Can You Imagine?

murjahel · May 24, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE A REVIVAL WHICH INCLUDES A REPENTANT, HUMBLING RETURN TO GOD?

WILLFUL SIN HAS BROKEN THIS NATION

Hebrews 10:26
"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation."

This judgment that a nation must fearfully dread, is that we, who have known God, will receive, if we do not repent is the judgment that most prophets must speak in warning.

God only withholds blessings because He must. Sin breaks our vessel, our spirit, and keeps us from being able to have Gods best blessings. God cannot and will not bless sin.

As a doctor needs to sometimes inform the patient that a particular disease is bringing death to the body, so we need to inform the broken vessels in the churches, that willful sin breaks them, makes them dry and unable to receive the best blessings of God.

The nation needs healing. It is pathetically sinful. It is shamefully proud of its sins. It is almost unaware of its estrangement from God

THE REASON GOD HAS BEEN BREAKING VESSELS
IN THIS NATION

This chastisement of God in breaking the vessels within this nation has a purpose. God will bring chastisement to bear upon a nation and upon a few here and there, in order to bring them to repentance. He cannot save until they repent. They often will not repent until they are encouraged to repent by judgment.

Hosea 5:15
"...in their affliction, they will seek Me early."

Amos 4:11
"I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning; yet ye have not returned unto Me, saith the Lord."

As these verses show, God often has to bring some to the brink of destruction. They can be saved from destruction if they repent. Sometimes, they won't repent, even then. God keeps breaking the vessels out of love and a longing for us to return to Him. He is an ever-merciful God, not willing that any of us perish, so He breaks vessels, lets the dryness of the empty broken vessels bring us to a thirst that only He can satisfy.

God sends judgments because He loves. In our current time, God is seeing terrible sins. Jesus has shown the love and mercy of God, by the cross and resurrection. It is good that God labors hard to bring a nation back to repentance when it strays from Him. It is very good.

Psalms 119:67, 71
"Before I was afflicted, I went astray... it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes."

Unlike the Psalmist, Judah had not learned from previous chastisements. They did not turn to God when He sent afflictions, and warnings from the prophets.

Jeremiah 3:6-18
"The Lord said to me... Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up every high mountain... played the harlot. ... I said... Turn thou unto me. But she returned not... proclaim these words...Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord... only acknowledge thine iniquity..."

Judah was foolish to walk in stubborn refusal to learn. The sins of the land were many. Idolatry, immorality, etc. had so gripped the religious people of the land that God was embarrassed and ashamed of His people.

Trying in our own might to be a bit better, to turn over a new leaf, to clean up the broken pieces of our lives, is not a substitute for repentance. God wants us to acknowledge our sins, repent, and give our broken vessel back into His hands.

Jeremiah 2:22
"For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord Jehovah."

Sin greatly disturbs God. The terrible sins of the last days certainly disturb God. How can we remain silent? The task of warning the people seems too hard. Yet, we can do it.

We must get our message from God and His Word, and take it to the people who are broken, dry, and needy of Gods mercy.

Some saints have fallen from high places by lust, greed, and self-centered religion. Some churches today are filled with pew-sitters, Pharisaical hypocrites, and those willing to "stone" those who preach that sin is still sin. Some churches are shrinking in size as "spiritual abusers" hurt the little ones of the Lord.

In these last days, we find that many religious people are still complacently following those who simply satisfy "itching ears" and encourage all types of sins. If the church does not live faithfully for God, there will be no revival blessings for the nation.

THE ONLY HOPE FOR BROKENNESS

Isaiah 1:18
"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool."

The Lord is a merciful Lord. As Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery:

John 8:11
"Neither do I condemn thee, go thy way... sin no more."

Like a repentant, unfaithful mate, this nation must return to God. The nation must come humbly, shamed by sins, repentant, and willing to change.

Forgiveness must be based on genuine repentance. There must be a change in the pattern of living. There must be a change in the attitudes. There must be a change in loyalties. There must be a change in outlook. This kind of repentance precedes forgiveness. God still loves and can forgive if the nation comes to Him in this kind of repentance.

We must confront the sins of the nation. We must utter God's message of warning to the nation, if they do not repent. We, then, can offer God's merciful plan of repentance to precede forgiveness. The broken vessels then will be repaired by God. God will then heal the land.

Our duty is to spread the message about God's love and mercy. Sometimes this message must be preceded by a message of the wrath of God that will come if the people do not repent of their shameful sins. God will withhold healing until the people of God come back to repentance.

murjahel · May 25, 2013

THE PARABLE OF THE POTTER
SHOWS GODS DESIRE
TO REMAKE THE BROKEN VESSELS

Jeremiah 18:1-4 (KJV)
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Jeremiah watched the potter take a lump of clay and shape it. The potter then noticed that the lump of clay had an impurity within it, and if the vessel would be heated with that impurity within it, it would be worthless. So the potter did not discard it, but re-fashioned it into another vessel.

There are many marred vessels, that are now broken by sin, but God can still take the clay and reshape it.

This shows that God deals with a nation with love, and gentleness. He does not easily discard the impure. God wants to take those broken by sin, and and begin to reshape them, and bring them back to valuable vessels able to hold great blessings. The Potter will not give up on the lump of clay. He will keep trying to get worthy vessels.

The Master Potter will finally shape a worthy vessel with any and all of a nation who will yield themselves humbly repentant to the Potter.

God is a great Master Potter. He loves to make us into worthy, and useful vessels. He is working on the nation today, and trying to get the church to become a worthy vessel that He had tried so long to make of Israel. The Potter will not accept an impure vessel. He will destroy it, so He can take out the impurity and begin to reshape the vessel. We must warn the impure vessels that are within the Potter's hands, that they must get ready for judgment if they have sin.

Jeremiah 18:6
"...cannot I do with you as this potter?"

Since this is, whether they admit it or not, a nation under God. He owns the universe, and this nation is not anyone elses but His. He will work to revive it, or destroy it for its sins. Many have been proud, stubborn, and unrepentant in the Potter's hands. They need to yield to the Master Potter. It would soon be too late if they did not yield.

Jeremiah 18:8
"If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them."

Did you ever talk to someone whom you can tell has 'tuned you out'? Did you ever talk to someone who was too proud to heed what you were suggesting? Even, God's people often will treat His Word that way. And they will also refuse stubbornly to heed His words. Pride is always a first step toward a fall.

Peter boasted a few hours before his fall:
Matthew 26:33
"If all shall be offended in Thee, I will never be offended."

Psalms 73:6 speaks of pride "as a chain about their neck."

Many people are too proud of their religious standing, their great Scriptural knowledge, and their denominational standing, etc. to hear God.

Proverbs 16:18
"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Daniel 5:20 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar's "heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly."

Obadiah 3-4
"Thy pride of thy heart hath deceived thee... though thou mount on high as the eagle, ... I will bring thee down."

Pride kept the people of the days of Jesus' first coming from hearing His words. In the last days, pride will keep people from hearing the words of God. The people are too proud to admit the sinfulness within the nation. They think the nation needs only a scolding. Pride is the barrier that keeps a nation from getting to the altars with weeping.

That is why the answer to a nations sin is humbling.

ALLOW THE POTTER, THE GOOD POTTER, i.e. KING JESUS, TO TAKE US IN HIS HANDS, AND MAKE US WORTHY, UNBROKEN VESSELS FOR HIS USE.

If the nation does that, the nation will be healed.

There are three blessings available upon this nation for obedience:

1. King Jesus will hear from heaven.

2. King Jesus will forgive their sin.

3. King Jesus will heal their land.

Since many in this nation haven't met the conditions, these blessings await fulfillment.

murjahel · May 26, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Can you imagine if you could have
everything you ever wanted?

　

Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of this world by the devil. Jesus turned down all these things. What if we could have all the things, all the money, all the power, all the desires we ever wanted?

Matthew 4:8-10 (KJV)
8 Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain,
and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

All the dominions that Satan claimed, were offered to Jesus. Jesus was soon to claim dominion over them, conquer sin, death, and reclaim this world from Satan. Yet, the way would be difficult, with three years of ministry, a crucifixion after beating and mocking. The easy way was to let Satan continue dominion over this world. The people in this kingdom of Satan were sinful and evil. Yet, Satan would have them honor Jesus as king, if Jesus would honor Satan as god of this world.

Matthew 6:19-24 (KJV)
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

We cannot serve God and money. We cannot seek and attain all that we ever desired, without it becoming our god. We will serve things and money, or we will serve God. There is no middle ground of having both desires.
Satan asserted his claim to give away second place to Jesus. Satan regarded Jesus as the King of the Jews, but Satan thought he would offer Jesus more than that. Satan did not understand that Jesus came to offer salvation to all of mankind. The devil supposed, assumed, that Jesus had come to take possession Israel. Jesus was poor, unarmed.

Satan proposed to give Jesus possession of the world, for a small agreement to let Satan to be god over the earth.

2 Corinthians 4:4 (KJV)
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

There are many blinded by greed, blinded by ambition, blinded by carnal desires for things and for power. The devil is still luring Christians, as he lured Jesus. Jesus rebuked the devil, many Christians try to have what the devil offers, and have God also.

THE DEVIL STILL LURES FOR US TO:
Fall down and worship me"

Satan wanted Jesus to acknowledge the devil as having a right to give these kingdoms. The devil wanted Jesus to acknowledge dependence on him rather than God. He wanted homage, worship, due to the pride of the devil.

The devil was bold, brazen, and stupid. He thought Jesus could be tempted to just seek possession of the kingdoms of this world. Jesus came to claim Kingship of the universe.

Satan thought that giving a gift to Jesus would make Him beholding to him. Jesus does not sell blessings for an offering, even though many preachers may make one think that God is a retailer Who does that sort of thing. Yet, Jesus created this universe. He entrusted the original creation for Lucifer to lead in worship to God. Lucifer became Satan and converted the beings of the pre-Adamite world to worship him. They did worship the devil, and suffered judgment and death due to their sin. The devil was still trying to claim this earth as his kingdom. Jesus came to destroy that false idea, and prove that He was rightful owner, ruler, King of this earth, and the rest of the universe.

Jesus is not poor, needing an offering to survive. No, He is the eternal King of kings, almighty, omnipresent, and omniscient. The idea that Jesus would acknowledge the gift, and give gratitude for it, is foolish to the max. the temptations of Satan were blasphemous. The devil thought he presented his allurements to Jesus in a plausible way, shows how he was so stupid to leave the high blessing he was given millennia before. He left that hoping to get more to satisfy his pride in self.

Jesus said, "Get thee hence."

These temptations from the devil were met with a decided rebuke. Satan was in direct violation of Gods law. He stupidly sought to have King Jesus to worship the devil, instead of worshiping God Who made heaven and earth.

The devil wanted King Jesus to bow down before the prince of wickedness, and give him worship.
　

"It is written."

Jesus quoted the devil Scripture, and reminded him of this passage:

Deuteronomy 6:13-16 (KJV)
13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name.
14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah.

The Scripture gives us direction, and shows us how God wants us to live. Quoting Scripture to counter the temptations and evils of the devil is still key for us to do.

"Thou shalt worship"

Jesus had decided to worship God. Some choose to worship King Jesus. Yet, the devil comes to tempt mankind to worship other gods. Like Satan tried to tempt Jesus, he offers other gods to be worshipped. He offers prideful attention to ourselves, if we give him, or some other god the first place in our lives.

1 Samuel 7:3 (KJV)
3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve Him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

Since Jesus did not fail in the temptation, we have His example. Yet, we have often failed, we continue to fail. We need to send away strange gods other than King Jesus.

We need to rebuke false gods, and worship only King Jesus. For our many failures, this process of serving and worshipping only King Jesus, begins with repentance for our failures.

Can you imagine if the devil offered you all that you ever desired? You likely dont have to imagine it, the devil has lyingly made that offer to most all of us. We have often had a choice of things, or Jesus. We have had to often choose to serve the Lord, or seek gain and money. Surely, we need some money and some things for life, but if it becomes our main goal, our hearts desire, then we are on dangerous ground.

Jesus is going to someday rule the kingdoms of this earth. He already is owner of the universe. The offer of the devil is foolishness, for he does not possess all things, to give all things. The devil still lies, and those out seeking earthly treasures, and neglecting the Lord, are foolish to think that serving the devil will ever enrich them.

I am a joint heir with Jesus. I am part owner of the universe.

Romans 8:17 (KJV)
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.

REPENTANCE IS NEEDED
for not having rejected the devils offers, as Jesus did.

