June 24, 2016

MY FRIENDS, HAVE WE LAYED ASIDE ALL SINS WHICH SO EASILY ENSNARES US?

As our personal journey continues to the promise land, and we look forward to the day when “God [will] wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things [at that point would have] passed away,” Rev. 21:4 (KJV) nothing can be about us anymore.

Our focus now should only be, what is God’s ministry for our life as we begin downsizing our priorities and “forsaking all others” for the glory of God as we begin to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, [while] running with endurance the race that [Christ has] set before us,  looking [only]unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross….Heb 12:1-2 (KJV)

Now we have taken up our own cross and each day as we get closer to Christ second coming the road get’s narrower and the mountains much harder to Climb. But God’s Word and Spirit must be the only standard or reference by which we gaze our success or failures by because heaven should be our only focal point along with how many souls we will present before Christ as the redeemed enters “the city of God, [and] the Saviour bestows upon His faithful who endured to the end the emblems of victory, and invests [us] with the insignia of [our] royal state.

[And now we understand Paul’s words “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Cor. 2:9 (KJV)] as the glittering ranks are drawn up in the form of a hollow square about their King…. Upon the heads of the overcomers, Jesus with His own right hand places the crown of glory [on our heads and]…. In every hand are placed the victor’s palm and the shining harp.

Then, as the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps the harp strings with skillful touch, awaking sweet music in rich, melodious strains…. Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. (E.G. White, The Great Controversy, pp 645, 646 ) So today as we seek the presence of God, we must asked ourselves, have we “LAYED ASIDE” every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.

“LAYED ASIDE” every weight meaning, the weight of what we watch on TV and the internet? And the weight of  unhealthy foods we eat? And the weight of what we say and where we go? Remember my friends “whatever we do, we must do it to the glory and honor of the one who gave it all for our salvation while never forgetting it is Satan that places before God’s children those sins which so “easily ensnares us.”

James 1:14-15 (KJV) tells us “but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Yes my friends we are chosen by Satan for perdition. but as we remove every “weight of sin that so easily ensnares us“ God then tells us “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Col 3:23 (KJV)

My friends, the stakes are high and “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life [eternal], and those who find it are few.” [But through Christ we will be a-part of that few] Matt. 7:13 (ESV)

June 23, 2016

MY FRIENDS, HAVE WE CONSIDERED THE WAYS OF THE ANT LATELY?

Through our trials, heartaches, and pain, we’ve prayed and praised God and at times it seems nothing changes. But we must continue to trust our sovereign God even though we will never be able to explain as we study His word how things changed at his command. But through our faith and endurance we must believe miracles happened and are still happening today.

“Be strong and courageous never fearing or in dread of [anything because], it is the Lord our God who goes with us. And He will [never leave nor forsake [His faithful].” Deut. 31:6 (ESV paraphrased) Words of encouragement Moses spoke to all Israel right before they entered the promise land. At this time Moses knew, because of his sin He would not be allowed to enter, at least the earthly promise land.

But,” because Moses believed in the promises of God He knew he must also “be strong and courageous” for those before him as he lifted up his eyes to the hills, knowing their help cometh from the one who created the heavens and the earth, knowing It was only God who had brought Israel out of the land of Egypt and parted the red sea and sent manna from heaven to sustain them throughout their journey for the last forty years.

Luke 3:5 (KJV) tells us Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.” If we only persevere. James also says “Blessed is a man [or woman] who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” James 1:12 (KJV) My friends, the ant never gives up, they may fall at times at the weight of their burdens but, remain focused on their destination, steadily moving forward, never retreating.

“Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,” Prov. 6:6 (NASB) So as a child of God we must also “be wise” never retreating, continually moving forward until we hear God Himself say “well done” My friends, the problems we face daily, from a human standpoint seems overwhelming, and unsolvable at times, But, all of life’s burdens, associated within the interaction of our day to day life we must Cast upon the Lord as He continually sustains us through it all.

