April 14, 2014

MY FRIENDS, WHY ARE WE SLEEPING WHEN CHRIST NEEDS US THE MOST?

Today we will focus on Christ disciples, future ambassadors of this church we hold so dear. They were witnesses to Christ power as He cleanse the leper, spoke the words that healed the Centurions servant of palsy, cast out demons and raised Lazarus from the dead.

But their faith was still shattered when they allowed Satan to find an entry way into their lives. And it all plays out for His chosen in this generation so we can fully understand the power of Satan and why we must seek the presence of Christ Daily, and if we don’t, like His disciples we will also forsake Christ when He needs us the most “for such a time as this.”

Christ knew the faith of His disciples would be shattered and their path would be difficult, because they did not fully understand the power of Satan, so they choose to sleep instead of pray. As Christ was about to face Calvary “He went to the Mount of Olives, His disciples followed, when they arrived, Christ ask them to “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” as he went about a stones throw away to pray Himself.

Luke tells us, “He prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow He asked. “Why are you sleeping?” rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Luke 22:36-46 (NKJV) and that my friends is the question we must ask ourselves “Why are we sleeping?”

Have we spent so much time with Christ throughout our life, Satan’s power no longer has any effect on us? Can we look at our life today and say with full assurance our Savior can brag on us like He did Job? When He ask Satan; “Have you considered My Faithful Children below who forever spends their time in my presence, there is none like him or her on the earth, a blameless and upright man and woman , one who fears God and shuns evil?”

Remember because of the power of Christ prayer life and His study of the word and His relationship with His father, He was able to calm a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee totally composed and undisturbed, He faced demonic hostility, temptation’s from Satan at every step, and the cross examination of Jerusalem’s religious Elect with total restraint.

Christ is our example my friends, He stayed focused and was able to bear His cross on Calvary, what about our Cross? Once again we must ask ourselves “why are we sleeping”  Christ constant contact with His Father especially before He went to Calvary should let us know the importance of prayer.

The disciples spent 3-1/2 years in the presence of Christ and still, at that particular time they were unprepared for what was about to take place, they did not recognize the importance of staying awoke when He needed them the most. My friends, what are we doing each day, are we unprepared for what is about to take place in the final pages of this life’s history.

Remember Christ is mediating and advocating on our behalf before His Father right now. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10 (NIV)

“To every soul who will suffer with Him in resistance of sin, in labor for His cause, in self-denial for the good of others, He promises a part in the eternal reward of the righteous. Through the exercise of the spirit that characterized His lifework, we are to become partakers of His nature. Partaking in this life of sacrifice for the sake of others, we shall share with Him in the life to come the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (E. G. White R. & H., Sept. 28, 1911).

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 13, 2015

MY FRIENDS “FAITH IS CONTRADICTORY TO FALLACIES”

And fallacies is a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, that Satan creates from within “Eve really believed the words of Satan, but her belief did not save her from the penalty of sin. She disbelieved the words of God, and this was what led to her fall. In the judgment men will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie, but because they did not believe the truth, because they neglected the opportunity of learning what is truth.”(E.G. White  Patriarchs and Prophets pp 55)

And Jesus tells us “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NKJV) So our passion my friends, must be to seek that truth with all of our heart and soul and it begins with our faith in God. “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”

Up to this point Eve’s faith in God’s word allowed her to live a life that was centered around her faith in the promises of God’s law of love which is a “transcript of His character” and His wiliness to give our first parents all of their needs through their faith and not the Fallacies of the god of this world that desired only to end the peace and happiness our first parents were accustomed too.

So he gave Eve an alternative, which was contradictory to her faith in God. “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; Gen. 3:4-7 (NKJV) and thus, sin entered the world because of the unbelief of our first parents in God’s word.

In addition, 6,000 years later, we have mankind, who because of the first Adams fall, have been redeemed by the second Adam, Jesus Christ “And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.

