One Result of the COVID19 Shutdown

These last few weeks being forced into self quarantine in my home, I found myself spending a lot more time on social media and browsing the internet far more than usual. Doing so has reinforced for me a truth that I’ve known but I am now ever more certain of, and that truth is that there is no honest to goodness absolute truth outside of God’s word.

That may sound like a no brainer on first reading, especially to fellow Christians, but I’m asking you to think more deeply about this than perhaps you have up to this point in your life.  We are all influenced (whether we fully recognize that influence or not) by the things we read, the things we see, the movies we watch. We bring those thoughts inspired by all those different stimuli, we bring all those attitudes and those experiences with us into our church services, into our Bible reading, and into our prayer times!

As a result, aware or unaware of it, we actually end up diluting the truth from God‘s word with all the things that we see and hear and experience in the world around us. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough, God’s word tells us.(1Corinthians 5:6) And I have discovered over the course of the last couple of weeks in particular, just how true that truth truly is!

The bottom line of understanding that I’ve come to from this experience of Internet and social media overload?

The only way to truly walk WITH Christ is to walk IN Christ. And what I mean by that is not to allow myself to be diluted by others opinions and thoughts and lies and false truths that they put out there in the media, the news, the movies, the books, the entertainment, the opinion pieces, the editorials and the everything outside of God’s pure word.

At a certain point in my past, I had come to the realization that I needed to make a decision within my own heart to truly follow Christ and Him alone.  That led to a period of time (for me it was 3 full months) of shutting off the TV, shutting off the radio, shutting out the noise of the world (easier, as there wasn’t the World Wide Web available at the time!) and reading ONLY the Bible, Christian books and magazines and listening ONLY to Christian music.

It reminded me of when I first got saved. I had started reading the Bible at the age of six and I know that I got filled with the Holy Spirit at a very young age, outside any church experience. It was just me and God. Growing up in an abusive household, broken by multiple divorces, alcoholism and witchcraft practices, that time alone with God gave me protection and comfort that I don’t even have words to describe.  Then in my late teens, I left the church I’d been attending since the age of 3 and began a journey of seeking the God I had come to know through His Word.  I wasn’t finding it in the church I was at, and I didn’t find it in the churches  I began visiting. I often found myself at odds with what was being taught, but I was too young and immature, too naïve and uneducated to understand.

During the time that I spent attempting to follow church teachings, I have come to realize is the time that I became the most vulnerable and moved away from just following God, to integrating other peoples opinions, thoughts and ideas into my own thinking and actions in life. And I fell prey to the flesh, convinced that the actions of my childhood were at fault for my faulty thinking, were the reason for my poor decisions and basically for any and all sin that I committed. And I spent years paying the price for that idea that I wasn’t personally responsible. This allowed me to continue in sin and attempt to correct things in my flesh, rather than shedding them, as Gods Word tells us to do (Philippians 3:13), letting them go and confessing them as sin and being set free the way God‘s word tells me he wants me to be! Years of trying to reconcile the mess inside of me with the opinions of man that I was hearing inside and outside the church resulted in years of living confused, dazed, uncertain and unsure and vulnerable and …. sinful.

Before anyone starts to get the crazy and incorrect notion that I am trying to blame my sin on anything or anyone other than myself, let me be clear. I am responsible for how I responded to all of the information that I allowed into my life and to influence my thinking and therefore my actions. These are my sins and it is my need to go before my God and seek His forgiveness and be cleansed of all my unrighteousness by the precious blood of Jesus! Saying that leads right into one of the biggest truths that I have come to understand. That truth is that according to the Bible, each one of us is individually responsible for ourselves.

We are individually responsible to seek God and His righteousness with all our hearts FIRST and with diligence. We are individually accountable to God for the repentance of our sin and we are individually responsible to turn and follow Christ as a faithful disciple of His truth. We are INDIVIDUALS, not a collective, individually responsible before a God who created us, loves us, and cares for us but has set a standard of truth for us.

With all of that understood, we can then bring that into the body of Christ where we can encourage one another and love one another and lift one another up and build one another up and hold one another accountable and help one another to make whatever change needs to be made according to God‘s truth, not according to our opinion or any denominations doctrine or theology. We don’t wait to reach a “level” before being part of the Body, but within the Body, we are to be working toward that individual goal while collectively assisting and encouraging each other in that goal. (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 10:17; 12:13)

In doing it this way, working individually and collectively, we positively influence each other to seek out Gods truth for ourselves and for each other.  In this way we all grow and have something productive to offer to the both the Body of Christ and the world around us.  A reading of the Gospels is an example of this principle being lived out in the daily lives of those first and early church disciples.