Three phases of repentance are shown in the Word of God. They are illustrated by three Greek words defining repentance phases.

In repentance there is:

1. Emotional change is the first phase of repentance.
　

Sorrow, shame, regret need to be felt to begin the repentance we must do. The Greek word metamelomai refers to this phase.

Matthew 21:28-31 (KJV)
28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first.

The young man regretted, felt ashamed of his former words and choice. This was an emotional change in the young man. We need to make an emotional change, and repent of self seeking, greed, and carnal seeking.
　

2. Mental change is phase two.

This is the Greek word metanoeo meaing to change ones mind, and recognize sin as sin.

Matthew 12:41 (KJV)
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

The people of Nineveh had a change of mind, and saw their sin as the wickedness it was. They were a most evil people, and Jonah had felt they were truly worthy of judgment. Yet, when they repented, God spared them for their sins.

Luke 15:7 (KJV)
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Heaven rejoices over sinners who have a change of mind, and choose to admit sin is truly wrong. We should change our minds, and seek Jesus, the riches and blessings of having a close relationship with Him.
　

3. Direction change is the third phase of repentance.

　
This is the Greek word epistrephomai meaning a behavior change as a result of emotional and mental change. Anyone can, for a multitude of reasons, change behavior. A speeder can suddenly slow down to the speed limit due to seeing a policeman with a radar gun. A dishonest worker may suddenly stop stealing, if the boss is looking.

Real change of direction that is true repentance is a result of first emotional regret, and then a change of ones way of thinking, seeing sin as wrong and evil. Those two phases must precede the directional change to make it real repentance.

Repentance occurs when the entire person changes feelings, thinking, and then direction. If we repent of the sin of listening to the devils offers, we should see dramatic changes in our behavior. We will value and seek time to talk to Him. We will study His words in the Bible with new desire and hope.

Can you imagine if we had a revival of repentance for having negotiated with the devil for things. He has nothing to truly offer, but many are still negotiating for a better offer from the devil. We must repent of thinking any riches of this world are worth a second of our time with Jesus. The riches of eternity come by following the true Owner of all of the universe, i.e. Jesus.

CAN YOU IMAGINE
HAVING ALL YOU EVER DESIRED?

YOU CAN,
ONLY IF YOU HAVE A RELATIONSHIP
WITH JESUS,
AND
DESIRE THE THINGS HE KNOWS
ARE BEST FOR YOU !!!

murjahel · May 27, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE
IF WE FED OUR SOUL AND SPIRIT,
BETTER THAN WE FEED OUR BODY?

　

Matthew 4:3-4
"When the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.' But He answered and said,
'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'"

The word "If" was meant to cast doubt to Jesus on His being the Son of God. Just as the devil tries to make us doubt our relationship with the Lord, the devil tried to make Jesus doubt His incarnation as one of the Godhead into mankind.

The devil still tries the same tactic upon every Christian, and tries to get us to doubt that we are "a son of God".

Many doubt that they are a "Christian" due to a word of doubt inspired by the devil. The DOOR OF DOUBT beckoned Jesus.

The devil can try to make us doubt our spiritual relationship, and often tempts us to think only of feeding the body, and not of feeding the soul and spirit. The soul and spirit need food, spiritual food.

The Lord was fasting for forty days, neglecting the food for the body, but feeding the spirit with words that proceed from the mouth of God.

Those words are the rhema of Gods spoken words to us.

When we pray, we can talk to Jesus, when we read His written Word, the rhema there still lives and speaks to us.

Jesus said 'it is written', and He knew the written rhema of God, and used it to overcome temptations. The lack of study of God's Word, not only hinders the hearing of His spoken word, but it also weakens us in times of temptation.

No, this is not Bibliology, to love God's written rhema. We do not worship the Bible, but we worship the God Who authored the Bible, and His words are different than any words of any others, for they are living, eternal, truth forever.

God's spoken words, and His written words do not pass away as our words do. Our words come from our mouths, and are spoken, and then end. Gods words are eternal rhema truth that have power when spoken, and for eternity.

To insult God by denigrating the power of the rhema in the Bible, and then expect Him to speak directly to us, irregarding the insult of His written words, is a foolish error.

When we honor His written words to us, He honors us with more speaking to us. Those who denigrate His written words offend the Spirit of God, and He is vexed by such impudence.

We need Gods rhema words, to build our relationship with Him, and to bring spiritual growth to ourselves, as nourished and blessed by those words.

The rhema on which our souls and spirits feast, should come from His written message, and from His spoken messages to us.

Dreams, visions, mental revelations, spoken messages will accompany our respect for His written rhema words.

Some, though are tempted by the devil to get food for the body, food for the carnal nature, but then they neglect the spiritual rhema words of God to their soul and spirit.

Why was it wrong for Jesus to turn stones into bread???

They may have been shaped as loaves of bread. He certainly was hungry.

If you were hungry, would it be wrong if you could turn stones to bread?

Well, Jesus had emptied Himself of His supernatural power, for the purpose of becoming like unto mankind completely.

If He had used supernatural power for Himself, He would have been denying the incarnation, the kenosis, and their purpose. To save mankind, He had to become mankind. He, through the power of the Spirit, did miracles for others, but He denied Himself things for Himself.

We do not turn stones to bread, but we have cupboards and refrigerators full of food, grocery stores a stones throw away, and restaurants aplenty that we pass daily.

Sometimes, the devil tempts us to partake of the fleshly food, and then neglect the spiritual rhema we need to keep our spiritual self healthy and strong.

Too many in the congregations today, are seeking wealth, financial gain,ssss status, fame, and prosperity, for the carnal man, but the principle taught by our Lord was to "deny" oneself.

Matthew 16:24
"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life will lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it..."

The devil appealed to the physical need of Jesus. The hunger made Jesus vulnerable to the door of temptation to not deny Himself.

But Jesus, in His own personal weakness, quoted the Word of God.

With such RHEMA, Jesus went through the other door, and stopped the devil's attempt to get Him to enter the door leading to sin.

The devil pushed Jesus, as he often pushes us, toward the open door of temptation.

Jesus resisted, and stepped through the door of escape.

I Corinthians 10:13
"He will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able: but will with such temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it..."
　

When the devil tempts us to neglect the rhema words of God to our souls, and we feed only the carnal desires of the body, we are ignoring the way of escape that we are given. The resulting strong carnal person in us, and the weakened spiritual person in us, brings us to temptation to sin, in that weakened time.

Jesus put the devil to silence, and brought to Himself an inner strength that only faith inspired by the Word of God can bring. The door of escape is the Word of God. If we step through that door, we find FAITH, but if we do not take the way of escape, we are pushed by the devil through the door of temptation into SIN.

We must choose the door of FAITH AND ESCAPE, and run from the door of TEMPTATION AND SIN. Can you imagine if we did this, as Christ did?

Romans 10:17
"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God..."

The devil had desired for Jesus to turn stones into bread, and thereby deny the kenosis, cease to deny Himself for the good of others. Jesus shows by His answer to this tempter, that He had been feeding on something else.

Jesus had been feeding upon the Word of God. He knew the passage of the written words (rhema) of God that fit that temptation. Jesus was strong and able to withstand temptation, because He had been feeding the soul and spirit.

Many Christians often fail God, often fall into temptation, for lack of feeding of the soul and spirit. Many have fed the body, fed the carnal desires. They have become obese on the substitutes of the devil.

Surely, we cannot fast from food, pleasures, distractions, forever and always, but we can make sure that the soul and spirit are fed better than the soul and spirit. For if we are stronger spiritually, than we are in the fleshly part, we will be able to have that escape from temptations.
　

Many fail when in the time of temptation, for the reason of having been not feeding upon the Word. Their interests have been too preoccupied with feeding the flesh, the self.

They need to deny themselves, deny the lusts, desires, and hunger, in order to feed more and more on the Holy Scriptures, and on direct messages from God to us. This is the key to victory over the devil.

Can you imagine if we feasted and feasted on rhema words of God, more than we feasted on satisfying the carnal needs of the body?

What if we strengthened the soul and spirit so much, that the bodys desires were easy to deny, and temptations would be overcome!!!

Can you imagine?

mourningdove~ · May 27, 2013

murjahel said:
Jesus said 'it is written', and He knew the written rhema of God, and used it to overcome temptations. The lack of study of God's Word, not only hinders the hearing of His spoken word, but it also weakens us in times of temptation.

No, this is not Bibliology, to love God's written rhema. We do not worship the Bible, but we worship the God Who authored the Bible, and His words are different than any words of any others, for they are living, eternal, truth forever.

God's spoken words, and His written words do not pass away as our words do. Our words come from our mouths, and are spoken, and then end. Gods words are eternal rhema truth that have power when spoken, and for eternity.

To insult God by denigrating the power of the rhema in the Bible, and then expect Him to speak directly to us, irregarding the insult of His written words, is a foolish error.

When we honor His written words to us, He honors us with more speaking to us. Those who denigrate His written words offend the Spirit of God, and He is vexed by such impudence.

We need Gods rhema words, to build our relationship with Him, and to bring spiritual growth to ourselves, as nourished and blessed by those words.

The rhema on which our souls and spirits feast, should come from His written message, and from His spoken messages to us.

Dreams, visions, mental revelations, spoken messages will accompany our respect for His written rhema words.

I like the way Kay Arthur puts it:

"There are really only two choices in life: the word of man - what man says, thinks, and believes ...
or the Word of God - what God says and has caused to be written in the Bible."

murjahel · May 28, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE
IF GOD LET US ALWAYS DO IT
THE EASY WAY?

　
Would it not be wonderful if we could do things the easy way? Why work for forty years to retire with a good home, a paid for car? Why not win the lottery, get it all now, and wow, what a witness we could be?? Why take pills to ease the pain of the bowling injury? Why not have a complete healing so we can throw away our rogaine and reading glasses? Why labor mowing the grass, why not have a company offer to do it for us free? Yes, we can think of many blessings that we wonder why a God of love does not do for us.

Well, can you imagine a God Who would do such for us??? You will have to use your imagination, for that is not the kind of God we serve. He has treasures in heaven, and we have mortgages, taxes, and medical bills here. The blessings of heaven dont transfer down here very much.

In the Bible, one of the temptations of Jesus was to take an easy road to victory. Jesus knew that God was not going to do that, even for Him. We may as well learn what Jesus had learned.

Matthew 4:6-7
"Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the Temple. And saith unto Him, 'If Thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands, they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, 'It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'

　
The devil still tries to create question in the mind of Jesus. The devil says "If Thou be the Son of God..." and attempts to make the Lord question the goodness of God the Father to Him.

The devil even uses Scripture to try to tempt the Lord. The devil misquotes such Scripture. With the misquoted, misapplied twist of Scripture, the devil implies that Jesus need not battle and suffer in His ministry here. The devil implies that He can have protection, safety, peace, and an easy way to do His work.

The devil is still using many false ones to promote a lying version of what our lives here are to be.

God has given us a mission, and it will involve taking up a cross, not sitting on a throne. The throne comes later, but for now, the world will hate the true message of Jesus, because it calls for sinners to admit their degradation and repent. The world repent to them is a cuss word, and they will mistreat all who use it.

Jesus came, not to get standing ovations, and crowns, but He came to bear a cross and die for our sins, so we could repent.

The pinnacle of the Temple is the place where one priest would be stationed in the darkness of the late night. He would stand there and watch toward the east to see the first rays of light from the sun. When he cried out that he had spotted such, the morning sacrifice would begin.

The priest then came down while they were beginning to go through the morning sacrifice. The lamb offered for the priests themselves would be sacrificed first. Then the golden lampstand would be trimmed. The table of shewbread would then be cared for. Finally, the altar of incense would have incense burned upon it, and the priest offering such incense would depart the Temple, and give the benediction to those priests lying prostrate before the Temple in worship and prayer.

Jesus and the devil arrived as the priest departed such pinnacle. If Jesus had jumped off that pinnacle, He would have been caught by the angels, and come gently to rest in front of the priests who were to be praying for the arrival of the Messiah. What shouts of joy, and rejoicing of spirits there would have been by the priests and the crowd now entering into the Temple area.

It was a "do it quick and the easy way" temptation for Jesus. Certainly, in the natural, this was more appealing than dying upon a cross.

Jesus quoted Scripture again, and the RHEMA inspired faith in our Lord, making Him able to resist such temptation.