”The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven…… And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” [if we believe] 1 Cor.15:45-49 (NKJV)

My friends, the direction we are going and whether we finish this journey, is all about holding on to our Faith in God because “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

In addition, at times “we doubt [God’s] goodness, we doubt [His] love as if every promise from [His] word is not enough and all the while, He hear’s each desperate plea and long that we’d have faith to believe. ‘Cause what if His blessings come through rain drops What if His healing comes through tears,

what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know [He’s] near, What if the trials of this life are [His] mercies in disguise” (Laura Story, Blessings) My friends remember “this world is not our permanent home; [we must have a passion to] keep looking forward [through our faith] to a home yet to come.”Heb. 13:14 (NLT)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

MY FRIENDS, CAN WE DARE TO BE A DANIEL IN THE 21ST CENTURY?

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-3 (KJV)

”perfect result, complete, lacking in nothing,” those words tells us that our faith is “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Before Christ comes for the second time, our eternal destination will have to be based totally on our faith and endurance. Let’s go to Daniel chapter 6 and see how one of God’s faithful in that generation handled a situation where it was all about his faith in his God.

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.” Daniel 6:10-11 (KJV)

if we go back to the beginning of chapter 6, Daniel has been appointed satrap or governor of one of the provinces under the ancient Persian monarchy. Then in verse 3 it tells us “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

Then the chapter goes on to tells us; the other satraps attempted to find some fault with Daniel, in other words they were jealous and prejudice; this alien outsider, how dare the king put him in such a prestigious position. So they set out to find a loophole to trap Daniel, so their conclusion; we will never be able to find any fault with Daniel, so they decide to go after the God he serves and how Daniel serves Him.

But not fully understanding, as God’s representative, the light from the living God Daniel serves, shines through Daniel, out to the world. So if they can find no fault in Daniel, how could they ever think they would fine any fault in the Creator of the universe. My friends, does the world know our God through us if not, why not?

And does He live within us to such a point that it becomes obvious that no one “shall separate us from the love of Christ [and His will for us? not tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword………..and in all these things we [have become more] than conquerors through [our faith in]him that loved us? Romans 8:35-37 (KJV)

The plot thickens, the other governors devised a plan to get the death penalty for Daniel, But God’s chosen never changed his routine so he continued, three times a day praying with his window open so all could see. So the other governors get their wish.

But Daniel’s light from God, did shine onto the king because of His relationship with him, and  he tells Daniel “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” not He might deliver you, but He will deliver you. Oh yes my friends, he believed in the true God and what He was capable of doing. What a testimony to the one who serves God and let’s “His light so shine that others may see Christ in him.

Daniel spends the night in the lions den and in the morning, the king hurried to the lions’den. He calls Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.

They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.” And then at the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.”

My friends, it all comes down to, do we have the passion and endurance to dare to be a Daniel in the 21st century and have the perfect result, complete, lacking in nothing, as we carry our cross while following Christ wherever He leads us.

April 11, 2015

MY FRIENDS, “REACHING THE HARVEST” WHERE DO WE START?

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2 (ESV)

My friends, once again let’s make it personal and ask ourselves the question, what is holding me back from responding to Christ plea to go feed my sheep? For “the harvest is plentiful,” but the workers are few” Remember we are His chosen generation “for such a time as this” and God expects us to go and give the good news of His gospel, that Jesus saves and He will return soon.

So why do we wait, Christ is not going to wait until we buy our new home, or get out of school, or get married, all of that is secondary to what He needs accomplished right now. So we must be willing today to get out among His harvest and saturate it with his love and kindness.