That is how we will build the Body of Christ in love, as the book of Ephesians tells us to do, rather than tearing each other down by our opinions and our ideas of what theology and what doctrine should be followed or what  behaviors should be displayed or how we should dress and what our hair should look like and how we should talk and what ministry should be defined as and how it should look and how we should go about it!

In all of these things that I have discovered both in the many years of my walk with Christ and reinforced just lately, one of the biggest discoveries I have made is that our God is an infinitely creative God who treats everyone singularly and individually and has the creative power to bring a specific life work to every individual that He created!!

When we go to God‘s word, and we begin everything, including each single day, with God’s perfect and undiluted truth, then we change from glory to glory; then we are convicted but not condemned; convicted of sin leading us to repent before Him and He brings change as He brings the balm of forgiveness.

The very act of starting each new day with a refresher course of truth enab les us to put aside our flesh just as his Word exhorts us to do, and then we truly discover the freedom in Christ He sent His Son to deliver us to! True freedom! We discover what it really means to be led by the Holy Spirit rather than led by the group mentality of the people we hang out with, or their opinions of how we should behave, or the theology of church denominations and religious institutions.

Jesus’ own words in the bible tell us that if we are filled with the Holy Spirit (which is God himself!) then that Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth! (John 16:13) Not ‘some’ truth, not somebody else’s truth, not even our own truth, but THE TRUTH, and ALL of it! (1Corinthians 2:13)  And that we will need no teacher beyond God holy spirit, (1John 2:27) because then we will have all that we need.

That is what will make us, all of us, healthy believers participating in a healthy body of Christ as opposed to being members of an audience being entertained by a select few on a certain day of the week at a certain hour for a certain amount of time with an expectation that we will pay a certain amount of money for the privilege. (Do not misunderstand, I am not advocating against the gathering of the saints.  That is ordained by God and is GOOD for the growth of the individual and the Body as a whole.  What I am advocating is change; a change in the audience/performer format currently followed in almost every church which results in sleeping, uninvolved Christians!)

God has a plan for His creation. And that plan is not discovered from the mind or heart of man or any group of men and/or women. God‘s perfect plan isn’t even simply or fully contained in the writings we call the Bible (which is holy and it is perfect but it’s not everything God intends), for that Bible itself tells us that God will reveal… there are further revelations… that the Holy Spirit will lead us to ALL truth… which we wouldn’t need if all the truth was already contained in the book. (A book by the way, which is perfect and is Holy but did not exist for many many many generations upon generations. And for generation upon generation has been subject to the translation, mistranslation and opinions of those who do the translations of that book!)

Try to understand what I am trying to convey here; that the book is perfect, the book is holy, and the book is our starting point, however, the fullness and the greatness and the totality of God certainly cannot be contained by a single book, (John 21:25), which is why Colossians 1:27 tells us we have Christ in us, which is the Holy Spirit, which in the book of Romans God through the Apostle Paul reveals to us, will be the vehicle that brings us to all truth!

If God intended that the written Word, the Bible alone, would be what brings us to all truth, he would have said so. He did not say that. He said His Holy Spirit, which resides in the heart of each and every believer, (a believer being those who have confessed Jesus is Lord and believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead for their redemption from sin, those whose names are written in the Lambs Book of Life), they will be led by the Holy Spirit of the living God in their individual daily lives!

We have become a culture and society plagued by what we call the ‘victim mentality’. I’m not responsible, I’m not accountable, I’m the victim of someone else’s behavior. I can see why Satan would push such a false narrative. With that mindset how easily he can then spread the lie that as long as you’re in church every time the doors are open you have a ticket to heaven and God will forgive any and all of your sins without you truly doing the work of repentance. And repentance is work! If you are sinning on a regular and daily basis, giving up that sin isn’t a fast and simple and easy thing. It’s like getting free of any addiction, there’s some hard work involved!

By promoting this “I am not responsible it is someone else’s responsibility” attitude and heart set even in the people of God who call Jesus their Lord, Satan has been able to steer people away from that personal accountability, away from that personal responsibility to seek first the kingdom of God which would truly set them free!

