We need to pray

We as Christians must try to share the truth with the world, but many have been blinded by the god of this world (Satan) and they will not hear the truth or see it when it is happening right before their eyes. There has been an evil unleashed in our land and it is walking to and fro seeking to destroy our children. Because many have been blinded to the truth, it is up to the Christians to pray for them that the scales may drop from their eyes and their ears may become open to hear the truth. They are not going to seek the truth themselves because they believe in what they are doing because of the blindness and deafness that Satan has brought upon them, but we can intercede for them. We can seek God and he will hear us from heaven and he will open their eyes and ears if we come together and seek his face. Christians praying is the only hope we have, but we must pray. We must intercede.

Acts 28:24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Perfect Hatred

Psalm 139:21-24
21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.


King David was a man after God's own heart and still he hated. He hated those that hated God, but notice he said with a "perfect hatred". To hate something with a perfect hatred we must be able to understand that the soul within that person still belongs to God. We must understand that even though the flesh is foolish that God loves the soul and we too must love the soul. This is a big misunderstanding among people, they assume if you hate the sin that you hate the person committing the sin and that is not true. I will be the first to admit that it is hard to pray for someone that so blatantly sins against our God. I find it extremely hard to pray for rapists, child molesters, murderers and others like that, but in my heart I know that God is able to save their soul and change them if they truly believe, but the problem is that they don't believe. Jesus said that it is better that a millstone be put about their neck and they be cast into the sea than for them to hurt one of his little ones. There will be a day that he will re-pay them for what they are doing. There will be a day that every knee will bow down and wicked mankind will know that Jesus Christ is Lord of Lord and King of Kings. He warned us that these days would come upon us and he also told us to stand strong and know that the world would hate us just as it hated him.


Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.


John 15:18-19
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Healing the Land

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV

This scripture is a promise straight from God. The Lord appeared to Solomon after he had built the temple and dedicated it unto the Lord and he told him that he had heard his prayers. He accepted the temple as his place of sacrifice. God went on to let King Solomon know that if he shut up the heavens or brought pestilence upon the land, that all his people had to do was call upon his name. All they had to do was seek him and turn from their evil ways. Our God is a never changing God and he is still listening today for his people to call upon his name, to seek his face and turn from their evil ways. It's not too late for America. We are seeing the promises that God made to King Solomon here in America today. He told Solomon if the people forsake his statutes and commandments and go and serve other Gods that he would cast them out of his sight. Many in America have forsaken God. They have allowed temples to be built and false gods to be served in our land. God will not have it. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob is a jealous God. 

 
Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

He is also a forgiving God and if the Christians in this country will continue to pray and seek his face, he will hear our prayers, but we need to set our prayers on having leaders that will stand for God. Nations are judged by what the leaders allow to take place in the land and the only way things can change is to have Godly leaders.  

We have freedom of religion and that is a wonderful thing, but I believe our forefathers fought and died for the freedom to serve God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  They did not die becoming a nation to allow false religions to come in and build temples to worship false gods in.  When God sent Israel into the promised land he warned them to destroy the alters and not to worship the false gods of the land.  America must not allow those same people to build temples to worship false gods in our land!  There is only room in America for one God.  Jehovah, the great "I am" that spoke to Moses, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, he is the God of America and him only shall we serve.  

Exodus 34:12-14 KJV
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

I realize that this post may not be popular or acceptable by everyone that reads it, but as a child of God, I believe I speak the truth and I must stand true to what I believe in.  If America is ever going to be a great country again, then we must first and foremost cast aside all false religions and get back on our knees and seek the face of God. 

Fight for the faith

Jude

3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

The book of Jude is not very long but it is very powerful.  Jude knew what was coming upon this world and urged the people to contend for the faith.   (Definition of the word contend:  to struggle in opposition: to contend with the enemy for control of the port.)

He knew there would be a day that the leaders would try to take Christ out of the picture.  That day is NOW.  They have shown this to be true with their revised versions of the word of God.  God's word is alive and it will keep you. Man can't change it.  It is forever the same.  We as Christians must fight for our faith.  We must stand true to God's word, put him first in our lives and everything else second.  When our leaders bow their heads to false religions and other gods they are bringing condemnation upon the people, but God is faithful to his own. He will not abandon his people.  He is making ready, war is coming upon the land.  The harvest is ripe and revival is sweeping through our land.  God is gathering his people together.  One day he will say to Christ, go bring my children home.  Jude knew how things would be.  He urged the people to contend for the faith.  I urge you now to stand upon the word of God.  Obey the laws of the land, but if the law of the land goes against God, then God must come first.  We must stand strong in our faith in Jesus Christ, run the race with patience and gain the reward that awaits those that stay faithful.   

Water Babtizm

Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Water Baptism has become such a controversy in the church today because people do not fully understand the word of God.  Jesus Christ taught the disciples exactly how he wanted them to go forth and baptize the people.  He made it very clear, so if there is any fault in how it's done, the fault is our own.  In order to understand the confusion, we need to take a look at the way of life during the time of Christ and understand their ways.  During this time there were many believers that would baptize new believers.  John being the first to start baptizing others started a tradition.  The people that John baptized were considered to have been baptized in John's name or you could say in the name of John.  Many of the lawyers and pharisees rejected Christ for the very fact that they were not baptized of his (John's) baptism.

Luke 7:28-30
28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

If Christ had baptized them it would have been in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: and when they told someone how they were baptized they would have said in Jesus Name!  Because it was with the baptism of Jesus!!  

This truth is further clarified with Paul's teaching in 

1 Corinthians 1:12-15

12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

When we repent and accept Christ as our savior the Holy Ghost dwells within us.  We are buried in Christ.  Water baptism is the keeping of a commandment.  it is the outward showing of this inward experience.  

Acts 10:47-48
47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.  (with Christ's baptism, the way he had taught them to be baptized)

Much of this confusion comes from Peter's teaching in

Acts 2:38 
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Peter was a disciple of Jesus Christ.  He knew Christ so completely that Jesus told him "Upon this rock ( this truth) I will build my church".  he knew who Jesus was!!  He would not have went forth and taught anything contrary to what Christ had already taught him.  He was simply using a common term when telling the people to be baptized in Jesus name.  He was telling them to be baptized the way Jesus taught them.  In other words, He was telling them to be baptized with Jesus's baptism!  In those days whoever baptized you when you told someone about it, you would say I was baptized in John's name, or in Jesus's name or even in Paul's name but it was all done the same way, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost!  

I have been in church under the Jesus Only teaching and even had a pastor at one time whom I loved dearly, but as I grew in Christ, the Holy Ghost became my teacher.  For those that believe you must be baptized in Jesus name only and leave out the Father and the Holy Ghost I would leave you with this thought.

Who is greater Jesus Christ or Peter?  If you fail to truly comprehend anything that I have said, then you must believe that the bible contradicts itself and that Peter thought he knew more than Christ himself knew and was going against what Christ taught the people to do.  Peter would not have done that.  The bible is the infallible word of God and every part is truth.  We must read it with the understanding that there is an explanation for any part that appears to contradict another part.  

Another thing I want to leave you with is this.  Water baptism is not what saves you.  It is the fulfilling of a commandment.  Those that believe you must be baptized in water in order to be saved should consider Jesus Christ own words on the cross. He told the thief while hanging on a cross that he would be with him in paradise.  That thief had not been baptized!  

Doing God's Will

Mathew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
There are many people that call themselves Christians and many even believe that they are, but unless we heed God's word and do his will, we will be among those cast aside into outer darkness.  I believe it is our duty to help those in need.  I am not talking about public assistance, but I am speaking of each individual standing up and helping his fellowman.  In the early church many brought all that they had to the apostles and a big part of it was used to care for the widows and orphans.  Even if we pay tithes today, it doesn't go to the needy.  It goes to build bigger churches and much of it goes straight into some man's bank account and the poor are still left hungry, naked and thirsty.  Those misusing God's money will stand before him one day and be judged. You might ask, what can I do?  Each of us should step up and do what we can to help those in need. We see many sitting by the road begging for help and often pass them by.  Do you know that God said we are not to judge?  Who are we to say if they really need it or not.  The bible says in 

Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

That stranger that you thought was just a nobody may be one of God's own angels.   We as Christians should do what we can to help them and what they do with the money is between them and God.  This is just one thing we can be careful in doing.  People lose their homes almost daily, we need to help these people to get back on their feet.  We even have people in our own families that we see in need every day and yes, it is our duty to help them. There is also many good groups of Christians that help to feed the hungry in the world. We should try to help them.  There are so many ways that we can help to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and give water to the thirsty, we just need to look beyond our own needs.  If we don't, we will be among the goats that are cast aside into outer darkness.  We can not be a Christian and ignore those in need. If we do, we are ignoring Christ himself.  Every time we pass by that person begging, we are telling Jesus Christ that we don't care about his needs.  This is the cold hard truth whether we believe it or not.  He said when you do it to the least of these, you have done it to me.  I don't want to hear those words, Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I want to hear the master say to me, Well done thou good and faithful servant.  

Mathew 25:31-46
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

What kind of fruit is growing in your garden?

As a born again Christian we have liberty through Jesus Christ.  Paul taught us that we are not to use that liberty for the desires of the flesh, but rather to fulfill the word of Jesus Christ, to love one another.  We are to walk in the spirit of Christ.  As Christians the world will look upon us and know us by the fruits we bare, but the world is not the only one watching us, God himself sees all.  When we plant a garden, it must be taken care of.  You have to weed it, water it, and pluck away any bad fruits to allow the good fruits to grow big and strong. God watches his children to see how well they tend their garden.  If left untended, the weeds will overtake it and kill off all the good fruits.  

As Christians we are not under the law of man, but we are to live according to God's word.

Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

If we truly live according to his word, then the laws of man are of no affect to us.  If we walk in the spirit of Christ, our garden will produce fruit to be desired by the world!  The world will want what we have!!

Galatians 5:22-23 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

In the flesh, many times we fail and come up short.  Our flesh is at constant war against our spirit.  Paul taught us that when he would do good, evil was always present.  

Galatians 5:17

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

When we allow our flesh to overcome our spirit, sin is produced. 

Galatians 5:19-21 

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

As children of God, we are in the world, but we are not of the world.  We will always have a battle to fight and a garden to weed.  It's up to each one of us to tend our own garden and see that the fruits growing there are those to be desired and in doing so we will draw others to Christ, which is a work he gave us to do!

Galatians 5:25

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.