because you did not agree you were not being honest concerning the existence of God, you shall, surely, neither admit you have been dishonest towards people, work and many other practical issues of your daily life. You need to give special attention to the extensions and ramifications of that kind of sin under the fear of God. If, however, your way does not become narrow from both these sides (from the side of God and from the side of your daily life), be assured that it shall be made broad again. If you do not become honest in one aspect, the other dishonesties will come back again. To lack on honesty is to state that a lie is truth or that truth might be a lie. This sin is like smoking and drinking: unless you leave both, one will bring the other one back sooner or later. Sins that walk together, need to die together. If that does not happen that way, one sin shall be responsible for the temptation of the other. "...And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door", Gen.4:7. This is the truth concerning all sins which come from the same egg. Either you leave them all, or they all shall all be back again, joining forces to become seven times worse.
Jesus said our outside shall be continually clean when we make sure the inside is spotless. On the other hand, cleaning the outside never assures that the inside becomes equally clean. In fact, it hinders, delays inner cleansing or makes blind towards it. Therefore, all those who spend their time cleaning their inside the way they should do it, it is, by putting sin in the light one by one, lose all concerns and worries worldly Christians and people have concerning appearances. Appearance is the concern of the flesh. Whoever is not holy has those kind of worries to make up for, something which forgiveness is easily capable of accomplishing in/from the heart.
Appearances convince people and convince self of any kind of lie. In fact, it blinds self more than it blinds other people. People around us can spot hypocrisy faster than self is ever able to see it in itself.
The most important part of truth is that I become truthful. Truth seeks, above all, that people become truthful. As soon as I become truthful about myself and towards myself, God and people around, I become humble because humility is to be known for what I really am. But, in the initial process of becoming truthful my sins shall surely be exposed and lighted up. Under the light of God, sin is contemptible and ugly - it becomes known for what it really is. Then, one of two things may happen: either I change to become acceptable because being truthful constrains me to change through shame and regret; or, I cease to be truthful to conceal and hide ugly sin away all over again. Light causes both options to become clear to us. God's words are not there to please us, but to cause us to change or to chose between life and death. This is why truth comes to make us free. But, to be made free, we must be truthful in ourselves. Whatever happens, never cease to be truthful.
Repenting genuinely does not bring us moments of accusation and anguish, but rather moments of relief. Anguish remains because we are refusing or delaying repentance. As soon as we repent, relief comes to stay. It may also happen that we are trying to constrain God into something and search for sin where there is no more sin so we may please God into something He does not see fit to grant us at the moment or through those means.
As I write things down according to what happens inside me due to the nearness of God to my soul, I realized that there are days it seems I have done very little. Yet, in those days, I have often done few things which are wise, however small they are. Today, a thought came into my mind that I need a good seed to sow around and not a good tree and, a good seed, however small, is important and takes time to be worked on and waited upon. Trees are not sown and are bigger than seeds. When faithful people do little, the quality of what they do increases remarkably in due time as long as they are faithful in little. A small good seed shall be responsible for much fruit which shall, on its turn, bear alike seed in it to assure its continuity in the future. Let's assure the quality of the seed, even if the seed is smaller to put forth than a group of trees. One good seed is a future plantation if it is properly cared for. Do not despise little things which multiply easily on the long run. "For who has despised the day of small things?", Zec.4:10. Even sin is multiplied through little seeds. Often, small fiery darts are responsible for great fires that spread, Eph.6:16.
God remains the same, whether we are well or not. The way we feel does not determine how God really is. The way we feel explains how or what we are and not God's character. By finding God as good because things go well with us, shows we do not really know Him the way we should. We are talking about what is happening to us and not about God. The heart that says "God is good" when things go well, shall not praise Him during bad times for what He is. Let your heart never be hypocritical concerning His character. God is always good. Find Him and you shall make sure about that.
When God speaks, the way He ses to say something to you is a minor factor. If He speaks softly or if His words seem harsh to you, you should take the Lord into account behind the words instead of becoming aware of the way you think He speaks. The one who speaks is the important part here. You shall be responsible for the way you catalogue or define God's words. God is always the same whether you like what He says or not. The way you feel about things, or the way you are is what makes you feel God is either harsh or soft. Even if God says, quite often, different things, He does not say them differently - He always speaks the same way, with the same authority. Be careful not to attribute to God the things you feel or the way you feel about them - not even when He speaks against your heart and expectations.
Jesus would never trusts the doctrine of "accepting Jesus as your Saviour!" That doctrine deceives people and allows them to take a lie as a truth. It, also, causes others to follow these so-called Christians. Together, they flock together to cut off the way to all those who would wish to enter into the narrow way in a real way. That doctrine has many loopholes in it: it mentions a Saviour, but not what He saves from; it tells people to accept what people idealize and not what God has for them. Unless people clearly see what they are accepting and who, it is a vain doctrine.
It is good that we remain with both our feet firm on earth. If we are the kind of people who are easily sober, we must, then, become able to take God into account and still remain sober. However, Jesus said, "On earth as it is done in heaven". We must, therefore, have both our feet firmly set on a heavenly life as we would have them on an earthly one. We need to take God into consideration all the time. We need to know and assume that, whatever God still holds for us, is far better than what we shall ever imagine. Are you sure it is true? Won't you make sure about it first, before trying to believe on? Do not try to convince yourself of something you are not sure about. You must still come to the point where you live according to what you have made sure about.
"My people seek advice from their wooden idols, and their rod declares it to them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to go astray, and they have gone lusting away from under their God", Hos.4:12. When someone has desires which demand fulfilment at any cost, these desires talk as if they were God and respond. The rod talks to such a person according to the heart he has. However, the worst part of it is when the devil comes in to fulfil what that rod has said! The devil joined with such a deceitful heart is a very bad combination. On the other hand, on the soil of holiness, there must, also, be a combination of a holy heart and God. This kind of combination works out very well too. It allows God to speak according to our hearts because the hearts have changed to become like God's. We must sow with God, then. Idolatry is the religion of convenience and every religion is brought to life by the wishes of the flesh. It wishes its god to be a certain way.
"...Do not let Judah become guilty. And do not come to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, nor swear, 'As Jehovah lives' anymore...", Hos.4:15. Adultery is accomplished when someone gives himself over to whom he does not belong. The worst part of sin, therefore, is when sinners say they belong to God and, even so, worship other things which allow them to live a practical life for themselves. Idolatry allows you to live for yourself. If idolaters would say they did not belong to God, if they dared to assume truth, surely, their sin would be less grievous. And, by assuming the truth about himself, the sinner turns to God more easily too. The sinner fears the thought of having God against him. Sinners have an urge to say they belong to God because they wish to carry on sinning. It makes them stay in sin - it encourages them in their sinful ways. It is good for them, therefore, that they realize God is against them. If you love them, do not hold from them the truth, They must hear it in such a way they will believe it.
"Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you", Hos.4:6. This assures us of another truth if put the other way round: if we do not reject the wise things of God and His knowledge, we shall be taken into His bosom. True knowledge of God is the one which sees God as He is, knows Him for what He really is, understands what He says for what He really means and assumes a life which is according to what we see in Him and receive from Him. The knowledge of God is not to know God in a way we would wish Him to be.
"And it shall be at that day, says the Lord, you shall call Me, My Husband, and shall no more call Me, My Baal", Hos.2:16. The most dangerous part of idolatry is when it mixes godly things with itself. The same might be said of witchcraft or any other sinful practice. There are two ways to commit this kind of awful sin: godly things or names may be taken to the temple of the devil saying an idol is Jesus so the devilish temple will seem acceptable to most sinners; or, devilish things may be brought to the temple of God, calling God "My Baal" to make it possible to believe it is acceptable to God and, sometimes, even demanded by God that it be done that way. Man's heart is so deceitful he even deceives himself. Man's conscience is quietened and somewhat appeased when he salts his sin with godly things. Idolaters easily use God's name in vain for that reason. They can name an image after Jesus; or they may may ascribe certain godly things to the devil, as the Pharisees did. Either way allows the sinner to carry on sinning. That's all he wants. "I will cut off ... those bowing, swearing to Jehovah, also swearing by Malcham", Zep.1:4,5.
Just where did Job's friends err so much? They said the right things and even had the right assumptions. Yet, they missed the point concerning Job. They easily read from the signs that Job had sinned, even if they did not see him sinning. They shouldn't have stated he did not care for the orphans without having seen that kind of sin in him. They should not ascribe to sin the suffering they saw in their friend. In other words, they did not see Job sinning, yet they accused him of the sins they could imagine proportional to the amount of suffering he was going through. If this is true, the opposite may also happen. Suppose someone in sin goes to church, praises God and his apparent life does not show God is against him. Job's friends' mentality would easily see that man as a saint. We may never judge by appearances. And judging is accusing or acquitting.
"For what is the hope of the godless, when God cuts away his soul?" Job 27:8. God shall come to cut everyone's soul. We read how, in the end, there shall be a harvest and how God and the angels shall cut everyone off the earth. Surely, whoever has not yet been taken, shall still be cut off. What counts is what remains in man after he has been cut off. Job had been cut off from all things, and he still had his hope in God. What is there in you that shall remain after you have been cut off? There are people, the prosperity preachers, who teach people to stain those hopes related to God with earthly things. In other words, if God cuts them off, there shall be nothing left in them to be hopeful about. Earth shall end soon and even the heavens shall be gone. Even angels may not set their hopes on heaven or on anything else besides the Lord Jesus Himself because there shall be a new heaven. What would remain with you were your children, all your possessions and even your health taken away from you as happened to Job?
There is the idea that it pleases God that we consider ourselves sinners. The way people speak and look at it, though, is that it is bad to be holy and that, if you are holy, you annoy God and rob Him of the glory He wishes to have only for Himself. I cannot see how it is possible that such a satanic thought has entered into church and feels so comfortable there. The fact is that holy people do not compete among themselves. How much less with God! Isn't it God who calls upon us to be like Christ and to be here in His name, in His stead? Another fact is that competition starts between us and God as soon as we step into sin and not into holiness. The dispute is between holiness and ungodliness. Unholy people are in direct competition with God for His glory and, the more they sin, the more they rob God of His glory in them. They are the ones created with His image stamped in them. Holy people establish God's glory for Him. How is it with you? "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!", Num 11:29. And His Spirit is holy. The holier people are, the less they compete with God. The only reason why God demands that we consider ourselves sinners, is for truth's sake. God demands truthfulness from anyone. It is a need of man that he becomes conscious of the facts of sin because he needs to be saved from what he does not yet recognize as bad in him and good in God. God demands from sinners to say they are sinners just as he demands that holy people become known as holy ones. But, just as people may consider themselves as holy being sinful, holy people may not realize they are a holy enlightened city upon a hill. Also, people may say they are sinful just for the sake of words or doctrine, and not because they really realize the truthfulness of what they are saying. Did Job say he had sinned? Would he lie only to satisfy the views of his friends?
God cannot fulfil any of His works through anyone who gives up on the way. And, if you give up, you shall not know if God would really be able to fulfil them. In other words, all your doubts will be confirmed by giving up. And, if something has come to satisfy your doubting mind (since unsure people feel well and comforted by lacking assurance), it shall bring into you a false peace of accomplishment which shall surely annoy God.
Jesus comes into our lives to set us free from our heaviness and from many other things which are disturbing to our souls. However, He says we must come to Him so He may unload us. This is remarkable. Suppose a heavy, fat man is trying to climb a steep mountain. Will he complain about his weight or about the mountain being difficult? Sinners always blame the way and not their heavy load. Christ comes to make us light and not to turn the way easy. Make sure you start to wish to change instead of wishing to change the way.
Job's friends talked easily and accused promptly because they were not going through bad times. And, because they had not been going through hardships and trials, Job's disgrace became even more clearly contrasted to them. However, Job kept his hope during bad times of emptiness. In other words, we could see he spoke out of his heart when talking about God and that his hope was genuine. Concerning Job's friends, we cannot say for sure they were speaking from personal experience. Their words had not been tried through the fire of suffering and did not have the meaning they should have in them. All we know is that three of the four of them have not been approved under the focus of God's eye. It is easy for a fat man to promise he shall have a diet just after he has eaten. We must see if he says that when hunger is driving him crazy. Only then may we assume he means what he says. It is easy to believe during times of abundance and to be unbelieving when things are bad. But, did God change when the cows were slim and greedy? Wasn't it only the times that changed? God remains the same, whether we are well or not and whether times are abundant or not. We need to stop cultivating this idea that God is good because things go so well with us. Because God is good, people perish in hell as well.
Only those who stick to sin can believe they shall find rest by dying. Unbelievers believe a lie easily. No saint needs to die to find his rest. In fact, any holy man's desire is to be with Christ, whether it be through life or through death. When someone wishes to die to find rest, sin is disturbing that tired soul in some way and deceiving it with vain hopes. Because the "wicked have no rest", they become suicidal in their hope to find some easiness for the soul. That's why Job refused to look at death as a way-out. He went on as far as saying that it would mean he loved sin if wished to die. "If I wait for the grave as my home, that is because I have made my bed in the darkness", Job 17:13.
Many say God does all things, even when they do not work together with Him. Even if God might use dung for the sake of His own garden, we cannot say that dung is a flower. It even smells differently! The new nature is worth something only when it sows and reaps in intimate fellowship and obedient cooperation with God. Let no sinner ever believe that, whatever he does, can be ascribed to God!
When it is God who indeed leads, it doesn't mean He will always say everything we wish to hear nor that He shall explain all He says. Quite often, there is no time to do that. Besides, He leads, works out the doing inside and we follow. And, by guiding us continually, does not mean He will be speaking all the time either. To lead is more than to give instructions, commandments, and explanations. To lead is take the hand of the disciple to walk on; it is also to form the person He leads along. The best Leader is the one which forms the disciple whom He leads instead of giving orders and commandments which will make the disciple form himself. In other words, the sheep fits into what the Shepherd is with precision. We need to be turned into sheep. Because the Shepherd does not change, the one who is to be led must change to make such an intimate communion possible. Then, the disciple will eventually learn not to change what he has been granted to become nor the ways God uses effectively to change him.
We may live God's powerful life without needing to define it. However, error is more and more daring and it came into the church and defines truth very well to counteract better each day. It, therefore, becomes more and more necessary to define Eternal Life within us to be able to compare reality with hypocrisy. But, we need to define it to know how to distinguish Life from supposed life and never to try to imitate it in any way whatsoever. To imitate it is to become hypocritical. To define Life within to imitate it or to work it out by self is as good as being false. The need to define truth better and better is for the sake of discernment. To try to imitate life because we lack it or lack on it, is to try to jump over the wall into the sheepfold and to refuse to acknowledge we may find real life by going in through the gate of spotlessness. Whoever defines life and imitates it to get into the sheepfold to avoid going through the pains of conversion, shall surely be bound hands and feet to be thrown into outer darkness along with the hypocrites. Even if such is an ignorant-honest person trying to light a strange fire in God's altar, he shall be thrown out into the same condemnation of any common hypocrite. Ignorance is never acceptable near the Lord of wisdom, who is able to grant wisdom freely to all. Therefore, defining truth may help to protect people from getting into suicidal errors just as it may create an opportunity to conceive hypocrisy and cause people to imitate what they may and must receive at the door of salvation (salvation from sin). The definition of truth stands towards truth as the skin stands towards its fruit - we do not eat it. We eat truth after peeling off its definition. Unfortunately, most preachers feed their flocks with the skin of the fruit and throw away what is best and the only thing that is able to feed them.
Job talked openly before God through an open and honest heart. However, his friends thought that kind of language lacked on reverence and on the fear of God. "Yea, you do away with fear, and take away reverence before God", Job 15:4. We know, now, that Job talked to the Lord the way anyone should be able to talk to Him - to be heard. He did not use flattering words towards God as many use towards people. "Will you lift up His person, or contend for God? Or as one man talks to another, will you mock Him?", Job 13:8-10. What God desires is truth in our inner being. Never try to flatter God as Job's friends thought it should be done or as people often do towards people to get their attentionate response, whatever that response may be.
All whispers of God are great commandments. Make sure you are obedient to all of them and go through with them to the end. Let your love never be weak while carrying on. Our love is as great as our obedience. Let it not be of the kind that comes and goes either. "For your love is like a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goes away", Hos.6:4.
Each idolater carries his god around, (Job 12:6b), and tells it what it must do for him in exchange for some sacrifices. It is the idolater who commands his god and not the other way round. Each idol is a god of the minds of those who worship it. Idolatry is the religion of convenience. No idol punishes sin. Jesus, however, is never carried around. He walks by Himself, works by Himself and talks to us in a real way. He even walked on water alone with no help.
Job's friends knew just too well how to preach truth to others. In fact, the things they preached to Job were mostly accurate, even if wrongly applied to Job. What counts is the person which preaches, above his words and accurateness. That's why God told them He would listen to Job and not to them - God would listen to the person and not to words. "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous", 1Pet.3:12. God hears people and not words, He hears kinds of people and not kinds of prayers.
When the Lord leads someone into anything, what counts most is the kind of people we are or are to become through what He says and leads. The issue is important, but not as important as the person which needs to lodge it in the heart. Therefore, no issue is too important or less important to cause God to talk to us in an outstanding way. God leads according to His will for the sake of creating the person He leads, especially, to create someone with the disposition for His will from deep within the inner being. It is extremely important that each person learns to be led by God personally or such shall never be made a child of God. Only those who are indeed led by God can be made children who bear the image of the kind of Father that God really is, Rom.8:14. All issues are of secondary importance, however important they are. The people to whom things are commanded or given to be obedient (and not the issues), are the main goal of all words of God. Everything must contribute to the utmost well-being of the person whom God commands.
The mood or the state of heart of people easily confuses their outlook towards the future. A happy person easily believes everything shall go well with him, while a person in sorrow easily believes the opposite. Therefore, we must look at things apart from or beyond our mood. We must not confuse things through the way we feel at a certain point of our lives, whether it is happiness or sadness. "What provokes you that you answer?", Job 16:3. There was an officer who was hungry, needy and was bitter at heart and, because of it, he refused to believe the words of Elisha concerning the incoming of food and provisions. He died when those words had been fulfilled, 2 Kings 7:19. Never allow your heart or views to cause you to believe things differently from what God has said they would be.
The spiritual progress of anyone is directly dependent upon the heart's constancy - constant growth, constant obedience, constant faithfulness. If the heart is steadfast and persevering, it shall grow speedily. By being constant, people grow, and, by growing, they find rest. Any kind of growth needs hard work, and, whoever works hard deserves his rest fully.
Chronically unsure and unstable people feel comforted by feeling unsure and unstable. They are simply too used to live that way to be able to live without it. They can live only with it. They won't know what to do without it. Uncertainty is found at the way of error, and, to feel unsure and well, people walk and seek for error even when they talk against it. They are fond to feel unsure. But, let's not confuse emotional instability with real insecurity. There are many people sure of themselves as they walk the path of death. "In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune", Job 12:5. On the other hand, there are many who are found walking towards life feeling afraid and uncertain. In other words, if those sure of themselves despise disgrace, many who walk upright despise grace because they would rather depend on the arm of the flesh and its strength. If, however, those found walking towards death fear, they can easily be saved from wrath; and if those who walk towards life do not fear anything besides the Lord, they shall be greatly rewarded with heaven. To fear while in sin is the same kind of holiness as feeling secured under the grace of holiness.
Every unbeliever believes lies easily and much more his own. He believes in them as if they were truths because he believes in himself. An unbeliever is good at lying and at cheating himself out of truth.
"Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? (...) When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?", Zec.7:3,5. God cares very little if fasting and praying is scheduled or is part of our religious activities or not. The only thing that really matters is if He is indeed found when we either pray or fast. You may fast under schedule or any other way. It doesn't really matter that much as long as all your prayers receive real answers. And answers to prayer do not depend upon when you pray, or how long, or how sacrificial fasting is. Any prayer without an answer to it, is no prayer at all. And neither is the prayer to which people assure themselves and others God will answer.
Many, to defend themselves from accusations better, say to others: "Oh, this is not so bad!" They are the ones who become assured through public opinion and try hard to exercise some kind of influence over that opinion to be self-assured. Some others say that "it is not so bad" to themselves because they do not depend that much upon the opinion of others to feel secured - they will rather ignore facts in a personal way. All these people, urged by their desire to feel safe and assured while walking into death, go as far as sinning to make a point and to prove there is nothing wrong with sinning. Their hearts deceives them into it and does anything to excuse (cover up) sin. To cover up sin is to ignore, excuse, hide or cover up the facts as lighted through the word of God and through God.
God uses many people to help us, to whom we look up to. The people God uses are not over us through their wisdom or intellect. They are overseers because they are holier. Any illiterate person is surely able to help a scientist when he is a new convert, just as a holy scientist will help any illiterate young convert. Your obedience towards anyone God puts over you is equal to your obedience to Christ. You cannot say you obey Christ more than you are able to obey such an overseer. Your growth, also, depends on the obedience you are able to apply freely to all that comes from God. It, also, depends on how much you obey a man of God, even when that man of God is still a child physically. You must be able to see the One behind the man.
Pride exists because whoever has it makes an idea of himself which is not true. Therefore, humility is to be yourself under the rule of God. Truthfulness from within is what humility is all about.
Unbelief says quite often: "I am a believer!" It says so to avoid a change or death blow!
"...And gave them into their hands... so that they might do with them as they would", Neh:9:24. Today, the enemies of our lives possess our hearts and are called sins. It is interesting to notice that God gave the enemies into the hands of Israel so they would do to them as they wished to do. If they wished to destroy them, they would be obedient and would have the moral authority and the freedom to do so. If they wished not to destroy their enemies according to the commandment, they were free not to do so. The decision of what to do with their enemies was handed over to them. The same still happens today: you can do with your sins whatever you wish when coming to Christ. Your sins will be handed over to you to do with them as you wish. Will you chose to annihilate them?
Impartiality is to stand for God's things, through God and for the Lord. We do not stand for our own things, nor for anyone else's. That's what being impartial is all about.
Where obedience is hard, disobedience isn't. Where obedience is easy, disobedience is a difficult issue.
Whoever keeps blaming himself after having found forgiveness, is not seeking forgiveness but attention.
To please people, is to do those things people want us to do. To please God is to do what He wants us to do.
"And they who exercise authority on them are called benefactors...", Luk.22:25. Let truth be said: people look at this world and the way things are done here to see things only as they wish to see them. They see things as they would rather have them. Bad things are seen as good, good things as evil. They believe blind people are the ones who see and those who see are the ones who are blind. Jesus says here that those who exercise authority over people are considered benefactors. "But you shall not be so: but the greater among you, let him be as the lesser, and he who governs, as one who serves", Luk.22:26. The day will come when the admirer will be seen as the hypocrite that he is, and the one who pleases people as a liar. May God bring that day soon. "The fool shall no more be called noble, nor the miser said to be bountiful", Is.32:4-5.
Jesus doesn't always hinder sin because it is an imperial need that sin be exposed and made fully visible. Not even among holy ones will Jesus prevent sin to be fully exposed and seen. In fact, it is especially among holy ones that the ugliness of sin shall become clearer. The risk of having a bad example among us is not as dangerous as hidden sin.
"And, Satan entered into Judas...", Luk.22:3. We do not see Judas possessed and thrown in the floor after the devil took full possession of his heart. He simply went on being himself to betray Jesus. He was not possessed or demonized. He was fully aware of all his actions. The same might be said about Ananiah and Saphira. They just lied before the Lord. And Peter asked them: "why did the devil fill your heart?" Act.5:3. They were not possessed and, yet, the devil filled their heart.
The only kind of impatience God will praise is the kind which longs to be with God right away if something is separating us from Him. Even so, do not jump over the wall, but rather cleanse that sin away to go in through the gate.
If it is true that "there is a way which seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death", Prov.14:12, surely it must be also true that there is a way which seems crooked and wrong to man which leads to Life.
The most profound faculty of man is his will. It is not sin, even though man sins easily. It is in the will of man that God works His own will. After that self-protected and sealed area of the inner being of man is reached and bent by the Lord, the doing of God's will works out marvellously as a responsible consequence.
It is good that we live what we preach and teach. No doubt about that. But, there is something else which is even better than that: teaching what you live. Living what you preach is not the same as preaching what you live.
Darkness is not merely being ignorant about something. Darkness is to hide, to put something away where no one can see it. That's what darkness is all about. Usually, people who walk in darkness are not that ignorant at all. Most of them know just too well what and how to hide when they wish to put something out of sight! Darkness is hiding. If you have anything which deviates the attention from what Christ is presently showing you or trying to bring under your attention, beware, because that's walking in darkness - it is hiding. By emphasising something else, joking it away, or show your good deeds and talk about them while Christ is showing your sins out, or while your conscience is stained by something else, you are surely walking in darkness or doing something which is close enough to it. Excusing, hiding, minimizing what Christ shows through His light, is to walk in darkness. Darkness is not ignorance, even though darkness may cause to ignore things.
Once Christ and His light show you all you are or claim to be, do not be afraid. The filth of sin might scare you away from Him just as happened to those people who lost their pigs to the demons, but do not dare to run away. There is only one thing you should do: follow Him and do as He does. If He reveals, you reveal. If He puts a finger on a sin, make sure you put your finger on that sin too and not on some other He has already forgiven or someone else's sin which resembles the one He just showed you. That's what following Him is all about. Follow Him from the first moment of conviction. He will lead the rest of the way. Do not hide when He exposes, nor bring things up which He has already blotted them out and which He is not concerned about any longer.
Anyone having indeed been forgiven cannot honestly say forgiveness hasn't happened. It is impossible to go through the forgiveness of our sins without experiencing it happening in our soul. You may forget or despise the experience later, but it is, nevertheless, something which will leave its mark on you forever. However, the opposite of it is not always true. I mean that there are those who claim to have been forgiven and the Lord did not touch their soul to cleanse them at all. Yet, they believe they have been forgiven. These people prefer to lie to themselves because they know not what it is to be forgiven. To say you have been forgiven might not be what you experience inside. But, if you are indeed forgiven, you cannot deny it, not even when you wish to doubt about it.
A fanatic person is someone who wants to reach the ends without going through the process and the means. I mean, he wants to look holy without going through the means and the door to be made holy. He is someone who jumps over the wall and does not want to enter through the gate, John 10:1. No wonder he is fanatical.
Fear is an obsession. It is a kind of a serious stubbornness.
If hiding was the first reaction in man because of sin, then, exposing must be the first step towards holiness.
If all sin dies being exposed and brought to the light, why are upright preachers accused of judging people simply because they reveal sin during their sermons, or mention them by name? They are not judging - they are saving people!
"Cursed be the man who does the work of the Lord deceitfully", Jer.48:10. Doing the works of God in an neglecting manner, with wrong motives or through the wrong kind of power, is as good as doing something to be rewarded. Whoever is concentrating on the reward cannot hold his eyes continuously on what he is doing. There is a huge association between doing things deceitfully and doing things for personal reasons, whatever those reasons might be.
God separated light from darkness as His first act in creation. Only after that did He create the world. The world you are as a person will work much the same way. Only after you separate darkness from light in your own heart, will God be able to build a new creature out of you. In the evangelical world, today, everything is mixed up. You need to separate darkness from whatever is real light of God. You might be surprised with what God will do next! And it won't take long either! Earth took only six days to be made! The truth is: darkness is not a danger when it separated from light. But, if it is mixed up with light, then it is very dangerous and deceitful. Have you separated light from darkness in your heart? Is your life truly separated from worldliness and the appearance of any kind of sin?
Many are hasty with their words, saying things God did not say yet. Some others, on the other hand and because God has said nothing yet, hand themselves over to discouragement. If God has not yet said either 'yes' or 'no', you should avoid being hasty with your thinking because He might still say either of them. Do not speak on God's behalf simply because you either lack faith or wish to run over the time of God. Did God say 'no'? Did He say 'yes'? You cannot assume God has said 'yes' or 'no' unless He has indeed spoken. Do not dare to speak for God out of time.
