Do you love me?

John 21:17 ESV
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

After Jesus had been resurrected and was coming to his disciples; he began to prepare them for his departure once more. One of Jesus favorite things to do was to feed his followers. Peter was destitute and malnourished by the time Jesus came back from denying his messiah, his mentor, his own brother and best friend. He actually needed this starvation of spirit to know how much he needed to be fed and for his new need to feed those whom he was entrusted to bring into the kingdom. It is not simply enough to bring people to the cross, to convince those dying to call on the blood of Jesus sacrifice but for us to feed each other with spiritual food found in the word of God.

Not everyone can have the ministry of Billy Graham. Not everyone will be great soul winners. Not everyone will be gifted with a pastors speech. However I believe whole heartedly that if you ask to be given opportunity and ability to recognize when the time comes the spirit will lead you when you have come to the Lord’s table and have food to give. The greatest thing to me is that if the holy spirit leads those who read this blog will be fed. It is the greatest thing to me that even if I’ve made one friend and one disciple that I may not speak with daily or often that if that one person comes to me that I can feed their spirit in need. And if it pleases the lord he will bring more to me. It is not I who feeds but my willingness to let the lord do his great work through me. There is no greater thing in life to be called on by the lord and to be willing to be chosen. Let God feed you, allow him access to him, let Jesus dine with you. Love one another.

Having All things in common

Acts 4:32-34 ESV
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold

The early church had a real grasp on ownership in Christ. This new grace to all of those who gladly heard the good news of Jesus our messiah being crucified and risen from the dead; they were freed from the spiritual and mental chains of satisfying their own needs by giving everything they had and never needing again. Obviously they still worked and still had gifts that brought forth wages to the body of the new church but their goal was no longer to merely survive nor acquire monetary wealth which held no value in the kingdom of God. They sought out unity and to bless each other as they themselves had been blessed to have receive physical ability, knowledge or birth right to acquire the wealth they possessed. For them this was true freedom from the chains society and physical needs had put onto them

Acts 5:1-5 ESV
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

Another truth those who came into the early church learned quickly was they could not come to steal glory for themselves. That which God had given to you is truly yours to possess until he decides otherwise but you could not use him to fool others into thinking you are better then you really are. While some would point to such scriptures as reasoning for capitalism or against socialism. I would caution that there is no such notion as God both blessed those who had and gave, those who worked by faith and received as Paul said “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Which is not to say we should not be willing to give to those in need but work so that we can do as Jesus said to Peter “do you love me?…Feed my sheep.” John 21:17

When you give, give as you are giving to our father in heaven. If you give to receive riches you receive none because you give amiss. If you give with the knowledge that you have been given; You will receive rewards in heaven and if it pleases God you will receive more so you have more to give. If you give in the knowledge that God will sustain you then you walk in faith. He always knows how much we need, and in what spirit we give. When you give it is good to give to God in church but make no mistake, when you give in church you give in the sight of the church, when you give to an individual secretly as to God he is more glorified and he sees you and those who see you see his work in you and there is no hypocrisy in your giving and all glory is given to God.

Proverbs 30:8-9 ESV
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Their condemnation is just


But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

And why not do evil that good may come?-as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Romans 3:7-8 ESV

1 Corinthians 1:18,27 ESV
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….

…..But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

Truth can not be furthered by lies. Humility can not stand with arrogance. One can not seek freedom within God by the way of seeking worldly freedom. God chooses foolishness to show man that it is not man who builds kingdoms. If God chooses to grant authority, and man says it was built on his own, God will remove that man from authority. If a man is found to be a liar God will expose his lies. If we choose to follow lies for the furthering of God’s kingdom; God sides with truth to show that he can not be defended by wickedness.

Romans 2:24 ESV
For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Romans 3:3-4 ESV
What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

Thanksgiving 2020

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

If 2020 has been teaching us anything it has been this, we have much to be thankful for. You may be skeptical at such a notion. You may look at 2020 in a way of how much has been lost. I look at it in a humbling way. It shows me that everything is indeed a gift. We can no more be successful without good teachers, we can not be strong and hardworking without good health and sound mind. We can not be unified without being humbled enough to submit to the will of the next person. You can no more be alive without the gift of drawing breath. As a firm believer in Christ I can no more be thankful for what I have than to be thankful for that which he takes away.

While 2020 has taken away much of the normalized ways of of life, we can choose to cling to pride of what we have built and lost or choose humility and ask what we have gained. I know from experience that you can earn something on your own and not see that it was never on your own but built on submission to others who came before. For in faith and life great works are built not on ones own abilities and knowledge but those who come before and the ability to acknowledge that without the lessor the greater can not do great things. Also without the greater the lessor can not learn to do great things. Everything that is built must be built together from the foundation up in harmony. In 2020 I am rebuilding my life with a foundation on the rock of Jesus Christ in faithfulness in thankfulness for he was faithful to me when I was not. I look to 2021 to be thankful for both that which is lost as much as what is gained.