For “we are bidden to go forth as Christ’s messengers, to teach, instruct, and persuade men and women, to urge upon their attention the word of life. And to us also the assurance of Christ’s abiding presence is given. Whatever the difficulties with which we may have to contend, whatever the trials we may have to endure, the gracious promise is always ours, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

“Evangelism, the very heart of Christianity, is the theme of primary importance to those called to herald god’s last warning to a doomed world. we are in time’s closing hours, and the [good news of God’s] message, proclaimed to make ready a people prepared for our lord’s return, must swell to a loud cry reaching the uttermost parts of the earth” (E. G. White Evangelism pp 5,15)

My friends, learning to clearly distinguish God’s voice as the prophets of old would probably guarantee most of the world an easy path to Gods pure and holy kingdom. But God has ask His chosen to be His voice to the world. But in order for us to actually hear God’s voice telling us to go feed my flock, we must recognize it. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 (KJV)

Those who hear God’s voice are those who walk in the footsteps of God, and who have been saved by the transforming power of His love and grace through faith. These are the sheep who hear and recognize His voice, who come when He calls and are ready to respond to whatever situation, or circumstances our Savior places us in to carry out His mandate to a world that has lost its spiritual compass.

Each day we must ask not my will but thou will be done and every day we must place ourselves in a position to hear His voice and respond to Him telling us to carry our cross and follow Him “for the harvest is plentiful” But my friends we will never be able too respond to God’s voice, if the god of this world has captured our attention.

For we cannot serve “two masters; for either we will hate the one and love the other, or else we will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” Luke 16:13 (NKJV) So, the more time we spend intimately with God and His Word, the easier it is to hear His voice and His leading in our lives from what the forces of evil is telling us to do or not do.

In addition, as God’s chosen, we should be so familiar with God’s Word, and voice that when God does say go, there is no reservation that it is God telling  His son and daughter “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; [and one day soon] I will put you in charge of many things in my kingdom”

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 10, 2915

MY FRIENDS, HAS THE CANCER OF SIN BEEN ERADICATED FROM OUR LIVES?

“Cancer develops when cells in one part of our body begins to grow out of control. Once a person reaches maturity, cells in most parts of the body divide only to replace worn out or dying cells.

Because cancer cells continue to grow and divide, they are different from normal cells; instead of dying, they outlive normal cells and continue to form new abnormal cells often travelng to other parts of the body where they begin to grow and replace normal tissue. These cancer cells, if they are not entirely eradicated, will continue to multiply and will eventually kill the patient.”

So it is with the sin in our lives if it is not completely eradicated, it will eventually lead to death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 6:23 (NKJV) Which tells us, if we have faith and believe in Christ Jesus, we have become “a new creation, The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Cor.5:17 (ESV)

My friends our minds and bodies have been renewed through Christ we were once lost because of the cancer of sin, but because of  God’s amazing grace and what was done for humanity on Calvary we now live new lives, our sins have become eradicated through the blood of Christ and our Faith in that blood cleansing us from our sins.

Consistent with this, “when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holy law.” John 1:9 (KJV) states The “Light, which lighteth every man [and woman] that cometh into the world, illumines the secret chambers of the soul, and the hidden things of darkness are made manifest.”

“Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart. The sinner has a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with Heaven.”(E. G. White Steps to Christ, p. 24.)

One of the greatest gifts God has given man among many is the ability for His Spirit to completely eradicate our connection to anything that “conform to the pattern of this world, but [through our faith we will] be transformed by the renewing of our mind. [and] then [we] will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Rom 12:2 (NIV)

In addition, it will than lead us to Repentance and Restoration of our lives as we began to make a 180 degree turn around, not 360. For 360 only tells our savior I have tried your way, but now I am returning back to the forces of evil because I have not allowed you to completely cut out the cancer of this world in my life. My friends today search you heart from within, what are we allowing to destroy what is the pure and holy will of God.

So today, search from within what are we allowing to destroy what is pure and holy in our lives, is it gossip, is it the time we spend in front of our TV and not the word of God, is it our lying, or stealing, or covertness, or adultery, or have we decided to replace the true and living God with other gods, or is it simply our “socially acceptable sins” whatever it is my friends “choose you this day whom you will serve” for our lives depend on the choice we make.

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 9, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WE ARE GOD’S CHOSEN GENERATION, SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Robertson McQuilkin wrote, “God planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we’ll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever.”