The devil wanted Jesus to cast Himself down before the priests to gain immediate acceptance, but Jesus was willing to do it God's way. Though it was a slow way, a difficult way, and a way that would require the suffering and death of our Lord, still Jesus was willing to patiently follow the direction of the Lord.

When we are in the midst of temptation, we need to be patient and remain in the plan of God. The devil will offer us quick ways to achieve our goals, but God's way is the way we must choose.

To choose any other way, is to 'tempt the Lord our God'.
The "way of escape" is through the speaking of the Word of FAITH. The door of escape means slamming the door of TEMPTATION. Too many want to play around the door of temptation, and the longer we stay near that door, the more likely we will be PUSHED through it by the devil.

The devil uses many humans to aid his pushing. Some want to read filthy magazines, watch sexually provocative movies, tell suggestive stories, run around with evil friends, fill the refrigerator with bottles of temptation, etc. and then they wonder why they end up going through the door of temptation.

If we fill our mind with the Word of faith, read the Bible often, listen to sermons and Bible studies of faith, the door of escape will be much easier to step through.
　

God's grand purpose of allowing Jesus to endure such temptation was to prove His submission to God's will. The "Spirit" drove Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus, therefore, was there under God's direction. If Jesus were to resist the conditions in which the Spirit had purposely placed Jesus, that would be rebellion.

God provided two doors in that wilderness. There was the door of TEMPTATION, and there was the door of FAITH.

Jesus chose the right door. Which door do we choose???

Eve and Adam choose the wrong door. The devil mis-quoted Scriptures and destroyed faith, and they could have correctly quoted words of faith heard from God, and have avoided such sin.

The impatience to have the perfect will of God has caused many to stumble. We have goals in life, but to submit to anyone, or anything, other than God, or to rebel against the hard way of achieving our goal, in order to gain what we desire (no matter how noble those desires) is wrong. We need to submit to only God, and to choose His will, no matter how hard. To do otherwise is to fail God! Jesus did not fail! Jesus won!

Can you imagine if Jesus had done it the easy way, and gained a multitude praising Him for being the Messiah?

If Jesus had chosen not to bear a cross, not to be whipped, crowned with thorns, pierced in the side, because He did not want the hard way of His mission, we would still have to die and suffer hell for our own sins.

The easy way of the devil would have been easier for Jesus, but harder on us, to the max.

There is a reason that God has us go a hard, cross carrying route too. His way will result in souls being saved, victories being won. To rebel in our ignorance of why God asks us to do things the hard way, is tempting God.
　

Jesus did not jump from the pinnacle, for He chose to be lifted up on a cross, for it was the will of God.
　

Hebrews 2:18
"Because He Himself has suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."
　

This is true for us also, if we are willing to suffer here on earth for Jesus, we will find there are eternal blessings for it.

Jesus can help us win over temptation to seek fortune, fame, and lack of suffering persecution, for He overcame that same temptation. We need to choose the right door, and slam shut the door of temptation to do all things the easy way. To stand and watch the wrong door, will only lead toward failure and sin. Speak the RHEMA word and step through its door.

Can you imagine a world where all Christians were rich, healthy, and adored?

Well, some may come to church to join in that club, but they would not be coming to repent of sins, to accept Jesus as Lord of their lives.

I cannot imagine God changing His mind and wanting us to do things the easy, popular, politically correct, way that does not stir up hatred and persecution for us.

So, if you can imagine such... well, I will have to pray you read the Bible more carefully next time.
　

murjahel · May 29, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE,
IF CHRISTIANS
TRULY LISTENED TO THE LORD?

　
Can you imagine if the Christians had all voted in the last five elections how the Lord wanted them to vote? Were the Christians unified on voting for the most moral, most Godly, more ethical persons to run the government?

Can you imagine if the Christians had all listened when the Lord encouraged them to get on their knees and intercede for lost souls? Can you imagine if Christians had studied the Word of God, to show themselves approved by God, and need not any longer be ashamed of their lack of Bible knowledge?

Notice... God has always wanted to REVEAL.

Deuteronomy 29:29
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."

　
God has much that He has desired to tell His saints. He has revealed much in the Word of God that we need to study and learn. There are some things we will not learn until we reach heaven, but even minus that much, there is so much that we will learn if we open our spiritual ears to the Spirit of the Lord.

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear..."

This statement is found 8 times in the Synoptic gospels.

It shows that the Lord realized that some do not listen to the truth when it is spoken. Some hear the truth, but do not truly hear what is being said.

In Revelation 2 and 3, we find that Jesus reveals that the Spirit is trying during this church age to speak to the to the churches.

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear
what the Spirit says unto the churches."

It is found 7 times, once for each of the seven churches, one for each of the church ages.

The Spirit is trying to speak, but many do not hear Him, even when He has revealed clearly what He is saying.

The saints in the early church sometimes would use an ear pick, a small tool used to clean ear wax and dirt from the outer ear canal. This was a religious symbol to them. In our day, we use a Q-tip to do a similar thing physically. These early saints did this to symbolize something spiritual.

We must, in this last days, open our ears, clean out the garbage poured into it - by the world, and - by the devil.

We need an ear pick, a spiritual Q-tip, to eliminate the false, the perverted, and the sinful trash. The early church was aware of this, but in these last days, too many have forgotten the truth.

The present congregations calling themselves to be Christian, are too often fooled by the political lies of some, vote them into office, and then regret it, and sometimes blame God for their miserable lives. Had they listened to God, even if the wrong persons were still elected, they could at least know that they had voted as God desired.

The Bible, God's Word, has tried to make it plain and evident how important it is to listen to the Lord, and to keep our spiritual ears from being hindered by the trash of the devil.

RESPECT FOR THE WRITTEN WORD BRINGS REVELATION OF HIS SPOKEN WORDS

Can you imagine if the Bible disappeared!

Can you imagine if God had to start with each one of us, and begin at the beginning, and explain? How long would it take you in prayer, to hear the story of creation, of the fall, of mans errant attempts of human government, of the weakness of just following a promise, of the revelation of Gods laws that indicate what holiness God is, and requires. How long would it take you to learn of the failure of the law to make moral people?

How long before you could be told the story of the incarnation of deity into mankind, to come and seek, and finally die on the cross for our sins. Without the Bible, those revelations alone would take hundreds of years.

Our lives are not long enough to get all revelations from the spoken voice of God. So, God has revealed these truths, and many more, to prophets of the ages. They, inspired by the Spirit, have written them down, so in a short time, they could be read, prayed about, studied, incorporated into our thinking, and now we can with assurance go forth with that gospel.

Yet, with the revelations of the Bible so easy to read, so well explained by the Spirit, we find many Christians who are not hearing the written Words of God. They are blind to its truths, deaf to its instructions.

The Lord has always had trouble keeping ones who have started out to serve Him, to hear what He has to say.

The Bible has many warnings for us:

Isaiah 6:9-10
"And He said, God and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed."

Jesus validated this message given through Isaiah. Jesus quoted it and applied it to the people of His day. It applies to multitudes today also.

Matthew 13:13-17
"Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because they - seeing, see not, and hearing - hear not. Neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, who saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing, ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross (Greek = pachuno = make fat, stupid, insensible), and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time, they should..."

The early church also saw this truth, and again referred to Isaiahs words, as had Jesus.

Acts 28:27
"For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and they will hear it."

If people would hear from the Lord today, if they would listen to the real message of the Spirit today, what would it mean??? Can you imagine if we did? Many things would soon be different in this world.

It would mean that they would be weeping for sins of the world, and not laughing their heads off in services that bring no souls to the Lord.

They would be seeking heavenly blessings, and not trying to intimidate God into giving them financial blessings on this earth.

They would be exposing the lies of false prophets instead of believing their lies and heresy.

They would be searching their hearts for sins, repenting of such, instead of judgmentally and falsely attacking other saints for differences they have.

They would not believe the lies of tares and hypocrites against the children of God.

They would not be taken in by the false doctrines of the apostate church of today, but be hearing the real message from the Spirit to the churches.

They would not believe the lies of abusive saints, and of their enablers, against the victims of spiritual abuse, and against those who have had the spiritual nerve to say the abuse in churches against young saints needs to stop.

They would hear the Spirit confirm with spiritual discernment who are the true prophets, and who are the false prophets of our day.

The phrase "to open the ear" is used in the Bible, and somehow we need people "to open the ear." This originally meant to uncover the ear by partially removing the turban to allow better hearing. It is often used in a sense of revealing a secret or of giving important information. The Lord can open our ears, so that His message can be heard, comprehended, and accepted.

Psalms 40:6
"Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened; "

The lies of the world, the perversions of doctrine instigated by the devil, and the misconceptions caused by spiritual ignorance need cleaned out of our minds. It is time to use a spiritual Q-tip on our spiritual ears. We can, and should do this regularly. It means Bible study, and it means tuning into the Holy Spirit and to His message. He is the Spirit of Truth, and He is doing a special work for us in these last days.
　

murjahel · May 30, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

Can you imagine if we all would simultaneously begin to praise the Lord. If the petty arguments, the distractions of political news, the complaining of our lot in life, the impatience of waiting for Gods timing for blessings, were suddenly changed to praises, what would happen?

Psalms 100:4
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise."

I Thessalonians 5:18
"In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you."

If we were to do this, and change our carnal words to praise words, for a time, to recognize and show forth what we truly think of God, would it have an effect? We are to enter into Gods presence with praise. If we are to praise God in every situation, we ought to know what in the world praise is!!!!

The world takes a day to honor presidents, a day to honor great men, a day to honor moms, a day to honor dads, a day to honor slain soldiers.

Can we ever take a day to honor God with praises, testimonies, and worship?

Christmas day is supposed to be a day to honor the incarnation, of One of the Trinity coming to become one of us, and to die for our sins. Yet, it has become a day to give gifts to others, to honor Santa Claus for coming down chimneys.

We make Easter to be a day to honor a bunny that leaves a basket of candy.

We make Pentecost a day to honor the start of the church.

Where is the day to praise the Lord?

Sunday has become a day to pay our respects to the church, put in our money so it will still be there next week, and then go home to watch the Super Bowl.

Can you, instead, praise God in every circumstance? In plenty and in want? In good times and in bad? In sickness and in health? Can you take time to praise the Lord for salvation. If that were all He had ever done for you, and nothing else, you owe Him an eternity of praise. Can we not just take some time, and honor our Lord with praises, regardless of the list of things we are still waiting for from Him, and havent gotten yet. Can our give mes ever become praises? Can you imagine if we did?

To fail to praise Him, is to fail God.

James 4:17
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, it is sin.

Matthew Henry, who wrote a famous commentary on the Bible, was once attacked and robbed, in his diary he wrote: "Let me be thankful first, that I was never robbed before, second, because though the thieves took my money, they did not take my life, third, because although they took all, it was not much, fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not who robbed."

A.G. Ward, said: "Our Lord is desirous that His people should be rejoicing Christians. I am certain that if Christians were more joyful, they would set sinners mouths awatering for the dainties of true religion."

Praise is vocal expression.

Psalms 84:4
"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord."

Psalms 105:1
"Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth."

Praise is a needed release of our inner feelings of love for the Lord. We praise those who manufacture products we like. We praise our parents, our children. We praise our favorite teams. Some even find a way to praise politicians? But then if we truly love Jesus, there will spill out of our inner being, words of praise.

If we sit at a concert of wonderful musicians, and singers, it is not so much that they need to hear our applause and praise, as we have to stand and applaud the wonderful music. It boils up within us to praise.

No one has to force fans to cheer their team win the Super bowl. Just try to make them be silent, when the last second, winning touchdown is scored.

And praise to Jesus, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Almighty conqueror of sin and death, and the One Who has provided forgiveness and salvation for us, is natural for the saint. It spills out all over our conversations. Praise is inner spiritual health made audible .

One key to growing in courtship, is growing in communication. All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise. Anyone who can be near God, and His love, even if in prison like Paul and Silas, has to praise, if they are healthy Christians.

If some do not praise, it is like someone seated before a feast of culinary delights. If they sit and do nothing, they must be sick. The hungry smile and dig in...!!! (I speak from experience. LOL)

Praise is lifting ourselves out of self-centeredness, into God-centeredness.

Praise forces us to quit the give mes" and begin to say "make me".

Praise takes us from the negative to the positive.

Praise brings pleasure to God.
Ps. 149:4
"The Lord taketh pleasure in His people..."

What gives God pleasure is our praises. Ps. 104:1 says: "Bless the Lord, O my soul." It does not say bless, my soul, O Lord". Too often we are asking for what blesses us, instead of blessing Him.

