Oct 6, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WHEN WE REACH THAT FINAL SUNSET THEN WHAT?

When the Israelite’s left Egypt Gods tells them; “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”  Ex. 19:4-6 (NKJV) But my friends, their blessings were contingent upon them having “no other gods.” In other words nothing could be more important than their commitment and loyalty to Jehovah the only true God of heaven and earth.

But in spite of all that God had done and was willing to continue to do, they were not willing to make a full commitment. So today, God like the “parent bird who takes its young from the nest and teaches it to fly and protects it with it’s own life.

So our Savior bares us up on his wings and protects us from all danger because He is the one ”who goes with us [in every situation and circumstances.] And He will never leave us nor forsake us.” Deut. 31:6 (NKJV)

And like the Israelite’s, He has plans for us, and we are also “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

But like the Israelite’s, our blessings are also contingent upon us having no other gods before us. In addition, there must be a commitment to serve and a lifestyle change as to what we see, hear or where we go. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  Mark 8:36-37 (KJV) My friends, as we move closer to Christ second coming. Satan will begin to try and weaken our spiritual immune system more and more with other gods and the things of this world that we place before Him.

In addition, if our focus is not on the saving grace of our Savior and His word, the only thing that we have to compare success and happiness too, are the things of this world. But God has promised us, if we believe, in the promises in His word.

There is a place, that no “eye has seen, nor ear has heard what He has prepared for each of us who love Him and keeps His commandment” 1 Cor. 2:9 (KJV) “The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique in that  it was not based on the winner or winners who finished first, but on the one who finished with his or her torch still lit.”

My Friends we must finish this race for our savior, with the same desire, passion and determination, that we had when we first found Jesus, with torches still lit, shining just as bright, as we spread the good news of Christ second coming.

Giving it all for the Master must be our mission statement it must be all about His needs not ours because “When we reach that final sunset and we look into his eyes, will the tears we shed be tears of joy or would they be our last goodbye.”

It will be a tragedy to get to that day that we have waited for all our life, and realize that all we had accumulated and accomplished on this earth “could not compare to eternal life” (Wintley Phipps)

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Oct. 5, 2015

MY FRIENDS, OH WHAT POWER IF WE WILL ONLY SEEK GODS KINGDOM!!!

My friends, I suggest  you read the events in 2 Kings 18 and 19 which tells us of the mighty power of God when we seek His presence. Hezekiah is now king of Judah. A king who “trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.

There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; and kept [all of God’s laws].” 2 Kings 18:5:7 (NIV)

Then you have the king of Assyria, Sennacherib who has defeated Israel in battle “because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant.” Judah and Israel are two separate kingdoms at this time.

Sennacherib now has His sights on Judah. In 2 Kings 18:30-37 (NIV) Sennacherib “defies the armies of the living God” with harsh words, just like Goliath did before David demonstrated the power of the true God.

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?…… How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp.

When the people got up the next morning there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword. 2 Kings 19:30-37 (NIV)

My friends “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,” Ps 8:4-6 (NKJV)

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” Romans 8:16-17 (NKJV)

Today, focus on those two text, and then focus on the power in one angel of the army of the Lord. And then we need to remind ourselves that “Christ who voluntarily took His place among men, but demanded no special favors, but He knew whence He came.”

Should also tell us, as men and women, heirs to Gods kingdom and joint heirs with Christ, we also must know “from whence we came” and who we serve. I doubt if God will ever ask us to destroy one hundred and eighty five thousand men in war, but he will give us all the power we need to serve him “for such a time as this.”

But my friends it must be all about fulfilling God’s needs not ours. James 4:2-3 (NKJV) tells us “you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

So “seek first God’s kingdom” and what is required to finish that course and once you have done that “Eye have not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man” what you will receive next.

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

MY FRIENDS, NINE PEOPLE DIED ADMITTING  THEY WERE A CHRISTIAN, HOW WOULD YOU RESPONSE?

“Breaking News.” “The gunman entered his classroom firing as he told the professor teaching the class, “I’ve been waiting to do this for years,” and shot him point blank, (CNN News) “A Twitter user named @bodhilooney, who said her grandmother was at the scene of the carnage, tweeted that if victims said they were Christian, “then they were shot in the head.

If they said no, or didn’t answer, they were shot in the leg. Gunman Chris Harper-Mercer’s disdain for religion,” [killed all who he thought were Christians]. (New York News) My friends, today it is going to be personal again because one day our Salvation may depend on how we respond to that same question “are you a Christian?”

Now I present this question to each of us, as we are placed in a hypothetical situation in this same classroom with only seconds to respond. We are sitting at our desk the teacher is dead and three people have already been killed for acknowledging their allegiance to their Lord and Savior.

Two people have also been shot in the leg, not necessarily because they are not Christians but like all of us they love life more than death, they also have families, husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers or maybe they have a cat at the house they would like to say goodbye too.

At That moment everything seemed more important than being a Christian. But my friends we can’t judge their reaction or why they choose to say they were not Christians and maybe they really were not Christians they could have been Muslims or Buddhist or maybe they just deny the “existence of a supreme being all together.”

I would imagine in that situation, life looks better than the alternative. Now the gunman approaches, the person on one side of us has a gunshot wound in the leg on the other side the person has been shot in the head because of his or her beliefs. So how do we respond?

