Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

Faith

How Do I Say Thank-You?


For all the friends who prayed for Sandy and I. Thank you. Early this AM, we were scheduled for cut off. By time Sandy picked me up from where I was all night, our electrical balance was zero. Prayer definitely changes things.

In my hyper-Calvinist view point, I saw prayer in this regard as a practical thing to tame the fearful heart, and calm an intemperate mind. I felt that, after prayer, I had to “Gird my loins” and do whatever form of soul selling I needed to do to get this bill paid.

By the grace of God, Sandy and I saw your prayers being answered. Strangers we only met yesterday intervened and worked things out with the utility company. Our debt is mostly gone, and what is left over will be distributed over a two month period as an addendum to the bill.

I am telling you these personal details for the following reasons:

1. I asked for your prayers. I have learned to be accountable in all things, great and small, through this, so I wanted to tell you, your prayers released a Grace on my family.

2. Like I said, I come from a Hyper-Calvinist world. We are an arrogant lot, knowing the scriptures well, but not understanding them where it applies to practical and real faith. The Mustard seed kind. God is changing my heart daily, and my faith in the more “Mysterious” aspects of prayer and faith needed this lesson. Consider it “Boot camp” for the soul.

3. I have been unemployed since April. That means NO income. But God has demonstrated His grace, mostly in the miraculous, and sometimes through people who give out of their own need. And sometimes through strangers.

4. Lessons Learned: Arrogance has no place with God, neither does pride. If I have been anything over these last 30 years, I have been very prideful and arrogant. I needed this. Really trusting God is defined in moments like these. It preaches real good when all your stuff is lined up, and things aren’t very desperate. But I have an understanding of a kind of Grace I never knew existed. This is, afterall, why, 2 years ago, I began to return to God. I needed to see that He loves even the most fallen and wayward child.

5. Intercession works. And it is one of our first responsibilities as Christians. Instead of clucking my tongue at people who are fallen or having a very difficult life, I have to understand that I am not God, and have no right to judge them. I have to understand that they may be crossing my path for a reason. The same reason God stood back to see what Hezekiah would do. This is why intersession needs to come before rash behavior. When I intercede for someone, I get a clear picture from God, via the Holy Spirit, how to address what I have seen.

6. This makes me excited to see what God will do next over our House, and other bills. I hate what my family is going through due to my unemployment, but I love what God is building through this experience.

Thank you. I pray God’s blessings for all of you a thousand times over.

And ten-thousand blessings for that person who we never knew before.

In Jesus’ Name. I love you.

Let’s Be About It!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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The Advocate


“…It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34 KJV

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26 KJV

Have I taken into account that Christ intercedes on my behalf?  Do I take into account that the Holy Spirit interceded on my behalf when I had no idea how to pray?  They do this when we belong to Jesus Christ, when we begin to get off track, or need His supernatural help.  This is a comfort to me (A strengthening, or fortifying knowledge), giving me the strength to bear up, even when I fail.  The second I sin, Jesus intercedes on my behalf.  And when I have no idea how to pray, the Spirit of God prays for me in heavenly languages.

Have I asked to be like Christ?  Then why do I bear bitterness and anger when I see other Christians act less like Christ?  Do I also express  judgement when I see a non-Christian sin?  Do I go to God and say, as the Pharisee did: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” Luke 18:11  Do I count that person’s sin as a justification to show others just how righteous I am?  When I see that someone who has confessed Jesus Christ stumble, do I cluck my tongue at them, shake my head, and decide that person is not really saved?

Have I judged other Christians for condemning me when I was in the throes of sin? I have done this and worse.  But I have prayed to be like Christ.  And God will have nothing less than that from me, as I am His child, and He intends to remake me into the image of Christ.

The heart of Christ is to intercede on our behalf, continually, before God.  To this day, Jesus is confessing me before God as I am confessing Him before men.  The Spirit of God, in His mercy and grace, reminds me that I have asked to be transformed into the image of Christ.  He shows me how I look when I stand in the place of Jesus and judge others for their shortcomings.  This type of pernicious meanness has no place in the Kingdom  of God, and no place in the hearts of those who will genuinely follow Christ.

I will submit my heart to intercede on behalf of the very people I judged.  I will confess to the Lord that I have attempted to do His job FOR Him.  And I will pray ardently for the saved and the unsaved.

This is, after all, what my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is doing for me.

Let us take up our crosses and follow Him.

I love you,

Let’s be about it.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

By the Will of God


Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Romans 3:23-24 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

We inherited our sin nature through Adam and Eve.  Since then, before we were saved, all our desire has been to satisfy the desires of our own heart.  The Bible clearly shows that there is nothing we can do, produce, or say, or think that will be pleasing to God:  “For all of us have become like one who is unclean,  And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”  Is 64:6   When we come to the startling discovery that there is nothing we can do to be considered right before God, we feel a sense of loss.  We ask ourselves, “What must I do to be saved?”

The fact that we have come to this point is proof that God has already begun His saving work in you.  Before you asked yourself this question, you lived a life where it would not occur to you to even consider God or His will for you.  But the second we are made aware that there is something missing, and there is nothing you can do about it, you ask again, “What must I do to be saved?” 

In Ephesians 2:8-9 we read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Here is when you learned that to cover the sin that separates us from God, Jesus, out of obedience to the will of God, gave His life in the place of yours (All of Humanity).  What did this mean?  Jesus obeyed God and became the one who took on all our sin, had it nailed to the cross, and accepted complete separation of God, and consumed all God’s wrath.  Jesus did this out of His Love for God, and in obedience to the will of God.

He became a Gift to us, from the Living God.  God does not desire that anyone should perish.  Jesus told Nicodemus in the garden, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should have everlasting life.” John 3:16.  He took this one step farther in the very next verses:  “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:17-19 KJV

So, if you have accepted this gift of God, you are saved.  What this means is, now that you are saved, God sees you as saved.  All the attributes of Salvation are at work in you.  You are complete in God’s eyes.  When He looks at you, He sees that the blood of Christ has covered you.  You are no longer condemned.

IT THAT ALL?

Positionally, you are complete in God.  He sees you as saved.  You have eternal life.  But what now?  Can I go on acting like I used to act before I was saved?  Yes, you can.  But that will negate any testimony you could have about Jesus.  One sure clue of your salvation is that you will want to know more about the one who saved you.  If you ignore that urge, two things can happen.  One is, you will fall right back into that sinful life Jesus died for.  Or you will become a legalistic individual who tries to live the Christian life by your own will and power.  Neither of these things is a thing God can bless.

“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Phillipians 2:13

If you still feel the attraction toward our Savior, you will begin to feel in your heart the same power that drew you to Christ in the first place.  When you tell God you want to be just like Jesus, you are telling Him that that finished work He sees in you positionally, you want the Holy Spirit to make manifest in the life you live on Earth.  If this is your desire, then you will discover that you cannot fake the Character of Christ for very long.  You will fail if you try to do this on your own.  It is not the nature of the flesh to do this.  You could stomp your foot and tell everyone “God loves me the way I am.” or “This is just how I am, and God loves me. ” or “I am saved, I am going to Heaven.  God doesn’t expect me to change.”   Yet, you ASKED God to make you into the Character of God, not you own character.

YOU CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

We are either depending on our ability or God’s ability.  There is no in between.  Jesus wants all of you, or none of you.  He said he would rather be hot or cold, but He will spit out luke-warm.  Are you saved?  If you met the conditions for salvation, yes.  From God’s point of view, are you complete?  Yes.  But that is just the position you hold because of the Blood of Jesus Christ.  There is nothing about you personally that He will accept outside of you being made in the image of His Son.

“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.  If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.  If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” I Corinthians 3:12

The people of Corinth were saved.  The saved ones of Corinth did something that brought their salvation to no effect.  They returned to their old lifestyles, and behaved no differently than they did before they were saved.

“Falling from Grace is not losing the born again experience.  Falling from grace is when you leave the realm of God’s ability.  It is when you attempt to have righteousness by your performance”  Dr. James B. Richards.  Impact Ministries, Publication Department.  3300 N. Broad Place, Huntsville, Alabama 35805

This is the assertion that you either can do it all on your own, or you don’t need to be transformed into the image of Christ.

There are a lot of people who complain about the “Hyper-Grace Movement”.  This movement teaches that all your sin in forgiven from the past, in the present, and in the future.  That God already knew you were going to sin, and He has already chosen to overlook it.  This is scripturaly inaccurate.   I can flesh this one out later.  These same people are the ones who think that because they have had a salvation experience, there is nothing else that they need to do to please God.  The end result is the exact same as the Hyper-Grace Movement.  This same thought teaches, by implication, that you do not have to change a thing about yourself because you are already saved.  This, too is a doctrinal error, and is offered by people who either do not really know the scriptures, or have chosen to accept only the things of scripture that please them.

If you are still alive, and you are saved, the Spirit of God will not be content leaving you unchanged.  He will call you and call you to be transformed in to the very image of the character of Christ.  To refuse to give any part of yourself, and ultimately, all of your self, in every aspect, in every way, is to tell God that you either don’t trust Him to complete in you His perfect work, or you are telling God you are already perfect, and there is nothing about you that needs growing up to be like Christ.

Your fall from grace comes when you are called to be like Christ, but do not sacrifice your will and self to allow the Spirit of God to change you.  When Christ said that many are called and few are chosen, he was not talking about your salvation.  If you are saved, you are saved.  Nothing can change that.  The chosen are the ones who allowed the Spirit of God to work in them so that they can obey Christ when He said:  “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Luke 9:23 NASB

If you are content to be saved, but not effective in a call, just continue doing what you are doing.  But you need to know, the complications that exist in your life exist because you have chosen to try to make Christ into your image that let the Spirit of God transform you into the likeness of Christ.  Grace is not cheap.  It cost Jesus His life.  The ones He chooses are the ones who lay down their very lives, all aspects of it, and walk in the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.  It is all an act of Grace.

I can say all of this because I have just survived 20 years being saved, but not allowing the Spirit of God to work out my flawed character and make my character into the image of Christ.  My life used to be a living Hell because God allowed me to be my own master.  I could not be Godly and be myself at the same time.  Today, Christ is healing the wounds, and is turning what is positionally true in God’s eyes in to a child of God, made in the image of Christ.  This is not something I can do for myself.  It is simply allowing God to get me out of my own way so the Spirit of God can recreate me.  My desire is that God use me to witness to the lost and the fallen.  And I no longer want things done my way.  I only want things His way.

If He is calling you, allow Him to remake your character into something He can choose to follow Him.

It is all a choice.

I love you

Let’s Be About It!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

Let this Mind be in You….


Mustard SeedTherefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Jesus, Matthew 6:25

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. – King David, Psalm 35:25

Sandy and I have been looking at our lives very carefully over these past several months. We have both realized that, what we are doing defies all common sense. Outward appearances declare that what we are doing is irresponsible. What my flesh is telling me to do, and what we both know that God has told both of us, has nothing to do with the rationalizations of common sense.

WHAT IS THE MIND OF CHRIST?

Where faith is concerned, Jesus sums up my common sense carefulness as infidelity. If Sandy and I have the presence of the Holy Spirit living in us, He will take our circumstances and say, “Now where does God come in in this situation?” He will ask that of everything we do. “Where does God (His will, His Spirit, His Grace, His Mercy, the Likeness of Christ) come in in this thing I am doing?”

The Spirit of God will always press this point on us until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Before April, I would have been a “Charles In Charge” person, and relied on my own wits, and sing “I did it my way!”.

Now that Sandy and I have given over our entire lives to Christ, we are being tested to see where the areas are that we insist are left to our own Common Sense.

Every time we put other things first, there is confusion. We cannot serve two masters. Either my selfish idolatry will rule in my soul, or the Living God will lead me to be like Christ. Sandy and I are learning that we cannot have it both ways. God is not the author of confusion. And as we learn this, we become more at peace, knowing that God is in control of all our circumstances.

HERE IS THE HARD PART

Sandy and I have recently been shown, both individually, and as a couple (We discovered we had BOTH been shown the exact same thing that we are to do.), a “vision” of what we are supposed to do, and where we are supposed to be doing it. Being the “Charles In Charge” person I am, I immediately started doing a situational analysis of what we were shown. I looked at the logistics and tactics needed to accomplish this mission.

When the Spirit of God saw what I was doing, He gently corrected me and said I need to give this to God, as it is His assignment for us.

