March 19, 2016

MY FRIENDS, HAS TRUMP TAKEN US INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY?

Uncharted, is defined as unexplored or unknown. And with Donald trump, somehow becoming the head of the Republican ticket the reality becomes unknown to most, how is this possible? Or is he only prophecy being fulfilled? Daniel tells us, “and He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding.

He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” Daniel. 2:21-22 (NKJV) The Psalmist also says in Ps. 75:7 (KJV) “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” So Trump is where he is because, God has allowed him to be the one who gives hope to “the fool who says in his heart there is no God,” and that hope is “he will make America great again.”

My friends, America has had “it’s season of Light, and now the season of Darkness is here.” And For each of us who are looking for Christ soon return, we must understand we are in our final leg of this race before we cross the finish line. We are now in “uncharted territory.” For not only America but the world is in a “season of darkness” that it will never recover from. The abominations of mankind have become like in the days of Noah “When the Lord was sorry that He had made man [and woman] on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Gen. 6:6 (NKJV)

“but for the elect’s sake” and the few that are still in the trenches of the battlefield that we must warn of Christ soon return. And I say few because we have been given a warning from Christ Himself that says “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matt. 7:14 (NKJV) And with no reservation, we can all say today “the chickens come home to roost.”

And that quote only tells us; the evil that men have created from generation to generation has now returned to their own door. And now in lest we believe in the promises in God’s word and we seek His presence along with the power of His Spirit daily as we allow Him to transform our lives into the image of Christ, then our only hope is Donald Trump and his promises to make us great.

My friends, we are certainly living in “uncharted territory” today because we are almost at that time in history that Christ speaks of in Matt. 24:21 (NKJV) when He says “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” But if we have faith as a Child of God, Heir to His kingdom and joint heirs with His Son Jesus Christ.

And if we endure until the end, then our uncharted season and territory begins when we see our Savior face to face coming through the clouds above and with no reservation we know with Him is our reward, life eternal and His words to us will be, well done good and faithful servant. My friends to finish this race will be very grueling.

But we must never forget that this race was won for us on Calvary and now victory is ours if we believe and trust God that he is in control of our destiny if we give our all to Him while falling on our knees crying out with a contrite and a repentant heart “Lord not my will but thy will be done.”

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

March 16, 2016

MY FRIENDS, WE CAN ALWAYS TURN IT AROUND OR CAN WE?

If you lived in the sixties, civil unrest, rioting, violent labor disputes, assassinations and as far back as we can go, this world has always been in a state of confusion. But the attitude of the world is, we can always turn it around. My friends, we can all look back over our lives, and decade after decade it was always “the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,”

And this world will remain as is, because the god of this world will cause all who are not rooted and grounded in the love of Christ not to be able to discern, good from evil, darkness from light, or the bitter from the sweet! Is. 5:20 (NKJV) But, the world tells us, we always have turned it around we can do it again. But that is not what God’s word tells us.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation” John 16:33 (ESV) Tribulation being defined as “grievous trouble; severe trial or suffering” and that is why a child of God cannot be “conformed to this world,” but we must allow God’s Spirit to transform our character into the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” because this world will remain the same.

But soon, God will say “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” Rev. 22:11 (KJV) and then in “a little while, He who is coming will come and will not tarry” Heb. 10:37 (NKJV) It’s time my friends we begin to move at rapid speed because Christ second coming is near.

In addition, “God calls for men [and women] who will prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. . . . And in order to give such a message as John the Baptist, which was [Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?] we must have a spiritual experience like his. The same work must be wrought in us. We must behold God, and in beholding Him lose sight of self.” ( E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, pp. 332, 333)

And as we loose sight of self, we can begin to prepare ourselves  and others for Christ second coming. My friends, we cannot become absorbed in self-pity, and doubt in trying to endure to the end because this world will never be turned around so we must forever lift up our eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh our help who is “the author and finisher of our faith.”

