Actions Are Louder Than My Mouth?

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:48-51

"And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief." Hebrews 3:18&19

"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." James 2:18


Remember the adage, "Actions speak louder than words"? I think at some point we have all heard this phrase. How many of us actually believe this to be true though? It appears the Bible harmonizes with this phrase, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was derived from the Biblical stance on this topic. This is a very important issue! If what the Bible says is right, there is nothing more important than allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify me, so within me is produced genuine, heart-felt action, which translates into perseverance! Let's take a look at what it appears God is saying through these verses.

The context of the first verse above is the disciples coming to Jesus, and asking Him what the signs of the end times would be. Now it is important to note that the audience was the disciples. Now notice in this parable that it begins with, "if that evil servant shall say in HIS HEART, "My lord delayeth His coming". Now notice with me a few things, first, the wicked servant acknowledges his lord and says he is delaying in coming. Second, it says he said all of this in his heart. Now after he said this in his heart, the word proceeds to explain what the manifestation's of his heart were, "And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken".
Note a few things...this servant believed his lord commissioned him, he believed he was the servant of his master, in fact, even Jesus acknowledges this in calling him "a wicked SERVANT". This servant clearly had a depth of knowledge of his master, it doesn't say the servant barely knew him. And also, notice Jesus did not say he was a false servant, or not really a servant, Jesus acknowledged him not only as a servant, but a WICKED SERVANT.

Now let's take a look at what the servant said in his heart. This is a very sobering thought, the word does not say the servant said out of his mouth "My Master delays His coming" it says he said this in his heart. Now we see this servants actions really did speak louder than words. You see, when we sin and give place to the devil, we are saying IN OUR HEARTS, "OUR MASTER DELAYETH HIS COMING" or more commonly, "He'll forgive me, His grace is sufficient!". We may not say this out loud, why? Because we know the Bible answers to things, we know better than to let on to someone what we are feeling! Our hearts say it all, and the manifestation of our hearts are found in our actions.

Now for the last part of this verse. "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth". Notice Jesus says "the lord of that servant will come on a day when he looketh not for him". So what this tell me is that in order to stay "awake" spiritually and to be watchful, is to be active and fervent in my love for Him and His people, a.k.a. persevere unto the end. Some of you may think that in order to reach someone, you have to go do what they do even if it is sinful, and this couldn't be farther from the truth. It is Satanic deceit! Think of the cleverness, it is actually the opposite of love! If they come to Christ with false pretenses you could have done more harm than good. If you get drunk (as this wicked servant did or anything else ungodly) in front of people, using this as an excuse to win people, something is seriously wrong in your heart and you need to turn your laughter into mourning and your joy to gloom (See devotional entitled, "Joy and Gloom"). I used to do this, I would preach when I was drunk because I used to think that I was saved and perfectly fine. But if my Master would have came...oh my goodness, I am so thankful that God chose to grant me repentance from all of those terrible acts of hate. People need to see a breath of fresh air, they need to see people take stands in love and the Spirits power, not folding to the enemies terms! They want to see that being saved goes beyond theory and theological debate and see that it is actually more than powerful enough to change their mess of a life! Remember, in the last days people will have a form of godliness but WILL DENY THE POWER THEREOF (2 Timothy 3:5)! I didn't write that folks, it's in the Bible. Are we getting tired of having a form of godliness, but denying its power by how we live?! Why would we get to participate in the great coming of the Lord if we are not living lives conducive to leading other people to Him?

Lastly, in Hebrews 3:18&19 it reads, "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief". The context is the exodus out of Egypt. What is scary here is that this further illustrates the point made in Jesus' parable. Remember how the wicked servants actions is how he "said things" in his heart? He said in his heart that his master was delaying in coming. In this passage of scripture it correlates disobedience with unbelief. See, it says, "but to those who were DISOBEDIENT? SO WE SEE THAT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO ENTER BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF". Remember, this group of people saw God's mighty hand redeeming them, and they still chose to TEST HIM. Just as we, the people of God, have been bought with a price, we have seen His magnificent power, and to deny it by how we live our lives is to be unbelieving. Why do you think Paul would say we have these wonderful promises if WE CONTINUE IN THE FAITH! The author of Hebrews says "While we have a promise of entering His rest, see that none of you come short of it." I know there is a belief in "perseverance of the true saints", well make sure you are the elect by fearing God! Make your calling and election SURE! Don't assume you stand lest you fall! Constantly be aware and fight!

In my opinion, that I believe to be Biblically founded, there are two types of belief. One type, is just to merely believe Jesus is the Christ without a change of action or conduct (i.e. no repentance). But we must remember repentance is a prerequisite for the forgiveness of sins. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder (James 2). James 2:19&20 "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?"

The second type of belief is an active belief, its a God-fearing belief manifested in my actions and how I treat other people. APPROPRIATION! "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."

Brothers and Sisters, I am not writing this to be hateful. It may seem like I hammer alot on this concept of works apart from faith is dead, and this is because of the tempo of our Christian culture. People are tired of hearing a gospel preached without the change. Jesus said narrow (straight) is the gate and narrow is the way and few thereof that find it. What that verse tells me is that there are alot more deceived people than there are not. There will be many in that day that says LORD! Haven't we served you and done great works for You? And Jesus will say to them "Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never intimately knew you!" No matter how many times you preach Him to someone, or how many praise songs you sing, or how many times you have "prayed the prayer", if you are a worker of lawlessness, you will not be ok. See, if we are constant workers of iniquity we will not be participating in that day. Now people can say, "But I prayed the prayer, I believe in eternal security!" This is not meant to debate eternal security, but if you think about it, both parties kind of believe the same thing. The Calvinists (people who believe in eternal security) say if a person lives in a wicked manner, they need to question whether they were truly born again. So both parties agree that BY WHAT A PERSONS CONDUCT LOOKS LIKE determines whether they are o.k. or not, so the end result is the same for the one who believes in eternal security and the one that does not. The end result is the same, just the mechanics on being in that state are where we differ. Let's not lose heart in doing what is right! For in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart and grow weary! Keep fighting your sin, He will never leave you or forsake you! He has not allowed a temptation beyond bear! Love you all!

