Merry Christmas to you all and God Bless You!
Thank you so much to those who continue to give me encouragement. It is appreciated a lot.
Unto us a Child was given. That Child was and is our Lord! Reflect on Him gratefully today and praise Him as Lord of your life and all.
Almost all kids grow up hearing about Santa Claus and believing he’s real. I was one of those.
So why does someone on a serious note stop believing?
They look at the facts, right?
Things just don’t add up. You start asking questions like “Hey wait a minute, I don’t have a chimney?”
However someone while you’re young and naïve is always there to try and explain it away for you. Oh he just goes through the door if you don’t or something like that. Thank goodness that person was there to continue the lie.
Then you think to yourself, “How does he get around the whole world in one night? I mean that’s a lot of houses.” Once again someone tries to rescue you from trying to foil the caper.
Flying reindeer? How do all the presents get in the slay? How come I just saw Santa and is looked different down at that other store?
Finally too many stinking questions. Fine! He’s not real, but doesn’t believing in him make the world a better place? In all honesty my wife and I chose not to persuade our children that the untruths were truths all in the name of what was best for them.
Back to the point.
This is how it is in America anymore except people don’t ask questions about anything. They don’t ask questions about why other people believe the way they do. They don’t even ask questions on why they believe the way they do.
This is where Truth comes into play.
Evolution? You can look at it closely and it won’t take you long to figure out who has blind faith. Not to mention it’s not hard to do the math that nothing from nothing times nothing doesn’t equal everything. It doesn’t take very long to see how complex a simple a watch is and know that without a creator it isn’t made. We as humans are much more complex than that by a million times and without the Creator we don’t exist.
Questions! We don’t ask questions anymore.
Same goes for believers. Why do you believe in what you believe? To say that I just believe and go by faith or that burning in your bosom is acceptable for a few months. However, you best start knowing why you believe what you believe soon, or someone is going to come along and give you a different type of Santa Claus.
Seek the Lord! Ask questions! We are very fortunate enough in this day and age that most sincere questions can be answered by men of God who also sought the Truth.
You stopped believing in Santa because the truth was evident and it wasn’t that hard to figure out.
Other things take more investigation and all you need have to do is seek the Truth and He will guide you to it.
On the other hand, if you choose to believe in whatever you want to, God won’t intervene. That is until it’s the day of truth, which is the day of judgment.
Titus 2:1-8- 1 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Life isn’t about running off and doing your own thing. It’s about obedience to God, self control, doing what’s right.
Satan wants you out of control and to do whatever you want. Because if you’re doing that, you’re not obeying God.
In a movie do you look up the guy who sacrifices his life to save others, or do you admire the one who murders everyone for their own gain?
It’s not just a movie script, this describes the difference between Christ and Satan.
By living for God and Christ instead of yourself, your actions speak louder than words. Choose to be self controlled examples.
We are rapidly approaching Christmas day. Many gifts will exchange hands.
I want to stop and reflect on your spouse and children.
They’re Gifts from our Lord.
How are you treating your gifts? Are you grateful for them? Do you take care of them the way the Lord
wants you to take care of them?
You’ve been given a great gift and a great responsibility. You have been entrusted with lives. Entrusted from our Lord with them. How are you handling it?
Are you helping them seek their loving Creator? Are you helping them serve their God?
I can tell you that just in looking at my wife and children I know how much God loves me.
They’re gifts, loving gifts, and the number one thing you can do for our Lord is put Him at the head of the household. Don’t take anything for granted. We will be held accountable as the head and hearts of our families and what we did for Him.
Ephesians 5: 22-28-22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
There is 50% divorce rate in this country and no wife or husband living both by these scriptures are
getting divorced. There is no ME in these scriptures. Why can a wife submit to her husband with confidence? Because he is giving himself up just as Jesus gave Himself for the Church. That means selfish me goes out the door.
Ephesians 6:1-4- 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the
training and instruction of the Lord.
What’s a family that’s hitting on all cylinders (at least for fallen humans)? The one that bases the Word of God as its guide.
Thank the Lord this season for your gifts and never take your duties lightly or loved ones for granted.
Romans 2:5-11- 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
Why these verses?
God is constantly trying to warn us to turn away from our sin. As believers we have to keep praying for one another.
What is an unrepentant heart? A heart that doesn’t turn away from evil.
I grew up believing in Jesus but never read the Bible. What warnings was I getting? Well at least they were better than today, but still since I wasn’t in the Word and I could just turn off a few people.
Today the church is full of not offending. Don’t preach against sin, it’s unpopular and they might not come back. Just believe and it doesn’t matter what you do or have you live. (I must say my pastor is not like that and it is one of many reasons why we attend.)
Yet you read and study the Bible and that’s not what it says at all. It constantly tells us to repent. We’re inherently evil and fallen, making bad decisions.
Lip service is a problem.
You can tell someone you’re a great bowler. However when they watch you, you throw a few in the gutter and your score is 103 game after game, people soon discover you’re not a great bowler.
It works like that in life. If you have no love for others, it shows. When you’re foul mouthed, drinking like a
sieve, and beating the family, it shows. When you’re not following the Word of God it shows.