And that my friends just about sums it up, as a youth coming up, life was not complicated so we took it for granted as if there was no end in sight, then one day we woke up from our dream and realized how susceptible to being wounded and hurt in this controversy between good and evil, we really were.

So then we “turned our eyes upon Jesus and Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth [that we thought we could not do without suddenly] grew strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. in addition, for most baby boomers life has been a journey that has been a quandary of twist and turns like the clay in the potter hand.

“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Jer. 18:3-4 (NASB) and like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are each of our Characters in the hands of our Savior.

But thank God, the Potter continued to transform our characters, as He prepares us for the challenges that we will encounter on this Journey He has placed us on. Remember  we are all a part of a larger plan, a chosen generation that our Savior has chosen “for such a time as this” right before He comes a second time.

Yes the generation that were a part of the golden age of the fifties, sixties and seventies, where moral authority and discipline disintegrated or became extent; as the marriage vows became obsolete all together; while the relaxation of censorship in books, TV, music, and the media and gay liberation became the norm.

So now we enter 2015 and the world that our generation provided the forbidden fruit that developed House wives of Atlanta, Empire, Scandal, Dancing with the stars, Kanye West, JZ, and the acceptance of  marriage vows between man and man and woman and woman, God is asking us to finish His mandate.

Yes the generation that  has seen it go from Luci and Ricky Ricardo sleeping in separate beds, to the level of sin like it was before the flood when God looked at the world and “saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Gen 6:5-6 (KJV)

So today if we accept God’s challenge to go into all the world with the good news of the gospel, we cannot allow Satan to intimidate us into thinking the millennium generation or the baby boomers or any other generation is a lost generation, because what I do know through Gods word is Jesus Christ died for all generations.

So today the challenge is for us who have come through this war and have learned to carry the entire armor of Christ because we understand more than ever before ‘that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Eph. 6:12 (NKJV) to follow Christ wherever He leads.

In addition,  like our Savior we must never lose focus. Remember we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that [we] should shew forth [to all the world] the praises of him who hath called [us] out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 8, 2015

MY FRIENDS, CAN WE FIND OUR WAY BACK HOME OR HAVE WE STRAYED TO FAR?

The common element we have with sheep is the propensity to get lost and stray away from the path by not following the direction of the Good shepherd. And the farther it strays, the harder it becomes to hear the Good Shepherds voice calling for it to return home. We must wonder what could be going through the mind of sheep that would cause them to leave the safe comfort of the shepherd and his leadership and go out on it’s own, into the unknown.

In addition, the probability of predators who’s only objective is to find its prey and destroy is unavoidable. And it is also with a child of God who has decided to stray from the safe comfort and protection of Jesus Christ,  Satan observes and knows at what point we weaken and decide to stray on our own. Webster defines Prodigal; as wasteful, reckless and extravagant.

When Christ gave the example of the Prodigal Son it’s obvious He didn’t associate a name with Him, like Bob, John, Mary or Kathy he is simply the son, which tells us the son refers to all of God’s Children who decides Christ is not the answer, I will stray, and find my own way back home when the time comes.

And it is at that moment our name becomes Prodigal because our  life takes on the attributes of someone who is reckless and wasteful and my friends, it is usually all about the reckless and wasteful use of our time in this very small window of probationary period we have been given between birth and death. We must never forget that Satan’s only goal is to destroy God’s Children as he uses ever circumstances and situation that takes our focus off of Christ and onto the things of this world that traps God’s chosen.

And then because we have strayed so far we begin to loose our hope and joy, thus causing us to lose focus on how to get back to the Good Shepherd, which then causes us to wonder aimlessly into self destruction until Satan has us believing we can’t go back. He tells us, Christ will not accept you, you have gone to far to go back home.

Consistent with this, our hope fades with each day we stay away. But my friends the Good Shepherd is also watching and waiting with open arms. So what does returning to Christ involve. Remember  Home is a place where we felt accepted and loved. But now, only a distance memory when life was simple and good.

