Isaiah 1:18 ““Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
Isaiah 103:8-12 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; 10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
1 John 3:20 “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”
God is greater than anyone of anything else. Oh praise God! We should never think of God in the same way we think of any human person or angelic being, and thereby limit Him. Oh what a joy and relief that is! What a blessing beyond all blessing to be a personal friend of Jesus the one God sent, He is Savior and Lord. (John 15:15) Since Jesus died for our sins, since we know that is true, than just as sure we know that we are His friends because He has confirmed that in John 15:13. All who love Him are personal friends of Jesus! Amazing!
What are the sins that we have committed? Rejection of Jesus as Savior and Lord? Murder (within the womb and outside of it), theft, lust, hatred, gossip, divisiveness, lying, leading the innocent astray, and more? There is no end to the depth of evil that we have done. And there is no end to the doing of it while on this earth. Yet, the Word says that God loves us while we were yet sinners, that is, before we repented and came to Him in tears. (Romans 5:8) The proof of His love was the incarnation, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. (John 3:16) If there were no other evidence of God’s love, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is, itself, evidence enough of God’s love for us and His ability to save us.
So what sin have we done? What is the worst? What is the multitude? As horrible as they were, and are, the grace God gives to us is greater still. Yes, it is vital to know both God’s grace and also His holiness, we must know both to know Him. But here is the gist of it all. God loves us with a love so great that no matter what our sin, He calls to us to regret them and come to Him and freely (not earned) receive His grace through Jesus.
To all, to everyone, Jesus loves you and He proved it by dying for us. For all of us. Why die without having Him as your Savior and Lord? Why forever perish?. Love yourself enough to run to Jesus. Don’t despise your soul, but let it be renewed in Him. He will not chastise you as some would, but He will welcome you (Luke 15:11-32) and teach you how to live a new life that pleases Him and blesses you. Family and Friends, only through Jesus. And not only to some, but to all, no matter the sin or sins, His love reaches out to all of us. Praise God! Thank you Jesus!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withLuke 23:26 “As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.”
Obviously, to a Christian, the person they most admire in the Bible and whom they most would like to be like would be Jesus. However, I see other people in the Bible, like the Apostles, to emulate. Additionally I would like to do what Simon the Cyrene did, help Jesus carry the cross.
Although some would like to believe that Simon voluntarily carried the cross for Jesus, the verses that mention this act do not indicate that to be true. (Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26 He was forced to do that by the Romans because Jesus was so weak after suffering the brutal beatings and lashings that He struggled to carry the cross to the destination on Calvary. Nevertheless, he did help Jesus carry the cross.
There are beliefs that He became a Christian and perhaps they are true, but we have no proof, though it is something nice to fancy. And yes, he was forced to help Jesus. But he did help Jesus carry the cross.
I was forced by the curse I was under (original sin) to the cross. I was forced to come to the cross and repent and follow Jesus, that is, if I wanted eternal peace with God. Yes, the curse and my inability to not sin forced me to the cross, and I’m eternally grateful that it did.
As we know, Jesus died for our sins. He alone provides eternal peace between God and man. For those who love and obey Jesus He commissioned of us to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) In Matthew 16:24-26 and Mark 8:34 Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. What is the cross that Jesus wants us to carry, what is His high command to us? It is to love God with everything that we are and to love each other. (Mark 12:30-31) And if we are saturated in thankfulness for Jesus and what He did for us, then we will obey Him. (John 14:15) Out of our love and thankfulness to God we have this to do: To carry His love for the world to the world, and to each other, lifting up the name of Jesus so that all may have the opportunity to come to the cross to worship Him live with Him for eternity.
We, like Simon the Cyrene, are called to carry the cross. We are to share the Gospel. If our hearts are wise we repent and the love of God compels us to carry the cross to the world. So, what Simon did one day I pray that I remain committed to do every day. I want to help carry the cross. Love for Jesus and thankfulness to Him compel me. Let me serve Jesus daily, or let me die trying. I want to carry the cross with my name on it that I have received from Jesus. It is not burdensome (Matthew 11:28-30) and I have an assignment that I daily joyfully look forward to. What a wonderful God we serve! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Ephesians 1:4 “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.
