a broken record

Today you can listen to music in many ways and many people don't even know about the circular phonograph records, originally called gramophone records, that we use to listen to our favorite music by way back when. We would buy singles (a 7 inch  wide whole vinyl 45 rpm record) of our favorite hit song and listen to them over and over.   Sometimes the records would get scratched and when the needle would hit the scratch it would slide back and replay and this would occur over and over and over.  Therefore, you had to throw away a broken record for no longer would it play the full song.  It seems like the LORD has me on the same theme over and over and so in a way I feel like a broken (scratched) record.   But since GOD does nothing without a cause, I guess there is a reason                         

 

Tonight I was just relaxing reading the Word and talking with our LORD.  I asked HIM a question and went back to reading when the light came on, HE answered my question and I knew I had to share the verse I was reading.

 

Matthew 7:21-23  Not everyone who says to ME, LORD, LORD, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of MY FATHER who is in heaven Many will say to ME in that day, LORD, LORD have we not prophesied in YOUR name?  and in YOUR name cast out demons and in YOUR name performed many miracles? and then I will declare unto them, " I never knew you; depart from ME you who practice lawlessness."

 

What doing the will of GOD is explained by JESUS in John 6:28,29.  And they asked JESUS. " What must we do to work the works GOD?"  JESUS answered and said to them, "This is the work of GOD, that you believe in HIM, whom HE (GOD) sent."

 

Now what works were these people who called JESUS, LORD, LORD, doing?

   they were prophesying

   they were casting out demons

   they were performing many miracles

These were good things right?  So how come JESUS  (1) called them workers of lawlessness said, (2) "depart from ME I never knew you." 

 

#1-  My mind flew to Jeremiah 23:

Jeremiah 23:16  This is what the LORD ALMIGHTY says, Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you,... they speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:21,22  I did not send these prophets but they have run with their message.  I did not speak to them yet they have prophesied.  But if they had stood in MY council, they would have proclaimed MY words to MY people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds....

Jeremiah 23:28-29  Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has MY word speak it faithfully.  For what has straw to do with grain? declares the LORD.  IS not MY word life fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

 

In these days, as then there are many, many false prophets to 1 true one.  There are many prophesies given and we are not to despise them but to test them and as Jeremiah 23 makes clear... only when the prophet's word is verified in Scripture (GOD's word) is it to be listened.  Their words may sound good and have an outward appearance of effect... remember in Matthew 7 where those guys were prophesying, casting out demons and doing miracles?  But, it wasn't of GOD.

 

Doing things the way GOD has openly told us to do and recorded in the Bible will perform what GOD wants done.  GOD says in Isaiah 55:11  So is  MY word which goes out from MY mouth, it will not return empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

 

#2- but why did JESUS tell them to depart from HIM that HE never knew them.  They trusted in their own way and leaned on their own understanding and did not do the work required by GOD... to believe and depend on JESUS.  You cannot intimately know JESUS or become HIS until realize that you are helpless without JESUS.  HE came to save you and you must receive HIS outstretched hand to pull you from judgment. HE doesn't need your help...   He that has the SON has life, but he that rejects the SON (as the answer) will not see life, for GOD's wrath remains on him.

 

It seems like I am a scratched record, going back and playing the same thing over and over again.  But, I know GOD said to share this so I won't lean on my own understanding and just do as HE says. 

 

hugs

Sharon

life is a test

I saw a Charlie Brown cartoon where Charlie Brown says that he stayed up at night wondering if life was a true or false test or a multiple choice until one night a voice came and said, We hate to tell you this but life is really a 1,000 word essay.  Those were demonic voices that Charlie Brown heard and they lied.  The Bible tells us that life is not a 1,000 word essay but rather a true or false test. A test to see who we choose to believe is telling the truth.. 

