Obedience or Sacrifice?

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

Deuteronomy 13:4 KJV

These words were to be obeyed thousands of years ago when Moses spoke them to the children of Israel and they are still to be obeyed today for God's children. The bible teaches us that to obey is better than sacrifice.

1 Samuel 15:22

And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Obedience brings forth one of two things. death or righteousness!! Which do you prefer?

Romans 6:16

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Perfect Peace

I wrote this October 7th, 2015 and posted it on facebook.  I just read it again and am reminded that only God can bring the peace that our soul is seeking.  He has given me peace like a river in my soul. He will do the same for you.  

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
Psalm 63:1 KJV
David knew that seeking God was as important to the soul as water is to the flesh for survival. If we are going to make it through this world, then we need to be seeking God's face. He needs to be the first thing on our minds when we awake in the morning and the last thing before we go to sleep at night. We need ...to be doers of his word and not just hearers only.
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
God's word is nourishment for our souls. The more we read the bible and live our lives according to what Christ told us to do, the more satisfied our soul becomes. Have you ever seen someone that has tried everything that life has to offer and yet they can't find the peace and happiness that they are looking for. Drugs won't do it, Alcohol won't do it, Whore-monging and Fornication won't do it. You may find temporary pleasure in these and other things. God's word tells us that there is pleasure in sin for a season, but it's PEACE that the soul is seeking. Man's soul is forever searching for the PEACE that Adam knew when God first made him. The PEACE that he experienced when he walked in the cool of the day, talking with God before Satan deceived Eve and sin was brought into the world. Friend, let me tell you that nothing of this world will ever bring your soul the PEACE it is searching for, but there is one that is NOT OF THIS WORLD that will bring PEACE LIKE A RIVER TO YOUR SOUL. Isaiah 66:12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river.....Jesus Christ is the only thing that will ever bring that PEACE that was lost through Adam back to mankind. When you accept Christ into your life and become born again, it will not miraculously make all your problems go away, but it WILL bring PEACE to your soul and those problems won't seem so important that they overwhelm you. You learn to deal with them on a daily basis with God's help and guidance. If you have ever known what a relationship with Christ is like and then walked away from him. Your soul will hunger just like David's did. You soul will find no rest until you return to Christ. I invite you to pray this morning. Talk things over with Jesus. He is always watching and waiting for you to simply turn to him so that he can help you. He will knock but you must open the door. Blessed be his Holy Name.

Make time for him!

Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves, check their faith, prove themselves.  He wanted them to take a good look at their lives and make sure they were living according to the faith and truth of the gospel.  

As I take a look at my life, I ask myself the question, am I doing all I can to live according to my faith in Jesus Christ.  In today's world, life gets busy and things are always so fast paced and hectic that many times it's easy to live our day to day lives and leave Jesus on the back burner to pull out when we need him.  We tell ourselves that we have a job and it's true, we must work. Then we have our hobbies and relaxing is a needed part of our lives as well so we make time to do those things we enjoy doing, but our spiritual well-being is the most important aspect of our lives.  If we don't get this part right, then our day to day living will never be all it can be, but if we awake each day and give God that little bit of our time that is just for him and let him know that he is first in our lives, then all the rest will start to become better. God told Isaiah that he would give his children peace like a river.  Peter taught us that because of our faith we could rejoice with joy unspeakable. Spending time in God's presence brings this and so much more to our lives. Today I encourage you not to let the matters of everyday living overwhelm you so much that you forget the one that makes it all possible. Don't be one of those people that just pulls Jesus out of the box when you need him.  Talk to him daily and spend time with him. The bible tells us to taste and see that the Lord is good.  It tells us that blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord.  There is no other feeling in the world like feeling his Holy Spirit bubbling up within you.  Knowing that he dwells in me is what keeps me going.  He has truly given me that peace like a river in my soul.  He wants to do the same for you.  If you are struggling in life, let me encourage you to take it to Jesus.  He said to come to him just as you are and he will in no wise cast you out.  He loves you today and he desires to spend time with you.  He desires to heal your broken soul. All you have to do is come to him.  Spend time with him and you will find that your daily life will be so much more than you ever expected it could be.  

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.  2 Corinthians 13:14 KJV

It's harvest time!

Israel celebrates the “Feast of Trumpets” in the fall of the year. This celebration goes on for ten days of repentance and consecration before God. The name comes from God’s command to blow the trumpets in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1-6. This is a time that the people brought burnt offerings and sin offerings before God for repentance of their sins.

Throughout God’s word the prophets spoke of the blowing of the trumpets in expectation of judgement day, of the coming of Christ. We are told that the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ shall rise first and those that remain will be called up to meet him in the air. We are living in harvest time. The world is ripe and the end is near. When that trumpet sounds, will you be ready? We live like our time on earth will never end. We forget that life is but a vapor that soon vanishes away. We spread hatred among our brethren instead of love as God commanded us to do. The trumpet will sound one day soon and in a moment, in just the twinkle of the eye we will be taken out of this world. I want to encourage you to begin doing good in the world, repent and tell someone about Jesus. Share the story of his mercy and his grace with someone. Live in righteousness and get ready for the harvest. There are few things that are sure in this world, but one thing is sure. Christ said in John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Harvest time is a time of separation. We go out and gather our crops and separate the wheat from the weeds. The wheat is precious and is kept safe but the weeds are cast into a fire and burned up, they are of no value. The great harvest of the world is also a day of separation. God will step in and separate the sheep nations from the goat nations. He will gather his people together but the others will be cast into a lake of fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels. Harvest time is here, but we don’t have enough laborers to gather in the wheat. Jesus told us in Mathew 9:37-38 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Won’t you become a laborer for Christ. We can work in his field and help gather in the souls for Jesus.

Hell, the Lake of Fire was created for the devil and his angels. It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance but he gives us free choice and there will come a day of harvest and those who have not accepted Christ will be as the weeds and will be cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. We need to get a burden for the lost and we need to fast and pray. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to tell someone about Jesus. Today is the day to go out into the field and begin to gather in the wheat. We are the light of the world and we are to let that light shine. Our lives should be such an example that people don’t have to be told we are Christians, they need to see it by the way we live and it needs to be so wonderful that they want what we have. We need to tell them how to get it. We need to invite them to come to Jesus and then we need to tell them how simple it is. Paul taught us in Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

So often we overload new Christians with so many things they should and should not do when that is not our job. We are simple laborers in God’s field. God himself, through the Holy Ghost will teach them how to live as Christians. All we need to do is teach them how to come to Jesus! A true convert to Christ will quickly learn by God’s spirit how to live. It’s harvest time. May your labors bring in an abundant harvest! 

Hell enlarges daily!

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

True Christians serve a mighty God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that God loves all men and women equally. Christ came and died to reconcile all back to God the Father. Galatians 1:3-5 3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We are living in a world today where there is much evil and this evil would have us to turn against one another. Evil will do anything and say anything, evil will promise anything to keep you in it’s will, but you have FREE WILL given to you by God the Father to make your own choices. You are free to choose to love or hate your neighbor, but there is a price to be paid for those choices. There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun! You don’t hear many preachers standing in the pulpit today and preaching hell fire. They all want to pacify and make everyone happy and turn their heads to sin, but God said it shall not be so. We are to live HOLY AND UPRIGHT BEFORE THE LORD. Peter reminded the people in 1 Peter 1:16 that it had been written, “Be ye holy; for I am holy”. God expects holiness from his children. Not from a select few, but from all of his children no matter what color they are or what race they are and if they choose to be otherwise then they will be cast into hell with the devil and his angels. The bible teaches us in Isaiah 5:14 that hell enlarges it borders for those that refuse to live holy and they will be cast into it. John taught us clearly that unless we get our names written in God’s book of life, that WE WILL BE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE! Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This may sound harsh, but we serve a loving God. A God that loved us so much that he gave his only son to die so that we might escape this hell fire. Peter reminded us that God’s will is that no one perish. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Christ died for all and made a way of escape! Jesus loves each and every one of you and it’s his will that we love one another. He gave us a NEW COMMANDMENT in John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. The violence and hatred in our world must stop. There is no good that can come of it but there is much to gain by turning from the hatred and beginning to love our neighbor. 

The true famine!

Job 5:20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. 21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

Job knew how to put his whole trust in God. He never wavered from his faith. There is a famine coming upon the land and God’s children are going to have to know how to maintain their faith. King David once said; Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. David knew the importance of knowing God’s word. We have people that call themselves “preppers” and they store back food, water, and whatever else they think they may need for when destruction comes upon the world, and that is good because Jesus taught us that famine would come during tribulations. Mathew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 

But they have failed to store back the one and only thing that they truly need and that is the WORD OF GOD! The tribulations that are coming upon this world will indeed bring famine and many will die but there are many kinds of famine. God told the prophet Hosea; 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee. God let them know that knowledge was important. Knowledge of his word is what will make the difference when we are faced with tribulations. If we don’t read his word and know what the “mark of the beast” is, then we won’t know to avoid taking it at all costs! I am here this morning to tell you that there is a FAMINE COMING but it is not a famine of food or water. God’s children are going to face a famine where they hunger and thirst for the WORD OF GOD! Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: The people will search from east to west, from north to south seeking someone to preach God’s word but they will not find it. My friend, let me tell you that today is the day to read your bible, today is the day to hide God’s word in your heart because the day is coming that you will wish you had! Amos 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Our world is flip flopping upside down. Evil is called good and good is called evil. The day will come that you won’t have God’s word so readily available to you. If you want to prepare for tribulations and famine, then hide God’s word. Read it and hide it in your heart and then physically hide your bibles because there will come a day that you will wish you had. My heart is heavy with the need to proclaim to you that famine is coming. Make yourselves ready. There is nothing we can do to avoid what is coming, but we can be like King David and hide his word in our hearts! I don’t know about you, but I don’t like going hungry. I hunger for God’s word. If I miss church, I get hungry to be with God’s people. Don’t go hungry, come out to church and begin preparing for the famine that is coming!

The promises of God

The promises of God are for his children. He tells us in his word that we can ask anything and he will give it to us. We have a power within ourselves that is mighty and able to do so much more that we realize. The HOLY GHOST is God's gift to the church (Christians). We can pray for the sick and see them healed. We can cast out demons, and believe me, demons are real and they do inhabit humans. We shall speak with a heavenly tongue and so much more, but there is something that is required of us! WE MUST BELIEVE AND WE MUST CLEANSE OURSELVES!

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We often pray for someone and don't see results, but the bible teaches us that we ask and receive not because we ask in unbelief. We must BELIEVE that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him and keep his commandments.

John 14:12-15 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.