But I Want You To Go First!

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." James 4:8

"Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work". 2 Timothy 2:20&21

Draw nigh unto God, a rule I think we many times forget! Since God has already done His part for us on calvary through Jesus Christ, we now have a responsibility of responding to Him. I think this is what God wants us to learn through James. I believe God is saying, "I have already provided the resource for you, now appropriate that resource!" And my premise for this is found in 2 Timothy 2:20&21, "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work". Notice it says to CLEANSE YOURSELF! But wait Chris, I thought only Jesus could cleanse you? You are 100% right, but what Paul is saying is we need to appropriate the tools already provided for us to get clean! Notice also in the above verse that James says, "cleanse your hands sinners, purify your hearts you double-minded", we are going to cover why it is so important to draw nigh unto God in the following paragraphs. He initialized by revealing certain things to us, it is now up to us to appropriate these truths!

Now I believe there are a few ways to draw nigh unto Him. The obvious way is through genuine, earnest, quieted-heart prayer. In fact, this is the foundation of drawing nigh unto Him. Understand this everyone, if your prayer life is suffering your sin is increasing, your heart is getting cold, things seem impossible to overcome because more doors are open to the enemy than to God (See the devotion titled "He's Knocking"). So we want the predominate "voice" in our lives to be God's and not Satan's, put on the whole armor of God...remember? If we put on our armor (Ephesians 6:11), drawing nigh unto God, then when the fiery darts of Satan hit, they are quenched! (his fiery darts are his lies leading our hearts astray).

Second is staying in the Word. This is very important as well, as God's Word is literally the key to understanding anything and everything of true value. Some of us tend to elevate this more than prayer, understand though that the new testament church didn't have all of this documentation compiled yet. In fact, through Paul and the other apostles remaining in prayer and abiding in Jesus, resulted in these revealed texts. Don't hear me wrong, reading God's Word is crucial to your walk, but the main vehicle that propels you deeper with Him is through a healthy prayer life,in fact, prayer is what makes His Word come alive even more because He is now giving you direct revelation! Think about this with me. If we are friends, and all I do is read letters all the time and hardly ever speak with you, is our relationship going to go too far? Unfortunately not. The letters I read from you are still relevant, but they just aren't quite the same as when I am consciously with you. So I am not dumbing down the importance of the revealed Word of God, but I am explaining why I believe if I had to pick a "second" this would be it.

Now when we combine these two "drawing nigh" tactics, and add appropriation (walking the walk and not just talking the talk), this is equal to what the Jesus called "abiding in Him". John 15:9 says, "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love". Now when we do things in obedience to Him, we are "drawing nigh unto Him". And what did He say He would do if we draw nigh unto Him? The answer is that He will draw nigh unto us! I am so thankful for His revealed Word! This is amazing truth that makes our faith a live and active one! I hear so much theological talk about being saved seemingly in theory and not relationally, and unfortunately we have made a relationship with God into more of a religion, because we love to talk about the Word, but when it comes to applying...ahhh, thats for people in full time ministry. And this brothers and sisters could not be farther from the truth. We all have a race to run, let's do it with endurance! God wants all of us to view ourselves in "full-time ministry". LETS ABIDE IN HIM!

Now sometimes we don't feel like doing certain things (i.e. prayer and Bible reading). Remember this truth though, THE FEELING TO DO SOMETHING WILL NOT NECESSARILY COME BEFORE THE APPROPRIATION. I separate desire from feeling. For instance, the battle between the flesh and the Spirit is very real, right? You DESIRE to walk in the Spirit but you FEEL like walking in the flesh. CRUCIFYING THE FLESH IS GETTING IN THE SPIRIT, GETTING IN THE SPIRIT ENSURES YOU WILL NOT REBEL, BEING IN THE SPIRIT AND NOT REBELLING LEADS TO DRAWING NIGH UNTO GOD! Thats why the Bible says not to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), because when we do that we have sinned and lost the alerting capabilities (momentarily) of the Spirit because He is quenched, and when we sin we give Satan a foothold(Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:27), and after he has a foothold he begins to deceive. When we quench the Spirit's "voice" we are now wrestling with an opposing voice that we have given strength to by submitting to sin. Thats why Hebrews 3:12&13 says, "Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn." The reason we begin to get deceived, is because we gave Satan a foothold and he is now advancing his lies, and they penetrate effectively if we are quenching the Spirit! Don't put your armor on and then take it off! Satan's darts hurt!

Now for the implementaion (appropriation). If I want to plant a seed so I can enjoy the future benefits, I must get the shovel out and plant it. Now my desire is for the fruit the action of planting produces, but I may not feel like planting the seed. Now I fully believe, when we act on our true desire to draw closer to Him even when we don't feel like it, our feelings begin to change. That's called discipline! Discipleship! For instance, God showed me a while back that when my wife and I begin to get upset with each other, to grab her hand (no matter how hard it is in the moment) and tell her "I love you". You would be surprised at the instant relief and healing that begins to happen! See all of these principles tie into reaping and sowing, so the basic premise is still the same, if I initiate based on the desire of my heart I will reap God drawing nigh unto me! The Holy Spirit has put that desire in your heart to seek God! Even if it is faint, tap into it, stoke it as you would the burning coals of a fire and run again! Cleanse your hands! Purify your hearts! But how? Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you! If you have told God, "If you will do something, then I will start praying and reading", or a question of this sort, then you could be waiting a long time. Let's be a people that takes Him at His Word!

