Prompt and blessed

We have been blessed tremendously to be living in such a time as this; instant communication enables us to reach what were once the most unreachable people groups with the Gospel of Jesus.

We enjoy the grace of God in abundance, free from the onerous daily chore of sacrificing animals to atone for sin; Jesus set us free indeed! (John 8:36)

And still we are privileged in the "Old Testament" teachings, as Apostle Paul so lovingly pointed out in Romans 15:4
"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope",
but we are not beholden to the hundreds of specific laws and observances thanks to the Grace of God made available to us through Christ.

Truly there are many wonderful Old Testament scriptures of great teaching that speak into our lives today, eloquently and truthfully.


One such scripture I believe we should heed with all haste in our hearts is found in the book of the Prophet Isaiah.  During the reign of several Israel kings, God raised up Prophets to speak to to His people, precisely because they had refused to converse directly with their God at the time of Moses (Exodus 20:19).  These Prophets often spoke both to the people of their time and for future reference, to those who would come later.

Isaiah 1:19  If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel you shall be devoured by the sword.  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

I believe that this is one of those things which was "written before for our learning" that Paul was referring to that has always continued to have affect on peoples lives even when they may not have been aware of it.

While we most certainly DO enjoy the grace and favor of God, and though His love for us is unconditional, this isn't license to sin!  Now more than ever, it is imperative to our own well being, that each of us, individually "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) and that we do NOT REFUSE to hear the Lord speak to us personally and directly!

Just as He put it to the Israelites, it is even now a choice put before us much like the choice to choose LIFE over DEATH. (Deuteronomy 30:19) 

IF we are willing and obedient.... which refers to what exactly?  To the rules and regulations of man?  To the statutes and prohibitions of religious leaders?  To an American government (or any other government!) that appears bent on destroying the work of the Lord in our lives?

A simple reading of the verse in context puts it all in perspective and makes itself extremely clear and easy to understand.

Isaiah 1: 18  "Come now and let us reason together" says the Lord.

Then, like He already had planned it for all Eternity, (I really think He did!) the Lord makes clear that He speaks to the Israelites, yes, but also to we who would be saved later, by describing our condition so we will recognize ourselves.

 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are like crimson, they shall be as wool."

We whose sins that are like scarlet have been washed in the sacrificed blood of Jesus and have been made "white as snow".  

This verse is written FOR OUR LEARNING.

Here is the physical and spiritual principle at work.

If this; then that.  

We all understand how this principle works in every area of life.  If we do this thing then that thing happens.  

The law of cause and effect.  Each action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Christians, the grace of God, as Apostle Paul so clearly taught in Romans 6:1, isn't a license to SIN, but a method to avoid being enslaved by sin!  

Every thinking human being can see clearly that all of our actions have consequences.  If we desire pleasant consequences that give us joy, we must choose willingly to be obedient to God.  If we choose to rebel; to do "our own thing" then we will suffer the consequences of those choices, good or bad.

With that in mind, wouldn't it be ridiculous for us to then declare that God is not good because we have reaped the unhappy consequence of our own action?  

God has instructed us clearly, as any loving parent would a child, on right behavior in order that we will reap the result of good consequence.

Right now you might find yourself asking this question; "How can I know God's instructions so I can choose to follow them?"

READ HIS INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

On the first read through, I know it will sound foreign and difficult to understand.  The first time we are introduced to anything it seems hard.  Remember arithmetic?  When they first introduced long division, I was convinced I'd never understand.  I went on to achieve A's in Algebra years later in High School.  

The GREAT thing about the Bible is that it is a living work, spoken into being by a Living God who moved on living men to write His will. (II Peter 1:21)

And it gets better.  The word has a spiritual life to it.  When you are born again of Gods spirit, your understanding is that much greater.  This isn't something that can be taught or explained, but only spiritually discerned by those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.


Reading the Bible regularly you will discover that understanding comes naturally.  Understanding increases with each reading.  

You can read the Bible in any manner that works for you.

Read straight through from cover to cover.

Start at the Gospels and work through the New Testament first.

