Archives for April 2015

April 8, 2015

MY FRIENDS, CAN WE FIND OUR WAY BACK HOME OR HAVE WE STRAYED TO FAR?

The common element we have with sheep is the propensity to get lost and stray away from the path by not following the direction of the Good shepherd. And the farther it strays, the harder it becomes to hear the Good Shepherds voice calling for it to return home. We must wonder what could be going through the mind of sheep that would cause them to leave the safe comfort of the shepherd and his leadership and go out on it’s own, into the unknown.

In addition, the probability of predators who’s only objective is to find its prey and destroy is unavoidable. And it is also with a child of God who has decided to stray from the safe comfort and protection of Jesus Christ,  Satan observes and knows at what point we weaken and decide to stray on our own. Webster defines Prodigal; as wasteful, reckless and extravagant.

When Christ gave the example of the Prodigal Son it’s obvious He didn’t associate a name with Him, like Bob, John, Mary or Kathy he is simply the son, which tells us the son refers to all of God’s Children who decides Christ is not the answer, I will stray, and find my own way back home when the time comes.

And it is at that moment our name becomes Prodigal because our  life takes on the attributes of someone who is reckless and wasteful and my friends, it is usually all about the reckless and wasteful use of our time in this very small window of probationary period we have been given between birth and death. We must never forget that Satan’s only goal is to destroy God’s Children as he uses ever circumstances and situation that takes our focus off of Christ and onto the things of this world that traps God’s chosen.

And then because we have strayed so far we begin to loose our hope and joy, thus causing us to lose focus on how to get back to the Good Shepherd, which then causes us to wonder aimlessly into self destruction until Satan has us believing we can’t go back. He tells us, Christ will not accept you, you have gone to far to go back home.

Consistent with this, our hope fades with each day we stay away. But my friends the Good Shepherd is also watching and waiting with open arms. So what does returning to Christ involve. Remember  Home is a place where we felt accepted and loved. But now, only a distance memory when life was simple and good.

But the good news is that when we cannot find our way back home, God will find a way to lead us back home to him. That’s the image of God that Jesus Christ gave us. As our lives resume being transformed by the power of God’d Spirit, as God calls us back home to His protection and love. To most of us home is a wonderful place. Authors Dallas Willard says going back home gives us “a means to reconsider and reconfigure our strategy for living.” It is the element that calls for each of us to change directions.”

like the Prodigal Son who “When he came to his senses, said, I will go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants. So he got up and went back home to his father. Luke 15:17-20 (KJV) It will be a difficult journey going back home.

But set your mark on the prize which is eternal life in God’s pure and holy kingdom. And then on that day we make it back home, He will repeat His words of love to us “He who was lost is now found and there is celebration in my household!”

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 7, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WE’VE COME TO FAR FROM WHERE WE STARTED FROM, WE CAN’T TURN AROUND NOW!!

My friends let’s make it personal today because every now and then we have to look back and recognize where we were at a certain time in our life when sin abound on every level, when our theme song was what a friend we have in Satan! When he was our copilot forever taking us to the peak of the highest mountain and saying “All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

And just at the time when Satan put the auto pilot on, and we had gone into descent, headed for utter destruction, grace caught our falling soul and our Savior looked beyond our faults, while never forgetting the plea of someone who loved us dearly cry out so many times in the night “please save my child”

And today through it all as we travel on this journey God has placed us on, as we see the mountains that we will have to continue to climb and the battles we will have to continue to fight, we must remember my friends, no one said there wouldn’t be trials, no one said we wouldn’t fall, no one said that everything would go the way we would want it to go.

But when our back is against the wall and we fill all hope is gone, we have to just lift our head up to the sky and say Lord please help me to be strong because I can’t give up now. Yes my friends, we can’t give up now, because “we’ve come too far from where we started from and nobody told us the road would be smooth or easy.

In addition, I don’t believe the God we serve that gave His only begotten Son and a Son who gave it all for our Salvation on Calvary has brought us this far to turn His back on us.” Some African cultures will take individuals to be initiated into the woods and leave them there alone to face the danger and uncertainty of whether they’ll make it out alive.

And it is, as a child of God we are placed at times in situation and circumstances where we fill uncertain on whether we will finish this journey because the terrain is so rough, we wonder, if I am a child of God why am I going through this pain and suffering? why isn’t the road easier for His Children? But we’ve come too far my friends, we are at the threshold of the promise land, soon Gabriel will blow His trumpet.

