IS IT CIRCUMSTANCES OR FAITH: In These Troubled Times?

We are living in a time of trouble and a troubled world. For some it is hard to keep going. Our faith is being tested and now more than ever we need to trust and obey, for there is no other way. As I think about how tough times are now I think of two books of the Bible that can help us make it through these times. They are the books of Job and Habakkuk.

When we read and study the book of Habakkuk we can see it is all about faith in God. In fact we saw that the key verse of the whole book is “The just shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) The righteous man must not trust in himself, but in God, the creator of Heaven and earth. His faith is directed upward toward Heaven to the throne of the most High, not inward to his worries and problems that are here on the earth. Faith is the ability of the believing Christian to accept what one cannot fully understand. The one who trusts in God is not troubled by something that he can not understand about this life. Man  lives by his faithfulness in God. He will trust and obey, even if he does not understand or comprehend all of God's ways. There is no other way for the Child of God, in this troubling world of today, but to trust and obey.

Most of us have are experiencing hardships now. The whole world is in a bad recession. The unemployment is high and there is no work. Many people have no jobs.  A lot of people have bills that are due and they cannot pay them because there is not enough money or better yet there is no money, In a lot of homes there's not enough food to feed the family or maybe the utilities are just about  to be turned off. People are asking,  “what else could possibly go wrong“. When a person gets to that point they have two options. They can do as Job's wife said  “curse God and die” or be like Job. He lost everything, his kids, his fortune, and his heath but he demonstrated his faith and said’ “…For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26) I’m so thankful, because I’m just like Job, I know my Redeemer lives!

There is another option  we can be like Habakkuk when he said, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)  We can keep our eyes fixed on our Great Provider and choose to rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of our salvation. It may be a hard decision for some people, but it is a decision that we all have to make.

Too many of God’s people are looking at the circumstances around them and have said, “they can't take any more or they don't see a way out of their circumstances.” The truth is what they're not seeing is the fact that God is our only way out. Our temporary circumstances have absolutely nothing (zero) to do with who our God is. In that one statement, we can rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of our salvation. He is Lord whether we see Him working in our situations and problems or not. He is Lord whether we feel it or not. The fact is He is Lord, period. There is none other and He is all we need! Jesus is all we need! He made the earth and all it’s fullness. Our God can do anything!

When it looks like the storms of  this life are overtaking you,  remember He is LORD. Remember that. He knows our circumstances, He knows our weaknesses and our strengths; He knows you and me. Rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of your salvation. He is worthy of ALL our praise. We need to keep our eyes fixed on our Lord God and not our circumstances.

The Moral Decay Of Our Churches

Having a form of godliness, but denying its power: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:5)
This is a important scripture that is often by passed by most Christians and also most church denominations. However no matter how you look at this verse it is all important and much more so in today's world. Not only has most of the world denied the power of the cross and the resurrected Savior but some modern day churches that call their self Christians do the same thing. They deny part if not all of the power of that old cross. I'm not speaking of the piece of wood that Christ was crucified on, but of the symbol and the act that took place that day nearly two thousand ago. It is the base of our faith and the faith that moves mountains out of the way! The truth of the matter is the modern church is only a "outward resemblance" of "True Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ" You can not say that you believe in the power of The Holy Spirit and The Cross of Christ if you believe in and promote the works of human psychology. They are totally against each other. If a person would only read what both stand for and what they both teach you would quickly see that psychology goes against the teaching of the Bible. But nearly all churches, including Pentecostal, will go the way of psychology. My thought is this: "Jesus is the answer to the problems of this world and not man made psychology. He went to the cross for not only our salvation but for all the problems of man kind. That includes your problems and mine.
Salvation is an all inclusive word. We can read in many different places in the Bible where Jesus went to the cross for our healing, our well being, and to grant us to forever to be with him in eternity. How much better can that get. We can read in the scriptures a lot of faith building verses that if they are believed and acted on will be a ever lasting deliverance:

• Jesus said, "I come that you might have live and more abundantly"
• We are told by His strips we are healed.
• We are told that: My God will supply all our needs by His riches in Glory, by Christ Jesus. In other words Jesus has already paid that price on the cross. It all comes by Him.

