Archives for January 2017

Jan 28, 2017

MY FRIENDS, WILL THE STORMS KEEP US OUT OF THE PROMISE LAND?

Jesus entered the boat and his disciples followed. Suddenly a furious storm arose on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matt 8:23-27 (NIV)

My friends, followers of Christ, understand, Satan the great strategist of warfare creates the storms in our life. But Christ allows Satan to intimidate us with His antics while He prepares us for His kingdom. And as we cry out “Lord save us we’re going to drown” Our Savior rebukes the forces of evil and the storm becomes calm.

Maybe the storm is a health issue or a child on drugs or an abusive spouse or money problems or maybe we just can’t find our keys. The size of the storms does not matter to Christ. “Oh we of little faith, why do we fear!!!” “God says He will never leave us or forsake us” what part of that promise are we uncomfortable with in believing.

Each day, when the storms of life rages on, when the days seem dark and lonely, and the “future perplexing,” and it seems there is no hope in sight and the world consumes our lives and our time at unparalleled proportions. Christ then becomes secondary or nonexistence in not only the “lost sheep” who we should be taking the good news too.

But many who sit in the pews of our churches each week looking for Christ to come as we sing; all to Jesus I surrender while putting forth no genuine effort into transforming our lives through Gods word and Spirit into the image of Christ. My friends, Christ is about to come and He’s looking for commitments to serve Him in these last days of life’s history where prophecy is being fulfilled daily.

But, I tell you, if we keep quiet, “the stones will cry out” “to the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matt 24:14 (NIV) And we all know perfectly well, when that day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night the world will be saying Peace and safety but it is counterfeit because sudden destruction will come upon the world “as pain upon a woman with child” and no one will escape whose hope and faith, is not anchored in the Lord and His word.

So friends ,“give diligence to make your calling and election sure” But if our choice is to ignore signs and prophecy in God’s word and say along with other scoffers who “follow their own evil desires saying “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

But, they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.” 2 Peter 3:3-6 (NIV) And so will all scoffers, today who find no time to believe.

July 27, 2017

MY FRIENDS, THE LORD IS WITH US EVEN UNTO THE END!!

“Go ye therefore, teaching all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matt. 28:19-20 (KJV) Christ the Creator of all mankind, informing His disciples “for such a time as this” that we “will receive anointing power as the Spirit of the Lord comes upon us.

[As we] “preach the gospel to the poor; and heal the brokenhearted while proclaiming liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind and setting at liberty those who are oppressed while proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV) Which can only happen if we deny self “and take up [our] cross and follow Christ [wherever He may lead.”] Matt. 16:24 (NIV)

My friends, this is God’s journey laid out for each of His faithful who are willing to go all the way with Him. But there must be a commitment to remain in the presence of God as we seek His Spirit daily through His word. “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.” John 13:27:30 (NIV)

My friends, at that point when Judas decided to go into the darkness and walk away from the presence of God is when even the “crumbs from the Masters table” was not sufficient enough to save Him. Today if in some way, I have miscalculated the events that are happening daily in our world and my Savior does not come in our life time.

We must still forever count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord: for whom [we must] suffer the loss of all things, and count them but dung that we win Christ.” Phil 3:8 (KJV) My friends we don’t have time to ponder over the regrets of this life and the things we did not accomplish or gain.

All that should matter today is taking up our cross and forever staying in the presence of the one who took up His cross for us. And if this is our commitment, then our Savior has made a commitment to us that He will be “with you [and I] always, even unto the end of the world and then He will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. 

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore [we must] encourage one another with these words.” [Along with a shared vision] of our new home, “no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him.”1 Thess. 4:16-18 (NIV) 1 Cor. 2:9 (NIV)

Jan. 24, 2017

MY FRIENDS, ACCORDING TO OUR FAITH OUR EYES WILL BE OPEN!