And with no reservations we must know, “He shall never suffer the righteous to be shaken.” Ps 55:22 (KJV) Remember the God we serve is unlimited, unmeasurable, and infinite in regards to what He is capable of doing for each of us if we believe. ”The great Oriental conqueror Tamerlane told his friends, “I once was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a dilapidated building, where I sat alone for many hours. Wishing to divert my mind from my hopeless situation, I fixed my eyes on an ant carrying a kernel of corn larger than itself up a high wall.

I counted its attempts to accomplish this feat. The corn fell sixty-nine times to the ground, but the insect persevered and the seventieth time it reached the top.” And my friends, victory through Christ only comes when we “forsake all others” except Christ, knowing He will take us to the top as He provides His children with blessings beyond what we ever thought possible as we complete His mandate here on earth. And then, to His faithful “the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day my crown of righteousness and not to me only, but unto all that love his appearing.” 2 Tim. 4:8 (KJV)

June 22, 2016

MY FRIENDS, IS THERE ADEQUATE TIME TO UNDERSTAND AND KEEP ALL TEN COMMANDMENTS?

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Knowledge is defined as “the body of truths or facts accumulated in the course of time.” And when we speak of a course of time in regards to a child of God, we are saying one’s probationary period God gives His children between birth and death. In addition, during this time God has given us adequate time to know and understand his word in its entirety from Genesis, to Revelation and beyond.

Yes my friends, God has given us adequate time to understand, it was His own finger that wrote these commandments and why they are important and why they reveal who He is and why we can never place anything before Him. And why He is a jealous God and why we cannot cry out God’s name in vain; Jesus please, God-dam, Lord have mercy, and Jesus Christ. In other words, using Gods name without any real “significance, value, or importance.” Which seems like such an insignificant law, everyone does it.

But James tells us “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10 (NIV) “Remember my friends the Lord will not hold him guiltless [but guilty] who takes His name in vain.” Yes, Gods children also have adequate time to remember what day is the seventh day of the week from the other six days. And why He rested on that day and blessed that day and hallowed that day.

Yes my friends, He has given us adequate time to understand why we must “Honor our father and our mother, that our days may be long upon the land which the Lord our God has given us.” and He has also given us adequate time to understand  why we must not murder someone, or commit adultery against our spouse, or steal, or bear false witness against our neighbor, or covet our neighbor’s house or our neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is our neighbor’s.”

Consistent with this, the psalmist tells us, our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” Ps 90:10 (NIV) Eighty years is not a long time but it is adequate enough time to understand what Christ was saying when He said “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matt. 5:18 (KJV)

My friends, God is equipping His children for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, [so that we may all] come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man [and woman], to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Eph. 4:13-12 (NKJV) Remember 1 John 3:2 (NKJV) tells us “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Which tells us when Jesus Christ comes we would have had adequate time to transform our character into the image of Christ. and to “love Him with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength. [This is the first four commandments and the second six] are like it, which tells us: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. and There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV)

June 21, 2016

MY FRIENDS, HAVE WE BECOME IMPATIENT WAITING ON CHRIST RETURN?

The “American Oligarchy,” is defined as “a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique.” This dominant class in today’s society we can say with no reservation bows down to only one god and that is the god of mammon or “material wealth.” “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us. This Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Ex 32:1-5 (NKJV)

During this period of waiting, if the Children of Israel would have begun to prepare their hearts to receive the anointing of God’s Spirit while humbling their hearts before God in prayer and supplication “they would have been shielded from temptation. But they did not do this, “and they soon became careless, inattentive, lawless and impatient while waiting on Moses, so they created there own god “the golden calf,” “Then they said, “This is our god, O Israel, that brought us out of the land of Egypt!”

“But it was always only on condition of obedience that the goodly land was promised them, but they had lost sight of this” while waiting on Moses to return. Some even suggested a return to Egypt, whether then go forward to Canaan and so the masses of the people were determined to wait no longer.” ( E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets pp 315)

So they lost focus on what God had done for them in  delivering them from the bondage of Egypt and the Lord guiding them by day in a pillar of a cloud,…..and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light. And how could they forget the parting of the red sea. But because they lost focus on where God had brought them from, and where He was trying to take them, only two were allowed to enter the promise Land.