Do we believe  the words of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY... the GOD of truth or do we believe the persuasive, tantalizing, pleasure seeking voice of the devil who is the father of lies?  One way to know whose voice we are hearing,  is the content of the message. For instance does it allure (remember lures are to catch fish), entice, tempt, accuse, mock, cause division, demand my rights or contradict the WORD of GOD?  Those are ways of the devil not of GOD.  Although the devil  might use scripture in his message, he will twist it to deceive and turn us from the truth. Remember, he turns himself into an angel of light 2 Corinthians 11:14  pretending to offer truth but puts GOD's revealed way as lacking/ incomplete.

On the other hand what GOD says HE will do, HE tells the truth.  In Proverbs 3:5-7, John 7:17, James 1:5-8 we are told that if we go to HIM and humbly ask, willing to follow HIS instructions, HE will lead us in what to do. That does not mean we will understand the way HE is leading us (for HIS ways and thoughts are as high as the heavens above ours Isaiah 55:8-11 but always achieve what HE wants done.); but HE will lead us and keep us from being deceived by the lies of the devil in that situation.

NOTE: it is a daily, sometimes moment by moment coming to GOD for answers… it is not once for all.

The only thing that once for all is what JESUS accomplished for us on the Cross. Hebrews 10:10,12,14 NASB …We are sanctified  through the offering of the body of JESUS once for all….   But when HE had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, JESUS sat down at the right hand of GOD… because with one sacrifice HE has perfected for all time those who are being made holy. 

I have said some things that help us recognize the devil, now I want to mention 3 basic things true about GOD (of many) that you will find as you read through the Bible.

Truth is that which corresponds to reality.  Yahwey, the Maker of heaven and earth is the GOD of truth and cannot lie. Psalm 31:5, Titus 1:2  Therefore anything and everything HE says is true. HE is faithful to HIS word;  if HE wasn't we couldn't trust HIM.  GOD gives promises and then says over and over and over again.. I will not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of MY lips.  Ps 89::34, Numbers 23:19 Ezekiel 20:14b, 24:14, 36:36b  If it seems like HE has lied,  look deeper and ask the Holy SPIRIT.  For if it looks like GOD lied,  it is because we don't have all the facts. Somewhere in the Scriptures there is a fact that explains what HE has done. For when GOD says something HE will do it.

#2 is something difficult for us to comprehend, but nonetheless true of GOD. GOD knows all things past, present and future.  HE knows the end from the beginning and everything in between.  That means HE even knows what we are going to say and do before we say and do it. And HE knew all the things HE would ever do (that includes answers to prayer) from the beginning of the world Acts 15:18.  That is how HE could rest on that 1^st 7^th day from all HE had made. Genesis 1:2  HE had already decided what HE was going to do.  This is seen over and over in the history book of the Bible as GOD interacts with man.  I saw it again this morning as I read in Genesis. This  instance is seen with Abraham Genesis 18:19 when GOD says that HE knows how Abraham will teach his children therefore GOD acts in a certain way.  It is also seen in how GOD invites us to co-labor with HIM to reveal HIS nature to the principalities and powers (angels) Ephesians 3:10, Genesis 18:19-33  by placing HIS desires in our hearts Philippians 2:13, Deuteronomy 30: 11-14  That does NOT make us puppets for just knowing that someone will say or do something, does not make us responsible for their choice to say or do it.  GOD doesn’t take away our choices; what HE does do is plan according to them.  NOTE: if GOD did not know all things, something could come up to unsettle HIS plans. If that was the case we could not trust HIS promises.

The 3^rd and last thing true about GOD I want to mention today is HIS total power.  GOD who created all things and has set up the standards and the laws of nature.  HE is Judge of all.  Yet, HE cannot be judged by any for all created beings are limited in knowledge and power. 