Like clay in the potter’s hand God’s Spirit will begin to shape our Character for God’s kingdom as we begin to recognize what “God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think.” And Friends, He is willing to do this in every situation, and circumstances of our life. And then, our faith and God’s word takes over and become the focal point of our life as we take up the “shield of faith, [so that we will] be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Eph. 6:16 (KJV)

That shield of faith also reminds us, nothing “is too hard for God?” Jeremiah 32:27 (KJV) Remember my friends when the Israelite’s left Egypt, Exodus 19:4 (KJV) tells us God said to His children “You yourselves have seen what I did in Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. “

In addition, He asks them to do something breathtaking and awe-inspiring. He ask for a commitment as they pledged their loyalty to Him. In Exodus 19:5-6 (KJV) God tells Israel, “now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Today God is asking us to stand up and pledge our loyalty to Him also because we are also his Children, and at times it will be the evidence of things not seen, only our faith that will takes us from Egypt to the promise land or this Earth to Gods kingdom but, He who begun a good work in each of us “will carry it on to completion until the day of [His soon return.]” Phil 1:6 (NIV)

2,000 years ago, the transformation process started on Calvary. As the Potter, Christ continues to shape us daily. But in most cases we refused to allow Him to finish the process. But let’s focus on the fact that without any reservations it was always the touch of the Masters hand at each intersection of our life that got us through the storm.

And in-spite of Satan redirecting our footsteps which from all indications at that point we had become useless, and unworkable. This is where the clay becomes spoiled and unusable. As a teenager I remember taking pottery in art class and if the clay become unworkable, I would just discard, and start over.

Oh! But in the potter’s hands, we never become unusable because of God’s selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love and His “willingness to move heaven and earth,” and “principalities, and the rulers of the darkness of this earth” to save you and I from the penalty of sin which is death so He never gives us.

So love shapes and reshapes our character as the Spirit of God convicts, instructs, restores, guides and empowers every area of our life until we become the image He is seeking. “Then He touched their eyes, saying, “according to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened.” Matt 9:29-30 (NKJV)

My friends, according to our Faith our eyes will be open and on our way to the promise land if we “say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and [we have no] doubt in our heart, but believe that what He says will come to pass, it will be done.” Mark 11:23 (ESV)

Jan. 23, 2017

MY FRIENDS, OUR CREATOR WANTS TO TAKE US HOME, ARE WE READY?

“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Ps. 119:130 (KJV) “If we do not consult the Guidebook at every step, inquiring, Is this the way of the Lord? our words and acts will be tainted by selfishness. We shall forget God, and walk in paths that He has not chosen for us.” (E.G. White, My Light) Inviting Satan into our life at any level only causes us to plunge deeper and deeper into a place we eventually become comfortable with.

And if our sins are “not entirely eradicated,” they will continue to multiply and grow until death occurs. Remember when we give Satan permission to enter our life, he has the legitimate right to influence and harass us until we cave in and give him total access. My friends, God will not force us to Choose Him over Satan or overrule a person’s free will if we feel it is not necessary to be protected with the armor of the righteousness of Christ.

Being unprotected only gives Satan a legal claim to our mind and body because by our choice we have allowed Satan to be our master, and not God.  That is why it is important to know who we are in Christ. John 1:12 (KJV) says “but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” who “has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness.

And has [also] transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty]. He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation.” Col. 1:13-15 (AMP)

My friends, that is why such a price was paid for you and I at Calvary by “the originator of all creation,” Jesus Christ. And the plan of redemption tells us He will reach as far into the abyss to rescue us from the forces of evil. But, to be rescued my friends, we are saying we surrender our all to the one who gave it all for our Salvation.

“Now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2 (KJV) The question we must now ask ourselves, how far are we from being like Christ?

Remember, love, humility, and purity, can only behold love humility and purity so that when someone sees the light of Christ shinning through us they will “marvel and take knowledge, “that we have been with Christ” the “originator of all creation.”

This is possible, “Because [we have] put off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and [now we have been] renewed in the spirit of our minds, and [have] put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph. 4:22-24 (ESV) My friends, if we are not willing to give Christ our all today, the saddest words we will soon hear from the Originator of all Creation will be “I DO NOT KNOW YOU.”

Jan. 22, 2017

MY FRIENDS, ARE WE WILLING TO GIVE OUR ALL FOR SALVATION?