Jeremiah 1:5a – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”
Jeremiah 31:3b – The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
Sometimes it is easy to feel unknown, or alone. Yet we never are unknown, unseen, uncared for, alone or unloved because our God has promised these things to us. (Hebrews 13:5, Jeremiah 29:11) Whenever we feel unloved and alone, let’s run to the promises of God, to our God Himself, and cling tightly to Him and His promises. And consider whether we choose to believe ourselves over God’s promises. When we believe ourselves over God we do what we really don’t want to do, we make ourselves an idol that we place before and above the Lord and above His promises. We don’t want to do that, so let’s not. At the times of being attacked let’s remind ourselves of His promises and not let any evil thought, or circumstance, or even ourselves, block our view of God. Cast these things aside and hold unto God. (2 Corinthians 3-5) And each time we do that, we become increasingly able to do it the next time.
Family, let’s believe God before all else, even, more than ourselves. Thank you Lord for blessing us with all that we need to finish our course successfully. 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” Be at peace, rest in His love, and let His joy flood us every day in every way. Praise God!
I am,
Am I?
I have been,
Have I?
Belonging,
Do I?
Eyes view me,
Do they reveal me?
Valued by one,
Since before birth.
Loved by one,
Yes, I’m dear.
Forever positioned,
Yes, forever.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withJohn 3:5-7 – Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Ezekiel 36:26-27 – I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
While some think John 3:5-7 means one has to be baptized to be saved, the answer is actually, yes and no. Don’t get upset and please read this entirely and it will explain this remark.
Some use John 3:5-7 to assert for baby baptisms. They want to assure that their baby will go to Heaven. Admirable but not necessary once we understand what is behind these words from Jesus, hopefully it will be understood that this has nothing to do with a necessity for baby baptisms. We need only have faith in our God and His nature and we know that our babies are safe in Him.
First we ought to understand that we are not saved by baptism, but rather baptism is an outward testimony of what God has done to and for us previous to the baptism. Additionally we know that salvation is only by grace and not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Therefore baptism is something we do, so it is a work. Our salvation is not because of our work but because of the “work” of Jesus. Ephesians 2:10 states that we are “God’s handiwork” meaning that God did the work. Since God did the work and then rested, we only have the obligation to rest (to trust and therefore not worry) in the completed work of Jesus. (Hebrews 4:9-11) To assert that we need to do anything to add to the work of Jesus is to insult Him, to insult God, as the assertion is that the work of Jesus was not a complete work, or a potent enough work, to fully cover our sins. Family that is blasphemy. No, baptism has nothing to do with our salvation, but is only a sign of our conversion from death to life by the will, the full plan, and the completed work of God.
Some believe that John 3:5-7 refers to water that is part of a natural birth. In V4 Nicodemus is puzzled by being “born again,” or “from above.” So perhaps Jesus was bringing it home for him by trying to spark a memory of Ezekiel 36:26-27. In these verse God speaks about giving them a new heart and new spirit, which, of course, is new life. He does that after being bringing them out of the nations (the world) and after He cleanses them. We know that we are nothing but flesh with no life until the breath, the spirit enters us. When man was made he did not come alive until spirit (breath) was put into him. (Genesis 2:7, Ezekiel 37:10) So even in the Old Testament God told them of a time of new life, or spiritual rebirth.
Also we remember that John the Baptist came preaching repentance to the people in order to be ready to receive the Messiah. (John 1:26-27) Afterward when John the Baptist saw Jesus he pointed out Jesus to the disciples as the Messiah. John then reminded them that he (John the Baptist) baptized with water (repentance) but Jesus (whom the Spirit had come down upon) was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (New Life). The water baptism of John brings us to repentance and prepares our hearts to receive Jesus. But only through Jesus are we born again and receive the Holy Spirit within. (John 1:29-34) John’s baptism was repentance, it was preparation. The baptism of Jesus was of the Holy Spirit not only upon us but within us. John the Baptists baptism was an outer experience of being submerged in the water and brought up from the water as we are resurrected with Christ. It was a preparation for the cleansing. Jesus died for our sins and cleansed us from our sins.
Jesus became the first to be resurrected, the firstborn spiritual Son of God, and He simultaneously created the way for us to follow Him. That is why the Gospel proclaims that we must first repent (water) and then we are ready to receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord in the Spirit. (Acts 3:19, John 4:23-24) We cannot be saved until we repent, because it is only with the true understanding or our utter lack of ability to save ourselves, do we run and fall at the feet of Jesus with an urgent cry for Him to save us, for only He can. Therefore baptism shows the process of us being saved. It is a public testimony of what God has done for us and within us. His Spirit has called us to repent and to come to Jesus. After we yield to the calling from God we glorify Jesus in our submission to Him, wherein we are also glorifying God the Father and the Holy Spirit comes within to live with us eternally. Then we are born again and that is what baptism represents has already happened. It is a work we do to show that we have been saved by God, not by our works, but by His.