Yahwey… the Great I AM is the source of everything.  HE is the source of all power.  HE gives power to whom HE chooses and takes it away from whom HE chooses. Psalms 75:6,7, Daniel 4:17 No one has an ounce of power without GOD delegating limited power to him.  Never does one with limited delegated power have any power over the source of power-GOD.Romans 13:1 …HE (the Creator of heaven and earth) does according to HIS will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off HIS hand or say to HIM, “What have YOU done.” Daniel 4:35  If anyone could keep HIM from doing something, that one is stronger than GOD

 

The LORD could not guarantee the end result if HE is wasn't in control.  If something we do can keep HIM for doing what HE says HE will do...HE cannot guarantee the end result.....  If HE cannot guarantee the end result,   we cannot trust that HE will come for us or give us eternal life free from sin and troubles.   (because if something we could do could stop HIM from achieving what HE wants done,  the battle was not won on the cross and  it waits to be seen who will win the war.)  To say of think that is blaspheme for that is calling GOD a liar!      

There are many questions  in this life and the grade point (rewards we earn) is determined in who we choose to follow in certain instances.  But the pass or fail is determined on just one question… Do you believe JESUS CHRIST is the Son of GOD and  died for your sins?  For you see, he who believes on the SON has everlasting life; but whoever rejects the SON will not see life, for GOD’s wrath remains on him John 3:36. (because he is still in his sins only faith in JESUS removes sin.)

Do you have the SON?  

how can you tell truth from error?

When GOD specified that a king 1st job was to write out a copy of the Word of GOD ( it was a lot shorter back then) and to read it every day it was so that the king :(1st and formost)  would learn about the LORD his GOD; (2) so that he would do what GOD has instructed us to do; & (3) so that he wouldn't consider himself better than others. Deuteronomy 17:18-20

 

JESUS CHRIST made every believer a king & a priest .Revelation 1:6 KJ

 

The primary reason we are to read the Word of GOD, just like for the kings of Israel,  is so we can get to know GOD, what HE is like and how HE does things.  It is important that we think rightly about GOD or we will be worshipping a god of our own making.  GOD says in Psalm 50:21... you thought I was altogether like you, but I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.   

 

By learning what the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY creator of heaven and earth is like we will learn what we, as HIS children, should be like and If we do this we will be able to spot what is true and what is false.  John 7:17 says if you are willing to do the will of GOD, you will know if something is from GOD or merely from men.  (see the condition GOD places on revelation? its a willingness to comply what GOD wants.)  GOD wants us to know HIM and reveals HIMSELF through several means Romans 1:18-20 and through HIS word and in these last days, through HIS SON. Hebrews 1:1-3

 

The Bible shows certain things to always be true of GOD and certain things always to be true about the devil.

 

Beginning in the garden, the devil always accuses GOD & tries to make GOD appear as lacking.  The devil lies and twists the truth and appears as one bringing great light/ new truth.  But in fact he only comes to kill, to steal and to destroy. John 10:10  The devil disguised himself and went to Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He came pretending to be one who knew the truth.  He came accusing GOD of keep back something that should be hers, things she could get only if she acted. Eve chose to believe satan instead of GOD & thereby she lost nearly everything including her 1st 2 sons Genesis 3,4

 

Since we are in the days when there are many false prophets for not every spirit is from GOD, we need to test what is being said by the word of GOD just like the Bereans did. Acts 17:11, I John 4:1 

 

While the devil pretends and lies, our GOD is up front/ transparent.  HE is the Great I AM-the self existent ONE who reveals HIMSELF; the source of everything. James 1:19 says HE is the FATHER of light and giver of every good and perfect gift. 

 

I will stop here for today but if the LORD is willing, I will go on to speak of things true of GOD.  Not because you don't know them, but because reviewing them brings great joy and direction.

responsibility

The headlines on AOL news # 1 story this morning was:  Flames Rip Through City in the Phillipines:  Firefighters battled a huge inferno:  A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed three people in a creek-side slum in the Philippine capital, one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year's celebrations.

Wow! How do you and I respond to such news?  Do we point the finger at the irresponsible actions that caused the fire or do we pray for those affected?