I have learned not to judge. What is judging? Judging is stating that someone is going to hell.
Judging is not pointing out a problem to someone who is a believer in love because you care. Nor is it judging if all you’re letting someone know is if the Word of God speaks against it. People getting defensive and saying don’t judge me is a defense mechanism used by Satan so others feel guilty and don’t say anything. However, if we are living in sin and need a Word, does God want silence? No, He wants us to lovingly, caringly, pray and try to help His wondering child and our brothers and sisters.
Grace is not a get out of jail free card. Sinning against God knowingly is not a game.
If as a friend you slap me in the face and I say, please don’t do it again and you do anyway, over and over and over again, what are you indicating?
That’s what we do to God especially when we know it’s wrong. Show Him you care and die to yourself and habitual sin. Those habitual (almost every day) one’s are hard. You will only succeed when you decide He’s more important than you are.
3 John 1:11 – 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Anyone who does good is from God.
Why is this?
Because no one is good accept God.
Luke 18:19 – 19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
The only reason we can do good in this fallen state we’re in is to tap into the good of God.
When we imitate evil, we are helping the camp of the enemy. Do we really want to do that? I don’t think any of us really want to help out the enemy. But if we turn our backs on God, we are doomed to do so, because without Him we are not good. The question is how not good?
Matthew 6:23 – 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Scripture after scripture after scripture, warn us to obey God and die to the world and our old sinful nature.
Don’t ignore the warnings and quit listening to the voices that suggest whatever it is your doing isn’t really all that bad. Get into the Word and you’ll discover that our Lord isn’t keen on evil at all.
Satan believes in God. Is he saved?
Satan believes that Jesus lived. Is he saved?
I hear so many times that if you just believe, you will be saved. However, that’s extremely vague. What is it that you believe?
Romans 10:8-10 – 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Lord?
That’s Lord, the one who rules over your life. You’re not just believing He lived but you confess Him as Lord. God in the flesh. Authority given over to Him from the Father to save those which are lost.
If you believe that there is a higher power, that’s not saved. If you believe Jesus was a good teacher and walked the earth, that’s not saved. Satan believes in those things too.
You must believe in your heart AND confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.
Colossians 3:18-25 – 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from
the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
Two things I want to point out here.
One, if we live the way we are told to, life works smooth instead of being a mess.
Two, you’re not doing it for yourself or just to please others. We are supposed to do it because this shows obedience to the Lord.
The Lord says if you love me you will keep my commands.
John 14:21 – 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Don’t listen to the world. This country is broke and in debt negligently. Divorce is at 50 percent. Suicide is rampant with alcoholism and drug use. Do you know what the news media and powers that be have to say? We need to remove God more.
Obey the Word of God. The Lord wants us to succeed in the Kingdom. He wants us to succeed in reaching others with His love. As a result He wants to reward us and doesn’t wish for any of us to have to be repaid for our wrong, but there is no favoritism because our Lord is fair.
If you can’t obey now how will you be able to obey later? Start putting it into practice if you haven’t, today.
In the day and age we live in you always have to be careful.
I have always been a NIV Translation guy. I always cross reference things to get a better understanding, but found it to be the easiest to read when I was growing in the Word 18 years ago.
Today the NIV has done a new translation for 2011. In my posts I mostly use the NIV 1984 with some KJV.
Why? Here’s an example:
Proverbs 14:12 – 12 There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.
Huh? Right to whom? Right in what way?
It actually upsets me very much. Here is the 1984 NIV:
Proverbs 14:12 – 12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.
Oh! Now I get it. Man’s thinking is not good. He thinks he’s right and it ends up leading to death.
Who are we worry worried about offending that we would change the scripture. All the other common versions from the past use “to man.”
Political correctness has crept into our Word of God now and if we’re not careful they will change the meaning if they find it offensive.
The word man refers to both man and woman.
The same is happening in the pulpits. Don’t offend anyone. Speak positively and make the church grow. Don’t speak of sin, it’s unpopular.
We have to be innocent as doves but as shrewd as snakes.
Matthew 10:16 – 16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Just like the real Word of God it states in the last days people will stray from the Truth and follow doctrines from demons.
1 Timothy 4:1 – 1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Study God’s Word to seek Truth, because it does matter to God. You’re opinion may mean a lot in this day and age in this country, but that isn’t the truth to God.
Paul was warning the Corinthians that were trying to preach a different gospel.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 – 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Paul takes pretty seriously God’s truth. People who are teaching all roads lead to Rome such as Universalism or that there is no Hell are certainly not following the Word of God. Their truth comes from
their own self or understanding.
Satan masquerades around like an angel of light.
Why are people teaching these things? Because there popular for one. They rationale that God can only be love and could never punish anyone for eternity. Is that what the Bible says?
Were His own people punished when they rejected Him? Constantly!
God’s Word when tested is perfect. Man is not. It wasn’t written by men, but by the Spirit of God. To pick and choose which parts of the Bible you want, leads to the above problem of not teaching the truth.
Satan likes it when man gets the courage to be smarter than God. It plays right into his hand.
Their actions in the end according to Paul will lead to what they deserve.
Proverbs 14:12 – 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.