But what about God’s children in the 21^st century. Have we become impatient careless and inattentive in serving God because Christ has delayed His coming to long. So now we bow down to the god of this world. But like the Children of Israel the land flowing with milk and honey is a promise that comes with conditions, conditions of obedience to God’s precepts which says we must “love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. This is the first commandment.  

And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. and There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV) In addition, are we also determined to wait no longer for Christ return because the god of this world has our mind focused on “the golden calf,” of this world and not on things above?” My friends, God is calling His children today to come out of Babylon . Like The words in the marriage vows God is asking us to “forsake all others”

This earth will be destroyed soon as “lawlessness continues to abound, and the love of many continues to grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” So let’s keep our focus on Christ like a compass needle that always points north, we can never lose sight of Him who gave it all for our salvation so that we may live throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity in His pure and holy kingdom

June 20 2016

MY FRIENDS, HAPPY BELATED FATHERS DAY

Belated is defined as late, delayed, or detained or coming after the expected time. So from a human standpoint happy father’s day should have been acknowledge yesterday. And as a child of God, Christ should have returned by now but we feel, He has been detained. But my friends, are we really prepared for Christ soon return. Suppose you knew that when He does come it would be on the third Sunday in June just like Father’s day, only we would not know the year.

Would we be any more prepared then the antediluvian in the days of Noah, as the world continued to eat, and drink, and marry and give into marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Matt 17:26-27 (NKJV) My friends there is an expected time for Christ to return and take His brothers and sisters heirs to His Fathers kingdom to that “Place Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Cor. 2:9 (NKJV)

And even though we may feel Christ has delayed His expected return, if we truly love the Lord with all of our heart and soul and if we truly love the one who gave it all to a dying world even His life and because of what was done for us at Calvary, the cross must be our example as we carry it and tell the world that “no other name under heaven given among men can salvation be found except Jesus Christ.“

And once The signs of the Times, and the End of the Age is complete, and all who remains faithful until Christ returns and receive you and I unto Himself that where He is, one day soon we will be also.” And even though we may feel Christ has delayed His return because it has been over two thousand years and we have witness friend’s, family, and love one’s die in Christ who “desired a better [land,] that is, a heavenly country.”

We have no time to focus on the words; “delayed, detained or He is coming after the expected time” because “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [And we must never forget that] The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [to return], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV)

But, if we are carrying out God’s mandate with a passion and keeping His commandments while serving others on the front lines of the battle field, we cannot allow Satan to place our focus on the things of this world as the “scoffers [that] will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2 Peter 3:3-4 (NKJV)

But our focus must remain on the fact that we all know what Christ expected time is. And that date will come even, if we have fallen asleep in Christ or are working diligently till He arrives. And to the redeemed, He will not come “as a thief in the night,” but this great event will happen when Christ can say personally to His faithful who endured to the end, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matt 25:21 (KJV)

June 17, 2016

MY FRIENDS, “WE MUST BE THE MEDIUM BETWEEN THE MIND OF GOD AND THE HEART OF MEN”

My friends, God is asking a lot of His elect. He is asking us to know Him in such a way that we may convey what we know to a world “lost in sin and sinking in the turbulence of this world, far from the peaceful shore. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE. Is. 9:6 (NIV) Yes my friends far from the “PRINCE OF PEACE.” Far from the one who gave it all for our Salvation.

Sen. Christopher Murphy ended his filibuster early Thursday by recalling an emotional story of a “six-year-year-old Dylan Hockley, who was killed in the December 2012 massacre of kids and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Murphy’s home state of Connecticut. Hockley had a close relationship with his special-education teacher, Anne Marie Murphy. Murphy said that when the gunman, Adam Lanza, entered the school she probably had a chance to run or hide, the senator said.

“Instead, Anne Marie Murphy made the most courageous decision that anyone could imagine,” the freshman Democrat said. “Anne Marie Murphy found Dylan Hockley and embraced him.” Murphy said they know that’s what she did because “when the police entered the classroom, that’s how they found Dylan Hockley. Dead. Wrapped in the embrace of Anne Marie Murphy.” Christ could have played it safe and stayed in the royal domain of His heavenly home.