Happy Thanksgiving

your eyes shall see your Teacher

Acts 19:11-12 ESV
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

[12] so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

The more I draw near to Christ the more I realize that all that is good in me is of Christ and apart from him there is none good. The more I understand of the world I realize even the morality in the world is of God and not of the world. Indeed, any man who has any good within him comes from being touched by God himself. Whether directly or indirectly, like electricity passes throughout a object. If the church relies upon its own works that electricity goes away. IE salt without flavor. If the the church relies on worldly wisdom on morality then the church becomes worldly. When electricity passes through the believer who touches the source those around can either absorb that electricity or kill the outlet, IE the killing of the saints. Even so the only real choice we have is to hold onto the electric current or let go of it. As a battery we may hold that charge but apart from an alternator powered by gasoline ignited by cylinders of an engine that electricity will either be tapped out or fade away.

Psalm 139:8,11-13 KJVS
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

[11] If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

[12] Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

[13] For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

As King David knew there was no place God was not with him, the promise he had that though sin had separated him from Yahweh to the depths of hell until Jesus broke into hells gates and plundered sheol of those who awaited his sacrifice, I too know that the Father in his glory seeking a holy bride for his only begotten son will abide his Holy Spirit with his faithful even through the tribulation. Though he will cut off the current that continues to electrify and hold the world together and return to Israel to make true his promises to them for his name sake, he will not remove his spirit from those who draw directly from him.

Draw from the source while you can lest you unknowingly be cut off from his glory.

Isaiah 30:18-20 ESV
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.

Keep my Sabbath Holy

Exodus 20:7-8 ESV
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

quick lesson on our days off for those who don’t know. The last day of the week is Saturday and the reason for this being generally accepted as a day off is because God took the day off. For the Jews they observed it as a day of rest. Now that sacrifice has been made for sin we observe Sunday as the lords day because he resurrected on Sunday. Much of the problems within the church and in individual lives of Christians are particularly because we live in the world five days of the week then forget to keep the Sabbath holy. Not that I believe that we should keep it as they did in old times but we should be living within Christ like modesty in our down time because we’re at our worst when we at rest and leisure. Indeed we come to our Lord with with contempt in our worship when we forget who we party with the devil then present ourselves to our saviour on his day. When we drink we drink to modesty. When we go with friends we should act appropriately as ambassadors of Christ. When we show love to those we love we love not as the world sees love. This is not self righteousness. I’ve failed to this task much in my life. Our goal should be to present ourselves to our Jesus, our creator as we are. We should come to him on his day to refresh and ask that he continues with us for the next week to be our strength to act in a way pleasing to him.  When we fail it is because we haven’t asked as men desperately seeking. He does the saving. He does the rearranging. He does the work. so I would leave with the lords prayer as a guideline to bring us into harmony on this Sabbath because as with all instruments we need constant tuning.

Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

First we submit to his authority and glory, worshipping in our hearts his greatness.

Second we give him all authority to move in our whole life.

Third we ask him for the gifts to perform his will in our lives and to perform his will before those who do not believe.

fourth we acknowledge that we have nothing to give him that is not his already as a child asking for money to buy his father a gift. We ask him to forgive the best we bring to the table which is our sinful nature and deeds done apart from him and on our own.

Lastly we ask him to take our hand through the week as a child does when walking down a busy intersection. No father would lead his son into a crosswalk that has on coming cars, and that is what a child will do on his own because he does not know any better but to run into the street after what ever catches his eye.

Si vis pacem, para bellum

“If you want peace, prepare for war.”

Ephesians 6:12-13 ESV
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

What shall I say of mankind but this, for any nation to enjoy any kind of peace and or security one must prepare for war. When God led Israel into the promised land he told them to purge it of all of the people living there for two purposes. First to establish them as a nation set apart from the rest of the world and second to keep them from adopting the gods and idols that were already there. Instead over and over they failed to expunge those who were not to dwell among them nor reject the ways they brought with them.

When Jesus came to bring salvation and established his church he gave commandments to live amongst the world. Instead of worldly security he gave us security within the kingdom of God. He did not call us to wage war as the world does yet he called us to take up arms against spiritual enemies. Against strongholds Satan held tightly. Strongholds within people, strongholds within governments on a more personal level within the officials who governed and not on the battlefield. Where believers failed was by not purging the ways the world taught us to live, and the ways it taught us to make war. At least on a spiritual level. Indeed as countries go there is obviously still a time for physical war, yet as Christians those must be fought within a fair and righteous way honorably toward believers and non believers alike with out partiality.