Instead we are given the false feeling that we have ‘done our duty’ before God, simply by sitting in the pew or chair in a building, singing a few songs along with the entertainment on the stage, and listening, unfortunately most of the time with half an ear and even less of our hearts, to somebody else preach or lecture us about some aspect or opinion or principal, hopefully even from the Bible, and then go home with nary a thought about what we’ve heard or how it would apply to our lives or any kind of discussion concerning it whatsoever!

This isn’t what the Bible teaches!

1Corinthians 14 indicates teaching is to be immediately followed by discussion among everyone there! Yet today, after we’ve “attended the service” we go about our lives, with the wrong notion but fully convinced in our hearts, that we’ve done what God requires of us since we put a few dollars in the offering plate and we sat through the service, that somehow that should please God and that God Almighty should give us a pass on anything else we do throughout the week! (This may not be your experience, but it is unfortunately the experience of far too many who name themselves Christians!)

If this isn’t you, then good for you! If you dig into God‘s word daily on your own seeking to know Him, seeking to understand His will for your life, seeking the foundational truth you need so that you can hear from the Holy Spirit daily and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading into all truth for your life, for the work of ministry God has called you individually to, then good for you!

But for the vast majority who call themselves Christians, that is simply not how this works.

In the last several weeks, I have come to understand to a far greater degree, the understanding God began to give me years and years ago but it has taken this long to truly take hold and build roots in my heart, that there is a slumbering sickness in the church of God across denominational lines and including every denomination and/or non-denominational gathering of Gods saints, for the most part. This is the prayer God has continually pressed on my heart year after year, that His Body would WAKE UP!!

Each of us needs to examine our own heart, as the Apostle Paul states clearly,(2Corinthians 13:5), but having examined our own heart, each of us is responsible to then move forward in the truth that the Holy Spirit reveals to us.

This then is me, moving forward in the truth the Holy Spirit has revealed to me. I have allowed myself to slip away from that individual accountability and responsibility, to die to myself in order that I might live to Christ, and to diligently and relentlessly seek to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow the leading of that Holy Spirit. If my journey can help one other soul make their own journey into truth, then it is well worth putting myself out there  as transparently as I can and allowing myself to be vulnerable. In fact, that very principle is one of the things God has clearly reiterated and reminded me of and made ever clearer to me in these last few weeks. Part of my joy as a Christian sister is ‘laying down my life’ for others!

It is not enough to just hear someone talk about God’s word. If we put the writings of Paul together, rather than set apart one sentence here or one sentence there, we discover that we do need to hear the word of God preached, but we also need to read and understand it for ourselves, discuss it with other like-minded believers so that each of us comes to a full and/or fuller understanding of how it relates to our lives as well as how we should be applying the principle from God‘s word, and how we can truly encourage one another to grow and change and be more productive as laborers in God’s field of harvest!

God has called us to be ambassadors for Christ, (2Corinthians 5:20), every single one of us is called to be an ambassador and a minister. Not a single one of us anywhere in the entire Bible is called to be an audience member.  Not a single one of us anywhere in God’s word is called to only to bankroll someone else’s ministry or ambassadorship! In fact Jesus himself laid out the very first and foundational principle, in Acts 1:8- when He declared to the disciples, “you will be witnesses to Me!”

These last few weeks in isolation, spent reading God‘s word, praying God‘s word, and with way too much time spent looking at what is going on in the hearts of others via their social media posts, I am more convinced than ever of several things.
the gathering of the saints is an absolute necessity for the strength and well-being of the  individual Christian and the Body of Christ as a whole.

• the gathering of the saints must be interactive, with every member fully engaging. 
• the gathering of the Church is to be as described in 2Timothy 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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

This happens with discussion, by encouraging one another, confessing to one another so that the word can be shared more fully with each other.  In this way the gathering becomes a place of learning and strengthening for the real work of ministry.

• the actual work of the ministry is to take place daily out in our regular daily lives, involving the people we see when we go shopping, the people that we work with, the people we live next to, the people we encounter at gas stations, the people we run into when we’re camping, when we’re fishing, when we’re simply living our lives!  We are equipped (Ephesians 4:12), we are ready ‘instant in season and out of season’ (2Timothy4:2) to share God’s truth. 

Too often all the saints of God share is come to my church, come listen to my pastor who is so smart. But we are all called to share the simple truth of gods word, God‘s salvation gift and God‘s everlasting love with a hurting, lost and terribly wounded world.  The gathering of the saints is to equip each and every one of us for this important work!  Not for us to sing a few songs and hear a great speech.  Not for us to have a social activity to attend.  But to prepare every single one of us as a witness and representative of the Lord God!

