Happy New Year

Have you ever wondered why so many people heed warnings over the slightest risks?  It seems like a few people can get sick because they use a certain product and everybody goes into a panic.  Do you remember the peanut butter scare?  People began to get sick after eating Peter Pan and the Wal-Mart brand of peanut butter so they pulled them off the shelf.  We have seen Toyota go through the ringer over the gas pedal sticking and apparently Children’s Tylenol is never coming back.  Seriously, I have not seen it on the shelf in a long time.  Now I am not making light of the illness and even deaths that created these recalls, but why is it we take heed to these warnings that probably will have no impact on us while at the same time we ignore God’s word?  Ten out of ten people I know are going to die.  The Bible is filled with warnings for those who die apart from him, but so many don’t pay any attention to the warnings.  You know what I think is sad?  Is the fact that not only do we ignore his warnings we don’t love his word.

Recently my lovely wife saw an intruder in our house.  She was terrified!  I mean she screamed and come running through the house and I could see the panic in her eyes.  Of course I was then expected to attack and kill this vile beast who found our home as a temptation to dwell in and call his own domain.  When I asked her what was wrong she sad “I SAW A RAT”!  Well it was nearly midnight and I was very tired and I have no traps or poison because we have never seen any rodents in the house.  Sometimes you just have to be the man of the house and tell your wife you are not going to jump at their every request especially 12 o’clock at night!  So here I am at Wal-Mart at midnight buying every trap and rodent killing mechanism they have.  Needless to say a few days go by and all traps are clear.  Then one day she opens up the junk closet (oh don’t act like you don’t have a junk closet) and she smells something dead.  You probably know the next seen.  So here I am cleaning out the junk closet and I pull every item out.  I just knew I would find this rat that she described as approximately 5 inches laying in the back corner.  Oh no, couldn’t be that easy.  Instead after going through every box and container I find it in the very last bag to go.  By the way it was a mouse about 2 inches counting the tail.

Now that was the funny part of my story but here is the reality of the story.  After I disinfected the closet I began to go through my junk closet and throw things away.  Guess what I found in my junk closet? A Bible?  Not a Bible but instead several Bibles.  You know God has overly blessed me.  He has given me so much that I am at a point in my life that I can store Bibles in a closet of junk.  I told my wife we have more Bibles than anybody I know.  Did you know that the Jews kiss the Torah (Old Testament) if it gets knocked to the ground?  There are 450 people murdered everyday for preaching the Bible.  There are thousands of people in the world everyday who read their Bible in secret to keep from being killed, and I have his word in a closet of junk.

We need to quit storing God’s word away and start reading his word.  I believe we too often have lost a love for his word in the Junk of this world.  I hope that in this New Year God brings you a joy of service for him.  I hope you fall in love with his word and you share his word with others.  Remember his word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11).  May we not hide his word but instead display it for the entire world to hear!

Jesus Saves,

RR 

Merry Christmas

Well it is almost here!

There are just to many people this time of year who let this joyous time pass by them and they never take the opportunity to celebrate the glory of God.  I hear people say "well I will be glad when its over".  Come on man!  I can understand people wanting a tough day of work to hurry and go by, but not Christmas!  I can honestly say I enjoy this time of year more than I ever have.  I love it!  I not only enjoy it more because I have children, but it is because my love for Jesus Christ!

Think about this.  When people sing Christmas songs Christ is honored and people don't even realize.  Don't get me wrong "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" isn't exactly honoring God, but there are tons of musicians who record Christmas music and are singing of the glorious Savior.

My point is simple.  He will be praised!  Jesus Christ has suffered humility.  The Bible says "he humbled himself even unto death." However the days of humility is over, and his arrival is the beginning of the Kingdom.  Jesus will be honored.  It doesn't matter how much a person denies the deity of the Lord, one day they will bow before him.  There is coming a day when the trees will clap at the presence of the King.  Until then there will always be some who praise him.

I love the Christmas story because I love my savior.  I can not show my love for him by my righteousness because there is no good within me, but I can tell his story.  I can sing his praises, and I can share his Gospel!

I hope you take the time this Christmas to love like Jesus.  We only get so many Christmas days on this earth with the people we love.  So tell those around you how you love them, and share the story of Jesus with somebody!

Jesus Saves,
RR    

Kingdom Characteristics VII

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed is the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God”.

