Sunday, December 29, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Is Love Enough to Make Marriage Succeed?
Messages From Heaven: Is Love Enough to Make Marriage Succeed?: If you and your spouse really love each other, won't that hold you steady when the storms come? Not necessarily--and certainly not ...
Is Love Enough to Make Marriage Succeed?
If you and your spouse really love each other, won't that hold you steady when the storms come?
Not necessarily--and certainly not if you are thinking of love as a
romantic feeling. Feeling wonderful about one another does not make two
people compatible over the long haul. Many couples assume that the
excitement of their courtship will continue for the rest of their lives.
That virtually never occurs! It is naive to expect two unique
individuals to mesh together like a couple of machines and to remain
exhilarated throughout life. Even gears have multiple cogs with rough
edges to be honed before they will work in concert.
That honing process usually occurs in the first year or two of marriage. The foundation for all that is to follow is laid in those critical months. What often occurs at this time is a dramatic struggle for power in the relationship. Who will lead? Who will follow? Who will determine how the money is spent? Who will get his or her way in times of disagreement? Everything is up for grabs in the beginning, and the way these early decisions are made will set the stage for the future. The apostle Paul gave us the divine perspective on human relationships--not only in marriage, but in every dimension of life. He wrote, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3).
That honing process usually occurs in the first year or two of marriage. The foundation for all that is to follow is laid in those critical months. What often occurs at this time is a dramatic struggle for power in the relationship. Who will lead? Who will follow? Who will determine how the money is spent? Who will get his or her way in times of disagreement? Everything is up for grabs in the beginning, and the way these early decisions are made will set the stage for the future. The apostle Paul gave us the divine perspective on human relationships--not only in marriage, but in every dimension of life. He wrote, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3).
That one verse contains more wisdom than most
marriage manuals combined. If heeded, it could virtually eliminate
divorce from the catalog of human experience. It will give you stability
when the storms begin to howl.
Messages From Heaven: How You Can Win Against Satan!
Messages From Heaven: How You Can Win Against Satan!: There is an important truth I want you to know to be spiritually victorious throughout your life. It is simply this: You are under spiri...
How You Can Win Against Satan!
There is an important truth I want you to know to be spiritually victorious throughout your life. It is simply this:
The Bible teaches that every Christian is under spiritual attack. Scripture tells us we are aliens in this world, and Satan, as the ruler of this world, is constantly seeking the spiritual demise of every Christian.
If you think you are at home in this world, you have been misled. Do you realize that to embrace the values of the world is to place yourself in hostility toward God (James 4:4)? The world's values are not eternal, but temporal. And to embrace those values aligns you with the values of Satan himself.
But, if you are walking with God, embracing eternal values, you are secure against Satan and his attacks because of your relationship with Christ. Christ has already won the victory and Satan knows that.
But there is a danger when you realize the position you have in Christ. It is easy to seem invincible. After all, when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you indeed are in Christ.
This may lead you to ask, "What else could I possibly need? He is my portion, isn't He? He has overcome the world, hasn't He?"
The answer is a resounding, "Yes!" I want to assure you, as long as you are walking with Christ, you have nothing to worry about. You indeed are secure in Him.
But this can create a complacency that is so dangerous. Here’s why:
Now, if Satan has declared war, then the sensible thing to do would be to find out just as much as we can about our enemy, how he is likely to attack us, and how we can overcome him.
The first place to start is with a right perspective. One big problem in the church today is that many get so worried about the devil that they see demons behind every bush. That is a wrong perspective.
"Oh, I have a spirit of lust, of greed, of desire. I'm being attacked by this and attacked by that." While the war Satan has declared is very real, not everything wrong in your life can be blamed on Satan.
So what is the right perspective? And how do we become victorious in our fight against Satan?
The right perspective is to understand you are indeed under spiritual attack…but you can be victorious!
That victory begins with what the Bible tells us in James 4:7: "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Too often as we find ourselves battling Satan, we simply fail to resist him. While he's always looking for the perfect opportunity to tempt you and me with something attractive, something seemingly irresistible, he only wins when we play his game.
So the first principle is this:
Submit to God…and resist the devil. Make that your habit.
You are under spiritual attack…in an all out spiritual war…as Satan does all he can to cause you spiritual defeat.Whether you realize it or not, you live in a spiritual war zone. It's a battle for your heart and soul.
The Bible teaches that every Christian is under spiritual attack. Scripture tells us we are aliens in this world, and Satan, as the ruler of this world, is constantly seeking the spiritual demise of every Christian.
If you think you are at home in this world, you have been misled. Do you realize that to embrace the values of the world is to place yourself in hostility toward God (James 4:4)? The world's values are not eternal, but temporal. And to embrace those values aligns you with the values of Satan himself.
But, if you are walking with God, embracing eternal values, you are secure against Satan and his attacks because of your relationship with Christ. Christ has already won the victory and Satan knows that.
But there is a danger when you realize the position you have in Christ. It is easy to seem invincible. After all, when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you indeed are in Christ.
This may lead you to ask, "What else could I possibly need? He is my portion, isn't He? He has overcome the world, hasn't He?"
The answer is a resounding, "Yes!" I want to assure you, as long as you are walking with Christ, you have nothing to worry about. You indeed are secure in Him.
But this can create a complacency that is so dangerous. Here’s why:
Too frequently we are lured, enticed, or dragged away from Christ through the deception of Satan. The devil bombards our thoughts, our desires, our emotions in almost imperceptible ways, and we get tricked or seduced into believing his lies.This is where the battle takes place. Satan will do all in his power to pull you away from walking in Christ and His victory. This battle is very real…and the reason why so many Christians today live in defeat and lack the joy God intends for them.
Now, if Satan has declared war, then the sensible thing to do would be to find out just as much as we can about our enemy, how he is likely to attack us, and how we can overcome him.
The first place to start is with a right perspective. One big problem in the church today is that many get so worried about the devil that they see demons behind every bush. That is a wrong perspective.
"Oh, I have a spirit of lust, of greed, of desire. I'm being attacked by this and attacked by that." While the war Satan has declared is very real, not everything wrong in your life can be blamed on Satan.
So what is the right perspective? And how do we become victorious in our fight against Satan?
The right perspective is to understand you are indeed under spiritual attack…but you can be victorious!
That victory begins with what the Bible tells us in James 4:7: "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Too often as we find ourselves battling Satan, we simply fail to resist him. While he's always looking for the perfect opportunity to tempt you and me with something attractive, something seemingly irresistible, he only wins when we play his game.
So the first principle is this:
We must submit to God, and we must resist the devil, or we are sure to fail.Satan has his eyes fixed squarely on you. He has you in his sights. In fact, you may feel that you're always under attack. And you may feel like you are constantly failing in the battle. Here is my challenge to you:
Submit to God…and resist the devil. Make that your habit.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Pope Francis: Man of the Year or Leader of the Apo...
Messages From Heaven: Pope Francis: Man of the Year or Leader of the Apo...: Time Magazine’s announcement that Pope Francis is the ‘Man (or person) of the Year’ has created a buzz on all levels of news and media. It...
Pope Francis: Man of the Year or Leader of the Apostasy?
Time Magazine’s announcement that Pope
Francis is the ‘Man (or person) of the Year’ has created a buzz on all
levels of news and media. It’s too bad that we need a news magazine to
define for us who the great ones in our society are, but that is only
proof that man is constantly looking for saviors in all the wrong places.
Bible believers have a tendency to leap to conclusions that often prove premature. Examples abound, but in trying to decide who the antichrist may be everyone from Henry Kissinger in days past to Barack Obama in these days. Perhaps that’s why we are instructed to hold fast to our faith as God unravels the details of eschatological doctrine (second coming doctrine) in real time.
Special care has to be taken when dealing with the Pope, but not for the Pope’s sake, but for the millions of faithful Catholics who, after all, are brothers and sisters if they have genuinely responded to the promise of John 1: 12.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”
The Term ‘Leader’ is not Sacrosanct
The wheat and the tare grow together in the field, (Mt 13: 24f) but that doesn’t mean that those who are in leadership positions are exempt from being tares.
The sweep of apostasy is well underway in the church, both Protestant and Catholic, which means the day of withholding the truth about who is backsliding and who is towing the line has passed forever. Identify the falsehoods now, or become part of them – that’s the rule of the day.
In a world where apostasy and decline are reaching Mach speeds the Pope has to understand that regardless of what his intentions were in his statements about abortion and gays, in today’s climate, perception has become the better part of reality.
Already, atheists, agnostics and every sort of antichrist kind of person has welcomed the Pope’s words as proof that the Catholics are finally loosening up and coming into the twenty first century where tolerance and diversity are supposed to replace adherence to the moral laws and demands of the living God.
The moral teachings of the Bible are not to be ignored or set aside for overt acts of kindness, like the Pope’s washing the feet of prisoners, but they are conjoined forever with such acts. Being Christ like and holding to the truths of scripture are not to be separated, but they are to be practiced together until the end of time.
Here’s what we know. The Bible strictly condemns any and all homosexual practices and abortion is genocide. No one will escape. There is a reckoning day for both. Whether you are the Pope or some unknown and obscure person, the coming judgment will scrutinize your output without regard to your station in life. Pope or pauper the Word of God creates a level playing field. To wit:
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Mt 12: 36, 37)
Growing Accustomed to Hypocrisy and Double Standards?
News anchor and host of the Kelly Files, Megyn Kelly, has announced that Politifact is now calling Barack Obama’s promise that American’s could keep their health care plans if they liked them the ‘lie of the year.’
Just when you think you have had enough hypocrisy the same man who stood before the media and repeatedly lied about healthcare stood up in South Africa, weeping, and praising Nelson Mandela, a man who is known for devising the torture (necklacing) which places burning fueled filled tires over the heads of people and burning them to death in front of their families. Hypocrisy now has a new champion and record breaker.
The security breach at the Mandela memorial has created uproar in the media. The interpreter at the memorial was a total fake, but the fact that millions of Americans feel Barack Obama is himself, the biggest fake to come down the pike in presidential history - is largely ignored, squashed or dismissed.
One conservative website now favors a graphic that shows Mandela and Obama side by side with a caption that says, “Hey, if you’re going to compare Obama to Mandela…can we at least throw him in jail for 27 years first?”
No, Time Magazine does not do covers for ‘Liar of the Year.’
It isn’t about scolding the Pope or dissing the president, in fact it is about you. Regardless of what voices you listen to or what church you attend, if they are leading you away from the revealed word of God you are in serious danger. The call to remove yourself from those influences, find another church, or simply get out - are of divine origin.
God expects you to take it very seriously.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Co 6: 17, 18)
Bible believers have a tendency to leap to conclusions that often prove premature. Examples abound, but in trying to decide who the antichrist may be everyone from Henry Kissinger in days past to Barack Obama in these days. Perhaps that’s why we are instructed to hold fast to our faith as God unravels the details of eschatological doctrine (second coming doctrine) in real time.
Special care has to be taken when dealing with the Pope, but not for the Pope’s sake, but for the millions of faithful Catholics who, after all, are brothers and sisters if they have genuinely responded to the promise of John 1: 12.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”
The Term ‘Leader’ is not Sacrosanct
The wheat and the tare grow together in the field, (Mt 13: 24f) but that doesn’t mean that those who are in leadership positions are exempt from being tares.
The sweep of apostasy is well underway in the church, both Protestant and Catholic, which means the day of withholding the truth about who is backsliding and who is towing the line has passed forever. Identify the falsehoods now, or become part of them – that’s the rule of the day.
In a world where apostasy and decline are reaching Mach speeds the Pope has to understand that regardless of what his intentions were in his statements about abortion and gays, in today’s climate, perception has become the better part of reality.
Already, atheists, agnostics and every sort of antichrist kind of person has welcomed the Pope’s words as proof that the Catholics are finally loosening up and coming into the twenty first century where tolerance and diversity are supposed to replace adherence to the moral laws and demands of the living God.
The moral teachings of the Bible are not to be ignored or set aside for overt acts of kindness, like the Pope’s washing the feet of prisoners, but they are conjoined forever with such acts. Being Christ like and holding to the truths of scripture are not to be separated, but they are to be practiced together until the end of time.
Here’s what we know. The Bible strictly condemns any and all homosexual practices and abortion is genocide. No one will escape. There is a reckoning day for both. Whether you are the Pope or some unknown and obscure person, the coming judgment will scrutinize your output without regard to your station in life. Pope or pauper the Word of God creates a level playing field. To wit:
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Mt 12: 36, 37)
Growing Accustomed to Hypocrisy and Double Standards?
News anchor and host of the Kelly Files, Megyn Kelly, has announced that Politifact is now calling Barack Obama’s promise that American’s could keep their health care plans if they liked them the ‘lie of the year.’
Just when you think you have had enough hypocrisy the same man who stood before the media and repeatedly lied about healthcare stood up in South Africa, weeping, and praising Nelson Mandela, a man who is known for devising the torture (necklacing) which places burning fueled filled tires over the heads of people and burning them to death in front of their families. Hypocrisy now has a new champion and record breaker.
The security breach at the Mandela memorial has created uproar in the media. The interpreter at the memorial was a total fake, but the fact that millions of Americans feel Barack Obama is himself, the biggest fake to come down the pike in presidential history - is largely ignored, squashed or dismissed.
One conservative website now favors a graphic that shows Mandela and Obama side by side with a caption that says, “Hey, if you’re going to compare Obama to Mandela…can we at least throw him in jail for 27 years first?”
No, Time Magazine does not do covers for ‘Liar of the Year.’
It isn’t about scolding the Pope or dissing the president, in fact it is about you. Regardless of what voices you listen to or what church you attend, if they are leading you away from the revealed word of God you are in serious danger. The call to remove yourself from those influences, find another church, or simply get out - are of divine origin.
God expects you to take it very seriously.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Co 6: 17, 18)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Messages From Heaven: The Gift for the Person Who Has Everything!