The "For It Is Written's"

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test
Matthew 4:5-7

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Here we have Satan quoting Psalm 91:12&13 to Jesus. Isn't it so interesting that Satan uses the very Word of God that he so hates. To his shame, it shows that he knows it is true, and he just refuses to adhere to it. But aside from that, I think there is a very important principle that Jesus wants to show us here. Notice Jesus comes back at him with a spiritual truth found in Deuteronomy 6:16, which states, "Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah." See, Satan was twisting this scripture to interpret it how he wanted, to fulfill his agenda in that moment. But Jesus, being the clever Lord that He is, came back with this wonderful spiritual truth. Satan was not saying anything wrong, he was quoting scripture! But what made this scenario wrong, is how the enemy was trying to get Jesus to implement this spiritual truth. See, God's truth does not contradict because it is perfect, so if we believe something that clearly contradicts other portions of scripture it's back to the drawing board. So what is the application of all this? We need to be a people that correctly divides the whole of scripture, but first, we need to know what it says so we can use scripture (spiritual truth) to interpret other scripture (spiritual truth).

There are so many false doctrines out there today. And the way these false doctrines start, is by taking a verse (or maybe even an entire section of the Bible) out of context of the whole of scripture (being the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation). So many times I have heard people say, "What's the context? What was the person doing in the moment?" And this is wonderful! We need to be thinking that way! But does our conclusion of that context match the context of the whole of scripture? How often do we hear ourselves say, "My mind is taking this verse one way because of what I feel the surrounding context is saying, but does my conclusion harmonize with the whole context of the Bible where this topic is covered in other parts?" I think we need to think like this more than we do.

For instance, Paul says in Ephesians 2:8&9,"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." says it's not of works right? Paul also says in Romans 5:20, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:". Now, I could be like the Nicolaitans (Revelation 26), and look at this truth alone and say to myself, "I must be at liberty to do whatever I want, given that Jesus died for all of my sins. This will not be held against me." But now, let's look at what Paul also says in Acts 26:20, "But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." WORKS! Works meet for repentance! AHHH, some of your heads are about to come off! So now what?!?! Now that I have taken another element of scripture, everything changes! And let's look at James 2:24, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." So now it all makes sense, Paul was saying that works of the law and "living good lives" in our own estimation didn't earn us salvation, but the WORKS OF REPENTANCE (works meet for repentance) enabled us to receive the free gift. Remember, there are "acts conducive towards repentance". Live your life before the Lord in such a way that proves you are contrite and sorry for your sin! ABIDE IN HIM!!! STOP SINNING!!! GO AND SIN NO MORE!!! GO AND SIN NO MORE LEST SOMETHING WORSE BEFALLS YOU!!! (All words of Jesus throughout the gospels) Why would He tell them not to sin no more? He didn't send the comforter (Holy Spirit) yet did He? The answer is no, so Jesus would not tell you to do something if it were not possible. Repentance has always been possible (God would command it in the Old Testament), but what wasn't possible, is that even though they chose to repent, there was still nothing they could do about the damage in life they had already done by being born in sin! Someone must pay! But who?! No one can stand for what they have done! We need a big eraser so God doesn't punish us! ENTER THE BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR! THANK YOU JESUS!! APPRECIATE HIM! LOVE HIM! (see the devotional, "I'm Not Guilty...Am I?")

You see, in the previous paragraph, their action of ceasing to sin, proved their genuine repentance. It cultivated the ground to receive the free gift! So now, how do I prove the previous statement you may ask? By using other scripture to interpret truth, and the scripture is found in Acts 10:34&35,"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. Well there is that WORKETH RIGHTEOUSNESS/ WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE part again! But now James 2:14 makes so much sense! "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" Faith without ceasing from sin (action/works) and chasing God (action/works) is DEAD!! I wonder what we could figure out if we did all of these complex "theological issues" this way! Are we beginning to understand why it is a grave mistake to isolate certain scriptures and formulate our own opinions on what they mean? We are all still in the growing process! Thank goodness for His grace to get through!

A wise man once told me, "Some people are students of doctrine, but we need to be students of scripture." Remember the mindset of the Nicolaitans mentioned in the last paragraph? This is what our Lord says about them in Revelation 2:6, "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate" He hated that perversion of scripture! Just as He hated Satan's perversion of the scripture's above from Psalm 91:12&13. Satan knew an element of scripture, but willfully twisted it. And I understand that alot of people do not mean to "twist scripture", but the principle still remains, and that principle is, we need to know the "for it is written's". Because if we don't know the "for it is written's", and are not interpretting them properly, we could be robbing ourselves of immense spiritual blessings, and possibly something worse! You see, Satan was speaking a spiritual truth, but Jesus understood the importance of "using scripture to interpret scripture". We see how we can appear to be so on target with a verse of scripture, but then be so off in its application in light of the whole of scripture. Let's be a people that not only reads the Bible, but labors before the Lord in prayer, striving to understand how it all works together. Remember, if you do these things, this promise in 1 John 2:27 is yours, which states, "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." He is committed to teach us all things if we abide in Him and draw nigh unto Him! SET OUR HEARTS TO UNDERSTAND! QUIET OURSELVES BEFORE THE LORD! James 4:8 "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." I think the point is more than elaborated, let's strive to become familiar with the "For It Is Written's!" None of us have it all together, but we all play a part in learning and growing! Love you all!

Flee And Pursue!

"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
2 Timothy 2:22

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16

Flee! Avoid! That is very hard in these increasingly sinful days. With T.V., the internet, increasing lawlessness in our countries leadership, its a wonder anyone can stand! Thanks be to the grace of Christ! The truth He reveals, when applied, has the ability to set us free! So what are some key truths in these passages of scripture? Let's talk about what I feel the Lord is trying to say to us.

In this reference, Paul is telling Timothy to flee youthful lusts. I think we as believers, sometimes in our minds, stop the verse there. Interestingly enough though it doesn't stop there! Not only does Paul say to flee, he also says to PURSUE! When it seems like sin is increasingly difficult to quit, I would say 10 times out of 10 we are not PURSUING! He says to pursue what? "but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." Righteousness! Faith! Charity! Peace! With all of the true saints. But why? Because these "Pursuing acts" get us in the Spirit. You see we are not of a lazy faith, but a faith that says "faith without actions is dead". Meaning, some people errantly say, "If God takes away the desire for this (being sin), then I will quit" But on the contrary, He has revealed what you are to do in His word. He has already blessed you with the DESIRE to quit, now appropriate that desire! People underestimate the power of the Spirit when we take steps towards Him. God said in James 4:8 "Draw nigh unto Me, and I will draw nigh unto you". Some people have it backwards, they want God to take it away from them without any discipleship (discipline) on their end. We are in training for eternity Brothers and Sisters!! Let's pray for, and encourage one another to not only flee these things BUT TO PURSUE WALKING IN THE SPIRIT AS WELL. Now let's talk about walking in the Spirit.

