Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Why, when we constantly offend Him and are so unlovable, does God persist in loving us? 526-2 - 5 - 3

The following are just a few versus that speak to God’s promise to love us even when we constantly offend him.
Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Conversation figuratively has to do with deportment or character and covetousness with greed. Our character should be without greed. As born-again Christians we should be very content because we have the promise of an eternity with the Lord. “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” includes two negatives which implies a very strong statement. What a wonderful statement that we will never be forsaken by God. Family and friends may forsake us or discount us but not our heavenly father.
Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Jesus always was, always is and always will be. Micah 5:2, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” From old to everlasting…
A few verses from Deuteronomy serve as witness to God as an oath keeper, a faithful God, who keeps His covenants.
Deuteronomy 7:8, “But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” 
Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” 
However, there is a warning, Deuteronomy 7:10, “And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.” 
God values His Word above all else, we have Hebrews 13:5 as Israel had God’s Word. Not for Israeli sake, rather for “the sake of my holy name.”
Ezekiel 36:22, “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.”

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Tthe eight woes of Matthew 23 are relevant today 529-2 - 16 - 2

Matthew 23:13, “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”
The Good News is so simple and available to those of us who place our faith in Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” Jesus seeks a personal relationship, not ritual.
The Roman Catholic Church “shuts up the kingdom of heaven against men” unless rituals such as confession are observed. In indulgences are sold, masses are set for the dead and holding the correct the correct icon…:
“Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular Shall not suffer eternal fire!
Our Lady of Mount Carmel to Simon Stock
July 16, 1251”
[http://www.philomena.org/scapular.asp]
By encouraging their congregants into these rituals that have nothing to do with Jesus leads one into Matthew 23:15, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”
And then we have the prosperity, name it and claim it tele-evangelists. Matthew 23:14, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.”
These tele-evangelists use a hard-sell prosperity message if only you will support their ministries. Jesus traveled the earth for 3 1/2 years in sandals and homespun and made the comment, Matthew 8:20, “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Now we have a prosperity form of Christianity spread by televangelists who live in multi-million-dollar mansions and insist on having their private jets.
They promote false teachings, Matthew 23:16, “Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!”
There are several more woes in the 23 chapter of Matthew, subject for another time. Suffice to say that the woes enumerated by Jesus nearly 2000 years ago are relevant today.

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Polluting the name of God through our national misconduct, where was/ is the Church? 526-2 - 4 - 2

I first read about the concept of today and tomorrow with respect to God several years ago.  God hates the word “Tomorrow” as Satan hates the word “Today.” Tomorrow means just that, I’ll do it tomorrow. We put things like witnessing off until tomorrow and when tomorrow comes, well, tomorrow……Today is the day to act!
After decades of former presidents of the United States kicking the can down the street, President Trump has moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem. After eight years of the Obama administration poking its finger in God’s eye, finally the United States is getting on the right side of both history and the will of God.
Although some are returning to the simplicity of the gospel, there are still many hypocrites who worry more about the appearance of godliness then the actual practice of same. Jesus traveled the earth for 3 1/2 years in sandals and homespun and made the comment, Matthew 8:20, “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Now we have a prosperity form of Christianity spread by televangelists who live in multi million dollar mansions and insist on having their private jets. In fact, Kenneth Copeland has his own private airport.
“Kenneth Copeland Airport (FAA LID: 4T2) is a private airport located eighteen miles (29 km) northwest of the central business district (CBD) of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, USA.
The airport is used solely for general aviation purposes, mainly those of the airport's namesake, televangelist Kenneth Copeland (whose ministry is located near the airport).”
[http://www.airports-worldwide.com/usa/texas/kenneth_copeland_texas.php]
God had this to say about hypocrites: Matthew 23:27, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness." Jesus hated what these hypocrites were doing to the temple, Mark 11:17, “And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
During the last few Presidential administrations, and primarily during the eight years of Obama, we in the United States had hit what I call the trifecta of things God hates; the growing acceptance of homosexuality with same-sex marriage, millions of babies aborted and throwing Israel under the bus. Here in the United States we’re witnessing quite a change in direction from that of Obama who lit the White House up with LGBT colors co-opted from God's rainbow and purple when Prince died.
President Trump has moved our embassy to Jerusalem and is working on draining the swamp that is Washington DC. Washington DC is set up in a very pagan architecture, a discussion for another time. Sadly, same-sex marriage is now protected by the Constitution and abortion is a very strong issue with the left.
It is my opinion, another eight years of the Obama administration by way of Hillary Clinton would have spelled the end of America as it was and could be. God raised up Donald Trump as a sort of King Cyrus/ Jehu to provide one last chance for our country to turn around.
As for Jehu, recommended reading, “The Paradigm,” by Jonathan Cahn,
“The Paradigm: The Ancient Blueprint That Holds the Mystery of Our Times is, above all, the revealing of a mystery, a blueprint, an ancient paradigm, that uncannily and amazingly has everything to do with our times. It is also the revealing of a warning to a nation and a civilization concerning its present course and the ultimate end of that course.”
As for whose responsibility it is to honor the Name of God, the Church has been far too quiet. The election of 2016 was, in my opinion, a turning point!