Rev. 4:11
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

This last verse, is part of a song the redeemed will sing to God on rapture day. We can practice that same praise today. We need to realize its truth now, and not need a class in praise, before we can join in that song!!!!

Praise will purify our soul.
Proverbs 27:21
"As the refining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise."

Praise raises the impurities of our soul up to the surface. And when we are praising, we do not object when God scrapes such impurities away from us. But when in doubt, despair, anger, attack, and hate. The impurities cling so tightly to us... and we cling so tightly to them. God will not be able to remove them from His presence, so He withdraws His presence.

God "inhabits the praises", but He withdraws from those who praise Him not.

Can you imagine the change in you, if you alone, even if no one else joins you, would make a day, a week, a month of praising the God Who sent His Son to die for you, and Who sent then the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Advocate???

Can you imagine a day even of that kind of praise?

murjahel · Jun 1, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF GOD
WOULD FIX YOUR BROKEN LIFE?

　

Many have broken lives. Their lives are wrecked by events, they think. Yet, it was not truly the hard events that broke their lives to little pieces. A phrase came to me today, I do not remember where I heard it previously, but it must have been said by someone else before. We do not break Gods laws, they break us.

A life is broken and shattered if we break Gods laws. There is no hope in ourselves, if broken laws have left us in pieces, small pieces, unable to see any way to put ones life back together again. Gods laws are eternal rhema of God, uncrushable words that will always be true and strong.

If we think we will break the laws of God, we will find that instead, they break us.

There are many broken people today, ailing from their attempt to break Gods laws. They try to rationalize reasons to justify their deeds, their words, their thoughts, but if God said they were not right, there was a reason.

Going contrary to the laws of God will break people, and broken people will need spiritual healing. The spiritual brokenness will bring physical ailments also that will need healing.

JEREMIAH PREACHED A SERMON ABOUT A BROKEN BOTTLE.

Jeremiah 19:1-5 (KJV)
1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Jeremiah 19:10-11 (KJV)
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
Jeremiah 20:1-2 (KJV)
1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
Jeremiah 20:8-9 (KJV)
8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

This is a sermon in pantomime. Jeremiah is told by God to get an earthen bottle. He is to take it to the gate near the valley where the trash and dead bodies of the poor were put to be burnt. Standing there he was to proclaim the sins of the people in vivid detail. Because the people had forsaken and rejected God, God had Jeremiah announce that He was going to reject and forsake them. The city was to be totally destroyed, the people were to be slaughtered.

Jeremiah was to take the earthen bottle and break it in the sight of the people. When one wanted to show how much a person or a persons actions were detested, a bottle was to be smashed near to the person.

The reasons for God's great insult to the people in this way is the fact that:

1. The religious people of that day had burned incense to strange gods. (Similarly, the people in the last days give heed to other things more than the true God).

2. They filled the garbage dump of Jerusalem with the innocent bodies of children and aborted babies that were killed in worship of the god Baal.
(Child abuse and abortion is rampant today also).

3. Effort and money were given to build great worship places to a false god named Baal.
(The religious people of today spend much time and money on other things they worship more than the true God).

4. They were shameless in their sins (Jer. 8:12 "...they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.").
(Many today commit sins for which they are not ashamed.

Perverts walk brazenly down the streets parading their sinfulness. Abortionists proudly advertise against those who oppose the murdering of over a million and a half unborn babies a year in our country. Heroes and heroines of T.V. live in sin and brag about it.)

5. They had hardened themselves and refused to hear God's warnings. (Many of today's religious community have turned their back on warnings of coming judgment, they mock at those who expect the soon return of Jesus. How dangerous it is to be on the side of the world's scoffers. Scoffers in the ministry are in danger of the same greater punishment of the Pharisees who did not recognize the first coming of Jesus [there are 7 times more Scripture on the second coming than on the first coming]).

Jeremiah 19:11
"And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury."

Then a prophet named - Pashur, the son of Immer a priest, slapped Jeremiah. He had Jeremiah taken and put into stocks near a gate near the temple to publicly humiliate the prophet. Out of fear, Pashur released Jeremiah the next day. Jeremiah did not quietly slink away in shame. He continued his strong denouncement on sin. He told Pashur that his name would be changed by God to Magormissabib, which means "fear-on-every-side."

Pashur is then told that he will be taken captive to Babylon to die there. He and all his friends to whom he had "prophesied lies" would die in captivity to the Babylonians.

The prophet Jeremiah then begins a lament. He was human, and it was difficult to speak such a terrible message to the people that he had just spent 7 years weeping for near the Euphrates. He felt pain. He felt the humiliation, persecution, ridicule, and hatred from those he loved. The pain of knowing that these people would soon be judged, and the weight of being the one to carry that message to them is very hard.

Jeremiah 20:7-8
"... every one mocketh me...the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily."

It is never easy for one to declare God's will to a wicked people. In the last days, many of the called prophets of God are avoiding the message of God to this sinful generation. They want the revival, but they do not want to condemn the sin which might make the people weep and repent. They want to speak a prosperity message that cost the people little more than ten per cent of an income to receive just blessings from God. Many prophets of today have avoided God's true message to a church that does have spots, wrinkles and blemishes.

It was not easy for Elijah to tell King Ahab that he was the troublemaker of Israel (I Kings 18:18). It was not easy for Nathan to tell David that "Thou art the man." (II Samuel 12:7)

Jeremiah wanted to quit. He wanted to stop saying these horrible messages that God kept giving him.

Jeremiah 20:9
"Then said I, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But this word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, that I could not stay."

The burden on us of the last days will also be so heavy that they will desire to quit. Yet, God puts a message within them, and they cannot stop speaking it, even though they would like to stop. The message burns within, and must be spoken. The prophet may be hated for his message, but the prophet loves God, and the people too much to stop.

The prophet then gives a terrible prophecy against those who persecuted him. Those who come against the true prophetic word of the Lord will "stumble ... not prevail... be greatly ashamed ... not prosper... their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten ." (Jeremiah 20:11)

There are many broken vessels due to the attempt to break Gods laws. The vessels that do try, end up broken, inside and out. There are many broken in churches today.

They are trying to live a sinful life, trying to justify their sins, but still sinning. Their lives are broken, and need a healing.

Can you imagine if God were to show a way to put back together a broken vessel such as all of us are, or have been.

We all failed God, we were all broken, but some have found that Jesus puts lives back together again, when we confess our sins to Him.

Some have not yet been put back together again yet.

Can you imagine a merciful God Who will take our hearts, our lives, and mend them, repair them, make them anew?

His part is a cleansing. He cleanses our hearts after we confess our sins.

1 John 1:9 (KJV)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Then we present our bodies a living sacrifice to Him, and allow Him then to transform us.
　
Romans 12:1-2 (KJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Then the Lord begins to work upon us, and we are the workmanship of Christ, being made ready to sit with Him in the heavens, showing forth for eternity the grace and mercy of our re-builder of lives.

Ephesians 2:4-10 (KJV)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
　

Ephesians 2:18-22 (KJV)
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The broken life we once were, if we allow Jesus to work on our lives, will someday be presented to Himself, perfect, unbroken, without spot or wrinkle, but instead be holy, without blemish, and no longer a broken life.

Ephesians 5:27 (KJV)
27 That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Can you imagine it?

Someday, no more brokenness of life, but a life pure and holy, perfectly unbroken by the power of God in our lives.

It is coming, we may imagine it now, but someday soon, it will be reality, not imagination.

murjahel · Jun 2, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

Can you imagine if you were attending your own funeral?

What if the Lord allows you to attend your own funeral. You will have been dead three days, and your spirit would be there, but the body is in the casket in front of the crowd.

What would you observe?
Will there be a crowd?
Will it be few?

If there are many are all of them friends, or are they just there to be criticized for not coming?

Would there be tears of sadness for your departure from them, having them truly miss that you are gone?

Would there be some who are smiling, glad there acquaintance with you is over?

What message could the preacher bring?
Would he be thankful that without a doubt, you are in heaven? Or will he be skirting the subject and just talk about the wonders of heaven, but unable to assure the crowd that you are one of them in heaven now?

Death hurts, so is anyone really hurt that you are gone?

Jesus wept at Lazarus tomb. He knew that He would momentarily raise Lazarus from that tomb, but still Jesus felt the pain of death. He knew what Mary and Martha had suffered for the four days, missing their brother. Death does have pain, for every one of us.

We face the death of others, others that we love. When we someday face our own death, we will have found, before the funeral, that death meant to see Jesus, and the glories of heaven. The leaving of our responsibilities, our unfinished dreams, our uncompleted hopes is painful. Still, I doubt that any who would be given the right to attend their own funeral, would be weeping that now they have to return to heaven, and not stay here in this sinful world.

Psalms 116:15 NKJV
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints."

Were you a "saint" here on earth? Did the Lord have all your sins covered with the blood, so you faced Jesus when you arrived with no unconfessed sins?

We have heard certain religious bodies use that word saint for some few, special, beloved Christians who few could claim to have equaled in works John, Peter, etc.

Yet, the Greek word, saint is "nagios" meaning "a holy one". It is used in the Bible to refer to all Christians who have repented of sins. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, the Lord took away all our sins, and we became "new creations" in Christ Jesus. Our sins were forgiven by God, and when God looks at a forgiven Christian, He sees "a saint."

I had a dear friend, named T. Paul Boring, and had begun to greet him as "Saint Paul", for he truly was a saint. He had a loving heart, a gentle nature, all given to him by His loving Savior. The Lord looked at Paul, and saw a saint.

He died, far too soon for me to see him leave this world. I missed him immediately. The Lord looked upon this body, lying in the casket, differently than do we. He saw the empty shell of Paul Boring, but the real Paul had departed his body, and gone on to be with the Lord Jesus Who forgave his sins, and made him a true saint. There in heaven, the real Paul was rejoicing with Jesus, while I looked in that casket, saw the empty shell of a body, and I grieved his departure. To the Lord, the death of Paul Boring was "precious" and wonderful. The homecoming of this saint was very "precious" to the Lord!

Are your friends and relatives at your funeral going to be rejoicing in the certainty that this death was precious to the Lord, and that both you and the Lord were rejoicing together in that death the moments after you departed?
In the death of any of us, His saints, the Lord is on the receiving end of the event, and we are on the losing side.

The presence of the saint has been acquired by the Lord, but the same presence has been given by we who are left behind. The Lord acquires a loved one to His heavenly abode, and we must relinquish the same loved one from their earthly sojourn with us. Therefore, we sorrow in the loss, and the Lord rejoices in the gain. We miss theirpresence, but the Lord welcomes them home.

Are your friends and relatives at this funeral of your own, going to be weeping in their loss of your presence, but rejoicing in the Lord for the joy of heaven in your homecoming? Or, have you neglected to prepare your family and friends for what death means?

Death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. At death, we see the body of the beloved saint, but the real person, the soul and the spirit of the saint, is no longer in our midst, but is safely in the presence of the Lord. The Lord and His angels are rejoicing with the saint.

When you attend your own funeral, in spirit, you would be able to see what awareness about death, and about your spiritual condition, the friends and family have.
　
2 Corinthians 5:6-9 NKJV
6. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
9. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

If you were like Paul, here, you were "well pleased" when death came. You will not be weeping at your own funeral that you are gone, unable to walk this earth any longer. No, you will be rejoicing in your homecoming, wanting your loved ones to be comforted, wishing they knew the joy of heaven, the peace you now have since death.

Surely, every saint there misses their husband or wife, their family, and their friends. Heaven does not subside our love for one another. The departed saints have the Lord to comfort them. The Lord knows all things, and can tell the departed saints of the exact times of the arrivals to that heavenly place of all their left-behind loved ones. This will comfort them. From the lips of the Lord, the ones in heaven already can hear all about how the rest of us here are doing, for He knows all things.

Those who have had us suddenly depart this body, this earth, will grieve, miss, sorrow, and await. They have each other for comfort. Yet, one of our missions down here is to help the ones who will be bereaved and grieving our death someday. We must share our faith in the Lord, share the reality of heaven, and share the the certainty of our salvation, assuring them that we will soon be reunited with the ones we leave behind.

In the presence of the Lord, there is no more struggle, no more pain, no more laboring to walk. When we reach heaven, we will be able to jump, shout, and run as never before. The struggles, pain, and work are over, and the ones here we left behind will find theirs continue.