Webster’s dictionary says: a response is something said or done in answer, reply or reaction. Responsibility is being obliged/ responsible/ answerable/ accountable.  Each of us are only responsible for our own actions. Both the firefighters and the fire starters responded to something.  The one acting on an impulse or suggestion and the other on an obligation/ duty to protect.  But they both responded.  You see from Eve on, Genesis 3:  on, all of human actions are responses to whom we choose to listen to.  Even me writing this… for when I saw in vibrant tones of the general lack of people to take responsibility and GOD bringing instances to me of my own lack of responsibility, my blaming another (pointing the finger), I felt a need/ nudged to share what HE showed me.

In the fire in the Philippines we see 3 kinds of responsibility:  #1 those responsible, by their actions, for causing the fire;  #2 the response of the firefighters to go put out the fire; # 3 our responsibility to GOD to pray for (1) the ones affected, (2) the ones fighting the fire and (3) the ones starting the fire.

Crazy as it sounds, before I turned on my computer this morning and saw those headlines, my thoughts were already on responsibility.  For first thing this morning, I began this new year in the book of beginnings- Genesis.  I was struck anew with the beginnings of sin by mankind.  What struck me was the total lack of taking responsibility for their own actions.  Sure they acted in response, but it was they who chose how to respond.  And so I stopped and starting praying over my prayer list, starting with myself, that each see our own responsibility for our actions, confess it and recognize our responsibility to do what GOD asks of us.  Two texts came to mind that I claimed as I prayed for myself and others..

       Isaiah 57:18-21 the Living Bible  18 I have seen what they do but I will heal them anyway.  I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins..19 peace to them….  20 but to those who still reject ME they are like the restless sea, which is never still, but always churns up mire and dirt.  21 There is no peace for them 

       I Thessalonians 5:24 Faithful is the ONE who calls you who will also do it.(when GOD asks us to act, HE enables us.) So you see, since we have all the support we will ever need, our responses are our own responsibility.

Are you?

Are you like countless others

Who try to place the blame

For who and what you are upon

what into your life came? 

I hesitate not to tell you

What I have come to see

The blame is squarely on the one

Who has become to be

For you alone chose how you’d meet

Whate’er came down your path

You chose the way that you’d react

And you are the aftermath./     Sharon

From the very beginning of this new year I am asking GOD to keep reminding me that I am responsible for my responses and to help me look to HIM as I pick up the responsibilities HE lays before me.

One responsibility GOD entrusts to each of us, is to pray for all men everywhere I Timothy 2:1.  Since I just got an update on Baby James that he has another fever and that they are taking cultures right now, I will stop and pray for him.  Will you join me?

Hugs, 

Sharon 

flashlight

We are entering a New Year and we don't know what lies ahead.  And just like when the power goes out and it is pitch black, we need a flashlight to find our way so we need the light of GOD’s WORD to know which way to go.

Psalm 119:105 THY WORD is a lamp unto my feet and a flashlight for my path.

There is a lot of deception in our world but we can't know what is false if we don't know the WORD of GOD.  It is like we are in the dark with no flashlight if we don't have GOD's WORD to guide us.  We literally need the WORD of GOD every day.

2 Timothy 2:15  Study to show yourself approved unto GOD a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the WORD of Truth.

We shouldn't just sit back and let everyone else figure out the WORD for us. We need to get GOD's answers for our OWN lives. We are EACH to study out the WORD of Truth as it applies to US. The more WORD you know, the more it will work in your life. Get into the Bible and study out ONE scripture today to see what GOD has to say to you.  You can do it,  for GOD has given each and every believer in the LORD JESUS CHRIST the Holy SPIRIT to help him understand GOD's WORD and ways.  HE will explain what you don't understand and teach you if you only ask HIM to.

So dig into the WORD!

hugs

Sharon

for such a time as this

Today is the last day of 2014.  When the clock strikes midnight we enter into 2015?  What lies ahead?

We know GOD has preset all times and places for things to happen Acts 17:26b, Acts 1:7 and that HE did it for a reason Acts 17:27.  That reason being  that people would reach out to HIM.   With that in mind, why do you suppose HE chose the particular time for JESUS to be born?