Whatever you feel the truth is must not be taken into consideration unless it is really the truth. If you wish to measure the truthfulness of whatever you feel, just measure the amount of bad feelings, anger and bad spirit through which you defend your standpoints, views and feelings. Usually, truth speaks by itself and seldom needs the force of the flesh to be better explained. Even if what you say is true, you should conquer your heart for God first and above all. Only then will truth abide in you and will it remain clear after you have expressed or received something to put, keep or hold close to your heart. You are the one who needs to reconcile yourself to truth and not truth to you.
Let's imagine you are a woman, married and concerned about the things of God at home. Now you are reading your Bible. Then you read in 1 Peter 3:7 something like this: "Likewise, husbands, live giving honour to the wife as to the weaker vessel, the female, as truly being co-heirs together of the grace of life". You are the wife and you read this portion which talks to husbands. What should your first reaction be towards it? You should say: "Well, this is not for me! My part is to submit to my husband. This has nothing to do with me!"
In case you hear the gospel in a pure way (something quite rare nowadays), it will never leave your mind again, no matter how you handle it. The more you fight against it, the more you stir it. You cannot avoid it becoming part of your thoughts for the rest of your life. There is something you should know about it too, in case you do not reject it: it will either change your life or your life will change it to fit into your sinful or wishful thinking. If the gospel does not change you, you will live on with a changed gospel, with a truth of your own which fits your own thinking and wishes. It is not possible to have both staying the same. Either your life remains as it is or the gospel remains intact when you change. How will it be with you? Will you change your life? Will you try to change the gospel? Or will you accept a 'gospel' which better fits your sinful wishes and desires?
Truth must obtain the consent of the heart to express itself by itself without the interference of the flesh of the man who finds it in the Lord. To be truthful is not to be right about something, but to be truth itself. One must be truth. Truth does not argue about anything, does not express itself that well in the heat of arguments. It expresses itself best on its own and being itself and feeling at home in the heart of whom found it. Truth must be so at home in us that we cannot discern between us and it. Truth is what it is and, whoever wants to hear it or speak it, must hear or speak it its way and as it is. Let's add love, patience and all other virtues without changing it a bit. Let truth remain truth right through.
The lack of faith is closely related to the lack truth inside. Faith is the ability and the capability to believe truth. Unbelief is the opposite of it. Unbelief is the ability and the capability to believe lies. Christ talks about it by saying "Whoever can believe...", Mar.9:29. The thing which unbelief cannot believe or remain believing at, is truth about God. We can't change God, therefore, we must change the heart.
It is enough to hear the noise of one's own heart. Why would I add to it noisy music and bad preachers moved by uneasiness and unquiet hearts?
Each man has more reasons and more faculties to be on the right than to be on the wrong. Even so, man errs all the time. Are you able to explain what's happening in such a way that I will understand it? The more I live, the more I am convinced man has it all to do it the right way.
To help save someone from his own sins is one of the less selfish acts one may find on this earth. Whoever preaches the gospel and saves people gains nothing from it directly by doing it properly. Saving to the full is badly needed, though. God wins a soul to Him and the saved one gains his own life. This is why God will reward all faithful servants, because they did no get their rewards on earth. A faithful servant gives freely whatever he received freely.
There is hatred, malice, bad feelings, grudges and many other sins which compete along with God's love for the possession of the heart of man. But, what most people ignore, is that there are things which likewise compete with the genuineness of God's love to gain expression through the lives and hearts of people. Those things are earthly love; carnal ways of motherly and fatherly love on earth; having a nice and polite expression to cover up an empty spirit; applauses; forced faith and strange love on the altar of God (the heart of man), along with many other things people cannot reprimand or think of as bad things. Parallel love, parallel politeness, parallel imitations of all virtues, of all gifts and of all fruits the Spirit is able to breed in man and it is a worse problem to solve in churches than open, gross sins. There is a parallel way to read your Bible, a parallel way to pray without the fire of God, a parallel way to give your tenth to the church and much more. All those things the flesh can do without problems and for as long as it is kept alive through serving in the temple, even as a slave. The flesh must be dead and not enslaved. We must read our Bibles to change our hearts and lives and not to have a religious time; we need to pray to have answers and not to sacrifice a time talking alone and pretending God is listening; we must give our tenth so that the genuine Kingdom of God fills the earth one day and not so that false ones spread a false gospel, drive own planes and own houses. We need to take special care against so-called virtues and sacrifices which work directly against God's Kingdom. Take care against appearances of holiness. Remember that you will be as guilty as those who spread a false gospel whenever you contribute with your money to help false prophets and fake preachers. All apparent holiness is as deadly as any other sin - or even worse.
Whoever is able to despair waiting on God, is surely someone who can easily be taken into false joys of false fulfilments and expectations of whatever God has promised to him. Remember that the devil will try to fulfil in a false way many things God has promised you, and will carry you into situations where you will despair even more because of some false fulfilments of the word. The devil does that because he realizes he cannot avoid or hinder the fulfilment of God's words. "If you cannot overcome them, join them!", says the devil. Never give up on God, whatever happens.
When speaking to an unbeliever or to a chronically sinful man, remember that the arguments and questions which are most difficult for him to answer, are his own, especially those he doesn't dare to ask. Find what questions he avoids asking himself, what fears he has concerning eternal things and you might be halfway gone into converting him. There are many things he avoids talking about, many issues he hides from his own conscious world. And, while doing so, remember to win a soul for Christ and not for the sake of an argument. Don't stop after arguments are won and finish your work faithfully.
The words of a truthful man to be fulfilled, sooner or later, need that the man keeps them in his heart and maintains what he said, sticking to those words to the end whatever happens in between. He may not add or take away from whatever God has told him through fear or forgetfulness rising from lack of practicing experience. That will annoy most of those who oppose him, however, and will look like stubbornness to them. But, in the end, the word will confirm itself and shall, also, show that the man has never been stubborn at all, but obedient to God instead.
Prophecies and manifestations, either inner ones or outward ones, will seldom be truthful when the man who speaks is not clean before God and men. It is the Holy Spirit who guides any man into the words of God. And the Holy Spirit is holy. Whoever is not likewise holy is risking his life and ways by speaking in the name of God. The wrath of God will hang over his head ready to fall on him; and, by speaking in the name of God, that man risks not only his own life, but compromises his ways because the devil will surely try to imitate and to impersonate God through him. The devil will use those things God would use were that man holy. I mean that, the senses of that man, the head and the knowledge he has, the heart and whatever else, will be used by the devil as if it were God using them. And people will see evil claiming to be God and will reject it. And, if the devil is, somehow, able to use some kind of truth to convince even more, surely, that man is put is such slippery grounds that he will fall and not be able to stand up to his feet again. However, being clean is but one of the main conditions for a prophecy to be true. There are others though: God needs to indeed have spoken (it has got to be God for real); the person who has ears to hear needs to be able to believe God with simplicity; and, if he has an ear which hears promptly, that person needs to discern the false words coming either from the devil or from his own heart and wishes, and needs to disbelieve and discard them with the same simplicity with which he would believe God speaking. There are more conditions though. Find them out by risking to multiply the talents God has entrusted into your hands. Learn more through obeying and by walking in the light, by being transparent and by breaking the fallow ground of your own heart - not only others' hearts.
Being transparent before God is synonymous of being clean, even though it is not the same thing. The fact is that Christ changes and cleanses such people. But, take care: being transparent and being transparent before God is not the same thing either. You may be transparent and not be in His sight; or, you may be in His presence without being transparent before Him. Both will hinder or even avoid your change. None of these can guarantee your spontaneous and immediate cleansing by itself.
Prophets become false for many reasons. Many wish deeply that whatever they desire would be fulfilled; many others apply in a wrong way the knowledge and the truth they may feel they should apply upon themselves; and there are those who truly believe that God fulfils whatever they say as if God had the duty to fulfil the words He has not spoken. Anyway, all false assumptions or false prophecies have its origin in pride or in unsettled, unsurrendered and disturbed hearts. But, should we stop saying God's words faithfully because we see there are so many false ones already? Shouldn't we rather do it better than ever to contrast falsity with truthfulness all the more and all the better? Do not be afraid to say, "Thus says the Lord", when He has told you something. Do not fear simply because there are so many who say that by listening to their hearts and without having listened to God.
A Lie is like stepping on ground which will give in and cause the person to fall into an abyss from which it will be very difficult to come out. It is not good to be trusting and presumptuous if we are in some sort of sin which causes us to trust in ourselves in any degree whatsoever.
Sex, to be what or as God intended it to be, needs to be without guilt and without needing to use force to still down the works of your conscience. This is why you need to do it only when God approves it and only when He is blessing it the way He intended it to be.
People have never had a king over them. This is why they gained the habit of ruling themselves according to what they feel and by claiming for them all rights upon themselves. In the absence of a King, they learned to be stubborn people who refuse to give up the rights upon all they are and have. They refuse out of fear to lose or out of lust to gain, which is the same thing. When a real King enters the scene, a dispute over the kingdom within starts. Now, you need to decide who will reign over you: either God or you. Saul was put before that same option, also, to either hand over his kingdom do David or keep it. Had he handed it over to David, he would have saved his life. He would have done God's will. The option he took, however, was disastrous. He should have handed over his rights and longings to the will of God. When God knocks at your door, when He enters, He is asking for the rights over all you are. Your reign is over. Hand it over to Him willingly. Don't be like Saul.
There are many who say they are believers and are not because they wish they could be believers without paying the full price of walking through God. In the same way, there are those who claim to be atheists and are not atheists, but only wish they could deny the existence of God.
The size of any man may be measured by how easy or by how hard it is for him to be discouraged and, also, how easy it is to feel encouraged towards the right way and to move on without delay.
If we do not understand something someone said as well as we should, or if what we heard is not what we expected to hear, then it is easy to believe the person is not right in what he said. This is how we act and react towards God as well when we hear things which God said and which are not according to what we would like to hear. How many times did you try to twist the Scriptures to get a different understanding from the one God intended to give you? How many times did God speak to you and you said it was the devil or that you were hearing voices because you did not like what you heard? And, if so, just how many times did the devil speak to you and you said it was God because you liked what you heard? "And they will turn away their ears from the truth and will be turned to myths", 2Tim.4:4.
When we find ourselves in trouble, when our lives are endangered because we are far away from God, we must not look for Him to save our earthly lives, to give us the job we need, or the food we lack. We need to find God for God's sake. We must ask for our needs after we have God with us. God may have sent some problems to our daily life, or even some plagues. Do not ask God to divert those problems and plagues away from you, but rather seek to repent and to find God. You need to seek and find a clean, spotless life from Him exclusively, no matter what may become of you after you have found it. If you are in sin and God sends you something to show He is against you, do not seek to find God to solve your problems. Seek repentance, seek to find Him and to find His grace. If you do not seek to repent exclusively, your prayer will be seen, by the Lord, as hypocritical. That's why God does not hear most prayers Christians send up to Him, not even those prayers during times when they experience no problems.
Searching for gold is hard work. The people enslaved in the so-called gold fever go from river to river, from mountain to mountain, seldom giving up on their earthly dreams. Not even danger or hunger is able to convince them to stay away from their lonely, roaming life. They are able to keep searching for many decades until they find what they have been looking for. It seems they live a useless life until they find their gold, which they consider their reward. They need to find a good portion of it only once. It seems they are people who do not really want to work or to have a real job and genuine responsibilities. This is what people think of all those who seek treasures. That's also what happens to those who seek God's Kingdom to find it. It always seems peoples' lives are a waste when they look for God to find Him in a real way. "...If you seek as silver, and search as for hidden treasures, then you shall understand the fear of God and find the knowledge of God", Prov.2:4-5.
Sometimes what really counts is that it was God who said something. The issue He talked about may be belittled in our eyes or even seem insignificant and useless. But, take care, not because of the issue, but because of the greatness of who said it. The important part is who spoke and that's the reason you need to obey.
If we escalate a mountain we concentrate on the little stones on which we may slip, or anything able to cause us to stumble. We do no worry about those big rocks or the big mountain so much, but on the small stones and obstacles which may cause us to slip. This is how we climb any mountain. The small obstacles are usually what cause the biggest falls. "Catch us the little foxes that spoil the vines", Son 2:15.
The carnal man does not know what the Spirit is. Living in the Spirit is an unknown kind of life to him because he never experienced it. However, spiritual people know what the works of the flesh are from a previous experience. The only ones who are fully aware of the difference between flesh and spirit are those who walk in the Spirit. This means that the carnal man does not know what the Spirit life is. Consequently, he does not know what the flesh is either. This explains why many fleshly people justify themselves by saying they are not that sinful, that they pray and read their Bibles and refuse to be genuinely converted by using such arguments against repentance. They believe they are converted because of the absence of truth and the absence of the genuineness of Life in them. That's why it is so hard to preach to fleshly Christians and even harder to convince them! They will say you are judging or misjudging them. Do not feel guilty about them. They are merely using arguments to justify themselves and to find reasons to remain as they are. You are not judging them. You are helping them and they love sin. That's why they react as they do.
We need to walk in the light (I mean, to really walk exposing everything), looking into our hearts and expose it as fully and as detailed as we can. But, unfortunately, many are entangled and deceived by what they should do properly instead. It is very easy to forget that we assimilate the ways and the things of Christ by looking at Him. We indeed need to judge ourselves according to truth in the light of truth because, if we do so now, we won't be judged in the last day, Paul said. But, we also need to know we assimilate only what we look at and experience for oneself. Looking the wrong way into our hearts will surely cause us to assimilate whatever we see there or whatever we imagine is there. Therefore, there is a right way to contrast our hearts with the light of Christ to accept what Christ is and be made free of what we are. Then, we will assimilated Christ whom we clearly see and shall live by Him. Anyway, you cannot change anything unless you look at it, even if the change is carried out through absorbing other ways we see clearly and become aware of. “Look at me and live”, God said. He really meant what He said. It is important to search our hearts to expose it, but do not be entangled by what you see. You need to be impartial towards your heart, even if you deeply search it out. People either start accusing themselves because they would rather be something else, or justify themselves to cover up what they do not wish to acknowledge. But, if you don't do either of these, dare to assimilate the Light which helps you to see what you see. We live by looking at Christ because, by looking at Him, by having a real perception of how/what He is, we are changed and quickened into something which is acceptable to God. Our acceptance does not take place because we look at Christ, but rather because we are changed by Him. It is the change that takes place by looking at Christ that counts since Christ trust only a change He has accomplished. Looking at Him causes us to assimilate His nature and to be turned into His likeness through what we are able to perceive and experience in a continuous way, since real changes are absorbed and take their time. Then will we be accepted.
It is not enough to be willing to go to heaven: we need to wish to get there through Christ, the despised and rejected one. Besides, you need to forsake earth as well for the sake of such a One. Forsaking earth and its treasures is an independent act from going to heaven. By leaving earth behind, we forsake its ways of doing things; its way to love and care for; its dreams and its longings. You need, also, to assimilate the way things are done in heaven. Jesus taught us to pray that things be done here the way they are done there.
The supposed good things witchcraft and occult practices grant, are worth nothing because they are carried out without God. The evil and all the plagues God casts upon earth work out a blessing eventually because they are done in God, by God.
Faith is not always about things we do not see and lies are not always visible things either.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said they should pray, "Deliver us from evil". This does not necessarily mean other people's evil doings, but, our own. To free us from evil means that we be freed from sin and from ourselves so that we sin no more. That's what it implies directly. We cannot be set free from other people's sins, but only from our own. It is mainly from this kind of evil that we should be fully delivered.
No one can worry about something without presuming. A worried person imagines and conceives troubles, fears and deliverances which are not real. Such a person might even pray about problems which do not exist and imagine victories that are not real. He may even try to "have faith" to solve unreal problems, things that did not happen yet or might never happen. Real faith is a gift of the Spirit and if there is faith in unreal problems, it is as false as those problems are. People who presume about the day or the thing that has not yet come, can sin in many ways. They can "trust" God by having faith set upon vain things; or, they can start an useless battle against non-existing unbelief. These are just a few of the things that can happen to you by presuming about tomorrow, about the day or the things which did not come to happen yet. This is why the Bible clearly warns us not to presume anything about tomorrow.
"Forget not the words of My mouth", Prov.4:5. We must never allow things do divert or consume our attention in such a way that we easily forget what the Lord has said or says. Do not let your mind be so busy that the words the Lord has taught you or has spoken to you seem far away or seem to be fading away. Do everything in your power to keep the words of God alive and to avoid things that easily cause you to forget about them at crucial moments of your life!
"Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father", Prov.4:1. Jesus is a Father, He is the Father. We must take heed to what He says first and above all. We need discipline to do certain things. But, let not discipline carry you in a way that there is no room left for God to speak or to show otherwise. God might want us to do differently or to read somewhere else different from our normal program. He might occasionally change it. And, if He changes our program forever, even so, rather care to listen to Him.
"Let not your heart be troubled", John 14:1. We should never allow our hearts to be troubled. Jesus demands, asks and commands that this should never happen. Let's be sober and firm concerning this kind of sinning. No one needs to be troubled facing a problem in the eyes having Jesus close by. No one needs to turn his face from a serious problem to feel at peace or not to offend Jesus because He is nearby. That would be a false kind of peace. Jesus did not tell us to ignore facts, to overlook problems or to be negligent so our hearts won't be troubled. Jesus said, "let not your heart be troubled"; He did not say, "look away from the problem". After having told the disciples not to allow their hearts to be troubled, Jesus had them look at Him suffering at the cross. We can, we may, we must face all and not be troubled.
We all know that we are saved by faith. In fact, all saints do everything by believing and trusting the Lord. If this is true, then, much is at stake by not believing and by not trusting the Lord. Worrying or fearing is, therefore, one of the most serious sins there is with most serious consequences. And, because of it, it is also true that faith will be the virtue which shall suffer more attempts to be imitated and worked on by the flesh because the flesh wishes to be saved instead of dying on the cross.
There are those who exaggerate in blaming themselves and their sins. They are either unbelieving or just seeking the attention of others. There are, on the other hand, those who blame very little of the things they do. These usually feel sorry for what they lose and not for sinning.
An answer from the Lord, even when it happens before the materialization of whatever we ask Him, puts an end to repetitions of any prayer. When you pray, do you talk to the Lord to have real answers or do you pray to fulfil a need and to have your religious time and obligations fulfilled? Because man does not know how to talk to an invisible, genuine God (only to visible or non-existing gods and idols), there is a need to pray inside every man, an urge put there by God towards the right thing and towards the right way to do it (as it is done in heaven). But, if one prays to satisfy that need alone (even if it was put there by God), he is selfish and selfishness is the base of all sin. One must go beyond the need to pray, one must talk to God having solid ground and genuine issues to talk about which need to find real answers. And God's issues are real issues. The craving to pray might be the door to the house of prayer, the urge might be the entrance to a real relationship with God. Nevertheless, the heart of every prayer is its answer. Staying at the door, blocks the door and hinders the entrance of whom would like to touch God. Praying for an answer is not the same as praying to fulfil an emotional need - even if it is a need. Are you sure God can answer?
A sin in a saint, an occasional lie in an honest man, a sudden temptation to be lazy for one day in a man who usually works hard, or a black stain in a white cloth is so visible that it is seldom forgotten. This is why David's sins are so spoken about. If you are a holy man, do not dare to sin because, even if you have been instrumental in thousands of miracles, the thing people will recall and easily talk about shall be that sin because it will stand out just as a black stain stands out in a snow white garment. The contrast makes people recall it easily.
"I listened and heard, but they did not speak right", Jer.8:6. It is a shame that people pray, are listened to, but receive not what they pray for.
God makes bricks using the ashes of all your past sins and errors. Just carry on if you have indeed been cleansed of all of them. Then, care to grant God the time needed for Him to build something useful out of those bricks.
There are a few guarantees which are demanded from us by God before we start off with our spiritual lives, if they are to be of the genuine kind. One of them is that we deal with God as a Father. The other one is that we have a disposition to do things to the end so as to become a child according to His image through the way we follow. God needs to have those assurances before blessing you through most promises of the Bible. "You shall call Me, My Father, and shall not turn away from Me", Jer.3:19.
The sinner wishes to sin and not be seen as a sinner; a thief wishes to be seen as a trustworthy man; a prostitute does all to be seen as beautiful and harmless; the liar wants to be taken as truthful. The Bible puts it this way: "And you had a harlot's forehead, you refused to be ashamed", Jer.3:3.
To overcome is to remain in Christ to the end of any trial, journey or temptation. If we have a difficult task to accomplish, a trial to overcome, what counts is if we end still being in Christ, communing with Him after everything has passed and not if the problem we have been through is solved. There are problems we do not solve because our task is to remain in Him alone. We can do all things perfectly, or we may be imperfect in doing what we were supposed to do besides (or along) overcoming the trial. But, at the end, whoever has been perfect in doing has the same trial as the one who did things rather imperfectly: they struggle in prayer to remain in Christ. The one may be tempted by pride or by self-sufficiency because he has done everything the way he ought to do. Self-sufficiency is to depart from Christ. That person should know that, "when you have done all the things commanded, you say, We are unprofitable servants, for we have just done what we ought to do", Luc.17:10. There is still much ahead, either through a good or difficult way, to be done through the same grace one started off with in the beginning. On the other hand, the one who did things not so perfectly will have the same difficulty nearing Christ after all has ended because he is ashamed and feeling guilty. Everyone would rather prefer to be tempted by those things which tempt perfect ones. But, what counts for both is: will they be in Christ at the end, will they remain in Him after all is over? Ending in Christ is what all is about. Whoever ends in Christ is a conqueror. Christ may put us through things we cannot accomplish because He knows all we must do is to end up in Him. In Him we shall do impossible things. Impossibilities make us stay in Christ. But, shall you also do what is possible and easy through Him? Make sure you know to conquer is to remain in Him even when you can't overcome death or sickness.
Reading your Bible, like singing and praying, is still not living for God. To be fit and enabled to live and to experience it naturally, to practise through grace whatever we understood from it is what living for God is all about. Reading the Bible should only confirm what is already happening inside the heart. What we read from it must be a confirmation of what Jesus is doing in us.
"Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court...", Mat.5:25. There are very few times Jesus used the word "quickly". This is one of them. In fact, there are places in the Bible we read that to haste is sin. But not here! This is indeed an urgent matter. Take care to fix your life with people around you quickly. Do not dare to postpone what Jesus said must be done quickly.
When the Bible says, "Return to your rest, O my soul", Ps.116:7, it does not mean that you should return to emotional stability. It means that you must find the Lord for real. Finding the Lord that way is not a mere feeling, even though it affects the way we feel. If you have indeed found the Lord and your feelings are still troubled and mixed, do not fear because you are safe. On the other hand, if you feel well and have not found the Lord in a real way, be troubled.
Imagine that someone gives you a precise description of truth or about Jesus. Or imagine that you are the one giving it. Now imagine experiencing truth and Jesus for real. How big a difference is there between those two things? To which one of these two groups do you belong or would you rather belong?
If debts are the reason for worries, paying in advance should take concerns away from people. Fulfilling your duties in anticipation is to avoid being in debt right from the start. It also deals and avoids bad feelings and worrying before its start, even though it is not the same as trusting Jesus during any sort of troubles.
The Israelites wished to take hold of the Promised Land and God wished the same for them. They wanted the same things God wanted for them. That is good when it happens that way. But, there was still another common thing between God and them: they wished that it would be God, His arm, giving them God’s will. That is the wish of every genuine saint and that's what pleases God most for many reasons. But, we see that, for them, that was not enough. It did not work out for them, not even having these important things in common with God. Could you find out what things would have made the difference in their lives? What should they have added to it?
Imagine those lame men to whom was said "stand up and walk!" What would you think of them if they stood up, but did not walk? Or if they tried to walk without standing up? Wouldn't it be strange? Why then, would we fulfil only half of whatever God says? What benefits would you obtain from obeying partially?
People marvelled when Jesus calmed the storm. The sea was calm in a very short time and they said: "What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?", Mat.8:27. But, Jesus also marvelled about them concerning their believing: "Why are you afraid, little-faiths?". Jesus lived in one kind of world and people in another one. One just could not grasp or conceive the other. They marvelled each about the other.
There are those who feel guilty about specific sins and there are those who have an urge to find something in them to feel guilty about. Those who feel guilty about specific sins are repenting people. Those who search things to feel guilty about are either impatient about something else or seek to have merit to rely upon before God, which is not seeking mercy. They might seek to feel guilty to hasten God to grant them something they desire badly.
There is a worse kind of loneliness than not being married: it is being married to the wrong person; and there is difference between marrying the wrong person before meeting God and marrying after after having met God.
Impatience is the worst enemy of the best God can grant us.
You are what you think and not what you think you are. Remember that when you come before God to confess your sins as well.
A good race is a set of many firm steps. A good wall are many bricks which have been put together one by one. Any spotless, clean soul owes its purity to the fact that sin has been dealt with one by one. A life lived with God is living each day at its own time. If anything is done that way, it will become perfection, it shall be turned into something indestructible. Every firm step is part of a long walk. Everything that is perfect was done step by step, day by day, moment by moment. Why would you wish to change it now that you have found God?
Being persecuted because we are clean or are still cleansing our lives, is not the same as being persecuted because we are becoming dirty, preaching the wrong gospel, stealing or talking against people.
John was tempted from inside and from the outside to think highly of himself. The devil also instigated and manipulated the people’s minds simultaneously to help achieve this by having them doubt whether he was the Christ. They were expecting a Christ, so it was easy for the devil to tempt them using their hopes. That was supposed to either affect John’s mind or to turn it into bitterness. But, he resisted and talked about the light being in the light himself. Many times, the only thing the devil seeks is a little discouragement from which he can work on. One sort of temptation may cause people to fall in some other sin. John could not, should not afford to feel bad about being considered the Christ because the people had a real problem in their minds concerning his identity. He patiently showed them he was not the Christ. He did that for their sakes. He also knew Christ would show up soon. Never give up hope because of lies. You cannot decide for the devil which temptations he must use. However, you can look at those temptations and realize they are mere temptation over which you have no control. Ignore them and carry on living as you know best. Christ will come soon, He will show up like He did to John and people will believe in Christ all the more because of you.
Philip and may others, questioned truths about Christ because they knew the Scriptures. Because they knew Scriptures, they would easily say: "Can there be any good thing come out of Nazareth?", John 1:46. Be extremely careful because you may easily oppose Christ by knowing the Scriptures too well. Don't think highly of yourself. Christ did many things that do need to come in Scriptures because not everything about Christ can be written.
"And out of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace", John 1:16. By reading we receive grace upon grace, we can only conclude that one grace needs the previous one to be fulfilled. And the previous one needs to be fully obeyed in a most natural way before it we can receive grace for the next stage. A mathematics student needs to master today’s work before tomorrow’s can be apprehended and fully understood. In the same way, today’s grace is only built upon yesterday’s once it is fully fulfilled and well mastered. Have that in mind when you ask God for more grace. And it is not only a matter of understanding well, but rather of becoming what grace manifests and leads into.
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men", John 1:4. Many wish after a sign to lead them on, a voice or something unusual and extraordinary to show them the way. But, the Bible says it is the life which enters into a man that will be light for him. If you have only a little glimpse of that life in you (even if it is not overflowing as promised and as it is supposed to) and you are honest enough concerning that, you will have light for your way proportionally to the amount of the obedience towards it. Sometimes that light is opposed to the wishes of our hearts, sometimes it is not. But, if it opposes you, it does not mean it is against you, but rather that it is trying hard to help you out of yourself or against your own ill will. If someone opposes or neglects that light for some reason, because of confusion, misinterpretation or whatever reason there might be, Life won't change and it shall remain as it is right through. Rather dare to follow it to the end because it is hard work to weigh in the heart one thing against the other. If you were expecting light some other specific way, you might refuse the real one because it came to you as life which you need to live by. Allow Life to feel at home inside you, but not as a guest. Hand your rights over to that Life, especially when it is overflowing. "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it. He came to His own, and His own received Him not", John 1:5,11.
