Archives for April 2016

April 17, 2016

MY FRIENDS “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US.” NOW WHAT?

My friends, our God has promised to work and act on behalf of His children who believe and endure, if we will only remove the foreign gods from among us and direct our hearts to the Lord and serve Him, and Him only. A narrative is told in Samuel 7, before Israel had a king, when God was there only ruler and judges were appointed by God to speak on His behalf.

Samuel was God’s appointed judge during this time, but the people had turned their backs on God and decided to do their own thing. Sounds like His children in the 21st century where Satan has us thinking we really don’t need God anymore because we have everything we have ever needed or wanted out of life. The Bible paints the Philistines as Israel’s main enemy during this time.

They were always in a state of perpetual war with Israel. But today, let’s take our focus back, three hundred years earlier when Israel first entered the “promise land” and God’s commissioned to Joshua was, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelite’s to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” Deut. 31:23 (NET) So if that is God’s promise, why does Israel have an enemy that is always in a state of perpetual war with them.

My friends, God knows His Children and He also knows us in Deut. 31:16-17 (NET) when Moses is about to die, God tells Moses “these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going. They will reject me and break my covenant that I have made with them…….and I will abandon them and hide my face from them.” So let’s make it personal today and ask, have we prostituted ourselves to the foreign gods of this land?

But God is a good God “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, and remove the foreign gods…….and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only; He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” And so Israel obeyed, and directed their hearts to the Lord.

Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. and the Philistines were defeated that day. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” My friends “Thus far the Lord has helped us” also but have we remove the foreign gods from among us and directed our hearts to the Lord and served Him” and Him only.

Today God is knocking at the doors of our heart, but we can only hear His voice and know His will for our life if we are “devoted to the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom.” Remember, we cannot serve two masters “either we will hate the one and love the other, or else we will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” Like 16:13 (NKJV)

My friends, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” So are we willing to remove our foreign gods and give God our all, meaning our time, talents, and money? And are we willing to be His disciple and take up our cross and follow him wherever He may lead? And are we willing to die to self and live our life totally in Christ? “In this world we have no continuing city, but we [should only seek the one to come, as we give God all the praise glory and honor that He deserves]….Heb. 13:14-15 (NKJV)”

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.

April 16, 2016

MY FRIENDS, ARE WE CHILDREN OF GOD AND OUTLIER’S?

Outlier, by definition is something or someone that lies outside the main body or group that it is a part of, as a cow far from the rest of the herd, or a distant island belonging to a cluster of islands. Or a child of God that is in the world but not part of the world. Everyone is going to the club tonight, I’m sure it will be all right, I want be drinking like the rest of my friends I’ll will be with. Of course I will have to order a sprite or a coke, so I want feel so out of place.

But Paul  tells us in Rom 12:1-2 (AMP) Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind.

[While only focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].” My friends now we have to make it personal because it is your personal decision to be set apart, and to be unique in character.

But, it is also our decision to be influenced by the god of this world and allow his “superficial values and customs to influence us as we become “tossed back and forth by the waves [of this world], and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful [and] scheming [ways].” Eph. 4:14 (NIV)

My friends, as a child of God, we must daily allow our Character to be “transformed and progressively changed as we mature spiritually.” And when we decide to give it all to Christ and become His disciple and take up our cross and follow Him wherever He leads, is the day we become an “Outlier” and decide that we just don’t need “things,” that this world feels we need or should have in order to conform.

Remember we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) because we “lie outside the main body or group” and we no longer conform to this world, or the things in it. “On that day [at Christ soon appearing] many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Matt 7:22-23 (ESV) How is that possible? We did everything that we thought was required to enter the kingdom of God. My friends, Sometimes it is not just about serving, but developing that personal relationship with God as we allow His Spirit to transform our character and “guide us in all truth and understanding.”

And then the world will only see “Men, and women who will not be bought or sold; men and women who in their inmost souls are true and honest; who do not fear to call sin by its right name; whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” (E.G. White quote)

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.

April 15, 2016

MY FRIENDS, A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP!!

“And it all begins beneath one’s feet.” So now it becomes personal, because it is all about change in one’s life as we look forward, focusing only on where God has brought you from to where He is leading us. We are excited with anticipation, we feel the passion of knowing, no matter what, through our faith and endurance God will never leave nor forsake us. And we also understand why self and the forces of evil has hindered God’s overall plan.

But with each step my friends, through the love and grace of God we have developed patience, determination and perseverance in the face of unsurmountable odds when our goals seemed so far away. But we are now aware of the journey and each step that God has ordered throughout our life. But, the most important aspect of this journey is we are “co-workers” with God.

“Co-workers,” not in equality, but in our participating with God, and His fulfilling His plan for our lives as we continue to move further away from doubt and uncertainty and closer to victory as we focus on our final destination, God’s pure and holy kingdom. So my friends, God has individualized our journey for our unique character, but our salvation is not dependent on when we started but our passion for the journey and the end result.