Our society offers so many remedies for a constant sickness that dwells with each man and woman.  We are desperate for peace.  The Natural man is convinced that we must do something to repay for the bad we have done.  Have you ever thought about other religions and how they work?  All of them require that the only way to a redemptive state is to outweigh your bad with good.  Some of them do not even offer a redemptive state.  There is without question no belief like that of the teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples.  None!  Some may say that is a narrow view.  I say show me one like it. 

The beauty in the teachings of the Bible is that we cannot achieve redemption.  There is no way to make up for all of our wrong.  Now some may say how could that be a good thing?  Let me give you an example.  Let’s say you’re driving down the road and you look down to change the radio station when you look up there is an antique car in its original structure and you smash into it.  There is no way you can ever change this situation.  Sure you can get the car fixed, but it will not be the same. 

This leads to the point of this verse.  Peace comes from the Prince of Peace.  Even many Christians today do not understand this teaching.  We cannot fix our messed up wretched lives.  One phrase that we have always heard proves this.  “You cannot change the past”.  How many times have you heard this?  How many times have you said this?  By our own admission we cannot ever do enough to earn peace with God.  This is why the Bible is the greatest series of words on the planet and is the number one all time bestselling book.  Only in Christ is our sins blotted out.  The bible says in the book of Psalms that he cast our sins as far as the East is from the West.  Only in Jesus Christ written word known as the Holy Bible do we have a true redemptive promise, and that is because he is the only risen Savior.  There is no comparison to Jesus.

In this verse it is a characteristic of the believer to be a peacemaker.  How does one become a peacemaker when we cannot create peace for our self?  Well, it is done by having Jesus Christ be the Lord of your life.  Now notice the reward in this verse “they shall be called the children of God”.  This is not a title given by man.  Christians got there name by men who were making a derogative comment about the earlier believers and it stuck.  However this title is given by God.  Jesus does not see me as a Christian he sees me as a child!  Think about that.  God’s people are peacemakers not troublemakers, and he has called us to be Children of the most High God.

Can you say “I am a child of God”?  If you cannot say that without absolute confidence then please know that he wants you to be his child.  He wants a relationship with you.  It will not come by your works and good deeds.  It will come by your faith in him.  When you give your life to him you will be changed and then you will begin a life as a peacemaker not a peace seeker.

Jesus Saves,

RR

Kingdom Characteristics VI

I have not posted in a couple days because I wanted to make sure that I took my time on this post.  Today I want to look at Matthew 5:8 and let me just say this verse is the key verse.  It is the pinnacle of the Beatitudes.


Matthew 5:8 "Blessed is the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Like I said this is the key verse and I believe “pure” is the key word in the verse.  Remember the background?  The Pharisees and the Sadducees are plotting against Christ every chance they get.  This is the case throughout the four gospels.  When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John always keep in mind that Jesus is preaching to the hearts of men and women.  His word pierces them and this angers the Pharisees.  Jesus exposes them.  He points out their self-righteousness.  Jesus isn’t trying to fill Church pews.  He doesn’t care about the next business meeting.  He isn’t worried about hurting someone’s feelings.  He preaches the truth because he is the Truth!

Purity is a rarity then and now.  What does it mean to have a pure heart?  Jeremiah said, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer 17:9)  The Pharisees advertised purity but they had wicked hearts.  They had no compassion for the poor, or the hurting.  They were full of crap!  You can quote me on that.  Jesus is saying in this verse those who are “pure” or in other words “real”.  Real inside not counterfeit.  He is saying the Holy Spirit only produces a life of fruit bearing, and those who will be in his Kingdom exercise this trait.  When we are saved we are born again.  Our heart belongs to God.  This doesn’t mean you want sin or have corrupted intentions from time to time, but it should not be common.  Your life should automatically glorify Christ if you are saved.  Most of the people I know believe they are going to heaven, but does their life glorify Christ?

So what makes this verse so important?  In order to have a pure heart the previous verses have to apply to your life.  You have to be poor in spirit or in other words you have to know how desperate you are without Christ.  You have to be someone who mourns.  This world is so corrupted and there are so many hurting today that we should mourn for the lost and afflicted.  Jesus wept for Jerusalem and we should weep for our communities.  You have to be meek or in other words self disciplined to abstain from sin.  Sin is death and the heart that is full of sin is dead.  Jesus said blessed is the “pure in heart”, and you cannot be pure in heart and live a life corrupted with sin.  You also have to have a hunger and thirst for God.  If you are going to be pure in heart you are going to have delight in the reading of his word.  Zephaniah 3:17 says, “ the lord will rejoice over thee”.  One-sided relationships don’t last.  If you belong to Christ then you will rejoice in him and you will want to learn more about him.  Also if you are pure in heart then you will have mercy.  God has saved sinners from wretchedness.  Who are we to not offer mercy to others?