Messages From Heaven: The Gift for the Person Who Has Everything!: In our pocket of society where pampered affluence is rampant, we are often at a loss to know what kind of gifts to buy our friends and love...
The Gift for the Person Who Has Everything!
In our pocket of society where pampered affluence is rampant, we are
often at a loss to know what kind of gifts to buy our friends and loved
ones on special occasions. For some people (especially those who "have
everything"), the standard gift won't cut it. Nothing in the shopping
mall catches our fancy.
I have a suggestion. It may not seem that expensive or sound very novel, but believe me, it works every time. It's one of those gifts that has great value but no price tag. It can't be lost nor will it ever be forgotten. No problem with size, either. It fits all shapes, any age, and every personality. This ideal gift is...yourself. Don't forget the unusual value of kindness.
That's right, give some of yourself away:
Covering all the one another commands of the Bible (and there's a lot of them!) is the umbrella of kindness. Kindness braids mercy and grace, humility and gentleness all together. Kindness gives grace, requires humility, and asks that we think of others before ourselves.
Ever notice that kindness is most appreciated when life has gone sideways? When you're having "one of those days," kindness speaks that thoughtful word and draws you back like a lifeline.
Who should the world look to as a model of kindness but the body of Christ? Unfortunately, ask the man on the street how he would describe the Christians he knows and I dare say kind would not be his first or even his second response. I say we change that.
Kindness is something you and I can do today. A gentle response. Being the first to forgive. Giving the gift of time, compassion, and thoughtfulness. In ordinary ways, we can give ourselves away and, by doing so, model God's agape love. Remember 1 Corinthians 13:4 — "Love is kind."
Look for ways today to give ordinary kindness, and you'll find there's nothing ordinary about it.
I have a suggestion. It may not seem that expensive or sound very novel, but believe me, it works every time. It's one of those gifts that has great value but no price tag. It can't be lost nor will it ever be forgotten. No problem with size, either. It fits all shapes, any age, and every personality. This ideal gift is...yourself. Don't forget the unusual value of kindness.
That's right, give some of yourself away:
- Give an hour of your time to someone who needs you.
- Give a note of encouragement to someone feeling down.
- Give a hug of affirmation to someone in your family.
- Give some time to someone who is lonely.
- Give a meal to someone who is sick.
- Give a word of compassion to someone who has suffered a loss.
- Give a second chance to the fallen.
- Give a deed of thoughtfulness to someone who is often overlooked.
- Give a gentle response to the frustrated.
Covering all the one another commands of the Bible (and there's a lot of them!) is the umbrella of kindness. Kindness braids mercy and grace, humility and gentleness all together. Kindness gives grace, requires humility, and asks that we think of others before ourselves.
Ever notice that kindness is most appreciated when life has gone sideways? When you're having "one of those days," kindness speaks that thoughtful word and draws you back like a lifeline.
Who should the world look to as a model of kindness but the body of Christ? Unfortunately, ask the man on the street how he would describe the Christians he knows and I dare say kind would not be his first or even his second response. I say we change that.
Kindness is something you and I can do today. A gentle response. Being the first to forgive. Giving the gift of time, compassion, and thoughtfulness. In ordinary ways, we can give ourselves away and, by doing so, model God's agape love. Remember 1 Corinthians 13:4 — "Love is kind."
Look for ways today to give ordinary kindness, and you'll find there's nothing ordinary about it.
Messages From Heaven: An Invitation to Touch the Skin of Infinite God!
Messages From Heaven: An Invitation to Touch the Skin of Infinite God!: Childbirth is something no man can completely appreciate. We can marvel as an observer — a helpless one at that — but we cannot experienc...
An Invitation to Touch the Skin of Infinite God!
Childbirth is something no man can completely appreciate. We can
marvel as an observer — a helpless one at that — but we cannot
experience it as a woman would. My wife tells me, “I cannot completely
describe the feeling that came over me as the doctor held up Jakob, cut
the cord, and then laid him right across my tummy. As he stretched out,
I reached down and felt him and thought, How incredible! This little life came from us!”
Childbirth is enough of a miracle on its own, but this time of year adds a completely new dimension. Long ago in a quiet, crude place where animals sleep, Mary reached down and felt the Life from her body — she reached down and felt the soft, human skin of infinite God.
The humanity of this scene appropriately pulls us in for a closer look. We can identify with Joseph’s confusion, Mary’s wonder, and the irony of God’s quiet arrival in such an inhospitable world...all of those thoughts are magnificent to ponder. But we cannot stop there. These are only an entrance to wonders far deeper, far more significant. Just beneath the soft, newborn skin of this beautiful story is the flesh and bone of a theological truth that is older than creation, since the plan was in place long before time began.
The incarnation — God becoming flesh — is a doctrine that is foundational to everything we believe as Christians. Most conservative scholars see with 20/20 hindsight the hint of Christ’s birth in Genesis 3:15. Speaking to the serpent in Eden, God said:
What an awful predicament. God must punish sin. The penalty of sin is eternal death. But to carry out the sentence, God loses the very people He loves. Just as one man led all of humanity into rebellion, another must reconcile us. But who? Who among us does not deserve the penalty of sin? And if one sinless person could be found, what mere mortal would have the power to die the death you and I deserve, yet survive the process so that He could continue to represent us? Why, only a human who is also God could do that!
Two millennia ago, God answered the anguished cry of humanity by making “the problem of evil” His own. God Almighty became Immanuel, “God with us.” He lived as we live, suffered as we suffer, died as we die, yet without sin. And He, being the God-man, overcame the power of death in order to give us eternal life.
The plan is complete. Remember Jesus’s words on the cross? “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Mission accomplished. Nothing left for God to do, except allow His creation time to respond. He patiently waits...but time is running out. He will not wait forever. He will one day close the door of opportunity, either by your own physical death or by bringing all earthly history to an end.
As you ponder the humanity of the first Christmas, remember that it is an invitation to slow down and think deeper. I invite you to touch the infant skin of the God-man with your imagination. I invite you to wonder as the shepherds wondered and to worship as the wise men did. I invite you to allow the God-man, Jesus, to take your own “problem of pain” and make it His. If you can accept my invitation, you will receive the greatest Christmas present on earth: God’s indescribable gift.
Childbirth is enough of a miracle on its own, but this time of year adds a completely new dimension. Long ago in a quiet, crude place where animals sleep, Mary reached down and felt the Life from her body — she reached down and felt the soft, human skin of infinite God.
The humanity of this scene appropriately pulls us in for a closer look. We can identify with Joseph’s confusion, Mary’s wonder, and the irony of God’s quiet arrival in such an inhospitable world...all of those thoughts are magnificent to ponder. But we cannot stop there. These are only an entrance to wonders far deeper, far more significant. Just beneath the soft, newborn skin of this beautiful story is the flesh and bone of a theological truth that is older than creation, since the plan was in place long before time began.
The incarnation — God becoming flesh — is a doctrine that is foundational to everything we believe as Christians. Most conservative scholars see with 20/20 hindsight the hint of Christ’s birth in Genesis 3:15. Speaking to the serpent in Eden, God said:
“I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Much later, the prophet Isaiah wrote these words centuries before God became man:
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
In telling the story of God’s incarnation, the disciple Matthew tells us this:
Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:20-23)
When the first man plunged all of humanity into sin with
his disobedience in the Garden of Eden, evil entered the bloodstream of
humanity, polluting all who live in it. And each of us has ratified
Adam’s tragic choice by adding our sin to his. The result is a world
subject to pain of every conceivable kind: hunger, thirst, sorrow,
weariness, temptation, disease, prejudice, grief...the list would be
endless if it didn’t end with the ultimate evil: death.
Many struggle with the idea of God because they wrestle against “the
problem of pain” — How can a good God allow evil to continue? The
surprising answer: because He loves us. He could have ended all evil
before the fruit of the forbidden tree digested in Adam’s stomach. Let’s
not forget that the evil we would have God put an end to includes you
and me. We brought, and continue to bring, evil upon ourselves and the
world, and He would be entirely justified to condemn us to suffer the
twisted mess we have made of His creation. But...He loves us.What an awful predicament. God must punish sin. The penalty of sin is eternal death. But to carry out the sentence, God loses the very people He loves. Just as one man led all of humanity into rebellion, another must reconcile us. But who? Who among us does not deserve the penalty of sin? And if one sinless person could be found, what mere mortal would have the power to die the death you and I deserve, yet survive the process so that He could continue to represent us? Why, only a human who is also God could do that!
Two millennia ago, God answered the anguished cry of humanity by making “the problem of evil” His own. God Almighty became Immanuel, “God with us.” He lived as we live, suffered as we suffer, died as we die, yet without sin. And He, being the God-man, overcame the power of death in order to give us eternal life.
The plan is complete. Remember Jesus’s words on the cross? “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Mission accomplished. Nothing left for God to do, except allow His creation time to respond. He patiently waits...but time is running out. He will not wait forever. He will one day close the door of opportunity, either by your own physical death or by bringing all earthly history to an end.
As you ponder the humanity of the first Christmas, remember that it is an invitation to slow down and think deeper. I invite you to touch the infant skin of the God-man with your imagination. I invite you to wonder as the shepherds wondered and to worship as the wise men did. I invite you to allow the God-man, Jesus, to take your own “problem of pain” and make it His. If you can accept my invitation, you will receive the greatest Christmas present on earth: God’s indescribable gift.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Redefining the Family!!
Messages From Heaven: Redefining the Family!!: I read recently that the definition of the family needed to be revised in light of cultural changes. The writer said a famil...
Redefining the Family!!
- I read recently that the definition of the family needed to be revised in light of cultural changes. The writer said a family should be thought of as "a circle of love," including any individuals who were deeply attached to each other. Somehow I know this is wrong but can't articulate why. How do you see it?
I am familiar with the effort to redefine the family. It is motivated by homosexual activists and others who see this institution as a barrier to the social engineering they hope to accomplish. But what is the traditional definition of the family? It is a group of individuals who are related to one another by marriage, birth, or adoption-- nothing more, nothing else. The family was divinely instituted and sanctioned in the beginning, when God created one man and one woman, brought them together, and commanded them to "be fruitful and multiply." This is where we begin, and this is where we must stand.
By contrast, if the term family refers to any group of people who love each other, then the term ceases to have meaning. In that case, five homosexual men can be a "family" until one feels unloved, and then there are four. Under such a definition, one man and six women could be regarded as a legal entity, reintroducing the debate over polygamy. We thought we settled that issue in the last century.
It would also be possible for parents who dislike a rebellious teenager to opt him out of the "circle of love," thus depriving him of any legal identity with the family. With such amorphous terms, wives would have no greater legal protection than female acquaintances with whom men become infatuated. We end up with an unstable social structure rife with potential for disaster.
There is good reason, then, to defend the narrow legal definition of the family as understood over the centuries. After all, the family as I have characterized it is not merely human in origin. It is God's marvelous creation. And He has not included casual social relationships--even the most loving ones--within that bond of kinship. Nor should we.
Messages From Heaven: When It Comes to Truth, Tolerance Is a Travesty!!
Messages From Heaven: When It Comes to Truth, Tolerance Is a Travesty!!: Q: Why are Christians so judgmental and unloving? A: Because we live in an age of tolerance where almost anything goes, openly questionin...
When It Comes to Truth, Tolerance Is a Travesty!!
Q: Why are Christians so judgmental and unloving?
A: Because we live in an age of tolerance where almost anything goes, openly questioning or criticizing other people's belief systems can quickly get you labeled as judgmental, narrow-minded, bigoted, hateful, and even ignorant. With regard to Christianity, Matthew 7:1 is often quoted (or should I say "misquoted") as discouraging Christians from putting other religious teachings and practices to the test: "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
This interpretation of Scripture, however, is simply mistaken. The Bible clearly speaks out not against passing judgment in general, but against rendering inaccurate and unfair judgments (John 7:24). In 1 Corinthians 2:15 Paul tells us that Christians are called to make "judgments about all things." Our judgment, though, should not be based on what God has not revealed; but rather, on what He has revealed (v. 13).
God's revealed Word, the Bible, tells us that Jesus Christ is the only way we can possibly reach God and that there's no alternate route (Acts 4:12). It stands to reason, therefore, that other beliefs offering alleged alternate pathways to God only lead to dead-ends. And if we as Christians really want to follow our Lord's teaching to love our neighbors, we can't escape our responsibility to warn them about spiritually destructive roads paved by non-Christian belief systems (Prov. 14:12). True love and compassion should move believers to sound warning cries, even in the face of opposition, to avert countless lives from heading toward eternal separation from God.
Let's realize that when we call teachings into question, it's only because we're concerned about the eternal destinies of people. Let's also keep in mind that Scripture doesn't command us to simply rail against false teachings; rather, it encourages us to offer biblical reasons with gentleness and respect (1 Pet. 3:15). Always remember that when it comes to personal relationships, tolerance is a virtue; but when it comes to truth, tolerance is a travesty.
A: Because we live in an age of tolerance where almost anything goes, openly questioning or criticizing other people's belief systems can quickly get you labeled as judgmental, narrow-minded, bigoted, hateful, and even ignorant. With regard to Christianity, Matthew 7:1 is often quoted (or should I say "misquoted") as discouraging Christians from putting other religious teachings and practices to the test: "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
This interpretation of Scripture, however, is simply mistaken. The Bible clearly speaks out not against passing judgment in general, but against rendering inaccurate and unfair judgments (John 7:24). In 1 Corinthians 2:15 Paul tells us that Christians are called to make "judgments about all things." Our judgment, though, should not be based on what God has not revealed; but rather, on what He has revealed (v. 13).
God's revealed Word, the Bible, tells us that Jesus Christ is the only way we can possibly reach God and that there's no alternate route (Acts 4:12). It stands to reason, therefore, that other beliefs offering alleged alternate pathways to God only lead to dead-ends. And if we as Christians really want to follow our Lord's teaching to love our neighbors, we can't escape our responsibility to warn them about spiritually destructive roads paved by non-Christian belief systems (Prov. 14:12). True love and compassion should move believers to sound warning cries, even in the face of opposition, to avert countless lives from heading toward eternal separation from God.