And it is in God’s word where we begin to exemplify our faith as we look at the world we live in and come to the conclusion, this marathon that started six thousand years ago has now turned into a sprint. Consistent with this, we must now understand, with no doubt, that our “faith each day will be tried and tested in order to produce endurance so that our endurance will have its perfect result, so that God’s faithful may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. [when He comes to take us home to His holy kingdom.] James 1:2-4 (PSV)

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

MY FRIENDS, GOD LOVES US THIS I KNOW!!

My friends The Christian experience is a unique journey, we start at imperfection and we go through transformation conviction to an everlasting relationship with God. Our journey has a definable starting point. For Paul it was on the Damascus road, Moses at the burning bush. But we all have our unique experiences as God becomes real in our lives, so it becomes personal because we all experience God differently.

“We are all unique and wonderfully made. He formed us in our mother’s  belly He knew [us]. And before we came forth out of the womb, He sanctified us, and He ordained [us] a prophet [or prophetess] unto [all the world.]” And now my friends, we have dismantled self, and allowed God’s Spirit to rebuild our character within Christ as we maintain that relationship through His word.

But life seemed not so complicated before we allowed Christ to enter our life. Those times when the flesh ran rampant with no limits, or boundaries. Fornication, adultery, lies, stealing, unhealthy eating habits, and the list goes on. How we lived life from day to day was never problematic when we were on that train bound for perdition. But now Satan has refocused his attention back on us.

And that is why it is important that God’s full armor is battle ready and we are never without it, because like Paul, God chose us because He knew we were capable of remaining a faithful servant that would endure no matter what situation or circumstances we might find ourselves in. So we must remember “whatever were gains [to us in this world we must] continue, and forever consider as loss for the sake of Christ”

My friends, God never required a job interview or a resume from us when we decided to give Him our all. He had already “searched our heart and knew when we sat down and when we rose up; and He discerned our thoughts from afar.” Ps. 139:1 (NKJV) And He will never terminate His relationship with us when we mess up, because He is our father and Shepherd not an overbearing boss.

And He never looks at our profit and loss, only our Gain as we give Him all the glory and honor each day for what He has done in our lives. “Like a grapevine branch, we are not always producing fruit in our life. That would be unnatural. For a significant portion of a grapevine’s life is nothing but a dry, twisted stick, fruitless with no benefit to anyone.

It is even useless for shade, worthless as timber, to all appearances it is only fit to be ripped from the ground, thrown in a heap and burned.” “Yet those barren times are as vital in the life of the vine, as the season itself” (Grantley Morris) “Because God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, we are made alive together with Christ.”

And through His mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is His faithfulness. Lam. 3:22-24 (NKJV) My friends, the forces of evil looks back over our life and accuses each of God’s chosen of all of our mistakes and tells us we have gone to far in sin, to be saved.

But not with Christ for He starts at Calvary, and takes us through the trials and tribulation of this life, and places us in His loving wings, all the way to his soon appearing when He will say to His Children “my grace was sufficient” because it was always personal so “Well done” my child.

March 11, 2016

MY FRIENDS, ARE WE WONDERING AIMLESSLY WITH NO DESTINATION IN SIGHT?

“Those who would not fall a prey to Satan’s devices, must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts. The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject that the enemy of souls may suggest. The heart must be faithfully sentineled, or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in darkness.

“Gird up the loins of your mind,” Peter wrote, “be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (E.G. White, Acts Of The Apostles pp 518-519) My friends that quote tells us, we must avoid the “very appearance of evil” because “evils without will awaken evils within.”

Remember, Satan from the beginning of our conception has studied our character, he knows what areas we will fall in. He also knows what is generational within our DNA and what character flaws is hereditary that has been handed down from generation to generation that is within us. My friends we must never forget Satan is a strategist who will “blind the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Cor. 4:4 (KJV)

So we must “be sober-minded; and watchful. For our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) And my friends, that someone is you and I. In addition, our over saturation of what we see and hear in the media has turned our world into a nation of the walking dead. Not realizing that we are being manipulated by government and corporate advertisers.