The reason this verse is the pinnacle is because of where we end and that is in the hands of persecution.  Verses 10-12 describe trouble to the believer because we live in a world that is not ours.  (I will go further into that in the next few posts.)  Calvinist love to boast of Romans 8:35-39 as verses of scripture to claim assurance of salvation.  They have nothing to do with the assurance of salvation.  A state of non-assurance of salvation is an oxymoron.  You cannot be saved unless you believe.  Romans 8:35-37 is about withstanding persecution.  The pure hearted believer endures though persecution.  Jesus is driving this point home because in order to live a life free from sin and contrary to the Pharisees there will be a cost.  That cost is suffering.  Jesus is the example.  The pure hearted righteousness of God endured the cross.  He humbled himself even unto death.  Praise God for his love and may our hearts be pure!

Jesus Saves,

RR

Kingdom Characteristics V

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy

When I was a kid I wanted to grow up and be a lawyer.  I loved watching shows and movies that where based around a courtroom setting.  My goal was to be a prosecutor.  I use to imagine being a DA for some big city and eventually being a judge.  I wanted to throw people in jail and execute anybody I could within the law.  Now I look back and think how arrogant and self righteous I was.  There is no wonder I backslid on God during my young adult years.  We need prosecutors and tough judges in our country, but not with my old motives.  You see today I have been re-programmed and I am a product of divine mercy.

During this time of year a lot of people get in the giving mood, and some get in the taking mood also.  However Jesus, the righteous judge is the very example of mercy.  Christians should not have to be taught mercy.  It should not be a topic that has to be preached on.  Mercy should be a natural emotion of every believer.  The pure thought of salvation alone completely depends on God’s mercy.  In the OT days the mercy seat was a place for the Holy Spirit to come down and reside over the Ark of the Covenant when the blood sacrifice had been offered up for the forgiveness of sins.  After Christ was crucified his blood is offered up to the Father as a payment for the blood sacrifice.  Jesus said to Mary Magdalene (the first person to see Jesus after he arose) in John 20:17 after he resurrected “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”  Now pay attention to this.  After Jesus arose he told Mary not to touch him but he told Thomas to touch him to prove he had arisen.  Why?  Jesus in this verse is like the OT priest.  The priest had to remove himself from the people and be cleaned and sacrifice a blood offering of his own then change his clothes into clean priest garments before he could enter into the temple with the blood for the people’s sins.  He could not be touched before entering or he would be considered defiled.  In this passage of scripture Jesus is taking the blood to heaven and presenting it to the Father.  Now when Jesus saw Thomas he had returned from what he says in verse 17 the ascended trip to the Father.  This is why then they could touch him.

In this beautiful picture of Christ our redeemer carrying out mercy while we are yet sinners it reminds me that we have to show mercy to others.  This is an important Kingdom characteristic.  We are to usher in others into his kingdom by demonstrating the love and mercy of God.  The Holy Spirit ahs came down and it resides in the bodies of believers.  Therefore we become a temple in which the mercy seat sets.  You cannot be a child of God and not have mercy.  It is Impossible!

Jesus Saves,

RR

Kingdom Characteristics IV

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness"

Well after a few days off celebrating Thanksgiving the idea of hunger does not come to mind.  You know the interesting thing here is that many people today in the Church are not hungry either and I am not talking about food hunger.  In this verse Jesus like all through his ministry is creating a direct contrast between truth and fiction or in other words he is exposing religion and the sinfulness of the Pharisees.  The Pharisees established a righteousness of their own.  They were not seeking God for forgiveness because they did not feel they had anything to be forgiven.  With this mind set nothing changes and God is ignored because religion profits us nothing!  There is religion everywhere yet we continue to see society decay and fall into a further depraved trance where righteousness is ignored.

I love this verse because it shows what God wants from us and that is to have a hunger for righteousness.  So what does it mean to have a hunger and thirst after righteousness?  Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness?