What they, who view us at the funeral, have in the box, we call a "casket", is only the body. We are truly, certainly, undeniably with the Lord. The atoms that made up their bodies await the resurrection day. On that day, these atoms, wherever they are will re-unite with their souls and spirits, and become glorified, eternal bodies. We all long for such a day. It is the hope of that day that keepsus struggling down here.

When we accepted the Lord as our Savior, our soul and spirit were given at that moment, eternal life. So when death (the separation of the body from our soul and spirit) occurs, our present bodies cease to function. The real spirits and souls, departed to be with Jesus, and still exist, and are "well pleased" to be with the Lord.

When we depart to be with Jesus, we will be seeing, as God does, that death is precious. Only for those remaining behind, are the ones that death hurts.

At the funeral, if God allows us to attend, the fact that death had no victory over us. It was a victory of us over death, that we experienced.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (KJV)
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word for sting is the Greek word kentron. It refers to a goad that was used poke a stubborn ox, to make him move on and on. That constant pain of the goad kept him moving forward, if only for the desire to have it finally quit.

Well, death for the saint, has lost its poking ability, for we know that one moment after death, we face our loving Savior.

There is in the Christian faith, a certainty of knowing that someday, i.e. resurrection day, our body will be revived to new life. Soon, we will have an eternal body, like unto the Lord's body after His resurrection.

Romans 8:22-23 NKJV
22. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

As the St. Paul of the Bible times, we will see life was a race, a contest. We all have three score and ten years, maybe a bit more. Death is not to be hurtful to us, but it should be seen as the crossing of the finish line in this race in which we are. This life is a difficult contest and we can rejoice to be be finished.

St. Paul sat in a lonely cell writing his last letter to Timothy before they came to take him to his execution. Shortly before his beheading, Paul the apostle wrote:

2 Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV
6. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

When someone down here on earth finishes a race as the winner, we applaud, we joy for them. When our favorite team wins its football game, we cheer, and applaud. If we can imagine being at our own funeral, and seeing then we have finished our race, have run a good race, have finished our course, and have entered into the presence of Jesus and begun receiving much reward, we will no longer think of death as a hurt, but as a blessing beyond measure.
Jesus hurt of dying on the cross was lessened by His looking forward to what the suffering of His body would mean to the church.

Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We, too, can endure the pain of death by being busy in our ministry for others. Surely, there will be weeping, but we busy ourselves in working to make sure we hinder others from making the same mistake that our unsaved loved one who died had made.

At this funeral, if God would permit you to attend, can you imagine if you would be wanting an altar call from the minister doing the service?

Can you imagine if you would be wanting some unsaved relatives and unsaved friends, who still have not accepted Jesus to repent, so they could soon join you in heaven?

Can you imagine how evangelical, soul winning, interceding a saint you will be as you stand there viewing the crowd at your own funeral?

murjahel · Jun 3, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?
CAN YOU IMAGINE YOUR FIRST DAY IN HEAVEN?

After the rapture, on the way to the throne room of God, the saints will meet with Jesus personally. All saints are to appear before Christ at the judgment seat, i.e. the bema seat. This is like a judges seat at a race, where the winners will be announced, and rewarded. That is the kind of seat the bema is.

II Corinthians 5:10
"FOR WE MUST ALL APPEAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST, THAT EVERYONE OF US MAY RECEIVE THE THINGS DONE IN THE BODY, ACCORDING TO THAT HE HATH DONE, WHETHER IT BE GOOD OR BAD."

Romans 14:10,12
"FOR WE SHALL ALL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST...SO THEN EVERYONE OF US SHALL GIVE ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF TO GOD."

I Corinthians 3:11-15
"NOW IF ANY MAN BUILD UPON THIS FOUNDATION, GOLD, SILVER, AND PRECIOUS STONES, WOOD, HAY, STUBBLE,...EVERY MAN'S WORK SHALL BE MADE MANIFEST...IT SHALL BE REVEALED BY FIRE...IF ANY MAN'S WORK ABIDE, HE HATH BUILT...HE SHALL RECEIVE REWARD...IF ANY MAN'S WORK SHALL BE BURNED, HE SHALL SUFFER LOSS, BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED, SO AS BY FIRE."

Matthew 12:36
"...EVERY IDLE WORD...THEY SHALL GIVE ACCOUNT."
Ephesians 6:8

"...WHATSOEVER GOOD THING ANY MAN DOETH, THE SAME SHALL HE RECEIVE OF THE LORD."

Galatians 6:7 "...WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP."

These passages confirm this time at the bema seat, and confirm we will be talked to by the Lord concerning our deeds and words on the earth.

What will this day be like for you? Can you imagine???

This bema judgment is not at the "throne of glory"(Matthew 25:31). Nor is it at the "Great White Throne" (Rev. 20:11).

The word "bema" is a word that referred to a judges's seat at the Greek races. At the "bema" we will receive reward for having finished the race. Our judge, Jesus, awaits us at the finish line.

It is so easy down here to repent of our wrong words, our wrong deeds, our wrong thoughts. Yet, if we have not repented, corrected, and changed our lifestyle before that bema seat judgment, we are going to find them still in the books, still un-erased. I imagine the line leading to the bema, will be filled with many trying to repent and change their hearts toward sin. It is good to have changed ones heart by the time you sit down next to Jesus, but the rewards and loss of rewards, is already determined. The conversation will undoubtedly come to the errors that in life you had not gotten forgotten by God through repentance.

THE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

1. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME?

There, before the Lord Jesus, we will appear to receive rewards for winning the race. Our works as Christians will be judged. The question -"What have you done for Me?" will be hard for some Christians to answer. Many overlook their obligation to work. They live as though they have no care.

However, we are told that we are "created unto good works." (Eph. 2:10) Just as a fruit tree is expected to bear its distinctive fruit--we too are expected to bear the fruit that proves the kind of tree we are. Yet, some are content to just receive blessings. We must, not just receive, but also do the works the Lord has commanded us to do.

James 1:22
"BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOUR OWN SELVES."

Some have filled a pew, given their nickels, smiled at the preacher, and worn a cross. Is that what the Lord is going to want us to have on our list of works for Him? Or can you imagine your own disappointment, in having to answer the Lord with words like not much when asked what was done for Him.

Our labor in the name of the Lord will be questioned and tested. How much have you labored for the Lord Jesus?

How many souls have you helped lead to the Lord? How much exhorting, encouraging, have you done? Since we have been saved "unto good works"--what "good works" are on your list? God will reward us for our labor for Him.
　

2. HOW HAVE YOU TREATED THE OTHERS OF MY CHILDREN?

This question desires us to reveal our conduct toward other believers. The Lord will scrutinize this in detail. The One known as the Truth will not be fooled by lies and hedging.

The often bickering, competition, and bad feelings toward others will be discussed. The Lord will want explanation of the jealousy, grudges, and a lack of love, and will give instruction and teaching on what we should have done. I am sure, that even in heaven, there will be instruction on what to do about it now. There may be some to whom one will be shown repentance and correction needs to be done, there in heaven.

Christ wants us to be known by our love. He desires to see--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. between the saints. It will be that way in heaven, so Jesus will correct those who resisted being that way here on earth, so it wont be continuing in heaven.

Can you imagine what your answers will be to this question? It is wise to think through your answers now, rather than have that surprise question then.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR MOTIVES IN THE WORKS?

Our motives will be examined. What were your motives for each "good work?" Were you seeking acclaim? Were you trying to "look better than...?" Were you only doing it because you were forced to do it? Was it only for momentary gain? The wrong motive makes the good deed worthless. Our motive should be LOVE!!!!

Can you imagine your answer on motives for those works you have on your list to be discussed? What was your motive.

4. IN WHAT GRADE OF THE SCHOOL OF THE SPIRIT ARE YOU?

ARE YOU IN KINDERGARTEN, OR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, OR HIGH SCHOOL, OR COLLEGE, IN THE SCHOOL OF THE SPIRIT?

The Lord enrolled us in the school of the Spirit when we were saved. We were told that He will teach you all things., and we yet do not know all things, and never will, so we are eternally in His school.

The all things learning will continue in heaven. Only the Trinity is omniscient, all knowing. We are eternally students of God.

Some are in kindergarten. The thief on the cross that met Jesus in his last moments of this life, was in kindergarten of the school of the Spirit. He met with Jesus in paradise that day, enrolled in the school then, and by now is far along in the training he has gotten.

Can you imagine your answer though, to this question?

Have you studied to show yourself approved of God? Have you questioned God, searched the Word, for answers to questions that you faced in life?

I have met some who brag about knowing about salvation, and that is all they need to get to heaven, and dont have time to do any more study.

They will be in kindergarten, or pre-school when they arrive at the bema. They will be shown their classroom to attend, and begin learning things they could have learned here before the rapture.

Can you imagine, examining your study of the Word, and your illustrated lessons from God, where in the school of the Spirit you will be placed?

The answers to these questions shame many Christians today. So, you do not hear many sermons on the bema seat judgment, you dont find this subject the conversation piece in church parties. We ignore our own grade level, and carry a bigger Bible to make it look like we are eager students.

Many churches have ceased having Bible study for the classes were too small. Some have ceased evening services on Sunday, for the ball games are not over on time for some to come. Some have watered down sermons so they do not have much teaching, for the congregation on the whole are spiritually too ignorant for deeper teachings.

Still, the Lord will let us know into what class, what grade level we are going to be in as we continue our lessons in the school of the Spirit. I do not want to be in elementary school when I get there. I want to be looking at my last report card from the Holy Spirit and have well done as the achievement in that lesson. Can you imagine what will be your grade level? Will you feel congratulated or scolded at that part of the bema judgment?

5. WHAT REWARDS HAVE YOU EARNED?

THERE WILL BE REWARDS AT THE BEMA.

We are told of them in the Bible, and should already know which ones we have qualified for. When asked by the Lord, will you be able to respond as to which you have earned?

1. COMPANIONSHIP WITH CHRIST is given to all of us.

John 14:3
"IF I GO AWAY AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF THAT WHERE I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO."

2. EXTREME JOY is given to the good and faithful.

Matthew 25:21,23
"WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, THOU HAST BEEN FAITHFUL OVER A FEW THINGS, I WILL MAKE THEE RULER OVER MANY THINGS, ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THE LORD..."

3.ROYAL HONOR is awarded to those who are watching for His coming when He comes. The Lord will show this royal honor by being our Waiter at a special honoring meal.

Luke 12:37
"BLESSED ARE THOSE SERVANTS WHOM THE LORD, WHEN HE COMETH, SHALL FIND WATCHING, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE SHALL GIRD HIMSELF AND MAKE THEM TO SIT DOWN TO MEAT AND WILL COME FORTH AND SERVE THEM..."

4.CHRISTLIKENESS is awarded to those who lived a good life for Jesus, and was eager for His coming.

Philippians 3:20-21
"FOR OUR CONVERSATION IS IN HEAVEN, FROM WHENCE ALSO WE LOOK FOR THE SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO SHALL CHANGE OUR VILE BODY, THAT IT MAY BE FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY..."

I John 3:2
"BELOVED, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, AND IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE, BUT WE KNOW THAT WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM..."

5. BRILLIANT GLORY is given to soul winners.

Daniel 12:2-3
"AND MANY OF THEM THAT SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, SOME TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT. AND THEY THAT BE WISE, SHALL SHINE AS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT, AND THEY THAT TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE STARS FOREVER AND EVER..."

murjahel · Jun 3, 2013

PART 2

6.AUTHORITY is awarded for faithfulness in the ministry God gave us.

Luke 19:17
"AND HE SAID UNTO HIM, 'WELL DONE, THOU GOOD SERVANT, BECAUSE THOU, HAST BEEN FAITHFUL IN VERY LITTLE, HAVE THOU AUTHORITY OVER 10 CITIES...'"

Rev. 20:6
"BLESSED AND HOLY IS HE THAT HATH PART IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION; ON SUCH THE SECOND DEATH HATH NO POWER, BUT THEY SHALL BE PRIESTS OF GOD AND CHRIST AND SHALL REIGN WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS."

7.CROWNS

CROWN OF LIFE is given to those who endured temptation, and loved the Lord too much to allow temptation bring us to sin.

James 1:12
"BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT ENDURETH TEMPTATION FOR WHEN HE IS TRIED, HE SHALL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE, WHICH THE LORD HATH PROMISED TO THEM THAT LOVE HIM..."

CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS is given to those who loved the fact of His coming return.

II Timothy 4:8
"HENCEFORTH, THERE IS LAID UP FOR ME A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH THE LORD, THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE, SHALL GIVE ME AT THAT DAY, AND NOT TO ME ONLY, BUT UNTO ALL THEM THAT LOVE HIS APPEARING."
CROWN OF GLORY is given by the Chief Shepherd, to those who did the under-shepherd work for Him.