We can’t serve God if we are dead we tell ourselves? If we do say we are not a Christian we can continue to serve God, and spread the good news of the gospel everyday. And we do love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and our neighbor as our self.

And then we pray Lord “I need You Just to get through [this situation and I will continue to serve you but] Today I’m breaking under the weight of it all And I’m afraid I might fall Today I’m empty But I am willing To keep listening and looking for You in the noise For Your quiet voice Are You telling me to go?

Are You telling me to stay? Are You telling me to hold on to You for another day?” (Mandisa, Where You Begin) My friends, but we don’t hear that voice among the chaos and mayhem, Why? 

We truly have served God up to this point? why no response? My friends that is when it becomes all about our faith. “As Christ felt His unity with the Father broken up, He feared that in His human nature He would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the powers of darkness.

In the wilderness of temptation the destiny of the human race had been at stake. Christ was then conqueror. Now the tempter had come for the last fearful struggle.” [as he hung on the cross] (E.G. White Desire of Ages pp 686-687) .

And we know how that ended even when His Father was silent. But now it’s all about you and I as Satan has “come for the last fearful struggle” in our life so how do we respond?

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Oct. 1, 2015

MY FRIENDS, A REAL CONVICTION IN THE 21^ST CENTURY, IS IT POSSIBLE?

How many will be satisfied with just being entertained by God’s Spirit this week in church? His presence will be there, but it is your choice how you respond. In addition, it has to be more than a walk down the aisle at the alter call.

And if the entertainment was outstanding, you may even allow the pastor or the prayer warriors to pray for you, but if there is no real conviction, when you get home your mind will convert back to the things of this world as you tell yourself  I am  just not ready to let self completely die.

And so life stays the same with no real conviction because with conviction comes a responsibility. Conviction is a real passion and a firm belief and knowledge of what has happen in our life as we look back and see every area of our life where God has brought us through.

Conviction is love, because God so loved us, that He gave His only begotten Son and a Son who gave it all for our Salvation. Conviction is Faith and endurance to not give up until our Savior wipes every tear from our eyes for the last time.

”As Mary’s tears of love flowed down her cheeks mixing with the fragrance of Love and gratitude of our Savior, she stoops to wipe the feet of the master, Her thoughts were only “I can’t forget the way life used to be while I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound….,

Until the day when Jesus came to me and healed my soul With the wonder of His touch. So now I’m giving back to Him All the praise He’s worthy of, because I’ve been forgiven.” (CE CE Winans, Alabaster Box”)

Luke 7:39-43 (NKJV) tells us “Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

But what Mary did tells the world, I am convicted because my sins have been forgiven. “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.” Mark 16:0 (NIV)

From a human standpoint Mary appeared hopelessly lost in sin. “But Christ saw in Mary capabilities for good. He saw the better traits of her character. The plan of redemption has invested humanity with great possibilities, and in Mary these possibilities were to be realized.

Through His grace she became a partaker of the divine nature. The one who had fallen, and whose mind had been a habitation of demons, was brought very near to the Savior in fellowship and ministry.

It was Mary who sat at His feet and learned of Him. It was Mary who poured upon His head the precious anointing oil, and bathed His feet with her tears. Mary stood beside the cross, and followed Him to the sepulcher. Mary was first at the tomb after His resurrection. It was Mary who first proclaimed a risen Savior.” (E.G.White Desire of Ages)

My friends how many demons has Christ removed from our life as we travel on our journey to the promise land. Nothing should be too costly for the good Shepard, if there is real conviction from within. And if there is a real conviction, all of our talents our money and most of all our time will become our “Alabaster Box” for the Master.

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Sep. 28, 2015

MY FRIENDS, DO WE KNOW AT WHAT MOMENT, “AND THEN” HAPPENS?

“The angel of the Lord pulls back the curtain.” Oh how close the god of this world and all who follow him are to reaching their cup of indignation as God stands up while saying to His Son, let’s go get my Children, heirs to our kingdom.

As we study God’s word and look behind that curtain it reveals to us what is being played out each day in the media as “breaking news” becomes more the drug of choice that keeps our society focused on the chaos.

Matt 24:14 (KJV) states “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” My friends “and then” should bring a child of God back to reality in this fast paced society as we focus on, at what moment in the next few days will the good news of the gospel have reached everyone among the chaos.

Of course, the god of this world will make sure it never become “breaking news.” Paul tells us “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:2-4 (ESV) But my friends it now becomes Personal because Paul is talking to God’s chosen who have “Set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Col. 1:2 (NKJV)

To God’s faithful “breaking news” only happens when the “Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NKJV) My friends, God is finishing up His work here on earth and it is moving at record speed.

“It took radio broadcasters 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million, television 13 years, and the internet just four.” “Information and communications technology (ICT) have changed the face of the world.

Computers, cell phones, the Internet and satellite technologies, enables people to communicate throughout the world instantaneously,”  “The Internet is the fastest growing instrument of communication in the history of civilization.”

So my friends what moment in the next few days will we not be aware of God’s word reaching everyone, “and then,” the end will come. “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard: hold it fast and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” Rev. 3:3 (KJV)

My friends if you have a passion to give it all to the Master and do His will, then God’s grace still abounds within as He allows his spirit to lead each of His chosen on this Journey to the Promise land.

So please go before our Savior day and night seeking his presence, and hold on to his promises through faith, while not letting  go until His appearing, and we see Him face to face, as he tells His Children “well done thou good and faithful servant.”

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)