And it is through what we watch and hear and the places we go where Satan causes us to stumble while at the same time we lose sight of Christ saving grace, forgetting that life is too short to squander it away on things that have nothing to do with our soul salvation. So to constantly program our minds on the things of this world will only shift our brain activity from Christ centered, to a state of “susceptibility, suggestibility and an unfocused state of mind.”

And it is at that point we have no desire of knowing, perceiving, or remembering the things God deems beneficial, and precious for our salvation. Remember, Moses had seen an entire generation wander aimlessly in the desert for forty years because they refused to believe God’s word. Instead, choose to believe the ten spies who said the land God had promised them was too difficult to conquer.

Therefore forty years, the Israelites roamed the wilderness, with no specific destination in sight. An entire generation was sentenced to an inactive and slothful wandering in the wilderness before they all died with only Moses, Joshua and Caleb remaining to represent the generation that left Egypt. Many of us experience this same dilemma, wandering in the wilderness of sin with no destination in sight as the year’s fly by.

My friends, time is precious, and how we use it for God’s glory and honor, is of vital importance to our spending eternity with Christ. Each precious moment we have left on this earth should be spent in searching to capture the mind and character of Christ through His word and Spirit because the things of this world will soon pass away and so will the unbelievers who did not give their all to Christ, but, “set their mind on earthly things, and not on things above.” Col. 3:2 (NIV)

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

March 9, 2016

MY FRIENDS, CAN WE TAKE A CHANCE AND DELAY?

“Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  My friends only forty days to repent and be saved, or everyone will be destroyed. In addition, God did not categorize their offensives, or determine their destruction by social class, or race, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Jonah 3:5 (KJV) tells us “The Ninevites believed God and a fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” Key word, all of the Ninevites believed. The murderers, the fornicators, the thief’s, the liars. The adulterers, those who coveted, those who worshiped other Gods, those who used the lords name in vain, those who did not keep the Sabbath day holy, even the gossipers.

Yes my friends, all believed and repented. Because once you allow God’s Spirit to take full control then you begin to develop that personal relationship with Christ. But sometimes this world looks far more appealing and we choose to linger far to long in sin instead of making a full transformation. In the spring at Niagara Falls, there is large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls.

Embedded in the ice you can see carcasses of dead fish. Gulls by the score will ride down the river feeding on the fish. As they come to the brink of the falls, their wings go out, and they escape annihilation at the powerful falls. But every once in a while a gull will delay, seemingly engrossed in the dead carcasses of all the fish, and when it finally comes to the brink of the falls, and it extends its powerful wings, the bird will flap but to no avail.

Even by chance it does lift the ice out of the water, it has delayed too long and its claws are now frozen into the ice and the weight becomes too great, causing the gull to plunge into the abyss. Oh, the danger of delay! I’m sure those who linger have seen others fall into the abyss, but, somehow they figured, they can succeed where others have failed. The Ninevites gave it all to the Master in forty days.

The thief on the cross, in an instant. My friends, Christ is knocking, any delay can be detrimental to one’s salvation because tomorrow is not promised. So today my friends, where do you start the process of transformation. Maybe you start with gossiping. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:29 (KJV) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Maybe you start at wasting God’s time. Paul also says, “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph. 5:16-17 (KJV) I could continue, pointing out ones transgressions that can be found in God’s word. But the question is not about the sin itself, but when does it become personal between you and God?

Or do we linger as the seagull because somewhere in our finite mind we figure we can succeed in sin where other’s before us have failed and escape before we are completely annihilated by Satan? My friends, if you reach that final sunset and you look into Christ eyes, will the tears you shed be tears of joy or would they be your last goodbye.”

It will be a tragedy to get to that day, and realize, all the delays, and all you had accumulated and accomplished on this earth “could not compare to eternal life that you now have lost.

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