When I am ill-treated or misjudged, there are those things people and human minds require I should do, and there is what the word of God says I should be or do. There is an appeal upon me to feel bad or to show forth a false kind of joy, or to become revengeful or to defend myself from almost all things through some kind of unacceptable motives. But, on the other hand, there is this appeal coming out of the words of God and from the example Jesus set there for us to follow unconditionally, which is to be the opposite of what the human world normally require or would do. We pray that the appeal of the word of God has a stronger hold upon you and that it is able to work so mightily that you are able to use all your inner resources to do those things Jesus put in your hands before He "went away". Be not distracted from such things for no reason at all. Carry on doing as you have always been doing the way you would be doing if nothing bothered you at all. If you were perfect in doing before the occasion, make sure you carry on doing the same things the same way. "Blessed is that servant when his lord comes and finds him so doing", Luk.12:43. The same principle might be applied during sickness, bad times (Eph.6:13), bothering phone calls, noise or whatever else might be a trial to you.
Every person who is able to live from worldliness and to be a "Christian" at the same time (Zep.1:5), those who live with one feet in the world and the other in Christian values, are usually people who believe God does not do them either good or bad, (Zep.1:12). They cannot believe God can do them good and do it themselves; and they cannot believe God will harm them and that's why they sin on. They even have doctrines to uphold believing they will never get lost through sinning. Worldly Christians live in a fancy world where the things they suppose will never become true. Soon, everything will end and those things which shall happen will surprise them. Living in worldliness is to ignore the rope around your neck or to believe it is an ornament and, at the same time, to believe the ground under you will never give in or move away. All worldly Christians are already hanging prematurely on their sins and they are not aware of it because they do not wish to be aware of it. They are already dead and when the floor under them sinks in, they will be twice dead.
Each piece of bread belongs to its day. Eat today's bread today. Do not put it aside by trying to eat tomorrow's bread now. In your day only one bread fits in and tomorrow's is not prepared yet. Prefer to eat today's bread above anything else. If you keep it for tomorrow, it will become improper to eat and it will become hardened by then. If, however, you try to eat yesterday's bread now because you have been negligent yesterday and wish to make up for it, even if you have the time to do so, remember today has its own bread. You can handle only one thing at a time. Therefore, if your hand is busy or filled with yesterday's anything, it just can't be available to hold the keys for today's works.
We may have been throwing our nets to one side and to the other through the whole night. Soon (if we are faithful believers) we might start believing we are doing the wrong thing because it has not resulted in anything. We may suppose we are outside God's will because our will is not being fulfilled. And here comes Jesus in the morning, right when we started believing that throwing our nets is the thing we should not have been doing. And there Jesus says, "Throw your net to the other side!" It is the same as saying, "Throw your discouragement to the other side". It is not easy to be obedient then. But, Jesus needs that net to be thrown once more, not for the sake of fishing, but for our own. Would you throw that net again? Would it be easy for you to throw it even if you were not sure who was telling you to do that? What would you have done? Would you throw out your discouragement to the sea?
When Jesus said to Peter to throw his net once more to the other side of the boat after a night of hard, useless work, we may ask why couldn't they pull a single fish out of the water all night long. Maybe the answer is in the fact that Jesus decided to show up only in the morning and would grant them as much fish as if they had been successful during the whole night.
We see how Peter threw himself at the feet of Jesus after having worked all night with no success and after the miracle of the fish, Luc.5:8. Then, Jesus told him to do something unthinkable for the current prosperity preachers. He said: "Leave your nets right there and follow Me where I shall send you". What was that miracle for, then? For many, meeting Jesus that way, would mean Jesus prosperity and abundant fishing in the future and that He would go out fishing with us from then on! What an asset for the flesh He could have been! Just imagine how a poor fisherman would become rich in no time having Jesus around, satisfying greed and flesh. However, we see that the miracle was supposed to take Peter out of his old life and not to enhance it a little more! Let's make sure we do not misinterpret God's deeds or words towards us. If Jesus provides in some extraordinary way, it does not mean we will become rich at all. Jesus shows up to uproot your life from its grounds and not to strengthen its roots there.
We read how the Messiah chose His disciples one by one and told them what to do and where they should go. After reading that, we conclude Jesus must call us and sent us out the same way. We believe it always works out that way, even if it does many times. But, tell me: why did those kings from the orient have such a hard time finding the saviour, why did they set out on their own? "Faithful is the Word: If anyone reaches out to overseership, he desires a good work", 1 Tim.3:1.
It is before God we need to admit our sins and our misdeeds. We need to do so before the person to whom we would rather show forth our best action, our best deed, our brightest thought. But it does not work out that way.
One may stop lying without stopping to be a liar and may speak the truth without being truthful from the heart.
God uses confession of sins to show people they are sinners in essence and to change them from the inside out. Confession of every sin to people and to God, one by one, besides being an act of justice, is a way to lead light inside the origin of sin so it may be exposed and exterminated by Light and not by force.
The world believes it loses its life by admitting it has wronged someone and if it agrees it has sinned. But, by doing so, people will gain their lives from Jesus. It really works.
"In the Law it is written, "By other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and even so they will not hear Me, says the Lord", 1Cor.14:21. The Jews, the believers of that time, were the ones who were there to bring all people to God. Because of their disobedience in many issues it did not work out that way. Now, here it happens that those people whom they should have brought to God, are the ones who speak to them about the wonders and the glories of the Lord. That would be a sign to them, it is, a sign to show them God is displeased enough with them to use other means besides them to save the world. It was hard for them to believe God was not with them anymore. They could not face the idea of being left alone. They could not bear to believe such a thing. They reacted violently towards anyone who dared to say such a thing. Can you see why Jesus said to Paul, "It is hard for you to kick against the pricks"? Act.26:14. It was really hard for him. Nowadays, it is theologians and preachers who have a hard time believing God is against them.
Do you know what the dimension of God's love for you is? Did you know you can experience and see it for yourself by becoming real?
Because things never happened to us, when they happen, we doubt them. This kind of doubt is sin.
What would happen to someone fighting to breathe near scientists who were involved in a discussion about the composition or the quality of the air? The man is just trying to breathe so he may not die! Can you imagine such a scene? They don't open a window because they are not agreeing on some points about the air they breathe. No matter how strange it sounds, we know that's precisely what theologians are doing today. There are so many dying and all they do is discuss, agree or disagree. But, the worst part of it all is, if anyone opens a window for that spiritual patient (or a door), theologians will reprimand such a person on the spot because it doesn't fit in their discussions. They do not agree with those who open windows of fresh air while they discuss.
The sad reality today is that, the monster which was supposed to die with Christ stopped serving prostitution, drinking and stealing and came to serve in the Temple of God. The monster remained the same by coming to the Temple. It feels it must survive. It seeks a way to survive, a way not to die at the cross and he has found one by preaching and belonging to the church. Many, also, carry their cross day in and day out, but Christ carried it for one day to die once and for all. Then He said: "It is finished". Many do not wish to finish it at all and carry it everywhere they go so they don't finish it once and for all. Carrying it avoids them dying at Calvary. By carrying it, they feel they are still alive.
If wisdom does not come from above, it will not rise up enough to be blessed.
When God comes down either the sin or the sinner dies. I cannot understand it when people say they have met with God and carry on as always in some of their sins.
Without God, without the reality of His presence, (as Elijah said, “God in whose presence I am!”), there is no beauty that is beautiful, no holiness that is holy, no miracle which will be considered as such, not even when someone is healed from a serious illness.
Jesus came to saves us from our own sins - not from other people's sins. When someone hurts you, try to remember that because it is then that anger might rise in you. Then, as far as it concerns you, remember that Jesus came to deal with that anger and not with the people who hurt you in some way.
I can appear at the Judgment of God, in that final day, with cancer, sick, without a leg, without an eye or the hand I have cut off to avoid sinning. None of that will condemn me at all. God did not say the salary of sickness is death. There is only one thing you should not bring along to that Judgment: sin. Are you aware that the Day of the Lord might be today or even tomorrow? Are you ready, are you clean? Have you given back what you have stolen? Has Jesus' blood reached your soul, all your sins, one by one? Are you done with sinning? Are you spotless and clean?
If my aim is to preach the gospel, then it is not to be blessed personally for it or just because I've done it. If I work for a factory, I may either aim at the salary or at doing my work with perfection. If my heart is involved in what I do alone, once the work is well done and fulfilled, my heart becomes light, feels accomplished and joyful. "For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I am entrusted with a stewardship", 1Cor.9:17.
"You are bought with a price, do not be the slaves of men", 1Cor.7:23.There are many ways to stop being slave of men or an employee of whatever. But, the best one is to still do the work of a slave, but for God, and as best as you can. If you do man's work for God, you are not a slave of man anymore. You were bought with a price, therefore, do it for God.
If you don't use well whatever you have now, you will not use well those things you will have in the future.
Only practical things can make the difference in our lives. Reality and immediate, sound obedience are important keys towards having a genuine faith that really works out.
What is the best way to think God cannot do something for you? Isn't it by thinking you can? The reason why we worry so much is because we believe we can do it. Worry is not only a mistrust towards God - it is a deep hunger to be able to trust yourself more and to be able to benefit from what you can do without God. You need to work on two things if you wish to stop worrying: on trusting God unconditionally; and on dying by crucifying the strength of the flesh forever and in such a way that you become unable to trust any bit of it. You cannot work on one of these alone. Crucify the flesh and do not allow it to rise from its death again. Many, also, do not stop worrying because they still trust in other people about important things. Their hope is either totally or partially set on the arm of man. And it doesn't matter if it is their own arm or someone else's.
Do not separate yourself from sheep with the pretext to listen to God - separate from goats! And don't separate yourself from God to hear sheep or goats, or you will become a goat.
The spirit of the world believes it must understand what it must do as if it can do all things. The strength of man is all there is to rely upon, just as Peter believed because of the two blades he held (Luc.22:36,38). But, that spirit, when touched by God, knows it must understand what it has received, receives or will receive. "But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God", 1Cor.2:12. It is up to you to decide whether you will follow the world's pattern by trying to understand apart from God, or become a normal graceful being who understands fully whatever he receives from the Lord without desiring any bit of independence from Him.
It is better to be a Living man, alone, despised, forgotten, but near God, than to have company, being loved, remembered and cried for, being dead in spirit.
We read: "And the pride of man shall be bowed down, and the loftiness of men shall be made low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols shall completely vanish", Is.2:17-18. We can easily see that, as soon as the pride of man is done away with, idols will vanish and disappear. The world's problem has always been the heart of man and nothing else. If we can change it, we can change the world.
To fix something, to straighten it, is not to bend it to the other side. If you find yourself outside the road, do not start to believe you must be on the other side of it. No, you must be on the road and not on either side of it.
Everyone wants do discuss something. I believe every bad discussion does not have the main point in mind, does not take it into consideration, but rather means to divert attentions from it. There is no difference of mind between such discussing parties, but an obvious similarity of own-mindedness. There is a huge difference between proving a point and tasting truth by oneself. And love wants people to taste truth and not to accept a point of view of it. Do you know that people who taste truth by themselves will always see truth as something of their own? Even if it is you who helped them to see truth as it is, once they taste it, they will not believe it is your point of view anymore, but theirs. Love does not care if you are right. Love wants people to know truth in such a personal way that they are made free, and that they make it their own by the way they come to know it.
Some people say we were born with Adam’s sin. Some others say we are born with God’s image in us and not Adam’s. And they discuss about it. Who is right? Even if I know who is right, I wouldn’t dare to say what I believe truth is, since these people, who apparently differ, are in agreement without being aware of it. Let’s face two facts: the one who says we have Adam’s sin, in fact, does not care if it is really so – the only thing he cares about is to prove what suits him, which is to have an excuse to carry on sinning. In fact, he does not wish to stop sinning and find in that statement a reason to carry on sinning after believing. These forget that Christ can even turn a stone into a child of Abraham – how much easier it would be for Him to challenge any original sin! Anything is possible for those who can believe. On the other hand, those who state that the image of God is still in us at birth, use that argument to prove we can live a holy life. We may come to believe, by the way they put things, that we can be holy or can carry on being holy because we were created so and not because of Christ' doings. The devil fell the day he separated himself from God. In fact, holy or not at birth, no one is anything without Christ. If, by stating we carry God’s image in us at birth, we use that argument to prove we can live a holy life, it is, we are stating we do not need Christ to do so. Even having that image in us still, it won’t last without Christ. Now, tell me: which of these deny Christ more? Aren't they the alike in denying Christ?
Here we have Cain and Abel. Cain was the pioneer of sacrifices, he started them. Abel was the imitator and was accepted by God. The pioneer had been rejected. We come to the conclusion, here, that Cain sacrificed because he desired the favour of God at any cost, but not at the cost of changing. In fact, he acted like an idiot. We may say that it was Cain who tried to have Abel’s life by imitating. He did not want to please God, but rather to be accepted as he was. Gifts are often a cover up. Sometimes, gifts are the consequences of the inner beings we are. Anyway, evil tried to imitate goodness to avoid a change. This kind of imitation did not work out with God. But, the kind of imitation Abel did, worked out and was accepted by God. It was accepted, because he was acceptable. Sacrifices are not what please God, but, Abel was pleasant to God. Can you see what is it that makes the difference in the sight of God? It is not what we do that counts, but what we are while doing. Can you afford to be? When God sent Job’s friends to have Job pray for them, God said “him will I hear” – he did not say “his prayers will I hear”. God hears the man, not the prayer.
Whoever wishes after the joy of the Lord and not after the Lord of that kind of joy, is not a reliable, trustworthy person at all. He is not a straight forward person. Such a person can't possibly be an honest one.
Everyone who states God heard him when He has not done so, will surely doubt any real answer from God when He has spoken for real. Such a person is used to believing lies only. Anyone who easily believes lies will have a hard time believing truthful, reliable and trustworthy happenings and issues.
If we are soft and meek towards sin and worldliness, we will surely experience hardness towards God and God’s works (as we show ourselves in favour of God, while proclaiming Him and His works, we will be harsh bearing a wrong spirit); or we will be against God’s things openly. No one will ever be able to avoid experiencing it that way. But, on the other hand, if we are meek and lowly towards God and the things of God by nature (and if He is a reality and not a mere assumption), then we will experience an hardness against any kind of worldliness in whatever shape it may appear to us – even when it carries a Holy Bible under its arm. No one is ever able to avoid that either.
The devil, to hinder man from doing what he ought to do, can only use what man is. He, therefore, will always try to cause man to stumble, to sin or become unstable in his relationship with God and cause man to think vain things or to have distracting thoughts. There is no way the devil can get to man, unless it is through man's sinning.
People cannot believe because they receive, but can receive because they believe. Can you afford to experience the difference between those inside you?
Holiness attracts those people who reject it. You should, therefore, be evermore holy. Never feel hurt if someone rejects you because you are holy, since you cannot see what is going on deep inside the soul who is rejecting you. You never know why you are being rejected. Maybe, it is the person's last efforts to avoid accepting what he or she longs for. Do not be discouraged, or sad, do not try to be holy because of people – just be holy. Simply follow your way with Jesus, be on your way towards heaven, steadfast and assured in your steps. On this way we grow when we do not look back, when we forget yesterday’s victory or defeat and hold on to the Lord with a natural strong grip. The truth is: in the end, we will see what kind of heart we may have above what we have done. Even dead people will give an account of what they are or of what they have been turned into. If, by chance, someone rejects you because of your ways, do not give up on them. Do not make the sum, the balance, of your works and deeds before the time – wait till the last day and God will do it for you. Whatever happens, remember that holiness attracts all those who reject it because people were created for it like a duck has been created for water. Unholy people miss what is lacking in them. Carry on being holy. Soon, someone will knock at your door to enquire about the hope that shines and glitters so visibly from your face. Just be spotless. You can do it! You can through Jesus, and because of Him.
If we have a clear perception that we are being heard by God in prayer, if that happens, it does not mean we already have what we are asking for or enquiring after. It just means we are being listened to carefully and are being examined by God from deep within. When God says yes or no, you will have another perception of the answer as clear as the one you had of being heard. To go to an interview for a job, does not mean you got the job - it means you have got the attention of the person you need to talk to. All depends on what the person who is interviewing you says as a final word. Expect an answer from the Lord. Unholy people, unbelieving people, are the ones who run away with the fact that God is listening to them. Whoever wishes to prevail in prayer, must stay on until the answer is given. This is what John means to tell us by saying: “...We know He hears us… and we (will also) know that we have the petitions we desired from Him”, 1John 5:14-15.
If you appreciate what people say or think about you above what God says, all those people whose opinion you highly esteem will soon despise your own opinions. It might happen right away or eventually. If, on the other hand, you only care about what God says and thinks, people whose opinions you do not take in as valid (because God has said something else) will always breed a secret admiration for what you think and believe even when they feel hurt by you. They will always wonder what would you think about something. No one can avoid that happening. The secret to be listened to by people is to care only about what God says. But, take care, since God may speak occasionally through people as well.
Eternal life starts right here, on earth. But, it needs to be real. Whoever does not have the testimony of Life inside him for real, will never get to heaven. “…Christ in you, the hope of glory”, Col.1:27; “...a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed”, 1 Ped.5:1; “… The days of heaven upon the earth”, Deut.11:21; “…Life that now is”, 1 Tim.4:8; “And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” John 17:3.
Praying for people who hurt or criticize us in any way (if you have in mind God’s own glory about the issue), will always annihilate criticism from your heart and views about those people will be salvation and not condemnation. “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you”, Mat.5:44. There are many reasons why Jesus says this, even beyond the real salvation of those who oppose and hate you. Jesus might want to save you too by saving them through your prayers.
There are only two reasons why the light of a man of God becomes dim and weak to any person: either Jesus has revealed Himself personally to that person and the man of God is now seen merely as the blessed man that he is, John 5:35; or that person has become hard and fell in love with worldly things again and, consequently, started to despise the man of God openly in order to find a reason (or an excuse) to love the world.
When it is people's opinions which determine the strength and the subjects of your preaching, the gospel you preach will lose its genuine power and those people, whose opinions had been important to you, will be left in or thrown into deep darkness sooner or later. If, however, the gospel and what Jesus says are what you focus on, people's opinions will always sound like lies to you. But then, your life will be their light and their hope. You need which you shall honour and respect.
Every piece of pride or arrogance is built upon a lie, even if that lie is not directly linked to that pride. Pride is the consequence of sin - of any sin.
Forgiveness starts as soon as sin is denied and abandoned, and its process is concluded after detailed confession leads to stop thinking about sin.
To anticipate things might be as wrong as postponing them. To do things at the right time the right way is the cure for both, since something undone or badly done will demand your attention again and again.
If you ask something from God and you do not receive it, be sure that God might also be asking something from you which He is not receiving.
Your strength is proportional to your surrender to God. It also depends on the kind of surrender, since it might be a full surrender which does not last for long. No one can expect to be stronger than what he is submitted and surrendered to God in an eternal way.
God says: "I cannot stand sin", Is.1:13. People say "I cannot stand living without my sin". When will they get along? Surely, God will not change His mind.
Jesus says: "For he who walks in darkness does not know where he goes", John 12:35. This, surely, does not mean people do not walk in darkness, nor that people do not believe they know where they are going. They think they know where they are going. "They know not what they do" and neither what they think. Is there a greater curse than this? Just think of it: people trust as long as they walk in darkness and lose faith as soon as light shines. Have you ever thought just how confused a blind man must feel when he starts to see? He learned to count steps, touch walls and be guided by sounds. None of that will serve anymore from the moment his eyes open up and light shines in (at least not the way it used to). Just get used to light as long as it shines, try to walk in it, through it and by it. Now here is the two-sidedness of this: people who walk in darkness believe they know where they are going and when light shines in they start believing they don't know where they are going. They do not know how to walk through the light. This happens because they have other things n mind, other goals and dark ways and means to carry out things. That is what happens when blind people see light: the way they used to do things, the only way they know how to deal with things is suddenly unfit and outdated. Let's see the reverse of this: people who walk in the light know where they are going because they are sons of the light and when they are found in dark places they seem to believe they do not know where they are going, even when the Lord is leading and holding their hand. We can walk through dark places having our own hearts full of light. Light confuses sinners as much as darkness confuses the sons of light.
"While you have the Light, believe in the Light so that you may become sons of Light", John 12:36a. This means we will be lights by the time darkness arrives and Jesus, so to say, leaves us on our own. If we do not accept, assume, live it out fully now while Jesus is still pointing it out to us and instructing us, soon, when darkness comes and when we are supposed to be lights ourselves, things just won't work out as well as they should or as they could. Soon we will be on our own. This is a serious warning for you to use light while you have it with you. Soon you shall be "on your own", and you must have become light by then. Jesus does that quite often and He will hide Himself so you can get that unique chance to be light yourself. If you have not become light by then, darkness shall take over your soul. "Jesus spoke these things and departed and was hidden from them", John 12:36b.
"Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and the latter rain",Jam.5:7. Many people make use of this verse to feel encouraged concerning material things, seeing they are believers and regard themselves worthy of a right God has never granted anyone in this world. The Bible talks here about a patient farmer concerning the coming of the Lord. This man is awaiting, expecting with patience for God to come, as if he is expecting joyfully for the day the Lord will come to destroy this world. This is not the same as being patient towards a good material crop in the hope that the Lord will not be coming, or at least not yet so that the material crop might be enjoyed here on earth. "But, if we hope for that which we do not see, then we wait for it with patience", Rom.8:25; "For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which also we are looking for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ", Phil.3:20; "But, according to His promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent, spotless, and without blemish, to be found by Him in peace", 2 Ped.3:13.
Truth forced down upon someone, will soon become unstable inside him or her, just like food given by force to a sick person might be vomited out. Faith is to be sure that truth is truthful. If truth is taken in as the reality that it is, the heart of man will stabilize. If you are honest and your heart is clean and there is no reason to doubt, no sin in the conscience, faith is as easy as breathing. Just dare to die with Christ and experience a living faith which will hold on to the end. All doubtful attacks against the reality of your faith will only be like manure which fertilizes the garden many envy as if they cannot have it for themselves! Just dare to be real - with God!
To start well and end up in a bad way, is a shameful thing, since everyone expected that person to do well. To start in a bad way and end well is excellent, since the expectations pointed out that such a person would have a dreadful end. Look at what happened to Judas Iscariot and there you will have an example of how one can end without Christ having started with Him. And look at the man at the cross who started off so bad, yet he ended so well. Never misjudge people who start well, nor judge those who did not start off that well. What counts is the way we end.
Man feels guilty because he has sinned; he has his heart hardened because he has sinned; and carries on sinning because he has sinned. He stops sinning because he puts all sins in the light of God and confesses up to its sordid details; softens his heart because he gives back to people and asks for forgiveness; and he stops feeling guilty because he is made whiter than snow. This really happens. Take it or leave it. It is up to you.
It would be good if we could treat small sins like we treat huge, shameful sins and that we could handle and talk about huge sins like we do with "small" sins that we overcome easily in the power of God. In fact, all of them have the same power to kill and are killed the same way. Any sin is like a bullet of the same size, pointed at the same heart, destroy the same way and dishonour the same Lord. And from all sins we are saved by the same Lord the same way.
God does not have anything to say to a frivolous, superficial man or woman. Such people are capable of becoming serious people on unimportant matters only. That's is why they are frivolous towards important matters. We may never take it for granted that a frivolous and superficial person is never serious about something. Of course such a person will become serious whenever the matter is frivolous and unimportant! Frivolous people are superficial and mocking towards important and serious matters only.
Depression is a mountain of sins which people refuse to leave or confess with the intention to abandon them for good. And it does not matter if those sins are of the kind which people, quite often, consider to be small sins. Depression just shows us that sin is no small thing and that it is no pet to play with, no matter how small they seem to be. To die, one doesn't need to be attacked by a lion. A small bacteria is enough to kill anyone. Be careful and be on you guard against so-called "small sins".
If a life does not shine, it makes a shadow. We make either part of light, or part of darkness. Decide on which side you want to be.
An uneasy, unquiet person is an unsure, unstable one. We may now decide whether we want to force ourselves to be quiet to look stable, or if we want to become stable for real so we will be quiet and still inside and outside. "Keep your heart with all diligence... Ponder the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established", Prov.4:23,26. Heal the inside first and do not treat symptoms alone.
God speaks to you through the Bible. Take time to read it and to listen to Him.
Read your Bible to gain wisdom; believe it to be right; live it to be alive for real; practice it the right way, through the right power to be holy.
Those who walk with God, through God, depend completely on Him. But, sometimes and in that dependence, there are moments when it seems we are not receiving what God has promised. If it happens that way, it is a dreadful happening, especially if that dependence is real. If you depend on God fully and grace seems to be delayed, taken away or cancelled, you will feel very poor and abandoned. "Looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God", Heb.12:15. Do not fail to find grace, especially when you depend on it fully. Find it anyway, anyhow, anywhere! Do not wait to deserve it, to buy it or to stumble over it. If you look for it, you will surely find it.
The voices which confuse us most are the echoes which entice us to discern the voice which has already spoken. Even if it were the voice of God, listening to an echo of it is not listening anymore. Something has gone wrong the moment God spoke to you. Just remember that an echo is not the real voice anymore - it is a sound bouncing back to accuse you. In the same way, many problems and many victories are merely echoes because they are gone and past. Why depending on those past victories and why stumbling over a memory of something Christ has already dealt with? Do not be misled or turned aside by echoes. Look straight forward and listen straight forward too. We are heading to heaven and not towards sounds that we cannot discern.
Humility is to be what we are anywhere, anyhow and always. If someone despises you or hurts you and you are the normal being you have always been before the Lord; or if remain that person when people praise you or uphold you before men; and if remain as you have always been and before God, without force and without a second thought about it, then you are very near to be a humble man. Take care to stay close to God.
God made a covenant with Abraham and he circumcised all his offspring and male servants. He also circumcised Ishmael even though he did not make part of the covenant. We can see clearly that circumcising Ishmael did no change God's mind concerning him and his descendants. You can baptize people, force them to come to services, but unless they are in the covenant of holiness, it just won't work out.
When things are a deep desire of the heart, they usually do not need to be turned into vows. The holy willingness of man will remain with him for as long as he stays holy. Nothing can change a desire of the heart of a holy man. But, a vow might fade away, be forgotten, be forsaken or even be broken. However, there is nothing that will ever hinder a deep, holy desire. And if you make a vow having a deep desire within, it is not bad to make that vow. But, I am sure it is not the vow that causes you to be or to do as you have vowed. Man's willingness will not be hindered by pain, will surmount difficulties of any kind, shall overcome any hardship and hold on to the end if it is blessed by God. We cannot say the same about vows.
To do things which please me naturally, is not the same as doing things unnaturally to intentionally please me. We may say that it works the same way towards God: doing things which please Him in a natural way because of the Life that we really are is not the same as trying hard to do things in which our hearts are not set. We may either change our lives from deep within, or carry on being hypocritical trying to be whatever we are not. "For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away", Job 32:22.
Not knowing what God's will is for us or not knowing what or when to do something, is directly linked to the lack of disposition to do it or to the unwillingness to be totally surrendered to God at all times. Seek to be surrendered above seeking to know. As soon as you become available to God's workings, He will add the knowledge of His will to your conscientiousness. "...That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God", Rom.12:2. There is one reason why we are to seek God's will: it carries us to seek God's face also to be able to do it the right way. While we are praying, we are becoming subdued to God and it may work out a full submission before we know what God's will is for us or before receiving the grace to perform it. We get hold of the power and the way to do too. In this sense, praying is like preparing for a journey and is a way to decide on what power we will perform it. Every time you seek God's face about something, bring to mind that you are being brought into a position where you are turned available to God under any circumstances. Your heart needs to be a ready heart. "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord", Luk.1:17. It is not only you who need to know something: God, also, needs to know to whom you will be surrendered to in the long term and if He will reign in your heart from then on as well. He must prove that you are not unwilling to perform it His way. To seek His face will teach us what it is to be surrendered to Him all the time.
It is possible to receive grace from God and still lose our lives, even though all those who are saved from their sins have, also, received that grace. The difference is that they used it responsively and responsibly. This is why Paul says, "But working together, we also call on you not to receive the grace of God in vain", 2Cor.6:1. We may receive it in vain, then. To become God's children we need grace, it is true, but we need to be active in what we have received. "Therefore come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty", 2Cor.6:18. "Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory", 2Tim.2:10.