Let's realize that when we call teachings into question, it's only because we're concerned about the eternal destinies of people. Let's also keep in mind that Scripture doesn't command us to simply rail against false teachings; rather, it encourages us to offer biblical reasons with gentleness and respect (1 Pet. 3:15). Always remember that when it comes to personal relationships, tolerance is a virtue; but when it comes to truth, tolerance is a travesty.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Keep Moving!!!
Messages From Heaven: Keep Moving!!!: We all know people who have supposedly “fallen away” spiritually. Sometimes people make changes in their lives, start going to church, an...
Keep Moving!!!
We all know people who have supposedly “fallen away” spiritually. Sometimes people make changes in their lives, start going to church, and get all excited about the Bible. Then suddenly they bail, never to return. For the most part, we say, “Oh, that is sad. They are backsliding.” However, I suggest to you that many of these people never were true believers to begin with. The true test is where they wind up.
A true believer will always come back home eventually. A person who is not a true believer won’t. My mother, for example, spent most of her life as a prodigal, but she came home in the end.We must keep our guard up, because anyone can backslide and become a prodigal. Backsliding is not something you plan on doing. You do not call up your Christian friend and say, “Hey, instead of going to church tonight, do you want to go backslide instead?” The point is that backsliding happens. In fact, one of the signs of the last days is that “some would fall from the faith.” It could happen to anyone, if certain precautions are not taken.
I suggest to you that there are people out there who are fully backslidden, but they do not even know it! And this is because they do not understand what the word backslide even means.
The Bible certainly warns against it. Jeremiah 3:22 says, “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” Jeremiah 2:19 tells us, “‘Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”
You might protest, “I don’t think I have actually backslidden!” It sounds so dramatic. “OK, so I am not as active spiritually as I once was. I still go to church (when I can find the time). I still read the Bible (when I get around to it). I still obey God (unless it conflicts with what I want to do).”
Listen, falling away or backsliding is something that we as Christians need to constantly be aware of. If we are not moving forward in Christ, we are naturally going backward. There is no standing still in the Christian life; we are either progressing or regressing, moving forward or backward. The Christian life is like a greased pole; you are either climbing or slipping.
I once saw a sign along the road at the end of an airport runway that read “Keep moving. If you stop, you are in danger, and a danger to those flying.” Unless we make progress in the Christian life, we jeopardize ourselves and others. In fact, the moment you cease to progress and grow as a Christian is when the process of backsliding begins.
So make every effort to move forward spiritually!
Messages From Heaven: Guided Missiles!!!
Messages From Heaven: Guided Missiles!!!: As we fight the spiritual battle, we need spiritual weaponry. Let’s consider our shield. The apostle Paul writes, “Above all, taking the ...
Guided Missiles!!!
As we fight the spiritual battle, we need spiritual weaponry.
Let’s consider our shield. The apostle Paul writes, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The words above all mean that faith is of paramount importance. The other armor won’t function apart from faith.
The shields that Roman soldiers would use were made of wood and then covered with cloth and leather. They were large, rectangular objects about four feet high and two feet wide. By crouching behind it, the soldier could completely hide himself.
The term fiery darts that Paul uses refers to one of the most commonly-used enemy tactics of his day. Prior to a face-to-face engagement with the enemy, a warrior would often encounter a barrage of flaming arrows coming from all directions. Their sole purpose was to demoralize and confuse him.
Our modern equivalent might be guided missiles or rockets.
The Roman soldier had to hold up his shield to protect himself from those fiery arrows. Sometimes, he would dip his shield in water so the fire-tipped arrows would be extinguished when they struck the shield.
Satan has his “flaming arrows,” or “guided missiles,” which he shoots our way. They are swift and silent and we receive no advance warning of their arrival. You can wake up in the morning, and the enemy will hit you with a flaming arrow before your feet even hit the floor.
It might be an impure thought or a thought of complete despair. You may be gripped with intense fear and terror. “What if this happens, or if that happens?”
It might be a thought of hatred toward someone. It might even be a blasphemous thought or a thought of doubt.
When do these “flaming arrows” come? At strategic times—like when you decide to read the Bible.
Isn’t it amazing that you can open the newspaper and maintain your full ability to concentrate with no distractions? You can get through the whole thing—the want ads, the comics, and all the advertisements—with no disruption whatsoever.
Or you may watch some mindless TV program and you’ll get through it with no phone calls, no distractions, and no problems.
But try opening the Bible and watch as “all hell breaks loose” and those flaming arrows start flying!
It might be an inability to concentrate. It might be a hundred and one things you should be doing that come to mind. They aren’t necessarily evil thoughts per se—just things like: “Oh boy! I forgot to go do this” or “I’ve got to pick up the cleaning,” or “I need to return that phone call,” etc.
Listen—the enemy’s primary objective is to keep you from the Word of God.
These “guided missiles” will also come during times of trial and hardship. Satan will whisper in your ear, “God has abandoned you. He’s left you. He doesn’t love you!”
I know about this personally and so do many of you. It is then that I hold up the shield of faith.
Here, faith means the ability to quickly apply what we believe so as to repel everything the devil attempts to do to us.
My relationship with God is not built on fleeting emotions or feelings, but on faith in what He has said to me in His Word. The “shield of faith” is turning to God and His Word in time of attack, and not focusing on our fluctuating feelings or emotions.
Scripture does not say, “Resist Satan, steadfast in your emotions,” but rather, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9 NKJV).
So use your shield today! It could make all the difference.
Let’s consider our shield. The apostle Paul writes, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The words above all mean that faith is of paramount importance. The other armor won’t function apart from faith.
The shields that Roman soldiers would use were made of wood and then covered with cloth and leather. They were large, rectangular objects about four feet high and two feet wide. By crouching behind it, the soldier could completely hide himself.
The term fiery darts that Paul uses refers to one of the most commonly-used enemy tactics of his day. Prior to a face-to-face engagement with the enemy, a warrior would often encounter a barrage of flaming arrows coming from all directions. Their sole purpose was to demoralize and confuse him.
Our modern equivalent might be guided missiles or rockets.
The Roman soldier had to hold up his shield to protect himself from those fiery arrows. Sometimes, he would dip his shield in water so the fire-tipped arrows would be extinguished when they struck the shield.
Satan has his “flaming arrows,” or “guided missiles,” which he shoots our way. They are swift and silent and we receive no advance warning of their arrival. You can wake up in the morning, and the enemy will hit you with a flaming arrow before your feet even hit the floor.
It might be an impure thought or a thought of complete despair. You may be gripped with intense fear and terror. “What if this happens, or if that happens?”
It might be a thought of hatred toward someone. It might even be a blasphemous thought or a thought of doubt.
When do these “flaming arrows” come? At strategic times—like when you decide to read the Bible.
Isn’t it amazing that you can open the newspaper and maintain your full ability to concentrate with no distractions? You can get through the whole thing—the want ads, the comics, and all the advertisements—with no disruption whatsoever.
Or you may watch some mindless TV program and you’ll get through it with no phone calls, no distractions, and no problems.
But try opening the Bible and watch as “all hell breaks loose” and those flaming arrows start flying!
It might be an inability to concentrate. It might be a hundred and one things you should be doing that come to mind. They aren’t necessarily evil thoughts per se—just things like: “Oh boy! I forgot to go do this” or “I’ve got to pick up the cleaning,” or “I need to return that phone call,” etc.
Listen—the enemy’s primary objective is to keep you from the Word of God.
These “guided missiles” will also come during times of trial and hardship. Satan will whisper in your ear, “God has abandoned you. He’s left you. He doesn’t love you!”
I know about this personally and so do many of you. It is then that I hold up the shield of faith.
Here, faith means the ability to quickly apply what we believe so as to repel everything the devil attempts to do to us.
My relationship with God is not built on fleeting emotions or feelings, but on faith in what He has said to me in His Word. The “shield of faith” is turning to God and His Word in time of attack, and not focusing on our fluctuating feelings or emotions.
Scripture does not say, “Resist Satan, steadfast in your emotions,” but rather, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9 NKJV).
So use your shield today! It could make all the difference.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Messages From Heaven: History's Greatest Happening Bar None!
Messages From Heaven: History's Greatest Happening Bar None!: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..." Isaiah 9:6 . Some years ago, an American astronaut climbed down a ladd...
History's Greatest Happening Bar None!
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..." Isaiah 9:6.
Some years ago, an American astronaut climbed down a ladder and put his feet on the surface of the moon, and the President of the United States said that was the greatest event in human history. With all due respect to that President, the greatest event in human history was not when man first put his feet upon the moon but when Almighty God came down and walked upon this earth. We call that the incarnation, and we celebrate it at Christmas. If you do not understand this event, you don't have the golden key of all history.
How sad to know biology, the study of life, and not know Jesus Christ the Giver of life. How sad to know astronomy, the study of the stars and of the heavens, and not to know Jesus Christ the bright and morning Star and how to go to heaven. How sad to know geology, the study of rocks and geological ages, and not know Jesus Christ, the Rock of ages. How sad to know botany, the study of flowers, and not to know Sharon's sweetest Rose. How sad to know history from beginning to end and to miss the central event in history, which is the story of Jesus — His story. A wise man is ignorant, a rich man is poor, and a strong man is weak until he knows the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God-Man
Who is Jesus? Isaiah, seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, wrote, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." Now that's not just a repeat of the same thought. There are two distinct thoughts there. "A Child" speaks of the humanity of Jesus, and "a Son" refers to His deity. God sent His Christmas gift to this earth. It was the gift of Himself — deity wrapped in humanity. Jesus Christ did not have His beginning in Bethlehem. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus). And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus was the One Who spoke the world into existence. And then God translated deity into humanity. That little baby in a manger is the great God Who created the universe. The little baby of Luke two is the great God of Genesis one. God became flesh.
You may say, "I don't understand that." Well, I'd be ashamed of you if you said you did understand it. None of us understand it. You see, the miracle of the ages is the virgin conception of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Miracle of the Ages
But you don't have to understand it to believe it. If you have difficulty believing in the virgin birth, you really have difficulty believing in God. Why would you have difficulty believing that a child could come into this world without an earthly father when God made the first woman and the first man out of nothing?
If you doubt the virgin birth, you really have difficulty with...
- the character of the Word of God — The Word of God plainly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin.
- the character of Mary — If Jesus were not born of a virgin, Mary was a harlot and conceived out of wedlock.
- the character of Jesus — If Jesus were not born of a virgin, He was a descendant of Adam, and "in Adam, all die" (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). You see, if there were no virgin birth, there would be no sinless Christ. No sinless Christ...no atonement. No atonement...no forgiveness. No forgiveness...no hope of heaven. No hope of heaven...we would all die and go to hell. Thank God for the virgin birth. If you take away the virgin birth, the whole house of Christianity collapses like a house of cards.
Now, you may be wondering what this is it all about? Let me just sum it up. Let me just tell you what Christmas is all about. God came to this earth to live, breath, work, laugh, cry, weep and teach, then carry our sins to the cross and die. Jesus is the virgin-born Son of God sent into this dark world to redeem us. He is the greatest Gift and history's greatest happening. He will save you if you will trust Him. Do you know Jesus?
Some years ago, an American astronaut climbed down a ladder and put his feet on the surface of the moon, and the President of the United States said that was the greatest event in human history. With all due respect to that President, the greatest event in human history was not when man first put his feet upon the moon but when Almighty God came down and walked upon this earth. We call that the incarnation, and we celebrate it at Christmas. If you do not understand this event, you don't have the golden key of all history.
How sad to know biology, the study of life, and not know Jesus Christ the Giver of life. How sad to know astronomy, the study of the stars and of the heavens, and not to know Jesus Christ the bright and morning Star and how to go to heaven. How sad to know geology, the study of rocks and geological ages, and not know Jesus Christ, the Rock of ages. How sad to know botany, the study of flowers, and not to know Sharon's sweetest Rose. How sad to know history from beginning to end and to miss the central event in history, which is the story of Jesus — His story. A wise man is ignorant, a rich man is poor, and a strong man is weak until he knows the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God-Man
Who is Jesus? Isaiah, seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, wrote, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." Now that's not just a repeat of the same thought. There are two distinct thoughts there. "A Child" speaks of the humanity of Jesus, and "a Son" refers to His deity. God sent His Christmas gift to this earth. It was the gift of Himself — deity wrapped in humanity. Jesus Christ did not have His beginning in Bethlehem. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus). And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus was the One Who spoke the world into existence. And then God translated deity into humanity. That little baby in a manger is the great God Who created the universe. The little baby of Luke two is the great God of Genesis one. God became flesh.
You may say, "I don't understand that." Well, I'd be ashamed of you if you said you did understand it. None of us understand it. You see, the miracle of the ages is the virgin conception of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Miracle of the Ages
But you don't have to understand it to believe it. If you have difficulty believing in the virgin birth, you really have difficulty believing in God. Why would you have difficulty believing that a child could come into this world without an earthly father when God made the first woman and the first man out of nothing?
If you doubt the virgin birth, you really have difficulty with...
- the character of the Word of God — The Word of God plainly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin.
- the character of Mary — If Jesus were not born of a virgin, Mary was a harlot and conceived out of wedlock.
- the character of Jesus — If Jesus were not born of a virgin, He was a descendant of Adam, and "in Adam, all die" (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). You see, if there were no virgin birth, there would be no sinless Christ. No sinless Christ...no atonement. No atonement...no forgiveness. No forgiveness...no hope of heaven. No hope of heaven...we would all die and go to hell. Thank God for the virgin birth. If you take away the virgin birth, the whole house of Christianity collapses like a house of cards.
Now, you may be wondering what this is it all about? Let me just sum it up. Let me just tell you what Christmas is all about. God came to this earth to live, breath, work, laugh, cry, weep and teach, then carry our sins to the cross and die. Jesus is the virgin-born Son of God sent into this dark world to redeem us. He is the greatest Gift and history's greatest happening. He will save you if you will trust Him. Do you know Jesus?
