Tag Archives: Son of God

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.

Go back

Your message has been sent

Standard
Faith

And We Know…


Holy Pottery

And we know that God causes all things

to work together

for good

to those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NASB

The temptation to despair looms large when things around you have completely gone to hell.  The difficulty lay in seeing the hand of God even in this situation.

I have to remember that God is not mad at me.  God is not judging me.  When I reap the consequences of my behavior, it is not God that is punishing me.  Everything has either a logical or natural consequence.  When I am in a storm of my own making, I understand that it is not God that brought the storm.

It IS God that stands with me in the midst of the storm.  It is God that sustains me when I feel faint from the effort of having Hope.  Just like Nebuchadnezzar saw, when he threw the three into the fiery pit, “One standing like the Son of God“, I can say with all confidence that, even though I lit this fire, God stands with me in this pit, and God protects me from the harshest elements of it.  The experience is still mine, but the strength to endure and the ability to gain wisdom comes from God Himself.

Because I am crucified with Christ, my old sin nature was put to death.  Because He rose from the dead, I rose anew, a new life form.  I know that after this last trial, I will walk out refined and purified.  I cannot make this claim unless Christ is my life.

“I 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

Because of Jesus, and my redemption by His blood, I can, with all confidence say, I have been made anew.  When this refining fire is over, I will be stronger in the Lord.  I will know God in intimate ways I never would have comprehended had I not been subject to the logical consequences of my behavior.

God has not punished me.  Jesus took on that punishment when He became all my sin on the cross.  Because of this great gift, I am now the adopted child of God.  God will allow consequences to come my way, natural and logical, when I step out of His will for my life.

I praise God that He has given me the freedom to think for myself.  And I praise God that He upholds me when I reap what I sow.  From this lesson, I have learned that doing things God’s way is far better than seeking riches, fame, and the praise of men.

God has, and is, and will work even this situation out to His glory, to my best good, because I am called according to His purposes.

I may not understand why, sometimes, it seems as if He is a thousand miles away.  It may be that my fear of the flames has distorted my view of Him, and He has been right here all along, holding me, because I have fainted.

Through this fire, I have seen my unnecessary beliefs, behaviors and possessions disappear in smoke.  All I thought was important couldn’t stand in the fire of God’s just mercy.  What remains is a grace that I never imagined could exist.

Now I have joy, love, and peace, and I comprehend the love of God.  I am His beloved.  Now I am useful for His purposes in me.

I thank you God that you allow me to go through these things.

I cannot be that new creature and cling to the old things.  They are incompatible.  As God’s adopted child, and co-heir to Heaven, my old belongings would only pollute the things and places God intends to give me.

I praise you God for a wisdom that in infinitely more than any human wisdom.  Where the world sees a failure and a loser, you see a new creation, fresh from the master’s refining fire.

I am happy to lose everything I thought was meaningful and important, knowing that what God will be giving me is worth more than anything the world has to offer.

“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

Come to Jesus and be refined in the fire of His love.  You will never regret it for all eternity.

I love you.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

Go back

Your message has been sent

Standard
Faith

It Doesn’t Matter


Grace is SufficientII CORINTHIANS 5:17 HCSB   “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”

What’s New?

“if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;”    

Jesus made it clear that, if we have rejected Him, we are already dead, “Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.” John 3:18 HCSB

We are dead before we accepted Christ.  We are cut off from God.  We have no home in Heaven, no hope of eternal life.   We are still born entities who have not been given the gift of eternal life via the Holy Spirit.  We are already dead.

There is a familiar saying that, “Jesus did not come here to make bad people good, but to make dead people live.”  I have no idea who said this, so I cannot give attribution.

Jesus came here to die so that I can live.  When Jesus was nailed to the cross, all the law of sin was nailed to the cross.  The law existed to demonstrate that it is impossible for me to obey God on my own power.   Jesus put “finished” to the law when He was nailed to the cross, “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. “ Col 2:14

All the reasons that people can think of, all the accusation that Satan accuses you with, any right anyone had to find fault with you was put to death the moment you accepted Him.  Furthermore, sin itself no longer has command over you.  When you accepted Christ, the Spirit of God immediately came to you, moved in to your body, your mind, your life, and brought YOU to life in Christ.