As a child of God seeking God’s kingdom we cannot afford to cave into any confrontation’s we have with Satan. But we must also understand “Fallen man is Satan’s lawful captive. The mission of Christ was to rescue him from the power of his great adversary. Man is naturally inclined to follow Satan’s suggestions, and he cannot successfully resist so terrible a foe unless Christ, the mighty Conqueror, dwells in him, guiding his desires, and giving him strength [daily].” (E. G. White)

Therefore we must put on the whole armor of God’s righteousness. In other words my friends, this is not the time too try an negotiate with Christ over what is appropriate to watch or not watch on TV, or how much money we should spend or not spend on self just because we have paid an honest tithe, or how much time we should spend studying Gods word and seeking His presence.

There is no part of our life that has any room for negotiating. Love paid to high a price so that we want have to negotiate our way into God’s kingdom, grace gives us only one path, “the straight and narrow.” In riding a airplane you notice the higher you go up, as you look down the smaller the world below you get’s.

So it is with a child of God, the Higher up or closer we get to Christ the smaller everything else gets on this earth, until nothing else is relevant except living in the presence of God, as we continue to get closer and closer to Him through His Spirit. Once again I will use an illustration I’ve use before and how easy it is too loose our focus or allow Satan to take our focus off of our salvation, right here at the threshold of the promise land.

“It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, Arnold Palmer has a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. “I felt I was in pretty good shape.” As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, “Congratulations.”

I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus. On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters.” My friends, what are we doing daily to take our focus off of what God’s will is for our life. 

Christ is coming back soon for a pure church. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Matt 5:8 (KJV) “But when the king came in to see the guests, He saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So, He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.” Matt 22:11-12 (NKJV)

Which tells us many who say “Lord, Lord will also be speechless one day. But everyone who gave it all to Christ will be in that “great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and [praising the one who gave it all for our salvation]” Rev. 7:9 (NKJV)  

Jan. 18, 2017

MY REIENDS, THIS JOURNEY HAS WINDING ROADS BUT THEY WILL BE MADE STRAIGHT!  

We must prepare for what God is about to entrust to His faithful “for such a time as this” as we remove all distraction, along with every “weight, and sin within our hearts which doth so easily beset us” as we make room for the Spirit of God to convict, instruct, restore, guide and empower every aspect of our lives. And with no reservation we can say, our journey has been rough and the mountains steep. But God is greater than any situation of our life.

Remember friends, our journey is one that He has planned to give His children “hope and a future.” Elijah who now sits in the heavenly realm in the kingdom of God appeared to Ahab, the King of Israel and said “I’m a servant of the living Lord, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won’t rain until I say so.” 1 King 17:1 (NKJV)

This is the first we hear form God’s Anointed. But, from that point the “manifestation” of God “for such a time” was revealed. “Elijah said to the widow “thus says the Lord…“the bin of flour will not be used up, nor the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain……1 Kings 17:16 (NKJV)

“And he stretched himself out on the [dead] child three times, and cried out to the Lord and the child’s soul came back to him.” 1Kings 17:21-22 (NKJV) And who could forget the miracle on Mount Carmel. “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God…and I am your servant.” And then fire rained down from heaven and consumed the burnt sacrifice……..Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” 1 Kings 18:38-39 (NKJV)

After three years, Elijah prays to God and the drought ends and the rain returns. Up until this point Elijah’s life was an epic performance of Faith and courage in God’s army against the “spiritual wickedness in high places.” But like Elijah, throughout our life the road on this journey Christ has placed us on will become crooked at times because there will always be the highs, and unfortunately the lows in our life.

This is when we are most vulnerable to Satan’s attacks and we often forget where God has brought us from. Elijah runs from the death threats of Jezebel as he loses focus of where God had been leading Him. He sits under a tree and prays to die. And like Elijah, God’s command to all of His faithful is“go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And through the noise of our life if we are listening, that still small voice of God will tell us to look back to where He has brought us from and return to that passion to serve.

My friends, we must finish our course for “God will fill every valley, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth” Luke 3:5 (NKJV) That my friends, God will do for us because if we woke up this morning the Journey has not ended. God was not finished with Elijah, neither has He finished with us, So the mandate of God remains the same GO!! THE HUNGRY SHEEP LOOK UP, AND ARE NOT FED,  

Jan 17, 2017

MY FRIENDS, HOW HARD ARE YOU SEARCHING FOR CHRIST?