If we are tempted, we must concentrate on staying close to the new life we have become above becoming entangled in resisting, denying and in refuting the thoughts of temptation. Stay calm and hold on to the new life. If a lady's is suddenly bothered by the wind, should she try to hold the wind or to hold her dress? "Hold fast to that which you have, so that no one may take your crown", Rev.3:11.
"But the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and no lie, and as He has taught you, abide in Him", 1John 2:27. When we need someone to teach us the important things of God, it means the anointing does not rest on us, it is, it comes and goes because we are unstable. The constant (eternal) life is not found in us yet. Or, we still are taught by people because we are too proud and too hard to listen to others and God rather uses other people to bring us His teachings. Either way, we need to fix something in our hearts when we are taught or teachable only by man. But, if we have God, His anointing, even if it is people who teach us, it is still the anointing of God which will seal it in our hearts.
Many want to go to heaven without having learned to live a holy life on earth. That would be the same as wishing to have the end of something without having gone through the whole process of it. We need to learn to live the way life is lived in heaven beforehand. If you are not holy now, how will you ever know how to live in heaven soon?
Christ makes us free to love and not free to be loved. We are made free from ourselves to serve God. We were our own slaves when we loved ourselves. "That He would grant to us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve (Him) without fear", Luk.1:74. We were our enemy.
There are groups of friends which get along and understand each other. That's why they walk together. "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?", Amos 3:3. But there are those people who are more than friends: they are so united that it is just impossible to have them apart. There are also sins which cling to each other, those which do not live without each other. We can mention drinking and smoking as an example. If someone stops smoking but does not forsake drinking and expel it out of his mind as well, smoking will come back again. Another example is working and resting: you cannot separate one from the other. If you want to be a faithful worker, you need to have a sound sleep and to rest the right way at the right time. You cannot afford to exchange time meant for sleep with time meant for work. All those who know how and when to rest, just know how and when to work or when to work hard. Other examples of unity is laziness and much occupation; worrying and stubbornness; much talking and disobedience (because whoever talks much listens little). To disobedience we may add misfortune, discouragement, lack of simplicity in whatever we do, lack of motivation, blindness, bitterness and many other consequences disobedience brings along.
A gift from God (of whatever kind) is like a violin: we need to learn how to use and to master it until it is done spontaneously in a perfect way. Most spiritual gifts in a church today are like instruments being used by those who do not know how to play them and claim to be teachers of them. They are just sounds without connection and that is what noise is all about. To make music one needs not only to master the instrument, but needs discipline, concentration, full surrender to God and a love towards what we are doing to do it well. If we have a different approach towards the gifts of the Spirit, the devil will soon be the one distributing gifts in the name of God and most people will believe in them. However, it takes a liar to believe a liar.
People who are drowning do not go to the lifeguards asking for help. Someone seriously injured in an accident does not go to the hospital seeking for help. Helpers and lifeguards go to them where they are.
Despair does not change anyone for the better, just as worrying does not add any of those things people are worried about. Lack of faith does not change us for the better either, even when we moan and groan under its heaviness. Why not believe then? Is unbelief ever a better option? Believing is much easier and has steadfast rewards. Anyway, there is Someone who is able to change unbelief into faith and despair into hope if the conscience is clean and if the life is kept spotless by a nearness to the Lord, through a life of heaven and not any other way. Beware of alternative ways which look holy. There is the way of heaven that should be applied on earth. Don't do anything in an earthly way using earthly means and power. It is a sin to do so, having God's power so close by. Let it be done on earth the way it is done in heaven.
In the world of sin there are two kinds of people who fight a lot: those who hate each other and those who love each other (according to their standards). Those who are in love are in a position to fight all the time because of jealousy, especially if they have a relationship which the Lord did not start off. Or, when that relationship was started by God and is not lived through God or for God's sake. We may state the same about relationships between brothers, fathers and sons, daughters and mothers among many others. All will depend whether God's needs, God's will and God's means are taken into consideration as we live on, or our own.
Desiring the same things which God desires, wanting what God wants, is still not enough guarantee God's will will be accomplished for you or through you. We still need to know how to do it the way it is done in heaven. A clear example of this is Israel. God wished to grant them the promised land and they desired it too and desired that it would be God granting them the land. But, it did not work out that way for them at all. When a couple desires to have a baby, is the baby already conceived? Is it born by desiring it? Does the baby already obey God after being born? Is it ever enough to have the right desires?
Many ask when will the world end. I just don't care. I know the night is far gone and the sun will rise out of darkness soon. I don't know when the sun will rise, but I know it will, Heb.13:12. If I care to know it wont be hasted, nor will it be delayed. I should rather be doing whatever the Lord left in my hands to do, because He said (before going way): "Blessed is that servant when his Lord comes and finds him so doing", Luk.12:43. Let Him not find you looking into the skies when He comes - however deep you try to look into it!
We may judge the outside and measure people and people's duties by what God demands of us. We are not judging things according to what God wants for them or from them. God's will for us is seldom the same as God's will for someone else. It is true that there are common things for all of us such as holiness, but never help someone having as counsellor the will of God for you. Do not judge someone who does not preach as well as you do because he might be exercising to the full the two talents he has received, while, maybe, you are just using three talents (more than the two of your brother) but it is still less than the five God entrusted to you. Maybe, even using more talents than your brother does or using them better, you might not be halfway as faithful as he is. In judgment day, all judging will be according to God's will for each of us.
Everyone who is able to finish something is surely someone who started to do it at some point. But, not all people end those things they started. It is better to end well than to start well.
Whoever has a heart to finish all works God trusted into his hands, has a heart to give up the old life. Whoever has a heart to carry on with his own works, thoughts and manners still has a heart to give up on God's things.
One of the ways to make sure we will never look back is to pull out of the heart whatever we already left behind. Do not dare to leave a single root in your heart of whatever you have left behind. We should remove anger from the heart in the whole if we did already ask for forgiveness from our enemies; we should take away the sinful desires if we have asked forgiveness from a sex partner with whom we sinned in previous times; we should erase the desire to have things now that we have abandoned all for the Lord or if we have given back whatever we may have stolen from someone; we should run after real answers from God now that we have given up lying to ourselves by being religious. That's just one way to assure, in the future, nothing happens which will cause someone to say of any of us, "but threw Him away and turned back again to Egypt in their hearts", Act.7:39.
If we are inside a ship, going where God wishes us to go, we must not think we can change our direction because we feel seasick. Changing your direction will not take you away from the sea anyway, and you will still be sick and lose God's will along because you changed your heart's desire. If you jump out of the ship, you will surely drown too, no matter how good a swimmer you are. So, you are inside that ship, standing still, doing nothing, remember that you are standing still, but not the ship - it is going somewhere. Soon it will reach the piece of land God has in mind for you.
No one will take notice of a stain in a dirty cloth. However, if a stain is found in a clean, spotless, heavenly garment, everyone will look at the stain and not at the beauty of the garment. The same effect will be found in people's minds when a clean soul sins or when a sinner repents. If a holy man has many holy deeds, it might not be noticed. However, if one bad deed is found among all good deeds, he shall be spoken about. The same might happen when a sinner has many sins. Any holy man's sin is as visible as a holy deed in any sinner. The sinner will be well spoken about for one good deed and the holy man for his one sin. If you are a holy man, do not sin because the news of it will reach places you never thought existed. But, if you are a sinner, repent, because your testimony will go unthinkably far beyond your borders.
Just as the instruments which measure earthquakes are important, so is our inner peace within our hearts. If you heart has real peace with God, any sin in it will cause a major trembling in your soul. However, many people got so used to sinning and to their lack of peace that don't feel shaking when they sin. If you are not aware of an earthquake, or if you do not care about it, won't it kill the same way? Sin will still kill you if you not hear the noise or the lack of peace inside you. Beware.
Every time something happens which we expected to happen, it does not necessarily mean it is God's will. Just because it happened you cannot take hasty conclusions about it in the light of God's will. Many people assume that, because it happened, it was God's will. But, we read that people have a certain power in their hands to accomplish things even against God's will. "Woe to those who plot wickedness and prepare evil on their beds! When the morning is light they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand", Mic.2:1. If you, however, are able to do things the way they would be done in heaven, you will surely assure that you will only be doing God's will. Find the means by which things are done and carried out in heaven. "Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven".
A jealous woman feels bad when her husband treats her harshly. But, she will feel worse if her husband says nothing, mentions nothing or does not even fight with her. A quiet partner will cause more suspicion than a noisy, fighting one to his jealous partner.
We do not have much time to prepare for eternity. Time to prepare is so short and eternity is so long! Why do people waste all they have for the sake of something so short? We must invest in heaven.
It is possible to know a way without taking notice of it; we may know truth without being aware of it; we may find without having the knowledge of having found. If it were not possible, Thomas would never have asked who the way was and Jesus would not try to assure the disciples that "You know where I am going, and you know the way", John 14:4.
"If I do not wash you, you will have no part with Me", John 13:8. If Peter would loose heaven, all his inheritance through something so simple, so insignificant in men's eyes, why would we still believe our eternity is assured doing worse things than not letting the Lord wash our feet?
"The Devil now having put into the heart of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon to betray Him...", John 13:2. The devil kept trying to put things into Judas' heart until he finally got it done. He fights till he gets what he wants. It is up to us to fight till we reject all because the devil will not cease to try us. Be sure to take one step more than the devil. Do not wait to resist - rather be ahead of him. Let him be the one resisting you. "No one will be able to resist you..."
Jesus said: "And if any one hears My Words and does not believe, I do not judge him", John 12:47. This means that those words we speak through Jesus might bear fruit before judgment day. This means that, it is in the end things will be judged and not now. Therefore, do not judge now if you are rejected. You never know what power and what effects your words will eventually produce in human hearts, even after you are gone from their sight and may have forgotten about them.
"For he who walks in darkness does not know where he goes", John 12:35. This is what Jesus says. It may mean that someone walking in darkness must put all in the light first. After that, he will know where to go, where to move, what to do, when to do. "While you have the Light, believe in the Light so that you may become sons of Light", John 12:36a. While we are struggling through dark places and unsettled, unknown issues, we need to believe Light and all it says or be quiet when It has said nothing. "For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness", 2Sam. 22:29. If you do that, you will learn the ways of being light yourself. I mean by this that you walk upright and straight forward and will not mislead anyone. If you seek to walk, you have all to become light. Soon Jesus will 'leave you on your own' so you may experience being light yourself instead of being enlightened. Are you prepared for that day? "Jesus spoke these things, and departed, and did hide himself from them", John 12:36b.
Jesus said: "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me", John 12:26. He did not say, "whoever wants to follow Me, let him serve Me". Do not reject serving Christ, though, but never believe serving is following Him. Following is following and serving is serving. Following is going where He goes (or where He went). He went to die, so will you die to sin and to this world too and, by then, you must have died to sin. Serving is doing what He did as He did, I mean, the way it would be done in heaven.
Our souls and our hearts become purified by confessing all sins by name and abandoning one by one as we confess them. But, we may never forget that we will stay true, clean and spotless by obeying truth. Confessing sins by name, one by one, dissolving them and annihilate their power by pushing them into the light is, in fact, obedience to the truth. That will enable us to obey further leaving all sins. Confessing is the first obedience and is the step towards further obedience. One obedience enables and opens the way to the other. Peter also put it this way: "You have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit...", 1Pet.1:22. "Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you", John 15:3. Obedience purifies too. One step of obedience opens the possibility to obey further because we do the things of God by grace and never alone. Disobedience closes that door to receiving grace, besides being sin and bringing sin back into us again. By not being obedient to a truthful revelation, a demand or a reproof given by the Lord, we might enter into deviating paths because we will not stand still. But, even if we walk on, the moment of disobedience was the end of our true way. Only by going back to it and obey will open that way for us again. "Remember where thou hast fallen...", Rev. 2:5.
Those who do not know they need to depend fully on the grace they might receive, will neither seek for it. Eventually, they will either give up on God or will blaspheme the Way through words and actions. They will surely despair. Becoming an unbeliever or as an unbeliever is what it will cost us when we do not abide in that grace actively. Those who depend and live by grace and grace alone will reach even the impossible. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace...", 1Pet.1:13.
Whoever asks for forgiveness of the same sin over and over again is not asking for forgiveness, but rather for permission to sin again. Such a person wishes to benefit from the gift of forgiveness to be assured, so now and then, that he may carry on sinning all the time. But, there is no definite wish in him to stop sinning nor to give up on sin's benefits or temporary pleasures. If a person does not stop sinning, it would be better for such a person to decide to ask for forgiveness only after ceasing from sin for good. He will be better of that way.
The fool never thinks he is a fool, not even when he knows he is foolish. That's why he does not like to hear he is foolish, since it reminds him of it and he knows it is true. The wise man never believes he is wise.
We should not think that the important part is that the person accepts Christ. It is of greater importance that Christ accepts us and not the other way round. This is why the doctrine of 'accepting Christ' nowadays is so far from truth. We must be "acceptable and well-pleasing to God".
Whoever takes temptation as sin, may take sin as a mere temptation. If you take temptations as sin, the devil easily deceives you because you cannot discern one thing from another. He will, therefore, cause you to sin and easily deceive you to believe it was a mere temptation because of the way you are and think.
Many times we are tempted because we are holy and not because we love to sin. Many sinners do not need to be tempted anymore - they sin by themselves. I mean that being tempted does not mean you are unholy and that the absence of temptation does not mean we are holy and live too close to God.
Sin is madness, and that is why only fools are able to enjoy it.
When someone does not know what to do about something, such a person will surely be tempted to be impatient. He will, also, be tempted to use dishonest means to reach his goals. He might jump over the wall instead of waiting to get in through the door.
Whoever pulls out the tares from the midst the wheat is likely to pull the wheat out of the tares too.
Part of our way towards the Lord, the initial part of it, takes place around the issue of ceasing to sin. That is why many come to the Lord thinking the the goal is to stop sinning. However, the beginning of our way is to stop sinning. It is not the goal. A second part of our lives, is to stop loving sin and to stop dreaming about it constantly. And, along with it, the third part of it is to live out the new life as if we have never lived any other way before. That is what growing in grace is all about. Consequently, the absence of sin demands from us a consolidation of living habits through the new life which the Lord Himself takes care of inside all who have already ceased from sin. We read that "the Redeemer will come to those who turn away from transgression", Is.59:20. Everything must work together to make the Bride of Christ spotless. And, by seeing God and truth for real, we will progressively be transformed into His likeness again (as it has been when we have been created in Adam), through assimilation and contemplation. If it is true that we are changed by contemplating God (2Cor.3:18), it is also true that we must face God and truth in a real way here on earth all the time. And it is true that we must turn away from sinning and cleanse our hearts before we may see or contemplate God as He is. "Blessed are the clean of heart! For they shall see God", Mat.5:8.
A worried person is presumptuous. There is no worry that does not presume about something. And many love to worry because they love to presume and to have own ideas. Worrying is a love affair - people just can't live without it!
When God says "Do not touch evil", He simply means that you live your life as if sin does not exist. When something does not exist, one does not fight it, one does not conceive it, no one thinks about it, and, if it really died, one thinks of it only as a dead and powerless thing. If we are indeed isolated from evil that way, and we add to it a genuine, real living relationship with Christ through which we walk towards heaven, we will gradually become aware that sin is an illusion and that Christ is the only reality. Unless He is real unto us, our faith is in vain. And, unless sin is seen as the illusionary lie that it is, our faith will be in vain on the long run. If He is real, soon it shall become impossible for us to sin. At least, it will be more difficult to sin, harder to give up and easier to remain holy each day that we remain close to the Lord. Let evil be the one which tries to imagine our holy ways, let them think about us and about Christ, even against their own will. Do not let them live as if truth, God and you do not exist if you are holy.
Doubt is either a habit, a way of living or it is a confirmation of being lost. False faith is either a false way to look at truth or lies, and real faith is a confirmation of truth and of the reality we already see or do not see. Do not pretend to believe truth if you can believe for real.
Those who believe, when close to Christ, do not believe for no reason. Those who doubt, doubt for a reason either. There are reasons to doubt realities or coming realities and there are reasons why we are able to believe real things and truth. And there are reasons why we are able to doubt unreal things and to doubt truth and reality.
I am sure the most intelligent people are those who know that God knows better. He indeed knows better. They cannot go wrong trusting God if He is intimately related to them.
Did you know that fruit before the time is a curse, Mal.3:11? Any man who does not love the times, the dispositions and the timing of God is surely someone who will waste away everything that falls into his hand. One must learn to be faithful to God before receiving anything whatsoever. Such a person is greedy and selfish. If God wants to curse someone and still uphold His faithfulness before man, He simply sends his fruits before the time when man is unprepared to be faithful through it. Beware of that desire to wish to have all right away if it is not the right time. Do so when it is the right time. Beware, also, to postpone things if now is the right time for them.
One of the differences between good and evil is as follows: evil needs to be pulled by us like donkeys pull a chariot. Evil is heavy, it is heaviness. Truth and holiness, on the other hand, attract us, leads us and takes us. It is not easy to change our ways to that point, to move on without using animal force to walk, without doing out of stubbornness, to be leading the way by following. "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as those who take off the yoke on their jaws, and I gently give food", Hos.11:4. Evil demands that we be turned into mules to be able to sin. Jesus teaches us to be otherwise. "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you. Be not like the horse, or like the mule, who have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle", Ps.32:8-9. "However, it shall not be so among you...", Mat.20:26.
No one may presume about tomorrow, not for evil nor for goodness' sake. There are people who get very excited about tomorrow, about things over which they have no control; and there are those prophets of evil who expect the worse all the time. None of these give glory to God that way.
There are those kinds of temptations we suffer because we are with God and there are those we undergo by being away from the Lord. We may say the same thing about the absence of temptations. The devil does not tempt many fallen ones to fall since they are already fallen, just as God will not work to rise risen ones because they have already risen. Only when the devil intervenes in a holy life (either because we or the Lord allow him to do so), only then may we suffer under heaviness because of the incompatibility of the different kinds of life which which dispute the heart. The same will happen when God intervenes in a sinful life: the heaviness of conviction will surely weigh upon anyone's heart.
Farmers know how to wait for a crop, they know how to discern the time to sow from the time to reap. They become concerned about the lack of fruit only if there is no fruit in harvest time. They are concerned about the soil in the sowing season. They do not change times with times and their minds do not mix the seasons. But, spiritual farmers seldom discern between the time to sow and the time to harvest. Many pull the fruit out of the trees when they are not ripe. Others leave a ripe fruit on the tree because they might have pulled one that was not ripe in times before and are now afraid to take the fruit. Discernment is not only to discern between spirits. We should be able to discern between many other things and learn to be patient too. "Therefore, be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and the latter rain", James 5:7.
God is never indifferent or inactive: He either resists the proud or gives grace to the humble, 1Pet.5:5.
This world is indeed strange. Today, both faith and unbelief reject miracles and both accept them, because there are false and genuine miracles.
The Pharisees believed there was life after death and the Sadducees believed there was nothing to expect after death. Pharisees were right about it, they had the right doctrines about the issue. Yet, they crucified Jesus. We may, also, be right about many truths and about many other things, and still miss the whole point. Take care to treat Jesus well above having the right doctrines and the right church. Trust Him instead. "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled in but a little time. Blessed are all who put their trust in Him", Ps.2:12.
Jesus said: "Each day has enough trouble of its own", Mat.6:34. But, we may add something to it: "Each day has enough goodness of its own". People get so excited about good things that they completely neglect today's work.
People under intense slavery, many times, believe only because they need to let their minds escape from hard times. They believe because they need to believe and not because they take truth as truth or that something shall indeed be fulfilled. We may believe that truth is truth and, yet, it won't become reality to us. We need to be real and believe whatever is truthful. If God is indeed with us, it should be easy to do so. The fullness of the Spirit does wonders under such circumstances.
The Jews had a firm hope that the Messiah would come. But, when He came, they did not realize it was Him. They, consequently, rejected Him. "He came to His own, and His own received Him not", John 1:11. As you see, it is possible to have the right kind of hope and reject the fulfilment of it. Is your mind according to God's? If it is not, surely, hope's fulfilment may come as a disappointment to you.
A sinner always believes he is good feeling unholy, and a holy man always believes he is an unworthy sinner feeling holy.
Helping people is not always doing something good for them. Sometimes, not helping them is to allow them to be able to do something for themselves. Sometimes, not helping might be a greater help than helping. This is why God does not help you to give you time to kick evil out of yourself.
The best way to stop lying, is not to keep quiet: it is to speak the truth. The opposite of stealing is giving and not restraining from stealing alone. Doing the opposite of sin from the heart is what holiness is all about.
Any weak foundation produces a weak faith. If it is true that the best way not to lie is to tell the truth (instead of keeping quiet), a genuine faith demands from us that we make sure about truth, not to refute it, but to become fully convinced during the process of confronting it. It is a weak faith or a false one that demands from us that we do not confront whatever we believe in. Liars are afraid to be confronted with truth. God is not. We should neither be afraid of investigating or examining all faithfully, just as God commanded.
There is no future for a castle built in the sand. There is no real hope for daydreaming. Any kind of lying to self will lead to death, just as any other sin.
It is difficult to imagine someone being a Christian only in some aspects of his life. There is no way one can live half holy, or speak half right or to curse by half only. People who believe that such a thing is possible and live accordingly are strange beings who do not belong to the holy world and neither do they wish belong to the other. They are miscarriages and are close to being cursed forever.
Joy at the right time is like food at the right time. People are joyful when they sing in church and some even take time to show out a joy they have not been given. Anyway, hear what Jesus says when is it the right time to rejoice: "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward in Heaven is great. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you", Mat.5:11-12. There is nothing wrong with being joyful at church or among brothers if that is the joy God gives. But, we need to know that the right time to be joyful is when you are having a hard time because of being righteous. Maybe, in church you should be praying for the lost ones who persecute your brothers. The right time to be joyful in the Lord is during hard times. But, the best is to always experience joy in the Lord.
We do not need to be physically removed from the midst of sinners to be isolated from them. Jesus was among prostitutes and they even touched Him. Yet, He remained holy. Holiness is a heart matter, not a place matter.
If we are on the verge of becoming bitter, or of slipping into despair because of an unanswered prayer or a delayed answer to it, instead of making hasty conclusions about God or concerning what is happening, instead of talking too fast, we should rather near God to listen. Do not talk alone as if God is listening. Talk to Him.
The secret of authority is personal holiness. Whoever has a life like God's, will be listened to. Next time people refuse to listen to you or to understand what you say, dare to inquire from the Lord why it happens. Maybe you are the one who need to repent and listen.
Whoever joins in and sits among people who are wrong to please them or 'not to hurt them', needs to learn how to live in freedom. Whoever judges them to find a reason not to join them, needs to learn it too.
A victim knows only to be a victim or to victimize.
It is better to light one candle which remains alight to the end, than to light up many which will fade away and eventually be extinguished. It is not easy to tell which of the candles you light will be giving light to the end though. Anyway, try to be that one, even if no one else burns for God anymore.
Many believe that those who fight their own sins are worthy of praise and that they are examples worth following. In fact, if you fight a dirty man, you will become dirty yourself. Try upholding the example of all those who put all in the light and who exterminate sin through the light and through walking in the light, those who do no use own strength to do it but light. "Do not resist evil", Paul said.
If my aptitudes, goals, moral abilities and values are not what will make the difference in the long run with Christ, then, my lack on anything shouldn't hinder me to near Christ at all. Do not wait to be worthy to come to Christ or to pray.
Where the Spirit leads, those who are led easily agree among themselves. But, this does not mean that where all agree God is among them. People may agree because they have the same evil heart or because they have the same culture or desires. Holiness and the presence of God is often revealed or proven when people disagree. If God indeed leads you, many people will disagree with you because most people are not under His name even if they say they are. Then, do not fear disagreements - God is leading.
When the devil speaks to us as God would, when he tries to imitate or impersonate the Holy Spirit, we should wait and never be intimidated to seek a confirmation from the Lord. Usually, the devil will warn us sternly that is sin to lack on faith if we try to confirm things. Just ignore the advice because it is better to be reprimanded by God for unbelief than to be praised by the devil for having a great 'faith'. But, here is a rule of life: whoever easily believes a lie, will most easily doubt a truth, no matter how simple and how clear it is. On the other hand, whoever easily believes truth, will surely easily doubt when a liar says something. The degree of difficulty you may experience believing a truth will be proportional to how easy it is for you to believe a lie. If it is difficult for you to believe a lie, surely you will easily believe truth.
God prefers the final perfection above an occasional one.
Whoever hits the same nail over and over is not a good carpenter. If you play the same recital time and time again you cannot be a good musician. If you confess the same sin over and over you cannot be holy.
How can we expect that something born out of hell will not become devilish and uncontrollable?
"He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a just one in the name of a just one will receive a just one's reward", Mat.10:41. Receiving a saint as a saint means that you see what the saint carries in him. Receiving a saint in the quality of a saint means the same to a sinful man receiving his sinful visitor. And the reward is not because you give a cup of water but because of what you have inside you, which makes you give to someone as a genuine servant of God.
We will be free from sin only in the measure that we are free to move in Christ. I mean by this that, as long as it is hard for you to remain in Christ it shall be as hard to stay away from sin. If you find it difficult to stay away from temptation or to remain pure when tempted, it shows just how hard it is for you to stay close to the Lord. The other side of this coin is: you are mouldable by the world only as far as the measure of your hardness towards Christ. If you are soft towards Christ, you will experience a hardness and a repulse towards the world. No one can avoid that happening either way.
"They always err in their heart, and they have not known My ways", Heb.3:10. It is of extreme importance to take notice of the sequence of these words. We do not read that people "err the way and have a bad heart" - we read that they err in their heart and consequently know not the way. It is shameful to people that they always want to change their knowledge about God first and to put on an outward appearance to please people and themselves when they look into their imaginary mirrors. It is the heart and its inner ways and mechanisms which need to be changed first. If we change our hearts in a real way, everything else is liable to change along with it. If man's heart changes, the whole world changes along.
God did not send Noah do save his family or to condemn the world, even if he did both, Heb.11:7. He was called to obey God and he did so. His aim was obedience to God and not the salvation of his family, nor the condemnation of the world. When Christ sends us out, we go out in obedience towards the Lord, and not to save nor to condemn. We are called to be obedient when Christ commands us to preach the gospel. We are not merely preaching the gospel, but obeying the Lord.
People who are afraid and remain so, are stubborn people - they are not weak people at all.
If you hesitate between Christ and sin, between Christ and the world, you are hesitating between life and death. It is clear what that choice should be. Just don't feel bad, then, if anyone thinks or believes you are a fool when hesitating between such important issues. When you are the one who hesitate, a holy man will see you as foolish. If you do not hesitate, unholy people will see you as foolish.
If you build a ship and you keep it in a harbour, surely it feels safe there - but it is not fulfilling its mission. Feeling safe and cared for is not fulfilment at all. A ship is made to set out to high sea, to face tempests and do its job away from the port. It comes occasionally to the port for many reasons, including to be repaired and fixed, to be filled or refilled and cared for. But, to feel cared for is not the reason why it comes to the port. Whatever we may believe about ships, we know they belong to the fearful sea. It has to challenge fears, waves, tempests, winds, icebergs, bad sailors and bad or good captains who fulfil their duty.
The most difficult part of our lives is that part when we need to wait upon God. It is easy to obey when there is a hard way ahead of us - it is harder to obey when there is some waiting to do. To keep hope in shape and sharp under such circumstances, shows what kind of things your heart really has within it. It will be hard for us to wait to the end if we are misinformed or uninformed about God and God's ways. To keep hope shining is something you cannot fake or pretend. There, one needs to be real! "The earnest expectation waits...", Rom.8:19. I pray our expectations are earnest, strong, solid and living.
When your time to die has come, we hope death is all there is left for you to overcome by then.