Not only do a lot of churches deny the cross, but they also deny the presents of the Holy Spirit and in doing that they become powerless and only have a form of godliness. No great work or answered prayer to any degree will be answered in a church that denies the power of the Holy Ghost. From all the reading and studying that I do (and I say that not to brag, but to say there is nothing better) find that faith in the cross is our guarantee that we will get the help of the Holy Spirit in the time of need, no matter what that need is. Making psychology the object of our faith as well as other things is denying the power of The Holy Spirit.
In one of the gospels Jesus said that the sick are the ones that need the physician. How can most churches help the sick today when they will not allow the Great Physician in to do his job? Most churches today are like a hospital with no medicine and how can you help some body like that? Denying that power is a bad thing, a bad way to go because there is no other help that will save, heal, set free, and provide because He is the great "I AM"

Sounding The Alarm

 

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is near at hand   (Joel 2:1)

In Israel this Sunday night it is the beginning of the feast of Yom Teruah better known as The Feast of Trumpets. For centuries at the end of the summer the Hebrews are commanded to blow the trumpet (the ram’s horn, also called The Shofar), all day long. The sound of the ram’s horn, in Bible days, was a warning and a sound of alarm -- it told the people to be prepared and to get ready for what lies ahead, it was time to stand in the presence God.

The next major world event is the sound of the trumpet just before we see the coming of the Lord. The blowing of trumpets, in Israel holds a personal message for us. It’s God’s wake up call for the Christian and also to the rest of the world: We don’t have forever to get ready, to be prepared for our Lord’s coming! We only go through this life once. How are you walking through this life? Soon our life will be over and we will stand before The Lord. If we are going to do work for Christ -- now is the time, now is the day! If we need to repent for anything, if we have anything to do for The Lord, now is the time. The trumpet is sounding, the summer harvest is just about over, and the day of the Lord is so near.

We are living in the end time, as we now know it,  and in the twinkling of an eye time will be no more. Now is the time for all true Christians to cry aloud and spare not. We must take a stand against the evil and wrong that is facing us.

Trusting Jesus

           "Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is  (that God exists), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrew 11:6)

 

 

 

 

Relationships have to be based on trust, but in this life here on this earth, we face so many problems.  For some examples, we may have limited finance, the economy has taken a nose dive and we are in need because of it, some people  have lost their jobs, some have lost love ones, and there is a lot of broken marriages that were based on trust. We have saw ungodly change in our government, They have left Our Lord out,  and there are many other storms in this life. Through all these difficulties people say they love the Lord, but how many people really and truly trust Him to bring us out of the problems and storms of this life. Jesus is always there for us. No matter what the problem He was there all the time. 

In our life time we have many broken  relationships that were base on trust and they lead to hurt, fear, confusion, and sometimes anger. Those feelings are real and reasonable, and because of that  we are now cautious about trusting a close relationships, especially after have so many bad ones.  But when we remove all close, trusting relationships, we are also closing the door to great joy and a fullness of life God intended for us. While situations differ, one truth remains – we live in an imperfect, cruel, and sinful world. Living in this sinful world, people are capable of breaking a trust. In reality, they may not even trust their own decisions, actions, and thoughts.

In this world that we live in sometimes even your closest friends can sometimes be untrustworthy if they are not walking hand and hand with Jesus.  But there is someone else, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is always trust worthy. Even though we live in a imperfect world His love for us is overwhelming. He knows all our problems and our need for help. While we have broken our trust relationship with Him, He will never fail us. We can trust Him, His love, His forgiveness, and His help in every situation while we live in a hurting and sinful world. Put your trust in Jesus, the one who sticks closer than a brother. He has always been there for me through many trail, heart aches, and failures. I trust him with all my heart and I know that no mater how bad this world gets, no matter about past broken relationships, no matter about my finances, my health, or anything else I will see him face to face, someday, and I will be with the one who died for me, forever. Trust Jesus He will never let you down.

Will America Be Brought to her Knees By Ruin Or By Prayer

Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt,…..”  (Deut 8:10:14)

 

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

It is plain to see that America was founded upon the Bible and Christianity and has been blessed, by our Lord, more than any nation on this earth. He has surely blessed us with His bounty, His protection, and His Grace. The problem is: “AMERICA HAS FORGOT GOD” if we allow the liberals and people who do not believe in God  to remove Him from the public life of this nation and replace Him with atheism, socialism and every form of sexual perversion then what happened to Israel (As we can read in the Bible) will also happen to us. He is a very patient God, but His patience runs out in the end and His judgment will come suddenly. We who love and worship God in our lives have the duty and responsibility to defend our Godly heritage and to do all that we can do to restore and bring back the sure foundations that was put into place by our founding fathers. The founders of this great nation were not deists ( the form of theological rationalism that believes in God on the basis of reason without reference to revelation) or atheists (A person who does not believe in the existence of God). Our nation was found by (predominantly) Christians who lived by Biblical values and truths that are found in the scriptures.