Skip around from book to book, or even chapter to chapter.

Or you can join us, using the daily reading schedule we follow, and we can journey together toward deeper understanding and closer fellowship with the Lord. (See the Daily Reading page of this website) 

When we know, understand and OBEY Gods commands, we reap all manner of GOOD THINGS!  That is a promise directly from God the Father and Creator of all things to His children.  By the same token, if we choose disobedience we have no one but ourselves to blame when we reap those negative consequences.

Our prayer for you is that you will KNOW and RECEIVE the goodness God desires you to experience in your life, in Jesus Name, AMEN!

ISIS, The Crusades, Inquisitions, The Promised Land and Egyptian Horrors

Imagine you live several thousand years ago, except they had Global Newspapers available.  The headlines and news stories might read something like this:

Pharoah orders death to all male Hebrew infants.

Annihilation begins today and will continue until Pharoah issues new proclamation.  

Mothers shriek helplessly as their infants are torn from their breasts and casually

thrown in the Nile right in front of

their eyes. While most drown, some could be heard wailing as crocodiles feasted on the helpless babies. 

Israelites surge into Canaan and take no prisoners.  

Men, women, children and all livestock left dead in the wake of their hostile takeover.  
The stench of death hovers over every city and blood runs like rivers in the streets of the villages once occupied by peaceful Canaanites.



"Religious Crusaders burn thousands alive for daring to express their faith in God differently than approved by the Pope.  Others escape the fire, as they are struck down even while they cry out to Jesus for deliverance."

Some simply cried for mercy while others chose to change their confession of faith; but  too late to save their lives as Inquisition torturers ferret out those practicing forbidden acts of religious piety.

We would be horrified to read such accounts, wouldn't we?  

As I was horrified and grieved to read the recent reports about ISIS crucifying children and burying them alive.   I experienced such a deep, sorrowful hurt in my heart while I struggled mightily to understand how could this be happening in this enlightened day and time?  Why were such barbarous acts occurring?  Why didn't someone STOP them?  Why were they behaving so horrendously?  Particularly toward innocent children?

How EVIL man is!  What evil man renders upon his fellow man!  What could possibly justify such atrocity, even in their own hearts, of such murderous action?

I try to remind myself that I live in a fallen, sinful world.  That the acts of sin committed by others quite often negatively impacts those we might consider innocent.  Then I reminded myself that there are no truly innocent.  All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

I have wrestled mightily with the concepts of salvation, grace, mercy and the Love of God that I am far more familiar with than His wrath.  The grace that is continually stressed far more than His merciless Justice is ever taught.

I reminded myself that He alone is God.  Creator, originator and OWNER of the whole earth and all that is in it.  ALL.  Them, us, everyone and everything.  It's His.  He can do or allow or save or ignore or fix or step in or choose not to interfere or.....do whatever He decides and we have no say.  

I've struggled with the truth that His decisions are ALWAYS righteous, even when I in my little pea brain and selfish heart cannot agree or do not understand or simply cannot grasp it.

Everything God does is right.  Everything God does is PERFECT.

He made the earth, he gave free will to mankind, His own creation, knowing the sin we would commit.  He created satan, who turned traitor.   He knew he would and still made him the angel of Light.  

I have never understood why God commanded the Israelites to kill everyone in the Promised Land.  Or why those murders were righteous, although He had only just commanded them in the Wilderness:
Thou shalt NOT kill

I have had to reconcile myself to the only TRUTH I can grasp - He is God and knows more than I do.  You may consider me naive or simple minded or blinded or whatever.  It won't matter.  Because in all of this, I've also seen MIRACLES.

Healings, total life changes, blessings too great to render into mere words,  joy too profound that defies description.  

I have never thought the burning folks alive was righteous or sanctioned by God.    Anymore than feeding folks to lions as sport just because they confessed Jesus as Lord was ever righteous.  Or cutting off peoples heads for thinking differently than others, or praying differently or worshiping differently. 