Thanks to a Pastor by the name of Timothy Davis, God revealed to me that our flesh and spirit has the ability to flip-flop. I believe the mark of a mature saint is mastering this "art" of walking in the Spirit, and denying our flesh. Notice in the above verse it says, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16. Awesome! Notice it says, that if I walk in the Spirit, I WILL NOT FULFILL THE DESIRES OF MY FLESH! That is so awesome! It doesn't say, "You might not fulfill the desires of the flesh" or, "You probably won't fulfill the desires of the flesh." It says, "IF YOU WALK IN THE SPIRIT YOU WILL NOT FULFILL THE DESIRE OF THE FLESH!" Isn't our Lord awesome! This reminds me of the verse ! Corinthians 10:13 which says, 13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. And the way of escape is fleeing and pursuing. If you just have the first part of this equation, you will fall everytime. PURSUE WALKING IN THE SPIRIT! Draw close to Him! He loves you! Also, use your spiritual weapons against the enemy! (See the devotion, "Rhema Resistance" on the left side of the web page)

Your Will Be Done

"Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Matthew 26:38 & 39

Our Lord and Savior anguishing before the Father, moments before the guards come for Him. I think it is so amazing to see the picture of our Lord's conquering in action. Do you know what the true definition of a conqueror is? One that obeys the Father, even unto death. Walk with me real quick, there are a few things I want to mention about this passage of scripture.

I used to have this big misconception about our Lord. I figured since He is God in the flesh, this task wasn't really that hard for Him. I may have not come right out and said it, but I think I felt it. I mean come on, He's God, no? I knew about this passage of scripture, but I guess the thought that He was Almighty trumped any belief that this was actually hard for Him. But guess what... I was sadly mistaken. Hebrews 5:8 says, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;" So we see here that our God did not pull any punches with Himself. He knows what it is like to be in the flesh, thats why it says in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." He sympathizes with us! He loves us so much, that He wasn't about to give Himself the easy road out!

The end result of the Lord revealing this to me was me repenting. How are your affections towards our Saviors sacrifice? I know we are not to base everything on feeling, but do not underestimate the power of feeling about Jesus the way the Father does. Why are we more than conquerors? Because He CONQUERED! HE OVERCAME! It was not easy, please, if there is something inside of you, as there was me, that kind of waters down what He did, repent for it and pray to God that He allows you to feel about Jesus how He feels. Anytime we feel our love growing cold for Him, stoke the fire again through prayer!

Another thing the Lord revealed to me through this was what I am authorized to pray for. I didn't know what was ok and what wasn't. I would wonder if He was even concerned with certain things I prayed for, given that it may not have been His will. And while I had this question on my heart, God brought to my mind this passage of Jesus in the garden. Notice, Jesus prays His will at first. Jesus was hoping for another way to get this job accomplished, but notice He filtered it with "not My will but Your will be done". So now, I do not question certain things I pray, I just say to the Lord "not my will but Your's be done". And remember this is within reason, I mean, God does not advocate anything I pray that would be considered sin. This is illustrated in James 4:3, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." And Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." God desires to grant the desires of our heart, but He does not desire furthering our sinful behavior.

So pray over your issues with faith and fervor, it is ok. Just understand that God loves it when our hearts our genuinely geared towards His will being done, no matter what that means for us. There is something about asking the Father, even though He knows our needs. James 4:2 says, "Ye have not because ye ask not." So ask!

Let's continue walking in the beautiful example Jesus Christ has laid out for us. Remember, it's ok to make mention of your will and desires (as long as it is not advocating sin) but just filter it through the words "not my will, but Your will be done."

Spiritual Authority.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Hebrews 13:17

1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, 6 he said, "Listen to my words:"When a prophet of the LORD is among you,I reveal myself to him in visions,I speak to him in dreams.7 But this is not true of my servant Moses he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, [a] like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away." Numbers 12:1-10

These are some sobering verses of scripture! We have here, Moses' siblings backbiting against their brother, and all he is trying to do is hear from the Lord. Man! That would make me feel miserable, wouldn't it you? Have you ever been there? You do something with such fervor and sincerity of heart just to have someone malign and disrespect you? God has established order in the body of Christ. It is not a matter of one job being more important than the other, it is a matter of roles. Remember the Words the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul, "Can the hands say to the feet I have no need of you?" and the answer is of course not! Everyones job is so important in Christ, but some jobs come with more authority than others. And if it is going to be well with my soul, I am going to have to submit (come under the protection of)to their authority. You see God has an established order so things run smoothly and not chaotic.

So why do we need to respect the established authority? Because we see how He feels about that in how He handled Miriam. We see here that Miriam is given leprosy by the Lord because of her attitude towards the established authority. This is some very scary insight as to how God feels when we gossip about our leaders, specifically our pastors. Moses was sort of an "old testament pastor" if you will, so I believe this story correlates with pastors and their churches today. Notice the above verse, that pastors are the shepherds of the soul, so if I make their job more difficult than it has to be because of my own pride, I will face an unfortunate penalty. It doesn't always come in the form of physical infirmity, no, it could come in the form of my finances, relationships, lack of spiritual growth, etc. Some of us could be facing these types of "curses" and the reason could be because of what we are allowing ourselves to say.