So the water referred to in John 3:5-7 is not saying that we are saved by the combination of water baptism and the blood of Christ. That is insulting to Jesus who did the complete work. What Jesus is relating is that we must repent (John’s baptism that is the end result of God drawing us to Him [Romans 8:30, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:9]). After repenting of our sins and acknowledging our absolute inability to save ourselves, then we are ready to receive the gift that comes only through the shed blood of our Savior and Lord Jesus.
In answer to the question of why it is both true and false about whether we must be baptized to be saved, we see that it is true that we must have John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance (not literal) in order to come to the Lord. We also know that we are not saved by our work (baptism) but only by the grace of God through the work of Jesus. We know that we are called and enabled by our God to repent and to come to the foot of the cross and rely upon Jesus. Our God who knew all things before they happened (Romans 4:17, Isaiah 42:9) has called us to His eternal love, mercy and grace. And so we, in great jubilation, rejoice in the One who is our God. We praise God the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit who is within us! (Ephesians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Corinthians 3:16) PRAISE GOD! Oh hallelujah! PRAISE GOD!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withPsalm 66:17-20 – I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!”
2 Chronicles 16:9 – For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hears are fully committed to Him…
2 Corinthians 6:2 – For He says, “in the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Many have seen a much circulated short video wherein Anne Graham (Daughter of Billy Graham) purportedly explains that God is deeply saddened by America telling God to get out of our institutions, our schools, our government and our lives. She states that God, as a gentleman will back out, which I believe is true, but not that He backed fully away. He is faithful even when we are not. (2 Timothy 2:13) He will pull back, and with Him His blessings and protection, but He has not totally withdrawn. He continues to love us and want the best for us.
We have instead taken the advice of men who are “experts” in the philosophy of men, but who are not knowledgeable in advice from God, and they can be scoffers of Him and His existence. Mankind has told Him to butt out of our relationships between family and friends, even so far as to say that the Creator of all life has no say, but only mothers, to say if the child in their womb (whom God created) will live or die. They argue it is a woman’s right to choose and demand that God stay mute. God is pushed away. Instead of seeking God’s help, they push God away, and sadly, they are in the situation all too often because of pushing Him aside before conception. Also we legalize drugs, and slowly legalize all manner of detestable actions.
God indeed is saddened by us pushing Him out of our lives. He knows that as we push Him out of our lives we ever increasingly lose any remnant of decency and goodness in our lives, and that as we lose true love. The understanding that love has more to do with what we give than what we receive is disappearing. God’s love gives because it is the essence of what true love is, of who He is. God loves and the only reason He wants His love returned is because He knows that us receiving His love, and returning it to Him and giving out His love to others, is what is best for us. We however give love with the demand of returned love for our own sake. And that is the antithesis of His love.
Not because He needs us but because we need Him is God saddened when we push Him out of our lives. He is sad for us that we will not have what is best for our lives, which is Him. Indeed God is a gentleman and will respect our demand to back out of our lives. However, He does not, like a silly human, shout “Fine then, I’m gone! See how life works without me!” and then storm out of the door of our lives. Because God loves us He continues to help us even when we think we don’t need it. Isn’t that what good parents do? Even though the Lord is screamed at and told He is not loved, His love remains until, in His omniscience, He knows that the heart is so hardened that it is dead to Him and has become incapable of responding to Him. (Ephesians 4:18-19, Matthew 13:14-15) It is, at that point, a dead heart. Pumping physical blood but unable to receive from God. God never wants that day to happen, but knows it can and will for many. (2 Peter 3:9) God knows who will respond to His love and who never will. Only He knows, because only He is God.