Paul says in Roman 10 that the problem with Israel is that they had not desired Gods righteousness instead they created their own.  He says something in verse 4 that sums it up “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”. You see what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5 is that anyone who hungers and thirst after righteousness will be filled because they will be given the only thing that can fill them.  The hunger cannot be filled with worldly systems, traditions, and religion.  There are tons of people who do not go to Church because when they go they are not getting what they need to fill the hunger. 

A thirst has to be quenched and mans righteousness never can quench a thirst because we know deep inside we are failures.  I remember when I was a kid there was an eclipse one year and everybody was making a big deal about the importance to not look up at the sun.  They would not let us go outside and play at school that day but when I was leaving to go home as soon as I went outside I looked up.  You see we naturally rebel against authority.  Because of this it would not matter what anybody told me I had to do to get to heaven I would fail.  The Mormons are convinced they can work their way into heaven by selling their cult and winning people to their false Church.  They are not saved and they are not complete in their inner soul.  They may be blinded by the god of this world the devil, but they are living with a thirst that is not quenched and a hunger that is not filled.  The same goes for the heroin addict and the fake Christian who never misses a Church service.  You see what Paul is saying in Romans 10:4 is that Jesus is righteousness, and when you seek after righteousness you are seeking after Jesus.  Only Jesus can quench that thirst and fill that hunger. We are poor wretched sinners who stand before the mercy of a holy and righteous judge.  Only Jesus can help and only Jesus can save.  Man can try and work out a system or create a mindset that justifies his goodness, but it want stand a chance when he comes before God.

Do you desire Jesus in your life?  Listen I fail him as often as I blink but Jesus is everything to me!  I do not serve religion or the Church but I serve Jesus.  I can’t wait to go to Church because I serve Jesus.  Your life needs to be about him, and I want you to know that it can be.  All you have to do is turn to Jesus.  When you turn to Jesus you turn away form sin because there is no sin in him!

Jesus Saves,

RR

Kingdom Characteristics III

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Today we continue on in the study of Matthew with a look at the meek.  Probably if you asked someone what does it mean to be meek most people would probably say something like humble or lowly esteemed.  In this verse it is easily to paint a picture of a weak individual simply based on the surrounding verses, but the meek are anything but weak.  In fact the meek are the opposite of the weak. 

In this verse what Jesus is referring to is the strong.  Not the strong physical but instead emotional, physical, and spiritual.  Jesus is referring to someone who demonstrates a life of separation from worldly lusts and is strong enough to abstain from temptation.  This characteristic is seen over in over in the Bible as self-control.  Today the world promotes an importance in self-esteem, but the Bible promotes self-control.  Joseph was tempted to sleep with Potiphar’s (Gen 39:7).  She probably was very attractive and had money and power.  She was the wife of his master, and if anything ego alone could have been a motivator but he said no.  Self-control is the ability to live Holy when nobody else will know what you did or did not do.

This is not a characteristic you just decide one morning to have.  This is a product of the Holy Spirit living in your life, but not just residing instead controlling.  We can be saved and have his spirit live in us, but in order for him to control us we must be spirit filled and that is difficult point to achieve.  In order to have such a control in your life you have to surrender and let go.  Isn’t that funny.  To have control we must give up control.  What I mean is this: we have to quit justifying our sin to our self and instead give temptation to him.  We do not have the ability to defeat Satan.  We cannot out smart him.  The only thing we can do when he tempts us is resist him.  He cannot make us sin. The Bible says that if we resist the temptation the devil will flee from us.  James says “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life.” (James 1:12)

Jesus says in verse 5 that the meek will inherit the earth and in Psalms 37:11 it says that they “shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace”.  This is the desire of God for the lives of his people.  At some point in time we have to make a decision.  Am I going to live the life I ought to live or am I going to live the life I am called to live?  We are not going to ever be perfect.  God sent his son so that we could be made perfect, but we can live more holy than what we are.  Every person that may ever read this has room to grow, and God expects us to do just that.  Sin is a dangerous thing.  James says that each one of us are “tempted by our own desires and when the desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is full grown it brings forth death”. (James 1:15)  This is why we live in a world filled with sad stories.  Not because God is unfair or unloving but because man keeps submitting to desires of the flesh instead of the desires of God.  Children are not born addicted to crack cocaine because God is unfair.  Most people will agree with that because they see a mother who has wasted her life and she did it to the child.  The same people who will say that will look at a family who goes to Church does all the “right things” but has a child with some horrible disease and say how can a loving God do this?  There is no difference in a child born in drug addicted poverty than one born in a Church home.  The sin corrupted world has destroyed all flesh.  We are all diseased and we all are going to die.  However while our desires leads to death our God gives good gifts, and every gift which comes down from the Father in heaven is good. (James 1:17)

Praise be to God he does not want you to be destroyed by sin but instead he gave his son (the perfect gift) so you can be spared (the undeserving gift) by his grace (the gift that can not be repaid)!