Not everyone will listen when we share and not everyone will receive it, but that isn’t our concern. Our concern is to share. The condition of the heart of that person who hears, is between that person and the Holy Spirit. Our only responsibility there after before and after sharing Gods TRUTH is to pray for people. Pray for the Holy Spirit work to occur, to enter the hearts of others and transform them from dead in trespasses and sins to alive for eternity through Christ Jesus the Lord!

1 Timothy 2:1-4
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Put aside the meme’s, the cliche’s, the niceties of false truth that God wants you to be “happy, healthy and wealthy” and grab hold of His Truth! Abundant life and true joy comes from obedience to Him.  Obedience to Him leads to others coming to know Him and His name being glorified.  His, not ours.

We say “HE IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED”  but is the way we live life proving that truth?  We fall so far short no matter how hard we try or how much we want to glorify His name!  I know I certainly do!  And once again, He and only He provides.  For even while we were sinners, He sent His son to save the world! (Romans 5:18)  By grace we are saved, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9) lest any of us should have anything to boast about.

Father, I sincerely ask in the mighty name of Jesus that these tiny little words might somehow make a difference in someone’s life, and lead them out of darkness and into the light of your warm and welcoming love! I am incredibly thankful to You, and more so as I get to know You better!  I pray that will be the experience of many others as well, as I humbly share Your message of salvation with any and all in the course of my life, as You give me opportunity.  Thank you so much for your love and care and leading in my life!  I am so grateful, and look forward to all You have for me!  I am listening for the trumpet sound and looking for Your Sons coming, and meanwhile I obediently will WATCH & PRAY as You instructed.  Thank You for saving me, thank You for working through me to reach others by being a witness for You, in Jesus name!

Words vs Actions

While words are a powerful tool, words by themselves won't accomplish much.
Action taken is where the power becomes a truly formidable force.

In Matthew 21: 28-30 Jesus demonstrates this truth with a parable.

A father with two sons goes to each and makes a request of them.  One speaks negative words, declaring he will not obey, but then thinks better of it, and goes and does.  

The second speaks positive words, declaring he will obey the father straight-away, but then he fails to follow up his words with action, and does not do what was requested.

Jesus asked the crowd this same question I ask you now; which of these sons was obedient?

The one who DID the required action?
Or the one who SAID he would do the required action but didn't?

God initiates, we respond.

All action verbs requiring more than just mere words.

Well did the Apostle James tell us "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works."

To call oneself a Christian takes no more than mere words uttered.  

To be a Christian requires your actions reflect that state of being. We certainly have none of us arrived, but there should be clear evidence that shows we are on the journey!

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.

Apologetics, debates and atheists

Do you ever feel like you have to "defend God"?

When other people scoff at your beliefs or dismiss them as weakness or fables, it is natural to want to defend those beliefs.

In reality, we aren't so much defending God as we are trying to justify why we believe what we believe.

Right here I’ll stop and make one point very clear; the belief system I am addressing is that of taking Jesus at His word.  That He is, as He declared, the Truth and the ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN.   That God, in the Beginning, Created the Heavens and earth and everything in it.  That our faith must be in Him, not in our church doctrines, our own feelings or the philosophy of others.

Recently on a Facebook post, a well meaning and very polite atheist expressed the opinion that Christianity is as easily dismissed a religion as any other religion practiced on this earth.

I shared some basic Truth, which he, as expected, dismissed or ignored while pressing forward, gearing up for a “fun” debate that would waste out time and perhaps only serve to supply him with some entertainment.

I spoke the Truth in Love and made it clear I would not join him in a debate, as Truth is not open to debate, it STANDS on its own.  Jesus needs no apologies and God certainly doesn’t need me to defend Him. (I did declare I would pray for him, did pray and will continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would deliver him from blindness).

According to the revelation shared by the Apostle Paul, it is both unnecessary and an exercise in futility to spend time on what he calls “endless genealogies” or “vain jangling”. 

Take a look for yourself:

1Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

2 To Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

3 As I asked you to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

5 Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: (unfeigned is ‘not false’)

6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;

1Timothy 6: 20  O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

Indeed, there are many mysteries that only God Himself knows and we are ignorant of their origins or how they affect our world and our hearts.  God, being God and Creator, is naturally superior to that which He created.  That is difficult for many to accept or comprehend.  They prefer to bring God down to their own level, debate lofty truths that we have no control over as though they did control them, and reject the very premise of a Creator that would make them not completely and absolutely autonomous in their own being.