Now what am I saying, that you have to agree with everything your spiritual head says? No, I am not saying that at all and if they were bringing tyranny instead of growth we handle that differently and we need to read scripture for ourselves. But we are talking about an imperfect person that genuinely loves the Lord, responded to this call that James says incurs a "greater judgement", and is trying to lead people in the things of God. When we go home and talk behind their backs that is called gossip. And we see with how Miriam was handled, that God hates when we buck against spiritual authority because we are, in essence, bucking Him. The only Biblical clause for disobeying your authority, whether it be political or spiritual is if they try to get you to rebel against your faith. You see, this authority principle has its limits. For instance, Moses bucked Pharaoh because what he was doing to the people of God was horrific. So I am not saying we are to tolerate tyranny, I am saying, however, that if you have a person in political and/or spiritual power, and they are not directly telling you to do something against the rule of God, than we are to obey them. Because to adhere to their authority is to adhere to God's established rule. Again, God takes personal offense to this violation, watch how you treat His servants! See, our pastors and spiritual heads are going to give an account on how they handled our precious souls. If you make that extremely hard position even harder by the words of your mouth, I tremble for you at the final day. Let's pray for each other, that we are a fair and reasonable people!

Whatever Happened To "Theory of" ?

Hey all, I wrote this in response to a few people that were elevating evolutionary logic over the knowledge of God. I pray it is received in love (if it is ever looked at, I think I was kind of late with my post on that particular board). So anyways, I figured some things were mentioned that might help someone out there, enjoy :)



Given there are supposedly "no absolutes" in life, could it be that science has evolved? It takes faith to believe that the same foundations that we call science today, was the same used millions and billions of years ago. How do we know we are getting correct information when we extrapolate backwards? We are assuming that it was the same, no? Because I have to use the word "assume", suggests the presence of faith. I propose this because I have been asked to prove God, and to show people He exists. My respectful counter question would be this, could you prove to me that the same science used to measure today, was the same science used billions of years ago? I know this sounds ridiculous, but I feel it is a fair question in light of questions asked of us (Christians) even though I don't believe my question to be fair in nature as the opposing question is not fair either.

The only goal of this post is to get people to see that faith is required for everything whether you feel it’s 10%, 5%, 90%, etc. That’s why we as a finite people are dependent on revelation. You as a human being can only go so far until you start having faith in the methods by which you drew your conclusions. You can never say evolution is fact because the science we use today could be an evolved science that is totally throwing us off. Why? Because you and I weren't there. So in the end, people CHOOSE what they want to believe based upon the PROBABILITY of those things being accurate. But again, I am using the word probability, which everyone has to use, and it would take faith to believe in the probability of something, because probability is not certainty. Atheist and believer alike utilize faith in both of their practices.

Now I believe only the humble, in the end, will know and understand because, aside from revelation, there are some things that just cannot be known, no matter how bad we want to "figure them out". The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please Him (Him being God). And another "spiritual law", if you will, is, He resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. Which is to say, He will make sure if we rise up against His revelation that we do not see because what is more prideful than a created being looking at the one who created them and saying (with their actions), "You're a liar, I know the truth and it doesn't involve You". It is a scary reality but it happens all of the time. There are people out there that are more interested in being right and looked up to, than they are in knowing truth. I am not pinpointing anyone on this board specifically, I just mean in general. That’s why I believe in a supernatural blindness. In my opinion that’s why Jesus would use the phrase "he that has ears to hear and eyes to see". I personally believe he was saying... "This is for the humble who are the only ones whose "spiritual ears" are allowed open, and this will purposefully make no sense to the proud". For instance, to me, it is very crazy to not at least believe a living being created the processes, given that to believe otherwise violates science as we know it right now. But for some reason, something that appears to not take much thought at all, someone else has a severe issue with it. For some reason we want to apply science as an axiom for some things, but when that same science suggests a designer (because life creates other life, its a principle you have to force yourself to ignore if you are one that ignores it), we want to say "Ah.. yeah about that, that scientific law only applies when it is convenient, and when it’s not, we have other explanations (i.e. theories)”. It’s like having a square in your hand trying to fit it in a slot shaped like a circle, if it doesn't fit, get some tools, trim the square down and make it fit. And unfortunately, once you change such an important premise as life birthing other life, it lends itself to even more false assumptions later on down the road that we eventually receive as a logical conclusion. But if your foundations are wrong, your conclusion will always be wrong.

There are people that do not want to know Him, and there are people that do. So this all tells me, either I am blind, or the one who alleges there is no God is blind. The people that genuinely desire to know Him will find Him because He will reveal Himself to them. But again there are people who are more interested in being right than worshipping their Creator. Here is a reference to illustrate what I am saying, its found in Romans 1:19-32,

19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

I appreciate all of the posts, but for any of us to say we are intelligent and we know things without having a degree of faith, we are lying to ourselves a bit, given the vastness of the universe in comparison with our small brains. In conclusion, we are dependent on revelation and our observation of that revelation.

I think this study (see below) shows the science behind the spiritual principle I am illustrating. When we try to see things ourselves, they will fall into place, but when we exercise faith we can cause a change in events if you will, enjoy everyone! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

And remember, I am not saying I believe science has evolved, because I do not place my faith in evolutionary concepts. I just proposed the question to get the people that say it is fact to start using the word theory again... at the end of the day it takes faith. Given they both take faith, I am choosing a God revealed in scripture that loves me and has adequate probability of existing. And once I appropriated that (genuinely, not religiously) I have seen spiritual things that would blow your mind. The awesome thing about God is, when you begin to set your heart to truly understand, He will draw close to you and you will find Him. Praise Jesus!

I hope I haven't offended, I have a love for people inside that I have not always had. I have a blog geared towards understanding scripture better, if you want to visit it, I would be more than happy :) I hope it blesses you!
http://www.HisDevotion.com

I'm Not Guilty...Am I?

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:28

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee Proverbs 23:7

Lusting constitutes adultery? Hating constitutes murdering? I don't know about everyone else, but this seems like pretty harsh labels considering I am not actually physically doing them. Maybe in the heart, but not in action. I mean who has not done any of that? I can understand that to hate and lust are wrong, but to treat me as a murderer and adulterer, shouldn't I be offended about that? That seems to offend people and the reason I think it does is because of a lack of understanding. Let's see if we cannot make any sense out of why these verses say what they do.

One day I began contimplating why we are given such harsh titles in light of how we feel. I can understand if I actually killed someone I would need to pay for that, but hating isn't killing. As goes the same with adultery. As I was thinking about this concept, I feel the Lord gave me the answer. And the premise for this answer is found in the above verse in Proverbs. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". Ok, so now we understand that, lets think about the why.

Have you ever been so mad at somebody, or burned with such lust over someone, that if it were not for the consequences of the actions you would follow through with them?
Maybe it was the thought of stealing something from the store, but then you were detered because you didn't want to go to jail. Maybe you despised someone so much that you didn't care if they lived or died, in fact, you would have preferred the latter and maybe even wanted to harm them yourself. Maybe you are married, and you have allowed your heart to entertain thoughts of another but would never follow through because of the consequences. Ok, now remove the consequences, let's pretend they do not exist, now what would you do? I believe we would follow through with them if we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to change us! Ah the flesh unrestrained is a scary thing. And this is the answer to why we are considered a murderer and adulterer to God (apart from repentance and heart-felt change through discipleship), because it was in my heart to do it. Because if there was no foreseen consequences you would do it! Therefore to God, you have done it because you performed it in your heart! You see, your heart defines who you are! That is why it is so important to allow the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ to change our hearts. You see, to God I committed adultery and I murdered because He knows if there were no civil and/or family consequences to those actions, that I would have done them anyways, therefore I am guilty of committing them.

Never forget, the real you is the "heart" you. Not the masks that we put on in front of other people - but the real us. Some parts of our personalities we would never let show to other people because we would be afraid of the reprecussions. But make no mistake, whatever is in your heart is YOU.

Now in light of all this, will I really have confidence in front of an all-knowing God one-day? I know personally I wouldn't, but God allowed something to happen. The most beautiful love story happened over 2000 years ago. Love Him or hate Him, it is well known why He died - and that was for people like us. See God demands a penalty for breaking His law. It is arrogant of me to think I can actually live a good enough life and earn His forgiveness. The only sorry God will accept is trust in His Son Jesus Christ and turning to Him, saying "I know I cannot clean myself up. I need you to forgive me God not because I deserve it, but because Jesus paid my due penalty".

He became sin who knew no sin, so that we could be masked inside of Him. Now when God looks at Chris Goff, the old Chris is not seen - the precious blood of Jesus is what is seen and through His Spirit He is continuing to work on my heart.

I want to please God because I love what He has done for me through Jesus Christ - not to work for my salvation because I can't. I am a spiritual cripple unable to do a thing to please such a great God unless He comes to me. His mercy and love has granted me a restored relationship with Himself - not based on fear but on His love expressed through Jesus' sacrifice. Sin had to be paid for, its the law of life. Jesus redirected this law upon Himself, and will take what you have done as well if you give yourself to Him.

I thought I grew up a pretty good person, and at the end of the day did not think of myself as a bad guy. So with that said, why did I need Jesus anyways? It really was not an active question in my life, but a natural, underlying one, given my misunderstanding of my condition. And the answer to this was because, in God's eyes, I had done so much evil in my heart, and remember, whatever is in our hearts is who we are. Our hearts define our character, and thankfully God made our hearts an easy thing to evaluate in light of His Word. If those things are still in our hearts, we need to repent, bind, rebuke, consecrate, crucify our flesh - drawing near to Jesus until our hearts see things as our beautiful Jesus sees them!

When I understood this truth, I had no more legs to stand on, I wasn't a good person! I think I used to be naturally unappreciative of Jesus' work on my behalf because I never did anything that bad (in my estimation). Once I realized this scary truth though, Jesus Christ became all the more relevant and appreciated. I did need Him, because my heart before the Lord needed and needs to be cleansed!

Maybe you have struggled with appreciation for His sacrifice and don't think you were forgiven for much. Trust me though, YOU WERE! Thank You so much Jesus for what You have provided!

For those of us hidden in His sacrifice, I hope the Lord uses this to deal with any unrepentant or just plain old unappreciative attitude in all of our lives! For those who have not had the benefit of knowing Him, if you feel that need deep within yourself - respond to it. The Bible makes clear this is a moment that God is granting you repentance because all of a sudden you know He is real and you know He died for you. God is drawing you to Himself - just let go control of your life and give it to Him, you will not regret it. Don't pass this moment off as unreal - it is very real. If you are not having that moment yet - continue to seek Him out. God says in scripture, "You will seek me and you will find Me, when I see that you are truly seeking me with your whole heart.

With love brothers and sisters,and future brothers and sisters :)
Chris Goff

P.S. I would love to talk with you if you are interested in hearing more. Do not be shy or afraid, its not worth going through life uncertain.

Not Forsaken!

"About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" Matthew 27:46

"Oh precious Jesus, hanging on a tree. Oh precious Jesus, crucified for me. Oh precious Jesus the sufferings Thou hast taken. Oh precious Jesus were Thou art forsaken?"

Did Jesus feel forsaken at the cross? I believe it is possible that He could have, but I do not think He (being the Son of God) would actually have to ask why. So where does that leave us? Because it still says He asked why, right? But what about in the garden? The Word reads in John 18:4, "Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want? (in reference to the guards coming to take Him away to the trumped trial)" See! It said Jesus knowing ALL that was going to happen to Him, so I just cannot believe Jesus was blindsided by that "rejected feeling".

So where does that leave us? I believe He said it for the people around the cross (and for us). But why? Because Jesus is the most beautiful, magnificent, long suffering Master we have come to know and love! He was referencing Psalm 22! EVEN AS OUR SAVIOR WAS DYING HE STILL HAD THEIR SOULS ON HIS MIND! He was still being missional until His work was complete! Let me explain. You see, Psalm 22:1 reads, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Now this Psalm continues to describe the situation all of the people around the cross were witnessing at that moment! Jesus wanted them to recall this reference that they all probably knew. It was a reference from King David, in prophesying what would happen to the Messiah.

FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO! Jesus wasn't just saying that to look good, He showed how much He desired them to come to Him despite what they were doing by referencing this Psalm. Oh PRECIOUS SAVIOR, listen everyone, HE IS MAGNIFICENT, HE IS WONDERFUL, HE IS BEAUTIFUL, oh please Spirit of God let your people feel the passion of this! Is your spirit jumping yet?

