Sometimes we just have to stop and enJOY the AWE OF THE MOMENT. We don't have to know why or how, just that we are part of a wonderful and inspiring phenomenon. Joshua 10:13, "And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped..." Not only did the sun and moon stand still but all of the celestial bodies stayed motionless. We have the same miracles today! Think about this: Someone forgives us when we least expect it; GOD'S LOVE surrounds you and there are no words to describe it! I can't explain it; but for a moment, IT STOPS MY WORLD.
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When someone asks us a question about our beliefs do we become "uneasy", "fearful" and "threatened" because it CHALLENGES the foundation of our Faith? Or do these questions CONFIRM our Faith? Faith is not an escape from reality or a "hiding" place for weak character. True Faith rests upon the Character of GOD and is no less than the Perfection of GOD. Within each of us is the quest for something transfigured, infinite and a beatific vision of our being. Truth is the reality and substance for our existence. Truth is only satisfied with Truth; any other alternative besides GOD does not satisfy our yearning, our fulfillment of purpose. Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith gives us REALITY to what is believed. So when questions arise, do they CHALLENGE YOU OR CONFIRM YOUR FAITH?
We wake up and everything is in order, everything is in its perfect peace. We don't even rush around to get things done; we move with the contentment and confidence that we are experiencing something special. Something designed, just for us to know, just for us to see, just for us to hear; I AM! 1 Corinthians 14: 40, "...all things are done decently and in order." To know the Peace GOD gives because EVERYTHING'S IN ORDER.
Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday and Lent are not in the Bible. Surprised? What other "man made" perpetuated traditions do we "accept as HOLY acceptable to GOD" without question? The forty days before Easter are "to prepare ourselves" of JESUS. Aren't we instructed (no, commanded) to observe the authority of JESUS CHRIST in everything we say and do (Colossians 3:17)? Are we "given time-off" with Fat Tuesday's and Mardi Gras to sin and then spend the next Forty Days Repenting? "But in vain they do worship ME, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9). Doctrines means, "the requirements of GOD"; Only GOD may declare what shall be done in HIS service. Do we allow, and follow, man's traditions to be superior to the written WORD OF GOD? Not only is the WORD OF GOD perverted; but our worship becomes greatly corrupted. Isn't every day, every duty and every thought to be in the name and Glorification in the NAME OF CHRIST; every action in thanksgiving will give us strength in all ways (and always?) in imitating HIM? Are we following "tradition" and not "revelation" in becoming 12.6% CHRISTIANS?
To do anything without passion, hunger and thirst is to do nothing at all! To one day decide that you are going to sit down, read the Bible and know all there is about GOD, IT WON'T HAPPEN! To know GOD comes from the personal relationship with HIM, then when you "hunger and thirst" to know more about HIM the Scriptures come ALIVE and the secrets of their meaning are revealed. Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness..." Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone..." We are all born with this inner desire for something timeless that nothing in this world ever truly satisfies. Our longing for meaning and JOY is our desire for GOD, and without some circumstance or event in our lives that brings us to our knees, we will not recognize or understand! Bertrand Russell (the famous atheist) finally admitted; "The center of me is always and eternally a terrible pain... a searching for something beyond what the world contains, something transfigured and infinite, the beatific vision - GOD!" When we "hunger and thirst" with passion we will READ THE BIBLE FROM NEED, AND WE WILL BE SATISFIED.
Why do we have to be a member of a particular denomination or Church to be known as a Believer (a disciple) of JESUS CHRIST? Where in the Bible does it say I must be a member of a "certain denomination"? 1 Corinthians 3:5, "Who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the LORD gave to every man?" What eminence or DEITY has any preacher or denomination that we should be called by their name? GOD is the foundation of all our Blessings, and whoever may have been the "instrument" by whom GOD used, is not HIM! Nothing is the original source of our Faith except GOD and we are not to "arrange" ourselves under any name except GOD, no matter how "good" the association may seem. When someone asks, are you a Christian? Is your answer, JESUS CHRIST is LORD of my life, my Salvation, my forgiveness, and my Eternal Life? Or do we say, Oh, I AM A, C....LIC OR I AM A, PR...TANT? DEEP THOUGHTS FROM DEEP PLACES!
When I try to Please GOD, I fail and fall far from who I want to be for HIM. When I try to be closer to GOD, I fail because I am trying to bring HIM to me and to my understanding of HIM, instead of asking HIM to lift me up to HIM and know HIS understanding or our relationship. Psalm 145:14, "The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down." I am at my highest with HIM when I am on my knees. HE gives me peace because WHEN I FALL ON MY FACE, AT LEAST I MUST BE MOVING FORWARD.
There is no distance from, and there is no waiting for; THE PRESENT, "NOW"! Can't today be enough, without living in the past or working for tomorrow? What if the last thing you saw were Eagles flying in the sunset; or the last thing you smelled was a field of flowers; or the last thing you heard was, "I love you"; and the last thing you thought and said was, "Thank YOU JESUS"; WOULD THAT BE ENOUGH? Titus 2:12, "It teaches us to ...live upright and godly lives in this present age..." Is knowing you will live with JESUS ETERNALLY; IS THAT ENOUGH? "NOW"; IS NOT YESTERDAY, OR TOMORROW.
Prayer is an incredible privilege and an awesome responsibility! Effectual fervent prayer takes much out of us because we pour out the depths of our Souls before GOD. We don't have time to "take a break" when there is so many who don't know JESUS or those whose Faith is fragile; Matthew 25:45, "...I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." We don't need a "break" when our heart's are burdened for all of GOD'S "suffering children". Prayer is not only a command; it is a privilege to go before GOD with requests that HONOR AND GLORIFY HIM. Oswald Chambers once said; "Prayer does not equip you for greater works, Prayer is the greater work." Don't just "pray words" from the mind, POUR out your whole being and TODAY, PRAY FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE!
Our technology has developed to the point that our Knowledge reveals that we know nothing at all. Science cannot give an explanation of GOD nor can Science reveal all we wish to know about GOD. Job 28:28, "...the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." How can we not have a dutiful SPIRIT of REVERENCE to GOD and HIS creation from our lack of scientific knowledge? Without being in AWE for the NAME and perfections of GOD, we have no Wisdom nor Understanding. Wisdom comes from the DIVINE communing of man to all that GOD has said about HIMSELF. When we have a virtuous heart and seek to please GOD, we begin to have a clearer revelation of the TRUTH of GOD. Why does departing from evil give us understanding? We may be led astray when we endeavor to comprehend on our own; but there is no confusion in departing from evil! Here we know we are right beyond the world's knowledge, because we have understanding beyond the most profound intellect with a heart of awe and reverence! He who abandons sin and forsakes every evil way, knows that he cannot help but be right. Only then, do we have WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING.
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December 2015
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