I've spent the last 49 of my 55 years trying to understand, trust God, pray through, share truth with others, trust God, grow and become a better Christian, read the Bible, understand how to apply it to my life, help others understand how to apply the principles to their lives, trust God, renew my mind to His word, pray through, be gracious, be kind, forgive others, forgive myself, trust God, study the Bible, let go of my past, repent of my sins, help others transform their lives, trust God, acknowledge Him in all my ways, grow and mature in Christianity, trust God, pray for my enemies, pray for my country, trust God, pray, trust God, pray, trust God, trust God, trust God..........

I don't understand a great many things.  Gods ways are higher than my ways.  Gods thoughts are greater than my thoughts.  My prayer is often reduced to asking the Creator for wisdom to accept that there are so many things I cannot understand; that His will be done in all things.

That the Holy Spirit would help me to TRUST GOD WITH ALL MY HEART.  

I pray for the President of the United States, because what the person in this office says and does impacts me and my family and all that I hold dear.

I pray for every living soul in all the world, because those who call Jesus Savior are treated so brutally and because those who don't know Jesus as Savior are facing an eternity filled with misery and darkness.  Hell is as awful as Heaven is wonderful; wish it on NO ONE!  

When I find myself gripped by all these terrors and unknowns and all I see and think and feel appears so very wicked and sinful and too awful to even try to comprehend, I reach for Psalm 73, and pray and did I mention that mostly I TRUST GOD?

Psalm 73:

1Truly God is good to Israel,

To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge[a] with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return here,
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.

ps
did I mention?  Trust God. We don't know.  We don't have to, because He does.

Work and Strive or Rest and Receive?

 As human beings subject to the flesh that clothes and houses our bodies and souls there are more than enough opportunities for us to “work” on ourselves. Male and female alike, though as a girl I can vouch that every girl does this, looks at themselves and about all we see are our flaws. Slight flab there, not quite the chiseled jaw line here; that kind of thing. I believe it would be the same with our souls, if we could look at them in a mirror. We would notice only the many imperfections, both slight and obvious.

Paul the Apostle, a righteous fellow who recognized how very flawed he himself was, encouraged believers to “work out” their own salvation with fear and trembling. He certainly wasn't hinting that we are responsible for saving ourselves, but only that the gift of salvation would be an intimate and personal journey, not exactly the same for each of us.

This weeks dilemma that we will consider is how we might respond to the biblical instruction that we are to "Be Holy even as God is Holy" (Leviticus 11:45 & I Peter 1:16) while realizing that we cannot ever attain that state in and of ourselves. We cannot work for it, earn it or make it happen no matter what we do, so God graciously provided an absolute solution. Through the work accomplished on the Cross where Jesus freely sacrificed Himself for us, we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

When we rest in, recognize and accept that truth then our energies and efforts will be freed to move forward doing the activities God has instructed us to do because our focus isn't wasted on trying to do for ourselves that which God has already done. These include to:

• feed the hungry
• clothe the naked
• visit those in prison
• remember the orphans and the widows

I think of it as similar to the story in the Old Testament when God told the Israelites “I place before you Life and Death”. (Deuteronomy 30:15 – 19) I think He made it so they could see the goodness, light and joy of life. They could also see the darkness, misery and emptiness in Death. On top of all that God GAVE them the right answer. CHOOSE LIFE. Yet still some chose DEATH! (Oh why do we do that?!?)

I see so many people in the Church who read that we are freely clothed in the righteousness of Christ. They read and hear about the effortless joy of choosing to trust and believe and REST in the peace of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Yet even though we can see the exhaustion that results from constant activity we still tend to strive uselessly and hopelessly to clothe ourselves in righteousness thorugh our works. Even though we are taught clearly that our own righteousness will NEVER be anything but filthy rags. We see it, yet we cannot seem to help but attempt on our own to gain that which God has already freely given us.

James 2: 14-26 offers a marvelous solution with understanding, bringing out the importance of faith while acknowledging the necessity of actual actions being taken. It isn't enough to talk about the things that need to be done. And it doesn't make sense to do things without really understanding the how and why of them. Blending and balancing the two leads to making what may be the finest choice you ever make.

God does such a fine job and needs no help from us, so lean back into His loving arms and let Him clothe you in righteousness. Then you get the joy of fulfilling His plan and purpose for your life. Simple. Joyful. Peaceful. Isn't that grand?

IMAGINATION

About 8 years ago I received a postcard in the mail, eye catching picture similar to the one I've shared here, with the caption boldly splashed across the top:

IMAGINE WHAT GOD COULD DO...

The possibilities seemed endless and breathtaking!  Imagine what God could do!  On the other side it advertised some Christian gathering and the theme of course was just that - Imagine what God could do and expanded that a bit with the word  "if".

IF you attended this conference...imagine what God could do in your life!

IF you gave an offering...imagine what God could do for you in return!

IF you just fell in line with the belief system and theology and behavior and dress and if you just fell in step with this ministry and it's teachings...imagine what God would be willing to do for you.

Flash forward about 8 years.  I don't remember much about the ad on the other side, but every time I open my refrigerator and without my even really being aware, I'm "seeing" that picture and those words.  Even the time we've been in the RV traveling it was taped to the fridge, it had so captured my imagination!  Then this week it hit me!  IMAGINE WHAT GOD COULD DO???  Nothing is impossible with God!  There is NOTHING God is not capable of doing nor is there anything He withholds from His children.  And praise God, it most certainly isn't dependent on ME what God could do or we would be in some serious trouble.  And we are in serious trouble, when we've come to the place where, even subtly, we think of God in terms of our control or subject to our actions.

Everything that every human being does is in RESPONSE to the Almighty God, Creator and Master of all heaven, all earth and everything in it.  This prevailing, subtle, sneaky and extremely DANGEROUS idea that God moves, works, thinks, feels or acts in response to us is the devils most clever lie EVER since the Garden of Eden!  In II Timothy specifically the end of chapter 2 and into chapter 3, Paul is warning against just this kind of captivity of lies an deceits that man is of the utmost importance and the universe behaves in response to man.  You should read all of this book for a full picture, but let's take a look at a piece of it.

II Timothy 2: 26, 3: 1-9  ...and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away!  For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

Paul goes on to instruct Timothy not only how to avoid this foolish behavior but to follow righteous behavior leading to true godliness.  Please bear with me while I repeat myself for instructions sake.  Everything a human being does is in response to the Almighty Father in Heaven.  Whether that response is acceptance or rejection, WE DO THE RESPONDING.  We are instructed to pray, yet Jesus clearly tells us God already knows what our needs are  (Matthew 6: 8).  We believe Christ died for us and receive the gift of salvation according to Gods plan (Ephesians 1:4), not ours. God already has everything in place and IF we respond according to His instructions we receive the blessing.    The land of Canaan already belonged to the Israelites, God had already declared He had given it to them.  They needed to respond to Gods gift in order to receive it.  It is subtle, but important.  It is a heart matter, that the very thought pattern, to be righteous, must be "God has provided, so I will ask and receive" and not "I will ask so God will provide".

So it struck me hard the other day, when I passed by the fridge and glanced at the familiar postcard that we have it wrong!  It isn't and can not be  IMAGINE WHAT GOD COULD DO...for there is nothing impossible with God, but really ought to be IMAGINE WHAT WE COULD EXPERIENCE if we trusted and believed GOD and responded accordingly and obediently.  We would experience the JOY of the Lord that is our strength, the power of the Holy Spirit in our situations, the PEACE of God that passes all understanding and the FELLOWSHIP with our Heavenly Father that knows no bounds!

II Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoruroughly equipped for every good work.

IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD EXPERIENCE IF YOU TRULY TRUSTED

 AND BELIEVED GOD TO THE END THAT YOU OBEY HIM IN ALL THINGS!

Turn the Tide Ministries is dedicated to changing lives one at a time for the increase of Gods Kingdom and the Glory of God the Father.  Starting with our own lives and moving outward, we obey our Lord as surrendered living epistles of His great and glorious grace.  Join us every Sunday for practical applications to your everyday lives of Gods rich and wonderful WORD OF TRUTH to His children until He comes to gather us HOME.