So brings me to America, which has long been known as a country, a nation that is Christian. In fact when you say it is a Christian nation that is in fact what you mean by compacting the previous sentence. Though the obvious looming precursor of Christianity itself is that you can not be born into the kingdom of God by the physical birth. You can not have faith by association. Indeed many are called to faith and salvation through belief in in the blood payment of Christ. Thus further a nation in itself can not be saved. There can be a hedge around a said nation for the glory of Christ eternal kingdom and the furthering of his glorious message of good news but eventually there would need to be a call to revival which there has been. The purpose of said nation would inherently not be a forever resting place for his followers nor a place to only reward obedience but perhaps a call to arms to protect his natural first earthly elect nation when the time came as it has and to further his call to his heavenly kingdom across the globe which it has. The reality though much to most of our heritage has been and continues to be stained by horrific acts done not only by the non believers but outstandingly by his church and in his name. In his revelation to John he did not seperate the chaff from the wheat when he talked to the churches therefore I will not either. I will say this, God calls both the church and non believers to repentance but holds each accountably different. Condemnation is not off the table.

Looking at the state of the union, I would be very weary to say that we won’t be cast into tribulation to be tried as Americans have never been before. To burn away the dross. To refine our faith. To see if we are indeed going to found to be good servants when he returns. To see if we have oil in the lamp or if and when our hedge is removed if we are found looking for oil to light our way through the night.

Show us Christ?

John 14:9 ESV
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

There is a illustration here for those of us who call ourselves Christians. Often I heard growing up I heard the phrase ” not perfect but forgiven”. Not that I completely in disagreement with this but often it is used as a shield to excuse our falling short. Indeed a better saying would be to say that I am on the path to being recreated in Christs image. If indeed we are honest with ourselves and those we seek to win from hell Itself yes we are a continuous work in progress until we leave this wretched flesh behind.

Self assessment of ourselves through the lens of the Holy Spirit should be this, have those you have come across today seen the son of God today? Have they seen unwarranted love? have they seen themselves for who they are by the wisdom given through the word and the Holy Spirit? Have they seen his grace? Have they been brought out of the darkness and into the light by your presence? If I had no religious affiliation would those who don’t believe call me a little Christ?

Beer-lahai-roi – “The Well of Him that Lives and Sees Me,”

Genesis 16:3-14 ESV
So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!”

But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

~~~~~~~~~

When we truly meet the living God of creation, we meet ourselves. He shows us who we have been who will can be and who will become. He shows us though we may think we are alone in our journey he has always been there before we knew him. He shows us that he hears our struggles. He shows us even when others choose to see the worst of who we are he shows us who we can be. He shows us when there seems to be no justice for us he is working to give it equally to all of us though we may not always deserve it. He shows us if we choose his ways he gives freelly and calls us not servants but friends.

John 15:15 ESV
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

11/9/2020

Malachi 2:17 ESV
You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 3:2-3 ESV
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. [3] He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.

Malachi 3:5 ESV
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

It has been almost a week since the elections in America. I take a look at all of the social media, the news. A lot of people are happy, many are angry. Some look on towards the next four years with hope, some with fear. I suppose it is a very good thing to step back from all things political, to take a breath and as a firm believer in Christ say all things are within Gods hands. If your faith is in Christ then you should know that God himself has no respect for a mans stature. He cares not for his wealth, nor his political association. No respect for his denomination. If you indeed do well God will bless you. If you call on his name and repent of your sins he will forgive you. If you forgive he will forgive. Does God always bless us in worldly blessings? absolutely not. One of the things God will do is bless us according to his will, and curse those who do wrong according to his will. It is for us to accept that he is control. He alone allows man good and bad to prosper.

Romans 13:9-10 ESV
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Obviously we live in trying times. I personally never have attached myself to the Trump train, day one in announcing his candidacy I was not in favour of him. his attitude, his corrupt ways of dealing. The lack of any respect for people. Yet for all of this he was elected to office. Apparently he was indeed part of Gods plan. Christians embraced him as their man to bring forth Gods plan to bless his people, bring justice and yet for all that he said or did that was not good or right they ignored those things though contrary to biblical righteousness. Indeed I know God has used those who were not good people in the bible for his plan but those who where Gods people never coddled them nor ignored their sins. God never allowed Nebuchadnezzar to believe it was under his own steam. This is where I do think Christians have indeed fallen short with Trump. Also the ugliness much of his supporters have not been called out for what it is. Wicked arrogance, hatred. I would be remiss to say the democratic party was perfect in their words and actions toward him though I would say God holds those who proclaim his name more accountable then those who don’t believe. Consider the Pharisees and Sadduccees. A two party system of Jesus times that Jesus had no few words with and more so with the more religious Pharisees than the not so much Sadduccees. I say all this because my hope is not in either political party nor should it be. No party has laid its life down for me. No blood of any politician redeems my soul. There is only one Holy Spirit that has been faithful to complete Yahweh’s work that has been promised to been done within me. I know that my reward awaits me in His kingdom. Obviously we live in times that we can look to whatever media(um) that supports our own bias, we hold. I honestly don’t think that it really matters at this point. What we need to do is seek Jesus, love our neighbors, stop getting ensnared into endless debates, seek fair dealings with those we disagree, bless those who hate you, stop hanging salvation on a political party stance, and humble ourselves as Jesus humbled himself to become the very thing he hated, sin, so that you could believe in him and have salvation from sin and eternal life with him.