Remember nobody told us the road would be easy Christ is our example, it was never easy for Him and I don’t believe the God we serve has brought us this far to turn His back on us.  So we must keep our focus in one direction and that is upward. Because we can be confident of this, that he who began a good work in [each of His children] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil 1;6 (NIV)

“Although our sins have merited condemnation, He does not condemn us. Year after year He has borne with our weakness and ignorance, with our ingratitude and waywardness. Notwithstanding our wanderings, our hardness of heart, our neglect of His Holy Word, His hand is stretched out still.

Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was sent in search of us……He will take the prey from the mighty, He will deliver the captive, He will pluck the brand from the burning. He will lower the golden chain of His mercy to the lowest depths of human wretchedness, and lift up the debased soul contaminated with sin.” [which is His faithful who hold on and endure] (E. G. White Helping the Tempted pp 161)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 6,2015

MY FRIENDS IS JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR, LORD, OR BOTH?

What an awesome feeling in knowing all that Christ has done for us. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” And my friends, we were all lost in sin, shapen in iniquity; and in sin did [our] mother conceive [us].” But we have a Savior and no matter how far we have traveled down that road to perdition, our Savior was willing to reach out as far as it will take, to rescue us and to let us know, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

But my friends, it is very simple, with no obligation on our part when our Savior is doing all of the Work; first He died for our sins on Calvary, now He mediates and advocates on our behalf, before “our Father which art in heaven, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) So now we are heaven bound.

But our Lord, the creator of the universe, The great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, Jehovah, the all-powerful, all-knowing, Omnipresent  Lord of Lord also tells us; Yes it is a free gift but “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matt. 7:21-22 (NKJV)

So why would the one who has Given us this free gift of Salvation have conditions on us receiving what He has promised us, In the (SDA bible commentary pp 358) it tells us “The words, “not and “but” highlight the strong contrast between the mere talker and the actual doer of Gods will. Mere profession is worthless. He who pretends to know God and yet disobeys His commands is a liar and the truth is not in Him [or her] 1 John 2:4 (KJV)

Then when the text speaks of Him as “Lord, Lord” says, to address Christ as “Lord” is to profess the belief that He is indeed the Messiah, and [it also] implies that the speaker has assumed the role of disciple.” So my friends, To recognize Christ as our Savior and to accept that, is just not enough, for we must also take it one step farther by generating a passion from within us to step out on faith and say Lord, Lord not my will, but thou will be Done as we carry our cross on this journey Christ has placed us on to the promise land.

In addition, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matt. 13:45-46 (NKJV) My friends that text does not say the merchant when he found what he had been looking for, went out and sold half of what he had or 75 %, or 99.999 %, the merchant sold everything.

And that must be our attitude if we have found that beautiful pearl which is eternal life that we truly seek. We must give our all, “In the parable the pearl is not represented as a gift. The merchantman bought it at the price of all that he had. Many question the meaning of this, since Christ is represented in the Scriptures as a gift.

He is a gift, but only to those who give themselves, soul, body, and spirit, to Him without reserve. We are to give ourselves to Christ, to live a life of willing obedience to all His requirements. All that we are, all the talents and capabilities we possess, are the Lord’s, to be consecrated to His service. When we thus give ourselves wholly to Him, Christ, with all the treasures of heaven, gives Himself to us. We obtain the pearl of great price.” (E. G. White Christ Object Lessons  pp 116)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 4, 2015

MY FRIENDS, GOD WATCHES AND PROTECTS THE SPARROW SURELY HE DOES THE SAME FOR US?

“When Jesus is my portion, my constant Friend is He, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. Let not your heart be troubled; these tender words I hear;  And resting on his goodness I lose my doubts and fears; For by the path He leadeth but one step I may see; His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. I sing because I’m happy; I sing because I’m free; His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me.”

My friends, the sparrow is one of the smallest of birds in the animalia family. And because of it’s size, it has to constantly be on the lookout for predators trying to eat them, pathogens trying to infect them, and severe storms where it will seek shelter on the lee side of a tree or deep inside the thick hedges. So as long as it stays put, they will be protected.

My friends the lee side of the tree is the side which is protected from the torrential rain and thunder storms and when a storm arises that is where the sparrow knows to go and stay put where the storms will not penetrate. Like the sparrow, as a child of God we must understand the concept of staying put, waiting on the lord, for “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling…… God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn” Ps. 46:1-5 (NKJV)

That text tells us if we will just hold on and stay put, for “our faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”Heb 11:1 (NKJV) and unlike the Sparrow that must be protected from many predators, Satan is our only enemy which lays many obstacles in our path that entices us to leave the shelter of our Savior and follow him to perdition.