During the Democrat’s convention the Democratic Party has, for the most part, acting as a group,turned their backs on God and Christianity, refusing to even mention His name in their party platform, until the opinion of most of the nation pushed them to a weak, half-hearted, and shameful reinstatement. When the vote was called for to reinstate and to include God in their platform there was a louder shout for no than it was for yes. Where is our nation, that was founded on God and the Christian religion, headed to?   “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalms 9:17)

The Democrats have embraced same-sex marriage and have made it a part of their party platform. For a political party of any nation to turn there back on God and turn a blinded eye to what the Scriptures say about homosexuals and justifies it as a excepted life style is in its finial stages of moral corruption.  A nation who turns it's back on its Creator is a nation that cannot and will not stand. The Democrat Party embraces the murder of unborn babies and partial birth babies.

It is time to turn America back to God and the rock that this country was founded on. This revival must start in the churches across our Country. It is time for preachers to stop preaching watered down, weak kneed sermons, stop tickling the ears of people and begin to teach what saith the Lord. The American people need to hear what Sin, hell, judgment, and accountability is. The sad thing is obedience to God’s word and removing sin from our lives and our nation are hardly, if ever, spoken today from the church pulpits. How many pastors ever preach about the sin of abortion, homosexuality or immorality in their pulpits. The majority don’t because it might offend someone and the big money and the large attendance would not be there. There would go the mega churches. Sin is offensive to God and should be to anyone who claim the name of Jesus Christ. If sinners are not told of their sin then how are they ever to see its devastating consequences on their lives and were they will spend eternity? The leaders of the flock  must preach the whole Bible, (WHAT THUS SAITH THE LORD) and not just bits and pieces that tickles the ears of their congregation.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Preachers need to put into practice in their  lives and in their congregations lives this verse as well as others. They must stop compromising with sin and stop avoiding different scriptures in the Bible in their sermons. They must tell it like it is! When the preachers and the church grow cold then the nation follows suit and falls into multitudes of sins that we see in America today. There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate government  but  what  is  administered  by  this  Holy  Ghost. Our hopes of a future life in America are is founded upon the Gospel of Christ.

For years I have tried to stay out of politics of this country.  I am not a Democrat or a Republican.  I am a independent voter and have been for many years. I will always remain a independent voter. I now feel, so strong, in my heart that all the freedoms we  enjoy in this country today will be forever more taken from us if the present party continue to rule in Washington. To put it in simply terms, we  only have  just  a couple of months to fight for what we know is right.  The polices and regulations that have been set in place by Obama and most of the Democrats are in anti-Christ. The Bible is clear about murder.  (Millions of innocent babies are murdered in the United States every year.)  The Bible is clear about homosexuality.  Man is not to lay with man, or women with women.  Just these two issues, by their self,  should present a problem to any Christian when faced with a  decision as to who they should vote for.  If a person is for Gay rights that include same sex marriage, then that persons policies are against the Bible.  If they condones (Accept and allow behavior that is considered morally wrong or offensive to continue) babies to be murdered in their mother’s wombs, then they are against the Bible and against Christ. In other words their agenda is against God, (ANTI-CHRIST)  Plain and simple. The color of a persons skin, their political party, or their church denomination, doesn’t make them brothers and sisters. It is becoming  a new creature in Christ Jesus. That is what makes us brothers and sisters.  We must realize and know that when we vote for a person, we are voting for what they stand for (their policies). I’m for the policies of our Lord and Savior that are set forth in His Holy Word.

America Has Walked Away From The Old Paths

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. (Jeremiah:6:16-17)

As a Christian  I cannot understand why ;

The American people do not want to walk in the "good way" and find that "rest for their souls"? Why wouldn't they listen and why don’t they want to hear what God has to say? It is because they are so far from doing things God's way and they are so blind by their doings that they cannot relate to the "old paths." Those true and tried ways. That is because, their idea of "good" is not God's idea of good, and the "rest" they seek after is  not the God’s rest. People in this country has been doing their own thing, not what God wants. For years and years they have pushed God's way beyond their interests or what they want to do and how they want to live. This condition can even be seen in our churches. And it is not just something that has happen in our time and in our churches. Just read about Israel in the scriptures and you will see that it is not unique to the United States. Israel was the same way in Bible days.