Jesus Saves,

RR 

Kingdom Characteristics II

Today we look at the next verse in Matthew 5.

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)

In our culture today mourning is not a blessing.  If the characteristic of the believer means that we are to mourn does this mean that we should go around depressed?  Well if that were the case there would be a lot of people who qualified for this category.  Today there is a growing epidemic of depression.  While I do recognize that some people are truly oppressed by this due to God’s sovereignty, I have to believe that many suffer from depression because they do not have the Joy of Christ in their life.  Jesus is not telling us to be sad or depressed in this verse in order to be rewarded.  The best way to see what Christ is saying is by using him as the example.

Jesus like Jeremiah the prophet lamented and wept for Jerusalem.  It broke his heart to see the future suffering of the city.  When Jesus saw the women weeping for him due to his persecution he said “weep not for me but instead your children” (Luke 23).  You see Jesus could see the coming invasion of the evil Roman leaders and 70 AD slaughter.  I also believe he is referring to the hundreds of years of wandering and scattering of Israel even up to the Jewish slaughter created by Nazi Germany.  Even today there is constant war and threat of terror in the city as the Arabs and Jews feud over the land.

In verse 4 Jesus is saying blessed is the one who is not so entangled in this world that they cannot see the big picture.  Blessed is the man or woman who mourns for the lost souls who continue to perish without hearing the gospel.  Blessed are the ones who mourn for the persecuted brethren.  Blessed are those who mourn for the heartaches and burdens of their brother or sister in Christ.  The message in this verse is God’s people see needs and it burdens them.  Our comfort should not come from secular books, music and media.  Instead it comes when we are in the spiritual presence of the Father.  We are to take to him our mourning heart and lay before him our tears.  We are to go to the altar when the time comes and pray for the lost.  We are too fast for the brother who is in the impossible situation and plead with God for direction and peace.

Finally “for they shall be comforted” is a reminder there is no peace like the Fathers peace.  When we are broken he can fix us.  Sometimes it takes a broken heart to fill the love of God, and whatever it takes it is worth it.  Whether it is our burden or the burden for somebody else, God uses these occasions to bless his people.

Jesus Saves

RR

Kingdom Characteristics I

God’s word is filled with so many wonderful passages to inform us of how we are to live and conduct our lives.  Some of these verses describe basics things.  They are basic and second nature because they have been written in the hearts of humanity for so long.  The OT laws and structure help create a baseline of living and we can also find in scripture the importance of cleanliness way before bacteria or germs were ever discovered.  In Matthew 5 we see a whole different view of instructed living.  It is best known as the Sermon on the Mount, but the location does not compare to the application.  In these next series of posts I want to look at this sermon verse by verse and see what God’s message has in store for us.

The key to getting this sermon is taking the time to consider what Jesus is talking about.  The Bible says in the previous chapter (4:23) “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” Jesus was and is the promise of the Kingdom, and he was and is the great Kingdom preacher.  Christ even tells us that when we pray to do so by saying “thy Kingdom come” in regards to the Father.  In other words our desire and prayers should be focused on the Kingdom.  So this chapter is in line to what he was preaching in (Matt 4:23) and that is the good news of the coming Kingdom.  Now what we see here in chapter five is what I call the characteristics of the Kingdom heirs.  No, I am not talking about the singing group at Dollywood.  Although I am sure they are pretty good fellows.

“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,(3) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:1-3)

What does verse three mean?  What does it mean to be poor in spirit and what does it mean for theirs to be the Kingdom of heaven?

The word poor in this verse can be translated as to say to be in poverty an beg for help.  One of the unique characteristics of Jesus was how he did not fit into anybodies category.  The Pharisees hated him because he rebuked the customs and religion and the heathen ignored him because he refused to compromise to their lifestyle.  There has never been a greater Rebel than Jesus Christ!  He did and does things on his Father terms only.  In these verses of scripture there is a clear contrast with Pharisees and the Jewish religious elite.