Jesus became sin, and died of it, took it to Hell with him and paid the full penalty for it.  All sin was put to death and no longer has any authority over you.  The only power sin has, now, is whatever you give it.  The good news here is, now that the Spirit of God lives in you, you have all the resources of Heaven to help you overcome sin.

BUT WHAT ABOUT MY PAST?

old things have passed away

When you accepted Jesus Christ’s free gift, your past died with Christ.  Your new life was created when He rose from the dead.  Your acceptance of this completed work put to death your old self.  “…having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions” Col 2: 12-13 NASB

When you accepted Jesus’s sacrifice for you, you were buried with him in death, and the new creation that arose from the dead is the new creation that now lives in you.

Your past is just that, the past.

I know, I know, everyone else still treats me as if I am the old me.  That is OK.  People will eventually see that you are no longer that person.  This takes time and patience.  The new life you will live will be a product of Christ living in you.

“I 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

You died.  Christ lives in you, now.  Your old self is dead.

Yes, you still have memories of the past, but they no longer have power over you.   The Spirit of God lives in you, now.  Allow the Spirit of God to work in you to change you into the likeness of Christ.  You have to forgive your past.  God already did.

The past has just as much hold over you as you let it.  Forgive your past.  People change very slowly, but they will change.  As evidence of your new life dawns on others, you will be treated differently.  Let time and patience do their jobs.

GOD LIVES IN YOU

The greatest thing that you will learn is, now that you are born into the Kingdom of Heaven, you are now an adopted child of God.  “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”  Romans 8:15 NASB

Fear of punishment for your past can go away now.  You are no longer a slave to your past, so you can stop acting as if it has any influence over you.  It died when you died.  You died when you accepted the free gift of salvation.  It is now Christ that lives in you.  You are His brother.  God is now your father.

I John 4:15 says that God abides in you, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

QUALITY OF LIFE

This new life, this “Zoe” as it is said in the scriptures, is not just living, it defines a new quality of life.  Your life changes because you are a new born creature.  Where you didn’t exist, you now exist in Heaven.  Zoe is not just a life form, but a new life form that has a new quality of life.  This quality of life manifests itself in you as you grow in Christ.

We are possessed of this quality the second we are born.  All that God is, has, and gives, lives in you.  It is your inheritance.  The fullness of the Kingdom of God is yours, now, today, because you were born into the kingdom of Heaven.

YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Sin used to be your master.  This is no longer true of you.  Where you were once dead in your sin, sin now only has the power over you that you allow it to have.  But, even then, the Grace of God covers our sin.  We do not abuse this grace, but have access to it so that we can be continually made into the righteousness of Christ.  Christ’s righteousness lives in us.  It becomes manifest in us when we realize we are free from the curse of sin.

Being free from sin is not comprised of a list of “Don’ts”.  The influence of the Spirit of God will show you a view of sin that you never had before.  Sin does not become a list of don’ts, but a fact of “Don’t want to”.  Sin no longer will have the power over you that it used to have.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”  Romans 6:1-8

Before we were born again, we had no righteousness.  Now, we are alive in Christ, and HIS righteousness lives in us.  He did this for us, so we cannot brag about it.

IT NO LONGER MATTERS WHAT EVERYONE ELSE THINKS

In God’s eyes, you are His child.  In His eyes, you are complete.  You are loved and lovely.  You are whole and pure.  When you accepted this free gift of Jesus’ death and resurrection, you were born into the Kingdom of Heaven complete in every way.

The world may not recognize what God has done in you.  But as you submit to Him, by the power of His spirit, God will make manifest in your life all the riches of His Kingdom.  He will do this in you as you humble yourself before the Lord: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”  James 4:10

Don’t let people convince you that you are not His.  Don’t talk yourself into going back to your old life.  Let the power of the Living God work in you.  It is written that a broken and contrite heart, God will not despise.  It takes you emptying you of yourself and allowing the completed work of God, that is in you, to be made manifest in your life.

No one can take this away from you.

Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

No one can rob you of your God-given gift of life and abundant living unless you allow it.   Abide in the word, abide in the love of God.  Let the power of the Spirit of God rule in your life.

I promise, you will see life and live life differently than you ever knew was possible.  The problems you think you have today, will be manageable because you will see them in the light of the Love of God, and His wisdom.  Many of the problems you have today will stop being problems because God will change your heart.

Where the law of sin said “You can’t”, Jesus and the power of His resurrection says, “I DID!”.

Where guilt and the world and Satan says, “You are a failure”, Jesus says, “My success is YOUR success, recieve it and walk in it.”

Where the Accuser says, “You are guilty!”, Jesus said, “You are innocent.”

The love and power of God abides in you.  Fear and sin no longer rules your life.  What God has placed in you cannot be removed.  God wants to make His power and life manifest in you.  As you seek Him, and pray, and search His word, and believe, the life God has placed inside you will be known to the rest of the world.

Chose you this day whom you will serve…

Let’s be about it.

I Love You

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

Go back

Your message has been sent

Standard
Faith

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

Go back

Your message has been sent

Standard
Faith

So Was Jesus


Endure“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16 NASB

I Prayed to God:  I confess…

…I am tempted to lust

God Answered me:

:So Was Jesus

….I am tempted to steal

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to lie

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to covet my neighbor’s wife, car, home, children, bank account, way of life.

:So was Jesus

…I am tempted to Murder

:So was Jesus

…I am tempted to blaspheme

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to bear false witness

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to never forgive, never forget, and hope that my enemy suffer greatly

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to get jealous and envious

:So Was Jesus

See…the covenant written long before the creation of the earth, before the angelic wars, before Lucifer fell from Grace is, “The Wages of Sin is Death”.  God will not tolerate sin in His kingdom. Sin is what ever I do that separates me from God.  I discovered there is nothing I can possibly do to cover my own sin…it lays me naked before God.   I need a cover because I am ashamed at being cold and naked in front of God. My best efforts at covering myself are transparent and useless.

God created me in His own image, and in his likeness.  I look like Him, and I am supposed to have His character.  I don’t.

I want to do God’s will and be pure before Him. I already know that I have nothing that will satisfy God in this regard, but, If it were possible, I am tempted to give everything I have, own, or can offer, everything that is me if it means saving me, or any other Human God created.

God answered me

:So Was Jesus  – And that is what counts.

 

Let’s Be About It

I Love You

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

Go back

Your message has been sent
Standard
Faith

Who Are Called….


I”If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  – II Chronicles 7:14 KJV

Today, I asked God, “What should I write, today?”  See, I had this really neat thing all outlined and ready to be fleshed out.  I was excited that I had finished my homework ahead of time.

I arrived at the library, ready to write.  I always pray before I write, because the last thing I want my meager tomes to be is an insult to God and his doctrine.

The next thing I know, I am putting away my outline, to be used for later.  I am compelled to write today, the following, instead:

“If MY people, who are called by may name…”

I see this verse constantly posted on FB, and other places.  It seems like a drive by shooting.  It is just there, with no possibility for clarity.  If you are His people, you already know this.  If you are merely playing churchianity, then you may have heard this verse, but not comprehend what it means.  If you do not belong to the Living God through Christ, then this is just all noise and no signal.

I beg your indulgence while I try, in my own way, to give this drive my verse meaning.  I can only do this because this is the very thing I have been dealing with for these past 7 years.  And IF you have been reading my other blogs, you know that I have written about the process with out calling it out in a single verse.

In a couple of my recent posts, we looked at who are God’s called out ones when we looked at “Who Is The Church?”  (Parts I & II).  And if you read yesterday’s post, “With God, All Things Are Possible”, you can see how God is dealing with me, specifically, in order to be made fit for His service.

You are “called out” if you were drawn to Jesus Christ.  If you accepted the free gift of eternal life because He died in your place for the sin of the world.  If you know you have been driven into His service.

The ekklesia, the called out ones, the gathering of believers, both individually, and corporately ARE the called out ones.  We are the Body of Christ.