He reminded me that I am to “Take no thought…”. The pressure of my forethought was not my job. He gently and lovingly has shown Sandy and I that it is not only wrong to worry, but it is a form of infidelity, because our worry was saying, in effect, “I don’t think God can look after the practical details of our lives.” And it is the practical details that worry every human on this planet.

We began to notice what Jesus said would choke the word He puts in us. It wasn’t the Devil. No, it was the cares of the world. The little worries are the weeds that choke out the word in us. We get overwhelmed by the weeds, and forget His promise.

Infidelity to the promise of God is when we say, “I will not trust where I cannot see.” The cure for infidelity is obedience to the Spirit. This, too, is not something we can do on our own power. It is a work of God in a submitted heart.

Jesus told us to pick up our crosses daily, and follow Him. It is a call to commit acts of reckless abandon. He will lead the way, and prepare the way, and set a table before us, even in the presence of our enemies.

My Prayer:  My Heavenly Father, I confess that I am tempted to rush ahead and take matters in my own hand. I confess that, many times I do not have the faith that You will provide, and I attempt to make what You promised my own work. Please forgive me this infidelity. I am a child. I need you to teach me that, in all things, I can trust you, that You will perform and fulfill all that You have promised to do in my life. I love you, God. I adore you for the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf. I ask that you keep Sandy and I, always steadfast in our Love for You, and keep our faith in You. There is no other way to be pleasing to you, except that we allow You to make us into the very image of Jesus. – AMEN

My brothers and sisters, lets hear the word of the Lord, and write it on our hearts, and trust that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the Day of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.

I LOVE YOU!

Let’s be about it!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Hearing The Holy Spirit, or Not…It’s A Choice!


God is there for you

“If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not bring death, he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who commit sin that doesn’t bring death. There is sin that brings death. I am not saying he should pray about that.” 1 John 5:16 HCSB

What is this sin that brings death? This death is the death of your soul.  NO eternal life for this one. Jesus said:

“Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ”   Matt. 12:31 HCSB

Here is why I am writing about this.  It is an issue I have to fight daily, sometimes minute by minute.  I have submitted it to the Lord God, and He is dealing with me.  And this is a tough one.

HEARING THE HOLY SPIRIT, OR HYPOCRISY…IT’S A CHOICE!

This is an issue that hit me by surprise.  Having been the recipient of hypocrisy over these last 11 years, you’d think I would not have trouble recognizing it in myself.  But alas, and alack, here I am struggling with this.

If I am not paying attention to the way the Holy Spirit is working in me, I am in danger of becoming a spiritual hypocrite.  I have prayed to God that I should be remade in the image of Christ Jesus, My Lord.  And this is a work the Spirit of God has begun in me.  Sometimes, He deals with several issues at once, but the issues I refuse to hand over willingly, He confronts in me, when I chose to rebel against His work in me.

Positionally, God sees me as complete in Christ.  I am still alive and on Earth, and am being made into the image of Christ over time.  I will be actually complete when my life is joined to Christ in fact.

But the danger of my hypocrisy comes when I see other Christians failing, and the Spirit of God makes me aware of it, and instead of interceding on their behalf, I turn my discernment into criticism of them.

This revelation was not made to me by any acuity of mind, but by the insistent and immediate penetration of the Holy Spirit.  If I fail to pay attention to the SOURCE of this revelation, I turn into a gossiping critic of that person instead of remembering that God said: “…he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who commit sin that doesn’t bring death. “

I have to really be careful that I don’t play the hypocrite by spending all my time trying to get everyone else right before I worship God myself.

The subtle burden that the Holy Spirit places on all Christians is this discernment concerning other souls.  God reveals things to us, concerning other souls, saved and unsaved, so that we can take their burden of sin before the throne room of God, and intercede on their behalf.   This is where the mind of Christ is revealed in us.  As we intercede for others, in the way Christ would plead for them, God says He will give us “…life for them that sin, not unto death.”

I am not bringing God into touch with my mind.  I am bringing my mind into submission to the Holy Spirit to the point that God is able to convey His mind to me about the person I am interceding for.

I used to work with an Engineer who was from England.  He used to call me his “Flaming  Jackass!”.  He knew that I would kick the door down, shoot everyone in the room, and THEN try to discern who is innocent.

God has made MAJOR changes in me since then.  So, even today, when I see someone, ANYONE who is knowingly or unknowingly in sin, The Spirit of God calls to my heart to step into the throne room and intercede on behalf of that person.  It is important that I give all my fleshly will to Christ so that He can remove it and replace it with His character.  This is all part of the process.

DOES Jesus see the travail of His soul in me?  Jesus cannot unless I am SO identified with Him, that I am wakened to the realization that I need HIS view about the people who I pray for.  This takes the sacrifice of the flesh.  I have to be willing to suspend my desire to judge someone, and allow the Holy Spirit to show me how Jesus sees them.

My Prayer:  My Dear and Holy God, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, My Lord and Savior, that Jesus will be overjoyed with me as an intercessor on behalf of those who He shows me need His touch and forgiveness of sin.  Teach me not to Judge, making me a hypocrite, but teach me to show your grace and mercy, just as you showed me when I was swimming in sin.  AMEN

PS – The last 11 years of my life served as a living opportunity for other Christians to practice this.  Dear God, I pray that you forgive me my attitude, knowing they failed, teach me to see them the way YOU see them.  Teach me to intercede in Love on their behalf.  Take away my hypocrisy by filling me with Your Spirit, and teaching me your Love, Grace and Mercy. AMEN

I love you

Let’s Be About It!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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COME HOME: Do You Like Apples?


  • ἀφίημιaphie¯mi

    af-ee’-ay-mee

    an intensive form of εἶμι eimi (to go)); to send forth, in various applications: – cry, forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.

Remember when you knew you were saved?  Jesus Christ had genuinely and truly become your savior.  You believed in your heart that John 3:16 – 17 is absolutely true:  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” – KJV

What a great feeling that was.  You were clean.  You knew you had been forgiven.  You understood that, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, you are forgiven and have eternal life.   You actually felt the burden of your sin lift from your shoulders.  And that is exactly what happened to you.  But something happened between THEN and NOW.

Chapters that need unpublished

After a while, you had quit praying, going to church, and reading the word.  All the joy you had was gone.  Since then, your life has not been what you would say was a shining example of salvation at work.    The things that you have done since have been nothing short of a betrayal of Jesus.  If you were to mention Jesus at all, it would be to say it as an expletive.

I want to tell you something.  I can tell you about this because I have been in this place, just like you are, right now.  I know things look dark.  All your former Christian associates have stopped having anything to do with you.  If you were to tell anyone that you are a Christian, there would be no compelling evidence to prove it.

Here is what I want to tell you, from the very mouth of Jesus:  “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.‘ John 6:36-39

You may have forgotten about Jesus, but HE has never forgotten about you.  This is WHY you still feel the loss of His fellowship.  No matter how dark things look now, you have NEVER been removed from Jesus, because God has given YOU to Jesus as a GIFT.  And God’s gifts are without repentance :

God has not repented that He has given you to Jesus.  You could never have come to the understanding of the saving Grace of God through Jesus, unless, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God had drawn you to this understanding.

Later, in the same book of John, Jesus said this about you:   “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”  John 6:64-65 KJV   And when you understood, you believed in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, who died for the remission of ALL sin, and you confessed with your mouth that Jesus rose from the dead.  This understanding is why you have eternal life.

So why, after all this time, do you burn in your heart this much?  Why, now, after all this time, do you suddenly find all you want to do is come home?  It is because the Spirit of God is luring you home.  You have a call on your life, and you are chosen to answer that call.  This is the influence of Jesus Christ as Lord.  He wants you to serve Him.  From here, all you have to do is return.  You will have some repentance to do.  You will have to try to mend a few fences.  But the most remarkable thing is, when you come home, your life will begin to change.  You can still sin as much as you did before you came home, but, the truth is, you aren’t going to want to.  The more of yourself you give to Jesus, the more you become remade in His image.  After that, all you will want to do is serve Him.

From God’s point of view, HE chose you.  He drew you to His Son, Jesus.  You are His gift to His Son.  Nothing you have done since your salvation can remove you from His hand.  You are eternally His.

The reason you hear His call now is, He loves you, and wants you to know that you have done nothing that can take away your salvation.

Come Home

You are saved.

HOW DO YOU LIKE THOSE APPLES???

Forgiven

I love you in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Ye Are The Light


“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18

Abraham was considered righteous, not because of any law, but because of his faith in the promise God gave him. It was this light of faith in God that cause even other nations to admit that there is a God, and he favors those who obey Him.

After the Law was given, it was immediately apparent that no one could keep the Law. What the Law did was to make sin more visible. Sin became a larger target because the Law pointed it out so readily. When it became apparent that the Law couldn’t work, instead of resorting to the Faith of Abraham, the religious leaders of that day added even more laws to the books.

The light that was supposed to shine for all nations to see, became a burden on Israel that snuffed out that light. Even so, the religious leaders of that day, all the way up to Jesus, made being Jewish a very exclusive thing. Instead of being the light to the world, and a serving the world, so all nations would be drawn to God, the religious leaders kicked out everyone except those who would become Jews. According to Jesus, those disciples became more of the sons of Satan than their teachers were.

The Light Came Forth

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:4-5

Jesus did not come in tot he world to eliminate the Law, but to be the complete fulfillment of that law. He was the sacrifice that would cover all the sin of the world. No other sacrifice would do. Even so, those who insisted that the law overrule the will of God, preferred to stay in their darkness. And the rest of the world remained in the darkness, except those who accepted that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, who died for the sin of the world, and rose again to prove that He not only had power over life, but over death too. This is why believers know that they have inherited eternal life.

The Light Shined

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:5

While Jesus was among men, He proved He was the light of the world. He came to throw off the burden of the Religions of all time, and to shine light into the hearts of men. He raised the dead, healed the sick, made the blind to see, and the lame to walk. Many miracles Jesus did to prove He is the author of Life, and wholeness, and any who believed in Him will not taste death.

Before The Light Was Put On The Cross

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Matt 5:14

Because Jesus had empowered the disciples to be like Him, He called them the Light of the World. He did this because He knew he was going to his death, and afterward, to His Father, in Heaven.

The Light Sined Brighter after the Ressurection

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

The thing about light is, it gains strength after it multiplies. The more light you add, the brighter the shine. The more powerful the light source, the greater the reach and power of the light. Jesus returned to His Father. He left behind the power source. And the light began to shine into all the vessels that chose to receive it. And the power multiplied, and the light shone even farther.

Of the 3000 that were saved on the day of Pentecost, there were many Jews there, from all nations. They, too believed, and received. They took this light to the ends of the earth. History is replete of the writings of the Rabin that returned from Jerusalem to their respective nations, of seeing the Christ after the resurrection. Of being present when he rose into heaven. And when the Holy Spirit burst forth in the streets. It is widely believed that the gospel did not leave the area of Israel and Samaria until the Apostles took it there. But the Gospel had preceded them. It was the will of God. The Apostles were taken to these lands to help build churches, and to eliminate all the errors that had crept into the teachings of the Gospel. This included the attempt to reintroduce the Law of Moses to a people who believed, but were not necessarily Jewish.

Where The Light Lives Today

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” Philippians 2:15

We are called to be the image of our Lord. We know that there is nothing we can do on our own to do this. The “church” today has lost its light. The “Church” today is irrelevant.

I was taught a long time ago that, “There is not enough darkness in ALL the Universe to put out the light of one small candle.”

There is an awakening happening today, in America. There are genuine believers who recognize that the cheap grace that is taught in our churches will not save anything or anyone. Not really. There are real believers who are being awakened, who are being asked to give up their lives to become just like Jesus.

These people are the real church. Listen to the Lord, all you people. He is calling for a revival in our land. Some of you will be chosen. The rest of you will not. You are chosen the moment you realize that you must lose your selfish ways and submit everything you are and have to the will of God. That will is that we become the very image of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord of all.

Jesus is calling us to follow Him. We cannot do this until we get over our selfishness, and sacrifice all our character so that the character of Christ can live in us. This i snot something we are able to do on our own, and no flesh is wiling to submit. Anything in us that refuses to bow before our Lord is that part of us that we have refused to submit to Him.

We are running out of time.

The Spirit of God, working in us, will take all that you are, and transform you into the likeness of Jesus.

Not only will you do the things Jesus did, but greater things that that will you do.

“And he (Jesus) said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Let’s be about it.

I love you,

David

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Mission Possible


“And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” – Luke 9:23 NASB from http://www.blueletterbible.org

Vocabulary Words:

DENY: ἀπαρνέομαι – aparneomai – ap-ar-neh’-om-ahee: to deny utterly, that is, disown, abstain: – deny.  

“As always, should any member of your team be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow (disown, deny utterly, abstain from acknowledging) all knowledge of your actions.” – Mission Impossible Parenthetical are mine.

TAKE UP HIS CROSS: σταυρός – stauros – stow-ros’: a stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively exposure to death, that is, self-denial; by implication the atonement of Christ: – cross. Put yourself to death.

FOLLOW: – ἀκολουθέω – akoloutheo¯ – ak-ol-oo-theh’-o : (as a particle of union) and κέλευθος keleuthos (a road); properly to be in the same way with, that is, to accompany (specifically as a disciple): – follow, reach. “Walk in MY shoes” 

It is insane for me to ask to be remade in the Character of Christ, and still insist that I do not have to sacrifice my personal goals and will in order to gain Christ’s will for me. This is a disconnect in my thinking.

The context of the above verse is that salvation and discipleship are the same thing. There is no separation.

I know from experience that my way is not pleasing to God. I know from experience that the longer I “Play Church”, the less love I have for the Creator, and the more weary I get from the effort of faking it. The end result is the same. Empty hollowness. A vacuum is filling the space where the image of Christ should be.

“Many are called, but few are chosen.” Jesus said this long before the Marines did, and for entirely different reasons. When I feel the call on my life, to serve Christ, to become His disciple, to be to the world what Christ was to the world, I have a choice to make.

I can follow the call, or I can remain where I am. In God’s economy, there is no such thing as a “nominal” Christian, any more than there is “nominal” pregnancy. One either is, or is not.

The desperation I immediately feel is that I know I do not compare to Christ at all, in any way. Just ask all the “Christians” who know me. I am saved by His blood, and I have confessed that He is the Son of the Living God, and that He has proven He has the right to be called “Lord of Life” by the fact that He raised Himself from death. In doing all this, He has given me eternal life.

While it is true that the thief on the cross did not have the opportunity to go through extensive discipleship to be saved, He did the one thing that proved he was saved, He acknowledged that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, and he followed Jesus into paradise.

But the rest of us, having made that confession, will immediately feel His call to discipleship. It was true of the original 12, and it is still true for all who claim Jesus as Lord.

Few Are Chosen:

The next thing I realize is that, every time I try, on my own power, to make my self into the image of Christ, I fail miserably. I cannot make myself anything that I am not intimately familiar with. What I end up making is a mess.

The Church of Easy Believism teaches that there is no need to be made in His image, that He accepts you as you are and you don’t have to change a thing.

It is true that Jesus accepts you as you are. Look at the woman who was caught in adultery. The ONE who had the authority and right to condemn her did not. Instead, he told her that He does not accuse her sin to her (Or God). But easy believism seems to stop there. Jesus also said, “Go and sin no more.”

Again, I find myself in a quandary, because I recognize my inability to prevent myself from being selfish, self-centered, rebellious, lustful, proud, arrogant, and lacking in love toward anything and anyone, including myself. How am I going to “sin no more”?

We are chosen when we realize our state of depravity and our inability to change ourselves on our own power, and see that the only way to Christ Likeness is to die to our own lusts and give up our will for ourselves and let Christ do His perfect work in us. We are chosen when we first deny ourselves.

“he must deny himself” : to deny utterly, that is, disown, abstain

When I finally get to the point that I see that I am not holy, that I am depraved, that my every desire is for myself, but all I really want is to serve Christ and be made into His image, then I have to deny myself. This is where discipleship begins.

I am telling Jesus, “I am tired of my way. I am tired of my sinful nature. I cannot do this at all without you doing it in me. I have reached a point that I am so fed up with me, that I want to disown myself, I want nothing to do with me, any more. I just want all my being to be Christ and Christ alone.”

I can honestly say this is true of me. After these past 20 years, I have reached a point that I would rather die than continue to live being the insufferable bastard that is David. But I know there is a better way out than any solution I can conceive. I have asked Christ to do away with my self-interest and self centeredness, and my character, and replace it with the Image of Christ.

This is what it means to deny yourself. It is not some form of legalism. But it is true that you must FIRST do this if you want to follow Christ. And even this is not something you can do for yourself. It is a work of the Holy Spirit to a submitted heart. I can easily keep anything I want of my character. The Holy Spirit is not going to force me to give anything up that I want to keep. But the more He shows me Jesus, the more of Jesus I want to be. It is not something I can do for me.

But to keep maintaining a lifestyle that is displeasing to the Lord, and insist that Jesus will have to just accept it, is to walk away from the call of discipleship, and Christ likeness. Any part of my self I insist I keep, I have determined that that is more important than the work the Holy Spirit is trying to do in me.

It is true that Jesus accepts you just as you are. You do not have to clean up to take a shower, and you cannot be sinless in order to become forgiven. Spiritual cleanliness is the work of the Living God. And God will take a repentant heart and tell it, “I do not count your past as sin against me, because you have accepted My Son as the sacrifice for all your sin.”

Recognizing you need a shower is the first step in getting clean. Now comes the call and commitment.

When you have come to the point that you are to grow in Christ-likeness, and you have recognized that your character needs to be replaced with His character, then the cost of following Him becomes real.

“and take up his cross daily” – figuratively exposure to death, that is, self-denial; by implication the atonement of Christ: – cross. Put yourself to death.

This is where the few are chosen. I cannot and am not willing to put myself to death. My self-will, my self contentedness, “My way or the Highway”, telling Christ, “I am what I am, you will just have to deal with it, because you love me any way”, all the excuses we have for not becoming like Christ, will suddenly loom large. You have to look at each item and decide if this is what you want to give up in order to follow Christ.

There are no half measures when it comes to Christ Likeness. The Holy Spirit is patient, and gentle, but ever insistent over everything that stands between you and the Character of Jesus. Every bit of your sinful character has to go. This is a lifelong process. The interesting thing is, that the more I see of Jesus, the more I genuinely want to live as He lived on this earth. The less of myself I want to keep. It is a joy to give up hate, arrogance, my temper, my condescending nature, all the lusts that drive me, and it is especially a delight to see my sin nature die, as the Holy Spirit reveals more of Jesus in my heart.

Jesus addresses all the “nominal Christians” who claimed to follow Him. He told them, “I never knew you.”

I am having to learn, as frightening as it may be, that I have to be willing to give up everything I hold dear to follow Him. He may never ask me for my body to be put to death for Him, but I have to be willing to go there if that is what it takes. He may never ask me to give up all my material possessions to follow Him, but I have to be willing to do this without hesitation in order to follow Him.

God sees the intent of our hearts. I want my intent and all my desires to be the ones God has given me, not the ones I have chosen for my self. My flesh is at war with God. I win when I lose.

This realization is the taking up of your cross daily. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to do a perfect work in you, even if you don’t see why it is necessary. But the more you understand God and His word, the more you will understand the necessity of taking up your cross, giving up your personal ambitions, and disowning your will for the will of God.

This doesn’t mean you will be a robot. You get to keep your personality. That is part of your individuality. God gave you that personality. What it does mean is that that personality, instead of acting out every selfish desire of your character, will be used to show the character of Christ.

This is something you have to do daily. Yesterday’s manna will not feed you today.

 “follow Me“ : – ἀκολουθέω – akoloutheo¯ – ak-ol-oo-theh’-o : (as a particle of union) and κέλευθος keleuthos (a road); properly to be in the same way with, that is, to accompany (specifically as a disciple): – follow, reach. 

Following Jesus is to become just like Jesus. We will still sin, but not by a depraved intention. But when we sin, we will suddenly see a part of our-self that still does not resemble Christ, and because of the love we have for our Lord and Savior, we WANT to give that to Him, so we can hear Him say, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”.

We are left on this earth after we were saved for this one reason. We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. We, individually, are the Church. We collectively are the body of Christ. We, as individuals and as a group, are the only Jesus most humans will ever see.

It is the strong desire of my heart that I give up anything in my life that stands between a fallen one and Jesus. Jesus said that we will do the things He did, and greater things will we do. But not if we are not willing to give our entire selves up to be like Him.

This was true of Peter, James, John, Paul, all of the disciples. And it is true of me and you. Nothing has changed.

This is not something you can do in yourself, either, it is a work of God only. When He calls you, count the cost. It will cost you everything, but you will gain eternity when you do it.

 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” – Luke 9:23 NASB from http://www.blueletterbible.org

My Prayer:

Dearest God,

I praise you for Jesus’ life and death and resurrection.  I ask that you forgive my sin, and that you continue to work in me the thing I cannot do for myself: Make me over into the Image of Christ.  Thank you for your beauty, mercies and grace.  Thank you for creating me and all that exists.  Please get me out of my way of becoming like Jesus.  – AMEN

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Amazing Grace


I promise I will return to a more inspirational dialogue with you.  But before I can, there are several terms I plan to give light to so that you and I will both know what I am talking about when I say it.

I grew up in the deep south.  When I was a young lad (A very long time ago), I watched my sister and other girls go through the agony of charm school.  The social graces were taken very seriously in the south.   Grace was taught as one of the “Christian Virtues”.

There are many Christian virtues.  Grace, Love, Hope, Mercy, Forgiveness, compassion, gifts, blessings.  All of which are one form or another of Grace.  We are to grow to be like Christ in all ways, including these graces.  It is not something we can do for ourselves, either.  It always begins with a submitted and wiling heart.  It calls for true discipleship, and commitment.  This is not something that comes naturally to people.

For example.  There are several phrases used by Southern ladies that, on the surface, sound very graceful.  One of them is “God Bless You!”  That sounds graceful, right?  You have to know “Southern Ladies Code (SLC)”.  SLC is an entirely different language, but it uses the exact same words as the Bible uses.  When I was a kid, if a Southern Woman was dealing with someone she thought was difficult to deal with, she would tell that person, “God Bless You.”  It would sound genuine, it would be given in a vocal inflection that you thought was genuine, too.  But behind all that acting, the Lady in question was actually saying, “Oh my GOd!  You are just too stupid to actually be alive!”, or some variation on that theme.  And when the other Ladies heard this, the recipient would see them smiling and nodding at you.  They were not blessing you either.  They were just agreeing with the Spokeswoman of that blessing.

This deviation was understood among “polite society”, but was, none the less, a hypocrisy of the phrase.  You were, in fact being judged and cursed, but ever so politely.  It was a mockery of what Jesus would have done had he actually been present.

The reason for this hypocrisy is that, unless the living God, in the form of the Holy Spirit builds Christ-like character in you, the very best you can hope for is a convincing act that imitates, but is not the same as, genuine Godly character.

Since we are relearning what it REALLY takes to be a Christian, and we want to see a huge revival in our land, and we need to understand what the difference between cheap grace and real grace is, I have left the rest of this page with as many definitions as I can find on this topic.

There will not be a test, not from me.  But the test of your faith will be received based on whether you are genuinely saved, or just playing church.  Genuine Christ-likeness calls for a total sacrifice of our wills, and desires, to be made in the image of Christ.

Source Materials: http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/charis.html and http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/Dictionary/viewTopic.cfm?type=getTopic&topic=Grace

Grace:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by GRACE ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his GRACE in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by GRACE are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:4-9)

In Jam 4:6, “But He giveth more grace” (Greek, “a greater grace,” RV, marg.), the statement is to be taken in connection with the preceding verse, which contains two remonstrating, rhetorical questions, “Think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain?” and “Doth the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) which He made to dwell in us long unto envying?” (see the RV). The implied answer to each is “it cannot be so.” Accordingly, if those who are acting so flagrantly, as if it were so, will listen to the Scripture instead of letting it speak in vain, and will act so that the Holy Spirit may have His way within, God will give even “a greater grace,” namely, all that follows from humbleness and from turning away from the world. 

The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon

Strong’s Number:   5485

Original Word: cariß – from (5463)

Transliterated Word: Charis

Phonetic Spelling: khar’-ece

Parts of Speech: Noun Feminine

Definition: grace –

that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech, good will, loving-kindness, favor.

of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.

what is due to grace

the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace

the token or proof of grace, benefit

a gift of grace

benefit, bounty

thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward

NAS Word Usage – Total: 156

blessing 1, concession 1, credit 3, favor 11, gift 1, grace 122, gracious 2, gracious work 3, gratitude 1, thank 3, thankfulness 2, thanks 6

Greek lexicon based on Thayer’s and Smith’s Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” These files are public domain.

Bibliography Information

Thayer and Smith. “Greek Lexicon entry for Charis”. “The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon”. . 1999.
For an even more complex and lengthy definition of the Word Grace, see this reference:

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

1

Strong’s Number: g5485

Greek: charis

Grace:

has various uses,

(a) objective, that which bestows or occasions pleasure, delight, or causes favorable regard; it is applied, e.g., to beauty, or gracefulness of person,Luk 2:40; act, 2Cr 8:6, or speech, Luk 4:22, RV, “words of grace” (AV, “gracious words”); Col 4:6;

(b) subjective,

(1) on the part of the bestower, the friendly disposition from which the kindly act proceeds, graciousness, loving-kindness, goodwill generally, e.g., Act 7:10; especially with reference to the Divine favor or “grace,” e.g., Act 14:26; in this respect there is stress on its freeness and universality, its spontaneous character, as in the case of God’s redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient; thus it is set in contrast with debt, Rom 4:4, 16, with works, Rom 11:6, and with law, Jhn 1:17; see also, e.g., Rom 6:14, 15; Gal 5:4;

(2) on the part of the receiver, a sense of the favor bestowed, a feeling of gratitude, e.g., Rom 6:17 (“thanks”); in this respect it sometimes signifies “to be thankful,” e.g., Luk 17:9 (“doth he thank the servant?” lit., “hath he thanks to”); 1Ti 1:12;

(c) in another objective sense, the effect of “grace,” the spiritual state of those who have experienced its exercise, whether

(1) a state of “grace,” e.g., Rom 5:2; 1Pe 5:12; 2Pe 3:18, or

(2) a proof thereof in practical effects, deeds of “grace,” e.g., 1Cr 16:3, RV, “bounty” (AV, “liberality”); 2Cr 8:6, 19 (in 2Cr 9:8 it means the sum of earthly blessings); the power and equipment for ministry, e.g.,Rom 1:5; 12:6; 15:15; 1Cr 3:10; Gal 2:9; Eph 3:2, 7.

To be in favor with is to find “grace” with, e.g., Act 2:47; hence it appears in this sense at the beginning and the end of several Epistles, where the writer desires “grace” from God for the readers, e.g., Rom 1:7; 1Cr 1:3; in this respect it is connected with the imperative mood of the word chairo, “to rejoice,” a mode of greeting among Greeks, e.g., Act 15:23; Jam 1:1 (marg.);2Jo 1:10, 11, RV, “greeting” (AV, “God speed”).

The fact that “grace” is received both from God the Father, 2Cr 1:12, and from Christ, Gal 1:6; Rom 5:15 (where both are mentioned), is a testimony to the deity of Christ. See also 2Th 1:12, where the phrase “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” is to be taken with each of the preceding clauses, “in you,” “and ye in Him.”

In Jam 4:6, “But He giveth more grace” (Greek, “a greater grace,” RV, marg.), the statement is to be taken in connection with the preceding verse, which contains two remonstrating, rhetorical questions, “Think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain?” and “Doth the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) which He made to dwell in us long unto envying?” (see the RV). The implied answer to each is “it cannot be so.” Accordingly, if those who are acting so flagrantly, as if it were so, will listen to the Scripture instead of letting it speak in vain, and will act so that the Holy Spirit may have His way within, God will give even “a greater grace,” namely, all that follows from humbleness and from turning away from the world.

See BENEFIT, BOUNTY, LIBERALITY, THANK.

Note: The corresponding verb charitoo, “to endue with Divine favor or grace,” is used in Luk 1:28, “highly favored” (marg., “endued with grace”) and Eph 1:6, AV, “hath made . . . accepted;” RV, “freely bestowed” (marg., “enduced.”).

For an even more comprehensive understanding of all the uses of Grace in the bible, see this link: http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/Dictionary/viewTopic.cfm?type=getTopic&topic=Grace

 

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God Is My Strength


They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalm 126:5 KJV

Man, am I tired.  Mentally, physically, and emotionally.  Not because I just worked hard today in my labors, but because I just spent the last 4 hours trying to reason with people I am called to reach.  The unsaved who are Athiests, Agnostic, occult, and the people who are playing church, but do not think they are.  My heart aches because these people would rather hate the messenger than listen to the message.  I am not a preacher.  I try not to preach.  All I am is Saved because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  See, I am not famous for my patience.  And I get impatient when I do not see results in the time span I think they should appear.

Time is in God‘s hands.  I do not know who is actually listening, and who is just being a jerk.  I don’t know who will be saved, or will not.  All I know is that I love these people who refuse to see what “Amazing Love” looks like.

Before I became a Christian, I was moved to seek God because a small group of Christians showed me love no matter what I did back.  I was rude, argumentative, and hurtful. I hated them and their Gospel.  But it was their endurance and the Love of God they showed me that finally broke me.  They were tireless, and they saw, in Joy, the results of their efforts.  They never gave up on me.  I pray, Dear God, in the Name of Jesus Christ that I learn to love like that, and persevere like that, so that even one may be saved.  There will I rejoice and praise.

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:9 NASB

There are people who think they are saved simply because they go to church.  When they hear you speak the truth, as lovely as you can make it, by the power of Jesus Christ, some will reject you, and even with a great deal of hostility.  I am called names.  I have had my life threatened.  I do not tell you this to draw attention to me, but because it is GOd who wills me to love and to do His will.  Do I sometimes feel like I am wasting my time, and beating my head against a wall?  Yes, but God is my strength.  Jesus persevered even to death for my sake.  By my own strength, I do not have that will or endurance.  Because the Spirit of God lives in me, I will continue, and enduring for the sake of the Gospel.  I don’t know who will be reached, but I will when I get to Heaven.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful… Hebrews 10:23 NASB

The world is run by the unrighteous.  Satan is their lord.  It is disconcerting to the world when they see the hope we have because of Jesus Christ.  The only response the world can offer is the response of their lord, Satan.  They kill, steal and destroy all that is Godly.  When you belong to Jesus Christ, you will not be welcomed by the world.  But you are to be in this world to be a light of Hope in a very dark, hopeless and fallen place.  So, when the storm roars, when people curse you for having hope, when they try to steal it, and almost succeed, remember, our Hope is in the Lord our God, because of Jesus Christ.  His Spirit is in you.  Take time to listen and feel the strength of God fill you.  He promised you that if you endure in your faith, you will endure in Hope.  Nothing can take this away from you.  Not unless you chose to let it go.  I pray, Dear God, for a renewing of my faith and hope every waking hour and even in my dreams.  Teach me to endure as you fill me with your love.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:36

I am called to a ministry.  I also have a life.  I have to work to feed my family.  I have bills.  Stuff happens, and it isn’t always good stuff.  It is the will of God that I become a living testimony whatever it is I do.  I am to write this blog every day except the Sabbath.  I am to study the word and hide it in my heart.  I am to give out of my abundance and my need.  I am to be one beggar showing other beggars where I found food, water, shelter, and life.  Even if they insist that they have to pay, I have to show them it is free.  Even if I am feeding on the food of God, and they refuse to eat what is abundant and free.  I cannot do the will of God without the Strength of God.  That is given to me by the Spirit of God, who walks in me daily, teaching me and leading me to do God’s will.  His promise is that if I give it all to Him, I will endure, even if I don’t feel like it.  The second I want to throw in the towel, the Spirit of God shows up in me and loves me, and feeds me the Grace, Mercy, Hope and Love of God.  It is a renewal I have need of every day.  Yesterday’s manna will not feed me today.  He promises me reward in Heaven.  I may be poor on earth, but when I get there, I will be called the brother of Christ.  I live for thismoment.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and  the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

The angels watch us work.  The world watches us work. Our families and employers watch us work.  Does my confession of faith in Jesus Christ lead others to believe I am saved and belong to God?  Do I cave in just in sight of the finish line and never cross?  When things get tough, do I take a time out?  Jesus suffered greatly on our behalf, without a time out.  He drank full of the cup of God’s wrath so we will not have to die.  Do I weld my tongue to the will of God, or do I betray Him?  Do I act like I am unsaved, yet confess Jesus as my Lord?  Everyone is watching.  So, even when you sin, we can show others how Jesus Christ is Lord through our humbling ourselves before God in repentance.  Following Jesus is not about convenience.  There is nothing convenient about being a Christian.  Bur, seeing as there are so many people watching us, let us live a life that inspires others to follow Christ.

Dear God, I pray, in Jesus Holy Name, that you make me the very image of Christ, so I will not betray you or make the gospel a lie.  I am weak, and get tired.  Give me the love and endurance that kept Jesus nailed to the cross on our behalf.

I love you

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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It is God Who Works


This blog entry is dedicated to Shelia Sanchez, and all the women in the Philippines who have written me about this topic.

A NOTE TO MY DISPENSATIONAL BRETHEREN: Yes, the opening verse of this blog is a prophecy that was spoken to Israel about what God will accomplish in them when Jesus establishes His eternal kingdom. Seeing that the Jews were to be a light on a hill, drawing all mankind to God, and seeing that Israel has to this day stubbornly refused to walk in this light, God sent His own Son to be the fulfillment of the Law, thereby drawing all men unto God. Yes, this promise will finally be fulfilled for Israel when Jesus Christ sets up His kingdom. And the Jews who have accepted that Jesus IS the Messiah, will be the benefactor of the that promise. But, because of Christ, and His sacrifice on behalf of all mankind, this promise IS fulfilled in the lives of anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior AND Lord. So, go ahead and write your argumentative letters, but keep in mind, if you do, it is because you are stubbornly refusing to see what the Gospel of Christ IS, or you have not allowed the work of the Holy Spirit to tear the blinders off your eyes. I can say this because I , too, am a dispensationalist, but I have recently allowed the Holy Spirit into my life, I see that what was promised to Israels future, has already been given to all Humans who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior AND Lord. It is just a matter of will.

MY PRAYER FOR THIS BLOG: I pray in the name of the Living God, because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, that the Holy Spirit fill me while I write this blog, so that whatever I write here will be none of me and be all of God. I pray that it penetrate all the barriers that we have put up that inhibit the Spirit of God and the Power of His word to work in our beings. I pray this, God, because Jesus Christ has saved me from eternal damnation, and has delivered me into eternal life. AMEN

A New Heart, a New Thought, a New Desire

“I will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean and acceptable to me. I will wash away everything that makes you unclean, and I will remove your disgusting idols. I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts, because I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws and teachings.” Ezekiel 36:35-27 CEV

Let’s pretend I am telling you the same good news:

“God will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean and acceptable to Him. God will wash away everything that makes you unclean, and will remove your disgusting idols. God will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts, because God will put His Spirit in you and make you eager to obey His laws and teachings.” Ezekiel 36:35-27 CEV

God does Heart Surgery.

The amazing thing about God is (OK, there are SEVERAL amazing things about God), that HE will give you the longing for salvation. It isn’t something you can for yourself. If it WERE something you could do, then there is no need for God, and no need for Jesus Christ to come here and give His life for you. If we could be righteous and saved, and holy all by our selves, then God would no longer be God. We would be God.

We are not God.

When God gives you the longing for salvation, it is because, somehow, some way, God has exposed you to several things: The sin that separates you from Him, the fact that you cannot do anything at all to close that gap, and that He sent Jesus Christ to die in your place, because the wages of sin is death. It may hit you all at once, or it may come in bit at a time. But it is God that does this. You cannot do this.

God will draw you near.

After you see what he has shown you, you will understand the need for a savior. God will show you that Jesus IS that savior. His death on the cross paid for your sin. After Jesus died, He proved He has the authority to be called Lord when He raised HIMSELF from the grave. He was able to do this because He has the authority over death and life.

You will be drawn to repentance of sin, confession of sin, and redemption through Jesus Christ. And when you confess this with your mouth, you are saved. You cannot even do this unless God empowers you to do this.

YOU WILL HAVE A NEW HEART

In the Hebrew language, we learn that the Heart is the seat of the soul. The heart is located in your brain, but connects throughout your body. Did you know that, around your physical heart, there is the same gray matter that is in your brain. That local memory is stored there, and that your thoughts and feelings are shared between your brain and heart? It is true.

Our natural soul was corrupted by the inheritance of sin, and the continual and unrepentant state that resulted from the inherited sin.

What only God can do, that you will never be able to do, is replace that heart of sin, that hardened heart, with a tender heart of flesh, that is sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The reason you become this way is that, when you believed that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, the first thing you are given is God’s Holy Spirit.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SATAN, THE WORLD, AND GOD

In the World’s fallen state, it cannot tolerate the presence of holiness, and wants nothing to do with it. This is why our planet is the way it is. The World has completely rejected the things of God. You cannot expect Godly behavior from people who reject God. At the very best, you will see a very cheap imitation, and that never lasts very long. The only Godly things that last come from God.

Satan hates you. All of the fallen ones hate you. Satan will accuse you of your sin. Satan will complain to God about how sinful you are. Satan will tell you that God accuses you of your sin, and you cannot be redeemed. The only thing Satan can bring you is graceless and merciless accusation. A guilt that will eventually make you want to kill yourself. He has no joy, and he wants to rob you of YOUR joy.

The Holy Spirit of God is Grace, mercy and joy. When the Spirit of God shows you the sin, it is not accusatory, and will not leave you in shame. You will simply see your sin the same way God sees it. God has given you a tender heart, and removed your cynicism. You will understand how God sees things, and, because of the new Love that the Holy Spirit has brought to your heart and mind, you simply will turn your back on your sin.

This, too, is something you do not have the power to do. When you become aware of the things of God, the things you used to think were important will no longer be important. Your desire for sin will change. This is not to say that you will not sin, ever. You will. What it DOES mean is that when you do sin, the Spirit will lead you to understand the way God sees sin. Your heart, being in love with God, will no longer be interested in displeasing God.

Imagine you are deeply in love with someone. Will you go out of your way to displease your lover, or to please your lover?

The Love the Holy Spirit brings is a love that is far greater than any thing you can bring to your lover. And your desire to obey God will be because of that Love. It is a love you cannot muster on your own, it is a Love God gives you when you give your entire life to God, because of Jesus Christ, who IS God.

NOW THAT I HAVE LAID THE GROUND WORK

When you become a Christian, God will do all that I wrote about above, and much more. You don’t have to quit your job, but the more you surrender your self to the will of God, the more you will understand how God will use you in that job. But if that job represents a huge moral conflict between Him and your employer, when you give God the opportunity, HE will change your circumstances.

What changes? Your heart. Your understanding of how God will work in a willing and submitted heart. This comes when the Spirit of God has filled you, and leads you to be like Christ. Your circumstances may never change, you may always be poor, but God will make you rich in Him, and you will lead many to Christ.

God is not asking you to change anything, at first, because he is busy getting you used having the Mind of Christ. It does taking getting used to.

My brothers and sister, I promise you that you are not condemned if you belong to Jesus. There is no work you need to do to be good enough for God. There is no pain you have to suffer as proof that you are worthy of God.

God changes your heart so you can see where He is at work in you. And when you are able to see in you what God sees, you will develop a strong and passionate desire to see God complete you. You are NO LONGER bound by the law of sin. Your sinful nature is replaced with the nature of God. It is God’s promise to make you in the very image of Jesus Christ. You do not have to do anything but Surrender to Him.

He will do all the work. Be free from the condemnation of sin. Walk in the freedom God gives you. This freedom happens when you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. When you do that, you will receive the Holy Spirit, who will do all the work in you.

You are no longer guilty in God’s eyes. You are free.

“Therefore, now there is no verdict of guilt, no condemnation as guilty, for those in Jesus the Messiah. For the law of the Holy Spirit, that gives life in Jesus the Messiah, has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2, OJT

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Rest


“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6 NASB

Vocabulary Words:

confident – πείθω – peitho -reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty) – Sometimes a legal term that assesses the evidence and assents to the assertion that the evidence has presented. ALSO: You know you can trust this because you have seen that everything else has been trustworthy.

began – ἐνάρχομαι – en-ar’-khom-ahee – to commence on. Picture an action that had a starting place in time and space, and that action continues to apply itself endlessly over time. It had a start, and will not stop until all conditions are met.

good – ἀγαθός – ag-ath-os’ – A primary word; “good” (in any sense, often as noun): – benefit, good (-s, things), well. Beneficial.

work – ἔργον – er’-gon – From ἔργω ergo¯ (a primary but obsolete word; to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication an act: – deed, doing, labor, work.

perfect – ἐπιτελέω – ep-ee-tel-eh’-o – to fulfill further (or completely), that is, execute; by implication to terminate, undergo: – accomplish, do, finish, (make) (perfect), perform (X -ance). It is contract and engineering language. Start building, keep building, complete building. It is not built completely until it is perfected.

Two More Definitions:

Strong Language: Not coarse. Spoken with authority. Often direct. Not mincing words. Word usage that is intended to make one think. It is the language of the Teacher to the student. Plain Speaking. Getting to the heart of the matter. Meat, as opposed to milk.

Weak Language: Imprecise, Sugar coated and sweet; words that dilute the meaning or intent of the lesson that needs learning. Words for words sake, or words that weaken the intent of the lesson. Words that remove, rather than reinforce the need to actually apply it for learning, or being, or doing. It is the language of people who would rather play church than follow Christ. All milk, 2% or less milk fat, and sweetened to make it easier to swallow.

I had driven half way home, the day I lost my job at the Military base. I knew what God as asking me to do. While I look for work, WRITE. I had openly and consciously given my life to Christ as Lord a few years earlier. He was no longer “just my savior”.

I have a LOT of rough edges. I asked God what about those rough edges.

“Are you giving your entire life to me?” He asked.

“Yes, Lord, I am. ”, I replied.

“Because if you are not willing to give me 100%, we will be back where we started.”, He commented, but with gentleness and grace.

My courage and confidence in God increased when He asked me that. Coming from anyone else, I might have argued about work load, scheduling, time off, benefits, etc. When He asked me that, though, I felt compelled to throw my self into this hair, hat and all. I had tried doing it my way for way too long. I did not like the results.

I needed God to do this for me. I told God, “Lord, I want to be the very image of Christ, in every way possible. I want to live for Christ, now. I am done living this miserable life.”

“OK! That is what I needed to hear from you.”, He beamed. THAT felt good. This feels real. It didn’t have that half-hearted commitment thing going on in my heart. I could feel my roots already starting to go deep.

I had already been around the barn a million times with Him over what He had asked me to do, so I didn’t want to do THAT again. I am to write something EVERY DAY! Period.

It was my habit, in the past to run ahead of God. Most of it was sheer excitement to be doing something. But when I did that, I did it on my own power, my own way. God doesn’t do the division of labor, thing. You either want to be like Christ, or you don’t. You will submit to Jesus as Lord, or you won’t.

And that is where I had questions.

“Lord,” I asked, “I am not exactly like Jesus, you know. I mean, ask any Christian you happen to see, ‘Who’s the best Christian? It wouldn’t be me’.”

I swear, I heard Him chuckle. “No, Dave, it wouldn’t. Not this minute. And not immediately.”

“Well, God, WHAT DO I DO???”, I asked, mostly out of impatience, and mostly because I knew just how depraved I had become of these last two decades.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He said with a smile. (Frankly, I was not used to anyone being this nice to me, and it was GOOD!)

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.” Psalms 37:4-7a KJV

“REST?!?!?!”, “WAIT PATIENTLY?”, “REALLY?!?!?!?”, “God, you may not have noticed this, but I am REALLY in need of a LOT of repair, and you want me to REST?” I screeched.

“David, way back in 1987, when you first came to me, what was the very first thing I asked you to do?”, he gently asked me.

“Um…er…Let’s see…boy, that was a long time ago.” I stalled

“Uh HUM!”, He replied.

“OH! I remember, You told me to rest.”, I cowered and sorta whispered.

“Yes, David, I told you to rest. And since that is where we left off, that is where we will continue. While you obey me, you will rest in me. Learn the word. Learn to pray and praise. THAT is when I will affect the changes in you so that you will be just like Jesus. You cannot do this for your self, and you cannot do it by your self. Only I can do this thing in you.”, God instructed.

Resting was hard at first. But I want to be like Christ. I want my life to have an eternal, and holy consequence while I am still alive. For once in my life, I obeyed. I obeyed because I consciously chose to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. And Jesus died for my sin, and He rose again on the third day, to prove He has the authority to grant me eternal life, and I asked God to make me the reflection of Christ.

I no longer felt any doubt that this is what God intends to do in me. I knew then that God intends to do this in ALL the humans who accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

It began in 1987. That was the point in time that I made the decision. I wandered in a wilderness of my own making for 20+ years. But the grace of God watched over me, and in His mercy, He carried me through that wilderness. And now, I have returned to Him, to home, where my heart has always wanted to be.

Then I understood this:

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” – Php 2:13 – KJV

Last time, I tried to run ahead of God and take care of becoming like Jesus on my own. Well, THAT didn’t work out so well. But because my heart has genuinely surrendered to Christ as Savior AND Lord, the Spirit of God is able to work in me, and to open my eyes, so that I can see that resting is exactly what I am to do. Changing my life to be a reflection of Jesus is GOD’S work, through the Holy Spirit. Anytime I try to take over and do it myself, I mess things up.

While I pursue obedience to what He has given me to do (WRITE!), HE will affect in me the changes HE sees I need in order to be like Jesus. I simply cannot do it. It is God who does all the heavy lifting, not me.

“David.”

“Yes, God?”

“When you feel the temptation to take over, remember Carrie Underwood’s song, “Jesus Take the Wheel.”, OK?

“Yes Sir. THAT will not be a problem, it is a great song that brings tears to me eyes, sung by a great singer who is easy on my eyes.”

I swear I felt Him Gibbs Slap the back of my head.  (That actually works on me.)

“That is the FIRST THING we will work on, mister.”

“Yes Sir, I am sorry.”

“Next time, keep your eyes on me.  I will empower you to do this, but it is still your choice.  I prefer obedience rather than sacrifice.”

And that was lesson one. It was not all that difficult. I saw how it affected God when I sin, and when He corrected me about it, He didn’t do what Satan does; accuse me. He simply showed me how it looks in His eyes. And I didn’t like what I saw. I give that part of my self to Him. He took the wheel.

The more I rest in Him, and obey what He has given me to do, the more things He is able to deal with in my life. When we obey, His love grown in our heart. His power and authority grows in us. There are some temptations I am really in love with, but God is able to break that bond and free me from them. They are fading into insignificance.

Now, all I want to do is follow Jesus. I give my life totally to Him. As I obey, as I seek the Lord with all my heart, the more He reveals to me: Of His will for me, of His character, of His Grace, Mercy and Love. The terrible anger I used to carry around, that was part of my life from when I turned 17, is gone. It is gone. And I don’t miss it.

Dear reader. God wants to do this in your life, too. When you surrender to Him, HE will change your heart, and you will welcome the change. He does this because it is his STRONG desire to give you all the Holy Gifts of Heaven, so that, while you are still here on Earth, you will be the image of Christ. You just may be the only Jesus some lost soul will see. Rest in Him. Receive His gifts.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”. – Jas 1:17 KJV

Let’s be about it.

I Love you.

Your Servant,

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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WHAT are you THINKING???


I needed steel toed boots when I researched this one. I’ll wait here while you get yours. (You can get a good pair at Orchelin’s).

This is dedicated to Cynthia and Sandy…Yes, I finally understand.

Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotes are from the Holman Bible, as shown on the following web site: https://www.bible.com/

WHAT WAS I THINKING???

Proverbs 23:7a – For as he thinks within himself, so he is. NASB

It seems like this is a lifelong pursuit. Sometimes I approached this with Herculean effort, and sometimes I petered out before I even tried.

My thoughts were toxic. They were why I was continually failing at anything I tried. On the outside, I put on the bravado if “Charles in Charge“, but on the inside I was not so in charge.

At my very best, I have very little self-control, and the things I think eventually sneak out and come to life in the manifest world. I tried self-help books, I tried “The Secret” (It is an empty gun when God’s will is not the target). I tried therapy (And have sent many a therapist to mental wards…it only takes a little peek into my mind to drive any rational human in sane), and I tried the usual self-affirming tricks you learn in NLP classes (Look it up. It is the major tool used by advertisement agencies, the Press and the White House to get you to do whatever it is they want.). Nothing could affect a permanent change in my heart.

After repeatedly running out of gas in the self-help aisle, and seeing as I am now genuinely interested in doing whatever it is that Jesus wants me to do, I had to do a lot of digging.

Here is what I learned:

Matthew 24:34 – Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. – Jesus

I prayed for God to change my heart and thinking. I came to this point after decades of being my own worst enemy.

When I read Matt. 24:34, I was floored. The reason I was floored like a mop was, the fruit of my mouth was only evil and negative, and mostly filth. I could cuss with the best of any Drill Sergeant. I said whatever came to my mind, and it was mostly filth and hate.

I especially had trouble with this the harder I tried to be “Religious”.

James 1:6 – If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself.

Uh Oh. I realized I was not being a servant to the Lord, but being a RELIGIOUS person. See, a religious person can fake Christianity (Or any other religion) really well, but like the man said, “Anyone can stand on their head for a couple of weeks. Let’s see what happens when it gets tough.”

I don’t know about you but I hate religion. I hate when people, including myself, try to be all pious and “holy”, and pretend to be righteous, when even Ray Charles can see that, when you run out of steam, you show that you are a fake. I HATE that.

James 1: 5-7 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.

On my own, I have a foolish heart. I am not known for my “King Solomon-like” wisdom. When I realized that, I surrendered again to the Lordship of Christ, who works in me His will for my life. You cannot fake this, either. It is either faith, based on Jesus’s free gift of Salvation, and your desire to serve him as He is the Lord, or it isn’t. It has to be genuine. So, I confessed that I am a self-righteous fool, who only plays at being a Christian, but I fail at it. I confessed that My heart is full of dark, squiggly, slimy evil, and asked God to shine the light of His love and Grace in my heart. (You shoulda seen the roaches run for cover when THAT happened! They hate the light. You can run, but you can’t hide! Bwa Haa haaaa!)

I Samuel 16:7b – Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

This is where you have to go into this whole thing aware of what you are asking. If you have given your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, The Spirit of God will come in and look around, and until He gets your heart redecorated to look like HIS heart, there has to be some turning away from your own ways. God does amazing Heart Surgery.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

So, if you are going to dedicate your life to Jesus, and that is what it really means to be a Christian, then the first place God is going to deal with you is your thoughts, your attitude, your sin, and your failures. He HAS to change the intent of your heart. Human intent is at war with God’s will for Humans. We are having WAY too much fun being the “Master of our domain.”

But if you have genuinely given your heart to Jesus Christ, you will not be able to help it, but to ask Jesus to change you and your heart until you are the very reflection of Him. Until this happens, the Holy Spirit will work to teach you, to convict you, to lead you to repentance, as you serve, and grow to be just like Christ.

Now, if you are like I was, a complete and total Jack-Ass, then you are in for some rough times. Trust me on this one. But don’t despair, God has all the time in the Universe to deal with you. The sooner you submit, the easier it will go. Don’t be like I was, don’t be a Jack-Ass.

Jeremiah 23:29 – “Is not My word like fire” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? <==(I think He was referring to my thick skull, there.

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH ON YOUR OWN!

I tried. Remember I said that a minute ago? I gave it over 20 years, and I failed every time. It is God, and God alone who changes you.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.

You don’t have the will unless God gives it to you. You don’t have the desire to change, unless God calls you to the changes. If you try to do it on your own strength, power, and “wisdom”, then you are A: A fool, and B: BEING RELIGIOUS!!!

Stop it, and trust God. He loves you and has nothing but good plans for you if you submit.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

God will change your heart, and your thinking and your intent so that you will become just like Jesus. HE does this by HIS OWN power.

So, getting back to where I was earlier:

Proverbs 18:21 – Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Jesus says, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Man, was I in a fix. Nothing good was coming out of my mouth, so that meant the intentions of my heart were not in God’s control. I gave control of my heart to God. And when I did, we did the laundry. My thoughts changed. My attitudes changed. My INTENTIONS changed. And they all changed and are still changing to the point that I can just begin to see the image of Christ in my heart.

Along with a heart of submission, there is one thing I have to do in participation with God in this change:

Proverbs 4:23 – “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

I have a list of things I need to watch out for. It is the usual things that will get a human in trouble, the lust of the eye, the lust of the heart, and the pride of life. Like Paul said, if it weren’t for these things, there’d be no sin.

Galatians 5:24 – Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

My desire is to serve Christ and Christ alone. This is not a decision you can make on your own, and it is not something you can fake. It is either real, or it is not. But total submission to Christ IS what being a Christian means. We are still here after we believed so we can live a life that reflects Jesus Christ, so that others will be led to eternal life through Christ. That is why you are still on this planet (IF you are, indeed, a Christian.)

Philippians 4:8 – Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things.

That verse speaks for itself. But this takes discipline. Thinking on these things has changed my attitude and my heart. It has made me more sensitive to the urgings of the Lord. It has made me more willing to show Grace and Mercy to those who need it. It has made it possible for me to see the difference between Godly behavior, and no so godly behavior. All this is true because it is the Holy Spirit working in me to effect these changes.

Philippians 4:6-7 – Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Don’t worry about ANYTHING. This is a tough one, but when you allow God to change the intent of your heart, and you “think on these things”, you learn you CAN take EVERYTHING to God, with a grateful heart. And I promise you, I am a witness to this personally, The Peace of God, which passes every thought, WILL guard your hearts and minds IN JESUS CHRIST.

God will guard your heart and mind. It begins when you are genuinely IN Jesus Christ, and it ends because you are IN Jesus Christ.

SO, WHAT IS YOUR POINT???

I am glad you asked. The whole point of getting your mind right is so that the Mind of Christ will be in you. When the mind of Christ is in you, you will have the intentions of Christ, and not your own selfish ones. When you have the intent of Christ in you, you will bear good fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When you bear good spiritual fruit, you will be like Jesus, and you will be able to be living proof that Jesus Christ is Lord, and you will be able to lead others to Jesus Christ.

So, watch your mouth. Give your whole heart to Jesus Christ and stop being religious.

You will be effective as Jesus’s disciple when you have let the Holy Spirit do heart surgery on you.

Now, let’s be about it!

I love you

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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With God, All Things Are Possible


If you read yesterday’s blog, you discovered that I was driving home and working out how I will explain to my family that I was no longer employed.  And that being dismissed from a Military base looks really bad on your resume.  And I didn’t know what to do.  God gave me an assignment.  I am to write something every day and post it.

So, there I was, driving home, screwing up the courage to tell my wife and daughter that I had lost my job at the Base.

I felt that God had clearly given me an assignment.  Write something every day.  He knows me very well.  He knows that if I just sit around between job applications, and twiddle my thumbs, my mind will go into all kinds of fear and condemnation.  I am my own worst enemy sometimes, and I am worse than the Accuser when it comes to my flaws.

I also know that, if this was going to work, I need to be honest with myself and God. After all, there is no such thing as a secret when you deal with God.  (It’s in His job description: Must Be All Knowing, All Seeing, and All Powerful).

It is a good thing God is patient.  Anyone who has dealt with me, knows that you have to bring to the table a great deal of patience.

God is Good. All the time.

I wanted to go over a few things in this contract.  Just to be clear.   I started with Article 1, the first clause: I (David G. Perkins A.K.A. Sammy Snardfarkle)  am to serve God by writing something every day.   I am to keep looking for a job.  But when I am not looking for work, I am to keep writing.  So, I asked God if I had this part down, as in , I wanted to make sure I wasn’t interpreting something into HIS word that suited my world view.  (That is really a no-no in God’s kingdom).

I received assurance that is exactly what I am to do.  Start simply, and we can go from there.  See, there is this trust issue.  I have proven myself untrustworthy to God before. And it isn’t that He doesn’t trust His decisions, it’s that He wants to help me develop the patience for Love to refine me.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

God has a plan for me.  And He will do with me what He will in His time, according to His agenda. And he will refine me as we go about accomplishing this agenda.

I had a huge problem on my mind, and I wanted to get it off my chest.  Something seemed illogical, here.  Anyone who knows me knows, I will sometimes argue till I am blue in the face.  I will argue with a tree stump, just to try to convince the tree stump it is actually a banana.  (I have lost most of those arguments. But, if you are ever in Brownwood, Texas, and you see a tree stump not acting all stumpish, it is because it actually thinks it is a banana.  Just give it a wide berth, and it will not trip you up).

I have flaws.  I don’t mean just one, or two.  Ask any local Christian you find here, and they will be happy to regale you with a complete database and cross index of every flaw I have.  It is ordered, both by topic, and numerically.  I have actually been the happy recipient of this index, and I must say, it is extensive, and thorough.  The unabridged edition is available at one of my relatives homes, but you will have to cover the printing and shipping costs, yourself.

I asked God about all these flaws that I am aware of, and that I have been cheerfully reminded of by His children.  This is where God had to start the refining process in me.

He let me know, CLEARLY, that Satan is the accuser, and Satan’s children behave like their father.  He let me know that His children are covered by His grace, and any flaws they have are His responsibility.  Then He told me to decide, will I be an accuser, or will I be like Him, and demonstrate Grace and Mercy to all, because I will to be like Christ, who is the rightful Head of all things?

That made me stop and think.  I confess I needed a LOT of His help on this one.

So I asked about this Grace thing.  He reminded me it is something I definitely need, and need to give, because as I give it, I will have more of it.  He explained that, in God’s economy, God pays compounded interest on everything you give away.  You are not allowed to put it in your spiritual piggy bank and keep it all to yourself.  If you do that, what little you have will be taken away and given to someone who knows how to use it wisely.

God then reminded me of this scripture:

“But this man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God…For by one offering He hath perfected them that are sanctified” Hebrews 10:12-14 KJV

So, I asked God this…”What about all my sin and flaws?”  He asked me, is there any sin you have tried to hide from me?  I thought about going back to that old, “Thou Knowest, O Lord” thing, but I had a feeling God was not in the mood for my sarcasm.  So, I told Him:  As my sin becomes apparent to me, I confess it to you, I repent of it, and I leave it at your feet, just as you have asked me to do.

He let me know that is right.

But that left the problem of all my flaws.  So I asked about all that. He let me know that all humans have flaws. It is part of being fallen. But God, in his Grace, looks at me and sees the blood of His Son, and those flaws are hidden by that blood. So, being true to my nature, I argued, “But those pesky flaws are still there, aren’t they?”

God is Patient. God is Good. His Grace and Mercy endures forever:  All the Time.

He pointed out that, yes, those flaws are there, but I do not need to worry about them. He explained that, since I actually belong to Him, through Jesus Christ, the flaws I still have are not counted against me, and that, as long as I am pursuing the will of God, and I become more like Christ, then the flaws will, by the nature and power of God, be removed.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit, who doesn’t accuse you, but, through Grace and Mercy shows you how unimportant your flaws are, and that it is safe to let them go, so you CAN be more like Jesus.

I thought that had to be the best answer I had heard all day (I was still stinging from losing my job).

Then I asked him, what if I sin again, will you overlook that, too? He let me know that sin occurs when I stop and play with my flaws. Ever hear the saying, “If you play with that, you’ll go blind.”? In order to stop and play with your flaws, you have to stop looking at Christ, who is your goal.  You become blind to the things of God, when you play with your flaws.

When you sin, you inevitably stop in your growth, until you deal with that sin.  When you sin, you have to confess that sin, repent of it, and leave it at God’s feet.  Grace covers all your flaws.  Sin is a stopping point in your growth.  You cannot go around sinning just because you belong to God.  If you did, then you will eventually separate yourself from His fellowship (Again, as in my case).

God is Good.  All the time.  His Grace and Mercies endure forever.

Because I wanted to make sure I had this right, I asked God,

“SO, Jesus’ Blood Covers my flaws.”

(Did I mention God is PATIENT??)

He said “Yes”.

I said, “If I pay too much attention to my flaws, and not to the finished work of Christ, I am more likely to sin?”

He said, “Yes”

I asked, “If I sin, it is because I am fond of one of my flaws to the point that I give it more importance than I do my walk with Christ?”

He said , “Yes. And that is also a form of Idolatry, when you put anything as being more important than Me.”

I asked, “You, or Christ?”

God is ever patient.  He protects children and fools with His patience.

He said, “We are one. If you have seen Jesus, you have seen Me.”

I had to gulp at that, because, as I have mentioned before, I have a LOT of flaws, and some of them are my favorite flaws.  I confess I belong to God because of the Blood of Jesus Christ.  He IS the Son of the Living God.  He died for all my sin.  He rose again to prove He IS who He said He is.  If I have seen Christ, then I have seen God.

I asked Him, “What do I do?” I was still burdened by my flaws.

He said, “Follow Jesus, to be like Him. It is not something you can do on your own power, it is something that I empower you to do by the Holy Spirit, who now lives in you.” “If you will to follow, I will to lead you.” “If you do this, and as you do this, your flaws will become less important. When they come less important, they die of malnutrition, and fall off.  By the time you reach the likeness of Jesus, you will be flawless.” “In the mean time, my Grace covers those flaws. When I look at you, I see my Beloved Son, who died for you.”

That was profound. I actually wept at the thought of the choice God made on my behalf. This can be a problem if you are careening down I-50 at nearly 100 miles per hour. Not that I would know anything about THAT….it’s just something I heard.

In His eyes, I am flawless. It doesn’t matter what my accusers say after all. I am His because I confess that Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God, and that Jesus died for my sin, and rose again from death to life. This makes me God’s own child.

But to make sure I don’t misunderstand, I asked God, “When I sin, and I don’t confess, what does that mean? “

He said, “You have placed a stumbling block in your own way. You will need to bring that stumbling block to me, and I will lead you to repentance, to confession, and delivery. I will remove that stumbling block. But if you leave that stumbling block in your way, you will eventually be tied to that place where you sinned, and will not be able to pursue Jesus with a pure heart. It will be where your growth stops. This is where my Mercy comes into play. I will not judge you immediately for this sin. I will be patient and wait for you to confess it, so we can move forward, where my Grace is already at work. “

I was speechless (Yes, God is STILL in the miracle-working business!).

I confessed to God that I am weak, and am in love with some of my flaws. I asked him how I can ever follow him, being so flawed.

He reminded me: “With God, all things are possible.”

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Go Ye Therefore….


This is not a plea for a job, OK?  This is just me…I don’t know, getting things off my chest.

I heard another ‘No’ today on yet another job application.  It get’s frustrating.  I have gotten so discouraged.  Here I am, intelligent, capable, WILLING, and not too proud to work.  It seems that, when you are dismissed from a Military base, you pretty much are dismissed from a great many opportunities.  I make no excuses.  I was rightfully dismissed.  Besides, the whole story would get more than me in trouble, so I am content to be in this position.

In my frustration, I decided to go for a walk.  That didn’t help.  I got home,.  I was still  grumpy, because taking a walk didn’t help.  Besides, my conscience was bothering me.  I am learning how to write.  How to blog, how to journal, etc.  They only writing I had ever done in my life was poetry, and seminary papers.  And that, my friend was a very long time ago.

The day I got fired from the base, I felt disoriented.  This is all I had been doing for the last two years.  And this work was good, and I am good at it.  As you surely know, by now, I have recently returned to the Lord.  So, I prayed.  I prayed HARD.  What was I going to tell my wife…my daughter?  Why was this happening?  I had worked hard for my credentials.  Now they were worthless.

As I prayed, I felt a strong sense of calm overcome me.  That kept me from going into a panic.  I slowed the car down (It is a 2 hour commute from the Base to Home).  I didn’t realize I had been speeding.

By time I slowed the car down, I was actually so calm, I could actually smile.  (That, in itself was rare for me).  You hear about those “Charismatic Weirdo’s” who say they heard from God.  I always rolled my eyes at that.  I had to take all that eye rolling back.  I mean, really, when you roll your eyes at God, HE could very well roll them right back at you, and you wouldn’t enjoy it.

I heard from God.  I didn’t take the time to make sure I was not becoming a “Charismatic Weirdo”, or anything like that.  I mean, I was really busy HEARING from God.  It was the most wonderful, calming experience I had ever had.

He asked me what I’d rather do.  I told Him, “You Know, O Lord!”

Sound familiar?  What was that that Ezekiel said to God when God asked Zeke, ‘Do you think I can take these bones and bring them back to life?”  or some thing like that.  And Ezekiel, being the courageous one of God, said, “God Knows!”.  He was hedging His bet.  It wasn’t that Ezekiel DIDN’T think God couldn’t raise the bones in the desert back to life, it was just that, well, what if it is a trick question?  Zeke knew God was testing him.  But Zeke wasn’t sure he had studied hard enough for the test.  So he said, “Thou knowest, O Lord” or something like that.  Turns out, God raised the bones and made a legion of soldiers.  That be a LOT of soldiers.  Zeke suddenly realized the point.  God can do what ever he pleases.  And it pleases God to have Ezekiel serve Him. Where I come from, that is called a HUGE object lesson.

So, when God asked ME, “What would you rather do, Dave?”  and I said “Thou Knowest, O Lord”, I swear I could see him glare at me like my third grade teacher did when I hit her with a huge spit wad.  (I got out of a beating by telling her I just wanted to get her attention so I could tell her she was beautiful…I am going to burn in HELL, I KNOW!)

It was a cop out.  I wasn’t used to the Almighty riding along in my car, and asking me questions, OK?!?

But I did get a chance to stop and think.  Thank God God is merciful and abundant in Grace, too.  I figured I was going to be the worlds largest Chicken Wing, or something like that.

I listed off several things.  I used to play French Horn.  But He said, you can practice at home, but no.  Well, I used to play piano.  Same answer.  We went like this for about 60 miles.  I gotta say, God is also very patient.  My nick name isn’t Jack Ass for nothing, you know…go ask my ex wife and my curent wife.  I got tired of playing this game.  And I asked God to just tell me what it is HE wants me to do, and I will do it.

He asked me if I still had that old fire in the belly for writing.  I looked askance at the empty passengers seat, and said, “You’re kidding, RIGHT?”  I am sure that is why the trucker that saw me do this sped way the heck up.  What would YOU think?

He said, “David, you want to serve me?”  I said “Thou Knowest, O Lord!”, but then repented and said very affirmatively, “I’d rather serve you than be the richest man on the planet”, or something like that.  There were a string of affirmations going on at the time.  I mean, I hadn’t even acknowledges there is a God for 20 YEARS.  And I really wanted to return to God’s fold, and serve.  There is nothing better in this life than serving God.

He told me to write.  Every day.  Put it in a blog.  You can only imagine what I thought about that.  I have read my writing, it bored hell out of me.  So, I was wondering if boring hell out of people was His way of getting people to run toward the scriptures, which are infinitely less boring than my writing.  (Believe me, on this, I have read the Bible too).

He told me that, while HE finds the right place for me to work, I need to keep myself busy writing.  He said he plans on using that gift as it develops.  I asked min if he had ever looked at my writer’s portfolio?  He looked askance at me…well, at least the empty passenger seat looked askance at me.

He said he would let me know what to write, and when.  I have to say, that so far, he has done just that.

My last two blogs concerned Who Is The Church.  I told God, Look, I can’t just go around shooting my mouth off like that, and not walk it, too!!!  he let me know He will take care of that, but for now, keep writing.

Here’s the deal.  I am not trying to be some great writer of great expose.  I am just doing what I have been told.  My hearts desire is, yes, to be good at writing, and writing about the things of God.  And my burning desire is to be part of the next revival that needs to break out over the land.  This planet is using the biggest steam shovel it can just to dig a hole to Hell.

I thought about what Jesus said to the Disciples just as He was about to ascent back into Heaven.

And Jesus came up to them and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given unto Me in Heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:18-20

And that is my hearts desire.  To obey.  But I know that God is right.  I have been away for 20 years, and there is a trust issue.  If I am faithful in this little thing of writing every day, He will be faithful to bless me for obeying.

I have been given a commission.  You have also been given a commission.  You do not need anyone’s permission to obey.  Trust me when I tell you, your family will think you are crazy.  Especially when you tell them that you had a chat with the Almighty.  Take Jesus, for an example.  Here he was, running around Israel, raising people from the dead, healing the sick, and telling everyone, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  And his very own family told people Jesus was crazy.  That is your Bible Drill for the day.  Find where that is written in the Gospels).

Until the day God calls me to higher things, I will obey.  Even when I don’t feel like obeying, like today.  I was discouraged.  I didn’t even know what I was going to write about.  But as I got to the library, God showed me what to say.

Just imagine what He has to say to you, if you’ll listen.

The world is dying, out there.  Let’s be about it.

I love you.

David G. Perkins

 

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Who is the Church? – Part II


2 Timothy 3:1-5a. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness denying its power.”

If you glossed over the above scripture, please go back and read it for comprehension sake. I’ll wait.

Now, stop and look around you at the world we live in. Does the list of things in those verses sound like today’s society? You have read in the papers about all the incredibly evil things people are doing to each other. You have seen on the news (For what the news is worth) how evil is triumphed, and those who cry out for good are called evil.

Did you know that Paul was warning Timothy about the false preachers who, in the last days, infiltrate the churches? The warning was there because of the doctrines of the false servants of God would be borne out in the followers of the false teachings. That warning is: They will produce fruit after their own kind. He was not warning Timothy of the sinners who walked around outside the church, he was talking about the church itself.

The same thing happened to Israel.

Isaiah 5:20-23 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and, and valiant men at in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!”

False doctrines and falsehoods were dragged into Israel, and condoned by the High Priests. They took bribes to look the other way, they were drunkards, they pronounced that the things of God are bad, and the things that are evil are good.

Just like in the book of Timothy.

These warnings and the subsequent judgments were not against people who do not know God. They are directed at people who claim they do. Israel was appointed by the Living God to be a light unto the world, that all nations will know there is a God, and He created them all. God’s efforts at redemption are illustrated all throughout the Bible.

In Timothy’s time, the doctrines of Grace, Mercy and Love, filling you by the Spirit of the Living God, based on the believers confession of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, was being diluted.

The people who diluted the Gospel were people who appeared pious, said all the right words, and smoothly talked their way into the congregation. Once they were in, they slowly diverted the Gospel of Jesus Christ for another Gospel. They turned people, slowly from the things of God, to other things. Just like in the days of Israel, when Isaiah gave all those “woes”.

Sinners are going to be sinners. They are the ones we, as Christians, are sent in to the world to reach, love, show mercy, grace, and heal their hurts. But the worst kind of sin, one that God does not tolerate, is when HIS congregation, His “called out” ones, sit idly by and let the congregation of deceivers turn people away from the simple gospel, to some sort of psychobabble, “New Aged”ideology.

Many churches, today, endorse evil, and say that if you cannot embrace that evil, you are a hater, and not a “child of God”. They say this because their view of God is that He is a kindly grandfather that endorses everything you do, simply because he “loves” you enough not to discipline you.

Every generation, every nation, every church, every tribe that has known the Living God, then thrown off His ways was destroyed.

Look around you. America is in deep trouble. Here we are within the worlds largest field, needing harvest, and we ourselves have no idea what to do about it. We are so afraid we will “offend” someone, that we do not tell the truth. We bow to laws that call for us to disobey God, hoping that God will see we are just trying to get along with every one. We fear for our jobs more than we fear disobeying God.

Jesus promised : “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels? Mark 8:35-38 CEV

The time for compromise has ended. Jesus assured us that we WILL offend people. That all people want to hear is what they want to hear, so they will feel good about the sin they commit.

If we genuinely want revival in the land, it starts with individual repentance. There is no such thing as “corporate” salvation. There is only individual salvation. The whole congregation will not be there for you when you see God on judgment day. If you will bend your knee, confess your sin, and let the Spirit of God remove all the lusts of your heart, and all your pride, and all your lying, and any other road blocks you have placed between you and a walk with the Lord, if you will repent, and be cleansed, you can be the one person who can start this revival in our land.

When you draw other “believers” to repentance, you will have a congregation of believers who have been cleaned again, and are willing to risk it all for the gospel. When you have that, my brothers and sisters, you have a real assembly of believers. If you have a real assembly of believers, forgiven, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, who was given to you when you first believed, and through the knowledge of the word, you will be a formidable force for the sake of the Gospel.

You can feel it in your bones that time is running out. The age of church complacency is over. The age of our willful ignorance os over. The age of denying the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is over. If you want to see all your lost friends and neighbors saved, let it begin in YOUR heart. Do business with God, and watch what business He will do through you.

You do not need permission from ANYONE to obey God. Jesus gave it to you the instant you believed in Him.

“If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; (even) if we are faithless, HE remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11b-13

In my lifetime I have seen Jesus kicked out of Schools, public discourse, and now the Military.  In some towns and cities IN THIS COUNTRY, it is illegal to share the gospel. “The Religion of Peace” will cut your head off for sharing Jesus. Sharia law is creeping its’ way in to our laws, even as you read this.

When the congregation of believers gave up their right to do the will of Christ in their communities, then the government, who has proven to be evil to the very core, has taken them over. And when you dance with the devil, you way his price.

God destroys every nation that denounces Him. We, as a collective, have denounced God, or, out of fear for our own well being, have stood by and let it happen. I have repented of this sin, and challenge you, the individual, and the church, to do the same.

You can change what is about to befall this country when you can change your heart. And you can bring others to Christ while you can, and are willing.

Start with your church, because, if you have read the book of Revelation, you have read what Christ has to say to the Church at Laodicea. They are the archetype, we are the type. Time to get in shape and finish this fight.

I beg you, as a brother in Christ, to do what I had to do.

Repent, stop making excuses for not serving the Gospel, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Learn to pray again. Learn to read the scriptures again. Find others who have done this same thing. Be the light of the world. If you are saved, then you ARE the image of Christ. Change how you act, change how your churches act, and you will see a change in our beloved nation.

Nothing short of an act of God can turn our country around.

We are out of time, so let’s be about it.

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Do You Love Me? (The Concentric Circles of Love)


So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” John 21:15

This is for all of us who are looking for home.  This is for all of us who have been rejected and condemned by the church.  This is for you who, in one form or another, walked in service to Christ, but did something stupid, and have fallen out of relationship to Him.  This is for those of us who have, for a season, felt the loss when God let you have your way, cut the moorings from his shore, and your ship drifted, alone, lost at sea.

You miss the joy of your salvation.  You miss the sweet fellowship you had in your Bible studies, worship, and prayers.  You miss the embrace and fellowship of other, like-minded, servants of Christ.

You have been shunned by friends, family, and strangers. You think, “But they don’t know what is in my heart!”  No, they don’t, and chances are, they never will.  You have to accept some realities, and it is not easy.

Is the joy of your salvation an echo of things past?  Is the sweet embrace of the Holy Spirit now just an ache of longing?

Is the weight of your sin so unbearable that sometimes, you wonder if people are right about you, that you cannot be redeemed, that you are better off dead, that you would do more people a favor if you just went away?

I have good news for you. You are wrong.  People are wrong.  And God is waiting with His arms outstretched, waiting with all his heart for you to come home.

I can tell you this because I have just gone through this.

There was a time in Peter’s life that he swore to Jesus “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” (Mat 26:33) Jesus told Peter,  “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” (Matt 26:34)

Peter was a strong and courageous, if not a bit hot headed, man.  The thought of denying Jesus never occurred to him. He rested in his own strength to stand with Christ when things really hit the fan.

But when they did, Peter denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed.

“And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”  And he went out and wept bitterly.” Matt 26:75

Now, you weren’t at the arrest and trial of Christ, AND you are not Peter.  But, you were saved, and you were serving.  And you did something that separated you from God’s loving fellowship.  You suddenly understood what the first part of the verse in Isa 54:7 meant:  “For a small moment have I forsaken thee;”  and now you want to have the rest of that verse apply to you as well: “but with great mercies will I gather thee.”

After my fall from God, I went out and wept bitterly.  I could feel His absence as loudly as a clap of thunder.  I know it is not conventional theology to say that for a season God will separate Himself from you, but He will, and does as He is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

I used to tell my wife that I want to return to His fellowship,  but I have no way of knowing how to get back to Him.  The good news, as you will eventually discover, is that you have not even left the palm of His hand.  He has simply left you to your own devices for a season.

Eventually, and my wife will attest to this, eventually, if returning is your hearts true yearning and intent, then you will have the support of the entire Kingdom of Heaven.

CIRCLE 1:  Draw a circle around yourself (Not really, but in your mind).  Include in that circle everything that is currently you.  You have to be totally honest, here.  Include all that you perceive is good and from God, and in a separate pile, include all you have said, or done, that is not of God.  You will know what those things are by the way they reveal your relationship to God.  Everything you do either accepts Christ as your Lord, or it rejects Christ as Lord.  Even though the hurt you have caused was to others, as well, in the end, it is a behavior that ultimately denies Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

God may do you like He did me, and have me pick up every little behavior that denied Him, and address each one on an individual basis.  But I am, and you can ask my wife, a Jack Ass.  It takes me longer to do things because I am stubborn.

Eventually, God will show you that, because you have confessed your sin, He has dealt with them.  He promises us all that He has thrown them as far away as the East is from the West.  That he has trampled them underfoot, and remembers them no more.  That He has cast them into the sea of forgetfulness.  Jesus died for ALL of our sin, past, present and future.  That is not a license to sin, it is the permission to forgive yourself if you have repented.

Accept this forgiveness, and forgive yourself.  Your judgment is not greater than God’s.  If He has forgiven you, then you are forgiven, PERIOD.  This may take time, or it might be instant.  In the end, you will know the joy of your salvation.  There is no sin you can commit that is so bad that God will not forgive you, if it is in your heart to repent.  All sin is a denial of Christs work on the cross.  Be forgiven.  You will be free.

CIRCLE 2:  Now, draw a larger circle around that first circle.  The first circle represents God dealing with you, and you doing business with God.

Circle 2 contains all the people your sin has directly affected.

You are forgiven, but not forgotten.  You have hurt people you love.  You must lay your offering at the alter and seek forgiveness for all the hurt you have done.  This is an ongoing process, and may not be able to be accomplished overnight.  But it is necessary.  And it is good, albeit a hard thing to do.  You have to overcome your fear of rejection, your fear of not being taken seriously, and possible the reality that you may not be forgiven.  There really is nothing you can do about that, but you must, with all Godly intention, seek forgiveness for the harm you have done.  Whatever happens from your effort, God will show you how it is a blessing.  Some loss happens, but if you stand in your faith, God will see it through.  Many times, healing happens.  And it will be good, and fruitful for both of you.

CIRCLE 3: These are the people that you did not sin against, but are really angry because you have hurt someone thy love when you sinned.  Listen closely.  You still have to do business with them.  You have to obey God in this.  Forgive their hatred and the terrible, and hurtful things they have said to you and about you.  And seek their forgiveness.  It would help a lot if the person or persons in the second circle would go with you, and help smooth things over, so that they can see that a genuine change has happened in your heart.

They will either accept that you are redeemed, or not.  They will either forgive you or not.  You do not know the hearts of men (or women), but God does.  He knows where they are in their walk, you don’t.  He knows where they need work, you don’t, and unless God uses you to affect their changes, you have no business interfering with the work God is doing in their lives.  BUT, you do get to love them. You do get to pray with them and for them.

Take care of this business.  Don’t worry about the outcomes.  Your walk doesn’t depend on how people in the second and third circle treat you, what they say about you, or if they believe you.  Your walk depends ONLY on your obedience to God.  He has called you to return to His embrace.  He has cleansed you of your sin.  He has demonstrated His overwhelming love for you.

Peter denied Christ three times.  In order to restore Peter, Jesus asked Peter, three times, if Peter loved him.  This sealed Peter in his love for Christ.  Peter eventually did die for the sake of the Gospel.

This leads to

CIRCLE 4:  Now you have done all you can to be redeemed to God, your beloved friends and loved ones, and the people who were affected by your behavior.

YOU ARE  FREE!

Be free to serve.  Be recklessly abandoned to Christ and His service for you.  This is the 4th circle.  Jesus said:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matt 28:20

Now you feel his call.  You do not need anyone’s permission to obey.  Lay your hindrances at God’s feet, and He will clear the way for you to serve Christ.  It IS your call, and God’s gift is without repentance.

Go, be about it.

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Faith

The Return to God, Part I : When you turn to God, God will turn to you.


[NOTE TO READERS: Please accept my apologies for taking so long on this one. It took several rewrites before it made any sense.]

“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:17 – ESV

“If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” Jeremiah 18:8 – ESV

Let’s see…Hold on a sec….(Sounds of me frantically digging through my notes.) OK, here they are. You should see my desk. It looks like the International Paper Corporation exploded all over it. Alright, let’s see. “…yet I refused to repent.” Yep, that was the point, wasn’t it?

Frankly, I don’t even know where to start on this one. If you KNOW you need to repent, then this is probably not where we need to start out…I mean, well…you KNOW, right? You might as well be about it, and wait patiently for me to write The Return To God, Part II : God Will Then Let You Know He Is Aware Of Your Plight.

When you turn to God:

How do you know that you need to repent and return to God? I wish I could say that an angel will appear, or a hand will write on the wall, or the spirit of Christmas past will haunt you, but that’s not what usually happens. It DOES happen that way on occasion. Look at the Apostle Paul. Here is how you know you need to repent.

You start to realize there is something terribly out of place. You become miserable. Your conscience bothers you more and more. The fact that you even have a conscience means God still has His hands on you. You can remember what it was like when you were saved, and learning the Bible, and can tell there is no way your present life is anything close to that. You have stopped reading the Bible, but every time you go near it, you feel like you really ought to open it. You wake up one day and realize that everything you have done since turning your back on God has been nearly a complete waste of time (We will discover later that that is not necessarily true, but for now, that is how it feels). You slowly wake up and feel the weight of your sin. You wake up and feel that that sin is going to crush you. If this is you, then you are going through what I and countless other backsliders have gone through.

I woke up slowly, and in that waking I discovered I have never been more miserable in my entire life. I was doing work I hated, I was living a life I hated, I was miserable. “Somehow” it occurred to me that, if I really belong to God, where is the evidence of the walk? Where is my Bible? Where are my prayers? Could it be because there might be something amiss between God and me? “Nah…um…well…maybe I should take a look.” And that’s what I did. I stepped out of my own skin, looked at my life, noticed my life was really messed up, and that I had God riding all in the back of the bus.

It really hit me hard when I heard Carrie Underwood’s hit song, “Jesus Take The Wheel“. I thought my heart was going to tear a hole right through my chest. The thing about God is, He loves you beyond measure. He is waiting to bless you in ways you have never imagined. But, unlike modern parenting, He is not going to coddle us, and give us a trophy just because we exist. God has His own economy, and if you want to do business with Him, you need to know that you cannot have it YOUR way, and please God. He has something else in store for you.

Here’s the big deal about turning to God. It doesn’t matter if all you did was sneak that extra cookie when Mom told you to leave the cookies alone, and you lied to her about it. It doesn’t matter if you just murdered your wife, or husband, or robbed a bank, or raped someone, or are an alcoholic, or a prostitute, or a Satanist. Sin is Sin. Period. If you are a Christian, and have turned your back on God in ANY way, THAT is sin. If you are a Christian and sin, you make a mockery of the death Jesus paid on the cross.

BREAKING NEWS: There is no sin that cannot be forgiven except to blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God.

For the past several years, one prayer that has become my daily prayer is Psalm 51:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51 – ESV

Did you feel it in your heart? Is that how it feels when you look over your shoulder because you miss God? Do you miss the JOY of His salvation? I know I sure did. And more. What’s more, in the beginning of the Spirit convicting me, I still dug in. But God never gave up on me.

Because I was so damned stubborn, it took God being persistent for 20 years to break me. I really hope you don’t wait that long. Life becomes a living hell if you wait that long. And you will know in your heart that, if you wait any longer, God will give you over to your own will. In spades.

So, give it a try.   Why?

God will turn to you.

In the Old Testament, when you see that phrase of God turning to you, the word picture the Hebrew paints is of a Daddy reaching his arms out, anxiously waiting to hold you again. Jesus called God the Father, Abba…it means “daddy”.

If you are a Christian, you have the right and privilege to call the Living God “Daddy”. He loves you so much it hurts good. He is already waiting right where you are. He is standing right behind you with his arms stretched out waiting to hold you again. He loves you. You are the prodigal son returning to his father after squandering all your talents doing things that served your appetites.

Did you know that the Bible describes this reunion with God actually dancing with you? That the Angels themselves throw a huge party? I can just see Jesus throwing a high five to his dad.

But that alone is not the total reason you repent. That is just what happens if you chose to repent. What happens when you repent is, God cleans you up Himself. He will lift your burden. He will pour his forgiveness all over you. Your heart will be clean again.

Let me ask you something. Do you have to bathe before you take a bath? Nope. That would be silly. You don’t have to clean up before you turn to God because, frankly, that is impossible. Because of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, you are and will be clean again when you confess with all your heart, and repent (Means to turn back, FOR GOOD).

You know, just like I knew, that you miss God. Maybe you don’t remember how you got where you are. Maybe you don’t think you can figure out how to get back home. Maybe you don’t think you can be forgiven. You would be as wrong as I was when I thought all those things.

God was there all the time. When I was running from him, all I was doing was crossing his palm. You see, the Bible tells of God’s promise that nothing, no power, no thing at all can remove you from His hand if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So, you can come home, because you are already there. He already knows what happened in your life because he saw it all. You cannot shock God. Believe me, I tried.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Give it a try. You really have nothing to lose.

Let Jesus Take The Wheel.

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Here is an outline of my next few posts:

Part II: God will then let you know he is aware of your situation.

Part III: God has made you exactly the way you are, so that you can do exactly what He intends for you to do.

Part IV: God will then tell you of His plans for you.

Part V: God will send you to do a task. He will empower you to do that task.

That’s it so far, but there will be more in this series.

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