As if, in rejecting the existence of God, they could actually diminish or dispel His existence and influence upon the earth and the creatures He created.

IT REMINDS OF THE JOKE ABOUT GOD AND THE SCIENTIST.

That’s the biggest problem with every argument I’ve ever heard from one who dismisses the existence of God.  All argument begins precisely with what God has already provided; LIFE.  They live because God made, formed and created man to begin with and gave man free will to choose to worship and trust God the Creator.

I have always had a problem with lies.  It stems from a childhood that was filled with them, and caused me fist clenching tooth grinding frustration that is with me to this day. When I was raising my children, I used to tell them that as long as we had the truth of any situation, no matter how bad or devastating it might be, we could deal with it.

That is the same way I view the Bible.  I may not understand all of it, I may not even want to agree with all of it, but since it is Truth and it reveals nothing but Truth, there is something substantial to deal with whatever the circumstances. 

Those who reject the Truth – and we should understand that Truth is not a “what” but a “Who”- Jesus Himself! – those who reject that Truth have no premise, no foundation to stand on.  So anything they come up with may or may not resemble reason or logic; BUT IT WILL NOT BE TRUTH.

To be sure, faith is a difficult thing.  Centuries of scholars have written discourse after discourse about it, refuting it, defending it and discussing it at length.  One post here can't even begin to deal with the intricacies of faith and I am not going to try.  What I will say is this; you don't have to have rock solid faith in and of yourself when your faith rests on the Rock Solid foundation of Christ.

When we consider faith only from our own perspective, then losing it, if only for a time at different times, is almost a given.  When things are going well faith is easy and strong.  

When the going is hard, the stuff of life deals us a blow or a defeat or failure, if your faith is based on how "good" you are treated, how often you get not just answer to prayer, but the answers you want - if faith is based on anything other than JESUS CHRIST THE SAVIOR, your faith will fail you.

When you recognize that faith in the Truth is based ON that Truth and not your circumstances or your feelings, you discover faith is steady, stable and continually growing stronger in every situation.

Faith is:

DEMOLITION

It is incredibly easy to tear things down.  Particularly in our watered down, seeker friendly, church that looks just like the world state of being at this time in history. Finding things to dislike and disagree about is extremely simple - especially in the Body of Christ - where we've made a lifestyle out of developing our "own" doctrines and theologies and pitting them against the doctrines and theologies of others.

At this point I could just say "shame on us" (as I have in past posts) and move on.

Instead let's explore this just a little and each of us can examine our own hearts as the Apostle Paul encourages us to do and perhaps we ourselves will sense the prick of Holy Spirit conviction and move in a more positive fashion concerning the members of the Body of Christ.

To support the work of the ministry, the pastors of Turn the Tide Ministries do home improvements and renovations.

Often, in order to build a more beautiful room, we must deconstruct the room or elements of the room that currently exist.  Tearing apart a wall or ceiling or fixture is messy, dirty and not at all beautifying!  If you took a look, you would most likely comment:

"It looks more like they are making a mess rather than creating a beautiful room!"

and you would be correct, if you had no idea what we were doing or why we were doing it or what the next steps would be.  Personally, the tearing down is, in my opinion, the easy part of the job.  The hard part is the building up.

In the Body of Christ we who have declared Jesus our Savior are all members in particular of ONE BODY with Christ as the Head.  Interestingly enough, we see only a small part, our part, in the Body.  And tearing down remains much easier than building up!

In a recent Facebook post, Christian singer Carmen took up the cause of Joel Osteen and his lovely wife, Pastors of Lakewood Church in Texas.  Joel is what I term a "celebrity Christian figure" as he is well known generally more widely than local church pastors.  Some cannot stand him or his methods.  Some love him and every word he says is book selling gold.

Whether what he says, the books he writes or the sermons he preaches are good or bad is for God alone to judge.  Whether he is "truly saved" or a huckster is also Gods business alone.  According to the word of God, we are only to judge the FRUIT produced or the lack thereof.  The heart of a man only God can know.  The heart of a woman only God can know.

The same for celebrity styled persons everywhere, like Joyce Meyers or Creflo Dollar.  People will always take every word and tear it up and tear it down because of whatever it is that motivates them.  Even we have been dismissed as missionaries for the Lord by some, simply because our mission field is our home country or because we don't seek funds from others to do the work of the ministry!

It isn't up to "us" to judge words or judge hearts or judge ministries or methods of ministry.  ONLY GOD KNOWS THE BIG PICTURE AND WHAT HIS PURPOSES ARE!