To be that own-minded as to keep our hearts in a condemnable state of lack of peace is a suicidal attitude. And many people try hard not to be more restless when things are not quiet within. But, if we are able to keep quiet before God even when death threatens us in any way, God will deal with whatever caused restlessness within us.
All of us know that those wounds brought about by God heal the soul if we take care to hear God and to remain close to Him during those trials. The wounds of God either heal right away or in the long term. But, they always heal. If the wounds of God heal the soul, the kisses and hugs of the world either kill us right away or in the long term as well. For these two reasons there are not many healthy, spiritual people around.
There is only one way to be hindered by the devil (in those things which are the will of God to carry out): if we tarry away from the real presence of God. And there is only one way to be apart from God: by sinning. If other people sin, or if the devil works hard against me, it just doesn't have any effect upon my personal life unless I have sinned.
Let's suppose we have sinned and we want to look over it so we may believe we may skip an apology to someone. And, by refusing to go back upon our sins to review our ways, we may say we have no sin or that we have been forgiven when we haven't. To ignore we have sinned is what it is all about when John says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us", 1John 1:8. People usually use this verse as an excuse to carry on sinning and not to stop sinning by acknowledging sinfulness is there and needs to be brought to the light by confessing and exposing it. Putting in the light kills sin forever and not denial. Whoever wishes to stop sinning needs only to bring sin and self to the light. Then, the way out will be clearly seen and embraced.
To think of God's things as marvellous things is normal to any powerless being. But, be careful never to think of such things as abnormal things, or even too great things. Never be perplexed when God does great things, because you might despise small things done by God. The heart which marvels with great things easily despises small, important things. Change your heart and walk on the ground where the Red Sea has been removed from and have your mind set on heavenly things instead of looking back on any miracle because you thought God would not do it when He did it.
People, usually, yell to be heard because the ones they call upon are far away. But, to have a heart which yells and makes noises so other people may hear it when we, supposedly, praise God, only makes sense if God is too far away to hear us or if we want people who yell also to hear us instead of God. God is either absent or, if He is present, we despise and ignore Him by preferring people above Him. That's what all the noise and all the fuss is about.
Every person who refuses to change from within gladly tries harder to change from without to cover up whatever is left undone inside. An outward change is just another way of covering up sin. Such people easily become actors of what could be true. They are not living people. Acting grants them a hiding manner and a disguise which is responsible for a greater appetite for acting. People who work hard to be polite and smooth show how much they refuse to change. If we, however, change from deep within, we will gladly put into action whatever we have become and all will be done in simplicity and humility, since to be humble is to be as we are inside.
No one should cease to pray, I mean, no one should give up upon anything before the answer is granted. The answer may be given through assurance from the Spirit blown into our hearts before it happens, or the real, practical answer of whatever we have put before God takes place before our eyes. Even when we are found in some sin, we should never give up on anything which is the will of God. In the process of praying for something, God will reveal why He is not answering. If one, then, ceases to pray by giving up on something because he has no answer, he might loose his life too, along with the answer to that prayer. By not giving up, God may heal the sin by bringing it to the light and also grant the request. Besides, His presence, when we pray, is able to transform us. In fact, we have many reasons why we should never give up praying to the end, until the answer is granted. Do not give up on praying for something, I mean, "Do not cease to pray" because God will answer if you fulfil the requirements before gain the heart which shall remain faithful after the answer is fully granted.
I believe there is no better time for a hypocrite to be formed than during the time of prayer. It is there where most people talk alone and state they are talking to God. A saint is made during times of real prayer too because God is present.
Whatever the devil ruins, God can still mould into whatever He wants. It will just depend upon whether we stay in Him or not. The time it may take, however, doesn't really matter. But, it can happen straight away.
The truth about some people who are always late, is that they are usually in a hurry. They leave things undone or half done because they hurry and it will demand their attention again and cause them to hurry again. I believe they are late because they are always in a hurry. Hasty people are always behind schedule because they don't do things as they should do them. A work half done or done in a hurry is something which will call our attention back to it again and again. Patient, faithful people are the ones who do things well enough never to be in a hurry. Something well done will not use up the time meant for something else, because it is done. People in a haste seem to be efficient people, but they are not. Prov.19:2;21:5.
Faith needs to be a practical living, not a definition. When I am bound or in trouble, no definition of faith will help me out. Love needs to be real before it can be preached. And trust comes from love. Unfortunately, all people do today is to define the Trinity, define love, define gifts and whatever else there is to be defined. But, I believe that once pastors and ministers can live and experience openly a little of what they define and preach about, people will get converted by the thousands. That's where discussions about doctrine will end and, perhaps, where a new life will start. And the reason why discussions will end is because they will start to experience the real thing.
Because Christ is Life, obedience is life too. It can't be a strain or a forced attitude, but a life. The strength we use might be of the kind which works into us the way to stick to that life - but force is not life, since life is spontaneous. For a living person, disobedience is force and obedience is living.
Many times we are not able to see God with us because he has gone ahead of us to prepare our way. God said "I will be with you", but He also said "I will go before you..." Is.45:2. Jesus said to His disciples, "I am leaving you, but I am gone to prepare a place for you... I will be with you always..."
If any person has the ability and the heart to look right in the eye of any Goliath, if he is simple and truthful doing so, I am sure such a person will never neglect a smaller enemy or despise it for what it is. Such a person is given over to obedience and never to the size of enemies. Obedience to God and faith in Him is what matters to such and never the size or the words of an enemy - whether it is a small or a huge one.
If someone who is able to wait on God by being expectant renews his strength (Is.40:31), how much more someone who is capable of expecting something from God right away, at the moment he is talking to God. If the heart is not lying, such people will be renewed on the spot. To wait on God is to expect from God. And that kind of expectation does not deceive us. "And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us", Rom 5:5.
Resentfulness is what we hold back against other people; self-accusations is what we hold against ourselves. If being resentful against people is unholy, so is accusing yourself having Jesus nearby and so close to cleanse you. I believe people who keep accusing themselves are people who are refusing to change. It is so easy to stop accusing yourself - just change! If you hold on to accusations as a kind of guarantee you shall be forgiven, you are seeking attention or praise and not forgiveness.
The best way there is, is to know, to hold, to have Christ for real and to see and to cherish Him as He really is. I will never remain unless I know Him that way. And Christ will never be as He is within me and by me if I hold anything back from Him still, if I do not surrender any part of my life unto Him - whether it is a piece of old life or of new adapted life. If there is but one part of the old life in me still, if there is but one little thought or imagination from the world still left behind, or if I cherish a portion of new life instead of Him, Christ cannot have His fullness shown and displayed in me because a piece of own life is still hanging around and filling the space in my heart which He must fill. Choose today: either keep Life or an own life. To cherish a piece of old cloth is the same as cherishing a piece of new cloth. Selfishness is in the heart and does not depend on the object it is settled upon. When Christ asks from you to deny your father and mother, He is simply asking you to stop being selfish about them forever.
God does not change and everything He says will not change. But, we may change. If we, then, do not keep up with God's renewals within because we change, we will easily step into error, since whoever does not hold on to truth, will most surely be able to hold a lie in his hand.
Any blind man feels safe by knowing his way by heart. If a man with vision knows his way by heart in the same way, it may be either a help for him or a hindrance; he does not walk by knowing his way by heart in a manner that a blind man does. So, if your eyes are indeed open spiritually, never allow it your mind to act as a blind man would. Most church people are blind ones who have memorized and studied a way so well that they are easily self-deceived by not being aware of the need to see for real. Just don't act as they do if your eyes have indeed been opened by the Lord Jesus.
In the same way people may have a false hope which drives them on and on (one which deceives in the end or even before), people who live close to God and are going through many kinds of trials all the time may come to believe they are not going anywhere. There is no place in hell for a holy man, let's believe that! Lets us never believe our upright living close to God is in vain, for it is not. People in sin live on as if they are not losing anything. Let us not live as if we are not winning by being that close to Jesus all the time! Also, let not the prosperity of any sinner either confuse you or encourage you towards sinning because they might prosper temporarily.
If Satan has fallen from heaven, why would I still believe I shouldn't get out of sin? And, if he fell out of grace being so special to God, why would I still believe I can sin on without falling out myself?
Anything small done through the Lord is always a motive and a source of enormous joy. Anything big done without the Lord, is an useless emptiness. The bigger the work done without God, the bigger the emptiness of it. We all can and, consequently, should experience the fullness of Christ in whatever we do. Richer or poorer, older or younger, all of us should be that close to the Lord.
There are those who say that they have a great difficulty getting to sleep and these may have a consequent difficulty getting out of bed in the morning. But, I believe it works the other way round: because they stay long in bed in the morning, they have difficulty sleeping at night.
Whoever neglects something, is surely someone who works hard to deceive himself. If a person merely suspects he needs to do something and doesn't do it, he is in sin - in some other sin as well. He does not only sin, but might have a need to sweep out of him an attitude which leads him to be that way. Disobedience is the practical outcome of an inner disposition of stubbornness. We may work hard to obey, but let's work harder to be of the obedient kind so we do not need to work hard to obey once the time comes to do so. Any person who has an obedient heart in him, will have as a first reaction a willingness to obey rather than to disobey. Let's change from within and our seed will keep us away from sinning.
When we carried out something which did not work out, we may rest assured we have at least learned and experienced the way of faithfulness. We may not have accomplished what we intended, but we have done something: we have learned a bit of what it means to be faithful to the end. That's the least one can say.
Many believe there is a huge difference between a saint and a sinner and that an abyss separates a holy man from an unholy one. In all truth, there isn't a big difference between them at all. There is only one thing which causes the difference to be so contrasting: Christ who lives within the holy man.
The thing that differentiates a holy man from a sinner, separates them as well. There are differences which do not separate people at all, but rather unite them. We can easily think of a man and a woman in the will of God, so different and so united. But, sinners cannot get involved with holy people for many reasons, the most important one being the fact that their lives are not in agreement. Anyway, we cannot say that it is always a holy man who does not sit with foolish people who give their lives easily over to sin. It is not true. In fact, when any holy man lives his life out openly and stands for his Lord as sinners stand for their sinning, I am sure a sinner will be the one refusing to stick around and sit at the same table where a holy man takes his seat. The best way never to sit around with the scornful, is to be holy all the time, including when we are in front of them. They will go away and leave their seat for Christ and He will stick around with us!
When anyone in this wide world hurts us in any way, I am absolutely sure God comes to rescue us from the way we feel above rescuing us from such people who may hurt us. But, let us not believe that a bad conduct of whoever hurts us is acceptable just for the sake of not feeling hurt. I mean, do not say wrong people are right so that you can feel good about them. Rather "pray for your enemies".
There is only one reason we may change our minds about something good: the thing we were doing was not perfect yet. We may come to grow, we may get a better mind (but not necessarily a different mind) about things. In a nutshell, we are being perfected and everything we do and think will grow as we grow.
Jesus was and is holy. If we walk with Him, we will be holy too. God said to Abraham, "Walk thou before Me and be holy". We should mark that God did not say "Be holy and walk with Me", but rather the other way round. There is no excuse for us not being holy, since we can and may walk with Jesus as the disciples did. He said: "Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire", Mat.7:19. We should concentrate all our energies and thoughts on walking with God and not merely on being perfect. Perfection is a natural consequence of walking with the Lord. Intimacy with Him which is real shall naturally lead to fruitfulness.
All those things which stick together when God has not put them together, remain that way because some sin is binding them or holding them together. People may stick together because they agree in sinning, because they are in agreement. Were their sins opposed, they would go apart.
Someone who has not the courage or the faith to take the right steps, measures or to assume the right way, will surely need very little encouragement to take the wrong way or to do the wrong thing.
Mistrust is a huge amount of self-confidence, just as being unstable and unsure is stubbornness - even if it is only stubbornness which refuses to make sure about things, you do not trust as much as you trust yourself!
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way", Is.53:6. We do not se the Bible saying someone has gone astray by going into someone else's path. We read that everyone goes astray by going his own way. And, we see Jesus stating that the good seed is planted in one's own field, Mat.13:24. The key to good living is to preach to oneself. Be always the first hearer of what you preach, especially if you preach the truth.
Conviction may bring repentance or stubbornness, resistance or penitence. We read of all those people who got converted through the initial preaching of Peter, and it is written that they were "cut in the heart". But, by reading on, we come across those who stoned Steven and may overlook a few words there because our hearts concentrate on Steven and we are stirred up by him. It is written that they stoned him because they were "cut in the hearts". The same conviction worked a different kind of reaction on them. It is not right to believe that a conviction of sin brought about by the Holy Spirit always ends up in repentance. That same conviction is responsible for many a problem which we should be willing to face. It stirs up God's enemies in many ways as well. They will either repent or stone you. But, God must do that to be righteous towards all. All get the same chance to be saved. Most people do not like it. Many of those who do not like it, repent - some simply don't. Trees become either good or bad and things won't ever be the same again for any of them.
A coward is someone bound to stubbornness. He is never weak - he has a strong mind to which he is obedient to. And, a bunch of cowards usually stick together. "For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered". Mat 24:28 ; They walk together because "they are agreed", Amos 3:3
If you hide, you cannot have the right motives doing so - it is not possible! If you isolate yourself, you must have some dirt you believe you cannot afford to show - even if it is not true. "He that separates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound wisdom", Prov.18:1.
Authority is brought by the example we put forth unconsciously. A carnal strong mind is a sign of weakness and that is a corrupted kind of authority which will not last for long.
Whoever wishes to separate what God has put together, has a mind to put together whatever God would not put together. Anyone putting together what God has not put together, has a double sin: he will miss whatever God has in His mind for him, and will annoy God by his stubborn decision to carry out his own will. Only those who do God's will shall be approved. And, to do it, you must still learn how, when and to whom and by which means, since it must be done here on earth as it is done in heaven - the same way.
I was the reason why Jesus left heaven and came down. He is the reason I will go up to heaven. As the eye without moisture, the eye without sight, water without humidity, so would heaven be without Jesus.
All who walk with God through God have the information, the means and the power to save many from destruction.
It is not possible to follow Christ ahead of Him. But, you cannot stay behind for fear to be ahead of Him either.
We are Bethlehem, the place where Christ is born.
Everyone who brags about those things he does not experience personally, or those he experiences in part, is surely trying hard to hide those things they cannot brag about. Bragging is hiding and concealing the truth about something. When you speak about something you do not experience or live personally, you experience and live something. which you do not talk about.
Even if God can change the worst curse into an everlasting blessing, it does not mean that everything a human sees as bad is a curse or a bad thing happening. Many failures are successes in God's eyes and, after God has revealed it to be so, we should be able to regard them as such as well. Sometimes, bad things are, also, the beginning of blessings or the warning of curses. Many good things are the beginnings of curses and something to take heed to for the sake of repentance. Remember all these things before expressing any opinion about them and before God next time.
God may use anything or any circumstance to reveal His will or Himself to us. Circumstances do not determine what God will tell us. God can talk to us about preaching to someone when we are suffering. Or God can talk to us about suffering when we are preaching. Things do not count, but Christ alone determines what to do. Only Christ matters along with what His will is, either His will for us or for others. There is only one thing that matters: to be found in Him all the time. There should be no power too small or too great able to deter us from being in Him permanently. No one should say he has no power to go to God, nor say there are too powerful things hindering him to come. Let no weak person say he can't come to Christ - he may say he won't, if he is honest though.
Whenever you are able to gather without God, you do so only because you may have certain ambitions, fears or whatever else that drives you to "haste with your feet". If you do not trust God, you trust yourself - it can't be any other way. It doesn't matter how much a person fears - he fears only because he still trusts self deeply. Fears only feed the flesh and keeps it living by dictating a conduct. Faith is, therefore, partly stopping to trust yourself and ceasing to give ears to your own heart at some point.
Truth without God is what religion is all about. Lies, because they are without God, amount to same thing. And because there are many kinds of truths and lies, there will always be many kinds of religions around to try to confuse us.
Accusing yourself is always a way of diverting from a conversion operated by God. It might be a way of deviating from a change that must still take place - just as accusing others places the attention upon others and takes the eye away from your own sins. Accusing oneself is, most of the time, a way of covering up sins, and "whoever covers his sins shall not prosper", Prov.28:13. Take hold of yourself and tell yourself at once that accusations will not change you, but shall rather hinder a real change in you. Whoever pities himself, is looking back already.
Sacrifice means (many times) that we are trying to live out whatever we are not able to be in ourselves and without sacrifice. If we change from the inside, the only thing which will be seen as sacrifice by us, are the physical hardships - and that alone if we get tired at all, since there is still the possibility we will not get tired through the expectation and hope in the Lord. Whoever feels that holiness is still a sacrifice to him should change his heart rather quickly, instead of trying to change his looks and outward appearance alone.
To be as you are, is not the same as thinking you are something. One is a humble man, the other is an actor. People have pretended for years and lost track of what they really are - they are no more in a state to know what the difference is either. Humility is to be as we are, just as God is what He is.
To change religion is to change doubts. But, to find Christ face to face is, some times, to change certainties because people believe their lies quite strongly.
God may promise to curse (and He does) and repent to have done so because people may have repented from sins and evil; God may promise to build and bless and eventually do otherwise because people ceased to be responsible and fully obedient to the New Nature because they took it for granted God would bless them and they did not take it to heart to love God and carried on loving themselves. Either way, God does not only break a promise He would fulfil at any cost, but He does, some times, the precise opposite of whatever He has promised to do. Let’s know this God as He is, the One who did not curse Nineveh after promising destruction to them; and let's know this Lord who cursed Israel after having promised them to be their God and glory forever, Jer.18:7-10. People are not destroyed because God has cursed, but because they have sinned and hardened themselves and that curse takes place because of it: "So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have spoken against it, because they have hardened their necks so that they might not hear My Words", Jer.19:15. The promises of God are seeds too, they take place because the heart is softened by them and holds up to a sure, future, conditional happening. Whatever God says are seeds and not grown plants. Were God to curse for sure, or to bless for sure, He would never tell people about it beforehand - He would just do it. Because He says and speaks beforehand, He is aiming at the harvest His words can bring back unto Him. As long as we believe any words from God and act accordingly, we have a real chance to be fine. If God pronounces a curse and I take it as God's word, it is faith. And faith saves.
It is so strange that people, after having handed their lives over to God, ask for a change of circumstances under every trial and not for a change of heart. Every trial and temptation is a good opportunity for any clean person to have his heart and ways settled down or changed for good. Fire moulds iron and trials mould the heart for the better if we live in the Spirit of God. Let's refuse to become dirty when we are tried above measure in any way, just as Job did. And let's remember that a big trial which lasts only for a short time has less chances to deviate us from the way than a small one which lasts and lasts.
Whoever is in a state of heart which convinces himself of having what he does not have (especially in God), will most easily believe he does not have what he already has if he is found in God for real. We do not need to feign to turn real whatever comes from God. We just need to believe things are real whenever they are real.
What would become of a man who is totally dependant on God and is not able or fit to receive from Him? How bad for the soul shall it be and for the testimony of God! If asks and does not receive, he is either not with God and in His will; or something separates him from the Lord.
Bad men want to be seen as good because they are convinced, recharged and encouraged by the opinion others may breed about them. Sinners try good works to cover, to impress, to gain, to save or to get saved, and above all, through good works they have the best way to hide their former or nowadays sins together with the desire to be able to sin in the future. Good works is a way of escaping salvation from sin and to get acquainted with a false salvation by resisting God's. It doesn't impress Him at all. Good works is a kind of resistance against God. Have God in you and you won't even think or believe anything concerning your works because your life will be as natural as God's, and will stick to the same things He does naturally in such a way that you won't even think of it being or becoming a good deed or work at all. It is for a specific reason those who visited the Lord in prison and saw Him naked did not know they did it.
"They are all grievous revolters, walking in slanders", Jer.6:28. This does not mean that revolters are slanders, but that slanders are revolters - they do slander because they have become revolters. And gossip and slander is not only to tell lies about people - it is surely to tell the truth about them too when it is not done for God's sake through God alone.
Any kind of bitterness is a devilish arena or on the verge of becoming so. Bitterness is slander against God, some kinds more slanderous than others. It is also a root to many other sins which easily instigate and captivate others to sin after the same spirit. Bitterness tells us to resign on the way of God, to give up, to despair, to give in to selfishness. That's why I solemnly believe that people who want to give up are resisting God and are not merely becoming weak. Bitterness also uses the Bible quite well. Beware of it, not only in others because it can draw you nigh and attract your distracted soul and mind, but mostly beware of it in you. Take care of it while it is still a root. And when you find you are being drawn to bitterness, be careful enough not to stay in the company of anyone with a same frame of mind or in the same state of heart. It shall be dangerous for both.
Anyone who is not right with God and works hard to save others has a selfish interest in whatever he does. Maybe the devil himself is enticing such a person to "save" others, because that's the starting point to discredit the works and the words of God before the world. Doubts and an unstable spirit carries people to "save" others because others' opinions about them assure them of something they whish to believe concerning themselves, whether that which they want to believe is truthful or not. Even if it is true, that is not the right way or means to use to believe and to be assured. To believe truthful things by unlawful methods and ways is like winning a race through fraud and bad means. To preach the gospel of salvation instead of becoming saved and becoming salvation itself has been turned into a way of doing thins nowadays. Beware of false preachers who preach the truth. Hear them, but live far from them and from their ways. Not all who say "Lord, Lord" are from God.
Any timid person is a proud person. Any timid man resembles a humble man and vice-versa. That's why many humble people are taken as being proud of something. Care to distinguish between all of them if you are either timid or humble, a judge or a judged one.
Every time we are forcing Christ to accept something and Christ is too silent and doesn't answer, we may be sure there is something else Christ would gladly discuss with us, which we are not willing to take to the table of discussion, especially to discuss it with Him. Because people are not obeying somewhere else, they cling to something they become morbid and bitter about if it is discussed. Many people have non-negotiable issues. The thing Christ would talk and discuss with us is not even considered an issue of discussion by many. That's why many people fast and pray: because they are disobedient.
Any kind of confusion which is bad is never brought about because we know little about something, or because we lack something. The fact is, people become either confused or agnostic because there is something which separates them from God. If we really live with God through God, why would something more important or less important ever trouble us? It is sin which is directly responsible for confusion. Every time someone confused comes to you, let such confess sins by name instead of teaching him the way he should go. It is a blind man who needs to be taken by the hand. Instead of trying to lead the blind, cause him to see his way. "... Our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God", Jer.3:25.
There is a simple rule of life: if you are too great for a small task, you will become proud during a great task. In other words, you are too small for a great task. Whoever lives with God for God in prison (like Joseph did), will surely govern Egypt by God for God too.
God won't harvest from thorns, especially if the soil is good. Therefore, instead of complaining that God does not accept fruit from your hand (like Cain did), do away with worldly occupations and cares, concerns and anxious thoughts. Would you pluck corn from the midst of thorns if you were a successful owner of a field?
Any bird will fly lacking one or two feathers. We will live for God as long as we have Life in us - real Life. No one can take real Life away from holy men and women even when they are stripped of something.
Admirers are hypocrites. Depending on what the admiration is about, people usually have or breed a deep self interest through admiration. Admiring Paul, Peter or any other servant of God is a license people believe reasonable enough not to live the way they wish to live. By admiring, they believe to have found the permission to skip the responsibility to live as God requires them to do. When, however, the man they admire is a false prophet of some kind, they admire such a fellow because they also desire to have what he has. It might be riches, power or just a plain smooth speech.
Homosexuals, just like other sinners, are a roaming boat which firmly believes it has a track or an certainty in its way. It is like a dry leave left on the ground and goes to where the wind blows. Its direction depends on the direction the wind blows. They are people who are handed over to themselves, to their ways and thoughts without anyone to hinder them besides other sinners who are their competitors or enviers. They belong to a destroyed life which moves further and further away from God believing to be guiders. They also believe they are withstood by people when their conscience is the one resisting them. They believe they have a goal and a way and only hell or Christ will show them otherwise.
For any of us to believe in the resurrection, we must be resurrected ourselves. We need to have come out of the grave, out of the death of sin which deceives the heart, out of the lack of motivation, grief and out of the pain of having been called to one side by a man of God because God sent him to admonish us. Only a resurrected man believes in genuine resurrection. To have it is quite different than to believe it exists or that it is possible.
Many try to stay clean and above sin by judging it off and by becoming judgemental over it. But, they try only to tell they do not desire whatever they really still are able to fall down for.
Trials which last for a long time, even if they are small, are more dangerous than any big trial that last only for a short time. Let's make sure we come out victoriously at the end of any kind of trial. To be victorious means that we end every trial with Christ and not that we solve the problems which exercise a heaviness upon a heart. As long as heaviness has an effect on us, we are in need of that trial. To end with the Lord is what victory is all about. To remain with Him is what God looks for in us and it doesn't matter what happens to the trials at all. To overcome is to end with Christ in His fullness.
Whenever a prayer is not heard by God, people easily give up on everything else and not only on the subject they are praying about. It could mean they try getting the answers through unlawful means or by blackmailing God and not through faith. People give up many things because one of them has not worked out. Quite often, a selfish prayer leads people to give up because such prayers are not answered. They seldom have in mind that many other prayers have been answered. But, because we are sinners and we are real, we need to know that, even if all prayers, according to promise, need to get answers, the lack of answers should motivate us more to near the Lord with a sincere heart and not less. The thoughts of God are higher than ours and we must know what these thoughts are. It should never have the power to discourage us in any way at all. Find all faults in your own heart or prayers and do not try to blackmail God by giving up. Find out what is separating you from the Lord so that He doesn't hear you. The promise is that each of our prayers should get real answers, John 15:7.
There are lazy people who get worked up because they are lazy. They try doing something else to avoid doing what they ought to be doing. They are busy bodies because their heart is lazy. And laziness is a kind of stubbornness. However, because they are busy bodies they give the impression they are not lazy at all. On the other hand, there are those who do what they must do in time and the way it ought to be done. These people are seldom busy bodies because they have enough time to rest and to be at ease since all their work has been perfectly carried out and does not call their attention over and over again. These people will, sometimes, give the impression they are lazy because of having chosen the best part as Mary did. Never allow appearances to mislead you in any way.
Temptations make our limitations known to us all, showing where and what we must cannot do. Difficulties make us aware of how we should stand clean in the Lord to overcome (it does not show the difficulty alone), since we would not know about it would it all be easy for us through grace. That's why we live for God, for He does all and He also does anything. It is a good thing that we know our limitations as soon as possible, just as it is a good thing that we be tempted, since through temptation we are all the more aware of how we shall conquer or how we shall loose the power of God by trespassing. Temptations are not to be overcome by strength, but by being holy and by remaining close to God. To be aware of our limitations should be inspiring and not despairing for us, since there starts the narrow way of victory and of the greater things no one in this world has ever been able to perform on his own.
It is not always so that bad things happen for the good of us, just as good things do not always mean our best final welfare and interest. Bad things may be bad or good, just as good things may be bad or good for us - it just depends if God is in them with us or not. There are good things that make people unaware of the judgement that's coming upon them, Ps.73; and there are bad things that take away the awareness of final blessing upon the faithful. Whatever state you may find yourself in, just stay close to God - and let it be real and not merely worked up - and be assured that whoever is close to Him now will surely be close to Him anytime anywhere later. Eternity is what is happening now as well.
Anxiety or laziness are dangerous sins as bad as adultery or murder. There are no small sins. However, these sins which we consider small and insignificant have the power to cling on us with greater persistence because no one considers them as bad sins. It is easy to consider murder, adultery or stealing as sin. But, few people consider anxiety as sin and some even consider it a good thing to worry. Remember that the same Lord who said, "Do not commit adultery", also said, "Do not be anxious about anything". And it is a word of a living God we do not obey when we are anxious about anything.
No one will ever know life unless it is through Jesus Christ. But, I believe no one will ever truly know himself unless it is through the Lord as well.
Walking close to God means we can walk anywhere any time inside God's will and that no danger is ever able to do us eternal wrong. Walking with God prevents us from listening and from minding the bluffing words of the roaring lion around us. Many lions could not kill Daniel because he was with God. There is no real danger in danger when God is with us for real. Let His sweet presence calm you down and assure your heart wherever you are.