But “He made the most courageous decision that anyone could imagine, He came and found you and I sinking deep in sin, out of the reach of Salvation. But He came and wrapped all who believes in His saving embrace on Calvary. Anne Marie Murphy was not able to save Dylan Hockley. But “there is no other name under heaven given among men [and women] by which we must be saved.” And that name is Jesus Christ [THE PRINCE OF PEACE] Acts 4:12 (NKJV)

My friends we are heirs to Gods kingdom so we must be the medium or light that shines onto the heart of man or those who “have no hope” because Satan has blocked the radiance from the sun or Son of God to them. Yes, God has given His faithful this awesome responsibility. But we must have a passion to serve as we seek The Spirit of God with an urgency as we move closer to Christ soon return. And my friends, we cannot stop until we are overflowing and the whole world recognizes that the presence of God overflows in you and I.

The world through us must understand the Mind of God. A God that would Give His only begotten Son to die for us, and a Son who would make the sacrifice in our stead as He continues to wrapped His arms around us until we are on the peaceful shores of His kingdom. And my friends this is the “good news” we must tell the world as we seek the presence of God with a faith an endurance “that surpasses all human understanding.”

There are so many wonderful promises from our loving God in His word, but what we must seek today is more of what our God has already given us and that is more of Him, more of His grace and more of His love as we go beyond what seems humanly impossible which is the medium between the “mind of God and the hearts of men” and from there to a place “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Cor 2:9 (NKJV)

June 15, 2016

MY FRIENDS, SALVATION MUST BECOME A SHARED VISION!!

As designated leaders for the “unity of Christ,” “for such a time as this” we must transcend beyond today and tomorrow a vision to others that takes them to places they never thought possible through Christ who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” But first Christ must become alive within you and I as we allow the transforming power of His Spirit to take full control. We must also be clear, and decisive about where we are going on this journey and how we are going to get there, and what are the benefits once we have arrived.

Gods Promises must become real, our passion must transcend with a shared vision to the world, as we stand in awe gazing on the clouds above as it draws nearer and becomes lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it is a great white cloud. Then, the bottom of the cloud appears like fire; a rainbow is also over the cloud, while around it are ten thousand angels, singing a most lovely song; and upon it sits the Son of man.

His hair white, and curly and lays on His shoulders; and upon His head are many crowns. His feet has the appearance of fire; in His right hand is a sharp sickle; in His left, a silver trumpet….Jesus speaks: “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts shall be able to stand because; “My grace is sufficient for you.” At this our faces light up, and joy fills our hearts as the angels strike a note higher and sing again, while the clouds draw  nearer to the earth.

Then Jesus silver trumpet sounds, He then descends on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire. He gazes on the graves of the sleeping saints, raises His eyes and hands to heaven, and cries, “awake! awake! awake! ye that sleep in the dust, arise.” Then there is a mighty earthquake. The graves are open, and the dead come up clothed with immortality. The Redeemed shout, “Alleluia!” as we recognized our friends who had been torn from us by death.

In addition, at that moment we are changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.”  My friends, PASSION is the key along with a shared vision of Jesus raising “His mighty, glorious arm, as He lays hold of the pearly gate of our new home and swings it back on its glittering hinges and says to the redeemed, ” “you have come out of great tribulations you have also washed your robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and stood stiffly for My truth, and kept my commandments.

You now have the right to the tree of life, now enter in through the gates into the city.” We then touched our glorious harps and make heaven’s arches ring…. Then we see most glorious the mansions, most glorious to behold….” We then cry out “heaven is cheap enough” Rev. 7:14 (NKJV) Rev. 22:14 (NKJV) (Excerpts from the writings of E.G. White) My friends, it’s personal, because if you live on this planet you have to recognize prophecy is unfolding every single day.

Christ is now giving you and I warning after warning as He knocks daily at our heart, telling us to Prepare! Prepare! Focus! Pray without ceasing! Endure! Study! Seek God’s presence along with a double portion of My Spirit while stretching your faith until I tell you personally, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matt. 5:21 (KJV)