But the good news is that when we cannot find our way back home, God will find a way to lead us back home to him. That’s the image of God that Jesus Christ gave us. As our lives resume being transformed by the power of God’d Spirit, as God calls us back home to His protection and love. To most of us home is a wonderful place. Authors Dallas Willard says going back home gives us “a means to reconsider and reconfigure our strategy for living.” It is the element that calls for each of us to change directions.”

like the Prodigal Son who “When he came to his senses, said, I will go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants. So he got up and went back home to his father. Luke 15:17-20 (KJV) It will be a difficult journey going back home.

But set your mark on the prize which is eternal life in God’s pure and holy kingdom. And then on that day we make it back home, He will repeat His words of love to us “He who was lost is now found and there is celebration in my household!”

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 7, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WE’VE COME TO FAR FROM WHERE WE STARTED FROM, WE CAN’T TURN AROUND NOW!!

My friends let’s make it personal today because every now and then we have to look back and recognize where we were at a certain time in our life when sin abound on every level, when our theme song was what a friend we have in Satan! When he was our copilot forever taking us to the peak of the highest mountain and saying “All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

And just at the time when Satan put the auto pilot on, and we had gone into descent, headed for utter destruction, grace caught our falling soul and our Savior looked beyond our faults, while never forgetting the plea of someone who loved us dearly cry out so many times in the night “please save my child”

And today through it all as we travel on this journey God has placed us on, as we see the mountains that we will have to continue to climb and the battles we will have to continue to fight, we must remember my friends, no one said there wouldn’t be trials, no one said we wouldn’t fall, no one said that everything would go the way we would want it to go.

But when our back is against the wall and we fill all hope is gone, we have to just lift our head up to the sky and say Lord please help me to be strong because I can’t give up now. Yes my friends, we can’t give up now, because “we’ve come too far from where we started from and nobody told us the road would be smooth or easy.

In addition, I don’t believe the God we serve that gave His only begotten Son and a Son who gave it all for our Salvation on Calvary has brought us this far to turn His back on us.” Some African cultures will take individuals to be initiated into the woods and leave them there alone to face the danger and uncertainty of whether they’ll make it out alive.

And it is, as a child of God we are placed at times in situation and circumstances where we fill uncertain on whether we will finish this journey because the terrain is so rough, we wonder, if I am a child of God why am I going through this pain and suffering? why isn’t the road easier for His Children? But we’ve come too far my friends, we are at the threshold of the promise land, soon Gabriel will blow His trumpet.

Remember nobody told us the road would be easy Christ is our example, it was never easy for Him and I don’t believe the God we serve has brought us this far to turn His back on us.  So we must keep our focus in one direction and that is upward. Because we can be confident of this, that he who began a good work in [each of His children] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil 1;6 (NIV)

“Although our sins have merited condemnation, He does not condemn us. Year after year He has borne with our weakness and ignorance, with our ingratitude and waywardness. Notwithstanding our wanderings, our hardness of heart, our neglect of His Holy Word, His hand is stretched out still.

Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was sent in search of us……He will take the prey from the mighty, He will deliver the captive, He will pluck the brand from the burning. He will lower the golden chain of His mercy to the lowest depths of human wretchedness, and lift up the debased soul contaminated with sin.” [which is His faithful who hold on and endure] (E. G. White Helping the Tempted pp 161)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 6,2015

MY FRIENDS IS JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR, LORD, OR BOTH?

What an awesome feeling in knowing all that Christ has done for us. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” And my friends, we were all lost in sin, shapen in iniquity; and in sin did [our] mother conceive [us].” But we have a Savior and no matter how far we have traveled down that road to perdition, our Savior was willing to reach out as far as it will take, to rescue us and to let us know, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

But my friends, it is very simple, with no obligation on our part when our Savior is doing all of the Work; first He died for our sins on Calvary, now He mediates and advocates on our behalf, before “our Father which art in heaven, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) So now we are heaven bound.

But our Lord, the creator of the universe, The great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, Jehovah, the all-powerful, all-knowing, Omnipresent  Lord of Lord also tells us; Yes it is a free gift but “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matt. 7:21-22 (NKJV)

So why would the one who has Given us this free gift of Salvation have conditions on us receiving what He has promised us, In the (SDA bible commentary pp 358) it tells us “The words, “not and “but” highlight the strong contrast between the mere talker and the actual doer of Gods will. Mere profession is worthless. He who pretends to know God and yet disobeys His commands is a liar and the truth is not in Him [or her] 1 John 2:4 (KJV)

Then when the text speaks of Him as “Lord, Lord” says, to address Christ as “Lord” is to profess the belief that He is indeed the Messiah, and [it also] implies that the speaker has assumed the role of disciple.” So my friends, To recognize Christ as our Savior and to accept that, is just not enough, for we must also take it one step farther by generating a passion from within us to step out on faith and say Lord, Lord not my will, but thou will be Done as we carry our cross on this journey Christ has placed us on to the promise land.

In addition, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matt. 13:45-46 (NKJV) My friends that text does not say the merchant when he found what he had been looking for, went out and sold half of what he had or 75 %, or 99.999 %, the merchant sold everything.

And that must be our attitude if we have found that beautiful pearl which is eternal life that we truly seek. We must give our all, “In the parable the pearl is not represented as a gift. The merchantman bought it at the price of all that he had. Many question the meaning of this, since Christ is represented in the Scriptures as a gift.

He is a gift, but only to those who give themselves, soul, body, and spirit, to Him without reserve. We are to give ourselves to Christ, to live a life of willing obedience to all His requirements. All that we are, all the talents and capabilities we possess, are the Lord’s, to be consecrated to His service. When we thus give ourselves wholly to Him, Christ, with all the treasures of heaven, gives Himself to us. We obtain the pearl of great price.” (E. G. White Christ Object Lessons  pp 116)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

April 4, 2015

MY FRIENDS, GOD WATCHES AND PROTECTS THE SPARROW SURELY HE DOES THE SAME FOR US?

“When Jesus is my portion, my constant Friend is He, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. Let not your heart be troubled; these tender words I hear;  And resting on his goodness I lose my doubts and fears; For by the path He leadeth but one step I may see; His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. I sing because I’m happy; I sing because I’m free; His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me.”

My friends, the sparrow is one of the smallest of birds in the animalia family. And because of it’s size, it has to constantly be on the lookout for predators trying to eat them, pathogens trying to infect them, and severe storms where it will seek shelter on the lee side of a tree or deep inside the thick hedges. So as long as it stays put, they will be protected.

My friends the lee side of the tree is the side which is protected from the torrential rain and thunder storms and when a storm arises that is where the sparrow knows to go and stay put where the storms will not penetrate. Like the sparrow, as a child of God we must understand the concept of staying put, waiting on the lord, for “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling…… God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn” Ps. 46:1-5 (NKJV)

That text tells us if we will just hold on and stay put, for “our faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”Heb 11:1 (NKJV) and unlike the Sparrow that must be protected from many predators, Satan is our only enemy which lays many obstacles in our path that entices us to leave the shelter of our Savior and follow him to perdition.

So our focus must be on our Savior and the promises in His word not on the storm and outside elements. Consistent with this, if we allow our faith to stand firm as we wait on the Lord, at the break of dawn, the Lord will rise and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there [will be] a great calm. Matt. 8:26 (ESV)

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God’s protection. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.

When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, so that those under the cover of her wings would live. (Author Unknown)

My friends Christ has done it all for our Salvation even died a cruel death so that we may live and have a shelter in the storm and life eternal if we believe. So let’s take our position behind the Master; and “stand firm and see the deliverance of the LORD….Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged….. the LORD will be with us.” 2 Chronicles 20:17 (NIV)

So friends stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY