Wake up Planet Earth!

Hear the words of the prophet Micah in Micah 1:2-4:

Listen, all you peoples;

pay attention, earth and everyone in it!

The Lord God will be a witness against you,

the Lord, from His holy temple.

3Look, the Lord is leaving His place

and coming down to trample

the heights of the earth.

4The mountains will melt beneath Him,

and the valleys will split apart,

like wax near a fire,

like water cascading down a mountainside.

This prophecy is soon to be fulfilled.  The people of the earth are approaching the condition of those of the days of Noah--every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5).  And this condition is not only in "the world" to use church vernacular.  The sinful and evil thoughts of men are invading the church as well. 

What is more sinful than to say to God "your commands are too harsh, you must yield to our culture--we want you to accept us without repentance." And yet that is exactly what many in the church are saying.  Here's some examples:  "You must accept the fact that we  are living together without marriage--we still love you, but we will lose our child support, or pension, or whatever if we marry.  Understand and accept us."  Or: "you must accept that we can't remain married.  That vow we spoke in your presence, we just can't fulfill it.  After all, he isn't attentive to me, she doesn't fulfill my needs, I'M NOT HAPPY!!!  I need to go find someone who will complete me." Or: "you made me a homosexual.  You must accept that I will live out the lifestyle that I was created to be.  Why won't you accept that?"

Church, we must stand firm on the word of God.  In Revelation 2:15, speaking to the church at Pergamus, Jesus said this: So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.  I did some research and found that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was simply the doctrine of compromise.  They lived in a wicked society and had allowed that wickedness to infiltrate the church.  Jesus said he hates that.

God is not a God of compromise.  He detests sin and rebellion--He gave His own life to redeem it.  Why, if he made that sacrifice would he accept unredeemed sin?  His grace is sufficient for all sin and all needs.  Church we must repent or we will melt like wax along with the rest of planet earth.

Now--what do you think?

God's Treasure

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. Matt 13:44

I've read this verse probably 100 times.  I always viewed as a call to commitment.  Commit all you have and receive the kingdom of God with joy.  I still believe that, but recently I was reading in the book of Daniel.  Three times God sent angels to greet Daniel and tell him of end time events.  Look at the salutation the angel used when greeting Daniel:

“Daniel, you are a man treasured by God." Daniel 10:10 (emphasis mine)

As I was meditating on these passages the Lord made it clear to me that the kingdom of God is His treasure, and we are the kingdom of God.  God gave everything He had, He gave His pearl of great price, He searched until He found us, He swept his house clean and rejoiced with great joy when He found His lost coin.  We are His treasure--when He looks at us, the redeemed, He rejoices and says:

                                    YOU ARE MY TREASURE!!!

I put it in all caps because I want it emphasized.  You see, sin carries with it a load of guilt.  It's good to have a conscience and feel bad when we have sinned or are contemplating sin, but guilt robs us of joy.  Because Jesus has taken our guilt and made us in HIs image--the treasure of God!!!

Walk in it, oh treasure of God.

Phil met Jesus

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matt 5:1

Phil Robertson is a man who understands the saving, changing power of Jesus Christ.  If you read the entire GQ article you would see that he was telling his story.  He was a young man who abused alcohol and drugs, was violent to his family and threw his wife and three children out of the house in a drunken rage.  That's not the Phil you know on Duck Dynasty.  Now he has a family and extended family who are loving and successful, raising their children and grandchildren in a happy, stable home. What happened to Phil?  Phil met Jesus.  Jesus' saving power filled his heart with love and changed everything about him.  Now he is being persecuted for loving the one who saved him, loving his word and living in HIs righteousness.

That's it--Phil stood up for righteousness.  He didn't go on a crusade, he didn't picket anybody or anything and he didn't express hatred for anyone.  He was asked by a reporter what he believed and he told him.  Why is that a problem?  Because a rebellious minority of people in our nation don't want to hear that God has standards that He expects to be followed.  Like Phil, he provides a way for everyone to experience the saving power of Christ and be enabled by HIs spirit to live to his standards, to be conformed to the image of His son (Romans 8:29).  Phil is persecuted--so will you be if you stand for Jesus.  But don't be afraid, stand for Jesus and you'll be building treasure in heaven just like Phil.
  

God's Way isn't Fair!!

17“But your people say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair,’ even though it is their own way that isn’t fair. 18When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die on account of this. 19But if a wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this. 20Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”  Ezekiel 33: 17-20

I am grieved when the church does this.  When we say to God, "your way isn't fair, it doesn't fit into today's society."  Apparently, God is grieved as well.  

I have come to believe that when God Himself shows up to establish something that something is probably pretty important to remember and follow.  God made Eve, God presented her to Adam, God established the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman--alive and in-person. Nowhere in the body of scripture do we see God endorsing monogamous, loving relationships between same sex partners.  We do see numerous scriptures condemning the act, and they must be "explained" in order to bless these unions.  I believe when we bless these unions we are doing exactly what Ezekiel says above.  We cannot tell God what is fair--He establishes that--he knows what is best and right.  Either we submit to His ways, or we live in and with our own iniquity.  

Now, what do you think?