So, America does God still love us? Yes He does. But only He truly knows the heart of our country. He knows, that it has hardened. He is still calling to America to return to Him. The question we need to ask is if the heart of the nation is too hardened to respond to Him? Have we, those who know the Lord, stepped so far back that we have no control or influence in our own house. Will we rise up in the name of the Lord Jesus for the sake of our family, our neighbors and our countryman, or we will just keep backing up and letting America descend to the point of no return. That is not God’s desire, though, He has stepped back so that we might learn that without Him, the enemy of our souls will destroy us. Yet, today, and every day, is an acceptable day of repentance. Today, and every day is a good day to run back to God through Jesus who made the way. (John 14:6) Family, let’s get dressed in clothes of obedience and righteousness provided by God. Arm ourselves with the Word of God. Be taught and guided by the Holy Spirit who is ever with us. And the diseased hardened heart of our country can be healed. Love for God and love for each other can still return. But, if it does, it will begin with His people. Evil flourishes, nations rot, when His people step back. Let us, in the power of His Spirit and His Word, step forward and reclaim our country. Let’s not lose such a precious gift. God desires to heal our land. Let’s ask of God and get it back. Family, it is up to us. God is willing, praise God! Always praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withJude 12-13 – These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Philippians 1:9-11 – And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
“These people are blemishes at your love feasts…” We are washed completely clean by the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, the Resurrected One. (Revelation 7:14; Hebrews 9:14,22; Ephesians 1:7, 5:25-27) Though we resist and yet still sin, we remain pure in the spirit by the will, the plan, the intent, and the work of God though Jesus our Savior and Lord. No sooner has the stain of our sin fallen upon our cleansed spiritual robes then the cleansing blood of Jesus has washed it away. Family, though the world will look upon us and point out our faults, and though the world will look upon the pure, lovely and beautiful church of Christ and defame it, we and it are covered by the blood of Christ and no stain from this earth remains on us because the ever-cleansing blood of Jesus is more powerful still. The world does not receive this eternal fact, but as for us, we embrace it as the person and work of Jesus is our eternal hope. Praise our God! Praise Jesus!
However, those who refuse the Gospel, by their own hard hearts, are not washed clean. The stain and stench of sins remains on them. This is the declaration by God Himself. (John 3:18) Imagine seeing from above a thousand people, standing close against each other, and all dressed completely in white. If one person dressed entirely in black were to stand in the midst of them, that person would stand out. There would be no hiding them. To God, He sees these “blemishes” among us. More than a black stain on a white shirt does the person who attempts to mingle among the washed of Christ stand out.
These people with evil unwashed spirits mar the beauty of the church. And the church, at minimum the Pastors, Teachers, Elders, and Deacons should have spiritual discernment to spot the blots. That is, true discernment along with the love of God flowing. It is shameful that anyone should continue to be lost while in the midst of the church. It is like having a starving person at a feast but not giving them good food to eat. We don’t push them away, unless the Truth, not us but the Truth, pushes them away. Never must we compromise the truth for fashion, or for contemporary thought, or for monetary consideration. Family we have an ancient belief and we put God first and it is our desire for our every word and every deed to please Him. It is our calling to share the Gospel, and not only to the slightly discolored, but also and urgently to those whose souls are most dark. We harm the unwashed by, out of emotion, calling them washed just because they are among us. No, we should never compromise the Gospel by telling the unwashed they are okay. Be it friend, or family, or child, sibling or parent, they must know that only through Jesus are they washed clean. After all, who do we love more Jesus or them? (This is a question we must always consider so that we don’t make even one of our beloveds an idol that we place before our God and thereby obscure our view of Him.)
“…eating with you without the slightest qualm…” They should be welcome, but they should also know that we know their spiritual condition. We should, as guided by the Holy Spirit, continuously share the Word with them. As the Apostle Paul wrote “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2) And that verse applies to everyone, within and without the church.
Family and Friends, we have never known the exact day the Lord will return for us, however, we are told by Him that we will see the season. We must know the Word and read the signs. (Matthew 16:1-4) We must wake up with the question to our Lord “Today Lord? Will you come today?” By doing this it keeps us energized, it keeps us active in sharing the Gospel, and it is a conscious awareness to keep from sin as the Lord may return today. We who belong to Jesus are washed clean so we do not fear. We offer the Gospel to all who will listen, so they need not fear. All these things we do because His Spirit and His love live within us and they pour out of us into a very dark and thirsty world. Until His return our hearts are not dismayed, are not down, because we know He who is faithful and we know, beyond doubt that soon He will come to bring us Home. In that our hearts are filled with hope and His love, joy and peace. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withRomans 3:4 – “…Let God be true, and every human being a liar…”
More real are You Lord,
Than the sun in the morning,
Or the moon at night,
More real are you Lord,
Than the roof above my head,
Or the ground beneath my feet.
More real to me Lord,
Are you than any person,
That I have ever known or met.
Lord, no person or thing is,
Always with me,
As you are.
And Lord,
Nothing in this world,
Thing or flesh,
Does not perish,
Except for You,
Who created all.
You, Almighty and dear God,
Are my reality.
Only You are my rock,
Not even myself,
Can I depend upon.
Doesn’t the mortality of my flesh,
Limit me?
When everything else seems,
So unstable and temporary,
Lord only you remain.
You are my reality.
Thank you Lord!
Please hold me close Lord,
Surely you do,
And always will!
Thank you Lord,
My true and forever reality!
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withJude 11 – Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
“The way of Cain.” 1 John 3:12 “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.“ As early as the 2nd generation of man, after evil had infected mankind, evil was revealed as hateful. It not only did not want to live a righteous life, but it hated people who did. Those who oppose righteousness do so because they love evil and they approve and encourage those who likewise do evil. (Romans 1:32) Those who do right, by doing right, illuminate evil and therefore incur wrath and hate from those who prefer evil.
Not only did Cain not have love, and therefore did have the love of God, (1 John 4:8), but he did not love God and so he rebelled against God and he desired to assert his will above the will of God. All disobedience is pride to elevate one-self’s will above God’s will. Every disobedient act has an excuse by its perpetrator. A lack of love and respect is what is behind it. That is why children must be taught to love and obey. If they learn love, obedience and respect from their parents, they will know to apply that to God. This is no small thing.
“Balaam’s error.” Balaam was gifted by the Lord to proclaim the word of God. Even the non-believers recognized that. Balaam was a man blessed by God and he was tempted by bribery to use his blessing to curse Israel. Even after the Lord God warned him several times. Why? Balaam’s obvious desire to disobey the Lord was on full display. He clearly understood that God did not desire the Israelites to be cursed. In attempting to, what is he hoping? Is it that God may change His mind because the reward to Balaam will now be higher? Why does Balaam, having this personal relationship with the Lord, consider anything of the world worth having rather than the blessing of God? Or did he think he may have both. Too many who profess to love and follow Jesus Christ also want both, the blessings of God and the things of this world. But The Lord’s Word is clear “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father d is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
Balaam let greed consume him. He began to cherish the things of this world greater than he treasured his personal relationship with the Lord. Balaam let the world come between him and God. It is best for us to heed Jesus’ words “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Balaam erred and was sucked into the world. Balaam gave the enemies of Israel advice on how to corrupt Israel. (Numbers 31:16) He thought he found a way to circumvent the will of God. He was rewarded by Balak and lived with those people. In the end, when God gave the victory to His people, Balaam was among the enemy and killed along with them in their defeat. (Numbers 31:8). Balaam only fooled himself. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7) Greed is a faith-killer. (2 Timothy 6:10) Be happy with the blessing of God and eschew craving more than God has blessed us with.
“Koran’s rebellion.” Moses was God’s appointed leader. Sometimes people will rile up others to join them to rebel against God’s appointed ones and in doing so, rise up against the authority of God Himself. They fill people with seditious thoughts and stir up the pride within them. They forget that the man of God is called by God and that is the authority they are to respect. In this rebellion against Moses one man was right and over 250 men were wrong. (Numbers 16:1-35) The majority can all sometimes be wrong. Stand with God and heed His ways (Proverbs 3:5-6) and do not be swayed by any man, whatever the majority, but rely on God, on His Word, on His guidance, and in that way always be right. Don’t let numbers bully you out of being right with God! Never rebel against the authority of God. Korah was a Levite priest. His position went to his head. When God blesses us, don’t let the blessing go to our heads. Doing so is prideful and in rising against the authority of God one joins in what the evil Lucifer did in trying to assert his own will over the will of God. (Ezekiel 28:2) Be humble and submit to God or find oneself outside the blessings of God. (James 4:6)
Cain, Balaam and Korah were proud and did not humble himself before God. Cain (the elder brother), Balaam (a prophet) and Korah (a priest) let their positions go to their heads. They wanted to do something different, other than, or more than what God called them to. In doing so, they have perished. And what should we learn from this? Let’s be thankful to God for the blessings that He gives to us and let’s not allow our eyes and flesh to become ravenous or our pride to inflate us with ambition and discontent. Be thankful, be satisfied, and so be blessed with the peace of our God. Always, let us be thankful and praise our God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withJude 9-10 – But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
“But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” It is always dumbfounding to hear someone say to the devil “I rebuke you” or “I command you.” It is a clear misunderstanding of who the devil was and is and who we are. The devil was a powerful archangel who did not grow proud for no reason. Not that he (or anyone else) had a good reason, or sufficient reason, to grow proud and rebel against the Lord. But, among angels, it seemed that he had as much reason as any other angel. Ezekiel 28:12b-15 states of the enemy “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.” Anyone who would think that they, of their own self, can boss around the devil doesn’t understand how powerful he is. And what of 2 Kings 19:35 when the angel of the Lord slayed one hundred eighty five Assyrians in one night? None of us are able to do the same of our own might. Family and Friends, do not be deceived, we, as mere human beings, have no inherent power to beat back the devil, or his demons. Thinking that we do shows a lack of understanding about what demons are and who we are.