 When I was growing up people walked in the true and tried ways. They found rest for their souls. People obeyed God’s law, They went to church, as a family, on Sundays (morning and night), The preacher who pastured the flock keep them on that narrow road. He preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The soul of  his  sheep were far more important than anything else. He made house calls to their home, anointed the sick and prayed for them, preached what says the Lord, He called sin just what it is “Sin”.  It was sin if you murdered an unborn baby (there was laws against it), if a person was a homosexual  they hid in the closet because it was an abomination. To join most  churches back then a person confessed Christ and come clean with the sin problem and followed Christ. You lived by the teachings that were found in the word of God. Now we find in some church denominations homosexuals are members, some churches have homosexual preachers behind the pulpit and are allowing anybody to join just for the numbers and the money. Homosexuals, now, want their own Bible as well as their own life style inside the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. Church denominations that were once on fire for the Lord and followed the old paths are now lowering their standards and are leading people on that broad road of destruction. Some churches are taking the cross down and are now calling their churches campuses.

What really shocked me (but I guess it Didn’t) was the democrats left God out of their platform. First time since there was a Democrat convention. When they were called on about this it was put back on their platform for a vote and half the people voted “NO” they did not want God on the platform and did not want to recognize Him. Anything that reflects Christ in our school, our court rooms, and government buildings is being removed. Our president has the pictures of Christ covered up when ever he speaks. This is a sad day for our country. We have a leader that jokes about the scriptures found in God’s Holy Word, but quotes the Koran as if means something to him. The family unit, most of our churches and preachers, as well as the government are all on that broad road to destruction. What ever happen to “In God We Trust”. It is a time for all true born again believers to stay close to God and seek Him.

 

Jesus Christ Is Lord!

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”

When Jesus Christ was here on this earth He claimed to be the Son of God; a Savior for all people. The fact that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah is not the first time in history that someone has claimed to be God or someone sent by God. Many people have claimed to be sent by God throughout the history of this world. In the Book of Acts (Acts 5:36) we read of a man whose name was Theudas who claimed to be: "somebody" that people followed. Others include, Mohammed who is said to be a prophet of Ali, Buddha and many others. New ones pop up everyday. What so special about the coming of our Lord, Jesus The Christ is that it was predicted by Isaiah hundreds of years before Our Lord was ever born. There are many other references, in the scriptures to His coming birth before it happen. All others who claim to be God or come from God was after the fact (after they were born).  Our Lord Jesus fulfilled this prophecy and many others that were written before He was born. Jesus had many unique qualities that the others who claimed to be the messiah could not match; Jesus Christ overcame death on the cross and was resurrected. No others can claim this, let alone prove it. Further examples of why Jesus is Lord include, His ability to overcome temptation, living a sinless, and perfect life, along with His abilities to perform miracles that were well documented in the scriptures.  All this was done in the name of God our Heavenly Father.

Jesus performed more than twenty three recorded miracles while He was here on earth, but how many untold hundreds were not recorded? He overcame nature, and proved He was even Master of the sea, when He calmed the raging storm, He raised people from the dead, He multiplied food for thousands, He even rose from the dead, overcoming death. His powers of healing  have never been matched even to this day, because there are none. Many today still exercise their faith and they rise and are healed in His blessed and Holy name.  He had the ability to predict the future. And the future that our Lord Jesus predicted in the Bible has come to pass or is in the process of coming to past as I write this article. Jesus always honored God in everything through out His life on this earth. He was a humble and gentle picture of God's Spirit. If you seen Him, you seen the father.  There is no other faith in the world that can provide and show the same kind of proof. Today, Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God. He lives in our heart. He is interceding for you and for me. Oh what a Savior! Although we cannot see Him, He is there and was there all the time. Other religions rely on hearsay and what is past down to them but we must rely on the truths and the well documented facts found in the Bible. On that Solid Rock we must stand! All other is sinking sand! Jesus Christ is Lord! Some day and very soon every knee shall bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Soon and very soon we are going to see the King!