Let's take a look at the highlights of Psalm 22. What was Jesus wanting them to see?

1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

8He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Wow! I hope that has set your heart in awe. You see, I understand that He became a curse for us and became sin for us, I believe that was part of what He wanted us to know by saying "why hast Thou forsaken me?". But I do not think Jesus was saying this to just display that, I think He was still accomplishing what His beautiful heart desired before He died, more souls to make His own. A "ONE MORE FOR THE LORD" mentality. An absolutely beautiful, loving, God who is worthy of all the adoration given to Him!

One last point on why I believe He was saying it for us (I mean, why else would He say it out loud?) And it is found in Luke 23:46 and it reads, "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." So earlier He is "forsaken" and now He is telling God He is commending His spirit into His hands? I suppose it is possible, but I think Him still talking to the Father suggests He was just referencing Psalm 22 for us. I don't believe He really had that question on His heart. He knew all that was going to happen to Himself, He said it aloud out of complete love for who He wanted to be His..despite the pain, and the mockery, and the thirst, and feeling deserted by His own. I don't know about you, but that is a God worth serving, and cleaning up any sin that entangles out of reverence for Him! It is a reasonable service! If He could go through that suffering for us, AND STILL NOT BE THINKING ABOUT HIMSELF, I am not ashamed to call Him my God! My Lord and MY GOD! Please don't you be either.

You know something the Lord revealed to me earlier in my life? That not once, NOT ONCE in Jesus' life did He ever question the Father's love for Him. I mean if anyone had the right to, it would have been Him, no? I highly doubt any of us have went through the afflictions, physically and spiritually, that He had to. There are some people that blame God and wonder if God even loves them. Its because we have a skewed idea of what love is. Now I don't want to water down your pain at all, I weep with anyone who reads this and is abused or neglected and you contact me for prayer if thats you! But I think my brother Mike said it best with a quote he came up with (which I will revise slightly for the sake of the devotion) "Don't allow your outer circumstances to determine you knowing and believing God's love for you. I will sum up with something my wonderful pastor Rob Turner said "God is more interested in your growth than your comfort". So if the feeling or idea ever comes to your mind that God doesn't love you, rebuke it in the name of Jesus because it is the enemy. You fight, you are a warrior because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! (Refer to the left of the screen and click July 09, find Rhema Resistance)

I love you brothers and sisters, may we live victorious lives, free in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory, honor, and power forever and ever, AMEN!!
Make this your goal, to hear these Words "Well done thou good and faithful servant" Let us pray for each other so this becomes a reality!
Sincerely, Chris Goff

Fear The Lord?

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Phillipians 2:12

For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Hebrews 12:20&21

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 (spoken to the disciples as He was sending them out)

Those are some heavy verses if you ask me! What is it with fearing God that Is so crucial? Hopefully we can adequately analyze this from these 3 verses.
I love it when scripture is used to interpret other scripture! Those above verses in conjunction with each other answer a lot of questions. God never ceases to amaze. I believe this “fear” topic is confusing to a lot of believers in light of the teaching of God’s wonderful grace, bestowed upon us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How in the world can both love and fear be helpful in a believers life? A pastor by the name of John Bevere once said “If we are taught fear, fear, fear all the time we become legalistic (in the classical sense), if we are taught grace,grace,grace all the time, we tend to become lawless.” I don’t think I could agree with him more. Because of our fallen state we need to have both. When we have given into the enemy and sinned, we didn’t stop feeling our affections towards the Lord did we? And we didn’t think God stopped loving us did we? No, we were still aware of His great love! So what does this mean? It means we need another motivation, and that motivation is the “fear of the Lord”.

Let’s talk about the above verses. We see Paul telling the church to “work out your own salvation with FEAR AND TREMBLING” , and then the verse below that says “And so if as much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly FEAR AND QUAKE.” And then you have Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, telling His disciples to fear God “who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. This is very sobering! See I have heard people say, “you are not supposed to be afraid of God”, and do not get me wrong, this is so true! But I feel it is not explained harmoniously with what WE ARE supposed to be afraid of, I feel it waters other scripture down if not adequately explained what is meant by that phrase. We are not supposed to go around always wondering if God is going to strike us dead . But we are, however, supposed to have a fear that is on the inside, looking out at sin and says, “I am absolutely terrified at how the Lord feels about that, and how He says He will deal with that if I do that and/or continue in it, and I am deeply afraid to ever even go there”. Just as Moses was “on the inside looking out” at the beast that touched the mountain and the beast was stoned for it, so we should “WORK OUT OUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND QUAKING”. God is so wonderful in giving us a mental picture of what this phrase “fear and trembling” means.

So how do fear and love work? I like to think of it like this, God knowing how hard His wrath would be on the son’s of disobedience, sent His only Son, on a mission full of love, to save us from that wrath. In other words, fear draws us to love. What was the message again? You have a way of escape (love) from the wrath of God (fear), AND HIS WONDERFUL, PRECIOUS, MAGNIFICENT, HOLY, INCOMPRABLE NAME IS JESUS! And in other, other, Words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes (puts their active faith) in Him shall not perish (fear) but have eternal life" (love)John 3:16. The fear of the true wrath of God propels us to the loving arms of Jesus. We love Him, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), why? Because He showed His love for us in redeeming us from the wrath of God.

I hope brothers and sister that this was helpful. When God took me through this season of fear it was a hard pill to swallow. Used to, despite my love for Him, I would abuse His grace because of a misunderstanding of this topic. Please be careful with how you live your lives! God loves you so much, He has warned of His impending wrath upon disobedience. And not only warned, but provided a way of escape! Abide in HIM! Praise Jesus, we love Him, we love Him, we love Him!