God has chosen each of us for a purpose, we “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) In addition, another component of our journey, John tells us in john 15:16 (NIV) “you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

So my friends, the Journey cannot be about our will but “God’s will be done” as we give God all of the praise, glory and honor that He deserves. Remember, we can never forget, God the Father gave His only begotten Son and a Son who gave it all for our salvation on Calvary. The words go and bear fruit, begins with our love for God, and our love for others and what we are willing to do to serve both.

“Teacher the disciples asked “what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” and Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

Remember, in John 15:16 (NIV) there is also a promise “whatever your desires are” as you travel those thousand miles, as long as it is all about God and His will “whatever you ask in God’s name will be given to you. “Love is the basis of godliness. Whatever the profession, no man has pure love to God unless he has unselfish love for his brother.

But we can never come into possession of this spirit by trying to love others. What is needed is the love of Christ in the heart. When self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously. The completeness of Christ is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within–when the sunshine of heaven fill the heart and is revealed in the countenance.” (E. G. White COL pp 384)

April 13, 2016

MY FRIENDS, WHAT’S APPROPRIATE FOR THE ONE WHO GAVE IT ALL FOR US?

“And….I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree” Rev 7:1 (KJV) Amazing grace my friends, how sweet the sound because in spite of all of the “breaking news,” in spite of the iniquity of mankind that continues “to abound, as the love of [many] grows colder and colder.”

In spite of, what John is telling us in Rev 7:1 (KJV) in conjunction with what Christ is telling us in regards to prophecy in Matt 24:12-13 (NKJV) God’s angels are holding back a total devastation of mankind because God’s grace still abounds. In other words, unlike the Antediluvian who “the Lord regretted that He had created, and He was [deeply] grieved in His heart” until “His wrath had been poured out without mixture until the cup of his indignation” had overflowed.

And then He said, “I will destroy (annihilate) mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth, not only man, but the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, because it [deeply] grieves Me [to see mankind’s sin] and I regret that I have made them.” Gen. 6:6 (AMP), Rev. 14:10 (AMP) Gen. 6:7 (AMP) But “God’s steadfast love grace and mercies have not come to an end for us; they are [still] new every morning; great is [His] faithfulness.” Lam. 3:22-23 (ESV)

So, if we will continue to seek God’s presence in His word through His Spirit as we tell the world that Jesus saves. And if we praise God and give Him all the honor and glory and through our faith, endure unto the end, we shall be rewarded with immortality. And God will take these corruptible [bodies] and give us ones without corruption,…..as Death [becomes] swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:53-55 (KJV)

And my friends, we can say that with no reservations only if we “are a child of God, heirs to His throne and joint heirs with His Son Jesus Christ. And if we believe, than our relationship with God must become personal and daily we must ask ourselves, since Jesus Christ died for my sins, what am I to give in return?

There is no price that could be paid for what Christ did at Calvary. But, Jesus said “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,” Matt 16:24 (KJV) which tells us, because of what Christ has done for you and I on Calvary, we should show our gratitude, and give Him our all, which means following in His footsteps, as we travel the same road He traveled.

So if that is our desire, the Father is seeking those who diligently hearken to His Word. He’s looking for those that will hear and repeat what they’ve heard. He’s looking for those who’ll forsake all and follow after Him. He’s looking for those who’ll walk by faith and empowerment. He’s searching for those who will hunger after righteousness. God’s seeking for those who will lift Him high and subject themselves to weakness….are we one, are we one of the worshipers. (Alvin Slaughter, Worshippers)

My friends, key words, are we one of the faithful worshipers who will praise  Christ daily and show our gratitude by giving everything we’ve got, diligently hearken to His Word, hear and repeat what we’ve heard, forsake all and follow after Him, walk by faith and empowerment, hunger after righteousness, lift Him high and subject ourselves to weakness as we give God all the praise, glory and honor He deserves.

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.

April 12, 2016

MY FRIENDS, IS HE ONLY “THIS MAN” TO US?

He “bore our sins…… and [my friends] His stripes we were healed.” 1 Peter 2:21-24 (NKJV) In John 19, the narrative begins. Pilate says to the Jews “I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation]. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover.  So shall I release for you the King of the Jews?” Then the rabble shouted back again, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

The heathen Pilate, mockingly called Him a King, But those who lived in His very presence who He “dwelt among daily, who had seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” He was referred to only as “this Man.” My friends how do you live in the very presence of the Son of God and all you can see is “this Man.” ”So then Pilate took “this Man” and scourged Him.

And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on [this Man’s] head, and [then on “this Man” they placed on] Him a purple robe. And then the rabble mocked [“this Man” as the heathen Pilate had done saying “Hail, King of the Jews [Good health! Peace! Long life to you, King of the Jews]!” And they slapped Him in the face. Then Pilate came out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing “this Man” out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].”

So “this Man” came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Look! This Man!” When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify [Him]! Crucify [Him]!” My friends, are we like the rabble, Christ dwells among us through His Spirit and every day all we can see is “this Man” because the god of this world knows if he can get us to only see “this Man” and not the Son of God, “full of grace and truth,” then Calvary would have no real meaning, only a fable or a “story not founded on fact.”