When the fullness of the time had come, GOD sent forth HIS SON.  Galatians 4:4

What could be the reason the timing of JESUS’ birth is referred to as the fullness of time by GOD?

History shows us that centuries before JESUS CHRIST was born, Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world, bringing with him the Greek culture and trade language.  When he died, the Roman Empire picked up where Alexander left off and expanded the territory under the unifying influence of culture and the trade language of the Greeks.  It was under this Roman rule that the crucifixion took place, where the blood of CHRIST was shed for us.   It was under the rule of Rome that conditions were made ready for the spread of the gospel across 3 continents through good roads, territorial boundaries free of “passport” restrictions and a unifying trade language-Koine Greek.  GOD had put all the pieces in place for the perfect time to send HIS SON.

Today, like back then GOD has synchronized everything and has prepared in advance good works for us believers in JESUS to walk in.  Ephesians 2:10 Anyone who sees or hears the news knows, we live in a time of quickly expanding knowledge, but also an unstable and turbulent time with mobs and rioting in US cities, trashing of GOD’s moral values and unrestrained degrading self indulgence.  Yet GOD has chosen you and me to live in this time and place.  HE has done it for a reason.  I know that for a fact, because HE has said that HE does nothing without a cause.  Therefore,  I wonder as we enter into the New Year of 2015 for what specific assignments has HE brought us to where we are, at such a time as this?

I don’t know the details, but I do know without a doubt it is to cause lost people to reach out to HIM and be saved,  for the GOD who cannot lie has declared that HE has set all times and places for that very purpose.

Hugs

Sharon 

Head inthe sand?

Ostriches are amazing flightless birds that have been clocked as running 43 MPH.  They have some quirks, one leading to the idiom bury your head in the sand which means to ignore or hide from obvious signs of danger.  It alludes to an ostrich, which is believed incorrectly to hide it’s head in a hole in the ground when it sees danger.  Actually  when lying down and hiding from predators, the birds lay their heads and necks flat on the ground, making them appear like a mound of earth from a distance, aided by the heat haze in their hot, dry habitat. This defensive behavior of lying low makes them appear from a distance to have their head buried.

As I soaked in the tub last night, I was reading was a history book written by Christians about the times just before and during JESUS CHRIST’s life.  Graphic details they gave triggered thoughts that were not good.  So I gave those thoughts to GOD, shut the book and I am taking it back to the library.  Today I opened an email from a dear, dear friend and it contained slurs about people that although may be true, at least in part, directed my thoughts where they should not go, to think and act by human standards and not GOD’s.  So I deleted the email.

Many will call me closed minded or burying my head in the sand.  Actually, I am just following GOD’s instructions that I found in the Bible.

And GOD honored that by confirming my choices to shut the book and then delete the email as I read HIS words in Matthew 6:22,23 about how the eye is the lamp that gives light to the body.  If what I look at/ think about (take in and mull over) is pure (undefiled) then I will have all the light I need to see clearly and show me the way I should go.  But if what I look at/ think about is defiled by human standards and values, I am in total darkness.  

The word all in those verses for both cases shook me for a moment.  Just a little bit of human standard defilement brings in darkness/ clouds things so much, throwing off my perspective that I don’t know the right way to go.  Must be why GOD urges us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed (metamorphisized-  you know like to change from a caterpillar to a butterfly) by the renewing of our minds so that we may test and approve the good, acceptable and (not or) perfect will of GOD.

That really shows how important what we focus on is.  We need to recognize bad, but focus on good. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882 gave a brilliant example: "And in despair I bowed my head: 'There is no peace on earth', I said. For hate is strong, and mocks the song of 'peace on earth, good will to men.' Yet pealed the bells more loud and deep. 'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.'" –

So where do you, do I go to get our perspective?  Is it the wisdom of this world or the wisdom hidden in CHRIST that we choose to live by? As for me I choose to live by the wisdom found in GOD's word.

Hugs

Sharon