Pastor Bevere told a story about a friend he had (or maybe even still has) that was an evangelist in another country. This man started out with pure motives, loving the Lord, but eventually fell into adultery and helping himself to some of God’s money. This man was put into prison in this country for this reason and pastor Bevere went to see him. “What happened to you brother?” Pastor Bevere asked, “When did you lose your love for the Lord?”. This humbled, repentant individual looked at him and said, “Lose my love? I never lost my love for Him, I lost my fear of Him.” Pastor Bevere said the Holy Spirit jumped all over that comment and revealed this truth to him in that moment. God used John Bevere to point this out to me, I hope I have successfully passed it on to you my brothers and sisters! With love, your fellow laborer, Chris Goff
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a GOOD UNDERSTANDING have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. Psalm 111:10

Do Not Lose Focus!

II think one of the biggest things that can de-rail us as believers is when legalism sets in. I do not think we realize that legalism goes two ways. In the classical sense, it is an act done merely out of religious obligation (faith in your action rather than faith that God hears you through your action). Now in the opposite sense it is when we feel we are perfectly ok spiritually because we prayed "the prayer" and we become complacent. The reason I think both of these examples are legalistic is because both are counting on something to save them (legally at the day of judgement) that have no power within themselves to do so. One thinks that because they are working hard they will be saved, putting their faith in those acts to save. The other person is being legalistic in the sense of counting on praying "the prayer" and then living however they want. Now I could see how a person could see the latter example as being "lazy" instead of "legalistic", however, I feel that legalism sets in when a person loses the truest meaning of why they do and/or have done something. I was in my car praying one day, and after I was finished this phrase shot through my head "legalism sets in when one loses the truest meaning of why they do something". I had to sit and think about this for a moment, because it just shot through my mind without me thinking about it. The more I thought about it, the more true it seemed to be. When one loses the meaning of why they came to Jesus, and they display that through their actions of disobedience, or counting on their actions performed without faith, they have become legalistic. The reason I believe they have is because they are counting on that prayer to save them in "Jesus' court of judgement" without active faith. Once the faith behind our actions cease, and/or we prayed the prayer and are not acting at all, we fall into a dangerous spiritual state. For instance, when I pray for 'times sake' instead of 'contents sake', that prayer is not very effective if at all. Now when I set my heart to understand the Lord in prayer, I am living in active faith. You see, in the first example, the person is kind of just praying to get it over with because they feel obligated. Now in the second example they are not putting their faith in their act of prayer, but their faith is put in the thought that God is hearing them. In my opinion, the one person was legalistic, and the other was fervently seeking the Lord. Now don't get me wrong, I think it is important to humble yourself before the Lord in prayer, even if you do not feel like it, thats called discipline (discipleship). But not feeling like praying, and praying anyways because you know you need that spiritual fuel from the Lord, is totally different from someone hoping it alone will save them. Both might not feel like it at times but the heart behind why they do it is totally different. God is pleased with sacrifices of praise and humility or else He wouldn't tell us to fast and pray. He desires communion with us, and I sometimes think we need to pray until our heart longs to pray. So at the end of the day, I suppose it is the heart behind why it is done (being the "truest meaning" part of the the phrase above). The scripture that comes to mind is Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." I think it is interesting to note that it is a two part verse, the first requirment in coming to God is believing that He is (thats why in James he says the demons believe and tremble, so mere belief doesn't suffice), and the second thing mentioned is believing that He rewards those that diligently seek Him. What does the second part look like all fleshed out? The whole phrase "that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" suggests action partnered with faith that God see's our genuine heartfelt obedience to Him.
The only way to conquor legalism in our lives is to turn our "laughter into mourning and our joy into gloom"(See devotion entitled, Joy to Gloom" or "An Understanding Heart"). If we as believers are not putting on our spiritual armor, not actively seeking the Lord genuinely wanting answers, and not reading our Word and using it, we are subject to our actions no longer being acted out in faith (genuine heartfelt obedience) but mere obligation. "If a man has faith without works, can that faith save him?"
Please pray over what I am writing! I am trying to find deep truth but I am not exempt from error. If you have a comment or even feel like a correction is needed, dont be shy! I am not saying I will agree everytime, but I would like to be checked none the less! I hope this is not confusing, I hope it blesses all who reads. May a fire be started in the church of God again that changes the foundations of our current world structure!

Modern Triumph of Faith

This is from www.foxnews.com. The world was not worthy of this beautiful woman! May she be remembered as winning the victory as her Lord and Savior won the victory, she is not dead but merely asleep! Anyone who reads this agree with me in prayer for her husband and 3 children who are being held as political prisoners.

Report: North Korea Publicly Executes Christian Woman for Distributing Bible
Friday, July 24, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea publicly executed a Christian woman last month for distributing the Bible, which is banned in the communist nation, South Korean activists said Friday.
Ri Hyon Ok, 33, was also accused of spying for South Korea and the United States and organizing dissidents. She was executed in the northwestern city of Ryongchon near the border with China on June 16, according to a report from an alliance of several dozen anti-North Korea groups.
Ri's parents, husband and three children were sent to a political prison camp in the northeastern city of Hoeryong the following day, the report said, citing unidentified documents it says were obtained from North Korea. It showed a copy of Ri's North Korean government-issued photo ID. It is virtually impossible to verify such reports about secretive North Korea, where the government tightly controls the lives of its citizens and does not allow dissent.
On Thursday, an annual report from a state-run South Korean think tank on human rights in the North said that public executions, though dropping in number in recent years, were still carried out for crimes ranging from murder to circulating foreign movies.
North Korea claims to guarantee freedom of religion for its 24 million people but in reality severely restricts religious observances. The cult of personality surrounding national founder Kim Il Sung and his son, current leader Kim Jong Il, is a virtual state religion.
The government has authorized four state churches, one Catholic, two Protestant and one Russian Orthodox, but they cater to foreigners and ordinary North Koreans cannot attend. However, defectors and activists say more than 30,000 North Koreans are believed to practice Christianity secretly.
The U.S. State Department reported last year that "genuine religious freedom does not exist" in North Korea.
"North Korea appears to have judged that Christian forces could pose a threat to its regime," Do Hee-youn, a leading activist, told reporters, claiming public executions, arrest and detention of North Koreans are prevalent.


May she be forever remembered! Even if you just read this once, pray over her family after you read! One prayer is better than no prayer.