The religion of Christ means more then the forgiveness of sin. It means that sin is taken away, and that the vacuum is filled with the Spirit. It means that the mind is divinely illumined, that the heart is emptied of self, and filled with the presence of Christ.” (E.G. White, Our High Calling p 154) My friends, the religion of Christ and the key to our salvation is, self dying daily as God’s Spirit takes full control.

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.” Luke 11:24-26 (NIV) But, The religion of Christ means more then the removal of our sins.

Because if God’s Spirit does not fully occupy our life while portraying God’s plan of redemption within us daily in-order to restore us into the image of Christ, as we allow Him to have full access while making the necessary changes that will make us “safe to save” then we have no concept of what “the religion of Christ” is all about or maybe we don’t care as those sins begin to gradually return.

Luke 8:1-2 (KJV) Jesus traveled about proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve disciples were with Him also some women one was named Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons had come out. My friends, Mary understood the “religion of Christ” because of what He had done for her.

At the Cross when Christ disciples had deserted Him. Mary Magdalene was there. John 9:25 (KJV) What a terrible night she must have had after His death thinking that the presence of Christ had been lost forever. Then early Sunday morning, “while it was still dark Mary went to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away.

Running to the disciples she cried out…. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” John 20:1-2 (NIV) the narrative continues in John 20. The disciples rush to the tomb only to also fine it empty. No one realizing “from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”

Mary, along at the tomb again “stood outside crying “she bent over, look inside,” and there, two angels seated where Jesus body had been. They ask “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away” she explains. She turns around, someone else is there “why are you crying?” He ask?

She repeats her dilemma not knowing she was speaking to a risen Savior. “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put Him.” She thinks it is the gardener, she cries out again where is He, “if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him.” Then the sound of comfort and hope comes from the Saviors lips with one word, “Mary”

She realizes she is in Christ presence once again, she cries out, “Rabboni” which means Teacher. And then, Christ appoints Mary as the first person to be commissioned to go and tell the good news of a risen Savior. My friends Mary knew the religion of Christ. “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:13 (KJV) and then with all her heart she did. My friends, what about you.

Jan. 16, 2016

MY FRIENDS, “THE HUNGRY SHEEP LOOK UP, AND ARE NOT FED”!!!!

“For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

My friends, God has commissioned all who seek His kingdom to introduce to the world who God is and that he is greater than any situation in their lives. So our passion for Salvation and God’s kingdom must also become the passion of others as the good news becomes a shared vision to all who have lost their hope and see no solution in sight.

Christ says “feed my sheep.” But first we must eliminate self as the “manifestation” of who Christ is becomes who we are through His Spirit. “Repent,…and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19 (KJV)

My friends, “the times of refreshing,” “The Early Rain,” which is one of God’s promises to His faithful ambassadors who will complete His mandate in our lifetime. But it will only come if we are diligently praying with heartfelt supplication daily as we “forsake all others” and allow the work of God’s Spirit to convict, instruct, restore, guide and empower every aspect of our lives.

And once we have remained “steadfast, unmoveable [while continually] given ourselves fully [and unconditionally] to the work of the Lord,………” 1 Cor. 15:58 (KJV) paraphrased. We can then be assured of “the “Latter Rain,” which is that full anointing of the power of God’s spiritual grace that prepares the church for the coming of the Son of man.

But unless the former rain has fallen, there will be no life; the green blade will not spring up. And unless the early showers have done their work, the latter rain can bring no seed to perfection. There is to be “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

There must be a constant development of Christian virtue, a constant advancement in Christian experiences. This we should seek with intensity of desire, that we may adorn the doctrine of Christ our Savior.” (E.G. White, The Latter Rain p 184-185)

And as God’s chosen, “He has anointed [you and I] to proclaim [the]good news to the poor and to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” ”as He pours out [His] Spirit on all people” as “our sons and daughters will prophesy, our young men will see visions, our old men will dream dreams.” Luke 4:18-19 (NIV) Acts 2:17 (NIV)

My friends, now I need you to focus on the fact that what God is trying to give us to finish up His work on this earth in our lifetime will one day be withdrawn if our heart stays on the things of this world and not the things above” But we must also understand if we “keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” And, His sheep will still be fed.