There is only one question any of us are allowed to ask.

Is there FRUIT?  Fruit that glorifies God?  Fruit that increases Gods Kingdom?  Fruit that leads others to a saving knowledge of Christ?  These are the only things we have any right to judge according to the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

Otherwise, we are all called to do the HARD PART.  BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST IN LOVE.  Tearing down is easy.  The much harder part is to get on your knees and pray.  Pray for the light of the Holy Spirit to shine.  Pray for TRUTH to be received and given.  Pray for hearts softened toward God and yielding to His commands.  Pray for the Body to grow in Love and Peace and Joy and Goodness and Mercy.

We will all give an account of every word we speak.  NOT to each other, but to Almighty God alone who is worthy and able to judge.  I tremble at the thought.  I know I've spoken words I wish now I could take back, say differently, or speak with more LOVE infused in them!

Well did our Apostle Paul warn us!
GALATIANS 5:15 ~ BUT IF YOU BITE AND DEVOUR ONE ANOTHER BEWARE LEST YOU BE CONSUMED BY ONE ANOTHER!

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, no matter what "name" you call yourself, what labels you or others have put on yourselves, if CHRIST is your Lord, we are ONE BODY.  Protect our Body, bless our Body, honor our Body, give God the Glory and let God, who knows and sees be the JUDGE.  Where there are wolves masquerading in sheep's clothing, He can and will provide safety.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!

REPOSTING THIS IN HONOR OF MY MOTHERS 80TH BIRTHDAY:

Forgiving my mother was the greatest gift I have ever received.

Not just imagined slights, words misunderstood or minor infractions every parent commits.  I had real, serious emotional and physical injury inflicted.  Mental, physical and sexual abuse.  Neglect.  Spiritual abuse. 

The day I forgave her every single bit without regret, without holding back, I also received forgiveness.  I forgave myself for the little child who didn’t know better.  I forgave myself the pain and hurt I’d inflicted on myself over the years as a result.  I forgave myself for the thick, horrible walls I’d built trying to protect myself, which had only isolated me from much of the world, and kept me from relationships that might have been, if I’d been emotionally healthier.

I forgave myself for the parenting mistakes I made, the tense manner in which I raised my children and the fear I’d held onto that stole so much of my young adulthood.

One day, there came the right time to tell my mother that she was forgiven.

What happened next was nothing short of miraculously amazing. 

All those years I’d let unforgiveness fester, thinking SHE didn’t deserve it, or that I couldn’t forgive until she asked forgiveness.  The day I told her I had completely forgiven her (a good number of years ago now) is the day she actually asked me to forgive her.  It’s the day she owned every rotten horrid thing that had occurred and tearfully asked me to forgive her.  She had a little trouble believing I had already forgiven her years before.  But since I already had, fully and without reservation years ago, that was the day true healing took place.  

Not slowly.  Not over time.  Immediate.  God healed me as completely as I’d forgiven Mom.  

Mom and I began to build a loving relationship from that very moment.  In a few very short years, it became the strong mother daughter relationship I’d always longed for.

Pastor Marie and her mother.  This year, the whole family will come together to celebrate Moms 80th birthday!
Mom was born again and saved 15 years ago, and most of the immediate family has accepted Christ

God healed me.  God healed her.  And God healed us.

You think whatever was done to you, whatever slight was perpetrated against you just can’t be forgiven.

I’m telling you it’ll be the most awesome gift you will ever receive; to forgive others, and really, truly give it over to the Lord.  Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.  You know the forgiveness is true and complete the day you ask God to forgive that person or persons, and withhold vengeance from them.

It will be the most freeing day of your life!

Dreams & Visions

When we pray, do we REALLY believe God will answer us?

Then why are so often surprised when He does?

I recently talked about examining our own hearts; an exhortation Paul makes:

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

Reading that one morning now too long ago, I asked God to help me examine my heart, and reveal if anything needed attention, repentance and change.

Interestingly enough, I had a couple of dreams in the next two weeks that appeared significant, as they stayed with me through the next day.  

Again, I sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Who leads us into all truth, and discovered to my surprise, then joy, that indeed I did have two specific areas that required further address. 

I also felt my surprise needed addressing!  When we pray in Faith, we certainly should expect to get an answer, don't you agree?

The Lord often speaks to us in dreams and visions.  It's one of the few times, I think, we're actually quiet enough to LISTEN!

I pray you, too, will find your faith increasing as you experience answer to your prayers!