I Peter 5:1-4
"WHEN THE CHIEF SHEPHERD SHALL APPEAR, YE SHALL RECEIVE A CROWN OF GLORY THAT FADETH NOT AWAY."

INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN is given to those who strived for mastery, and was in self control of their carnal nature.

I Cor. 9:24-25
"...SO RUN, THAT YOU MAY OBTAIN, AND EVERY MAN THAT STRIVES FOR THE MASTERY IS TEMPERATE IN ALL THINGS. NOW THEY DO IT TO OBTAIN A CORRUPTIBLE CROWN, BUT WE AN INCORRUPTIBLE."

As Christians, what should we do to be ready for this judgment time? The reason many Christians fear this bema, i.e. "judgment seat", is that they have not prepared for it.
It is like going to a school final exam, without having attended the classes and studied for the test.

The Bible is clear that we do have some duties and obligations.

If we want to attend this "bema" judgment without fear we had better know what we are to be doing, and to be doing these things. In the parable of the talents, the one who hid his talent, is the one who needed to fear facing his master.

We are in the school of the Spirit, and need to continue in our lessons, do our homework, and soon, we shall be with Jesus at the bema.

murjahel · Jun 4, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Can you imagine your list of sins so horrible, you dont even want to be in the same building wherein they occur???
　
What sins, to you are so horrible that you would not want to be in the same building with them, and certainly would not want them occurring in your church building?

Most would not want some coming to worship service who were stoned drunk. Most would not want want serial killers in their home. The sins we would list as being so horrible, the church folks would be shocked if they saw adultery, homosexual sex, drunkenness, murder, grand theft occurring openly at the services. If you walked into your Sunday School class area and found many there sinning those sins, you would be shocked, holler for help, call a special business meeting and make changes to make sure those sins never again occurred in your church building.

Yet... can you imagine something worse?

God gave a list of the most horrible sins, as He sees them.

Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV)
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:

A proud look,
a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies,
and he that soweth discord among brethren.

I dare to claim that most, if not all of those sins are in your church building every week. Our list differs from Gods. He sees these as horrible, for these are sinned by ones who should know better. These sins are overlooked, condoned, given pretty names, and often never repented.

Our list of horrible sins are most often sinned by those not converted to the faith. They are committed by people who have rejected Jesus, and are thereby blind to spiritual things.

Yet, Gods list sounds like a list of sins that you can find every week in most every church vestibule.

The proud look can be seen in the smug face as one struts down the church aisle in their newly purchased garment. They look wonderful, and their proud look betrays the number one sin on Gods list.

The lying tongue is heard as one explains why they missed last Sunday.

They say they were not feeling well enough, but in actuality they felt good enough to mow their lawn, and go out to a fancy restaurant to eat.

The hands that shed innocent blood are those who are unrepentant of abortion. The only innocent blood is that of newborns. All the rest of us have had sin, so are not innocent, but are hopefully forgiven. Abortion can be repented of, forgiven. Yet, there are some who have had abortions, and have not repented, and if they get pregnant again, will have another one. This sin is found in many churches.

"A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations is found in the group in the corner devising a plan to force the pastor to resign. Their cause may be instigated by his current sermons on sins of the tongue, which makes them uncomfortable. They devise a plan to suggest the pastor has stolen from the offering plate, and hope he will be so embarrassed to be classed as a common crook, he will resign.
　

The feet that be swift in running to mischief are those in the vestibule that are in a hurry to get out of the church parking lot, for the are hurrying to the store to get some alcoholic beverages for their super bowl party later today.

A false witness that speaketh lies is heard sharing with all who will listen, some gossip they heard about one of the board members. It may not be true, the time it would take to verify its truth is hard to spare. Yet, it is time we remove lies from our tongue.

The one that soweth discord among brethren will be seen sharing some coffee with one who will listen, for they claim proof that brother so and so or sister know it all, really has a religious spirit and needs to be rebuked at the next business meeting of the church.

These sins happen in that way, or similar ways, every Sunday in some churches. It is time we stand up against evil in the church. It is time we look at which sins are atop Gods list. We need to stand up against sins that truly bother God.

They are not hard to find, for they are within the church walls. Since the church has had such a confusing, contradictory, and startling reputation - the reactions to it vary greatly. Some will occasionally attend, but often will consider alternatives to be better places to go on Sunday than the church. Many will use church as a quiet place to go and relax on Sundays.

Others use church attendance as a place to go in order to feel better. Some have used church as a place to achieve better social position. A few will attend church during hard times, as a crutch is used in times of ailment.
Many congregations are places of meaningless noise, and not a "House of Prayer." The noise itself is not bad, but noise alone is not enough. Mary (sister of Lazarus and Martha) chose the "better" part and sat at Jesus' feet. She came to Jesus to sit in His presence, learn, and worship. Others are like Martha, and come only to serve. In our day, we find many who only come and go through the motions.
It might surprise many to know that the devil still attends worship services. In fact, he attends some in heaven itself.
Job 1:6
"Now there came a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them."

We don't know which day it was, perhaps a Sabbath, or perhaps this type of service occurs daily in heaven. The term, "sons of God" occurs five times in the Old Testament. It always refers to the angels of heaven.

These angels gathered to worship God at His throne. The evil one, the devil, entered amidst the righteous angels. If the devil can enter this worship service, certainly he and his demonic henchmen are possible in our worship services on earth. Even at the last supper, Judas was there whom
Satan had entered. We are presumptuous to assume that the devil and the devilish do not care to attend our worship services. Their attendance records are probably often better than the saints' attendance records.
Mere assembling is of no value. We do not get "points" for our attendance.

We are not going to get to heaven for proper church membership and attendance. The devil attends church, and he will not be accepted into heaven. He came to criticize, to condemn, to complain, and to find fault.

The devil came wicked, behaved wickedly, and left more wicked than he came. Many people in congregations of today do the same. It was amidst a holy congregation, and before the Holy God, that the devil lied about Job. It was there that he plotted the persecution of Job.

The best of congregations are not free of evil ones. At the last supper, the disciples asked Jesus, "Is it I?" (John 13:21-27). We too must search our hearts as we attend worship services. We must be careful we do not assume that our attendance assures our spirituality.

All about us in most churches are the sins that no one wants to call a sin. We excuse them, condone them, give explanation for them, and then depart till the next service where those sins continue to doom souls.

CAN YOU IMAGINE Gods surprise at out list. The list that most Christians will give to describe as the most abominable, are far diferent from
from Gods own list.
　

murjahel · Jun 5, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU IMAGINE PUNCHING
THE HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION
IN THE MOUTH?

No, that would not be a good idea. To punch someone like that in the mouth would likely bring a retaliation strike to your head, and undoubtedly would be a worse punch than you delivered to him. The outcome of that battle that you started is certainly going to be in his favor.

Yet, some will battle the Holy Spirit with the same kind of audacity that it would take for one to start a brawl with the boxing champion. Where do some get the stupidity to battle the Holy Spirit, Who is far, far greater in power than any earthly person?

The Bible calls such sin of striking out against the Holy Spirit to be vexing.

VEXING THE SPIRIT is a stupid, to the max stupid, idea.

Yet, the brazenness of many is shocking.

Isaiah 63:10
"BUT THEY REBELLED, AND VEXED HIS HOLY SPIRIT; THEREFORE HE WAS TURNED TO BE THEIR ENEMY, AND HE FOUGHT AGAINST THEM."

A sin far worse than unintentional grieving of the Holy Spirit is "vexing" the Spirit. This comes from the Hebrew word, "atsab." It means to cause pain, to anger, to greatly displease. The Holy Spirit can be angered, and as a Person, and this wrong can bring consequences. To "vex" the Spirit will make the Spirit become the "enemy" instead of a "Comforter."

The first step of vexing is rebelling. This is an intentional denial of the Spirit and His instructions and His leading. To purposely, intentionally, of ones own free will, to refuse to hear, heed, and obey the Spirit, Who is One of the Divine Trinity, is a horrible sin.

The sin of "vexing" the Spirit comes when the Spirit does great things for the saint. Then, in rebellion and in lack of appreciation, the saint turns away from the Spirit's leading and goes astray purposely.

This is "vexing" the Spirit, and is a serious sin. To have the heavyweight boxing champion as your enemy would be frightening. Yet, to have the Almighty Spirit as your enemy is many times more terrifying.

In these last days, we are told that before the church is raptured, we would see seducing spirits and doctrines brought into the church by devils. We should expect these as a sign of the soon coming pre-trib rapture. Many will begin to side with these seducing spirits, and begin to debate the Spirit of Truth with ones argument being the doctrines of devils. We are warned that in the last days this will be more prevalent. This attitude contrary to what the Spirit is teaching or trying to teach us, is a rebellion, and leads somewhere along the line to direct opposition to His truths.

I Timothy 4:1
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils... Speaking lies in hypocrisy, .. Conscience seared with a hot iron... Forbidding to marry... Commanding to abstain from meats..."

False doctrines often have their origin from demon spirits.

False teachings are often inspired by demons, with the twisting of Scriptures, providing dreams and visions, and imitation prophetic words given in moments of pretend inspiration.

I John 4:1-6
"Beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone into the world."

As two opposed the law given to Moses, for the children of Israel, we find many today audacious enough to oppose the law of Jesus, the love of the Spirit, and work and promote evil doctrines, rebelling and vexing the Holy Spirit, in the midst of the church.

II Timothy 3:8-9
"now as Jannes and Jambres withstood (Greek, anthistemi, meaning to place against)Moses, so do these also resist (same word, anathistemi) the truth, men of corrupt minds, reprobate (Greek, adokimos, disapproved, castaway, rejected) concerning the faith, but they shall proceed no further, for their folly (Greek, anoia, senselessness) shall be manifest, unto all men, as theirs was also.

Some who are castaway, i.e. backslidden, or ones who never were truly in the faith, but are in the church, planted there as tares by the devil, will be obsessed, perhaps even possessed by these demons like unto Jannes and Jambres.

They resist and rebel against the truths taught to us by the Holy Spirit in the Word. They are corrupted in mind, to think they can vex the Spirit without Him striking back. It is their folly to think they can vex the Spirit, and not come into judgment from Him. Just as hitting a boxing champion is folly and reprobate thinking, so is vexing and rebelling against the Spirit.

Sinners do such in ignorance, but when one in the church, having been taught the Word, having heard the voice of the Spirit in their hearts, then rebel and vex the Holy Spirit of Truth, they are find that they proceed no further.
Jannes and Jambres, were the two sons of Balaam, and were the magicians who through demonic powers turned their rods to snakes, and did other miracles. When disgraced by the plagues, and their inability to stop them,
they pretended a conversion, and left Egypt with the Israelites. Ancient writings tell us more about them, for by name, we only know of them by this verse in Timothy. But obviously, Paul knew more about them, and if he had been the only one to know about them, he would have told more. But many then knew of these two opposers of Moses.

Their stupidity in their travels with Israel in the wilderness showed a vexing, and confronting of Moses, and the plans of the Holy Spirits guidance of the people.

The devils use such ones, as Jannes and Jambres, to oppose ministries, to oppose the workings of the Holy Spirit. Jannes and Jambres were reprobate enough that they thought they could vex the Spirit of God, and not be on very dangerous, even deadly ground. Some in our day, are similarly stupid, and they battle, hate, despise, berate, curse, hinder, attack, and even seek to kill those who are doing the work of the Holy Spirit. We too often see some who have this evil spirits of Jannes and Jambres, doing a constant work of attacking, opposing, and vexing the Spirit of Truth, with the lies of seducing spirits.

No, it is not wise to punch the heavyweight boxing champion in the mouth.

And it is far, far, by far more stupid to vex the Holy Spirit.

murjahel · Jun 7, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU IMAGINE
IF GOD HAD TO WRITE ON YOUR WALL,
TO GET YOUR ATTENTION?
　
　
　
Belshazzar, the son of Nabonidus, was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar reigned while his father (the real king) was away on a military mission. He took advantage of "dad" being away. He planned for a night of revelry. In a drunken condition, he called for the vessels of the temple. He wanted to drink wine from these vessels from Jerusalem that his grandfather had stolen.

In the midst of this, a hand appeared coming through the wall. The hand wrote a message on the wall before all the guests. That ended the party.

Daniel 5:6-7
"Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."

The times have not changed from Daniel's time. The people still prefer the false prophets. They still want to hear the messages that tickle the ears. The people cannot bear the truth. They will persecute and punish the true prophets for the rhema messages from the Lord. The soothsayers are kept near, the false prophets are never made to answer for their false prophecies.

Daniel 5:8
"Then came in all the king's wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king, the interpretation thereof."

The queen remembered one that was left out when the wise men were called in before the king. She related to Belshazzar about one who made no pretense of wisdom, but spake a message from the Lord God. Daniel was summoned.

Daniel 5:13, 17
"Then was Daniel brought in before the king... Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet, I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation."

Daniel reminds Belshazzar of the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather. He reminds him of the pride that led to his seven year downfall. Then he rebukes this sinful king before all.

Daniel 5:22-23
"And thou his son (grandson), O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."

Then Daniel gives an interpretation, not translation, of the writing on the wall.

Daniel 5:26-28
"This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

This fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 2:39. The breast and the arms of silver that were to replace the head of gold, were now at hand to take power.

Ancient historians (Xenophon, Herodotus, and Berosus) tell us the story of what happened that night. Cyrus diverted the waters of the Euphrates river into a new channel so that the river bed entering the city was dry. Two deserters, Gadatas and Gobrias, guided the army of Cyrus through the dry river bed into the city while the Babylonians were carousing at their annual feast to their gods. The Persian army took the city without a battle. Gobrias killed Belshazzar.

It took courage for Daniel to relate to Belshazzar the interpretation of the message. The prophets of God often have to relate messages that the people do not want to hear. But prophets are not here to speak what the people want to hear, but to relate what God wants them to hear.

The translation of the words are:

MENE = numbered

MENE = numbered

TEKEL = weighed

PERES = division

(UPHARSIN = the plural of PERES)

Can you imagine if God gets so anxious to speak a warning to you, that despite your letting the Bible get dusty on a shelf, despite your sleeping through sermon after sermon, despite your refusal to pray and do any more than give God your daily Christmas list of give mes... God insists on warning you of the consequences of your sins???

If God wanted that much to warn Belshazzar, why would He not also want to warn you?

If that sin you keep trying to justify, that sin you keep wanting to call a fault blamed on some ancestor, and that sin you hope God did not notice... is going to bring judgment (and it will if you dont repent), then God may have to write on a wall to warn you....

Keep your eyes open to the walls, or get on your knees and repent...

By the time Belshazzar read the words, and understood them, the judgment was already on the way!

Dont wait that long...

murjahel · Jun 8, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF POLITICIANS
WHO WROTE OUR CONSTITUTION
WERE HERE
TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION
OF RELIGIOUS RIGHTS NOW?

There is much debate now on religious rights. There should be more debate. Many have signed tax exempt agreements with the government, that promise they will not discuss many matters the government says the church has no right to discuss. One of these is who to vote for, another now is the list the Bible calls sins that the government wants to condone and legitimize. These discussions should be free speech, freedom of religion issues, but the silence of the church is making sin gain much in this current Sodom of the world. Anti-life, pro-homosexual, anti-Christian politicians are being elected, and the silence of the church is aiding that.

Can you imagine if the founders of this country had a chance to voice their opinions on this muffled debate of today?

We need not debate what faith each of them were, for that is not the point. Some may have been atheists, some others very Christian, some may have been evangelical, or perhaps deists. The point we need to see, is that they each believed in freedom of religion, and the state staying out of making laws to control ones chosen faith.

What would great leaders of the past have said?

Well, lets examine what they did say back then:

George Washington
"Do not let any one claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."

Patrick Henry
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!"

Ben Franklin
"We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business."

John Adams
"Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."
"So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectful members of society."

John Quincy Adams
"In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity."
　
　
Daniel Webster
"Whatever makes men good Christians makes them good citizens."

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
"We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs. To hold that it may not would be to find in the Constitution a requirement that the government show a callous indifference to religious groups. That would be preferring those who believe in no religion over those who do believe. We find no such Constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion and to throw its weight against efforts to widen the effective scope of religious influence."
　

Many voices of today are uttering words that are a far cry from these words. Many a minister has signed away his/her right to voice any opposition to contrary voices. Some ministers are on the other side of the debate from these earlier leaders mentioned here.

Can you imagine if the minsters and the Christian voters spoke like the men above?

Can you imagine if we demanded the right to voice our voices of faith in political circles?

Can you imagine if voters actually let the Lord tell them who to vote for, who not to vote for, and how to explain to others their reason for their choice???

It is getting harder to imagine... But CAN YOU IMAGINE?

murjahel · Jun 10, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU IMAGINE WHEN GOD WILL
JUDGE YOUR CRITICS?

　
　
　
Have you ever been criticized? Have you ever been falsely accused or verbally attacked? I can dare say that most, if not all of us, would have to say yes. It almost is a silly question to ask. Sometimes people believe attackers. Well, some believed the attackers of Jesus also. They believed the attackers of the prophets too.

There were false accusers of Joseph (Genesis 39:7-20). The woman felt rejected, so she falsely accused Joseph. He spent much time in prison due to her false accusations.

Moses was falsely accused of usurping too much authority. He, of course, was doing only as directed by the Lord, but they accused Moses of taking authority upon himself (Numbers 16).

Stephen was falsely accused of preaching something that He had not. Of course, what he had truly preached made them angry. (Acts 6:11-13).

Paul was falsely accused of bringing Gentiles into the Temple, and defiling it. (Acts 21:28) This, of course, was not true, but like most false accusations resulted from some who wanted to find fault, and could twist things to make false accusations sound plausible.

Job was falsely accused of having some secret, unrepented of sin that brought on his trials. The devil accused him of serving God for all that God would do for him, rather than out of love for God. (Job 1:9-10, 2:4-5)

The devil, and many who act as agents of the devil, find joy in false accusations. They twist facts, imagine details to true facts, that will make the accusation be far from truth. We see critics today, who see Christians who have agape love for homosexuals, want to see them saved from eternal doom, and therefore preach it is sinful, but there is a loving Jesus Who wants to forgive them. Yet, we hear such loving Christians called bigots, homophobs, unfair, etc.

We see some try to preach the Word as it is written by the unchanging, omnipotent God, and are called out-dated, old fashioned, unresponsive to the sinners blindly walking a pathway to hell. The criticism on websites, in church vestibules, behind the backs of the children of God is to be expected, but it is totally untrue.

Jesus chose Judas Ischariot to be a disciple. How could Jesus, the Perfect One, do that? Critics could jump on that choice of Jesus and claim that Jesus must not have had discernment.

They could say that this was an error in judgment for the Lord. Similar critics today look at choices of ministers, prophets, today. If one chosen, promoted, given ministry, etc, fails along the way, the one who made the choice of extending fellowship and ministry to them is criticized.

For three years, Judas followed Jesus, and heard His sermons, saw His miracles. Judas was chosen by Jesus to be an apostle (Mark 3:13-19). He was ordained by Jesus to preach the gospel (Mk. 3:14). Judas was ordained to heal (Mk 3:13-15). Judas was endued with power (Mt 10:1-8, Lk 9:6-10).

Judas baptized others (John 4:1-2). Judas had eternal life (John 17:2, 12). Judas was promised eternal kingship (Mt 19:28). Judas was a friend of Jesus (Psalms 11:9).

Yet, despite all of these things, we find that Jesus did not lack discernment, had not a failure in judgment, as critics would have claimed.

John 6:64
"... For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him."

Can you imagine the criticism of Jesus for being so dumb (some would likely say) or so undiscerning as to have taken Judas into the inner circle. Yet, some critics today criticize similar situations today. We must not be so judgmental of ourselves for being fooled, tricked, naive, or deceived. Jesus knew, and still blessed Judas while he was faithful and following. Knowing what Judas would chose later, did not make Jesus not bless him before that wrong choice.

The critics will look for what may look like a lack of judgment, what may look like a lack of discernment, but their criticisms prove a lack of understanding of Gods ways on their part.

Critics are their own worst enemies. They speak criticisms with their mouths of what they think are the faults of another, and reap the consequences of their own sinful judgmentalism.

Critics criticized Jesus because His disciples did not wash their hands before eating. The critics attacked Jesus for the disciples lack of following their idea of manners. Most of us likely wash hands before meals. Yet, what we consider proper, does not mean we have a right to criticize others for different ideas. And to criticize Jesus for their idea of a lack of discipline on His disciples was out of place, and improper manners for them. Jesus was not unsanitary, but the pharisees had added that ritual of hand washing as a sign of holiness, and Jesus was illustrating that outward cleansing is not what God calls holiness. The lesson was misinterpreted due to their spiritual blindness, and critics are still unlearned in His illustrated lesson yet today.

　
Jesus disciples picked grains to eat, as they walked along a pathway on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, we are told in the Word. God never meant Sabbath law to make mankind starve. Jesus saw a higher principle to the law, and allowed His disciples to resolve their hunger. Critics were watchful, looking for something to allow them to find fault with Jesus.

Many search hard in my writings, looking for something to attack. They look for missing commas, or for misspelled words. If they can find a verse reference in which the wrong verse or wrong chapter is credited, they are delirious at having that error to announce. They miss the message, and distract others from a message the Lord had wanted to give, all due to the error that I made.

Jesus said destroy this Temple, and in three days will I raise it up. This quote was used at His trial, as evidence of blasphemy. Yet, Jesus spoke of His body, which would soon be crucified, but resurrected in three days. The critics did not comprehend of what Jesus spoke, and to them, it provided reason to crucify the Lord. Much criticism today is just lack of understanding of what God is really having taught. The meat-headed, carnal, slow to understand critics find much upon which to attack a minister or prophet of God.

Jesus told some that He would go away and prepare a place for them. Yet, shortly later, He was crucified, and His body put in a tomb. For a few days, critics could have said, He lied. Yet, their glee of criticism would be short, for the resurrection happened in three days, and forty days later, Jesus ascended to heaven to do as He had promised.

Critics will try to watch for a time to criticize what we have said or taught. If our words are rhema words of God, they need to time their criticism well, for eventually the truth of God will be evident.
see part 2

murjahel · Jun 10, 2013

part 2

Jeremiah preached that God would judge Jerusalem and the temple for 50 years before it happened. Many a false prophet looked like a true prophet for 49 plus years. They could call Jeremiah a liar, and Jeremiah had to just keep preaching what they could show had not happened as prophesied. Yet, the day came, that Jeremiahs words proved to be from God.

Jesus told John to watch over Mary. Jesus told Mary to look to John as her son. Yet, Jesus had said that He would be dead for only three days, so why the need to tell John and Mary such a message? Critics could have jumped on that as evidence that Jesus did not expect to rise from the dead. Yet,

Jesus did know He would arise, but He also knew that He would be risen for 40 days, before He would ascend. Therefore, the knowledge that Jesus had was not understood by those who could have criticized Him for what was an apparent contradiction.

Critics never have a shortage of things to attack. The nature of the criticism is that lack of understanding on the part of critics allows such criticism. We can expect much criticism, much false accusation, much verbal attack, for that same reason.

God had Paul train and minister with Demas. Paul may not have known that someday Demas would forsake him, but God knew. God still had Paul use the willing Demas, till he became unwilling. It was not Pauls lack of discernment, it was Gods will. Did Demas later repent? Did Demas continue in rebellion to Gods will? We do not know, but either way, we do know that Paul was obedient to the Lords will in the matter.

Agabas spoke a prophetic word. At the end of the prophecy, Agabas added a bit more, out of love, but still errant from the rhema he gave. The rest of the church fell into belief of the false rhema part. So, Agabas was guilty of false rhema, and of misleading the whole congregation. Critics could have made it so that Agabas could never again give a prophetic word. They could have verbally attacked Agabas for years. We see that kind of criticism in congregations today. Yet, Paul mildly worded a correction. Critics though do not like to gently correct an error, but joy in the eternal pointing out of their own correctness, and the horrible errors of others.

We need to live for Jesus. We need to preach His message. We can expect attack, but we need to be sure we have a good conscience. The critics cannot all be corrected. We cannot spend our time trying to straighten out the false assumptions of critics. We cannot spend our time sulking due to misunderstandings, twisted truths, judgmental errors.

I Peter 3:16-17
"Having a good conscience that,
whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers,
that they may be ashamed
that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
For it is better, if the will of God be so,
that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doings."

We should rejoice when the criticisms we do get, are false accusations.

Matthew 5:11-12
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven,
for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you."

Critics said that Jesus did miracles by the power of Beelzebub. They said the miracles were not miracles of God, but of evil demons. They will say the same kind of thing about us. They will claim that signs and wonders of God in our ministries are really demonic tricks.

Matthew 1)25-26
"It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master
as the servant as his Lord.
If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub,
how much more shall they call them of His household?
Fear them not therefore,
for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed,
and hid, that it shall not be known."

Dont fear the critics. Dont fear the false accusers. They will attack you, they will find fault with you. But the attacks should be expected, for the prophets before us, and even Jesus were so treated by that class of people we call critics. They will someday answer to God, and many of them, if unrepentant, will face severe judgment.

Matthew 12:35-37 (KJV)
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things:
and an evil man out of the evil treasure
bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you,
That every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

So, the critics of that day, the critics still of this day, will someday answer for every idle word. That will be a horrible day for some, for their criticisms of ignorance, of malice, or ill will, will be called into account by God. Can you imagine that day? God wants us to imagine it, for He told us what to do when we do imagine the judgment the critics will suffer... He told us to pray for those who despitefully use and persecute, who say all manner of evil against us. For if we do not pray for them, the judgment will be harsher.

Matthew 5:44 (KJV)
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you;

Can you imagine judgment day for critics, if we do not pray, do good, seek to show them the love Jesus did, even as He died for His critics. Some still chose to be critics, some still refused His offer of forgiveness and heaven, some still continue their criticisms today. Yet, Jesus prayed and did good for them.

murjahel · Jun 12, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

CAN YOU IMAGINE
AN UN-HOLY RIGHTEOUS PERSON?
　

When we are saved, we become righteous. We are new creations in Jesus, and God then sees us as in right standing with Him. Yet, holiness is something else, and one must not think that being righteous, means we can be unholy and it does not matter.
　

II Corinthians 5:17-21
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

When we are saved, we become "new creations".

The literal Greek words for that phrase means "a new species which never existed before, completely re-created".

In other words, we are completely reborn, and we are to appropriate the benefits of this rebirth.

Ephesians 4:24
"Ye have put off the old man, and put on the new man..."

This new person that we have become is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We do not wear the old unrighteousness that we once wore.

Righteousness is not something we have by way of our actions or course of living. If that were so, we all would be unrighteous. We all have sinned, and continue to fail. None of us are perfect. There is in I John a verse that like the rest of the book is written to Christians.

I John 1:8
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

The battle with sin continues in this life till we are called home to heaven. Some want to claim a sinless perfection, but they cannot truthfully say that they do not occasionally sin.

The Christian will sometimes still "fall short of the glory of God."

Yet, we can still be righteous. Righteousness is not a goody-goody way of acting. It is not something we have to strive to get our works perfect enough to obtain.

The Bible says that "all our righteousness is as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6)
The righteousness of God is given to us as a free gift. (II Corinthians 5:21)

Too often, Christians have confused righteousness with holiness.

They are not the same thing.

HOLINESS IS YOUR CONDUCT
AND MANNER OF LIVING.

RIGHTEOUSNESS IS YOUR NATURE.

The word translated righteousness means "in right standing." When a person accepts Jesus, the person is moved into a place of right standing with God. We don't get righteous by our works, but by relationship with Jesus. He gives us righteousness in the process of reconciling us to God, and bringing us into a place of right standing with God.

II Corinthians 5:19
"...not imputing their trespasses unto them..."

When we become saved, God no longer holds our former trespasses against us. Because we have no sins being held against us - we have a position of right standing, i.e. righteousness with God. With this new nature that we have been given there are many benefits. We need to realize that righteousness is a free gift of God. He chooses to make us righteous, and all we have to do is accept this gift.

Are you righteous? ? ? The answer should be "YES".

The blood of Jesus did not simply cover your sin over when you were saved. No! Rather, the blood of Jesus remitted your sin. It did away with your sin completely. You, as a saved person, are RIGHTEOUS.

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."

So why do many, as Christians, carry around a "sin tag"??? Every time they start to feel the righteousness of God, the devil will jump upon their shoulder and remind them of all they ever did wrong. God cannot remember those sins, and it is not God who is reminding them of those sins. Yet, some think it is "spiritual" to berate themselves, and scold themselves over and over for sins that God won't even remember.

Whenever the devil tries to remind you of your past sins, call him a "LIAR." He is the "accuser of the brethren." Tell this false accuser that the old sinful person that did those deeds is dead. Remind him that you are now a "new creation." This new person that you have become has been made RIGHTEOUS. You are, as a saved person, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Instead of living a life that is constantly conscious of past sins and failures, a Christian should live a life of thankfulness to God for the position that He has given to us -- that is, the RIGHT STANDING with God that has been given to us - not for what we have done, but for what Jesus has done for us.

Righteousness is a gift, it is not earned by us.

Romans 5:19
"For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous."

Because of Adam's sin in the garden, many became sinners. So, it is not by our own "good works" that we are made righteous. It is because of the obedience of Jesus, that we have the chance to have the gift of righteousness.

Allow this truth of righteousness to fill your being.

Praise God for this gift of righteousness. To dwell on our past sins and failures will lead us into sins.

Romans 8:5-13
"For they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh... to be carnally minded is death... the carnal mind is enmity with God... if ye shall live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."
　

So our righteousness is a relationship
given to us at salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Holiness or sanctification is something different.

To be "sanctified" means to be "set apart." When we serve the Lord, we may, or may not, choose to be set apart from the world, and set apart to God for His service.

Holiness is a choosing on our part to set ourselves away from certain things so we may be set apart to the service and following of our Lord. Jesus imputes righteousness, we choose holiness.

I Peter 1:14-16
"As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He Who has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy..."

To be holy, we need to flee from all things and thoughts that would defile us. We need to set ourselves apart from those deeds of sinfulness for which we repented at salvation. To be near to God, we must set ourselves apart from sin.

Romans 6:6
"...our old man is crucified in Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin..."

Since we were freed from the guilt of sin at salvation, we were holy that moment of salvation. That type of holiness was instantaneous with salvation. Our sinful lusts, passions, evil conduct, deceit, covetousness, wrath, blasphemy, etc. all died with the "old man" at the moment of salvation. We became dead to sin, and alive with Christ. We were holy, sanctified. The blood of Jesus had completely cleansed us from all sin.

We are to progress in that sanctification as we continue in our Christian life. This is the progressive nature of sanctification. As we continually yield ourselves to God, and set ourselves apart to His service, we are sanctified.

Romans 6:13, 19
"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God... even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness..."

We were made righteous at salvation by entering into a relationship with the Lord. As we begin to live and choose to serve Him, we maintain a position of holiness, or sanctification.

This service, this setting ourselves apart to be like Him, is holiness.

Therefore we are commanded to be "holy."

"Be ye holy" (I Pet. 1:16) leaves us no other option.

We must strive to continually set ourselves apart for God. It is not elective.

Hebrews 12:14
"Follow... holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord..."

Without holiness, we will not continue to be saved.

It is an option for us to be holy, but it is an option that is mandatory if we want to "see God."

Holiness is a temperament that protects us from evil.

It is the exercising of our free will to choose to resist every temptation of the devil. Temptation will come, and will come often. It may be subtle or overt. At temptation, we are put to a test. It will prove us. It will attempt to make us neglect our relationship with the Lord. If we love God, and value our relationship with Him, we will set ourselves apart to serving and worshipping Him. If we fail in the temptation, we will find ourselves lacking in that relationship.

Holiness is the state of choosing to walk in the light, and in the fellowship with the Lord.

I John 1:7
"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth (literally -keeps on cleansing) us from all sin."

Some in Christianity have tried to make lists of what deeds make one holy. This is a backward, hypocritical way of trying to achieve holiness. It is not in following lists of do's and don't's.

Holiness is a choosing to not do anything that would separate us from the relationship with Jesus.

Whatever that may be, we choose not to do. Holiness is not in the doing, or not doing, of those things however.

Holiness is the maintenance of the relationship with Jesus.

When one claims righteousness, but then one sees sins aplenty, a wayward life, a constant choosing of not maintaining a relationship with a holy God, then one must realize that true righteousness ( a gift from God ) will make or essential-ize one to want to be holy, want to remove unpleasing words, actions, thoughts from ones life.

Can you imagine a person who is claiming righteousness then ignoring the sinfulness of foul words, impure thoughts, evil actions?

No, I cannot imagine that.

For if one is truly righteous, in right standing with God, he/she will want to live a life that pleases a holy God.

So, they will choose holiness, and repent whenever they fail, for they will regret grieving our holy God Who bestowed righteousness.

murjahel · Jun 14, 2013

CAN YOU IMAGINE the nations,
the peoples of this world,
declaring WAR on Jesus?

　

Revelation 17:14 (KJV)
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
　

By the end of the tribulation, the world will be left with people so evil, that they will declare war with Jesus. Here, Jesus is called the Lamb, for that is His nature. He gave His life without a fight, He sacrificed Himself as our atoning sacrifice for sins, and still, people hate, despise, and want to defeat and kill this Lamb.

The devil incites peoples to war against the One we know is the King of kings. The ten nations that make up the kingdom of the antichrist will war against the Lamb. We know Jesus is the Supreme Ruler, but the devil wants to be ruler of this world. The devil wants to be our king. He encourages people to vote for a sinful leader, he wants us to idolize sinful entertainers of this world. The devil wants us to cheer foul mouthed, evil minded stars of this world.

The world is already deceived so much that it will cheer, elect, praise, applaud, and hero worship those who are evil.

This world will grow more and more wicked.

The world, and even some in churches, disobey Gods laws.

We have debates on abortion, homosexuality, evils plainly declared to be evil in the Bible.

Lies are called normal, murder is justified, games promote violence and evil.

The television programs are shamefully presenting as peers and heros to care for, ones who live totally contrary to the Bibles commands.

As hard as it is to imagine worse, it will continue to get worse. Then, after the church is gone in the rapture, the devil in the workings of the antichrist, and false prophet will prompt people to war against Jesus, even before Jesus returns to even be faced.

The Lamb, i.e. Jesus, shall overcome them, we are told. So, even before Jesus returns, the words, efforts of evil men, instigated by the devil, will be against Jesus.

Jesus is Lord of lords, and King of kings, whether they want to admit it or not. Some people now will speak His name in a worthless manner. Some may use His name as a cuss word. Some have great hatred and attack verbally the evangelical, fundamentalist, Christians.

Right now, our agape love for the souls of sinners is called bigotry. Yet, these attacks and verbal assaults of hatred toward us, is only in its early stages.

Some today will mistreat all who are of the kingdom of Jesus. In a few areas of the world they are already killing those who truly love Jesus.

Yet, in the coming days, those who refuse to take the mark of the beast will be greatly mistreated and hated.

In the passage cited above, those who love the King of kings are the called, chosen, and faithful.

We are called now to a mission to preach the agape love of God, to witness to those whose lives and minds are warped by sin, and proclaim a heaven available to them, if they repent and accept Jesus.

We are chosen in that this mission is not of our own thinking, but is one endowed upon us by the God of love, Who is not wanting to see any perish, but desires the whosoever chooses to, to find His great love and enter into the kingdom with Jesus our Savior.

We are called faithful, for though the work is divinely inspired, there will be this opposition to us who are in Gods calling, and that opposition will come from family, friends, co-workers, etc. We must be faithful during these assaults. The situations will become worse and worse, until it finally comes that ... (can you imagine?) many will shout out a call of war against Jesus Himself, and challenge Jesus to come save the final group to turn to Him, the Jews in Petra, who finally repent and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Since people cannot make war with Jesus literally, for He has not come back as yet, in that time, they make war with the Lamb now by persecuting His followers.

The King of kings has all authority, and no earthly king, president, minister, etc can reign without Him. We see rulers in this world already, who decree sinful things, who seek to intimidate followers of King Jesus. The laws they support and force upon us are death for unborn babies. The perversion of marriage of a man and woman is promoted by these rulers. Perverted sex is taught in our public schools. Bible reading is banned. Prayer is made criminal. Christians are mocked, mistreated, and in some areas rulers see that they become martyrs for their faith. We see this already.

Yet, the King of kings will rule, will continue to rule, and all these rulers will someday soon face the true King. He has not given up His authority, He has not allowed any to overrule His law. He shall continue to rule.
　
Can you imagine the audacity soon to come, where these wicked people, and wicked rulers, will challenge even Jesus to oppose them?

Can you imagine the stupid thinking it will reveal, for them to make this declaration of war on Jesus, the Lamb???

Can You Imagine?

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