Messages From Heaven: Is There Room for Jesus This Christmas?
Messages From Heaven: Is There Room for Jesus This Christmas?: It may be difficult to believe, but rather than drawing us closer to God, sometimes Christmas actually draws us away! For many, this Christ...
Is There Room for Jesus This Christmas?
It may be difficult to believe, but rather than drawing us closer to God, sometimes Christmas actually draws us away!
For many, this Christmas season will be filled with rushing, hurrying, and milling around department stores, feet aching, head throbbing, nerves frazzled. No wonder the little girl who was praying “forgive us our trespasses” got confused and said, “forgive us our Christmases.” Sometimes we need to be forgiven for our Christmases. We simply leave no room for Jesus.
Another reason there was no room for Jesus was indifference. Can you imagine the innkeeper as he shuttles a young woman about to give birth off into a cow stall? He simply had no concern.
Or perhaps the innkeeper was too involved. He was so busy, he just didn’t have time. His rooms were filling with guests and his purse was filling with gold. Like many of us, he was too busy with others things. He had no room for the Lord Jesus.
But it was no accident that all of this happened. It was prophesied in the Bible: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)
What about This Christmas?
Today there is still little room for the Lord Jesus Christ. Some insist that the days surrounding the Lord’s birthday not be called “Christmas Holidays,” but “Winter Break.” Irreverent and irrelevant Christmas cards fly off the shelves. The heroes of Christmas are Tiny Tim, Rudolph, Frosty, and Santa. Could it be that we too are ignorant, indifferent, or overly involved? Christmas is supposed to be the happiest time of the year, but for you, it may be the saddest. Perhaps Christmas is not all you feel it ought to be. Somehow you’re trying to be happy and find satisfaction in gifts and parties. Maybe you’re lonely this Christmas — everyone else is going to parties, but you’re not invited. Everyone seems to have a house full of loved ones, but you’re alone.
I have a word for you: Jesus is here, and His name is “Emmanuel” — God with us. God loves you. He knows all about you, and He still loves you. He understands you. He knows your every weakness. He wants to have a relationship with you so much that He suffered, bled, and died for you. The deepest need of your life is met in the One we call Jesus.
If you want to find Jesus Christ today, you’ll never find Him as an “insider.” You’ll always find Jesus on the outside. Don’t go to the inn; go to the stable. Don’t go inside the city; go outside the city where they crucified Him. You won’t find Him in bars, parties, or ball games. That’s not what Christmas is all about. It’s not important that you’re surrounded with friends, family, fun and food. Rather, it’s important that you’re with Jesus.
Is there room for the Lord Jesus in your heart this Christmas?
For many, this Christmas season will be filled with rushing, hurrying, and milling around department stores, feet aching, head throbbing, nerves frazzled. No wonder the little girl who was praying “forgive us our trespasses” got confused and said, “forgive us our Christmases.” Sometimes we need to be forgiven for our Christmases. We simply leave no room for Jesus.
That First Christmas
There was no room for Him in the inn that first Christmas. In fact, the only place Jerusalem had for Him was a cross. Even in His death there was no room for Him, for He was buried in a borrowed tomb.
One reason there was no room for the Lord Jesus was ignorance.
The innkeeper didn’t know the baby about to be born was the Son of
God. Mary and Joseph certainly knew. The shepherds, the wise men, Anna
and Simeon in the temple, and Elizabeth knew; but the innkeeper did
not.There was no room for Him in the inn that first Christmas. In fact, the only place Jerusalem had for Him was a cross. Even in His death there was no room for Him, for He was buried in a borrowed tomb.
Another reason there was no room for Jesus was indifference. Can you imagine the innkeeper as he shuttles a young woman about to give birth off into a cow stall? He simply had no concern.
Or perhaps the innkeeper was too involved. He was so busy, he just didn’t have time. His rooms were filling with guests and his purse was filling with gold. Like many of us, he was too busy with others things. He had no room for the Lord Jesus.
But it was no accident that all of this happened. It was prophesied in the Bible: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)
Today there is still little room for the Lord Jesus Christ. Some insist that the days surrounding the Lord’s birthday not be called “Christmas Holidays,” but “Winter Break.” Irreverent and irrelevant Christmas cards fly off the shelves. The heroes of Christmas are Tiny Tim, Rudolph, Frosty, and Santa. Could it be that we too are ignorant, indifferent, or overly involved? Christmas is supposed to be the happiest time of the year, but for you, it may be the saddest. Perhaps Christmas is not all you feel it ought to be. Somehow you’re trying to be happy and find satisfaction in gifts and parties. Maybe you’re lonely this Christmas — everyone else is going to parties, but you’re not invited. Everyone seems to have a house full of loved ones, but you’re alone.
I have a word for you: Jesus is here, and His name is “Emmanuel” — God with us. God loves you. He knows all about you, and He still loves you. He understands you. He knows your every weakness. He wants to have a relationship with you so much that He suffered, bled, and died for you. The deepest need of your life is met in the One we call Jesus.
If you want to find Jesus Christ today, you’ll never find Him as an “insider.” You’ll always find Jesus on the outside. Don’t go to the inn; go to the stable. Don’t go inside the city; go outside the city where they crucified Him. You won’t find Him in bars, parties, or ball games. That’s not what Christmas is all about. It’s not important that you’re surrounded with friends, family, fun and food. Rather, it’s important that you’re with Jesus.
One Day, There Will Be...
While the world has no room for Jesus now, it won’t always be that way. When He was here the first time, He stood before Pilate. When He comes again, Pilate will stand before Him. When He came the first time, He came as a baby. When He comes again, He will come as King. When He came the first time, He was rejected; but our Lord says, “As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11) There’s no room for Him now, but one of these days, they’ll say, “Make room for the King!”
If I had a thousand lives, I’d give every one to God. Will you give Him your life today? “He
came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as
received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).While the world has no room for Jesus now, it won’t always be that way. When He was here the first time, He stood before Pilate. When He comes again, Pilate will stand before Him. When He came the first time, He came as a baby. When He comes again, He will come as King. When He came the first time, He was rejected; but our Lord says, “As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11) There’s no room for Him now, but one of these days, they’ll say, “Make room for the King!”
Is there room for the Lord Jesus in your heart this Christmas?
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Messages From Heaven: What Did Jesus Say about Divorce?
Messages From Heaven: What Did Jesus Say about Divorce?: Lately, the Western world has zoomed in on the topic of same-sex marriage, leaving the issue of divorce virtually ignored. Yet, Christian...
What Did Jesus Say about Divorce?
Lately, the Western world has zoomed in on the topic of same-sex
marriage, leaving the issue of divorce virtually ignored. Yet,
Christians and non-Christians alike continue to struggle through both
considering divorce and the decision to divorce. We need clear guidance
on this topic. The Bible's teaching on divorce is expansive; however, in
this short piece, we'll narrow our focus to one important aspect of
Jesus's teaching from Mark 10:1–12—the condition for divorce.
When the Pharisees tested Jesus on this controversial issue of divorce, His response focused on the "one fleshness" of a married couple (Mark 10:2–9). Later, the disciples privately asked Jesus to explain His answer (10:10). As was His custom, once He was alone with the disciples, Jesus underscored the salient part of His teaching. He clearly stated that marriage is to be a permanent bond between one man and one woman. To break it off and marry another is adultery (10:11–12).
Jesus affirmed (and still affirms) the permanence of the marriage bond. But He also acknowledged that because of the depravity of the human heart, the marriage bond might be severed under certain circumstances. What are those circumstances? That requires us to turn to the "exception clause" of Matthew 19:9:
Generally, the Greek term porneia refers to sexual activity that is immoral, illicit, and sometimes unnatural. For this reason, some scholars interpret the term loosely and apply it to homosexuality, bestiality, incest, and the like. But let's keep in mind, no matter how immoral these activities are, Jesus only permitted divorce for such offenses . . . He did not command it.
If you have a spouse guilty of the kinds of things just described, you're not commanded to walk away from that person. The goal in such marital relationships is reconciliation—always. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1: "If anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness."
I know of a case in point. A married man, away on a business trip, viewed an X-rated channel in his hotel room. He watched for only a minute or two, but then turned it off, feeling guilty and ashamed. When he returned home from his trip, he couldn't sleep. Finally, he confessed to his wife what he had done. At that moment his marriage ended. His wife refused to forgive him of that single failure. She was determined to get him out of her life. And over the course of a brief period of time, she did.
Don't misunderstand me. I don't condone what that man did in his hotel room. But neither do I agree with what his wife did. Divorce is a personal decision, not a divine mandate. And porneia isn't a blanket rule that we smear across all immorality in marriages and say, "Ah-hah! Now you've done it! It's over! Our next stop is divorce court." Again, divorce is permitted in cases of porneia; it's not commanded. Reconciliation is the goal—a spirit of, "How can we work through this serious breach in our relationship?" not, "How can I get out of it?"
Let me add that porneia isn't an unforgivable sin. Admittedly, it is a serious, heartbreaking, and emotionally shattering act of disobedience and betrayal. But it need not be treated as if it cannot be forgiven. If you're in the midst of heartbreaking betrayal and you believe your marriage is hanging in the balance, please consider the hard work of reconciliation before you make the kneejerk reaction: "I've got grounds for a divorce, and I'm not stopping until I get it!" More often than not, filing those papers will only trade one heartache for an even deeper one.
When the Pharisees tested Jesus on this controversial issue of divorce, His response focused on the "one fleshness" of a married couple (Mark 10:2–9). Later, the disciples privately asked Jesus to explain His answer (10:10). As was His custom, once He was alone with the disciples, Jesus underscored the salient part of His teaching. He clearly stated that marriage is to be a permanent bond between one man and one woman. To break it off and marry another is adultery (10:11–12).
Jesus affirmed (and still affirms) the permanence of the marriage bond. But He also acknowledged that because of the depravity of the human heart, the marriage bond might be severed under certain circumstances. What are those circumstances? That requires us to turn to the "exception clause" of Matthew 19:9:
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.The Greek word Jesus used for "immorality" is the word from which we get our modern word pornography. "Immorality" in this verse is based on the word porneia. The root, porne, means "prostitute." In Matthew 19, Jesus could have used the word molxeia, the word used specifically for adultery, but He chose a broader term. Porneia, when applied to illicit sexual activity among unmarried couples, is often translated "fornication." When applied to illicit sexual activity among those who are married, porneia is often translated "adultery." In either case, porneia is considered immorality.
Generally, the Greek term porneia refers to sexual activity that is immoral, illicit, and sometimes unnatural. For this reason, some scholars interpret the term loosely and apply it to homosexuality, bestiality, incest, and the like. But let's keep in mind, no matter how immoral these activities are, Jesus only permitted divorce for such offenses . . . He did not command it.
If you have a spouse guilty of the kinds of things just described, you're not commanded to walk away from that person. The goal in such marital relationships is reconciliation—always. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1: "If anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness."
I know of a case in point. A married man, away on a business trip, viewed an X-rated channel in his hotel room. He watched for only a minute or two, but then turned it off, feeling guilty and ashamed. When he returned home from his trip, he couldn't sleep. Finally, he confessed to his wife what he had done. At that moment his marriage ended. His wife refused to forgive him of that single failure. She was determined to get him out of her life. And over the course of a brief period of time, she did.
Don't misunderstand me. I don't condone what that man did in his hotel room. But neither do I agree with what his wife did. Divorce is a personal decision, not a divine mandate. And porneia isn't a blanket rule that we smear across all immorality in marriages and say, "Ah-hah! Now you've done it! It's over! Our next stop is divorce court." Again, divorce is permitted in cases of porneia; it's not commanded. Reconciliation is the goal—a spirit of, "How can we work through this serious breach in our relationship?" not, "How can I get out of it?"
Let me add that porneia isn't an unforgivable sin. Admittedly, it is a serious, heartbreaking, and emotionally shattering act of disobedience and betrayal. But it need not be treated as if it cannot be forgiven. If you're in the midst of heartbreaking betrayal and you believe your marriage is hanging in the balance, please consider the hard work of reconciliation before you make the kneejerk reaction: "I've got grounds for a divorce, and I'm not stopping until I get it!" More often than not, filing those papers will only trade one heartache for an even deeper one.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Messages From Heaven: When Faith is in the Fire!
Messages From Heaven: When Faith is in the Fire!: Daniel 3 The noose is tightening. The war is getting hotter. If our Lord tarries, you're going to have to stand alone and teach your ...
When Faith is in the Fire!
Daniel 3
The noose is tightening. The war is getting hotter. If our Lord tarries, you're going to have to stand alone and teach your children to stand alone. They're going to face a world different from even the one we're living in. And I pray God they’ll be ready for it.
In the 4th century, an early Christian leader named Athanasius was confronted by the Roman emperor Theodosius. Athanasius was a bold, strong Christian who stood firm in his beliefs when others called him arrogant, stubborn, and narrow-minded. The emperor said to him, “Athanasius, the whole world is against you.” He replied, “Then Athanasius is against the whole world.”
It takes courage to stand alone, but more and more it will be necessary. And if necessary now as the days get darker—in your office, your neighborhood, your community—how much more so will it be for your children?
You must learn to stand alone, not out of stubbornness, arrogance, or narrow-mindedness, but for Jesus and the principles of God's Word, for that which is true and will last throughout eternity. And teach your children to stand.
Daniel 3 tells the familiar story of three young Jewish men thrown into a fiery furnace. They wouldn't budge, they wouldn't bow, and we found out they wouldn’t burn. They came out of that furnace. We all rejoice. But the Bible is not just a record of what God has done and has said; it is a record of what God is doing and is saying.
They lived under Nebuchadnezzar, a king illustrating the coming Antichrist ruling during the Tribulation. But today before the Antichrist arrives, the “spirit of Antichrist” is already permeating every aspect of our culture. “Little children, it is the last time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists” (I John 2:28).