But, it is only when we see Christ in His full glory, and look at the seriousness of where we are in history and prophecy and then surrender it all, is when He is no longer just “this man.” And it is at that point it becomes personal as we cry out, “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now.”

My friends, surrender all, we then see Christ and not just “this Man.” Surrender all like James and John when “Christ called them, on their job “they immediately left it all, the boat, their father, and followed Him.” Matt 4:21-22 (NKJV) Surrender all means we lay it all at the feet of Christ our time talents and money.

Surrender all means nothing of this world not job, education, friends, family and love one’s, is more important than our relationship with Christ. Surrender all, the words of Christ “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves [now] and take up their cross daily and follow me,” [now means just that, we will deny self and the things of this world now “and take up our cross daily and follow Chris] Luke 9:23 (NIV)

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.

April 9, 2016

MY FRIENDS, WE ARE IN THE LAST STRETCH OF A MARATHON CAN WE FINISH?

And [God] said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and [the children of Israel] shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; Gen. 15:13 (KJV) At the end of four hundred years God tells Moses, go get his Children. Then after years in bondage Moses and the children of Israel were able to sang, “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Ex 15:1-2 (KJV) “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Isaiah 49:15 (KJV) God’s children in the 21st century are in a full marathon. But remember, Christ knows how grueling the course, for He himself has run it.

So we cannot retreat because of the many years of affliction by the god of this world. Today God calls all of his Children to pursue righteousness and to sustain a drive toward excellence far beyond what we think ourselves are capable of achieving Because God will sustain and provide us with the adequate amount of endurance to fulfill His will in our life to finish.  But to finish, it must become all about our faith and our wiliness to serve Christ as we allow self to die daily.

In addition, as a child of God, mentally we must equip our minds through the study of His word for what lies ahead. In Jeremiah 12:1-5 (AMP) Jeremiah is ready to give up, so He tells God How long must the land mourn and the grass of the countryside wither Because of the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who live in it?” The Lord’s response to Jeremiah, also becomes a personal challenge to you and I.

“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan”? In other words, my friends, if you’re worn out in A 5k footrace with the forces of evil, as you go through the trials of this life each day, what makes you think you can handle a full marathon as we begin to enter into the last days of this life’s history?

My friends, It’s time we begin to move at rapid speed as we prepare ourselves and take the good news of the gospel to others. Like Jeremiah, God’s chosen generation “for such a time as this,” has allowed life to wear us down as we become absorbed in self-pity, and doubt in trying to endure to the end. Jeremiah was ready to abandon it all, and then a word from the Lord tells him, are you going to quit at the first wave of trials and opposition?

Christ on the Mount of Olives as He was praying, understood the challenges ahead and it was His humanity that recognized the difficulty of His journey. This is His humanity that dreads the suffering that He will in-counter, His humanity knew the path would seem impossible, and it is the humanity of Christ that must be our example, and who we must become as we allow His Spirit to transformed each of us into his image as we prepare to finish this marathon and cross over into the promise land.

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.

April 8, 2016

MY FRIENDS, HAVE WE, OR HAVE WE NOT CHOSEN THAT GOOD PART?

The narrative begins with Jesus as a guest at the house of Mary and Martha, Martha seems to be doing all the preparation for their special guest while Mary is occupied at the feet of Jesus so Martha approaches Jesus and ask, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me!!”

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:40-42 (KJV) My friends, it is now personal because we must have that personal relationship with Christ before we can even recognize our need of “that good part” which can only be obtained from being in the presence of Christ.

So my friends, are we willing to sit at the feet of the Master and allow “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” to become a driving force that takes us from earth to eternity. Remember this can only become possible, if we believe in the power of His word while we are in the presence of Christ, because “In Christ is the fountain of all knowledge. In Him our hopes of eternal life are centered.

He is the greatest teacher the world has ever known……The greatest wisdom, and most essential, is the knowledge of God. Self-sinks into insignificance as it contemplates God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. The Bible must be made the foundation for all study. Individually we must learn from this lesson book, which God has given us, the condition of the salvation of our souls;” (E.G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, 450, 451)

And my friends, our training is not part time, but a lifetime achievement and the more we allow ourselves to be in the presence of the Teacher, the more we begin to see lost souls as God sees them and Individuals that the god of this world has blinded the light from the countenance of God to shine on them, thus leaving their conscience unfazed by the good news of Christ return.

As we learn more and more from Christ and become His disciples, the Spirit then begins to give us the discernment to move out and become a witness for Christ, it also enables the listener to see Christ light through us and therefore is willing to seek that same inner peace and hope that all of God’s children have acquired at the feet of Christ. Remember God’s word is the process by which God’s character is cultivated in everyone who believes and endures.

But studying His word must be a daily process because the word is who Christ is, for “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God….. and In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:1-5 (NMKV)

My friends, today we must ask ourselves have we refused to “chose that good part” because we have moved so far away from the presence of God because we have “set our mind on [the] things of this earth and not on [the] things above.” And because of this, we have “not chosen the good part” or comprehended the light that shines through the love grace and mercy of Christ into our hearts? But, grace still abounds, but for how long?

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.