Premarital sex is adultery. It is an distortion of sex as God intended it to be. It misses the whole the point.
God will never allow us any kind of arrogance, not even against the devil.
The first instinct, the first reaction Eve and Adam had after sinning was to hide. Therefore, by coming to Christ and to full restoration, the very first thing we must do is to expose, to bring into the light and let it remain lighted as we move on faithfully. We must do the opposite of hiding to start off or to find the way back to God.
The greatest danger for a boat is the water to which it owes its own existence. If there were no water, there would be no boats or ships. If there were no sin, there would be no salvation either. But, the water is fatal to the boat if it is found inside it in any way. As long as that water remains outside, the boat won't sink. The same with sin: as long as it stays outside the heart neither us or faith will shipwreck.
The blood of Jesus can clean us of any sin, but it can never clean us of an excuse or self-justification.
The devil is indifferent to whether people know that something is sin or not and he does not avoid stressing the fact to people that they are sinning. Knowing what sin is did not cause people to avoid sinning at all. It is good to have the proper knowledge touching sin. However, it is not the main power that works against it. In fact, the main power towards sin is the knowledge of it. What helps us quite well is to know the Saviour better than we know ourselves. Knowing Him is what saves us from sin and from any accusations and it doesn't matter how severe the accusations are.
I would rather wish to know it is God who is destroying me than to see it is the devil who is doing so. Whenever the devil destroys me, it also means I am abandoned by the Lord. If God is the one hitting me, I shall have hope. On the other hand, it is also very good to know God is the one who is giving me all I receive. I would not receive anything from the hands of Satan, not even a fortune.
There is no virtue in denying ourselves if we don't either grab Life or are unable to live on with or through Jesus. Christ said "Whoever denies his own life for My sake" and not "whoever denies life". Denying our lives for any other reason besides belonging fully to Christ is an emptiness without measure. We should be fully aware of that for we can deny our life as terrorists do.
You should often choose between Christ and your problems. Either have Christ or your thoughts bound to problems or to your problems' solutions.
There is a small difference between being real and being truthful. However, when Christ says, "I am the truth", He means He is both. Christ is truthful. He is truly the way. However, if He is not real He can't be a Saviour to us, even if He is indeed the only Saviour there is. He must be real to us. Does Christ trust you enough to be made real to you? "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all", John 2:24.
Loving to teach is not the same as loving the person that is taught. We can love to teach and love whom we teach. However, let's remember we will strive to gain wisdom if we really love those who need to be instructed in the ways of truth. If we do teach because we love teaching, it means we are doing it for the sake of ourselves. And selfishness is all sin is about. The opposite of holiness is selfishness. And, if we love people enough to save them, let's remember that only wise ones are really able to save others. "He who saves souls is wise", Prov.11:30. We aren't able to save people for real unless we are wise and loving. Loving to teach is a side walk, but it can't be the road we must travel.
Those arguments upon which we insist more because we believe we are right about something, are the very things which more easily reveal how wrong or wrong minded we are. Most people desire to be right and fight as if they are right. It is the desire to be right which drives them and not truth. People feel unstable and unsure when they are not right and they hate to feel that way. They feel they must trust in themselves a lot. By insisting, it shows they are wrong or they wouldn't fight their way through by arguing. Arguing convinces man and man breathes through his nostrils. Winning an argument from man is life for sin and is as good as nothing.
Every time things become dark around any of us, we must have in mind we should slow down and be patient instead of hasting out of darkness. We must talk less, reason less, listen better and more, and worry less about what is still ahead of us by avoiding to listen to an own wish's voice, which the devil entices also. Only then may we avoid stumbling over something in the dark or even over some sin. Let's remember that the way hasn't changed because of darkness. The way is still the same. If we put the light off in our room, the room won't change - only our view of it. Soon our sun will rise and it will be daylight again and all will become instantly clearer to us. Let's learn to wait for the sunrise rather than be anxious about anything whatsoever.
If we strive to find the love of God believing that love is shed in our hearts so we may be loved, we won't find it at all. That love is put in us so we will strive to love others as ourselves through it. We already love ourselves. Therefore, we don't need to receive love to be loved. The more we figure out how to love others the way God loves them, the more abundantly that love will be poured into us. We cannot think of love as homosexuals think about sex. Homosexuals are perverted people and have wrong ideas about sex. And people who seek to be loved have perverted ideas or ideals about love in the same sense.
Many people have much to say or to feel against people who highjack plains - but few emerge to oppose and correct people who highjack truth. We should recall that the Bible says that people are gone astray by "going each his own way". They have hijacked their ways. You can and may go your own way praying to God and reading the Bible still, just as much as you may walk an own way by becoming devilish in all your actions. What really matters is that you don't walk your own way, whether that way seems righteous or not. Truth which is not made real by the workings of God is no truth at all and it becomes an own way.
In this world people treat their children as dolls and their dolls as they should be treating their children; people deal with falsity the way they should deal with truth, and deal with truth the way they deal with falsity; reality in Christ or in Christianity today is seen as a falsity and a wrong kind of religion since it is no more a religion - it has become real. Religion is created as soon as things about God cease to be real and when God is not found in them and man believes things about God the way he wishes to believe them. But, the worst part of it all is that the course this world has taken finds it offensive that we have God as real. Reality in God changes the world's course or, at least, its way to look at things. The world knows how to fight religion off them, but they find it hard to deal with the reality of God. Faith is not regarded as faith anymore unless it is worked up and stimulated unnaturally. Real faith is to believe whatever is truthful and real, whether it is visible or not.
Whoever does not yield unto a rebuke or praise from a righteous God, thinks himself righteous even if it is done in the secrecy of the heart - there where his own eye does not reach to see what he is like. God does not praise to please people - He does so to state facts about them. People confuse or mistake praise with flattering and that is mainly why they try to flatter God instead of stating true facts about Him during praise.
To let go on most things which may have a certain hold upon us, is seldom the same as saying such men are free of those things they let go somehow. The very root to that sin is in the inner man. We find that when people give up on sin from within, it shows outside. But, we also know people can let sin down without having a heart change and it shows outside too, I mean that we can see the craving is still there. People also let friends down sometimes and anyone can do just that to a loved sin. A liar may be quiet without lying, just as a truthful man often may often keep quiet while his duty is to speak the truth. And we can spot them out as different people.
There are virgins who are not pure, and there are pure ones who are not virgins - it just depends when did Jesus touch that life. But thank God there are virgins who are pure too. That's why Paul says: "...To present you to Christ as a pure virgin..." and not only as a virgin, 2Cor.11:2. Many Christian associations try hard to keep their young people as virgins, but we may ask if they remain virgin for the sake of Christ and because they love Him to the uttermost. It is not enough to be a virgin because a prostitute who came to love Christ is better off than a virgin that is not pure.
Sin is like a ladder: we go down the first step, then the second and later we find out it is much easier and more appealing to go down than up. And because we are upon the same ladder (whether we go down or up), we might think and believe it is ok to sin on. However, we are going down instead of up to heaven.
Any virtue that is not natural and spontaneous to people is not constant and can't be trusted. Whatever does not come from the heart is not in the heart. If we are not spontaneous as changed beings we might also have wrong motives in the heart. That is why God offers us a new heart and, along with it, offers Himself before teaching us our ways.
People who are extreme, always have a problem in such things they go against or for. Someone who forces himself to give whatever he may have or possess is always someone who has great difficulty in giving; we might state the same of such people who may have great difficulty in receiving, since refusing to have Jesus washing our feet might be pride and not humility. All people to whom anything is not natural and unconsciously done, are unstable, divided people. And it is a shame that modern Christianity makes and creates a pattern that people must become aware of the nature they should have so God may accept them, deciding their own nature and steering it around instead of being ruled by God. Any unnatural person is unstable and lives in a doubting mess.
We need to stop desiring other's things, even when others are only imaginary people. We should never breed a kind of heart which is not fully satisfied with God.
Why do I fear the Landowner when he comes to till the grounds of my heart? Doesn't He know what He is doing?
Uncertainty installed itself in the heart and looked for a way to to keep itself uncertain and fearing.
Just as a chronically sick man has a sense of need to feel his pain for whatever reasons he seldom is able to acknowledge and recognize; just as a blind man has a way to feel misplaced after gaining his sight since he has learned to guide himself through touching around and through sounds; just as a worrying man or woman feels the need to worry more and harder to be heard in prayer or to be able to add unto whatever is lacking; in that same sense uncertainty feels safe by being itself, it is, by being uncertain and wavering; the sinner feels an urge to recall his sins to feel worthy of grace by feeling unworthy in an unnatural way; a saint feels he needs put on a holy face on or a holy feeling to be in touch with God all the time. But, the fact remains that the grace of God surpasses all human efforts and becomes simple to attain - it is something easier than all that. We should be able to mention to all holy people that they should have in mind that "not even life.... separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus...".
God never asked us to have a great heart, but to love fully with the one He grants us, if He has granted it to us already. Whether that heart is big or small, we should be able to love God with the whole of it.
There is only a small difference between Judgment Day and revival: people repent in revival and they don't in Judgment Day. The rest is alike: sins are revealed and manifest to all, sin is done away with, the wrath of God and His tenderness will be plain to all then. Revival is the end of many and the beginning of some – so is judgment day. "The sinners in Zion are afraid; terror has surprised profane ones. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands free from holding bribes, who stops his ear from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil", Is.33:14-15.
Laziness is a plain form of stubbornness. It keeps looking for something to hold on to so it can be stubborn. It can read the Bible so it shall not do something else, just as it can be doing something else so it may not read the Bible.
If you are mad at someone, it is not because that person has been bad against you – it is because of the heart you have or the state it is found. When I fear, it can be ascribed to the kind of heart I have and not to the giant I face; maybe God is absent from my life. If I am impatient it is not caused by the delay of someone or of something, even when it is delayed, but it is because of the heart which mixes tomorrow with today and yesterday easily. All kinds of sins come out of the heart of man and not so much because of what is done unto it, against it, or even for it. We should believe Jesus when He says that, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things”, Mat.12:35. It all comes from there. Everything depends on the kind of heart we may have or how it is found.
Those who refuse to get out of their boats for fear to drown won't experience walking on water either. Remember always that walking on water demands the first step from you and not from God.
Whenever we feel bitter and angry against people or against God, let's remember we become bitter because we have a kind of heart which is bitter. It is not others' fault if we become angry, but our heart's. We have the kind of heart which becomes angry. We are the ones responsible for the way we handle things when they come to us.
If you have lost the plan of God for your life, it means you have lost God and not only the plan. No one can lose the plan of God without losing God. By finding Him again, you will get into His plan for your life - even if you are finding it for the first time.
When you pray, remember that the Lord hears who prays and not the prayer itself. It is not the prayer that makes the difference, but the person who prays. “Him shall I accept...”, Job 42:8. God heard Moses and not necessarily Moses’ prayer, just as He heard Elijah, Ezekiel or anyone else – whatever they prayed about. “For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous”, Ps.1:6.
Those who make lots of noises and yell when they pray, seem to be praying to a distant God. I yell when I wish to communicate with someone who is far away from me. This is why I believe noisy people will simply condemn themselves by persisting to believe they are believers since they are carry on proving they live far from God.
We do not read the word of God only for the information and knowledge we may obtain from it, but rather because of the transformation it may work in us. I read this somewhere and I confirmed that this is a true statement.
If you were a doctor who discovered the cure for cancer or aids, wouldn't you do all to spread the news and help people? How much more must you do if you find the cure for sin! Jesus indeed saves from sin and makes us free for real. Have you experienced that in a personal way already?
Sinners blame others for their own faults and mistakes. After having done that, they still think they are the most honest and most truthful people. Ahab blamed Elijah for the lack of rain for which Ahab's sins were responsible, (1 Kings 18) and he believed that lie for years, or maybe to the day of his death; Saul believed David was to blame for every bad thing happening to him; the Pharisees believed Jesus was the trouble of Israel and not their hypocrisy and their dissociation from God. If you live a truthful life of abundance make sure you are prepared to be blamed for the things your accusers do and cause. And those accusers may take their beliefs to extremes as they did by killing Jesus. Are you prepared to die innocently without accusing back to defend yourself? You can't avoid any of this by living truthfully for the Lord by the Lord.
My dream was to be God's friend. Now that He has been friendly and graceful to me I only want me to be a friend to Him.
If you experience a storm or a tornado, you more easily believe there was a flood in Noah’s time; when you get burned and taste the rage of fire, it is easier to believe hell awaits you after death in case you die in your sins; if you get married under God’s blessing and it is real along with His presence in and with you, it is all the easier to believe there is a heaven by doing God’s will; if you get rid of one huge sin, the Goliath of your life, it accomplishes more towards your faith and victory than all other sins which may still be clinging on you and demanding attention. It is when we beat Goliath that we easily believe there is such a thing as holiness available to anyone. However, don't dare to disregard, regard amiss or discredit any of all little things since they can become the very door to the greatest accomplishments one has ever heard. Try to remember what Jesus said concerning being faithful in little things.
"Keeping a grudge against someone is like drinking poison and hoping someone else dies". This is what a man of God said and I fully agree with it.
Many people rub the eye to see better and hurt it to become conscious of it to show God or themselves they have an eye. But, they should be using their eyes and never hurt them by forcing it to see in darkness. Only someone in darkness has to be made aware of his eye. People in the light are aware of what they see.
Any prophet who is precise and accurate in everything he sees, whether it is in the past or in the future, ahead or behind, good or bad, a blessing or a curse, is surely dead to the desire to be right about something, along with the desire to know about things because of fearful expectations, or even because of curiosity of the kind that does not take God's interests into account. To be accurate, he has died for the applause of people, angels and even his own. The accurateness of any genuine prophet of the Lord reveals the kind of death that person has experienced and how much he is like Christ in his kind of death and resurrection.
When it takes force to obey what is right and good, I am sure it is easy to obey sin. If it were not so, obeying God would be easy. And when it is easy to obey the Lord, it is very difficult to obey sin.
Fear is stubbornness and a fearful man is compulsive, persistent and obstinate.
There are people who fear to be actively engaged in duty for fear to be doing things in the power of the flesh. I have seen them. However, there is no person more active in the will of God than the one who waits and receives from the Lord. The man who rests in the Lord continually is often the best and most active disciple. He is free to be used by the Lord all the time.
Loneliness is present in us for many reasons, but we may assume two important, unseen ones: God is with us and we are not holy; God is not with us and we try to be holy.
There is a certain monster which feeds upon others and upon whatever they can give him. People are nice to receive nice attitudes back from others; people give to receive back something (even if it is the approval from self and for self); people are in company of others not to feel alone because of the absence of God or caused by the presence of God in the absence of godliness within and without. (The presence of God creates a great sense of loneliness in ungodly or lukewarm hearts. Such people feel better in the absence of God). This monster is able to feed on the goodness of men and God, it is able to nurture thoughts which please self and praise self by being nice since it wants only to receive back. It seeks the company of others and it says it fulfils the law of God by pleasing people. This monster should be stopped, since it feeds on the crumbs falling from the Table of God and strengthens itself to breed some alike, ugly monsters.
Any lukewarm Christian has a harder life to live than a worldly man in a worldly domain (but not on holy ground) because he is trying hard to serve two demanding and opposing masters at the same time. A worldly man has a lighter inner life than any lukewarm Christian because he tries to serve one master only.
The enthusiasm of the first day at school does wonders in the souls of children. They just love it. Even parents and uncles reveal a great deal of happiness and enthusiasm about it. However, we all know that it seldom lasts to the end of the student life. The parents, the family and the child need to keep that enthusiasm to the end. The first love must be maintained. We need determination, discipline and love for what we do and, if we do it for the Lord, it should be easy to keep the enthusiasm pure and alight if we indeed love Him with the whole of our hearts. The same thing can we say about the life God grants us. The first time we experience the fullness of God's Spirit is a delightful day. However, we need to keep the delight right through and always without feigning it. Every day ahead must be as the first one or even better. This is what John says about it: "Therefore, what you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you will abide in both the Son and in the Father", 1John 2:24. And Christ also mentions a bad example: "And you have borne, and have patience, and for My name's sake you have laboured and have not fainted. But I have against you that you left your first love", Rev.2:3-4.
Many fear they won't make it to the end of their long journey or that they won't simply end this earthly carrier still fresh and loving the Lord with all they have in a pure way. The chances that we reach the end of our way holding the first love, or even a better one, depend directly from the fact that we depend on the Lord and love Him unconditionally and that we learned to live only today out to the full. Eternity is best understood when only today fills our minds with the blessing of the Lord.
Massive Light creates a vision of the darkness and shades around us and we should never blame light for it. Light causes us to see what darkness is all about.
If it is true that there is a time for everything under the sun, we may rest assured that today is the right time for something special which, in the past, was something out of time and which we should not touch then. Let's touch it today and do the right thing without wondering if it is the right time to do it or not.
For any person whose mind thinks the other way round or whose inclination is to be otherwise, it is wrong to think the right way. For people who love to see things crooked, the straight way does not make sense. Straight things can't be good for a crooked person; for an abnormal man, normal things are strange and unacceptable; for hatred, love is evil and lies because hatred can't believe anyone can love anyone; for those who please people, pleasing God is a crime; for grudges, the peace of heart is madness; and, for the sinner, spotlessness and purity is the most crazy thing one can think of or work for. People believe things according to personal views and never according to truth. It is no wonder that the main message Jesus wishes to put across to this crazy world is that people believe in the truth! Isn't it strange? The most easy thing for us should be to believe the truth and it isn't.
Because the doctrines of prosperity are so widely spread today and even though these doctrines are not that new at all, every person is starting to think of faith as a way to achieve most for fleshly purposes and to put God to work for the flesh and for human purposes. People always believe what suits them must be the will of God and their 'faith' is quickened because they think of it as God's will. Even though everything we do must end up in a perfect way, we need to have in mind that work and labour are the instruments here and not God. When God blesses work it means it must be used to learn the ways of God and, most especially, to learn how to deal with the Lord. By doing all things through the Lord we learn to know God as He is and how He does things. God is not there for the sake of work, but work is there for the sake of God.
The heart which is easily quietened in the presence of God is the sort of heart that will be troubled in His absence. The opposite of it is also true: every heart which is at ease in the absence of God will be troubled with His presence.
Far from God people believe and hope to have everything they shall lose. Near God those same people believe they shall lose what they can surely receive. This is why lack of faith is so offensive.
There is a direct link between living today while it is today and to be found faithful to the end of our road. The more we live today to the full, the easier it shall be to remain faithful to the end. Whoever lives away from his duties, is not faithful and the kind of heart that is conceived and created while doing that will live on with the person who has it. Consequently, no such person may ever believe he or she will be faithful to the end if daily faithfulness is not at work now. This said, we must know that whoever walks with God and maintains His pace will never be ahead or behind Him. Faithful people have a firm, unwavering and accurate walk. If we know how to walk with the Lord and follow Him all the time, we must also know to consecrate all to Him as we do things successfully. The more and the easier it is for us to consecrate or concentrate all in Him, the more liberty He shall grant us to do whatever He inspires us to do.
If you are in sin, be sure to believe God will not hear you on any issue besides that sin – that’s faith. Once you have clean hands, make sure you are able to believe God the opposite, it is, believe as He promises to grant and that He shall hear you about any issue.
It is not always true that a calm person (non-active one) is a patient one. In fact, many impatient people react towards impatience by being bored, inactive and by having a calm appearance on the outside. Neither is working hard synonymous of impatience. God sees the heart, not the outward appearance.
If a close friend and brother does not come out to help you, or if an enemy offends you in some way, the temptation to think bad about someone is one and the same. Beware of bad thoughts!
Hasty people are the ones who are usually late or get behind schedule very easily. Such people have the means to be late or behind schedule because they are hasty and do things in a way which will keep calling their attention back to it; and they will always make haste because they feel they are behind and late. So, if you ever find yourself late or behind schedule, try to do the things you can do in a perfect way as if you are in time and up to date. That will help you to be in time or in schedule later on. "In your patience possess your souls".
To be able to hear God means I am in a state where God can hear me as well. If I hear Him, it means He hears me and vice-versa. Do you hear God? Does He really hear you?
Daniel put in his heart he would not defile himself and stayed true to his resolution. However, we don't read that he made any sort of vow at all. It was a resolution of the heart. Paul also said to the Corinthians, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified". He had determined it in His heart and it was not a vow of any kind at all. He fulfilled that purpose of the heart. On the other hand, Jacob made solemn vows and also fulfilled most of them. We know Paul also made some vows to better maintain his course. God does not ask us to vow anything nor does He say we should not vow. All God wants from us is to be obedient to truth one way or another.
God grants life so we may obey Him. The deceived, however, believe we must obey to have life and many others believe, since they already have life, they do not need to fulfil and obey anymore. But, the error is of the same kind because had they not life they would try to obey. They believe the same thing even though they seem different.
The Bible does not only tell us there is a way which is wrong and leads us to death. It says, "there is a way that seems right which leads to death", Prov.16:25; 14:12.
People easily believe in lies as if they were truths and reject truths as if they were lies. For as long as the heart of man is given to illusion and unrealities, it shall always react that way towards lies and truths. The heart which does not believe in truth, will believe lies. There is no such thing as not believing anything.
I can't consider as a blessing all the money preachers ask from their congregation or hearers. It can't be. Not even when someone complains about financial difficulties which moves people's hearts. It is not the same as asking God for whatever things we need and without asking anyone else or mentioning it to them. Besides, we have been called to preach the gospel and not to look for blessings from mortal men.
We should get involved with God in our lives. His presence should be a reality and not a belief or a wishful assumption. We should take care of our own lives just as a woman would care to hold to her dress rather than be found complaining or fighting the wind when it blows her clothes up. It is shameful that sinners hold on to sin to fight it off them when it blows upon them, tempting them, rather than holding on to Jesus with both hands. "But that which you have, hold fast unto it till I come", Rev.2:25.
Does the Serpent still get you to sin easily? Is the devil a difficult enemy to you? That's because God might not be an easy friend to you yet. If it is easy and natural to have God as a friend, it shall be easy to defeat the devil. And it shall be difficult to sin.
To disbelieve lies, is faith. Just dare to be unbelieving towards lies and truth will be easily absorbed and believed by the kind of heart you have.
Just as much as we need to talk to convince people of truth through God, there are times wee need to be quiet to achieve those same results.
An idea of God may become an image in our minds. To live according to that image inside, to respect and serve an idea of God is idolatry. If God is real in us, He is not with us and it does not matter what we say about Him or what we believe. “Little children, guard yourselves from idols”, 1John 5:21. Isn't it strange that John should tell his own children who have come out of idols and idol worship to stay away from idols? God must be real to us and not an imagination, however precise that image may be.
You may have goodness described in good words without having goodness itself, or your words may seem ruff and abrupt, yet they may carry all goodness in them from deep within. Being defined as rude and unkind doesn't mean you are unkind. Usually, when people wish to hear some flattering words and they don't hear them from you, they have that as unkind. People see as kind those words they wish to hear.
Instead of ceasing to pray (giving up) because God is not hearing you, cease from sin and God will answer you quickly enough.
If the devil uses the stuff in man to make him self-willed, it means salvation is to be fully submitted unto God and not only fully made free from the devil. Self is the domain of sin in man, not the devil. The devil stands to sin as the wind stands towards burning wood - nothing more. The devil blows upon man so he may burn in desire and all kinds of sin.
Whenever money is short or people lack certain essential things, they stand up against God and annoy Him with complaints. But, as soon as they have everything they want they start serving some other gods and many personal interests or material gods. Let me ask you something: next time you lack something, why won't you complain against the gods you serve? Ask Mammon next time you need if you are going to deny God after He has provided!
We think that to resist God is to be devilish and bad in the way we talk and behave. However, most instances of resistance against God are those where people try to imitate God or impersonate godly virtues. We shouldn't look loving - we should be loving. Let's breed sincerity above all else.
Every time life traps you and you fall on your knees, remain as you are and pray. You are already in the position you should be found. Thank God problems have put you the way you ought to be before problems came.
Every tree is yesterday's seed. Never despise a small and insignificant seed.
Wrinkles do not hurt anyone. I believe the women who fight wrinkles off them are involved in the wrong fight. Sin hurts - not wrinkles.
Your disappointment might be God's appointment. Never complain against Him. On the other hand, your appointment might be God's disappointment. We need to be synchronized with God to love the things He loves.
If we talk a lot it shall be very difficult to listen and discern when others say - or even what God has to say. It doesn't mean He would say anything to someone who talks too much, but in case He did, discernment and listening would be very difficult. Remember it whenever your heart refuses to be still before God.
Old age is like a life's savings. We draw from what we have been saving and building right through our lives. How rich are you in the things of God?
So God may talk to you in a way you can understand, you must work on having a heart like His and His interests. You must become able to understand God and His ways because He will never change - not even for your sake.
An independent spirit is always a spirit that seeks the attention of others. Isolating yourself is usually a way to blackmail people into giving you some attention you believe you deserve. Whoever ceases to seek other people's attention usually ceases to be independent as well.
God crucifies without pity every person He wishes to grant a resurrection without measure.
If the devil uses only what man is to cause him to stumble or fall, we may assume that to save man is to save him from himself and to submit him to the Lord unconditionally. The reign and sphere of sin is in man and not outside him. The devil inspires man to sin or tempt him, depending on whether man loves sin or not. When man loves sin, the devil inspires him; if man hates sin he tempts. It is man who reigns over his own sin and not the devil, (Gen.4:7).
The Bible does not say there is a way which will seem wrong to the eyes of man and end up in death – it will seem right and feel right to follow, Prov.16:25; 14:12. Yet, it is the wrong way.
People will believe a lie is a truth and a truth is a lie easily whenever their heart is not sound. Unbelieving people believe lies most easily - you may put it to the test. It all depends n the sort of heart you have.
I cannot regard it as blessing when people say God has provided while they ask for money in church. If and when God leads, it may be regarded as a blessing, yes, but, people easily regard silver and gold as the full blessing of a present God and it is not - it can never be. Sometimes it is proof of His absence.
A rich man is to be tested by his riches, just as any poor man will be tested by his or others' poverty.
Coldness of heart makes sin sleep and hibernate like a bear does during winter time and that’s why unholy people believe the best things about themselves. And heat, by coming, makes laziness wonder why it is not sleeping anymore. The fire of God annoys people easily.
There are those who live fighting defeat off them and there are those who live sticking to a New Life and Living all the way. There are such who believe they will manage to live by striking the new life too.
The way of sin has no way out for any of us. Besides, it keeps us so blind we wouldn't see the way out were there any.
Sin is like bees: if you mess against them you mess with them. If you play with them, you mess with them too. If you are presumptuous for or against sin, you mess with it; if you bribe sin, tease it, accept it, you mess with it. Whatever you do to sin, it has only one way to deal back with you and that is to sting you - and there are some people deadly allergic to a sting of a bee. The Bible says, “Resist not evil…” and it says, “Sin not” as well.
The things of God are not magical - they are for real, however great and wonderful they are. Look at them as reality so that you won't harm your soul by offending God.
Most people go to church today in order not to fix their lives with God. They abhor feeling the need to fix it. Going to church became synonymous of a mockery to God. People go there to feel Christian-like and not to be Christians anymore.
Every kind of false suggestion in the form of inner voices means only there are certain things we would love to hear. A false voice or suggestion needs to find a false heart to be heard.
Not pleasing people hurts self only. It is a selfish thing. If you are pleasing people you are deluding yourself. You are pleasing yourself. Remember that whoever is able to please people has also the means in him to displease them, especially when pleasing them is not rewarded.
One's life may be full and not be fulfilling; one's heart may be filled and, yet, might not be distributing the Bread of Life to those around us.
If you are faithful under law and obligations, you are faithful to whatever you do as the rich young man had been. If you are able to fulfil under freedom, you are faithful to whatever you are in and through God. That's why you are made free: to do under freedom whatever you couldn't do before under the grip of sin. And sin calls for law. Were there no transgressors, there would be no law. "The law is not intended for righteous people but for lawbreakers and rebels", 1Tim.1:9. "Why, then, was the law given? It was added because of transgressions", Gal.3:19.
Whoever pleases people and consequently does not please God, is an unpleasant, self-seeking person. Such people can be easily manipulated by people who are against God. Those who please people are the ones who become unpleasant.
If you have the power to look back to something, something is holding you there which calls you back - that's why you look back. It has a hold on your heart which you need to break away from.
Insecurity only feels safe feeling insecure; unbelief feels good by unbelieving; fear feels well by fearing; anger feels fulfilled pointing to rage, including revenge; impatience feels better by being impatient. Let's beware of feeling well and at 'peace' about something, because not all peace is the peace of heaven. There is a kind of peace the world is able to grant.
What a blessed tempest is the one which is able to drive us to the Lord Jesus. If the bees of accusations cause you to seek refuge in the Lord, thank God for them. And if those bees scare you to the point of refusing to open the door which separates you from them, it is a good thing. How blessed is the whit's end that makes you seek a new start in the Lord. How blessed it must be when a bad tongue makes you promise before God you shall not speak evil again.
Wherever I go, I must know I am in a rescue mission and that people are drowning in sin.
Everything that does not start with the approval and the blessing of God will always end without the consent and the approval of the one who started it. We are able to start many things without the approval of God. Even if I firmly believe that many start with the Lord and end alone, it is true that many things are started without God. Those shall be the things that disappoint whoever started them. Also, some people have a bad start and end well because they have found the Lord along their way. Judas ended in a very bad way having started with the Lord; and the man at the cross ended up in heaven having started with in a very bad way.
Every person who keeps himself clean and spotless from the world will always end up in heaven with the Lord going through many doubts and pains along the way. And every man who allows things to stain his life or conscience will undoubtedly end up without his first love, even if he has found many certainties along the way. God will spit him out of His pure mouth. It happens because faith is fruit of a relationship and is not something born with self. If that relationship is struck by sin, faith will shipwreck, (1Tim.1:9).
If you fear to get into God's will, you also fear to get out of your own will. You have a double problem to sort out with God.
If tiredness assaults us near a Living God, it means we are not drinking from the Fountain as regularly, or as exclusively, or as properly as we should. The New Life does not tire us out.
A weak person is not the one who is sick. The weak man is the one who lives in sin.
The diploma I wish to receive is this: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things”, Mat.25:21. The rest doesn't really matter to me. (I received this from someone a long time ago).
Appearance is not transparency because it covers up. We need to walk in the light - not in appearance.
John states that the “Spirit is the truth” (1 John 5:7) and not merely that the Spirit is truthful; He is the truth itself abiding in us and living in us whatever we should be living. “...In ourselves we have the testimony...”, 1 John 5:10. It is a good thing that you really have it before you testify about truth. If you talk about truth without having Him (who is the truth) abiding in you, you shall cause people to see God as an illusion or as a liar. They will see you as a liar and you shall criticise them because you don't see yourself lying. You are too blind and too hard to see that. Let's seek to have Him for real.
If faith comes by the hearing, then, hearing must include obeying and, consequently, unbelief comes by disobeying and by not having heard or not having heard as we should have.
When you see other people's faults or sins easily, you should know you know those things by experience and not only by sight. Somehow, you are guilty of them or have been before. Whenever you find yourself taking notice of every sin your neighbour has, be sure that is what you should cleanse your heart from. Choose to clean your life and do not use other's faults to cover up yours or just to minimize them to feel upgraded in some way.
It is impossible to take advantage of the good will of any holy man because such a man walks the second mile while you will only ask him to walk one.
Fear does not protect - it threatens. Be careful when you fear evil easily. It can cause you to get out of a safe hiding place.
Whoever wishes to apply what he learns form the Lord upon others is surely not converted yet, or, at least, not as converted as he should be. And it doesn't really matter what he believes about himself.
In the parable of the sower Jesus solemnly said that what could and would turn the word of the living God fruitless is not man's power or persecution, nor the devil's. The only things capable of turning it fruitless are the cares of this world. If my life is right with God, opposition, persecution, hunger, thirst, war and lovelessness cannot make God's word become fruitless. Any kind of persecution will only turn it even more ablaze. The flame will only become bigger, stronger and better. Only the cares of this present world are capable of extinguishing the flame of God in us. Not even the devil can achieve what worries do achieve.
Above obtaining a martyr's crown, I would rather receive a heart like Jesus'.
"Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him" (Mathew Henry).
We cannot cross the line of the cares of God. When God won't take care, simply don't go. And when God is taking care of you in any situation, simply go. Never hesitate, however difficult it seems.
Satan uses only what man is to make him what he has never been as creation.
Whenever the Bible is difficult for us to understand and, also, to be made practical every moment of our existence, the person who reads it is the only one to blame for it. Either the Light does not reach man because of some sin separating him from God; or the person would rather understand it some other way or understand something else from what is read. If any man does not understand mathematics, is it mathematics' fault? This is why we read this way: “...And hard to be explained since you have become dull of hearing”, Heb.5:11.
There is no being on this earth who is not in a terminal state. However, instead of letting people feel sorry for us because of the fact that we are dying beings, we should pay attention to these words of Jesus at once: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children", Lk.23:28. Can your heart truly express itself that way under the same circumstances Jesus was?
To be plain and truthful is always a blow on self and not so much on other people. And if other people are hurt, it means self has been hurt and not life. To be straight forward hurts only sin and self. Others always benefit from it one way or another, sooner or later. However, speaking the truth without inner truthfulness never has the same effect and neither carries the same blessing as speaking the truth in honesty and while being truthful from the inner man. "Do not My words do good to him who walks uprightly?", Mic.2:7.
To pray without ceasing, is to pray until you have an answer. To carry on after that, is to be a deaf, unbelieving hypocrite. To stop before that is negligence. To pray without ceasing, is to pray without giving up before God answers.
Fear to lose turns us into selfish beings just as the fear not to win or not to overcome through Jesus.
Spiritual rottenness starts the moment we cease to grow spiritually in God and in truthfulness.
Religion stands to God as homosexuality stands to marriage.
If your communion with God is real and truthful and your cup runs over with simplicity, every defect turns into an effect and into a repercussion which solemnly assures you that God is real. If you have an unconditional, real and surrendered relationship to the Lord along with whatever it implies, every opportunity to err shall be turned into a unique way to do the right thing the right way. The error shows you the opposite way or the way out. Simply try it out and put these words to the test.
Repentance is also to change your opinion about your sin, about your living and to be open to see all things the way God sees them, it is, the way they really are.
Allow Jesus to play your instrument, especially that one you have a high esteem for, it is, your heart and life. Let Him be the one to blow on it softly and do not think that there must be tempests to have you run towards heaven. Often, I hear people say: "if it wasn't for this or that, I would not have come to God!" Shame on them! Let's come to God for His sake. "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the service of righteousness shall be quietness and hope forever", Is.32:17. "To whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. Yet they were not willing to hear... he who believes shall not hurry", Is.28:12,16.
If people break houses and rob treasures everywhere, please do not hinder any such who is assaulting people's hearts to grant them freedom from self and salvation from sin.
On the long run of this Life every disciplined person who is full of the Lord will always end his way fresher and less tired than he has started it.
There is nothing in this wide world you can possess which is able to satisfy your heart in any way. The only One who can fill the emptiness of your heart until it runs over is the Lord Jesus in the absence of these substitutes in your heart. He must be real in you to all.
Because Jesus' world and atmosphere is invisible we need to use parables, stories and similarities to understand it better, especially when we do not make part of it yet. "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display... the Kingdom of God is inside you", Lk.17:20,21. However, religious fantasy and dead churches use the same allegorical speech to impress people and bind to deliver them to hell. The religious inaptitude often searches ways from the Bible to maintain itself hypocritical till that day. Unreal religious living can never be considered life because it is not life. However, because we often talk about Jesus in a allegoric way or through parables, it does not mean He is not real; and, by applying truthful ways to religious fantasy can't turn it into reality either.
To sort out how it feels to climb a mountain is not the same as climbing it; to know about love and how it works is not the same as loving instinctively and spontaneously from nature. That kind of love and practical living is possible only when Christ is real unto us. I cannot allow imagination to deceive me into believing I already do something by thinking about it. The more so since it is very simple to live in Christ: it must only be real! When it is real it is very easy.
Ignorance must be a huge sin. How can it not be? We have such a wise Lord so near us whose solemn New Testament is to teach every person in this world! Ignorance must be a mixture of many sins indeed.
No one wishes to get old, but almost everyone wants time to pass by quickly.
Instead of giving up on any person, give that person up to God.
“My deep desire, oh Lord, is that my Children become fit and able to transmit and teach properly what they live out and practice, above practicing what they teach. Amen.”
Some evangelical leaders who are scarcely or seldom led by God (because they lack a genuine relationship with Him which they refuse to fix), breed in them and around them this selfish lust to have all flow in the kind of harmony their minds conceive and think on. They usually compromise certain heavenly values for the sake of whatever they believe peace is. Let us remember that there is no friction in a machine which is not working. Dead people do not fight. Any cemetery seems peaceful. Most evangelical leaders seek to have a cemetery where they can walk around and not a real church. Dead people do not have differences among themselves. It is no wonder such leaders bear so little genuine fruit and the fruit they bear is so weak and carries such a bad smell that the rest of the world easily rejects it.
Whoever does not feign insubordination by assuming it openly before God, I mean, whoever doesn't cover it up, will neither be able to feign submission to Him when he is submitted for real, especially when God has already finished His work in that heart and soul. And every person who feigns to be submissive holding on to a stubborn heart has a greater difficulty to be converted for real to the Lord.
Humanity does not accept God only because He is not evil and does not commune with sin. If God desired everything that is done in a bar or in a disco, most people, with the exception of pure ones, would love Him.
No man needs to be dreaming about great things to be able to carry them out. The only thing that man needs for real is to see God as He is and be sober about Him while all greater works are carried out in due time right in front of his eyes. The greatness of man is never taken into account when God's greater works are carried out. It is not man's greatness which carries them out.
A true servant of God is not aware that he is a servant: he is aware of the Lord.
Jesus simply waits in full silence until the whole of the will of man is fully surrendered for real. It must be that will surrendering itself and not someone else surrendering it for him.
Full surrender to Christ can't be the surrendering of external issues and problems only. It must be the surrender of self to the kind of death Christ experiences (He died to the world and to sin). The will of man is what must be surrendered. After that is fully and really accomplished, we also may cry out as the Lord did, "It is finished!" Whatever comes after that is what resurrection is.
The worst crises of any man are usually identity crisis because he is able to trust only himself. By realizing how powerless he is, man has all to become critical. But, once we start walking the ways of God that sort of crises cease because we start to trust the Lord exclusively and in an unfeigned way.
Those people who sow sin during the day usually pray at night that their seeds don't bring forth sort-like fruit. They always pray that their sinful harvest should be poor while their heart expects the opposite. The only thing they are trying to do is to avoid the curse of sin and not sin itself.
A lost one is that person who knows how it feels to have a sick heart; the sick man is the one who becomes aware of what health really is; the child of God does not have the awareness of God's will as someone who lost the way; the child of God is better aware of what is not God's will. Temptation is temptation only to those to whom a sinful life is not their usual life.
God said: “How has the faithful city become a harlot”, Is.1:21. How ugly is it if God says such a thing about us. Shame on us! I pray that He will say of me: “How has the harlot become a faithful city!” Then He might say, “Well done faithful servant…” "But only they were hearing that he who then persecuted us, now preaches the faith which he once ravaged. And they glorified God in me", Gal.1:23,24.
People talk about grace without experiencing its workings in the heart and soul for real. It is easy to talk about grace, especially because people seem to associate it to permission to sin. It must soak our soul and being from the inside out and remove our whole being from any kind of sin. That shall be the only way for it to be fully effective in us. Most people state they are saved by grace while they never experience it in any way. Paul tells us to know the grace of God in truth, it is, in a real way, Col.1:6.
To be sent out by the Lord, one needs to be prepared by Him; to be prepared by Him, one needs to be prepared for Him; to be prepared for him one needs to see Him; to see Him one needs to have a clean heart (Mat.5:8).
If perfection was something impossible to reach, if it were not one of the easiest things to attain through a close relationship with God, then Daniel would be an alien. "But they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful. Neither was there any error or fault found in him", Dan.6:4. "Walk before Me and be perfect", Gen.17:1.
It is prudence near God which has the power to make someone wise. But, let the wise be careful never to feel saddened about the fact that he is the one who is mainly responsible to make a fool look as foolish as he is. Besides, the fool will always claim to be wise, even against clear evidence. He will also see his faults stamped in the wise man's behaviour and life, and talk about it out of anger. He might, also, say the wise is responsible for showing him as a fool. In other words, he shall blame the wise for what he considers an offence or lack of sympathy towards him. The fool loves to be seen as wise at the expenses of the wise. When he doesn't look so, he blames whoever he envies and feels offended. To be seen as wise and good, the fool often proves the wise is the bad and foolish one.
All those who did not submit themselves to the slavery of Pharaoh in Egypt did not submit themselves to God in the desert. Rebellion resides in the heart and does not depend on circumstances or the meanness of people who massacre us.
Love is great and wonderful because small beings as me are able to experience it and be filled till the cup runs over.
Saving someone for real is like changing the course of a river. No wonder it has to be done through faith! However, the Bible says, "Believe and you shall be saved", and not, "Believe and you are saved". To believe now to be saved after we can believe, is Biblical; the other doctrine that says we are already saved because we have believed was born in hell.
Whenever the devil tempts you in some way or whenever people hurt you even to the point of death, do not fight back and let trials and people talk alone. Any lion which roars inside a cage won't bite you unless you put your hand inside that cage. if you argue back or complain you are putting your hand in the cage of the problems which God is trying to free your heart from.
Laziness is stubbornness. And God considers stubbornness as idolatry or even as witchcraft, 1Sam.15:22,23. Never think of laziness as a small sin. There are no small sins.
God may live in us without using whatever we are; He can live in us using what we are as well; He also can use what we are without living in us; God can use what He is by living in us just as He may use what He is without living in any of us. God is God. He used Herod, in whom He did not live, to fulfil the prophecies concerning Jesus being born in Bethlehem; God also used Peter and Paul by living in them.
Usually the people who can harm us most are those who feel sorry for us, especially when God is trying us in some way. Wrong compassion weakens the heart of the man whom it feels sorry for. The person who best understands and upholds you is the one who knows God and has in mind He has His way to deal with you - not the person who knows you best. If someone knows you very well, he must be careful enough to listen to God above all. The person who can best help you is the one who looks into God's will when you are suffering, whether that will is to relieve you or not.
A man who gives honour to man, is one who tries to receive honour from man; one who gives honour to God, is one who receives honour from God alone. Sinful man does not give honour to whom God honours.
Why are people so bold before they become Christians and after they are converted they become wavering and faithless? Why do they face any type of trouble for the flesh's sake and complain so much after they have come to God and a greater power than the flesh can be available? Don't they know Christ said, "In this world you shall have tribulation, but I have overcome the world"? "I am with you always..."
Anyone who is euphoric about God and His deeds either has an unbelieving heart or did not expect God to act. Expectation is hope. Usually, these people try to make up for their errors by becoming euphoric. They seem to believe it makes God happy to be euphoric and it doesn't. It just proves they were unbelieving or lacking in hope and expectation.
People say they know the truth after having memorized some verses from the Bible. However, the truth cannot be memorized. In fact, most of the time we find it very hard to express truth in words. The truth is still hidden inside the verses people memorize. There is nothing wrong to memorize them, though. What is wrong is to believe that is how one is to know truth. However, as long as the Bible does not become a living experience, we are lost people thinking to be on the right track. We cannot separate truth from its reality inside us.
We always seek perfection in human beings or, at least, in someone. This shows our heart has lost the perfect one and seeks Him. The person our heart is able to love greatly and above all is perfect. We have been born far from God and we have this heart which keeps seeking the perfect being of love. We do so because we still look for the perfect being capable of satisfying and of providing the kind of love able to fill and satisfy the heart. Now we know why we are taught to love God above all and with all our hearts. God created our hearts with a craving for Him, the perfect Being we will be satisfied with forever.
When we obey God on something, we might not always guarantee the success of whatever we do immediately. The main objective of obedience is the creation or recreation of the heart. Obedience builds a heart up. The heart is the object of obedience. God would not gain anything by having Isaac sacrificed on fire except the obedient heart of Abraham. We do neither assure the success of something different from what we are doing by being obedient. Many people try to trade or do business with God and that is why they abandon God or obedience after they get whatever they desire, since their goal is reached. They say: "I will obey God in this and God will bless me in that!" It just doesn't work that way. Whatever we call the process God calls the objective or the goal. For God, obedience is the goal.
Man does not fight off what God wants as much as he fights off the way God does things. Man is quite willing to do things by might and power. God's way cripples "the arm of the flesh". It is a difficult thing for man to be mutilated and have his power feeling incapacitated and useless. His own power and capacities might be the most difficult thing to deny for the sake of God.
Every time obedience is not natural and unforced (however hard it is), disobedience is not the only sin – sin is to obey also!
People get near God only after they have given up being religious and feigning.
Whenever we do not accept realities as such, we shall only have illusion as the way out for us. It means we will remain hungry and sick in the heart.
When people get to know God's will for them, they try it and charge at it their way. When they do not find it, they wish God to do their own will God's way. Both ways mean self will still be reigning. Man's problem is a double one: he either seeks to do his will through God's power; or he seeks to do God's will through his own power. He seldom thinks of the third option: doing God's will His way and through His power, it is, as it is done in heaven.
When someone feels guilty at random, not necessarily about a specific or a specified sin, it can never serve as real conviction of sin. Isaiah felt convicted and mentioned the localization of his main sins: in his tongue, Is.6:5-7. Guilt without truthfulness, guilt through illusion, can be taken as accusations serving distractions from real issues, but never as real sin and truth about things brought forth. Someone convicted but not knowing of what, is always hiding some other sins or, at least, his attention is being diverted from issues that would matter.
Rain is not sent so there may be clouds - even if Christians act that way towards their Christian life; clouds are sent so there may be rain. Clouds are there to be emptied of themselves and of whatever they are. Rain does not come so clouds may be filled up at all. It comes to empty the clouds and heat, humidity and providence will be able to fill them all over again for that same purpose day in and day out.
Isn't your body more important than your clothes? Aren't your eyes more important than your glasses? Isn't Jesus more important than heaven?
The pure person is the person who is best protected against any kind of danger.
There are those who simulate or feign the presence of God without being in it and there are such who still pretend about it having it; there are those who believe to be far away from God being near Him, and there are those far away from Him still claiming and believing they are His; there are religious people so far away from God as hell is from heaven and there are sinners near God because they beat in their chests against their sin. In fact, in this world one finds a bit of everything. Yet, I believe the people who are most confused about a real God are those who claim to have Him.
The main problem with people in bad shape is not that they do not have hope - it is mainly that they want their own kind of hope and reject the only one there is. Their main problem is that they reject hope. They don't want to have hope.
Worrying about life is common to anyone who seeks rest through riches. We see that it was the rich fool who said, "Soul, take your rest, eat drink and be merry", Lucas 12:19. The man who seeks rest in riches is an anxious and worrying person.
If anyone applauds me when I in error, it can't mean I am right. If someone upholds my sinning, it does not mean I am saved. On the other hand, if someone condemns me in my rectitude, it can never mean I am wrong. I can't be condemned when the Lord upholds me in my ways - in His ways.
If I am thirsty and I am found either in the desert or on a sea full of water, I will die of thirst. Sea water is not drinking water, even if it is water. If I am thirsty for Christ and look for Him in the world or if I drink from a lukewarm church, I will die thirsty. We won't find living water in there at all.
Faith which is not the proof of truth, faith which does not turn truth into reality is not faith at all. "Now faith is the evidence of things not seen", Heb.11:1. It must be evidence.
When God speaks and we yield not to Him easily, it is because our hearts are not yet of the kind sheep have. Jesus said, “Sheep will hear my voice”. Instead of debating about the voice, then, debate with your heart to become sheep-like, for the problem is not with that voice, but with the heart. If you are sheep, you will be able to hear. Instead of trying to hear, try hard to be made sheep.
Praying for people in sin will always work against our own sinful criticising. Resentment dies away when we pray for people who may have sinned against God, us or anyone else. It will stop us from criticizing and from bitterness. "If anyone sees his brother sin a sin not to death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life", 1John 5:16.
Being chosen God never turns us into special beings, but makes us ready to go after those who are much special to Him and were not chosen the way you were, for whom He died also.
In the silences of those times we find ourselves expecting the Lord or from the Lord, while we wait on Him in expectation, many wavering or impatient ones start listening to themselves. They forget they are the very ones they should avoid listening to. It is against themselves, against their own opinions and own feelings they should take heed and be warned. The greatest noise is the one we find inside us. Noises outside hurt no one. Outside noises can never hinder us from hearing God - inner ones can.
The last part of any trial of anyone who has an unconditional, unfeigned and fruitful relationship with God is the most difficult part, however short it may be. Imagine someone taking his cross uphill towards Calvary to die there. To die is harder to think of or to bear than to drag that cross all the way up. Usually, the last bit of every trial kills the person or the part of the person which the rest of the trial hasn't been able to exterminate. If that last part of trials did not mean to kill the flesh for real and to give it its final blow, it means God missed the point in trying us. God would not leave His enemy at the door of death and let it live again. We need to die for real with Christ. The parallel love (or what we consider as love for family, friends or anyone else) must die. When we are facing the hardest part of any trial, let us remember that it must be close to the end or it wouldn't be that hard at all. Let us also remember that to die is the main reason why we have handed our lives to Jesus for. It is possible to flee death and turn our backs at the last moment of every trial. Let's keep the pace to the end. Why would we come thus far if we are giving up? “...For He has torn, and He will heal us; He has stricken, and He will bind us up. After two days He will bring us to life; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then we shall know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His going out is prepared as the morning; and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth” Hos.6:1-3.
If we are found walking through the night, let's remember that darkness clearly proves there must be daylight. Let's not fear and let's walk on. However, I know that the darker it is, the sooner the sun will come up. After this world is over, God takes us in and love us closer than ever. “Do not at all fear what you are about to suffer (...) And he who overcomes and keeps My works to the end (...) will not be hurt by the second death”, Rev.2:10,26,11.
Do not spare whoever loves but not according to the Lord, not even when that one is you.
Click here to read some thoughts on "THE HEART OF MAN HAS TWO SIDES".
Click here to read some "THOUGHTS ON FAITH".
A blind man can walk on a memorized way. He just needs to learn the way and be taken by the hand a few times. I often hear people praying to be taken by the hand to be kept on the way. Then, I wonder if that is not what a blind man would ask. I also believe many Christians complain about others being in their way because they don't see and stumble over them easily. Christianity today is a blind man who tries to walk.
We should be on our guard against sin or any other piece of coldness within as the Titanic should have been watchful against icebergs.
It is much easier and less burdensome to live without sin than to live with sin.
Repentance is something which can cause us to near and to enter the gates of Life. However, every sin has a cause and has its origin, has its power and its impulse, has its way and aim and it doesn't matter if you are aware of it or not. All of that should also be dealt with in a parallel way. Why would I repent of adultery if sex still fills my mind? Why would I repent of murder if I still hold grudges? Why do I confess and repent from stealing if ambitions still fill my heart? Every sin we repent from should be dealt with from its roots and consequences. Repentance without conversion avails us nothing.
All of us just know how hard it is, sometimes, to achieve certain goals in this world. When we apply for a job, we need to go through the difficulty of an interview to be selected; if we wish to become doctors, we need to study a lot and to be examined; we need also need to become practical in all the difficult things we learn; if we wish to marry we shall need to pass the nervous experience of being in the centre of the attention of all who attend our marriage; when we want to become engineers or architects we need to go through those difficult examinations for which we have been preparing ourselves for many years. Now, allow me to ask you who consider yourself believers: why would you believe that you do not need to go through trying situations to become a faithful man of God? Why, do you believe, should the doctrine of Christ become easy and immediate to you? The Christian heart needs to be formed while all the things. Forming a heart to improve our transformation and to let it find the proper roots in the heart is a harder task than to learn about something. We must know we must go through John the Baptist before we can see Christ. John's words are a hard test to many. Will you submit yourself to such examination? And we need to go through Christ to come to the Holy Spirit and to go through the Holy Spirit to enter heaven.
The general belief is that when someone is filled with the Spirit he ceases to have problems. It is also generally accepted that such people need to read less from the Bible and have less of its true understanding. However, there is no one in this wide world who needs more of God's word than he that is filled with the Spirit. And a filled man has many problems around him and all words of God need to be burned into him in order that his heart may become the Word itself. Before, the world was friendly to him, but now it troubles him greatly.
There is a huge difference between being reproved by God and being rejected by the Lord. When God reprimands us it means He is still with us. When He rejects us, He means to show us He is against us. "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons", Heb.12:7. Chastening means he treats us as sons. "I will stand on my watch and set myself on the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved", Hab.2:1.
The best way to stop being stubborn and quarrelsome is to be right and in right standing with God. If we are right, we have nothing to discuss about. God will also cause our light to shine very far and very right. The person who is right needs very few arguments to convince anyone else. We shouldn't compete with truth - we should be truth itself and be truthful about it.
People say faith needs no proof and proof of it is fleshly. I cannot agree with that, for faith has a great and distinct proof from within, however invisible.
Whoever talks about his neighbour is also someone who doesn't want, or doesn't know how, or refuses to exhort or reprimand his neighbour the right way or in the shortest manner. This is why we find gossiping, lovelessness and lack of exhortation linked in the Bible. "You shall not go as a slanderer among your people; you shall not stand against the blood of your neighbour. I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall always rebuke your neighbour, and not allow sin on him". Lev.19:16,17. People will rather gossip about someone else's sins than save them from all sin. Gossiping is a weapon of of a coward unloving man or woman.
There was a man who believed God could turn a stone into a son of Abraham. There was another who believed God would touch an old, dry womb which never conceived before and bring an heir from there; Jesus walked on water and it was never strange to Him to do so; I can and must walk on troubles with a lighted heart. I guess I can trust Him, just as much a stone would after having become a son of Abraham.
Giving up is not a kind of weakness as some suppose, but rather a high degree of resistance against God. Resisting Him means our death and not His. There is no greater cause of tiredness than to try to serve sin inside the Temple of God. It easily causes people to give up on God - on whom they have already given up by serving sin and do not realize it. "But you are profaning it when you say, The table of the Lord, it is polluted; and its fruit, His food, is to be despised. You also said, Behold, what a weariness it is! And you have puffed at it, says the Lord of Hosts. And you bring plunder, and the lame, and the sick, and you bring the food offering. Should I accept it from your hand, says the Lord?", Mal.1:12-13.
Above Scripture there is God, but it is Scripture which tells us about Him, how to get to Him, how to stay with Him. Yet, there are those who read Scripture more than saints do, and they simply don't know God.
Half of what Catholics do is not Biblical the other half is for themselves; half of whatever evangelical churches do is solemnly Biblical, but they do most of the things to please themselves backed up by the way they use or understand the Bible.
Nowhere do we see Jesus belonging to the Synagogues because we don't see the Synagogues belonging to Jesus.
God's will is that we live in heaven before we die.
When the Bible says “The burden of the Lord”, it is there so we may be enticed to find His rest or our rest in Him – not ours by disobeying and by ignoring the burden, whether the burden is prayer or simply obedience. We cannot afford to cease to pray before our rest is fully restored - even if it takes years.
If you grant God no rest whatsoever about holy things and about such things He solemnly cares about, it means you will never rest about them yourself. Did the widow rest by going to the judge to bother him all night? "And give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth", Is.62:7.
Adultery destroys homes, gives birth to bad temper, kills people, schemes evil, plans to kill, knows how not to be ashamed when it should, twists things and says bitter is sweet. It says sin is love, perverts a community, has no morals, despises loved ones, kills a own life within, banishes God from within it by believing God is still in it, conceives suicide, blinds the eye that sees, pronounces lovely words in the name of sin; opens a way to abortion, murder and divorce; lies even to itself; is always hiding from God and people; is hypocritical, it feigns, is double hearted and hateful; pleases people so it may be taken as loveable and adorable and so it may achieve whatever it stains. I believe there is no end to the guilt of any adulterous heart. But, the greatest evil attached to it, is that it leaves God and does not feel lost at all. And it brings a child into the world outside marriage: premarital sex will always be a child of adultery. (Premarital sex is adultery). If God is against any who destroys his own body, just how will He be against such who destroy a whole home?
Being chosen to hear means not we are chosen to come into heaven, but rather to come into Christ – our heaven here and hereafter. We are chosen to hear, we are chosen to become holy, chosen to a holy calling – it is a calling, not an assumption. If anyone does not turn himself into a holy vessel having all at his reach to be so, such will be a dishonouring vessel forever. We read: “… as He chose us in Him … that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”, Eph 1:4. That is what we are chosen for. And we also read: “… being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will, for us to be to the praise of His glory, who previously had trusted in Christ”, Eph 1:11,12. The “praise of His glory” we read here, is right here on earth: let there be no mistake concerning that! It means "the Life that now is..." 1Tim.4:8. If you don't come to experience it for real, you have been chosen for nothing and your guilt is greater.
When someone asks from God, he is always put before a double reason never to receive from God: the looking after signs because of a lack of faith or because of a lack of reality in unseen things; or because of the selfishness of receiving from God (whether it is a calling to pride, greed, mere relief from strain when receiving or any other). Nevertheless, there is no sound reason for any sinner, or any unbelieving creature, or even a selfish inquirer to near God through a request. However, it is possible to reach God if we believe He can hear us however we are found. In the process of knocking at His door at midnight or at any other inconvenient time or way, (and if we do not give up before He attends or hears us), we might be changed. When God nears us, changes of heart occur because there is faith in Him. The word “pray without ceasing” means just that: that you and I will not give up (never cease) for whatever reasons one may think. There is the reality of a fluid nature of God which removes sin if we near Him (if there is sin), extinguishes it along with unbelief and exchanges selfishness smoothly for a real Godly nature, along with the change motives from deep within. There is no man that will stay unbelieving nearing a real God - as long as He is real or we wait and do not cease to call until He is real; there is no sin that will not be put to death by being enlightened, especially if we endure the pain of looking into our own sin and resist the temptation to try to be good instead, or even give up because of nearing a living, changing and updating God. The request might serve as the mobile to change us. He is the Saviour from all sin and He will never throw out by condemning whoever comes to Him. I, therefore, believe firmly that no sinner should even come as far as thinking to stay away from Him as soon as he realizes he is no good or is unbelieving. In fact, realizing that should encourage anyone even more to near Him. Let’s be glad there are requests to be made still which will cause us to enter the sanctifying Sanctuary of a Living, changing and updating graceful God. All requests are pretexts for God to change us. Let’s never stop praying then. God will be glorified if we are changed to the point where we are made to bear that kind of fruit for Him which we, at first, would want for us. One has to come to the point where all requests are granted, either because our mind is changed according to God’s by having the mind of Christ fully established in us, coming to the point where we are answered and given even before we whisper any request, Is.65:24. Perseverance is the key to be turned spotless and believing. My brother and sister, never cease to pray for whatever reason, never give up on God, nor become foolish enough to believe God will grant if you do not near Him to be changed during the time you spent nearing Him or if you cease and give up along the way. Prayer is like entering heaven: if we endure to the end we will receive our crown; but, it will be the Crown of God and not ours, nor will it be put on the heads of anyone else besides Him. God is gracious: near Him always, with or even without sin. Even for spotless people there will be a lasting blessing if they do not cease to pray, and remain near a Living God. Be faithful, open the heaviness of your heart before God and get going to receive your double crown. It is a double crown because you receive a change of heart along with your request. God be with you.
The Christian world has been learning to teach and not learning to learn from God. The whole of the New Testament is that we are taught personally in the inner man by God Himself. A learning spirit differs from a teaching spirit, just as a spirit which learns to walk will differ from those who merely learn to know. One who learns to know seeks to teach others so he can hide his unfaithfulness; and the one who learns to walk is the only example worth beholding, for such people have in them a learning spirit which is worth following; such have a great Teacher and you should rather learn from them, even if it means learning from a child. It is obvious that a learning spirit is the easiest prey to a teaching one and shall learn to teach and not to walk. Therefore, the reason why obedient people hear the voice of a shepherd and run away from all other voices is that they are able to obey Him. Sheep follow examples, just as wolves follow those who are do not walk the way of God as He would. And the greatest feature in a learning spirit is that it shall not listen to you unless you are like it. That is why many preachers please people. They wish to have their churches full by pleasing others.
A believer that does not see God, is like a blind man in the sun who cannot see anything through its light. That man feels the heat of the sun, but is blind to se through its light. However, most people consider themselves believers when they do not see God in His presence. It should be a greater proof that they are blind and not a consolation.
If you take a shower, it is because you feel dirty and are not ashamed to say how you feel because all will think it strange when someone does not wash himself. And many are not ashamed to realize and to tell others they need a shower. If this is true, why would people refuse to acknowledge they need to wash their conscience and soul in the blood of the Lord, confessing each sin by its name?
Take heed what conscience tells you, for it might be the only honest opinion about yourself there is. Whatever it thinks of you and your ways is seldom far from truth. It is not so with what other people think and believe about you. What they think is a problem they have, what conscience tells you might be a problem you have. Nevertheless, there are those who care more about other people's opinions (even honest ones), than what conscience is crying to tell. Even if conscience is not clear enough, it is the only opinion you can say that tries really hard to be accurate by instinct.
When we are touched by God, we often distinguish between what kind of touch it is. Well, if it is God who is touching, it means a blessing, whether it is through pain or through gain. Mind you, if you are holy, and it is God who is touching you, you should rejoice and have hope, for it is not sin that touches you or its consequences.
If we judge because we have sins, we cannot think to save anyone but ourselves. We are the ones upon whom we should put the focus of our eyes. By judging, all we are trying to do is to avoid feeling judged ourselves. If we are freed from bitterness, however, it means we are made free from sin. This is where the world, by looking at us, feels judged even when we haven't said a word to them at all. God loves this kind of judgment. “For I, the LORD, love judgment”, Is.61:8.
Most of Christians’ works are mere words of speech. The greater the speech today, the greater the Christian seems to be. It seems Christians are seldom representatives of themselves. They, quite often, put themselves forth as representatives of Christianity but never of themselves. These often talk a lot, arrange words, get to pulpits to preach what they learned but never put their own private lives forth. I have travelled some of the world already and I found hypocritical Christians everywhere – whatever they preach seldom matches what they live and experience personally. Maybe, it is because they would need to preach about error if they were to preach on what they live. If you cannot put forth your own living, don't be too quick to represent Christ, for He will judge you on those grounds. The essence of Christianity is a Life which is vivid and which one is seldom able to hide away. Christ should be visible and standing out all the time. All your words should be mere assumptions of what people clearly see living in you. Jesus said that by "their fruits you will know them". Seldom are words regarded as fruit unless you were Isaiah or another Jeremiah. Take good heed because it is by our words that we will be judged one day – those we may have said and those we didn’t speak as well. Does your walk show that God lives? Paul said “…lest proclaiming to others I myself might be rejected”, 1Cor.9:27. Make sure you live with God before you tell others to do so and God will bless you.
Never look up to the clouds to see Jesus coming - no, rather look into your heart, for "Christ in you is the (ONLY) hope of glory". When Christ talked about His coming, His intention was not to make people look up for the signs in the sky in order to find out when or how it shall happen, but rather that people be prepared and ready in themselves when all those things happen because they shall happen. "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?" Act 1:11 If your heart is spotless, you shall see God in your heart and later on as well, Mat.5:8.
Whenever someone deviates from truth and right, there is no other way out but lies or repentance. There is nothing left between truth and lies, not even a void, just as there is nothing besides life and death, nor between curse and a blessing. God said, “I put before you a curse and a blessing, life and death”. Nothing more. There is no twilight between darkness and light, even though illusion says there is.
Many thousands of people say God has to call them into ministry or anything else. Jesus says as well "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me", John 12:26. All you have to do is follow Him and not wait to be called as Paul had been. "Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work", 1Tim.3:1. Our ministry is to follow Him. Many enter the ministry because they desire to enter and put it before the Lord and God blesses their work.
All hypocrites are abortions of their own creation, dying even before they are born. Their only growth happens physically, for in all that matters they cannot grow - they are dead; they only grow into death, and anything they do whether good or bad, is just one more stain in an extremely dirty garment. There is no sin like hypocrisy. Jesus gave the impression it was something He deeply regretted looking at and hated to see in man. There is no sinner Jesus called a viper but hypocrites. Beware and don't feign to believe in Him - rather say you don't believe Him and, perhaps, your sincerity will attract grace to open eyes to see.
There are many Christians who seek to live before they die with Christ. All is done to spare self, to let it live in all liberty and they often say "Where is the God of justice?" when it does not happen that way. Remember how David, sometimes, put his enemies under slavery instead of killing them? The flesh will rather be enslaved than dead, even if it is often rebuked by the Word and obliged to act friendly to the Spirit or look spiritual by changing its countenance. It can try hard to live a 'gospel' where it doesn't die. Beware and desire deeply to carry the cross to death instead of carrying it permanently to avoid to dying. many even threaten to give up to blackmail God with their own lives, especially when they are the ones who asked God to lead their lives for them. To give up is to try to convince God to give in by force. "Unless God does this or that, I give up on Him!" "Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, 'Wherein have we wearied him?'" Mal.2:17. To give up is to resist God. It is the ultimate resource to avoid the death of the cross, it is, to avoid a real death at the Cross.
If one is affected by the wind, why are there so many people seemingly affected and the wind is not blowing? Why are so many seemingly happy and there is no real joy in them? Why do people sing the wrong way since they can have and breed the right kind of song in the heart with real joy? Why do people seem to be lost when they find reality and feel found when they find illusion? Why does folly affect them and not a heavenly truth which lasts forever? Oh Lord, there is no explanation for human folly.
When there is someone better than you according to any standard, whether it be spiritually or physically, you loose nothing if it is indeed so; and if there you find someone worse off than yourself, you gain nothing by it either. Search the world and you will find no reason to be other than yourself before God and man. To be yourself, however, is less than what God requires from you, for God deeply desires that you walk as you are, that you live as you are and that only. Humility is to live from what you are as you are near a living and a changing God who often updates the being you become.
There are people who move away from preachers and churches to search out for the Lord, and to be able to find Him. They close their eyes to be able to see; they shut their ears to be able to hear God. And we say "amen" to that! However, we may ask: "Whose fault is it that lost sheep need to do that sometimes?" I would not like to be found in the same table as those faulty preachers when the Lord comes!
Confusion can be a great help in making sure about truthful issues. Don't let the devil lead you into despair through it, though. Accepting to stay in the storm is not good. Any storm turns a quite corner visible. If you are caught up within a storm of lies, a quiet truthful corner is what catches the eye better. In a dark place, it is a small ray of light that calls attention easily.
You should hate sin just as much as the devil hates God.
The devil does not hate God as much as he loves himself. And he hates God quite a lot!
Any child may laugh because you laugh, or cry just because you cry. Adults may laugh because of what you laugh and cry because of what you cry about. So, if your heart is pure and honest all the time and it reveals itself easily, you may laugh and cry with all people who are able to love as you do - children and adults alike. And because you are an adult with a childlike heart you will laugh and cry along with adults as well as with children. Humility is to be yourself under any circumstances.
I often felt guilty because I am not able to remember, on post occasions, some of the things which meant a lot to me. Seeing there are so many things God shows me and they are so precious, I thought it to be a duty to share with everyone around. But, I know today that, if I could trace how many times I breathe during a normal day, I could just as well be able to trace every single whisper God softly blew into my heart as a resurrecting blessing. The point is not the whisper, but the life it is able to work and which becomes a part of me from then on. I realized I should take my time and effort rather to do and to be fully obedient to that Life than to trace all whispers God has blessed me with. I realized, as well, that the Life it leaves behind is what I should share, which is mine to have and to deal out just as Christ dealt the fish out to the people. To such as are faithful to that life, it will be given more, for there is no end to the blessing. I try, now, not to share the whisper, but rather to turn it possible that people get whispered to as well - that's all that counts! I often thought to write down things and came to the same conclusion as John that, “the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written”, John 21:25. I managed to write about what it left behind though. I seldom try to explain the whisper itself. I now rather try to do and live according to the Life which now is, and is brought into me through those whispers as well. I can't feel guilty anymore simply because I am not able to recall and share what God has shown me. But, what He has shown me quickened a kind of life which will stay with me forever. Memory is like a swift dove, though, which comes back to its Noah all the time. It is like love: it is there and it is trained by exercise. If it is trained, it shall always be available, fit and sound. It is naturally trained and lived out. If my heart cares for God, if my feet walk naturally towards Him and with Him, if my eyes look up instinctively, I can rest assured my memory will not fail nor betray me, for God is my life and He fails not (His memory capacity is infinite). I need Him, (He is the Life left in me) and need to recall as He reminds. I need to have Him and to walk with Him for His reward is with Him. "But ... Christ Jesus... was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord", 1Cor.1:30-31. He is all we need to have. Indeed, all His rewards are with Him. This yoke is light to me now and with that I can live easily. I become wise, sanctified, justified and righteous, pure and spotless because of Him in me, for all of it is with Him. Jesus is the way now - all else I need is with Him. "And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all", 1Cor.15:28.
It is good to remember that our brothers are faithful when they are indeed faithful people. It is good to reject any accusations against them and to pay any attention to any kind of accusations until we hear it from two or three faithful eye witnesses, 1Tim.5:19. A witness must be someone who has seen what he talks about and not only one who has heard about a story. We should always remember that the devil is also a witness, but not a faithful one. Before you make up your mind about the stories around any true servant of God, try to find out what God thinks about the man.
Recall often that the most precious being in the Universe “has no form nor majesty that we should seek Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him, for He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground”, Is.53:2. Just imagine a root in a dry ground! I would not believe it will be able to grow there at all. Because of that human perspective I may lose the most precious jewel in universe because I mistake it for an unworthy nothingness.
Wisdom is like a crop: you eat of it in due time, use, give away and put at the disposal of people during those times hunger will bring them to eat from what God has given you. The end of knowledge is that we come to obey God in due time. The whole of us has to be pulled into the captivity of obedience once and for all. “...Pulling down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ”, 2Cor.10:5.
It is better to do the wrong thing by trying too hard to do the right thing, than to hide your talents and be reproved by God because you feared to fail. Better to hear from Him "Badly done faithful servant", than to hear "unfaithful servant". It is always better, though, to find grace to do well and be faithful.
God might show you something, not because you are on your knees, but because you have been on your knees; but, He may also show you things because He knows you will be found on your knees – so, if you have received already, go and find time to pray to the Lord. Do not move away from God because you have received. Do not disown the trust He has put on you. Go back to Him after you receive. He won't tell you to do so, but will wonder why you didn't come back. "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were none found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?", Lk.17:17-18.
"Do not be conformed to this world", Rom.12:2, means that the world will neither be conformed to you. It won't happy about you. Are you prepared for it? Another possibility is, if you are not like the world and resemble it not in any way, people will possibly never take notice of it because they are looking for sympathy, smooth complicity to their ways and will never take notice of you because you aren't what they are looking for; but, if they take notice of your holiness and purity then God is convicting them somehow. Remember, then, that you are saved to be turned into a mirror so people's sins and worldliness can be contrasted and shown - can you live on with that? If they do not repent you shall be a target and not a help. Then, if they don't repent, they will make you their preferred victim. Will you not, even so, be conformed to this world? But, if they are not convicted by getting in touch with you and there is nothing wrong with you, in case they do not take notice of any of the differences, at least you glorify God. If you were like them somehow, they would have noticed. If you are worldly and read your Bible, they may even call upon God with you because they have a kind of assurance they shall not change.
The person who becomes discouraged when he has nothing and the one who is encouraged only when he has the things he desires are one and the same person.
Whoever doesn't stop wondering if God is with him when He is indeed, is someone who might easily believe God is with him when He is not.
A bad tongue is like an itching eye: people get pleasure by rubbing it, and yet, the more they rub it, the worse it becomes.
If you care about dead ones, your heart is not loving living ones. Do not seek to love dead ones. To look for living ones among the dead is wrong in itself already – imagine how wrong it is to love dead ones among the dead! No one who loves a dead one cares for the living – no matter what you say about it. If you love and miss them now, it is because you never loved them while they were alive. Now, you are able to love them because they do you no harm anymore, they do not make you impatient any longer, nor trouble you! You cannot love the dead and the living at the same time – one or the other. People who love dead ones, like Catholics or spiritists do, love no one but themselves. Those who love living ones, love God, people and not themselves. A bad conscience and mixed feelings drive you to love dead ones – not love.
Every human heart is always believing. If it is not believing towards truth, it is because it easily believes lies. Unbelief is to disbelieve truth and real invisible things in exchange for illusionary, visible things. Tell someone the truth and see how he reacts to it. If truth is hard to believe and they start saying, “I must believe it, I must!”, then you may be assured such a person will easily sit down to cry and sob his heart out watching a movie which is nothing else but fiction and consuming lies! That person doesn't say, "I must cry, I must cry!" He just cries!
Someone who talks a lot and says the wrong things is unmistakably one who is often quiet on the right issues. To say that such an one talks a lot, is to say the least because God is seldom taken into consideration by him. In the same manner, someone who has nothing to say concerning wrong ways of any mischief is always someone from whom wisdom flows out at other times. To state such are wise, is the least you can assuredly say about them – they are never offensive towards God during periods of quietness.
Anyone who sings about God for the sake of self, to gain praise, is not singing to praise God. If you are ashamed to sing for God, surely, you will do anything to gain the applause of men for yourself. If you are fully enabled to sing for God and only for Him, you will never fear to do it in front of a million people; you won't sing with less strength or with less heart when there is only a little boy listening to you because you are singing to God. It is the same to you, for you are singing unto God. If you keep quite during moments of real praise, surely, you will be able to sing a lot for the sake of self, even if you use God’s songs to do so.
When we are enabled to pray for the right things, there is no possibility to have the wrong issues flooding our minds during our secret duties, much less having our hearts obsessed about them! But, if we are able to pray for the wrong things with our heart, there is no possibility to be aware of the right things. Sin brought the knowledge of good and evil into us. Someone who prays wrongly and is not aware of it is worse than a sinner, for he cannot differentiate between good and evil anymore! Everyone who is found praying for the wrong things, inevitably misses whatever could be coming to him from God. To say such a person is praying wrong and is not having his prayers fully answered is the least you can say, for such is also missing all he would receive by praying aright for the proper things; he is, therefore, loosing on both sides. But, if God grants the wrong requests at all, that is because God’s wrath is upon that man or woman, and He does not want such to be unhappy in wrongdoing so he or she may have a good chance to to be judged, Ps.73.
A religious man is like a coin which has two faces: on one side he wishes to show himself truthful, but on the other side he is a liar. To love God and to force the heart to love God is not the same thing. And to pose with an image of being in love with God is not loving God. Habits create patterns and emotional training may end up in hypocrisy; however, genuine Life creates a spontaneous being which will remain forever. Let your holiness be sober, visible, but, above all, let it become real from within, involving your whole being in a life springing from the roots of the fountain of Life itself. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life", Prov.4:23.
Stop criticizing sin and rather hate it and exterminate it from your life.
Unbelief makes as if God does things. But, God does things – He moves as He wills, surely, but moves; and unbelief never sees God doing it because it is busy pretending.
All Martyrs, without exception, before having been executed, were torn to pieces to cause them to deny their faith and their Saviour. They were never put to death at once, but were tortured always to deny Jesus and to be rewarded with 'freedom' or many other things. Martyrs have always been forced to deny the Lord. That was always a point to the devil’s servants. They would not kill them if they denied the Lord. The devil would try to rob them of eternity first. Had these people, then, not denied God by torture, they would be killed. We may ask, today, how can a child of the Most High deny Him in exchange for discos, sex, money or even the so-called love of man and woman? Jesus is denied today for much less.
"And it shall be, whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for salvation shall be in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call", Joel 2:32. Sometimes, there is something mysterious about the Word of God. Because of that, we can miss on some precious things from it. We all love to be chosen for something. Everyone wishes to be that special one. However, we cannot deny that when we are called by God, a great responsibility is put upon our shoulders, and being chosen does not mean we are already guaranteed and saved. Many shall be called and few accepted. We read here in this portion of Scripture that there is a remnant whom God shall call to heaven. It could mean a remnant of the thousands who have also been called or chosen beforehand. We read in Luk.19:21,22 about a chosen one who has been rejected afterwards: "For I feared you, because you are a harsh man. You take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, I will judge you out of your own mouth, wicked servant! You knew that I was a harsh man, taking up what I had not laid down and reaping what I did not sow". We cannot deny that this wicked servant has been chosen to be faithful and it availed him nothing at all. Scripture also says, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely", Rev.22:17. If the Spirit chooses us for something, we must say "come" to all around who might have not been chosen the way we have been.
THOUGHTS ON LOVE
IF YOU LOVE THE WORLD, YOU HATE GOD AND BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HIM AS HE IS, YOU DON'T REALISE IT.
IF YOU HATE GOD AND GO TO CHURCH, PRAY OR READ THE BIBLE, YOU WILL BELIEVE YOU LOVE HIM.
IF YOU LOVE GOD, YOU HATE THE WORLD EVEN WHEN YOUR HEART IS LIGHT AND CLEAR FROM ANGER.
IF NO ONE IS EVER ABLE TO SEE GOD’S LOVE IN YOU, TO TASTE IT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DO NOT FEIGN, THEN YOU LOVE THE WORLD.
IF NO ONE IS ABLE TO SEE THE LOVE OF THE WORLD IN YOU AND YOU HAVEN'T YET MET GOD FACE TO FACE, YOU ARE FEIGNING, AND DON'T LIKE PEOPLE TO KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE.
IF YOU LOVE WHOEVER HATES YOU, YOU ARE NOT GOOD – YOU ARE NORMAL. YOU ARE JUST WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED TO BE.
IF YOU HATE WHOM CARRIES THE LOVE OF GOD TO YOU, YOU ARE AN ABORTION OF NATURE.
IF YOU APPRECIATE IT THAT THE WORLD LOVES YOU, YOU LOVE YOURSELF A GREAT DEAL AND ALSO LOVE ILLUSIONS AND LIES.
IF YOU LOVE LIES, YOU LOVE DEATH WITHOUT KNOWING IT! HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IT IF YOU LIVE IN SAND DUNGEONS OR SAND CASTLES?
IF YOU LIE TO YOURSELF YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT GOD’S LOVE REALLY IS.
IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN GOD’S LOVE AND THE WORLD’S, THEN YOU ARE MORE THAN AN ABORTED CREATURE – YOU HAPPEN TO BE A ROTTEN ONE ALREADY!
THOUGHTS ABOUT CONSCIENCE
IF YOU AVOID THOSE WHO ARE CLEAN BEFORE GOD, YOUR CONSCIENCE IS NOT ACKNOWLEDGING SOMETHING BAD ENOUGH TO HAVE YOU HIDE OR SOMETHING WHICH IS NOT BAD AND YOU BELIEVE IT IS.
CONSCIENCE DOES NOT DIE BY ITSELF - IT HAS TO BE MURDERED TO SILENCE.
IF YOU AVOID PEOPLE, EITHER GOOD OR BAD PEOPLE, YOU AVOID GOD AS WELL. IF YOU FACE THEM WITH TRUTHFULNESS, YOU MAY FACE GOD.
IF YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE, YOU WILL BELIEVE YOU ARE AN EXAMPLE TO MANY.
IF YOU ARE AN EXAMPLE TO SOME AND SUCH DO NOT FIND GOD FOR REAL, YOU ARE A SERVANT OF THE DEVIL AND THINK SLIGHTLY HIGHLY OF YOURSELF.
IF YOU AVOID GOD, YOU WILL NEVER BE CLEAN, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE CLEAN AND WILL START TO PRESUME ABOUT IT AND CREATE YOUR OWN WAY.
IF YOU AVOID GOD, YOU MIGHT BE WILLING GO TO CHURCH MORE OFTEN - CONSCIENCE DRIVES YOU THERE.
IF YOU AVOID CLEANING YOUR CONSCIENCE, YOU WILL SING HARDER, PRAY HARDER AND WILL TRY TO BE GOOD.
IF YOUR CONSCIENCE IS HEAVY, YOUR LIFE WILL NEVER MAKE SENSE TO YOU. BUT, YOU MIGHT BELIEVE IT DOES.
IF YOUR CONSCIENCE IS STAINED, YOU CANNOT BELIEVE IN GOD UNLESS YOU FIND YOURSELF LYING TO YOURSELF IN A PRACTICAL WAY.
IF YOUR LIFE DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO YOU, YOU WILL ALWAYS BLAME OTHERS BECAUSE OF IT.
IF YOUR LIFE DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO YOU, YOUR LIFE WILL BECOME HEAVIER BY THE DAY, FOR CONSCIENCE WILL FEED ITSELF UPON STRENGTH AND SOUL. A FEATHER WILL BE SOMETHING TOO HEAVY FOR YOU TO BEAR.
IF YOUR CONSCIENCE IS CLEAR, ALL THINGS ARE LIGHT TO YOU, EVEN A HEAVY YOKE.
SYMPTOMS OF A BACKSLIDDEN HEART
Every now and then you change your mind about things you wish to know God’s will about.
You discuss all the Bible may say, and seek an easy way out for yourself continuously, carrying the idea that God either blesses it or must bless it.
You moan and confuse it with groanings of the Spirit
Your life is the one which is right in your own eyes and you want people to think and believe it.
You want to show everyone how right and how righteous your own standpoints are, adding “but I am a sinner as well, I am not judging at all”, so as to excuse what you are fear to be found doing.
You discuss the gifts of the Spirit instead of using them naturally to the benefit of anyone. You are a discusser and not a doer.
It is a catastrophic happening to you if you are wrong about something and when people see it as well and you become aware they know you are wrong. The opinion of others is what preserves you because it influences your own opinion about you.
You will try to repent of the symptoms a lot and not of what brought the symptoms about. You will talk a lot about those symptoms in a hypocritical way, seeking attention as if it were repentance.
You may wish to lead all the time and be led hypothetically or hypocritically, pretending you are humble obedient.
You excuse your own sins and temptations and say you must learn by them as if they were trials. You either accuse yourself by regret or do not underline your conscience’s point of view to avoid accusations of any kind – you doubt, therefore.
You attribute your own sins (especially the symptoms and consequences of sin) to external causes; other people’s faults; to circumstances; but you cannot see you are dealing cheaply with your own life and not crediting honour to a mighty King’s words who testifies to the fact that you are a sinner.
You choose rather to accuse others than to hear God (instead of putting your mind continuously along side with God against yourself).
You are at loss and believe you may, can and must lead all the time
You don’t seek God humbly and put Him always before a take it or leave it discussion because intercession is alike.
You seek to be an example to others by force, easily forgetting that light shines by itself and no one can avoid it being light.
You fast and pray a lot with no visible results.
When God manages to tell you one thing for real, you don’t believe it easily and if the devil does speak as God you easily fall into it as a prey, for you breed in you a kind of spirit which believes lies. Jesus says: “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice”, John 18:37.
You preach a lot to others and forget to teach yourself constantly and intentionally.
Any teacher who is not a learner sets a bad example, for to learn is what one should be teaching. Learning is the example we should give. You are that bad an example if your heart is away from God.
You believe every “sacrifice” deserves a reward and you say to people you do not deserve a thing because you received not from God, excusing yourself all the time and pretending on still.
You control your temper a lot, as well as some or all of your other appetites (but, your mind will have time for one appetite at a turn mostly). You should have it all dead and not merely controlled.
If you have one – just one – of these, you will soon find yourself in hellfire and won’t believe it happened to you as well. Time for you to repent again as if you never did.
José Mateus
zemateus@msn.com