So our focus must be on our Savior and the promises in His word not on the storm and outside elements. Consistent with this, if we allow our faith to stand firm as we wait on the Lord, at the break of dawn, the Lord will rise and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there [will be] a great calm. Matt. 8:26 (ESV)

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God’s protection. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.

When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, so that those under the cover of her wings would live. (Author Unknown)

My friends Christ has done it all for our Salvation even died a cruel death so that we may live and have a shelter in the storm and life eternal if we believe. So let’s take our position behind the Master; and “stand firm and see the deliverance of the LORD….Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged….. the LORD will be with us.” 2 Chronicles 20:17 (NIV)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 3, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WHATEVER DAY  YOU KEEP HOLY, HOW DO YOU KEEP IT?

How do we keep that special and unique day God has given His children? We all have our traditions that have been handed down to us from generation to generation. I have friends that honor Saturday as their holy and special day, and friends that honor Sunday as their holy and special day and I have some friends who treats all seven days the same, work, work and more work.

But where I need us to focus today, as a child of God how should we honor that sacred day God has given us to rest on. We all agree that it is a holy day that God created, a blessed, and hollow day that we must focus on the goodness of our Creator and Savior, and all He has done for us. But when His word says my Children shall rest from work, how do we justify all that we do on the day God has told us to keep holy and rest on.

It is lawful to do good on His holy day. But I don’t believe working at the office, or cutting your lawn, and washing your car, is doing good on His special day, for this day is holy and honored, unique and special above all other days of the week. Acts of necessity and mercy are permitted. “Going on from that place, He went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on God’s holy day.” Matt 12:1-12 (KJV)

The sick and suffering, are to be cared for at all times, “but unnecessary labor we should avoid. “Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and . . . honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure.” Isaiah 58:13 (KJV)

God’s precepts also tells us, all within our gates should “lay aside their worldly business during the sacred hours. All should unite to honor God by willing service upon His holy day.” (E,G, White Patriarchs and Prophets) My friends, our God who gave His only Son to die for these Precepts, has ask His Children to make this day special.

Remember In God’s pure and holy kingdom His Children who through their faith have endured till the end will praise His name Day and night, every day will be special at that time, John tells us in Rev. 7:9-17 (KJV) “and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb……

“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and we will forever praise His name. So as we prepare for Eternity, His children must obey His Holy and sanctified precepts and take that one Special day God has given us and make it special and rest and only focus on our creator and His love grace and mercy on that day.

God is so good to us He only requires one day out of six. And what is also so awesome about our God,  the only thing He requires all of from his Children is, our mind and body.

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 1 2015

MY FRIENDS, THAT ONE NAME CANNOT BE VEILED FROM HIS FAITHFUL!!

“New Age promotes the development of the person’s own power or divinity. When referring to God, a follower of New Age is not talking about a transcendent, personal God who created the universe, but is referring to a higher consciousness within themselves. You and I, if we believe this, would see ourselves as God. In addition, everything that the person sees, hears, feels or imagines is to be considered divine.”

So if I am a new age disciple why should I need to be saved from the penalty of sin when I am God. But my friends my Bible tells me in Acts 4:12 (NKJV) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” So that text tells ne this chair I am sitting in cannot save me.

My friends, Jesus Christ, the only name we always use in vain, or swear by, and the only name that produces so much hate in the world, or love in one’s Heart who has allowed His transforming power to take effect in their lives.

“Hindu’s believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained, and not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny.” But 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells me “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Yes, Jesus name is the only one that can give us eternal life if we so desire. And to a Child of God the word reincarnation is the process that we obtain by dying to self daily and “living in Christ and the life which [we at one time] live in the flesh, [because we have given our life totally to Christ [we now live only by the faith through] the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for [each of us so that we may have life eternal] Gal 2:20 (KJV)

Oh what power, what hope, what grace love and mercy, behind a name, because in just that name most of us have gone from someone on the road to self-destruction to someone who eats and breathes the awesome power of His name and each day our mission statement should by “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Christ, His righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.” Yes my friends, there will be times, as we move closer to Christ soon appearing and iniquity abounds on every level, and the love of many waxes colder and God’s grace becomes blurred behind an unseen veil that the god of this world has created.

And when that happens, It is only our faith and endurance that allows us to say with full assurance “Blessed be the God and Father of [His only Begotten Son, and that one name ] our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [His faithful], who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.“ 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB)

And as we stand among the redeemed one day soon, while witnessing our Saviors return we will have no doubt who is coming to take us Home because “On his robe and on his thigh he has that one name that has allowed us to make it to the promise land, and what it says is “king of kings and Lord of Lords”

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY