General

When God rewards you prepare for a storm.

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As we grow in our faith time to time God will feel we are due a reward within this temporal life. As I am learning though with these rewards comes a new test. A test to see if we are still faithful unto Him. A test to see if we are ready for the new step in our growth with God.
He had just finished pruning your branch and you have borne Him fruit that glorifies Him and so the pruning stops for a short time. It is in this time that you receive your reward. Then new fruit begins to germinate and grow. It is here that He may decide to pluck these fruits for better ones and it will most likely hurt. Either emotionally, physically or both, yet we must go through this to be a better servant unto Him and to those that are in need of our example and witness that Christ is the Savior of all.

Confessions of a screwed up middle-aged man: Why do adults burden their children with adult issues?

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I have no answer to this. I am seeking insight.
Could it be they are seeking to not bear their own responsibilities?
Are they trying to be like children again and by placing these burdens upon their offspring they can go about and have no cares themselves?
How selfish an act if that is true?
Each person is responsible for their own actions. They cannot pass on their burdens to some other person. If you never take responsibility then how can you be worthy to take praise when you have accomplished a goal? Did you yourself actually reach this goal or did you steal if from someone below you in age or rank in society?
This is not praise worthy but sad and onerous. It is despicable.
You cannot stand before God and say; “Well I gave the problem to my son or daughter why don’t you confront them.”
God wishes children to be children. To enjoy their childhood before the burden of free-will falls upon them and they must start to take account of their own behavior and missteps.
When you are raised in a society that teaches the golden rule of “Do unto to other as you would have others do unto you,” how can you even think of using someone?
But then that rule is no longer taught, is it? Why is that? Why are people being taught to look out only for themselves no matter the cost? Do they really want to know what the real cost is going to be?
I know there are those that do not believe in God, there are those that believe in a “god,” but have no concept nor desire to seek for it. As a result the world is falling into chaos. Death and slaughter is occurring in places no one ever though it would happen, but it does. Why? Because all are now taught that they are all that is important and all others are useless humans just taking up space.
Now just think on that statement if most are think this and they think all other are garbage, does that not make them garbage? Yes it does.
But this is not how God see us. God see that all are special. All have a place and a purpose. Yet this is not what those that wish to control and dominate want you to find out.
So the next time you want to pass the buck to a child or someone else for that matter. Stop! Think, and remember sooner or later they will think you are scum and it just might be true. Sad, really really sad.

The moon, proof there is a God

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I was watching one of these science shows the other day and one of the theorist said it was mere chance the moon is set exactly where it needs to be for it to block the sun perfectly time to time. I usually laugh when these theorist spout their conjecture but this time it just made me mad.
People need to realize the people on these shows are simply stating their idea of what is happening. Now I will admit they have certain evidences to support some of their theories, but some are really really out there and have no true evidence to support them.
An excellent example are dinosaurs. For over a hundred years they theorized that dinosaur tails dragged the ground. Yet no footprints supported this hypothesis. Then some other science came out which showed with certainty that their tail bones went in a straight not a curving line and so that theory died and was replaced with one of the few facts that we do have about an animal that has been dead for a long time.
This is how most astronomical science is, more theory then fact. That is how it is for the moon as well. When you take the size of the universe and say it was “mere chance” that the moon obits this planet at the exact point needed to block the sun and earth to block the sun from the moon are astronomical. A planet that just by “chance” has intelligent live upon it just adds to how astronomical the odds are that this is “mere chance.”
Now some would say is this the only planet in the entire universe to have a moon and sun just like this? I have no true answer to that question. Why? Because that takes in play millions of factors that not even so call “experts” can answer, yet they go about parading as if they are the be all end all authority. It is when people allow these folks to gain such stature that other important facts become lost in the flood of confusion these people spout out as if they no without a doubt that what they say is fact when it is nothing but an idea given weight by a few facts, yet not enough facts to prove them right at this time.
These are false teachers and should either be ignored at the most or have their ideas questioned at the least.
When you look upon the orbit of the moon and its placement in your sky that is pure proof that this entire universe was created by God and that on this planet He placed humans upon. To see the signs in the heaven and to know that by them God does exist and He has a purpose for all that accept Him as true and real. If they really wish to prove they are right then they should find a way to truly disprove the Bible and explain how the moon stop for a day in one instance and for a few hours in another. Yet they do not they ignore it all together. Right it of as fantasy. Well I can do the same about their theories, yet I do not. I listen and give them a chance to prove to me or the Bible wrong as all should do to all views. This is called tolerance and a willingness to analyze facts and either agree or come to my own conclusion. The latter usually wins.

So you want to dress up for church

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Early in my faith I was in the balcony of a large church. I was watching the group of people moving about below me as they looked for a good spot to sit in the pews below.
I noticed one woman waving her hand to another and I could read her lips as she said; “I love your hat.”
I said; “Really” to myself… soon after I stopped going to this church. It has since fallen on rough times and is now small compared to its heyday.
In Matthew 6: 31-32 Christ states we are not to do as the gentiles do seeking after clothes that look fancy as well as what to drink or eat. As long as we place God first our material needs will be met by Him, does that mean they have to be extravagant? No, for what it took to get them can be used to please God in some form rather than your own personal ego. Yet many churches say nothing about this lavishness.
As a result those without the money to dress up are left out of the Glory of God. So they turn their back upon God seeing these wonton people singing in all their splendor and self-glory.
This is not the way of the Lord people. This is the way of the world and is not an example of God but of humans seeking after their own selfish desires and glorification.

My Burden

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My burden is for those that have asked Jesus Christ to be their Savior yet they live in the world. These are the “lukewarm” mentioned in Revelation 3:15-16.
But why are they my burden? Because I was nearly one of them, and yet I still do not believe I am free to fully say I am not one. In 2 Peter 2 the world we now live within is shown and in particular in verses 20 -22 it shows those that are the lukewarm and they are fallen away from their salvation. It is made clear that it would be better for them if they had never asked Christ into their hearts.
We are to watch out for one another, help and strengthen those within the body so they can avoid this fate yet more and more fall into the trap of the world and its rewards instead of working toward the great reward promised unto us beyond this temporal live.
Too many fall into the trap of temporal rewards not being reminded that it is not this live but the next in which we are to look for our rewards. Our lives are to be tough. We are to be despised, not only for the outside but from those within that have lost their ways, which is more than those that have not. Too often excuses are made, too often exceptions are allowed.
Do I expect what I say to be welcomed? No, but I will not back down either. I have backed down once before. I allowed the world and the lukewarm to knock me down and dishearten me, but I will no longer do so. I accept this as a pruning of my branch has is described in John 15 for I wish to bear more and sweeter fruit for God through my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? Because I wish no one to be left behind that thought themselves to be welcomed within the arms of God only to find out either on the day of the Rapture or when they stand before God during the Great White Throne Judgment that they were in reality the grey, the lukewarm for Christ. For Jesus made it clear their fate will not be one they expected and it is something that I personally never wish to witness but I know I will. I wish to know that at the very least I tried to help them for that is what we are supposed to do.

“Just go for it!”

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These are the words that someone fully engrossed into a sinful life was encouraging another person to join them in their sin. When I heard this by accident on a show designed for teenagers to watch I fully understood something that has always been at the back of my mind but this gave it credence.
It is far easier to sin then it is not to sin. This is why throughout the Bible we are told to teach our children of God and of what He expects of us so they will be able to resist such temptations as this person encountered in this show. What is worse is that it actually made it to the television screen.
Too long people that profess to be “Christian” watch shows like this and allow their children to do the same. We are told to turn from sin and to gather together to strengthen ourselves so we can avoid such temptations. Is this being done now? No for if it were these shows would have never made into our homes. They would be blocked and our children would be told not to give support to these networks and to turn our attentions to better things. In time if the show actually aired it would soon be dropped due to low ratings. Instead it is watched and none truly do anything about it.
It is far too easy to fall into sinful ways then not too. The latter is an ongoing struggle for we are clearly warned in 2 Peter 2 that in the end times many that thought themselves saved will fall away into sin. Yet we can allow God to win if we so desire, but it will take courage, strength of will and a willingness to turn from such encounters as was shown in this show and it also takes courage to turn off the show and even block the network. If more do this you may be surprised at the results.

2 Peter 2: 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

All liars

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In Revelation it is made clear the fate of certain types of sinners (Rev. 21:8), it is not a pleasant one.
When John penned his vision he placed more emphasis upon liars for he says “all liars.”
Liars in the Greek is pseudes psyoo-dace’; untrue, i.e. erroneous, deceitful, wicked:–false, liar.
Not only are liars considered tellers of falsehoods, but they are called wicked and they deceive. It is these people that lead others down the wrong paths. Paths they themselves know lead to sin yet they willingly do so for their own selfish wants and desires.
Many are seen nearly daily on television, many govern nations.
They are caught in their lies yet few say a word against them and many follow them eagerly into an eternal fate I wish upon no one.
We have the power to stop them, yet most would rather sit home and do nothing. This is not what stewards of Christ are to do. We are not to sit and let the liars rule our nation or our airwaves. We are to spread the Word of God and to show them the errors of their ways and to replace them with God fearing people that will honor the ways of God through the teachings of the Bible.
I am but a leaf upon the wind of the internet. I catch the eyes of a view here and there, but when they do see these words they need to act, they need to respond. They need to get out there and shout for the glory of the Lord and not allow the liars to lead more towards an eternity that will not be filled with the glories and wonders of all of God’s creation.
Liars are destine to eternal sadness. A sadness that is too horrible to even comp template. What in this temporal world is so rewarding so gratifying that you would knowingly turn your back upon God and with this same insight lead others to a fate nearly as bad if not as bad as your own?
A lack of understanding of what is in store for all with their eternal everlasting bodies that will be given to all be they a sinner or not. The only difference is where our bodies will be located. In one spot upon this planet in the backwater of the universe or throughout the entire universe exploring the magnificence of God’s power and intelligence.
So why would you willing continue to be a liar? I was one myself, but I am no more, for I have learned of the love of God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do not seek after that which you have not earned.

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Why this title? Because too many have become poor stewards to their own lives. In Luke 16 Jesus discusses poor stewardship.
In Luke 16: 11 Jesus makes this statement.
“If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
Jesus makes it clear that if you cannot faithful manage mammon (money) which is also “unrighteous” then who could trust you with the true riches of salvation. In actuality it appears the word “riches” was added for there is no listing of a word after “true” which in this context means that which is of God’s and thus the implication of salvation or God’s rewards.
Now people will say how do you earn salvation? You do not. It is freely given, but it is not something that stays with you it is something that must be worked upon and nourished to grow.
True salvation is not a onetime event and you are done with it. It is something that must be nurtured and grown for if you do not it will fall away from you and you will return to the world.
As Jesus was trying to show in his parable it is something that must be managed and one way of doing this is to be a good steward of the gifts that have been given unto which includes money. It must be earned as will and not give unto us as a hand out to a beggar. Yet too many today are beggars, taking that which they have not earned and as a result squander and waste it.
God looks upon them as poor stewards of the “unrighteous mammon.”
Jesus made it clear that if they are such poor stewards to this then how can He trust them to manage that which He will give unto them?

The murderer of Christianity

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It is not a quick death, but a slow poisoning. The poison is not only being ingested from an outside source, but it is within the Body itself. Many that profess to be “Christians” do not live as Christians and so many fall away not seeing any difference between the secular and the non-secular.
Some buildings that call themselves “churches” are nothing more than gathering halls to spread the latest fade for the month. Self-improvement seminars, how to become wealthy lectures as well as other wonderful meetings are held at these wondrous places that say they worship God. When in reality they serve only human needs and desires, not those needs and desire that God Himself requested of us as we profess to be His children.
It is these types of behavior that shows to the world that maybe there is no God. For they are seeking what those that call themselves “Christians” seek after, but this is not what true Christians truly seek.
When those that truthfully try to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ they many times find themselves standing alone. Wondering why no one else desires what they do. They talk to others of the “body” and these folks look at them funny and make the one truly seeking after God feel awkward and uncomfortable. This usually happens early in the person growth for God and so they fall into the trap and feel they are the ones in the wrong when in reality they are the ones in the right. And so another child of God is led down the poisonous path of destruction fully unaware that they are doing so. Blinded by the material world and distractions buried within it.
Am I just spouting words out? No. How do I know this is real? Because I lived it and found myself falling from God’s grace till I nearly came to loss His protection and love. I witness it about me as I searched for a church home form mega-churches to little ones, and most were found wanting, especially the former of the two.
Yet most do not even realize they are not really living for God as one generation to the next continues the cycle of ignorance to the truth within the Bible all mainly due to the fact that none truly read it. Letting the leader of their group spout out message after message of rhetoric never acknowledging that they too have no true concept of the Bible themselves. All living the life of the Pharisees placing all but God first.
Learn the Bible. Honor God and turn from sin and do not allow sin into your places of worship unless they do so to repent and forsake the ways of the world, which we are taught within the Bible that we must do!

A Purging

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In John 15 Jesus teaches the disciples about those that are within the body of Christ. Now I have mentioned other parts of this in other postings, but now I wish to discuss the “taking away” or “purging” that God will put us through time to time.
In this discussion of Jesus the Vine He mentions that His Father is the caretaker of the vine and that he will prune the branches time to time so as to allow them to bear more fruit.
It is the pruning that this posting is about. When you prune a plant. You do not just do it once. It is a continual and ongoing task, especially during the growing season. What God wishes to prune or purge is our sins. Even though we have asked Christ into our hearts these verses within John 15 shows all that even though we are saved we continue to sin. Any and all can agree upon this as they should. If they do not agree then they have a misunderstanding of the Bible and need to be corrected and shown these verses and have them explained to them. Anyway, back on topic.
So this purging that we must continue to go through throughout our entire temporal life is something we all must endure. Sometimes it will be easy. Other times we may have to go through a terrible event to cause us to awaken and allow God to clean us and make us better for Him. The death of someone you love, your home being burned down, floods, tornadoes. These are all examples of extreme events and they all place a strain upon us and in most times a strain in our believes. It is through such things as well as the easier things like a simple argument can be things that make us change our ways in a manner that is a bless unto us and ultimately God. What is the final goal in all this is to be a better servant to God and unto all of God’s creation. We are being taught to be the co-rulers of this earth during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ, which is just another step in our eternal service to God.
It is through this purging of this sin and then that sin that God places these burdens upon us. How else could he cause us to truly learn and change? As I mentioned before it is like growing up all over again just spiritually instead of physically. Is this not why Jesus stated we must be born-again in the spirit? We come into our salivation as new-born babes that need to be nurtured and supported. So we must seek out a good church home. My personal recommendation is a small church not a large one, for it is too easy to get lost in the crowd in a large one. Then when you are a spiritual teen you start to do things on your own, but still God tests and cleans you. Then one day you can be a spiritual adult. Someone that has the knowledge and the wisdom to offer up nuggets of insight into the wonders of God’s glory until it is time that he either calls you into heaven for a short time or the Rapture itself occurs. Only time will tell whichever is to be first.