TO THE CALLED OUT ONES

Read the paper, look at the news (If you have a great B.S. filter, and a lot of discernment). search the web, and you can see that our nation is being remade in the image of evil.  We are no longer a Godly nation.  We no longer turn to the authority of God as our Sovereign leader, and His word as the baseline for all our moral judgement.

It is the “Called Out Ones” who have let this happen, and need to stop what they are doing and do what the verse above says.  I, you, WE, need to individually and corporately fall on our face, fast in grief over our falling asleep  at the wheel, and repent for being so careless with the Word of God.  We have allowed ourselves to be distracted by people who have invaded our churches and gently led us away from the basic truths of the Doctrines of God.

We, the “called out ones” have given up on our responsibility to remain faithful to Christ, to endure to the bitter end, to serve selflessly.  We have abdicated our responsibilities to others.  WE are the ones to feed the poor, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, visit the prisoners.  We are called to be  the light of the World.  When Jesus ascended, He didn’t strike camp and leave us without equipping us.  We are His children.  We have been given the authority, by Jesus Christ Himself to go in to all the WORLD, teaching the world all that Jesus has commanded.

We have chased after political correctness.  We have bowed to a lesser god for the sake of our convenience.  We tolerate preaching that appeals to our carnal selves, and we reject the teaching that is Given by the Word of God, and by our own Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I can say this because, for the last 20 years, I was very guilty of this, and more.  Wake up believers.  This land is going to recieve the Judgement of the Living God.  NO nation has ever remained standing after throwing off the Sovereignty of God.  We have gone from acknowledging that He alone is God, to claiming that WE ourselves are little Gods.  Decide today what you will believe.  There cannot be an autonomous Man and a Sovereign God.  Will you be your own God, or will you return to the Living God?

We all, I me and US, need to humble ourselves.  We need to repent of our individual sin.  We need to return to the word as it is given, and not try to make it fit what we wish it said.

Are you the called out one?  Ask yourself.  Are you too afraid to mention Jesus Christ at your work?  Jesus said that if you are ashamed of Him, he will be ashamed of you on the day of judgement.  Are you afraid your life will be inconvienced, or disturbed, or even ruined if you literally obey Christ?  Then you are not worthy of being His disciple.  Get over yourselves.  Repent.  Obey the Lord.

We have become so vile that the Church of Laodicea looks like a Billy Graham Evnangelical event.

WAKE UP CALLED ONES.  Do your job.

TO THE ONES PLAYING CHURCH.

If what I have written above offends you, GOOD.  Do you say you are a Christian?  Just because you go to a Church, doesn’t mean you are any more saved than, if you go to a Burger King you are a Whopper.  If you are going “because it is good for the kids”, or “It looks good socially”, or “I make a lot more contacts there than I do anywhere else, and that is just good business”, then you are blaspheming the entire meaning of what it means to be a called out one.

Here’s the deal.  You will know if you are called out.  Here’s how.  If you realized the depth and depravity of your sin, and saw that Jesus Christ was beaten and nailed to a Roman Cross, and took on the very wrath of the Living God, IN YOUR PLACE, and if this brought you to repentance, and you confessed that Jesus Christ IS the Son of God, and confessed it with your mouth, THEN you are called out.  You have been given new life, and separated from your old life.

If you have not experienced this, then you are just playing Church.

You are no different from any ordinary sinner who goes to a strip joint instead of a church, except that person is being honest.  You, friend are being a liar.  Stop playing Church.

People, our nation has rejected God.  Our nation has condoned lawlessness.  Our nation has thrown off the Sovereignty of the Living God to pursue it’s own sovereignty.  Our nation has condoned the brutal murders of our unborn children.  Are we the worshipers of MOLECH, now?  Do we sacrifice our children to a being that is NOT God?

We have played right into Satan’s hands.  And we are, at best indifferent.  At worst, a participant in our own damnation.

To the ones who work tirelessly, I pray the blessings of the living God on you.  I pray the protection of the Holy Spirit on you.  Do not tire of these things, as your reward in Heaven will be great.  i ask that you pray for US, the called out ones who have traded our inheritance for a bowl of stew.

Forgive us God.  I pray in the Name of JEsus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God.

David Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

Go back

Your message has been sent

Standard