The Fury They Faced
Social pressure: “Everybody” was worshipping the image (Daniel 3:2-3). Today people are under incredible pressure to conform. If you don’t fall in line, you're looked upon as an oddball.
Government enforcement. “And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” (v. 6). You’re going to face that too. We're moving quickly to a one-world government. The America we’ve known is being diluted and absorbed into a globalism spurred on by those who will not stand for what is right. Determined to make everyone conform, government more and more says, “We will arrest you for contempt of court,” or “We will take away your tax-exempt status because you’re in the way of progress.” Jesus said that in the last days, those who kill you will think they do God a service (John 16:2). When you stand and say “The Bible says this is wrong and this is right,” you will be persecuted—or accused of “hate speech.”
Diabolical purpose: The deadly power behind all this is Satan. Learn this about the devil: he does not want casualties, he wants converts: “And whoever does not fall down and worship…” (Daniel 3:6). The devil wants worship; Antichrist will want to be worshipped (Revelation13:7-8). That's what we're up against. Satan is behind all this.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to this pressure. Soon you’ll find yourself in some incendiary circumstance where, like these young men, you’ll have to stand alone.
What will enable you? What enabled them? What will empower your children in the coming dark days?
The Faith They Followed
Theirs was a settled faith. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter…. our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” (v. 16-18)
They’re saying, “We don't have to get in a huddle. We don't we don't have to ponder it. We don't we don't have to say, ‘Now, king, give us a night to sleep on it.’ We don't have to have a committee meeting.” They had God's word hidden in their hearts. They already knew what was right. When you make a decision—when you say, “This is right and this is wrong,” then when you are challenged, you say, “I don't have to think about it.” Their faith was settled.
The average carnal Christian would say, “When in Babylon, do as the Babylonians do. Go along to get along. Better to compromise a little bit here and live a little longer so you can do some more good, than simply be stubborn. Christians are supposed to get along with everybody and everything. So don't stand alone.” But these men did and how did they do it? Their settled faith.
It was a strong faith. “Our God is able” (v. 17). You must believe that. When the enemy says “Who is that God that shall deliver thee?” you must believe there is a God who said, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee” (Psalm 50:15). That's the word of a holy God. He will deliver us. If He doesn't deliver us through the fire, He'll deliver us in the fire. But He will deliver us.
It was a steadfast faith. Now here's something very interesting. In verse 18 they say, “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
“God is able to deliver us. We don't have any doubt about that. And He will deliver us, no doubt about that. But if not, we're not going to serve your gods. We're not going to worship your image. When you throw us like chips of wood into a fiery furnace, if we're consumed, fine. We're still not going to worship your god.”
They have no doubt about God's power. Does your faith have an 'if not' clause? “Our God is able to deliver us.” We all like that. “But if He doesn't,” are you still going to serve Him? In His sovereignty God might have let these boys die in the flames. You can die in the flames.
Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. Hebrews 11:32-34 speaks of one miracle deliverance after another. We love the stories of Daniel and the lion’s den, David and Goliath, our Lord raising the dead and healing the sick, Peter coming out of prison. If it stopped there, we’d say, “Great! Victory after victory!” But it doesn't.
And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. These all, having obtained a good report through faith. (v. 35-39)
It’s one thing to have faith to escape. It’s another to have faith to endure. It’s one thing to have faith to be healed. It’s another to not be healed and still praise God. It’s one thing to be delivered. It’s another to die. You say, “If they’d just had enough faith, they’d have been delivered.” No. These got A+ on the report card through faith, and they were not delivered in the way you and I would call deliverance. That takes greater faith.
God is sovereign; He knows what’s best. He may not always deliver you from your trials. If He doesn't, what are you to do? Stand by faith. Faith is not primarily receiving from God what you want. It is accepting from God what He gives.
Do you have a fairytale faith? Somehow at the last moment the Lone Ranger is going to come riding over the hill and deliver you? There is a God in heaven who is going to take care of you in the fire, through the fire.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans 8:35
The world will start respecting the Lord Jesus Christ when you and I, by the grace of God, stand alone. Teach your children, because the spirit of Antichrist is already in the world.
The noose is tightening. The war is getting hotter. If our Lord tarries, you're going to have to stand alone and teach your children to stand alone. They're going to face a world different from even the one we're living in. And I pray God they’ll be ready for it.
In the 4th century, an early Christian leader named Athanasius was confronted by the Roman emperor Theodosius. Athanasius was a bold, strong Christian who stood firm in his beliefs when others called him arrogant, stubborn, and narrow-minded. The emperor said to him, “Athanasius, the whole world is against you.” He replied, “Then Athanasius is against the whole world.”
It takes courage to stand alone, but more and more it will be necessary. And if necessary now as the days get darker—in your office, your neighborhood, your community—how much more so will it be for your children?
You must learn to stand alone, not out of stubbornness, arrogance, or narrow-mindedness, but for Jesus and the principles of God's Word, for that which is true and will last throughout eternity. And teach your children to stand.
Daniel 3 tells the familiar story of three young Jewish men thrown into a fiery furnace. They wouldn't budge, they wouldn't bow, and we found out they wouldn’t burn. They came out of that furnace. We all rejoice. But the Bible is not just a record of what God has done and has said; it is a record of what God is doing and is saying.
They lived under Nebuchadnezzar, a king illustrating the coming Antichrist ruling during the Tribulation. But today before the Antichrist arrives, the “spirit of Antichrist” is already permeating every aspect of our culture. “Little children, it is the last time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists” (I John 2:28).
The Fury They Faced
Social pressure: “Everybody” was worshipping the image (Daniel 3:2-3). Today people are under incredible pressure to conform. If you don’t fall in line, you're looked upon as an oddball.
Government enforcement. “And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” (v. 6). You’re going to face that too. We're moving quickly to a one-world government. The America we’ve known is being diluted and absorbed into a globalism spurred on by those who will not stand for what is right. Determined to make everyone conform, government more and more says, “We will arrest you for contempt of court,” or “We will take away your tax-exempt status because you’re in the way of progress.” Jesus said that in the last days, those who kill you will think they do God a service (John 16:2). When you stand and say “The Bible says this is wrong and this is right,” you will be persecuted—or accused of “hate speech.”
Diabolical purpose: The deadly power behind all this is Satan. Learn this about the devil: he does not want casualties, he wants converts: “And whoever does not fall down and worship…” (Daniel 3:6). The devil wants worship; Antichrist will want to be worshipped (Revelation13:7-8). That's what we're up against. Satan is behind all this.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to this pressure. Soon you’ll find yourself in some incendiary circumstance where, like these young men, you’ll have to stand alone.
What will enable you? What enabled them? What will empower your children in the coming dark days?
The Faith They Followed
Theirs was a settled faith. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter…. our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” (v. 16-18)
They’re saying, “We don't have to get in a huddle. We don't we don't have to ponder it. We don't we don't have to say, ‘Now, king, give us a night to sleep on it.’ We don't have to have a committee meeting.” They had God's word hidden in their hearts. They already knew what was right. When you make a decision—when you say, “This is right and this is wrong,” then when you are challenged, you say, “I don't have to think about it.” Their faith was settled.
The average carnal Christian would say, “When in Babylon, do as the Babylonians do. Go along to get along. Better to compromise a little bit here and live a little longer so you can do some more good, than simply be stubborn. Christians are supposed to get along with everybody and everything. So don't stand alone.” But these men did and how did they do it? Their settled faith.
It was a strong faith. “Our God is able” (v. 17). You must believe that. When the enemy says “Who is that God that shall deliver thee?” you must believe there is a God who said, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee” (Psalm 50:15). That's the word of a holy God. He will deliver us. If He doesn't deliver us through the fire, He'll deliver us in the fire. But He will deliver us.
It was a steadfast faith. Now here's something very interesting. In verse 18 they say, “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
“God is able to deliver us. We don't have any doubt about that. And He will deliver us, no doubt about that. But if not, we're not going to serve your gods. We're not going to worship your image. When you throw us like chips of wood into a fiery furnace, if we're consumed, fine. We're still not going to worship your god.”
They have no doubt about God's power. Does your faith have an 'if not' clause? “Our God is able to deliver us.” We all like that. “But if He doesn't,” are you still going to serve Him? In His sovereignty God might have let these boys die in the flames. You can die in the flames.
Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. Hebrews 11:32-34 speaks of one miracle deliverance after another. We love the stories of Daniel and the lion’s den, David and Goliath, our Lord raising the dead and healing the sick, Peter coming out of prison. If it stopped there, we’d say, “Great! Victory after victory!” But it doesn't.
And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. These all, having obtained a good report through faith. (v. 35-39)
It’s one thing to have faith to escape. It’s another to have faith to endure. It’s one thing to have faith to be healed. It’s another to not be healed and still praise God. It’s one thing to be delivered. It’s another to die. You say, “If they’d just had enough faith, they’d have been delivered.” No. These got A+ on the report card through faith, and they were not delivered in the way you and I would call deliverance. That takes greater faith.
God is sovereign; He knows what’s best. He may not always deliver you from your trials. If He doesn't, what are you to do? Stand by faith. Faith is not primarily receiving from God what you want. It is accepting from God what He gives.
Do you have a fairytale faith? Somehow at the last moment the Lone Ranger is going to come riding over the hill and deliver you? There is a God in heaven who is going to take care of you in the fire, through the fire.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans 8:35
The world will start respecting the Lord Jesus Christ when you and I, by the grace of God, stand alone. Teach your children, because the spirit of Antichrist is already in the world.
Messages From Heaven: How to Be Like Jesus!
Messages From Heaven: How to Be Like Jesus!: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even ...
How to Be Like Jesus!
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18
When this verse in Second Corinthians says we are changed into the "same image," it is referring to the image of Jesus Christ. Being transformed into His image is the goal, the ambition, of every true believer. But how do you become more like Jesus?
Ways Some Try to Be More Like Jesus
Many people try ways that may sound good but will not help you become more like Jesus. You're not going to become like Jesus by elimination. You can't simply take things out of your life. Some folks want to be like Jesus, so they make a list of sins and try to eliminate them from their lives. They become proud of what they don't do, but they're not one bit more like Jesus. A telephone pole doesn't smoke, drink, or tell lies; but it's not like Jesus. Elimination doesn't deal with the root just like pruning a tree doesn't change its nature.
Also, you won't become like Jesus by imitation. You can't just try to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there's a certain sense in which Jesus is our Leader; but if all you do is imitate the Him, you have become a cheap little imitation. Have you ever seen artificial, plastic flowers? Well, there are a lot of plastic Christians around trying to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, but they will never, ever make it.
Finally, you're not going to be more like Jesus by determination. You might say, "I'm going to be like Jesus if it kills me." But you don't have in you what it takes. If you were drowning, you couldn't reach up and take the top of your hair and lift yourself up out of the water to save yourself. You just can't do it. And I don't care how determined you are; you will never be more like the Lord Jesus Christ by sheer determination.
Receiving, Retaining, and Reflecting
Now, having said how not to try to make changes, let me tell you how you do become more like Jesus. You must become a spiritual mirror. When you understand that you are a mirror, you are going to understand how to be transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ — by beholding or reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me give you three laws of transformation that deal with a mirror. First, as a mirror you must receive the image of Jesus Christ. A mirror does not create an image; it only receives one. Jesus Christ is the image; you are the mirror. And you must receive the Lord Jesus Christ. You must receive His image.
In order to receive, a mirror must be...
And finally, you must reflect the image of Jesus Christ. As I have already said, being like Jesus is not accomplished by imitation but by reflection. Imitation is mechanical and occasional. But a mirror doesn't have to work to reflect. Many times, you'll not even be aware that you're reflecting Jesus because it just becomes second nature.
So, you see it's easier than you thought to become like Jesus. He'll do it. Just rely on Him.
When this verse in Second Corinthians says we are changed into the "same image," it is referring to the image of Jesus Christ. Being transformed into His image is the goal, the ambition, of every true believer. But how do you become more like Jesus?
Ways Some Try to Be More Like Jesus
Many people try ways that may sound good but will not help you become more like Jesus. You're not going to become like Jesus by elimination. You can't simply take things out of your life. Some folks want to be like Jesus, so they make a list of sins and try to eliminate them from their lives. They become proud of what they don't do, but they're not one bit more like Jesus. A telephone pole doesn't smoke, drink, or tell lies; but it's not like Jesus. Elimination doesn't deal with the root just like pruning a tree doesn't change its nature.
Also, you won't become like Jesus by imitation. You can't just try to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there's a certain sense in which Jesus is our Leader; but if all you do is imitate the Him, you have become a cheap little imitation. Have you ever seen artificial, plastic flowers? Well, there are a lot of plastic Christians around trying to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, but they will never, ever make it.
Finally, you're not going to be more like Jesus by determination. You might say, "I'm going to be like Jesus if it kills me." But you don't have in you what it takes. If you were drowning, you couldn't reach up and take the top of your hair and lift yourself up out of the water to save yourself. You just can't do it. And I don't care how determined you are; you will never be more like the Lord Jesus Christ by sheer determination.
Receiving, Retaining, and Reflecting
Now, having said how not to try to make changes, let me tell you how you do become more like Jesus. You must become a spiritual mirror. When you understand that you are a mirror, you are going to understand how to be transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ — by beholding or reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me give you three laws of transformation that deal with a mirror. First, as a mirror you must receive the image of Jesus Christ. A mirror does not create an image; it only receives one. Jesus Christ is the image; you are the mirror. And you must receive the Lord Jesus Christ. You must receive His image.
In order to receive, a mirror must be...
- - clean and uncovered — A draped or soiled mirror
cannot receive an image. There are a lot of people with a blinded mind,
which just puts a shroud over their hearts. You must be open and
willing to receive Jesus.
- pointed in the right direction — The mirror is going to receive whatever it is pointed at. The secret of becoming like Jesus is to receive the image of Jesus by constantly beholding Jesus.