However, we are not powerless before the evil one. Jude mentions that when the powerful archangel Michael was contesting with the devil he did not try to defeat the devil on his own power but instead only under the authority and power of the Lord. Since that is how Michael handled a confrontation with the devil, so that is likewise how we should handle resisting the devil. Yet we know that we belong to the Lord and devil can do nothing to us outside of the will of God (Job 1:8-12) and we can trust the Lord that he has drawn a line how far the devil can go and the devil can go no further. (Job 1:12) Also we are confident that the Lord is in control and that His eternal love for us, and also that His purpose, will dictate how far the enemy can go in attacking us. (Romans 8:28) And the most important thing is that, the devil cannot separate us from the love of God and from His grace that we receive though Jesus our Savior and Lord. (Romans 8:27-39) We, in and of ourselves, are not as powerful as the devil is, but in Jesus and in His will, we are much more powerful and can resist him. (James 4:7)
“Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.” People not under the umbrella of Jesus who speak about spiritual things, and attempt to oppose celestial beings, are acting like a base animal who acts by instinct rather than by rational thought. They follow base animal instincts with have no wisdom that comes from God. And those earthly instincts lead to their own destruction. But not us Brothers and Sister, we have a sure calling to Eternal Life that is not based on our feelings or strength, but on the promise of God. (1 John 5:13) So let us be humble when we consider ourselves and let us by guided by the Holy Spirit who lives within us who love Jesus and who will guide us all the way home. Family, today, we are one day closer to being in Heaven with our God. Oh, what a great and sure hope it is! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withJude 8 – In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.
People who dream evil dreams and chase the content of those dreams ruin their very lives. They are overcome by the content of their dreams and become a pursuer of their dreams rather than a pursuer of God. The dreams reveal what is in their hearts and they take them to be a sign of what they should pursue. They are sensual, earthly dreams that appeal to the sensual desires of their flesh, such as greed, ambition, lust, and pride (which gives birth to the previous three). So the dreams are birthed from the evil within and the evil within is fueled by their evil dreams. It is like a cannibal eating his own flesh, it leads to one’s desire consuming oneself and ending in death. It is straight from the evil one.
Following their own evil desires they reject the authority of God, His Word, and those who represent Him, both the celestial and presently earth-bound. The authority they believe is what comes from the deadly circle of dreams driving pursuit of evil and evil giving birth to dreams. And since that is their passion only those people and authorities who stroke their passions are received as wise, informed and holders of “the truth” that they seek to believe. All other authority they reject.
The foregoing being factual, they defame the celestial which they know nothing about because the channels of their minds are polluted and stopped with the putrid stench of evil living in arteries of their thoughts and dreams. They speak evil about heavenly things and think, in their pride, that they understand, but in reality, they know nothing. In their rejection of the Lord, they do not have the Holy One inside to teach and direct them. (1 Corinthians 2:6-10) The tragedy of their path has a horrible end!
Yet, Family and Friends, we who love and obey the Lord Jesus are not like these which Jude is describing. We belong to Jesus and are in possession of the heavenly promise that we shall live forever with Him. (1 John 2:24-25, James 2:5) And we know that the Father and the Lord Jesus hold tightly onto us. (John 6:39-40) So, washed in the blood of Jesus we come confidently to the throne, not in any part assured in self, but with the assurance of acceptance because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus. (Hebrews 4:14-16) So setting aside the desires of this world, and shunning the path which stains, we keep our eyes focused on Jesus and bring into submission the desires of the flesh and the temptations of the world. (Colossians 3:5-14) In doing that the peace of Christ will rule in our hearts and we will be thankful to our God for His peace. (Colossians 3:15) His peace leads to good dreams. Praise God who has and does love us. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob with