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Faith

Romans 8:28


Jesus, the Healer of Our Souls

Jesus, the Healer of Our Souls

He was flat on his back, groaning. It wasn’t the pain that brought him back to consciousness. It was the choking dust. The pain came a few seconds later. The fear of never breathing again was overwhelming. This was the second time he had been thrown off a cliff. The wind had been knocked out of him, but, as he began to draw in that first, blessed, breath of air, the dust floating around him from the impact of his fall was choking him. The pain came when he tried to roll over and stand up. It felt like every bone in his body had been broken. He gasped for breath while he ran his hands over his body to check if his bones were not broken. Nothing broken, but it sure felt that way. It was a good drop from the edge of the cliff. It was a miracle he wasn’t broken to pieces and killed.

When his ears stopped ringing, he heard shouting from a distance above him. He staggered around in a circle until he could focus his eyes and look up. Steadying his stance, he looked up and saw the people who had thrown him off the cliff. They were shaking their fists at him, screaming curses at him, wishing death on him, and telling him he should never come back.

Less than a year ago, this had happened to him at another place. He was dismayed that it had happened again. Greater than the physical pain was the hurt that he had been rejected again.

He could just make out the towering spire of the temple, behind the screaming crowd. Leading that crowd was the Chief Priests of that community. They had contacted him and asked him to come. They had heard about him, and thought that he could bring about the changes needed in their community. Others had tried and failed, including the Chief Priests. One of the High Priests even told him that the Creator had given him a vision of how he was the person to lead that community into the future.

HE had accomplished much of what he knew the Creator had sent him to accomplish. The people had caught the vision he laid out. The changes came, not because of him, but because he shared the vision with the people. All He had to do was deliver the message the Creator had told him to deliver, and to do specific things the creator had told him to do. As long as he did this, things went very well.

There were a certain group of people he had to work the hardest with and for. They fought him every inch of the way. Still, change happened, and things slowly improved. One of the people in this particular group had the ability to hide his falsehoods in a web of half-truths, and cause people to believe his words. This was a slowly dripping poison that had the potential to destroy all he had accomplished. Still, he pressed on.

There was a monument in the center of the village that enumerated all the creeds of their forefathers. It was the forefathers that had founded this town, and the creeds that had held it together through good and bad times. These creeds stirred his heart every time he read them. He knew he was new to the walk, but he was determined to embody these creeds, and lead by example, just as the forefathers had done. He could tell that very few people in the village took the creeds seriously, and acted on them only when the High Priest happened to be looking. This frustrated him a great deal that such duplicity could live in the hearts of the villagers. Did they not understand that it was by the Godly leadership of the forefathers that this village even existed. Yet, here they were, willing to use them as a superficial tool. They spoke bravely of these creeds, but were too afraid to walk in them.

Eventually, he grew weary of the Chief Priests and the people swearing their dying loyalty to the creeds that they boasted of, and he grew weary of fighting the prophet of falsehoods. Instead of responding in the manner that the Creator had told him to do, he took matters in his own hands. He grew angry and impatient with the utter hypocrisy that seems to surround all religious people. He betrayed the trust of those who had asked him to come there. All his good efforts were undone in that single moment. It seemed that, once again, the Enemy of our souls had won another round.

He faced his accusers, and was charged, and was thrown over the cliff, and told never to return. All the work he had accomplished was in jeopardy of being destroyed because of him.

His heart was broken. He wept. He didn’t feel self-pity, just a deep disappointment. God had sent him here, and had worked a few miracles to bring him here. He had not done as the Father had told him to do.

As he wondered why God had arranged him to be here, the crowd suddenly grew silent. They covered their mouths and pointed at something behind him. The cliff formed a U-shaped wall around a valley. He was standing in the very back of the cliff walls, where he had been thrown off.

He turned around to see what all the silence was about.

Standing about 50 feet in front of him, in a semi-circle, blocking his escape, were the most hideous beings he had ever seen. These wraith leered at him and slathered their delight at his downfall. He heard the High Priest shouting to the people to turn away and go home. That he was getting the punishment he deserved, and they need to run away if they don’t want th wraith to chase them. Such was the beliefs of the village.

He recognized who these wraith were. He dared not speak their names, or listen to their taunting curses and laughter. But he knew them well. Their names were Fear, Doubt, Curses, Blame, Anger, Despair, and Destruction. He knew them very well, as they used to be the only friends he ever had before Jesus, the Son of God, had touched him, and healed his heart, about 8 months ago.

He knew that if he listened to them, he would consider their accusations and succumb to the temptations they offered. Their presence was strong, and their words very enticing. He shook with the effort of trying to ignore them. As they inched closer, he began to panic. He wondered if this was why God had sent him here. To be destroyed by his own demons, that he thought he had been delivered of.

He remembered what Jesus had told him at his healing: “God is not judging you. While life has natural consequences, you are forgiven, because I bore all your sin and disease and failings on the Cross, and have given you all that I am and have in exchange for your sin. Never let doubt and fear distract you. There is nothing in all of Heaven or in Earth that can ever separate you from His love, ever again. You are his child, now. Call on Me when you are in need, and I will answer.”

Despite his misgivings, in spite of his fear and doubt, he raised his hands and said:

“My Father, I come before you in the name of Jesus. I thank you that I am acceptable to you, because I am in Christ, and He is in me. I come before you with all confidence and boldness because of the sacrifice of Jesus. (Eph. 1:6, Heb. 4:16)”

“You are my Father, and I am your Child.”

“I thank you that nothing can ever take me out of your hand again.”

“Because of the Lord Jesus I am adopted into the Family of God.”, “Because I am in Jesus, I am an heir to the everlasting Kingdom, that, because of His sacrifice, he exchanged all He has and Is for all my sin; He had given me all He has.”

“God, my Father, I am seeking, first, YOUR Kingdom and Your righteousness, and you meet ALL my needs” (Matt.6:33)

“Because You are my Father, you reveal your perfect will for my life.” (Matt. 11:25)
“Because I love and trust You, I seek to do Your will.” (Matt. 12:50)
“Because You are my Father, I love Jesus, who You sent to be my Savior.” (John 8:82)
“Because I am in the Lord Jesus, and He is in You, I am in you, too. I will always abide in your presence.” (John 10:10, 17:21)
“Father God, I abide in Your glory, which was given to Jesus, who, because I am now in Him, He has given to me. You crown me with dignity and worth. I am the redeemed of Christ. I am all You say I am. Father, I glorify You in the Earth.” (John 17:22)

As he was saying these things, joy flooded his broken heart. He felt the presence of the Spirit of GOd arrive and fill his every fiber. He danced and sang praises to God, because of Jesus Christ.

While he was praising, a presence appeared right in front of him. He stopped moving. He didn’t make a sound. He just stood staring in awe at who was standing right there in front of him.

Jesus stood looking him in the eye.

The prophet fainted.

Jesus said, “Please, get up.” And he held out His hand to pick up this soiled little prophet.

Jesus dusted him off, and smiled at him, and gave him water from the jug He had been carrying.

The prophet was utterly speechless. Jesus grinned and gave him a friendly smack on the shoulder, and said, “Well, for once, you are speechless!”. Then Jesus laughed at his own joke. This made the prophet relax, and eventually, he was laughing along with Jesus.

Christ walked the prophet over to an outcropping of rock, under a shade tree. He asked the prophet, “Where are your little wraith?”, That is when the prophet looked around, as if he was finally taking in his surroundings. “Gone, Lord. GONE!!”, said the prophet. And he grinned. Jesus chuckled and said, “Of course, nothing can stand in the praise of the Father, and no attack from them can befall one who has faith in the promises.”

The prophet said, “But Lord, I know you sent me to that village. I have ample evidence it was you that sent me there. But I have been kicked out. I have failed you again, and now I don’t know why I am here. I just know you sent me.”

“So, what will you do now?”, asked Jesus.

“I don’t know, just wait for you to tell me what to do, I guess.”, said the prophet.

Jesus said, “You guessed right. Wait for my instructions. I have sent you to be where you are. Never doubt that.”

“But I really blew it, Lord!”, pled the Prophet, “How can I possibly carry on after such a colossal failure?” “What will I do?” “My behavior turned my confession in to a lie!”

Jesus answered, “Friend, you will learn from me, and of me. You will be made in to my image. One way or another, when this is done, you will resemble Me.”, “For now, know you are loved of the Father, and by Me.”, “I promised I will send the Spirit of God to you, and I have. Listen to the leading of the Spirit. Get used to hearing and obeying when the Spirit speaks. Stay your ground, and do not look to the left or right. Have faith.”

The prophet asked, “What about the Village?”

“You have no idea,” replied Jesus, “what your influence has done there. Let me worry about the Village, and let the Village decide how it will believe. I will turn your curses into blessings, and I will see that the seed you planted, where it was planted, will be watered and will grow at the hands of another. What you may see as a failure, I will turn into a blessing in the end. You just have to decide what you believe is true about me.”

The prophet knelt before Jesus and said, “My Lord, Jesus, I thank you for dying on the cross for me. You paid for my sins. You made it possible for me to come before the Father. You carried the punishment for my sin, so I would not have to carry it. You rose from the dead, so I could have a new life. You shed your blood for me and removed all my sins. Jesus, I worship you and call you my Lord. (I Cor. 15:3-4, Gal. 3:13. 2 Cor. 5:17, Heb. 10:19, Rom. 5:9)

“I thank you, Jesus, for bringing me in to the family of God. You are my Elder Brother, and God is my Father, and I worship you this day. You have made me to be an heir of Your Kingdom.” (Heb. 2:11-13, Rom. 8:17, Col, 1:12, Rev. 5:10)

Then the prophet stood kissed Jesus on both cheeks.

Jesus stood up and said, “My little brother, rest assured this is not the end of your walk with me. Remember when I told you that things would get really dark?”

“Yes, I do, Lord.” said the Prophet.

“What did I say to you when I told you this was coming?”, asked Jesus.

“You told me that, no matter what happened, I am to cling to you, and have faith that you will turn this darkness into bright daylight, and this curse into a blessing. That, in the end, I will serve you successfully.” The prophet answered.

“Then do not fear. Know I am with you. It is like your elder brother, Paul said, ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purposes.’ (Rom. 8:28). So know this, my brother, I have called you. I have prepared a way for you. Even when you fail, I love you and forgive, before you even ask. I will turn all your curses into blessings. Just stand your ground and keep believing.”

Then Jesus vanished.

The prophet stood there mouth gaping. He didn’t know what to do first, laugh, or cry. He was too blown away to begin walking again, so he sat on the rocks he and Jesus had sat on earlier. While he was thinking of all that had happened, he had a feeling that someone else was watching him. He looked up the cliff to see who it could be. Sure enough, there was a lone figure leaning against the rail at the edge of the cliff.

It was the High Priest.

 

 

Standard
Faith, Observations

Albert Einstein

“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.”

― Albert Einstein

Adversity Happens.

What you do with adversity will greatly affect how your life will turn out.

Adversity can be brought on by ignorance, evil, selfishness, bad judgement, or simply by circumstance.  If the same adversity happens repeatedly in your life, the chances are great that you are the cause of your pain.

Psalm 119:67 ESV

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Chances are that the problems that plague you are because you keep repeating the same old habits, hoping for a different result.  It may be that you are repeating them without even understanding that that is what you are doing.  However it happened, here is hope:

You recognize that you are afflicted.

You know that you brought this on yourself.

You understand that something must change in order to get out of this destructive cycle.  One of the earliest mistakes I make when I really reap what I sow is, over analyzing the past.  The more you study your past, the more you will defeat yourself on the memories of all your failures.  Look at your past if you can learn from it.  But you have to come to terms with the fact that:

“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” – Einstein.

There is an old saying that goes something like this:  “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you have always got.”  (Apologies to my English teacher.)

So, you may be asking yourself, “How do I change this mess?”

Here you go:

1. Let go of your past.  You are a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17).   The OLD you is DEAD.  Let go of your old evil self.  That person is dead.  He or She dies the second you confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ died of your sin and rose from the dead..  You cannot solve your problems by doing the same thing over and over again.

2. Do away with your old patterns of thinking.  Change what you believe about yourself, and understand how God views you now that you are in Christ, and you have HIS MIND. (Bible Verses About Our Identity in Christ: God’s View of Us)

3. Take Responsibility for your every thought.  God did not invent a bunch of brain dead, mind washed robots.  He gave you the ability to think for yourself.  But choose your thoughts wisely.  Whatever you believe is true about yourself WILL be the life you create for yourself.  We gained this autonomy from God Himself, BEFORE THE FALL, and His Gifts are without repentance.  It IS written, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he… Proverbs 23:7 KJV

4. Watch your mouth.  This follows from #3 – The things you say are born in your heart.  “A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. “  – Jesus – Luke 6:45 HCSB  The best way to learn to do this is by thinking about what is good, right and pleasing to the Lord.  It is written:  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8 NASB  

5. Speak new truths about yourself.  Your mind is your greatest enemy or your best asset.  Speak what you believe.  Speak it.  When you do, you will discover if you believe it or not.  If you don’t believe it, stop lying.  Gain an understanding about how God sees you, and understand that He has not destined you for failure,. but success .  When you speak it, feel it all the way into your bones, deep in your heart, see it in your mind’s eye.  Know that it is true.  Changing the pattern of what you believe about life, the world, others and yourself will dramatically change your life.  We have the power of life and death in our tongues.  Just be aware that the life you bless or curse is you own.  You will affect the rest of the world according to what you believe is true about yourself.  HERE is what the Bible says about SUCCESS.

When you change your view of yourself, by learning and believing what God says about you (Bible Verses About Our Identity in Christ: God’s View of Us), you will develop the mind of Christ, and THEN IF you do these things, you will know success.

Taking these steps takes discipline, and does not necessarily happen overnight.  A great many successful people have built their successes on their heaping pile of failures.

God made you for a purpose.  If you want to find that real, authentic you, that he purposefully created for this time, this life, this moment in history, step away from your old self, and see how God views you.

Then act on it.

“Let’s Be About It!”

I love you.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Change Your Life

Aside
Faith, Observations

Growing Pains – Lessons From The Kindergarten of God – Part III – Well Intentioned Dragons


“the more i sing and play my music in front of people, the more advice i get. it’s well-meant, coming from people who care about me, but it’s all conflicting. b. says i should play acoustic more. r. says i should rock harder. c. says i sing too loud. k. says i sing too loud too (ok, maybe i sing too loud). but the point is, who do i listen to?”

When dealing with yourself, use your mind. When dealing with others, use your heart. John Maxwell

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?  I Kings 19:11-13

“Jesus asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”(Matthew 7:3 NIV). Christians seem to be uncontrollably motivated by some deep need to “take the dog by the ears.” (See Proverbs 26:17.) They are always meddling in other people’s stuff. This is one of the main reasons the world hates the church. We have declared ourselves to be the world’s police force. We are the self-proclaimed militant army that is here to police and judge the world, when we should be a loving family who brings hurting people into the family circle by adoption! Our concept of presenting what we mistakenly call the Gospel is to let people know they are sinners so they will realize their need for Jesus. This erroneous concept leads the Christian to think that the best way to let people know they are sinners is to point out their faults-that is, to find the speck in their eye.

Your Heart Dictates How You See

The way we view something is the product of our heart. If we have a critical eye, it is because we have a critical heart. The Bible says, He that hath a froward heart findeth no good” (Proverbs 17:20). A ‘froward heart”is a crooked heart. It is a heart that has been reshaped through the pressures of sin, legalism, religion, or life circumstances. It is a heart that sees only the bad; it cannot find the good. Some people seem to have mistaken criticism for discernment. Criticism is not a gift of the Holy Spirit; it is the product of a corrupt heart. Religion has forged the church into a critical, reactionary society not much different than that of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.”   James B. Richards. How to Stop the Pain. Kindle Edition.

WELL INTENTIONED DRAGONS

As a New Creation, I sometimes look to other, wiser, Christians for sound advice.  There are some, I have learned through experience, who see through my questions, and hear what my heart is actually asking.  This is a gift of discernment I find most mature Christians have.

There are new Christians, like me, who need to spend much more time in the Bible and Prayer, so we can develop a finely tuned sense of God’s Voice, and God’s Will.

Then there are the well-intentioned dragons.  These are the ones who genuinely love God, and are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, and even know scripture very well, but something about them sets my teeth on edge.  Figuring out what that something is has taken me some time.  I took that time to look for patterns, and build a baseline that demonstrates the difference between what I hear them say, and the way they say it, against what and how Jesus spoke to people.

THAT IS WHEN I FOUND IT!

Jesus, being God, and unchangeable (YHWH), speaks, and when He speaks…

He doesn’t change, but loves eternally, speaks gracefully, and uses the truth to heal, not hurt.

He is Lord of Lords, meaning His word is the first one, and the last one, because His judgement is true.

He is the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, as these three are one…when He speaks, all have spoken, they are their own witness, and need no outside verification.

He is the Lord Most High, sitting eternally on the throne…and because we have accepted his free gift of life, we sit next to him, as he is our brother, and GOd is our Father.  THere is none beside him, and no one higher in authority than him.

His word and will is our provision.  He meets all our needs, to grow, to love, to show mercy, to be graceful, because when he became all sin in our place, he gave us all that he is in exchange.

His word smites sin.  No other has this authority.  All other judgement is accusation and comes from the father of lies and his children.  God’s judgement is true, and he deals mercifully with us, as he destroys sin, in us, and in the world.

He is the one and only one who sanctifies us.  His death on the cross paid for your fall, and his resurrection gave us new life…if we will accept this free gift.  He alone is what sanctifies us.

He is the one who marks us with his banner and ensign.  We are his, paid for with His blood.  Our mission in life is to become like Him so that when people see us, they see Him only.  We are his banner, and he is ours.

His blood, and his word heals us.  All he gives us in His love, grace and mercy.  He will do us no harm.  He is not mad at us.  He heals us by the stripes he bore.

He is my ever-present shepherd.  He guides me in the midst of trouble, and leads me to his peace, even in the midst of the storm.  Even His rebuke of me brings me hope and life and health.  No other has this ability, or authority.  He keeps watch over me day and night.

Well intentioned dragons will use the scriptures and their overrated opinion and religion to criticize, destroy, rob you of peace, take your joy.  THe well-intentioned dragons are the first to point out what you did wrong.  Why you should have done it better/different/ or not at all.

Well intentioned dragons have no faith in the genuine work of the cross because they are too busy being religious.  That is why, when GOd sends you to do a thing, they rail against it, they fail to see your vision, they try to improve you so that you will better resemble their opinion of the truth, and fail to comprehend what real truth actually is.

Well intentioned dragons do not feel ok until they have spoken their judgement over you, and “improved” you, and judged you inadequate.  They did this to Jesus, and they will do the same to you.

IF YOU LISTEN

If you listen to the dragons, you will end up worse than they are.

If you listen to the still small voice of the Lord, you will know joy, peace, healing, direction, purpose, strength, courage, and you will know HIM.

IT IS ALL A CHOICE OF WHOM YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE.

Do as he sends you to do, even if it makes no sense, and seems crazy, and no one else trusts you, believes you, understands what and how you are doing it.  You were sent by God, not by well-intentioned dragons.

His presence will calm you and empower you through even the hardest trials and storms.

This is the God I serve.  This is the God I choose to obey.  No matter what it will cost, I have no desire to give ear to the dragons.  I will wait for the still small voice.

I love you,

David Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

Let’s be about it.

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Standard
Faith, Observations

Test of Authenticity


Luke 6:46 ESV : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Luke 6:46 ESV : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

 

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I am doing a research, right now, where I compare the writings of two different Christian Leaders.  One of these leaders manages to take everything he discusses back to the finished work of the cross.  The other one, a more influential person, acknowledges the work on the Cross, but manages to take his work back to Adlerian Psychology, Mixed with Ericksons Stages of Development.  I recognize other influences, in there, too, but, whether he calls his modality these things, or not, this is what he is doing.

One leader takes the hurt soul and shows us where we are complete in the finished work of Christ, and are given a host of gifts.  This leader tells us our identity no longer lay in the things of this earth, but, as a new creation, we are now completely loved, accepted, and are being made in the likeness of Christ our savior.  The rest of his works describe the scriptural basis of Christian Authenticity.

The other leader, despite the finished work of Christ, wants to take us through our developmental stages of life, point out where we were “wounded” and how that affects our lives, and uses several psychological gimmicks to justify and solidify this teaching.  Then he peppers it with scripture in an effort to undergird his writing.

This inauthentic approach never releases you from sin, never gives you a chance to labor into the rest of the finished work of Christ, and never releases you from a past that Christ clearly died for.

At Cates Control Solutions, we have a saying about Responsibility:  We accept the responsibilities of our position and know we are accountable to meet our obligations.

So, what is my responsibility to what I am reading.  Simple, when I read any leader of the “Christian Faith”, the test of authenticity I have learned to recognize is this:  It either takes you to the finished work of the Cross, and how that makes you a new creation, or it doesn’t.  When Christ died of our sin, he didn’t die for just a few things.  He died of everything, so you will receive everything that is His.  You do not have to regress and confront anything in your past.  Your past is dead.  When Christ rose from the dead, Your NEW SELF rose with him.  OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY.  I also know from experience, any “woundedness” I carry is because I have not rested in the finished work of the cross.  I do not have to identify myself with anything but Jesus, and seek the Kingdom of God.  There is nothing I need to go back and fix.  I labor to rest in the finished and authentic work of Christ.  I have received all gifts and benefits of the Child of God.

Tonight we observe that Christ died on the cross.  He fulfilled His responsibility, and set you free from all encumbrances.  My responsibility as a new creation, is to make sure I do not get mired down in any doctrine of man that attempts to denigrate the finished work of the cross.

After all, When Jesus said it was finished…He meant it.

I love you in Jesus Name…

…It’s Friday, but SUNDAY IS COMING!  Halleluiah!

David G. Perkins

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Faith, Observations

Unrelentingly Relentless


Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. I COR 9:24 ESV

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith  Hebrews 12:1-11

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

re·lent·less

riˈlentləs/adjective

adjective: relentless

1.

oppressively constant; incessant.

“the relentless heat of the desert”

synonyms:

persistent, continuing, constant, continual, continuous, nonstop, never-ending, unabating, interminable, incessant, unceasing, endless, unending, unremitting, unrelenting, unrelieved;

 

To Find My Path of Unrelenting Relentlessness, I first Had To Relent

Part of dying to my old self meant putting away my old self-habits.  I know that the only way to do that, and make it stick, is through the power of the Holy Spirit of God.  And THAT has to be what I call “Heart Surgery”.  For the change to keep, my Heart Beliefs HAVE to align and harmonize with the Spirit of the Living God.  From there, whatever characteristics I stored in my mind are overwritten with the Character of Christ.  When that happens, my body follows.

To relent is to soften your position on certain fast held beliefs.  To relent is similar to repent, which is to change your mind.  The difference is, I must be willing to soften my unrelentingly relentless stance on a wrong belief, it is when I am unrepentantly unrelentless that a character other than that of Christ is revealed in me.

This is why it is written:  Ezekiel 36:29 NIV – ‘“I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to me.”   Before I can learn to relent, I have to submit to the Heart Surgery of the Holy Spirit, and be recreated, which is where II Corinthians 5:17 is revealed in you: “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come”

As a new creation, with a new Spirit and a heart sensitive to the voice of God, you can be remade into the image of Christ.  There are dangers in this, though.  The Spirit of God is gentle, and will never force its will on you without your consent.  You can ignore it, you can deny it, you can do whatever you want.  If you are willing to relent, then you will be changed, gently, without condemnation, and grow to be more like Christ.

WHAT AM I WILLING TO BE RELENTLESS ABOUT.

At Cates Control Solutions, Relentless is defined as follows:  “RELENTLESS: We will not back down from our pursuit of excellence in every aspect of our business.”

So I wondered where that is found in scripture.  Here is an example – 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.”

In order to pursue excellence, I must relent on my attitude that “Good Enough is Good Enough.”  I must find where EXCELLENCE is taught in the Bible, and I must let the Spirit of God write these things on my heart.

Excellence, like any other Core Value, is as meaningful as you will allow it to be, and is only as effective as it is written on my heart.  It is my hard-earned experience that I cannot fake this value of the relentless pursuit of Excellence.

Click the word EXCELLENCE, to see what the Bible has to say about Excellence.

Frankly, left to my own devices, Good Enough is Good Enough for me.  It is not in my carnal nature to want excellence, or to pursue excellence.  This can only come from a changed heart.  It is not just for the sake of Cates Control Solutions that I chase, unrelentingly, after Excellence.  It is first, and foremost because the Spirit of the Living God is pursuing excellence in me.

“RELENTLESS” and all the other Core Values becomes real, not because it is a rule at the office.  It stops being mere words when the Spirit of God is allowed to turn my heart of stone into a heart that is sensitive to the will of God.  If I approach all of the Cates Core Values this way, then it will not matter of this is posted on our wall, or the back of my business card.  I will not have to be reminded by the “Thought Police” to pursue this, either.  It will simply manifest itself as the natural outcome of my unrelentingly relentless pursuit of the Character of Christ.

My Prayer:  Dearest God, My Father, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, My Savior, and my Brother, that I relent in my stiff-necked will, and turn toward your voice, and become unrelentingly obsessed with all the things you say are excellent.  I know all the qualities exist in the Person and Likeness of Christ.  Lead me, Dear God, to be just like your son.  – AMEN

Now, Let’s Be About It!

I love you in the name of Jesus Christ.

David G. Perkins

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Faith, Observations

What Were You Looking For?


what-we-see-depends-mainly-on-what-we-look-for

Philippians 4:8-9 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”   Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

When I was a teenager, my Dad decided it was time for me to learn how to fly one of his several airplanes.  Considering my driving history, I thought he surely had a screw loose, somewhere.  By time I was 16, I had already totaled a few cars.  Still, I do love to fly, and had always wanted to fly right seat with my Dad on his adventures.

Our airport was the municipal airport in Plainview, Texas.  At over 3300 feet, altitude, the airport has a whole lot of sky to fling your airplane into.  Dad made sure the wind was relatively calm before he would let me take off.  The high plains are very windy much of the time.  There is a saying in Lubbock, Texas (45 miles south of Plainview), that if the wind ever stopped blowing, everyone would fall down.  Wind is a fact of life, there, and you adjust your walking by leaning into the wind.

Taking off into the wind made flying that much more fun, as I had to generate less lift with the engine.  Flying in the wind, however is a challenge.  This is where the word attitude comes in.  In flight, your attitude is the approach you have to take to flying in the wind, ESPECIALLY when you are landing an airplane.  Landing an airplane on a calm day was challenging enough for me, but landing in high wind was a contest between me and the wind to see who will master my aircraft.  This is when attitude becomes everything.

When nature threw strong wind at me, I had to turn the airplane into the wind on approach to the landing strip.  This is called “Crabbing”.  I am approaching a runway almost sideways, and at the last-minute, I correct my attitude so I can land moving in the right direction.  Another factor in landing attitude is that I could approach the runway only in a narrowly defined angle.  This is called the “Glide Path” .   As you approach the runway, you will see a group of lights.  If my glide path is too low, I will see three or more yellow lights.  If my glide path is too high, I will see red lights, if my glide path is correct for the landing approach, I will see green lights.

Maintaining the right attitude for landing is everything, too.  I am already crabbing in to the runway because of a wind situation, and I also must keep my approach angle right.  If I am yellow on approach, I will not land on the runway.  If I am red, I will land too far in on the runway to keep from overshooting.  I must crab in on a green light.

While I am worried about those two aspects of attitude, I also have to make sure my wings are as level as I can keep them on approach, and that my nose is not too high, or too low.  So, there are possibly 4 parts of attitude I must pay attention to when I am landing.  Overdoing or under-doing any part can mean a bad landing.  Bad landings can complicate your life in ways you don’t need.  It was all about attitude.

 

“WELL, THE METAPHOR IS OBVIOUS, ISN’T IT?”

I hope so.

At CATES (Where I work), one of the twelve principles we live by is: “ATTITUDE – We choose to be positive”.   If you want to approach a subject and land on it with successful outcomes, it helps if your attitude is positive.  Being positive makes all the difference in the world.  It is fairly clear, after over 8000 years of examination, that God has given us the ability to affect the outcomes of every aspect of our lives, simply by determining what we believe is true about it.  Our beliefs change every aspect of our life.  If you believe things will always go wrong, then you will experience that outcome.  If your approach to your fellow-man is negative, then you will reap the benefit of your view of others, and have no genuine friends.

Attitude is one of the very first things the Lord had to really work with me on.  I was a negative and pessimistic individual, whose attitude was reinforced by the outcomes of my life.  My assumption was that I was right because everything always turned out exactly as I thought they would.  God showed me that attitude is a choice.  How I choose to approach anything will directly affect the outcomes.  Attitude is a choice.  It is a habit.  It comes from the heart.  It becomes positive when you learn to look at the world differently.

 

“HOW DID YOU DO IT?”

I’m glad you asked. I didn’t.

My attitude about life, work, love, marriage, co-workers, clientele, family, or anything didn’t change until I fully understood what the finished work of the cross gave me.  When I accepted that Jesus BECAME all sin for all time, and took on the wrath of God in our place, and in exchange, God poured on us all the benefits of being His child, an heir to the throne, a member of God’s family, a love beyond measure, and total forgiveness for all my sin, I finally understood what it felt like to see the world and people the way God does.

I learned to love because God loved me enough to bury my sin with Jesus, and raise my dead soul into a new life.  I had been born in the spirit.  Where I was dead, Jesus’s resurrection gave me life in Him.  The Spirit of God cleansed me and changed my attitude. I began thinking new thoughts.,  I loved for the first time.  I saw people as my brother or sister.  While I am aware of my and others continuing failures, I felt only love for them, and chose to show grace and mercy.  It was easy to do this because this was what God showed me.

So, frankly, I didn’t change my attitude.  Experience has taught me that, I can fake a good attitude only so long, but whatever is hidden in my heart will become manifest over time.  On my own strength I do not love long, I show no mercy or grace, and my attitude is very rotten.  Since I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, I am able to be like Christ and love, show grace and mercy, and look for opportunities to give with a positive attitude.

 

GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS

 

I cannot, by my own strength, maintain this loving attitude.  Only when I guard my thoughts am I able to be filled with this powerful love.  I can break my connection to God simply by going back to my old way of thinking and behaving.  God leaves this up to me.  The way I maintain a good attitude is by staying in the word, praying continuously, and submitting to Gods love and will.  It is only by the continual renewing of my mind that I can be a blessing instead of a curse. I am confident in Christ enough that I know I am weak, but Christ in me is infinitely strong.  If I catch the old self trying to assert his attitude and beliefs, all I have to do is remember that my old self died with Christ, and my new self, the child of God, is who lives through Christ.

Attitude is a choice.  When the blowing wind of earthly things challenges my attitude, when the weight of the world wants to crush me, when my co-workers decide to be peevish and negative, when a thoughtless and selfish humanity threatens to ruin my day, I simply remember who I am in Christ, and ask the Spirit of the Living God to sustain me so I can be a witness to all the things that would otherwise drag me down.  A simple choice of attitude can turn things around, and your witness can cause others to want to know where you have this strength of character.  Then you can tell them why you are joyful in the face of adversity, and strong when temptation desires your soul.

Think on the good things of God continuously, and you will see the world in a very different lite.

It is all a choice, a labor into the rest of the finished work of Christ.

You will always get what you are looking for.

Let’s be about it

I love you all,

David G. Perkins

PS – Click HERE to see how the Bible addresses ATTITUDE.

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Faith

Thank You God


Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:2 HCSB

1:2 χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

GRACE – χάρις – Transliteration: charis  Pronunciation: khä’-rēs   Part of Speech: feminine noun

Outline of Biblical Usage
GRACE:  a free gift.  God’s ability.  grace is that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech good will, loving-kindness, favour 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, bounty,thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward
PEACE – εἰρήνη – Transliteration: eirēnē   Pronunciation: ā-rā’-nā   Part of Speech: feminine noun

Outline of Biblical Usage
a state of national tranquillity, exemption from the rage and havoc of war
peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord, security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous), of the Messiah’s peace, the way that leads to peace (salvation)
of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is, the blessed state of devout and upright men after death
from – ἀπό Transliteration: apo   Pronunciation: ä-po’   Part of Speech: preposition

Outline of Biblical Usage (In the context of this sentence):
of origin
of the place whence anything is, comes, befalls, is taken
of origin of a cause

Dear God,

How do I tell others what a magnificent thing you have done in me?

Where a cauldron of angry fire once lived deep in me, now exists a calm peace, a tranquility that can come only from you. God, you have seen me struggle for decades with my overwhelmingly sinful nature, yet, in a day, in a single hour, your gift of love was poured into my heart, and I now know peace, love, joy, harmony, the stillness of soul only you can bring.

The first thing your word taught me is that you are not angry at me, but that you love me infinitely.  You proved this when You sent Jesus.

This changed me.

Where I was unable to change, your gift of love to me made me able to receive. In receiving, I became a new creation. There was no self to repair once I understood that, because Jesus died, my self died with Him. The “Me” that used to be no longer exists. The echo of memories are only a dim note, drowned out by your beauty, grace and love.

When I understood that, when Christ rose from the dead, so did I; This new man was born the day I understood that I have a new life in the risen Christ.

What words or actions can you lead me to that will help others know that you can change them, just as you have changed me?

There are those who knew me before this change, and they know me now that I have changed. Let your love so shine in my soul that they will understand that this is real, and it is all because of You, Lord God. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice, the sinless one who became all sin and shame, I, a terribly sinful one, full of darkness and corruption, became holy and acceptable to you. I accepted this free gift of your grace. Not that I can brag or draw attention to me, but that, because of the wonderful thing you have done in me will lead others to the cross of Christ.

I know people will only believe what they only want to believe, there is nothing I can do about them. But, Lord, even with them, let the light of your love and grace be so full and alive in me that even they will see, and have to choose whom they will believe.

What joy and wonder you have written on my heart, Dear God. Thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Thank you for the great exchange that makes me wholly acceptable to you, dear God. I have all the promise living in me, and all sin is forgiven and destroyed. Your mighty work defeated all the darkness in the universe.

All we have to do is accept this free gift.

Dearest God,

Make me an instrument of the Gospel of Peace. Let my life be the grace and love that was Jesus’ life. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, let me always remember what you have done for me.

I love you, Dear God, because of the life of Jesus that is now abiding in me. I am complete, and lack nothing. You prove to me daily that you are all my provision. Where I was homeless, I now have a home. Where I was unemployed, I now have a job. Where I was penniless, you have provided all I need.

The greatest thing, though, you have given me, Lord, is eternal life. So, I ask, Dear Lord, that you take my life and make it your instrument of the Gospel of Peace.

I thank you and praise you, God, because of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

ROMANS 12:1 – Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. HCSB

Let’s be about it.

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Our Position in Christ – Christ is the Center


Walk as Children of LightI have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 

Galatians 2:20 NASB

Central to the Christian faith is this one fact:  Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.  God sent the Son to fill the law.  That law is that the wages of sin is death.  Jesus died on the cross, nailing the law to the cross.  If you read yesterday’s blog, “Our Position in Christ” you read that our sin died with Christ in Hell.  If you accept this mystery, you understand that your sin was put to death when Christ was put to death, as He became Sin and took on the wrath of God in our place.   Where you were dead in your sin, and had no hope of salvation, you are now alive, you are born again.

You are saved when you believe with all your heart:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “ John 3:16 NASB

If you do not accept this free gift, you are still dead: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  John 3:18 NASB

You are not condemned after you reject Him.  You are already condemned because you have not yet accepted Him.  This is true because all humans are born dead in sin. We are born cut off from fellowship with the Living God.

Accepting this free gift is what it means to be born again.  You are born in the spirit of God.  You are now a child of God.

CRUCIFIED IN CHRIST

Your old life was put to death.  Just as Jesus proved he has power over sin and death, the Spirit of God moves in you to prove that the same things are dead to you, too.  All life before Christ was dead life.  Because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead nowlives in you, you are a new creation, and the power of the Living God resides in you, giving you real life.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  II Corinthians 5:17 NASB

Your self was put to death, and the Spirit of God now lives in you.

NO LONGER I, BUT CHRIST

Contrary to popular opinion, salvation is not a community project, nor does it rely on a corporate salvation.  Salvation is as individual as each fingerprint.  No church, committee, group, or government will be there when you are standing before God.   If you are saved, you, as an individual, can claim that you no longer live, but Christ lives in you.

The same power that lived and worked in Jesus Christ is the same power that lives and works in you.  This power will guide you to make you into the Character of Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-6 explains – “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus ” 

The same power that raised Jesus up now lives in you.

THE LIFE YOU NOW LIVE

A changed life is what happens when you genuinely accept this free gift of salvation.  The Spirit of God will work in you to help you overcome the life you left behind.  A changed life is the first evidence the world has to see that the power of God lives in you.  You cannot do this on your own.  If it were possible to do this, there would have been no need of the sacrifice of Christ. We do not have the ability or power to live a sinless life, or a life that is pleasing to the Lord.  Only the Spirit of God living in you can do that.

Things will change.  This is not a works based theology.  This is simply a fact of the power of the spirit of God.  You will change from inside.  The things that did appeal to you, will no longer have that appeal.  The sin that you enjoyed will not have that power over you any more.  This may mean you will lose friends, but it also means you gain new ones.

Because the Spirit of God lives in you, you will no longer be compelled to live any way you wish, but you will desire to live a life that is pleasing to God.  This is also not something you can do for yourself.  It is a gift of God.

Your faith in God, your faith in the Saving Grace of God, through Jesus Christ, is what will live in you.

IDENTITY

We were identified with death before Christ became our Savior and Lord.  Now that you are saved, your identity has changed.  When God sees you, He sees His own beloved child.  You are no longer dead to Him.  The blood of Jesus paid the price of your separation from Him, and you now enjoy open and complete communion with Him.

Romans 8:2 states you are free from the law of Sin and Death – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

Your old identity, the “Old Self” as it is referred to in Scripture, is dead.  The new man, the Spirit of God, lives in you.  “…since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-…”

Your identity is now in Christ.  This is the new self.

THE MAIN THING

Being saved is not about a religion.  it is about a relationship to God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  The main thing is that it is all about Jesus.  We were not raptured the second we believed because we are to be made into the character of Christ so that others will be saved..

CHRIST IS THE CENTER

Central to our faith is Jesus Christ.  Everything past, present, and future is about Jesus Christ, and what He has done to redeem mankind.  When we are born again, Christ is the center of our existence.  The Spirit of God will move in you to create in you a character that you could not create in yourself.  That character will be the character of Christ.  That character will lead you to do the things of Christ so that others will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, too.

The things you will accomplish because of this new character will be things that are pleasing to God.  Your old self is dead.  You no longer have to live like that again.  The things that were once important to you will no longer be that important.  The more you get into the Word of God (The Bible), and pray, and fellowship with other Christians, the more you will discover your desires will become the desires of God for you.

Keep Christ as your center, and you will grow.  Lay aside all the things that get in the way of your walk with Him.  Pray, read the word, and grow.  Your life doesn’t really begin until you have accepted Christ as your savior.   When you do that, you will discover He is also Lord over your life.  He will lead you places that you never thought were possible, and the life you live will be full, satisfying, and complete.

You will be made into the image of Christ.

WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR ME

Jesus death on the cross was not just to defeat Satan.  It was not just to put the letter of the law on the cross.  It was to bring you life.   He did this because of His love for you.  He was holy and pure, and became sin and death, so you can have life and holiness. You were dead before you accepted Christ as your lord and savior.  Now you are alive.

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are already dead.  While your heart beats, let the Spirit of God move you to see what Christ has done for you.

We live because the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us.  This is the free gift…eternal life.

Let’s be about it.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Growing In Christ – Dealing With Your Past


English: Broken Heart symbol

English: Broken Heart symbol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This tome is written to men and women who, like me, strayed from the Love of God and the Joy of Salvation, and lived a life that you’d rather forget ever happened.  I am writing this to you.  I am writing this from a lesson I am going through as we speak.

I want to try to prepare you that this is coming.  I knew in my heart of hearts that, eventually, the Lord will deal with this issue in my life, but was still blindsided by the intensity of it.  Not every act of obedience will bring immediate joy, but it will eventually lead you to a joy that you will never understand until you grow in Christ.

God’s discipline is a good thing, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.  Remember, God disciplines the ones He loves. When He disciplines you, it is in love, not wrath.  Jesus already took on the wrath of your sin.  What God is doing is a gift of the Holy Spirit, so that you will grow to be like Christ in all things.

The hard work of the walk is, after redemption, you still have to deal with the mess you made in the wake of your fallen state.  You will have to deal with the forgiveness and contempt you hold for yourself.  You will have to deal with the anger and unforgiveness of others.  You will get to learn what grace feels like when others forgive you, and mean it from their hearts.

God wants to take you from where you are positionally in Him, forgiven and complete, to where His view of you in Christ is materially obvious to others, so that, when you live, you will live in the image of Jesus Christ.  There are still lost souls out there who need to know that it is possible to get from where they are to where God is.

First, I need to define some very real truths:

1.  Accusation is from Satan.  When the enemy (Satan, the World, etc) decides to point out your flaws, you will feel condemned, unworthy of the love of God, and basically, despair.  The accusations of Satan are like tormenting fires.  His accusations are arrows that hit you and burn you.  The goal of Satan is to get your eyes off the work the Spirit of God is doing in your heart.  The goal of Satan is to get you to take your eyes off Jesus.  The goal of Satan is that you forget the joy of your salvation.

2.  God is Love.  God, in His love of you, disciplines you.  He does not condemn.  Your condemnation was taken care of on the Cross of Christ.  If you have accepted the Salvation of Jesus Christ, then your sin is forgiven.  The Bible makes it clear that there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.  You are not going to Hell.  You are saved.  Nothing can take that away from you.

3. We have to grow up, sometime.  God insists you grow up in all ways to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.  You were not raptured the second you believed because God intends to use you in His service.  He wants to make you into something beautiful so that others will be drawn to the saving glory of Jesus Christ.  He will not allow you to be comfortable in your old habits.  However, this, too is optional.  You will grow into Christ likeness only as you are willing to grow, and eager to surrender your old ways to His new ways.

THE SUBJECT AT HAND

The groundwork is laid, and I hope you got it.  I am deeply sorry if I have done an inadequate job of not making the above clear.  But if this is you, you will know it.  If this is not for you, please pray for the person that is going through this.

A: The Unforgiveness and contempt you hold for yourself.

This is a tough one.  The more tender-hearted you become, the more you realize what a large swath of pain and confusion and anger you have left in your wake.  This is, perhaps, the strongest shock to your system you will face.  This is where you have to learn some important lessons.

LESSON 1:  You are Forgiven. 

Where did your salvation come from?  It came from the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross.  The perfect human took on all our imperfections and our sin and was nailed to the Cross and died for them.  In His dying, Jesus absorbed and accepted all the complete wrath of God.  “For the wages of sin is death.”  And Jesus paid that wage for you.  When you realized that you were in sin, and you were led to the Cross of Christ, and confessed your sin, you immediately felt the forgiveness of God, and His cleansing Breath (Ruach Ha’Kodesh – The Holy Spirit) enter you and cleanse you of the stain of your sin.  You are forgiven.

LESSON 2:  Forgive Yourself.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

It is hard to look at the destruction our pre-Christian lives left behind.  And if you took the time and diligence, as I did, to make a thorough mess, there will be more to face and deal with.  Sometimes you just have to take things one at a time.  Sometimes, you will have to face it over and over.

Sometimes Satan, the World, and others, will not let you forget what you have done.  This feeds the fire of your unforgiveness of yourself   Here you have to cling to the truth that God has forgiven you.  He has cast your sin as far away from Himself as the East is from the West.  God has chosen to forget your sin.  When God sees you, He sees His beloved Child, covered in the blood of Christ, who died for that very sin you are beating yourself up over.  When others want to rehearse your sin, when YOU want to rehearse that sin, you have to return to what you know.

You know that you are forgiven.

WHAT ABOUT THE PAIN?

The grief you feel is the grief God felt when you did all that destruction.  It is actually healthy.  Before you were saved, you may have felt a bit guilty, or not.  You probably went along justifying your actions, like I did.  Eventually, you built up a wall around yourself so that other’s couldn’t bother your conscience.   The thing about walls, while they effectively keep others out, they also keep you imprisoned in your own world.  You become unapproachable, unteachable, unassailable, and unwelcome.

There will be some measure of pain when this wall is torn down.  The reason you feel this pain is because you finally have a conscience.  Embrace the pain, and take it to God.  Don’t deny the pain you feel.  It is normal.  It is what remorse is supposed to feel like.  You feel remorse because God intends to grow you up, and teach you how to deal with your messes.  Learn from this remorse, and see what God wants you to do with it.

The Evangelism of today teaches something quite different.  It teaches you that you can just walk away from all your past without a second thought of the harm you have done to others.  This is an ungodly teaching.  Modern Evangelism teaches that there is no need to repent of sin, or regret your sin, that that is an unhealthy emotion that is bad for your self-esteem.

The Good news of being a Child of God is, you are no longer the sinful you.  It stops being about you.  It starts being about being remade into the image of Christ.  In that rebuilding process, you will find freedom and joy.   To assume there is nothing to go back and make right is one of the most self-indulgent things you can ever believe.

The pain of seeing, finally, what you have done to others is healthy.  It is so that you will be able to see outside of your own self-interest and see what others had to endure because of your sin.  This pain is actually the road to your freedom, as it drives you to obey God and make things as right as you possibly can.  How rich and joyful is the Grace of God, and His mercy.  What a sense of freedom you will know when you obey God, and do His will.

Part of the pain is that the old self just doesn’t want to die, and the new self doesn’t need all that baggage your old self left at the door.  The New Self, the new creation, has to deal with this.  The new self can deal with it because Christ makes you able.  In Him is your strength.  You can do all things through Christ.

You will have to deal with the anger and/OR unforgiveness of others.

This is where you get to have YOUR grace and mercy tested.  WHere it is at all possible, find the people you caused harm to, find the people you lied to, the people you used, the people you led into sin.  Confess what you have done.  Seek their forgiveness.

What you will discover:

1.  Some people have already forgotten it.

2. Some people remember it, but don’t care.

3. Some people remember it and forgive you anyway.

4. Some people remember and will not forgive you.

5. Some people remember it, will not forgive you, and want you to suffer for it.

6. Some will say they forgive, but the anger that shows in their eyes tell you other wise.

I can go on and on, here.  I know about this because in my efforts to make restitution, I have faced everything from happy tears to death threats.  And I am not making that up.  I have tried my best to exclude exaggeration in my discourse, unless I am trying to emphasize a very obvious point.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THESE PEOPLE?

To those who have genuinely forgiven you, and have shared the fellowship of Joy in the Lord, you have gained a brother.

To those who forgot, you still seek forgiveness, but don’t rehearse the issue.  Let it go.

To those who say they have forgiven you, but the look in their eyes tells you otherwise, all you can do is ask their forgiveness.  You probably have given them a good reason to write you off, but you cannot beat yourself up over it anymore.  You can pray for them.  Their anger is their poison.  Your prayers are the antidote.  Leave it at God’s feet.

This is especially hard when you encounter this attitude with people you genuinely love, and want to have fellowship with.  Some hurts never heal.  Some people will never like you, or accept you.  That is the hard part.  But you need to take it to God.  And you need to leave it with God.

HERE’S THE GOOD STUFF:  You will get to learn what grace feels like when others forgive you, and mean it from their hearts.

This is definitely the good stuff.  How sweet it feels when a brother genuinely forgives you and shows it.  It is a wonderful thing to gain a brother.  It is good that you have a new friend in Christ.

Being shown Grace is powerful.  It is the genuine reflection of Christ in others.  It teaches you that Grace is obtainable.  It teaches you that you can do the same thing.  Grace is a gift, and when you receive it, and you give it, it multiplies.

How sweet are the tears that forgiveness brings.  How deep is the laughter and joy when you are clean of this sin.

This is what really makes it worth it, from a human stand point.

Being shown grace does wonders for you.  It gives you hope, and teaches you that YOU TOO can be Christ like.  A living example of a brother showing the character of Christ is good medicine.

It is true that some people are just plain weary of dealing with you.  But it is a genuine joy when you encounter real grace.

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET:

Now that you have reconciled with Christ, all the skeletons get to come out of the closet.  As scary as this sounds, this is a good thing.  God will take your past and turn it into a blessing.  If you have told God you want Him to make you into the image of Christ, and into His Character, then all the closets, both obvious and secret, will eventually have to be dealt with.

Don’t be afraid of the skeletons.  They are dead.  If you are in Christ Jesus, you are a new creation.  Let love have her perfect work.

Let’s Be About It.

I Love You

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Eternity In Your Heart


Earth and Star

This is blog 1 for August 12th, 2013.  Blog 2 will follow.  It will be along the lines of the message I have been given to share.

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.  Isaiah 57:15

Why do I write?  Whom is my message for?  Is it really MY message?  How do I have the right to say the things I say?   This is not my “normal daily” post, that will follow this one.  This post is an editorial based on my understanding what I have been called to do.  Normally, I am indifferent to the hostility, and not too concerned over all the indifference.  I knew this was coming before I started blogging.

Hostility can mean I hit a nerve.  Whether I hit that nerve in a good way or a bad one is usually revealed in the emails I get. If I discern that I was misunderstood, I make amends as quickly as possible.  If I discover otherwise, I let it alone.  Only a fool grabs a dog by its ears.

Indifference is something I have no control over.  Only God Himself can cure that.

So why do I write?  Is it to get attention?  No.  Is it to gain popularity? I have never enjoyed a huge amount of popularity. But I understand the importance of what I have been given to say.  The message I have is unpopular, and the target audience is so narrow, I expect nothing much in return.

So, why do I write, and to whom do I write it?

I write to those brothers and sisters who have eternity in their hearts.  They are either in the process of understanding salvation, or were once aware of their salvation.  The fire burns, however small, in their hearts.  They know something is missing.  They know that the life they are now living is not what they set out to live.  They understand that what they are doing is not what they thought it would be.

I write to them because I have lived that life, and am sharing everything I have come to understand in the process of coming home.  If you already have your pet religion, and “God in the Box”, then this message was never intended to be for you.  You are still welcome to read it, but it is not for you.

To you who have this song of Heaven still echoing somewhere in your heart and soul, I am writing.  You once understood the joy of salvation, or you are about to understand the joy of salvation.  You are far away from that joy.  You have done things that you hope never, EVER make the light of day.  The burden of your wanderings are so great, you have given up any hope of being allowed to return to God.  And even when you think you want to go home, you have, somehow, convinced yourself that there is no way you can ever return to God.

I get that.  I have been there.  I have despaired to the point that I wanted to die and get it over with.  And just as I had given up completely, God stepped in and showed me something.  And that something is what I am writing to you.

YOU ARE SAVED:

You understand that there is sin in your life.  You understand that sin separates you from God.  You understand that if you die in this sin, you will also experience the death of your soul.  You understand that God loved Humanity so much, He sent Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, to take your place, die on the cross, and absorb ALL the wrath of God, so you do not have to.  You confess that Jesus rose Himself from the dead to prove He has power over life and death.   If you have made this confession, or do make this confession, then you are saved.  There is no power in existence that can take that away from you.  No person or religion has the right or ability to condemn you for what you have done.  In God’s eyes, you are complete.  You cannot even take yourself from God’s hands.  His gifts are without repentance.

YOU KNOW THERE IS MORE:

You ask yourself why, if I am saved, do I keep sinning, and have no peace, and don’t like where my life has taken me?  Why does God hate me?  Why cannot I find peace.  You know there is more to your life than the lies you bought at the expense of your heart, at the expense of your family, your friends, and everything else you held dear. Most of the time, you even doubt there is even a God who really cares.

But the fact that you ask yourself this, that you wrestle with this, that you cannot find peace in your current circumstances means that the conscience God has given you is uneasy with where you are now.  It is the proof that you belong to God.

I can say this, because I just left that place.

You still have Eternity in your heart.  That eternity was given to you by God.  You are his beloved child.  And that Eternity is calling you home.  Not to leave this earthly plane, but to return to His embrace.  He is waiting for you.  And when he sees you turn around, HE will rush to you and take you up in His arms.  He is longing with all His might to show you that He has always been there, that He loves you, that your life is only beginning when you come home.  The chains you are in are there only by your will, not his.  His love breaks all chains.  His mercy redeems any loss you have known.  His Grace has covered everything you have been doing.  When He looks at you, He sees the blood of Christ.  The only thing keeping you from God is you.  It is simply your will.  He has never gone away from you.

It is to you that I write.  I can because I have come home, and have not looked back.  Any losses I have known are replaced with His love and forgiveness.  I no longer fear.  I no longer am angry.  I no longer despair of my sin.  I have come home.  This is what God is urging you to do.  Come home.

THERE IS WORK TO DO:

After you return, God will heal your wounds, show you things that you have not been able to see on your own.  Wisdom will be your love, and understanding will become your companion.  God will show you that you could never have even been saved had it not been for His will at work in you.  And now that you are home, and healing, God will show you the exact same thing He has shown me.

There is a final harvest coming all over the world.  There are millions of people who are lost and have no idea that they do not have to be.  In your environment, if you are willing and have a submitted heart, God will take your old character out, and replace it with the character of Jesus Christ.  You may be the “only Jesus” people around you see.  But the reason you have the longings you do, is because you feel the call of God to bring you Home to be made into a disciple of Jesus Christ.

This call is for anyone who is saved. Many will respond.  Not many will be chosen.  All are saved, but few are willing to go through what it takes to be a disciple.  The secret of this success lay not in your ability, not in your intelligence, and not in any religion, or religious point of view.   There is only the point of view God has revealed in the Scriptures.  There is only the point of view as revealed by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

You are the one to whom I write.  I write to you because I can attest that this is real. Is is sweet.  It is amazing.  It is also hard and defies any human logic and common sense.  The really hard part is, there is no room for compromise where Christ is concerned.  This is why you will meet resistance as you change into the image of Christ.  You will have to do battle with your own understanding of things, you own ego, your own common sense, and any religious point of view you vaguely remember following.

Jesus did not come here to start a religion.  He came here to save your soul.  Now He needs people to follow Him to complete the upcoming  revival. There are many souls and not much time.

YOU WILL KNOW:

You will know if what I am telling you is true or not.  You will know because, lately, God has been sending witnesses who show you some of this, or that, and in pieces, you are putting this puzzle together.  You will know I am speaking the truth by how your soul reacts to it.  Even if your mind rejects it now, even if this message sounds judgmental or intolerant, you will know in your soul I am describing you.  Come home, for Christ’s sake.

You will know if this message is not for you, too.  You will know because it trips up your understanding of God.  It messes with your religion.  Because you would rather judge the messenger than listen to the message.  But the message I write is true.  I am not writing to anyone who cannot receive it.

I don’t know who you are, but God does.  I don’t have a religion to support, I don’t have any pep talks to make you feel better about being selfish.  I have no ‘affirmations” that will give you immediate blessings of health or wealth.  All I even have is my salvation.  I have chosen to come home.  I am one beggar telling another beggar where I found food, water, and a place to rest.

WHY IS IT HARD?:

It is hard because:

1.  You will have to allow God to humble you.

2.  You will have to be willing to surrender everything you have and know in order to follow Him.

3.  You will have to go through the experience of being shown how God is in charge of everything that happens, and that He has your best interest in mind, no matter what experiences you will go through.

4.  You will have to face the fact that, when you really start telling the truth, no one wants to hear it, and you will lose friends (But gain even better ones), and you will probably be laughed at a LOT because of the changes that God is making in you.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?:

1. Peace

2. Love

3. Mercy

4. Grace

5. Patience

6. Joy

7. Courage

8. Rewards in heaven.

Being saved means you get to go there when you die.  Rewards are based on your willingness to submit to be made into the image of Christ and obey Him in all things.  The gain you will have will be given to you when you get there.  Any blessing you get while still here will be for the growth of God’s Kingdom.  God is not interested in growing YOUR church.  He is interested in growing the number of the fellowship of believers.

I am writing this to you because it is currently what Sandy and I are going through.  I can write this because I have been where you are.

Come home.

I love you.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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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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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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An Opinion


USA-Map-NAVYd

“Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by their world government.”

by:
Henry Kissinger
(1923- ) Former US Secretary of State
Source:
Speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992. Bilderburgers meeting. Unbeknownst to Kissinger, his speech was taped by a Swiss delegate to the meeting.


Here is your opportunity to say I have donned the proverbial “Tin Foil Hat“.

If you haven’t noticed, the world is changing rapidly.  What was not true a year ago, has become true today.  We see all the conspiracy nuts are actually turning out to be right, all along.  To our astonishment, we are no longer laughing at them for all their dire prognostications.

I spent a great deal of time, over the last 20 years doing a particular type of research.  Occasionally, that research took me into the “tin-foil hat” arena.  The stuff they said usually made me laugh.  I thought they were contributing to all the fear porn already being spewed all over the internet (A.K.A. inner-tube).

So, why have I joined them?  It is the same reason I have been writing you all along.  The Living God is calling some of you to be His witnesses.  He is calling some of you, just like he is calling me, to be remade into the image of Christ.  What is about to come, and soon, means that there will be a need for men and women so grounded in the Scripture, so filled with the Spirit of God, so willing to give up everything, that they become the only Jesus a condemned world will see before the Son of Perdition is revealed.

The map above was drawn up by the Navy.  It illustrates what the USA will look like when the Cascadia fault and the New Madrid fault finally gives way.  Much of the USA will be subsumed into an abyss.  The USA will be divided into three parts.  Stan Deyo (http://standeyo.com/) has been talking to anyone who will listen for over a decade about this very subject.

The interesting thing is, that what will trigger the New Madrid will be a huge disaster, but not a natural one.  I have “seen” this, and today, I received confirmation of this.  Through the auspices of the Federal Government, and a few other foreign interests, the State of Louisiana has bought in to a lie that they are cleaning up the BP oil spill.

What they are doing, actually, is every day of the week, pouring a cleaning solvent in to the gaping sinkhole that will dissolve a large salt pillar, that is plugging a huge Methane pocket, that is also preventing the ocean from undercutting the earth under the very area where the New Madrid fault line originates.  The Map above shows what will be left of the USA when they succeed.  This will happen soon.  Most of us will witness this disaster with our own eyes.  I am not the first person you may have heard this from, but I am telling you now.  It is coming.

The quote above has to do with Kissinger showing his cards.

Ronald Reagan spoke at the UN some time ago, while he was president,  (Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZP1Cfpy945c&t=0, and Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QJt6KHIX0-Q).  He spoke about the theoretical possibility of an Attack from Space that would unite all peoples of the earth.

This is the invasion Kissinger was alluding to.

Although this information has been available to the public, again, only the “Tin Foil Hat” crowd has paid any attention to it.  Here is why I mention it today.  Here in this NASA release: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/mag-portals.html is the article that describes the discover of magnetic portals.  One such portal connects the sun to the earth.  What this means is, particles can travel the vast distance between the Sun and Earth instantaneously.  It has always been a mystery why, when certain particles are detected leaving the sun, they are simultaneously detected on Earth.  All kinds of ignorant theories were tossed about.  But it boiled down to PORTALS.  Guess which book, quoted by Jesus Himself, but removed from the canon of acceptable scripture talks about these portals?  The Book of Enoch (For a ripping good translation, see this one:  http://www.forbiddengate.com/BookOfEnoch.pdf.

Here is the bottom line on this.  There will be a staged invasion from space.  The portals will be part of the explanation of how “They” got to us.  The fear this will cause will lead everyone who can be deceived to call on the world governments to rescue them.  This is going to be part of the great deception.  This, too, is coming very soon.

Along with these two things, the “Natural Disaster” that will subsume much of the USA, the fake invasion and the portals being opened in space (You probably already cannot believe what I am telling you, so it will probably be futility on my part to tell you that what WILL be coming through those portals will make the “Space Invaders” look like your favorite Aunt.)…Like I said,

Along with these two events, will be a civil war, and total economic collapse.  You have already learned, if you have been reading the news, that the Federal Government has been funding the people who want to go to war with “Whitey”.  It is OUR government that is trying to foment this civil war.  They need things to go very bad here so they can release the UN troops who have been filling up our Military Bases since these last several months.The further use of these foreign troops will be that, according to Kerry, Obama will be signing the UN Global Gun Ban during the Summer Recess.  This will give the UN the right to send foreign troops into the USA to confiscate our weapons.  (Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/03/lawmakers-urge-obama-to-reject-un-arms-treaty-as-it-opens-for-signature/)

These are only a very FEW of the things the world government is going to do in order to bring about a chaos that they create so they can introduce their own version of a “New World Order”  (Read it Here: http://www.rawstory.com/news/2008/Henry_Kissinger_Obama_should_act_to_0106.html  and HERE: http://www.wnd.com/2009/01/85442/)

All these disasters are being planned and executed by people who have given their lives to serve a fallen angel named Lucifer.  These individuals believe it is Lucifer who should be King of all Creation.  The last time Lucifer tried this, God told him to go to Hell.   History WILL repeat itself.  With the same results.  Except this time it is permanent.

God has allowed all this history and recent activity to exist, that is, He has with held his judgement on us so that some of us may be saved.  That includes you.  He doesn’t want to see you die and be cast in to Hell with Lucifer.  He loves you enough that He sent His own son to die for your sin on the cross.  Jesus is our savior.  Believe in Him, and you will not die.  He has proven to be the Lord over Life and Death by raising Himself from the dead, and has promised all of His followers that THEY TOO will be raised from the dead (You will not have to suffer God’s judgement, your soul will live in eternity with Him, in Heaven).

The battle is always for the Human soul.  The world, and those who rule it now only want you to die.  They call you “Useless Eaters”  Here are some interesting quotes for you:

The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
Dr. Henry Kissinger New York Times, Oct. 28, 1973

Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries”.
Dr. Henry Kissinger

“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac,” and “The elderly are useless eaters”
Dr. Henry Kissinger

“World population needs to be decreased by 50%”
Dr. Henry Kissinger

“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
David Rockefeller

So, here is why my blog exists.  I am to write something every day.  That is my obedience to a call.  Most of the time, I pray for several hours before I know what to write.  Today, I have been praying for several weeks (Approximately 13) before writing about this.

My blog exists to tell some of you who struggle with the return to your salvation, what I had to go through to find my way home, to God.  My hope and belief is that it will stimulate in you the same call to return to Christ.  Secondarily, but equally important, I write so that some will be saved.  I don’t know who they are, but based on all the hate mail and death threats, I am guessing someone is being affected by this.

Some have accused me of being a legalist.  This is not so, and it is not worth arguing over.  Grace and its efficacy is my message.  You can read into my blogs whatever you wish.  I am always glad to discuss it with you, even when you threaten to kill me for it.  But you will only get out of anything and anyone what you want, based on the filters you wear to see and hear.

But the Spirit of the Living God is the same.  He draws all people to him.  All are invited, few are chosen.

Here are the few that are chosen:

Luke 9:23

English Standard Version (ESV)

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

The only Jesus the world will see, during and after the afore-mentioned disasters are the people who are willing to do what Jesus asked us to do.

We need Jesus.  Our land is already condemned for kicking God out of everything.  The reason you, Christian, are still alive is to obey Christ.  This i snot a statement of legalism.  You and I are totally incapable of doing this.  Our flesh rebels at the thought of it.

It is by Grace that you are saved, and not by any work you can perform.  And it is by the loving Gentle leading of the Holy Spirit that the Saved are taught that Jesus is also Lord, and is to be followed.

Can you be saved?  Yes.  The difference between the called and the chosen is best summed up in the words of Jesus:

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6 19-20

And the Apostle Paul’s words:  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.  Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.  I Corinthians 3:11-17

And from Romans 12

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

If Jesus Christ is your Savior, and really is, in your Heart, you are saved.  You will be raptured.  Noting can remove you from God’s hand.  But the time of the Gentiles is rapidly closing, and we need Men and Women of God. Take up your cross and follow Jesus.

It is to these brothers and sisters that I write.  If that is not you, then I hope you simply gain from what God has shown me, and enjoy the rest of your lives.

Let’s Be About It!

I Love you,

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

The Return to God, Part II: God Will Then Let You Know He Is Aware of Your Situation


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

(All Bible quotes used herein are from the ESV, by means of the excellent software: e-Sword. )

I think the thing that slowed my return to God was me…my thoughts, my fears, the dread of being judged as irredeemable.

I was in the way of my own redemption. I had strayed pretty far. I didn’t know how to return to where I was. I didn’t know the way back. I could recall the day of my Salvation. But it seemed a lifetime ago, and I had done SO many things, much of it on purpose, to anger the Living God. I figured I had become irredeemable. Incurable. Incapable of being acceptable to God. Chances are you might feel that way too.

I had completely forgotten what Jesus said about any who are saved.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Do you remember the day you were saved? Maybe it was a long time ago, and you have not lived the “victorious life”.  Maybe the burden of separation from God seems like it is too much for you.

But take it from me, one who recently returned, Jesus meant it when He said: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. And: whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

I had forgotten this. I can remember the day of my salvation. But I had forgotten the above. When I recalled these verses, and finally realized what these verses mean, I realized that A: When Jesus said, ” and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ” He also meant that I myself cannot snatch ME out of His hand.  Jesus said repeatedly throughout His ministry that we can curse and blaspheme God and Jesus, and do all manner of wickedness, and be forgiven, as long as we have not blasphemed the Holy Spirit.  I knew I was saved. My doubts of being able to be forgiven was standing in the way of my redemption to God from my sins.

This Psalm describes how I was feeling:

Psalm 42:1- 2: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

I missed God. I missed serving Christ. I knew I was lost, and thirsty for the sweet presence of God in my life. I had to get out of my way. and that is when the changes started to happen.

First, I prayed:

Psalm 5:1-2: Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.

AND

From Psalm 51: 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.

This is what I discovered:

Psalm 145:8 – 9: The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

So I unloaded everything on God:

Psalm 55:22 – Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

And, Psalm 57:2 – I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

I have to confess. I mean I was prepared to hear Him tell me to go to hell. And I felt I deserved it. But God let me know he has been aware of what I had been up to all along, that he had never taken His eyes off me. And He didn’t do it in a way that was accusative. He did it in a way that let me know I can stop it now, and be forgiven. He knew anyway.

Psalm 44:20-21 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

And:

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 145:8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Because you were saved, and because of the Blood of Christ you can rest assured:

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You will suddenly know: Psalm 40:1- 3 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.

God knows you are in a plight. He always knew. He quietly intervened on your behalf, in ways you will discover after your return to Him. He led you to the point where you understood how far you strayed. No one who belongs to Him is irredeemable.

You discover: Lamentations 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Understand this, when you began to feel the weight of your guilt for leaving God, it was God making you aware he knows what plight you are in. It was God drawing you back to Him. It was the Holy Spirit convicting you of your need to return. He was letting you know that He knows. That you were the only thing standing in your way.

God gives you the strength and courage to confess, to return, to repent. You have earned this right because you were and are saved by the blood of Christ Jesus. Jesus has made it possible for you to go before God and do business with Him:

Hebrews 10:19-21 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Christ prayed for you. That you will never be snatched out of His hand. He came after you because of His love for you. The fact that you began to miss God, and desired to return to Him is a sure sign that the Spirit of God was at work in your heart. HE KNEW your plight and came after you.

Matthew 18:12-13 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

You are home now. God went out of his way to find you, and heaven itself rejoiced over your return to Him.

THIS is where things get really interesting.

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

If you would like prayer, please write me at: sammysnardfarkle@gmail.com

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