- in the light — In the darkness, a mirror can't reflect anything. You must stay in His light and keep focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And finally, you must reflect the image of Jesus Christ. As I have already said, being like Jesus is not accomplished by imitation but by reflection. Imitation is mechanical and occasional. But a mirror doesn't have to work to reflect. Many times, you'll not even be aware that you're reflecting Jesus because it just becomes second nature.
So, you see it's easier than you thought to become like Jesus. He'll do it. Just rely on Him.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Keep Moving! Don't Give up!
Messages From Heaven: Keep Moving! Don't Give up!: We all know people who have supposedly “fallen away” spiritually. Sometimes people make changes in their lives, start going to church, an...
Keep Moving! Don't Give up!
We all know people who have supposedly “fallen away” spiritually. Sometimes people make changes in their lives, start going to church, and get all excited about the Bible. Then suddenly they bail, never to return. For the most part, we say, “Oh, that is sad. They are backsliding.” However, I suggest to you that many of these people never were true believers to begin with. The true test is where they wind up.
A true believer will always come back home eventually. A person who is not a true believer won’t. My mother, for example, spent most of her life as a prodigal, but she came home in the end.We must keep our guard up, because anyone can backslide and become a prodigal. Backsliding is not something you plan on doing. You do not call up your Christian friend and say, “Hey, instead of going to church tonight, do you want to go backslide instead?” The point is that backsliding happens. In fact, one of the signs of the last days is that “some would fall from the faith.” It could happen to anyone, if certain precautions are not taken.
I suggest to you that there are people out there who are fully backslidden, but they do not even know it! And this is because they do not understand what the word backslide even means.
The Bible certainly warns against it. Jeremiah 3:22 says, “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” Jeremiah 2:19 tells us, “‘Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”
You might protest, “I don’t think I have actually backslidden!” It sounds so dramatic. “OK, so I am not as active spiritually as I once was. I still go to church (when I can find the time). I still read the Bible (when I get around to it). I still obey God (unless it conflicts with what I want to do).”
Listen, falling away or backsliding is something that we as Christians need to constantly be aware of. If we are not moving forward in Christ, we are naturally going backward. There is no standing still in the Christian life; we are either progressing or regressing, moving forward or backward. The Christian life is like a greased pole; you are either climbing or slipping.
I once saw a sign along the road at the end of an airport runway that read “Keep moving. If you stop, you are in danger, and a danger to those flying.” Unless we make progress in the Christian life, we jeopardize ourselves and others. In fact, the moment you cease to progress and grow as a Christian is when the process of backsliding begins.
So make every effort to move forward spiritually!
Messages From Heaven: God Has a Future for You!
Messages From Heaven: God Has a Future for You!: When the apostle Paul was imprisoned for proclaiming the gospel, he was no doubt feeling a bit down and discouraged. Perhaps he was wonder...
God Has a Future for You!
When the apostle Paul was imprisoned for proclaiming the gospel, he
was no doubt feeling a bit down and discouraged. Perhaps he was
wondering if he would ever be released. Then Jesus came to him with
these words: “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me
in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11).
Paul could take comfort that there was a future for him because Jesus said, “You must also bear witness in Rome.” They wouldn’t kill him. He was still to bear witness in Rome. He had a future.
One of my favorite verses about God’s future for each of us is in the book of Jeremiah: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
It is worth noting that these words were given to Israel when they were in captivity in Babylon. They had lost hope. They saw no future, and felt as if God had forgotten about them. But the Lord was saying to them (and us too), “I have not forgotten you, and there is a future!”
Note that God does not say, “I know the thoughts that I have thought toward you.” Rather, He says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you.”
Now it would be wonderful enough to know that God ever thought of me as an individual. But it is not something God has merely done in the past. It is something He is doing in the present and will continue to do in the future.
Know this: God is thinking about you right now! He is not thinking about you merely as a member of the human race. He is thinking about you as an individual.
Psalm 40:5 says, “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be counted to You in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”
Think about that! God Almighty, the One who holds the heavens in the span of His hand, the One who spoke and creation came into being, is thinking about you right now.
Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of a future. Now the word used here for future could be translated “an expected end.” Another translation describes it as “a ground of hope” or “things hoped for.”
There will be an outcome in your life, regardless of what you are going through at present. There will be completion. God will tie up the loose ends. You are still a work in progress. God is still finishing you, so don’t be impatient. Don’t feel it’s over, just because you are not where you want to be yet.
We see only the beginning. God sees “the expected end” and it is good! God still had a future for Paul, just as He does for you.
Paul could take comfort that there was a future for him because Jesus said, “You must also bear witness in Rome.” They wouldn’t kill him. He was still to bear witness in Rome. He had a future.
One of my favorite verses about God’s future for each of us is in the book of Jeremiah: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
It is worth noting that these words were given to Israel when they were in captivity in Babylon. They had lost hope. They saw no future, and felt as if God had forgotten about them. But the Lord was saying to them (and us too), “I have not forgotten you, and there is a future!”
Note that God does not say, “I know the thoughts that I have thought toward you.” Rather, He says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you.”
Now it would be wonderful enough to know that God ever thought of me as an individual. But it is not something God has merely done in the past. It is something He is doing in the present and will continue to do in the future.
Know this: God is thinking about you right now! He is not thinking about you merely as a member of the human race. He is thinking about you as an individual.
Psalm 40:5 says, “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be counted to You in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”
Think about that! God Almighty, the One who holds the heavens in the span of His hand, the One who spoke and creation came into being, is thinking about you right now.
Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of a future. Now the word used here for future could be translated “an expected end.” Another translation describes it as “a ground of hope” or “things hoped for.”
There will be an outcome in your life, regardless of what you are going through at present. There will be completion. God will tie up the loose ends. You are still a work in progress. God is still finishing you, so don’t be impatient. Don’t feel it’s over, just because you are not where you want to be yet.
We see only the beginning. God sees “the expected end” and it is good! God still had a future for Paul, just as He does for you.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Treasuring Truth in Trying Time's!
Messages From Heaven: Treasuring Truth in Trying Time's!: “ Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23 “This is America, and there has to be ...
Treasuring Truth in Trying Time's!
“Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23
“This is America, and there has to be room for everybody.” We hear this every day. Pluralism, diversity, tolerance—everyone talks about them, but many who talk “pluralism” don’t really mean it.
For example, in a public gathering a rabbi or a Muslim may be asked to pray, and all is well. But if a Christian is scheduled pray, the same pluralists may say, “Don’t pray in Jesus’ name.” Why not? That would be pluralism, wouldn’t it?
A rabbi ought to pray as a rabbi prays. A Catholic priest ought to pray as a Catholic priest prays. A Muslim ought to pray as a Muslim prays. And a Christian ought to pray as a Christian prays. That’s true pluralism.
Pluralism is not syncretism.
None of us is going to agree with everybody else, but in pluralism we say, “This is who we are. This is what we believe.” Today, however, we have a world that doesn’t really believe in pluralism. It insists upon syncretism—the combining of beliefs into one mish-mash that leaves people wondering, “Where does truth reside?”
“Values” are not necessarily virtues.
We hear so much today about values. Everyone has values—even the Mafia has values! It’s not “values” we need, it is virtues. There’s a difference. You see, in some groups “values” can be any belief—a person just decides what they want to believe, and that’s their value.
In some groups, when they speak of a woman’s right to kill her baby, everybody applauds because it’s their value. Friend, it may be a value, but it is not a virtue. But virtues are connected to godly principles.
“Facts” do not necessarily equal “the truth.”
We have moved from truth to facts. Today’s generation doesn’t know how to differentiate between truth and facts. Facts deal with knowledge. Facts alone are not truth. Facts are like a recipe; truth is the meal. In a generation devouring facts and crucifying truth, we see more crime, more suicide, more mental illness, more broken homes, and more drug abuse than ever before.
When you digest a truth, it will change your life. Knowledge may double over time, but truth never. Truth is settled in eternity.
We must prize the truth.
Today truth is often sacrificed on the altar of pragmatism. Politicians will ask, “Are you better off than you were eight years ago?” Friend, that’s not the question. Here’s the question: “Are you better than you were eight years ago?” Have we moved from “One Nation Under God” to “One Nation Under Greed”? “Buy the truth and sell it not.”
Three things to treasure about truth:
Truth is indispensable.
The Bible calls itself “The Word of Truth.” The Holy Spirit is called “The Spirit of Truth.” What does our Lord call Himself? “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). What is the church called? “The pillar and the ground of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). What did the apostle John say as he wrote his epistle? “I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth” (3 John 1:4).
Truth is absolute.
Today the idea of absolute truth is being jettisoned. When our students enter college, they’re told in the average university that there are no moral absolutes. Years ago modernists were arguing, “What is truth?” Today post-modernists say, “Forget truth. What’s true for you may not be true for me. You have your truth; I have mine. ” We just create our own truth. You make up the rules as you play the game.
Plato once wrote about some sailors who lost their compass, so they set a lantern on the bow and steered by that! But there is an old proverb which states: “He who is slave to the compass is the master of the seas. The rest must sail close to the shore.”
Truth is the compass. Truth is freeing. Truth is liberating. Truth will steer your life off the rocks, away from the shoals, and out to sail the seas.
Truth is attainable.
How? Through God’s Word, through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and through God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.
We must purchase the truth.
Salvation is free, but you pay a price for truth. Truth is costly. People say, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). But that’s not the whole quote. Just before that (v. 31) Jesus said, “…if ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed.” Truth alone does not make you free!
First you must believe the truth.
Then you must “Continue in My Word.”
Then become a disciple, not in name only, but a “disciple indeed.”
When you believe in Jesus, when you continue in the Word, when you become a disciple indeed, only then will you “know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Many today believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are going to Heaven, but they’re not “made free” because they’ve never really taken time to purchase the truth.
How do you buy the truth? It will cost you…
1. Precious time. Time is precious, but not as precious as truth. That’s one of the costs. You’re not going to get it by osmosis. Most of us don’t want to pay the simple price of time. But hurry is the death knell of prayer and Bible study.
2. Discipline. People don’t like discipline. They see it as restricting. Discipleship is costly, but ignorance is far more costly. The Hebrew word “instruction” (v. 23) literally means “self-discipline.” You can pray for wisdom, but you have to study for instruction. Many of us are not serious in our Bible study. No wonder we’re so easily led astray.
3. Obedience. It’s dangerous not to obey the truth. Jesus said, “The one who hears these sayings of Mine and does them not, is like a foolish man.”
We must preserve the truth.
“Buy the truth, and sell it not.” Sell anything else before you would sell the truth, “holding fast the faithful Word” (Titus 1:9). “Earnestly contend for the faith that is once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
When the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God and is changed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God, he is learning the truth of God.
“This is America, and there has to be room for everybody.” We hear this every day. Pluralism, diversity, tolerance—everyone talks about them, but many who talk “pluralism” don’t really mean it.
For example, in a public gathering a rabbi or a Muslim may be asked to pray, and all is well. But if a Christian is scheduled pray, the same pluralists may say, “Don’t pray in Jesus’ name.” Why not? That would be pluralism, wouldn’t it?
A rabbi ought to pray as a rabbi prays. A Catholic priest ought to pray as a Catholic priest prays. A Muslim ought to pray as a Muslim prays. And a Christian ought to pray as a Christian prays. That’s true pluralism.
Pluralism is not syncretism.
None of us is going to agree with everybody else, but in pluralism we say, “This is who we are. This is what we believe.” Today, however, we have a world that doesn’t really believe in pluralism. It insists upon syncretism—the combining of beliefs into one mish-mash that leaves people wondering, “Where does truth reside?”
“Values” are not necessarily virtues.
We hear so much today about values. Everyone has values—even the Mafia has values! It’s not “values” we need, it is virtues. There’s a difference. You see, in some groups “values” can be any belief—a person just decides what they want to believe, and that’s their value.
In some groups, when they speak of a woman’s right to kill her baby, everybody applauds because it’s their value. Friend, it may be a value, but it is not a virtue. But virtues are connected to godly principles.
“Facts” do not necessarily equal “the truth.”
We have moved from truth to facts. Today’s generation doesn’t know how to differentiate between truth and facts. Facts deal with knowledge. Facts alone are not truth. Facts are like a recipe; truth is the meal. In a generation devouring facts and crucifying truth, we see more crime, more suicide, more mental illness, more broken homes, and more drug abuse than ever before.
When you digest a truth, it will change your life. Knowledge may double over time, but truth never. Truth is settled in eternity.
We must prize the truth.
Today truth is often sacrificed on the altar of pragmatism. Politicians will ask, “Are you better off than you were eight years ago?” Friend, that’s not the question. Here’s the question: “Are you better than you were eight years ago?” Have we moved from “One Nation Under God” to “One Nation Under Greed”? “Buy the truth and sell it not.”
Three things to treasure about truth:
Truth is indispensable.
The Bible calls itself “The Word of Truth.” The Holy Spirit is called “The Spirit of Truth.” What does our Lord call Himself? “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). What is the church called? “The pillar and the ground of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). What did the apostle John say as he wrote his epistle? “I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth” (3 John 1:4).
Truth is absolute.
Today the idea of absolute truth is being jettisoned. When our students enter college, they’re told in the average university that there are no moral absolutes. Years ago modernists were arguing, “What is truth?” Today post-modernists say, “Forget truth. What’s true for you may not be true for me. You have your truth; I have mine. ” We just create our own truth. You make up the rules as you play the game.
Plato once wrote about some sailors who lost their compass, so they set a lantern on the bow and steered by that! But there is an old proverb which states: “He who is slave to the compass is the master of the seas. The rest must sail close to the shore.”
Truth is the compass. Truth is freeing. Truth is liberating. Truth will steer your life off the rocks, away from the shoals, and out to sail the seas.
Truth is attainable.
How? Through God’s Word, through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and through God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.
- The Bible has the precepts of truth. The God of truth could not inspire error. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).
- Jesus is the Person of truth. (“I am the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6).
- The Holy Spirit, “when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
We must purchase the truth.
Salvation is free, but you pay a price for truth. Truth is costly. People say, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). But that’s not the whole quote. Just before that (v. 31) Jesus said, “…if ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed.” Truth alone does not make you free!
First you must believe the truth.
Then you must “Continue in My Word.”
Then become a disciple, not in name only, but a “disciple indeed.”
When you believe in Jesus, when you continue in the Word, when you become a disciple indeed, only then will you “know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Many today believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are going to Heaven, but they’re not “made free” because they’ve never really taken time to purchase the truth.
How do you buy the truth? It will cost you…
1. Precious time. Time is precious, but not as precious as truth. That’s one of the costs. You’re not going to get it by osmosis. Most of us don’t want to pay the simple price of time. But hurry is the death knell of prayer and Bible study.
2. Discipline. People don’t like discipline. They see it as restricting. Discipleship is costly, but ignorance is far more costly. The Hebrew word “instruction” (v. 23) literally means “self-discipline.” You can pray for wisdom, but you have to study for instruction. Many of us are not serious in our Bible study. No wonder we’re so easily led astray.
3. Obedience. It’s dangerous not to obey the truth. Jesus said, “The one who hears these sayings of Mine and does them not, is like a foolish man.”
We must preserve the truth.
“Buy the truth, and sell it not.” Sell anything else before you would sell the truth, “holding fast the faithful Word” (Titus 1:9). “Earnestly contend for the faith that is once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
When the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God and is changed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God, he is learning the truth of God.
Messages From Heaven: The Poison of Pornography!
Messages From Heaven: The Poison of Pornography!: Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. ...
The Poison of Pornography!
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Previously in examining this passage, we saw that Solomon advised his son, “Young man, keep your heart, guard your heart. Don’t let impurities into your heart and mind.”
In Proverbs 6, this time concerning women of loose morals, he says, “Lust not after her beauty in thine heart” (v. 25), and “Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes be not burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet be not burned?” (v. 27-28)
Solomon is saying, “If you would have a pure heart, guard your heart from these things.”
Across our world it’s as though a sewer pipe has broken open. And tragically we seem to be getting immune to it! What was horrible yesterday is acceptable today and a stepping-stone for something worse tomorrow. It ought to break our hearts.
You say, “Pastor, it’s not all that bad.” Friend, I want to tell you the harm of pornography and why the Bible says so clearly in the book of Proverbs, “Keep your heart with all diligence....”
Pornography is the idea that sex can be divorced from love, from morality, from responsibility, from lifetime commitment—that you can take sex alone and somehow use sex and be successful. Indeed, you cannot.
Psychological Poison
Dr. Victor Klein, professor of psychology at the University of Utah, can prove differently. Many experts studying the human brain can verify his findings. In private practice over 15 years, dealing with people entangled in pornography, Dr. Klein has observed four steps that poison the psychology of a person.
When something enters your mind and heart, it will affect you. We are the sum total of the thoughts that come in and go out of us. That’s the reason we’re warned against the poison of pornography.
Social Sickness
You say, “It’s not going to affect me. It’s a victimless crime.” There is no such as a “victimless crime.” We now know that one out of every four girls born this year in the United States will be sexually molested by an adult male, sometimes a member of the family. One out of every ten boys will be sexually molested by an adult male before they reach puberty.
How does pornography factor in?
A leading law official said, “Not everyone who reads pornography is a sexual deviant, but all sex deviants read it.” Former Detroit Police Inspector Herbert Chase said, “There has not been a sex murder in the history of our department in which the killer was not an avid reader of lewd magazines. They go together. They follow one another as night follows day.” Don’t say “it doesn’t affect me.” You ask, “Does pornography lead to degeneracy?” Pornography is degeneracy.
Domestic Disaster
Anyone who has counseled as I have through the years can tell you the heartbreak, the tragedy, that has entered homes through husbands (and wives sometimes) and children who have read pornography. Their whole outlook on love, marriage and sex becomes so completely corrupted and twisted that a happy, tranquil, God-given love life is no longer possible unless God does a radical cleansing of the mind.
The devil is clever. He knows that if he can change what you think, he can change how you behave. That’s why he’s channeling sex today right into the living room. Films once seen only in seedy adult movie houses are broadcast directly into the living room. When you can watch it on television in your home and hear formerly outlawed words spoken without the slightest trace of embarrassment, you become desensitized.
And this doesn’t begin to address the problem of pornography on the internet. Someone said, “A new day has dawned.” I want to tell you, a new day has not dawned. The sun has almost set for America. It is the end of an era and the beginning of God’s judgment.
My heart is broken because I love the homes and families, boys and girls, husbands and wives caught up in this.
Spiritual Suicide
Pornography is spiritual suicide. Why did Solomon say, “Son, don’t lust after her...”? Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” The Word of God says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
When God gives a law, He’s not giving advice. It is law. The Word of God says, “Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). Lust, sin, death.
The devil knows if he can get you to lusting, he can get you to sinning. And if he can get you to sinning, he has you. It is a form of spiritual suicide. “The wages of sin is death.”
But God wants you to have life, not death. Christ said, “I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Seeking the Cure
How are you going to think pure thoughts? By trying not to think impure thoughts? No. By thinking God’s thoughts—not just pure thoughts.
“Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21
“Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8
The way to keep from thinking negatively is to think positively. Keep the Word of God in the midst of your heart.
God’s Prescription
His cure is to keep your thought life immersed in His Word.
“My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22
Do you get up in time to get alone and get God’s Word down in your heart? Meditate. Think God’s thoughts after Him. Load up on the word of God. It is absolutely imperative that you have a quiet time every day. Get up, fellowship with Jesus, and saturate your soul with the Word of God. Bathe yourself in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Guard Your Sight
“Let thine eyes look right on, and thine eyelids look straight before thee” (4:25). Walking past a newsstand or just past someone on the street, have you ever had to just keep looking straight ahead and not look to the right or left?
Why do some people look on lewd scenes and others don’t? Because your thought life will guard your sight. How you think governs what you see. You’re not just a helpless victim. You can make up your mind. Job made a decision: “I made a covenant with my eyes…” (Job 31:1). Beforehand, make a covenant with your eyes. Don’t wait until you’re in the middle of it. Don’t wait until temptation comes. What you see determines what you think, and what you think determines what you will see.
God wants you to have a fruitful life, sexual fulfillment—a happy family. He wants you to get your prayers answered and to have the progressive realization of His will for your life. God wants you to know success in the fullest, highest meaning of the word. How will you do it? Through your thought life. For “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he….Out of the heart are the issues of life.”
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Previously in examining this passage, we saw that Solomon advised his son, “Young man, keep your heart, guard your heart. Don’t let impurities into your heart and mind.”
In Proverbs 6, this time concerning women of loose morals, he says, “Lust not after her beauty in thine heart” (v. 25), and “Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes be not burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet be not burned?” (v. 27-28)
Solomon is saying, “If you would have a pure heart, guard your heart from these things.”
Across our world it’s as though a sewer pipe has broken open. And tragically we seem to be getting immune to it! What was horrible yesterday is acceptable today and a stepping-stone for something worse tomorrow. It ought to break our hearts.
You say, “Pastor, it’s not all that bad.” Friend, I want to tell you the harm of pornography and why the Bible says so clearly in the book of Proverbs, “Keep your heart with all diligence....”
Pornography is the idea that sex can be divorced from love, from morality, from responsibility, from lifetime commitment—that you can take sex alone and somehow use sex and be successful. Indeed, you cannot.
Psychological Poison
Dr. Victor Klein, professor of psychology at the University of Utah, can prove differently. Many experts studying the human brain can verify his findings. In private practice over 15 years, dealing with people entangled in pornography, Dr. Klein has observed four steps that poison the psychology of a person.
- First, the addiction factor. He can’t just look and walk away. Pornography is like a powerful drug. It gets its hook into you and the devil gets a claw in your brain.
- After addiction there is the escalation factor. What thrilled and turned the person on before must be stronger. It’s got to be more deviant.
- Then comes the desensitization factor. The viewer of pornography becomes desensitized to it. No longer does he see these things as shocking, brutal, and wrong. He begins to think this is normal and he’s not repulsed by it. He becomes narcotized by what he sees.
- Then the participation factor. Dr. Klein says in the last step he begins to put it into practice—he begins to act it out.
When something enters your mind and heart, it will affect you. We are the sum total of the thoughts that come in and go out of us. That’s the reason we’re warned against the poison of pornography.
Social Sickness
You say, “It’s not going to affect me. It’s a victimless crime.” There is no such as a “victimless crime.” We now know that one out of every four girls born this year in the United States will be sexually molested by an adult male, sometimes a member of the family. One out of every ten boys will be sexually molested by an adult male before they reach puberty.
How does pornography factor in?
A leading law official said, “Not everyone who reads pornography is a sexual deviant, but all sex deviants read it.” Former Detroit Police Inspector Herbert Chase said, “There has not been a sex murder in the history of our department in which the killer was not an avid reader of lewd magazines. They go together. They follow one another as night follows day.” Don’t say “it doesn’t affect me.” You ask, “Does pornography lead to degeneracy?” Pornography is degeneracy.
Domestic Disaster
Anyone who has counseled as I have through the years can tell you the heartbreak, the tragedy, that has entered homes through husbands (and wives sometimes) and children who have read pornography. Their whole outlook on love, marriage and sex becomes so completely corrupted and twisted that a happy, tranquil, God-given love life is no longer possible unless God does a radical cleansing of the mind.
The devil is clever. He knows that if he can change what you think, he can change how you behave. That’s why he’s channeling sex today right into the living room. Films once seen only in seedy adult movie houses are broadcast directly into the living room. When you can watch it on television in your home and hear formerly outlawed words spoken without the slightest trace of embarrassment, you become desensitized.
And this doesn’t begin to address the problem of pornography on the internet. Someone said, “A new day has dawned.” I want to tell you, a new day has not dawned. The sun has almost set for America. It is the end of an era and the beginning of God’s judgment.
My heart is broken because I love the homes and families, boys and girls, husbands and wives caught up in this.
Spiritual Suicide
Pornography is spiritual suicide. Why did Solomon say, “Son, don’t lust after her...”? Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” The Word of God says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
When God gives a law, He’s not giving advice. It is law. The Word of God says, “Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). Lust, sin, death.
The devil knows if he can get you to lusting, he can get you to sinning. And if he can get you to sinning, he has you. It is a form of spiritual suicide. “The wages of sin is death.”
But God wants you to have life, not death. Christ said, “I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Seeking the Cure
How are you going to think pure thoughts? By trying not to think impure thoughts? No. By thinking God’s thoughts—not just pure thoughts.
“Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21
“Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8
The way to keep from thinking negatively is to think positively. Keep the Word of God in the midst of your heart.
God’s Prescription
His cure is to keep your thought life immersed in His Word.
“My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22
Do you get up in time to get alone and get God’s Word down in your heart? Meditate. Think God’s thoughts after Him. Load up on the word of God. It is absolutely imperative that you have a quiet time every day. Get up, fellowship with Jesus, and saturate your soul with the Word of God. Bathe yourself in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Guard Your Sight
“Let thine eyes look right on, and thine eyelids look straight before thee” (4:25). Walking past a newsstand or just past someone on the street, have you ever had to just keep looking straight ahead and not look to the right or left?
Why do some people look on lewd scenes and others don’t? Because your thought life will guard your sight. How you think governs what you see. You’re not just a helpless victim. You can make up your mind. Job made a decision: “I made a covenant with my eyes…” (Job 31:1). Beforehand, make a covenant with your eyes. Don’t wait until you’re in the middle of it. Don’t wait until temptation comes. What you see determines what you think, and what you think determines what you will see.
- Get alone with God in a quiet place
- Read your Bible
- Make a solemn decision before God that by God’s grace and with His help, you’ll not look at this stuff.
God wants you to have a fruitful life, sexual fulfillment—a happy family. He wants you to get your prayers answered and to have the progressive realization of His will for your life. God wants you to know success in the fullest, highest meaning of the word. How will you do it? Through your thought life. For “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he….Out of the heart are the issues of life.”
Monday, October 28, 2013
Messages From Heaven: The Second Coming: What Are We Looking For?
Messages From Heaven: The Second Coming: What Are We Looking For?: The Second Coming: What are we looking for? The greatest cataclysm of world history. The prophets talk about the bad news of the return o...
The Second Coming: What Are We Looking For?
The Second Coming: What are we looking for? The greatest cataclysm
of world history. The prophets talk about the bad news of the return of
God to earth in the person of Jesus by a phrase that’s been mentioned a
number of times in this book. The phrase is the Hebrew phrase yom Adonai. We
translate it “the day of the Lord” or “the day of Yahweh.” The
prophets stumble over each other trying to find adequate language to
describe the horror of that day.
Turn to the end of the Old Testament to the little book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah shares with Joel and many other prophets of God a phrase that is the phrase of absolute horror. It’s called the great day of the Lord.
Zephaniah in 1:14-16 writes that the great day of the Lord is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of Yahweh is bitter. Mighty men will scream aloud. That is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, devastation and desolation, darkness and gloominess, clouds and thick darkness. I look at all of those pairs of words, and I see a man ransacking a thesaurus, if there were such a thing available, trying to find adequate terms to describe the calamity of the day of the return of Christ to the earth, because when He returns it will be in the worst judgment in the history of the world.
How can that be? How can that be if Genesis 6 to 9 describes the death of all living by the great flood? How can that be, given the suffering that we’ve experienced even in our own lifetime, like the recent calamitous flooding in places like Honduras, from typhoons, tsunamis, horrible earthquakes, hurricanes, all of these so-called acts of nature? How can there be something worse than all of those things?
I think what makes the Second Coming worse in judgment is that all of those things God did through mediation, that is through Creation, nature gone riot, Creation in upheaval. But in the Second Corning, the judgment will be done, not by water, not by flood, not by fire, not by storm, but by His own hand. Did you hear that?
We’re all familiar with the story of the ten plagues. Are we familiar with the wording of Exodus 11? Turn back there where the announcement of the tenth plague is given. The last plague God used to deliver Israel from Egypt is the most horrendous of the list. There were others that were awful, the turning of the Nile to blood, the darkening of an eclipse that lasted for days and was specific on the Egyptians and not the people of Israel. Some eclipse that was. Cattle disease, boils, gnats, flies, awful things, but none of the plagues is like the tenth. Because in the tenth plague we’re told that from the house of pharaoh, to the humblest farmer in the land, and even extending out to the barn, the firstborn of Egypt will die. They will not die, however, as Sunday school lessons have it, by the “Angel of Death,” but by the hand of God.
Look at Chapter 11 verse 1: “The LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses, ‘One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh.’” He says I will do this. Verse 4, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight, I am going out into the midst of Egypt’” You see what we’ve done? We’ve softened this because it’s almost intolerable. It’s something that we can’t stomach. God? No, we’d like it to be done by an angel. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a demon. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a storm or a disease, but God says, “I will do this.” And so He did.
Turn to Chapter 12 and look at the summary in verse 29. “It came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the first-born.” Not an angel, not a seraph, not a messenger, but the Lord.
I do Passover Seders in the spring. The rabbis sometimes got things right, and this they nailed. In the Passover Haggadah, the liturgy for that wonderful service of praise to God for deliverance from Egypt, there is a homily on these words from Chapter 11 where God says, “I will go out into the midst of Egypt.” Listen to this. “The Lord, Yahweh, brought us forth from Egypt, not by means of an angel, nor by means of a seraph, nor by means of a messenger, but the Most Holy. Blessed be He in His own glory. As it is said, ‘I will pass through the land of Egypt in this night, I will smite every firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.’ I, Yahweh, I will pass through the land of Egypt, I, Myself, and not an angel. I will smite every firstborn, I, Myself and not a seraph. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment, I, Myself, and not a messenger. I, Yahweh, I am He, there is none other.” And that’s the way it was. When the final act of deliverance was done, it was God who did it. And that was to get His people out of Egypt. And then when they came to the watery mass, and the army was behind them and the Sea of Reeds or the Red Sea was before them, then it was again that God acted in His own person, not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by a messenger, but in His own glory.
Turn to Exodus 15. This psalm, the first psalm in the Bible, is the celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and it’s celebrated every year by Jewish people all over the world. Jewish people who follow their own Haggadah know this better than we Christians, because they recite this every single year. When God brought Israel from Egypt, not only was it He, and He alone, who slew the firstborn, but it was He, and He alone, who fought against their enemies and destroyed them. And when the song was sung, verse 3 says, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name.” Yahweh is a man of war, Yahweh is His name. And in those words, we are celebrating the fact that it was God, and God alone, who delivered them. Adonai ish milchamah, Adonai shemo. Yahweh is a warrior, His name is Warrior God.
That’s what we have portrayed about sweet King Jesus in Revelation 19. Jesus, when He comes down, is a man of war. Look at the words, verse 11, “He judges and wages war.” Look at the words of verse 15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword.” The point is that it is He who will fight directly, personally.
The Second Coming of Jesus: What are we looking for? The greatest calamity in all of human history.
The people of the world don’t understand this. They use the word Armageddon which is our word, a Bible word. But they use Armageddon to describe nuclear holocaust, nation against nation. Back in the days of the Soviet Union there was such a threat of the end of the world, we thought, by one nation lobbing missiles against another and though it was thought that was Armageddon, it was not. That would be horrific, it would be world war, but it’s not Armageddon. Armageddon is the nations gathered together at the end of the Tribulation period to withstand God the Father putting His Son Jesus Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem. That’s what Psalm 2 is about. That’s what Psalm 110 is about.
In Psalm 2, the nations are gathered together against the Lord, and against His Messiah, His anointed. And the One who is in heaven laughs in derision as He says, “I set My king on My holy hill, Zion.” Do you think the nations can withstand the power of God? That’s why there’s the greatest cataclysm of all of history. What makes it the worst is it’s not water, it’s not fire, it’s not disease, but it’s the Lord Himself who comes to judge.
Turn to the end of the Old Testament to the little book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah shares with Joel and many other prophets of God a phrase that is the phrase of absolute horror. It’s called the great day of the Lord.
Zephaniah in 1:14-16 writes that the great day of the Lord is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of Yahweh is bitter. Mighty men will scream aloud. That is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, devastation and desolation, darkness and gloominess, clouds and thick darkness. I look at all of those pairs of words, and I see a man ransacking a thesaurus, if there were such a thing available, trying to find adequate terms to describe the calamity of the day of the return of Christ to the earth, because when He returns it will be in the worst judgment in the history of the world.
How can that be? How can that be if Genesis 6 to 9 describes the death of all living by the great flood? How can that be, given the suffering that we’ve experienced even in our own lifetime, like the recent calamitous flooding in places like Honduras, from typhoons, tsunamis, horrible earthquakes, hurricanes, all of these so-called acts of nature? How can there be something worse than all of those things?
I think what makes the Second Coming worse in judgment is that all of those things God did through mediation, that is through Creation, nature gone riot, Creation in upheaval. But in the Second Corning, the judgment will be done, not by water, not by flood, not by fire, not by storm, but by His own hand. Did you hear that?
We’re all familiar with the story of the ten plagues. Are we familiar with the wording of Exodus 11? Turn back there where the announcement of the tenth plague is given. The last plague God used to deliver Israel from Egypt is the most horrendous of the list. There were others that were awful, the turning of the Nile to blood, the darkening of an eclipse that lasted for days and was specific on the Egyptians and not the people of Israel. Some eclipse that was. Cattle disease, boils, gnats, flies, awful things, but none of the plagues is like the tenth. Because in the tenth plague we’re told that from the house of pharaoh, to the humblest farmer in the land, and even extending out to the barn, the firstborn of Egypt will die. They will not die, however, as Sunday school lessons have it, by the “Angel of Death,” but by the hand of God.
Look at Chapter 11 verse 1: “The LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses, ‘One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh.’” He says I will do this. Verse 4, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight, I am going out into the midst of Egypt’” You see what we’ve done? We’ve softened this because it’s almost intolerable. It’s something that we can’t stomach. God? No, we’d like it to be done by an angel. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a demon. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a storm or a disease, but God says, “I will do this.” And so He did.
Turn to Chapter 12 and look at the summary in verse 29. “It came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the first-born.” Not an angel, not a seraph, not a messenger, but the Lord.
I do Passover Seders in the spring. The rabbis sometimes got things right, and this they nailed. In the Passover Haggadah, the liturgy for that wonderful service of praise to God for deliverance from Egypt, there is a homily on these words from Chapter 11 where God says, “I will go out into the midst of Egypt.” Listen to this. “The Lord, Yahweh, brought us forth from Egypt, not by means of an angel, nor by means of a seraph, nor by means of a messenger, but the Most Holy. Blessed be He in His own glory. As it is said, ‘I will pass through the land of Egypt in this night, I will smite every firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.’ I, Yahweh, I will pass through the land of Egypt, I, Myself, and not an angel. I will smite every firstborn, I, Myself and not a seraph. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment, I, Myself, and not a messenger. I, Yahweh, I am He, there is none other.” And that’s the way it was. When the final act of deliverance was done, it was God who did it. And that was to get His people out of Egypt. And then when they came to the watery mass, and the army was behind them and the Sea of Reeds or the Red Sea was before them, then it was again that God acted in His own person, not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by a messenger, but in His own glory.
Turn to Exodus 15. This psalm, the first psalm in the Bible, is the celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and it’s celebrated every year by Jewish people all over the world. Jewish people who follow their own Haggadah know this better than we Christians, because they recite this every single year. When God brought Israel from Egypt, not only was it He, and He alone, who slew the firstborn, but it was He, and He alone, who fought against their enemies and destroyed them. And when the song was sung, verse 3 says, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name.” Yahweh is a man of war, Yahweh is His name. And in those words, we are celebrating the fact that it was God, and God alone, who delivered them. Adonai ish milchamah, Adonai shemo. Yahweh is a warrior, His name is Warrior God.
That’s what we have portrayed about sweet King Jesus in Revelation 19. Jesus, when He comes down, is a man of war. Look at the words, verse 11, “He judges and wages war.” Look at the words of verse 15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword.” The point is that it is He who will fight directly, personally.
The Second Coming of Jesus: What are we looking for? The greatest calamity in all of human history.
The people of the world don’t understand this. They use the word Armageddon which is our word, a Bible word. But they use Armageddon to describe nuclear holocaust, nation against nation. Back in the days of the Soviet Union there was such a threat of the end of the world, we thought, by one nation lobbing missiles against another and though it was thought that was Armageddon, it was not. That would be horrific, it would be world war, but it’s not Armageddon. Armageddon is the nations gathered together at the end of the Tribulation period to withstand God the Father putting His Son Jesus Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem. That’s what Psalm 2 is about. That’s what Psalm 110 is about.
In Psalm 2, the nations are gathered together against the Lord, and against His Messiah, His anointed. And the One who is in heaven laughs in derision as He says, “I set My king on My holy hill, Zion.” Do you think the nations can withstand the power of God? That’s why there’s the greatest cataclysm of all of history. What makes it the worst is it’s not water, it’s not fire, it’s not disease, but it’s the Lord Himself who comes to judge.
Messages From Heaven: Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Ultimately Fail!
Messages From Heaven: Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Ultimately Fail!: As gay activists celebrate the overturning of DOMA, my heart goes out to them, since I know this social experiment is ultimately doomed to ...
Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Ultimately Fail!
As gay activists celebrate the overturning of DOMA, my heart goes out
to them, since I know this social experiment is ultimately doomed to
failure.
To be sure, I understand that this is just not a political victory
for men and women who identify as gay and lesbian. It is an intensely
personal, even emotional victory, just as President Obama’s statement
last year that he now supported same-sex marriage brought tears to gay
leaders like Andrew Sullivan.
To the homosexual community, the Supreme Court’s ruling speaks of
legitimacy, equality and fairness. To them, it is a matter of family
life, of moms (and moms) and dads (and dads) and kids, of proper
societal standing, of a nation making right its grievous wrongs.
I truly get all that and I understand (while completely rejecting)
the majority ruling in this case. And I know that we’ve been told that
same-sex marriage is inevitable, that the tide has turned, that the
polls make it clear that complete, sweeping change is just a matter of
time. Give it a few more years, we are constantly reminded, and the
older generation will die out – along with its antiquated views – and
the younger, enlightened generation will rule the day.
To be quite honest, the day may come when same-sex marriage is the
law of the land, but that doesn’t mean that it will not fail, and
ultimately, society will rue the Court’s ruling of June 26, 2013.
Now, I fully expect my words to be cited by gay activists as
representing yet another example of a close-minded conservative who was
too proud (or bigoted or ignorant, or all of the above) to see the
handwriting on the wall and quit before being totally disgraced.
(Actually, there’s one more insult to be flung at me: I can’t give up my
opposition to same-sex marriage because I make too much money on the
issue. But of course!) Please feel free to cite me.
The truth be told, on January 1, 2008, I wrote down these words in
my personal journal: “The first qualification for someone engaged in
confronting homosexual activism is that you’d rather not do it because
you’ve put yourself in the shoes of those you’re opposing, you see the
world through their eyes, and you feel their pain.”
While gay activists will howl when they read this, God knows how deeply I meant it then and how deeply I mean it now.
So, this is not a personal battle for me. “My side” didn’t lose to
“their side” on June 26th, and gay leaders are not my enemies (although
I’m sure many perceive me as their enemy).
This is simply a matter of right and wrong, a matter of
understanding that God’s ways are best for a society and that God only
intended a man to marry a woman. In other words, just as there are
universal principles that are always true, even when people mock them
and reject them, God’s principles are universally true, even for
atheists and agnostics. That’s why Proverbs 14:34 says that,
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” –
whether we believe it or not.
And so, unless an apocalyptic scene unfolds in which society
completely collapses in the next few years and Jesus returns to put an
end to human folly – in which case homosexual activism will be seen as
just one of many signs of societal decay – I remain confident that the
same-sex marriage experiment will ultimately fail.
First, homosexuality is not a new phenomenon, nor is it only
recently that homosexual men and women began to engage in long-term
relationships, yet it is only in the last few years that the world has
thought to redefine marriage.
Of course, the terms “homosexual” and “sexual orientation” are of
relatively recent vintage (especially the latter), but there is ample
documentation through the ages of people with exclusive (or,
predominant) same-sex attractions, often legitimized by society, and yet
virtually no one thought to change the nature of marriage.
It was understood that men and women coming together in marriage
had a certain function in society and that it was more than simply
romantic and sexual attractions. Today, though, we are tampering with
the very foundations of human society by redefining marriage, and in the
end, when you tamper with the foundations, the whole building
collapses.
Second, gay activism is its own worst enemy, since the very slogans
it uses undermine its cause, like the latest, “Love is love” (echoed by
President Obama!) – yes whoever you love, love is love – which
ultimately must lead to polyamory, polygamy, and even consensual adult
incest. (Once again I hear the howls, but already, this is an
observation more than a prediction.) Otherwise, it is not full marriage
“equality”; otherwise, it discriminates against other sexual minorities
and their expressions; otherwise, not everyone has the right to “marry
the one they love.”
So, if same-sex marriage succeeds, it will ultimately succeed in making marriage utterly meaningless.
Third, because gay activism is so committed to validating virtually
all sexual identities, it makes male-female distinctives into the enemy
(see my recent article “The Little Boy Who Is a She-lebrity” for one
example of many), thereby declaring war on gender distinctives. This too
is a war that either fails the more it succeeds or else proves itself
utterly futile, seeking to undo the very nature of who we are as a human
race.
Same-sex marriage, then, will either prove to be an unrealistic,
even destructive social experiment, or it will so misshape society that
the very thing it fought for will no longer have relevance. Either way,
it will ultimately fail.
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