What Jesus is saying in verse 3 in regards to a begging spirit is this.  It is a blessing when people come to a state of mind that their heart and soul and spirit is wretched and needs to be saved.  Jesus is not saying it’s a blessing to be poor or you need to go around shy and with your face covered.  He is saying that blessed is a man who knows he needs God and begs to have God.  Beggars are desperate and Jesus is saying the first characteristic of a person in his Kingdom is like a beggar on the street who desperately wants to be saved.  Wow!  Isn’t that a beautiful picture?  Satan constantly attacks the child of God over our sins but Jesus is saying that when one turns to him and pleads he is blessed.  Take that devil!

“For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” is a part of the phrase that has the reward.  Heaven is not about riches that God has waiting for us.  Instead the Kingdom is the place that the beggar is no longer a beggar but instead he or she is filled, satisfied, and complete.  The message is simple.  Beg to change.  Beg to be different.  Beg to be complete in Christ and you will.  Jesus is not toying with us like a tyrant over a servant, but instead he is saying when we reach down inside and see who we truly are that as long as we stay persistent in our search for him we will find him.  Then one day we will be with him in his Kingdom!

God is good, all the time!

Jesus Saves

RR

Complete in Christ

Colossians 2: 9-10 “For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in him (Jesus), who is the head of all principality and power”.

You know sometimes in this world we get so sidetracked.  The Holiday time is approaching us and I don’t know if there is anytime of the year people get more consumed by things that have no meaning.  Even thou we live in a world that moves 100mph and there are tons of things going on people all around us are empty.  Many people who stop and think about their lives often get depressed and fill insufficient.  I believe there is many reasons people get depressed during this time of year, but I believe one of the biggest reasons is because God is minimized.

 Thankfully God knows our faults and is patient with us.  He is constantly reaching out to us his love and he extends the arm of salvation.  My prayer is that you may know Christ loves you and what you have in him is like Avalon sings “Everything to Me”.

In this passage of scripture Paul says something that I often reflect on.  To be born again means that Jesus resides in your heart.  The Bible teaches us that we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  In the OT days the Temple is where the Spirit would make himself manifest by displaying his glory.  Before there was a temple there was a tabernacle and God led the people by appearing as a cloud in the day and fire at night.  However today we do not need a cloud or a temple for the Spirit to dwell, but instead we are the Temple and Christ resides in us.   Just think the creator of all that has and is and will be created resides within every believer!  How is this possible?  Well it is because Jesus is God.  In Colossians 1:15 the scripture says that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God”.  In verse 9 we see that within Jesus resides the fullness or in other words all of God.  Now we cannot imagine God as man in one place like us because God cannot be comprehended in his omnipresence (which means to be everywhere and all knowing).  However what we can see in the Scripture is every fiber that makes Jesus is God.  So what this means is if you have Christ living inside of you and you house him then you are the Temple of God!

Jesus told his disciples before he ascended that the Father would send them the comforter soon.  That comforter is the Holy Spirit.  By knowing Jesus we know the Comforter.  So we can come to this conclusion that Paul came to in verse 10 and that is if all that makes up God is complete in Jesus then we are complete in him.  It truly is an honor to have Christ live in our lives.

So with this thought in case you hit a bad day or down day in the next few weeks remember how much you are worth.  You are worth the life of the King!

Jesus Saves,

RR  

Post Christian Church Age X Conclusion

I have been busy the last few days but I have finally got this ready to post.  Here is over 2,200 words for you!

Someone once said that if you wanted to know what the Church will be doing in ten years then look at the world today.  While I do not believe this is entirely true there is no doubt in my mind we do see a continuous trend of worldliness in the Church.  I started this study by saying the Church is part of a movement and we are moving into a Post Christian Church Age.  I do not expect any Amens in this post, but if you will hear me out and consider yourself not your neighbor I think you will see where I am coming from.

We have seen in the book of Revelation seven Churches and as I said each one of them describe personalities in the Church.  These traits are not permanent either.  For example the Church at Philadelphia is on fire for God, but the Church at Sardis is dead.  We all can have dead and fired up periods in our life.  The idea is that we strive to stay fired up.  Another example is the Church at Ephesus has fallen out of love with Christ but the Church at Smyrna is being persecuted.  We can get separated from God and come back to persecution and sometimes persecution may be what it takes to bring us back.  However what is happening in this country today is a funneling down effect that will move us into the tribulation period.  What I am about to cover is serious stuff.  Jesus is coming soon and the end is upon us.  I plead with you to consider the seriousness of the following:

Jesus was once asked by his disciples in Matthew Chapter 24 “how will we (disciples) know when the end is coming).  This Chapter of scripture is so informative that I find every time I study it I learn more and more.  Jesus describes the events that are parallel of the seven seals that we see opened in Revelation.  They are tragedies of judgment where God begins to pour out his wrath on the earth, but what brings us to this point?  The answer is sin.  It is just that simple.  When God destroyed the earth with water in the days of Noah it “repented” God that he had made man.  That means that God was so sick of man’s sin that he turned from man.  He could not stand to see it anymore.  Today even as bad as things are God is still patient and waiting on men to turn to him.  Peter says in  (II Peter 3:9) “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.  The only reason Christ has not returned already is that he is giving people time to get saved so they can enter into his Kingdom when he does return.

Unfortunately the Church during this time of wait will only mover further from God.  Have you ever wondered how the one Child that all of Israel studied about and prayed for to come over and over when he came they didn’t even know who he was?  How could the Savior of the world that was promised to one specific people and who was born of this very same people, who acknowledged all customs and laws of the people, but would be rejected by his own kindred? When Jesus preached his first sermon in his hometown they got so made they tried to cast him off a cliff.  Why and how did they get to this point?  Well, it is because religion murdered Jesus.  When Jesus spoke he tore to shreds the Religion of the people.  I am not much of a preacher, but I know one thing that hits a nerve with people and that is when you step on their religion.  Many people today are in love with the Church and not the Savior.  So how did the people of Israel become so religious that they murdered Jesus?  It took generation after generation turning from God further and further and relying more on religion.  That is what is happening today in this country and it is pouring over across the globe.

We see this in other nations where the Church is turning into a motivational convention that promotes self-esteem.  They are hypnotized by the high-spirited feel good music and there is no conviction of sin in the message.  Solomon had tried it all and he said all is vanity, but the Charismatic movement embraces vanity.  Vanity is a blessing in their eyes.  God is viewed as the gift giver, but not of spiritual things and grace but o the physical and material.  This is absurd.  Naked we came in and naked we will leave.  Jesus said do not put interest in the things that will deteriorate but instead invest in the Kingdom.

The Charismatic’s are a small part of the problem.  The biggest part in my opinion is the Biblical ignorance of the people in the Church.  People just don’t study the word.  They don’t have a clue what’s in there.  They want to know what does the pastor say and then when he tells them they don’t want to believe it.  This is because flesh and blood cannot reveal the things of God.  Did you know that?  Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the mysteries of God.  It is his Spirit that communes with the hearts of men that leads them in his will.  When Peter testified that Jesus was the messiah the Christ Jesus said “flesh and blood had not revealed this unto him but instead the Father in heaven.”  We live in a period of Church history where people don’t even carry Bibles to Church.  Sermons are getting shorter and Sunday School attendance continues to decline.  In the Church in America people are moving away from the learning of God.  Just look at how many Christians don’t go to Church.  This is a movement and a trend that unless something miraculously happens will not change and here is why. 

In the Church the younger people are no different than any other type of youths.  If I am cleaning out my truck my boys may say dad what are you doing.  When they see what I am doing and I say just cleaning up this mess they may watch for a minute and go on doing something else.  However when my kids see me working out and see me excited about what I am doing they ask “dad can I try what you are doing.”  What is the difference here?  Our kids are automatically somewhat interested in what we do, but will only share a portion of the passion.  Now think about generation after generation of this.  Unless the youth in the Church are energized on the things of God their youth will have even less passion.  This is what happened in Israel.  Generation after generation they moved from God.

The movement that I have been talking about is this.  Think of a funnel.  At the top you can put all kinds of stuff in, but eventually it narrows down and everything that gets through goes to the same equal path.  Now think of everything that is not Christ centered.  Done yet?  How bout now?  Of course not! Right!  You see this is part of God’s plan and his scripture tells us this.  Remember the story of the rich young ruler.  He asked Jesus “what must I do to be saved”, but Jesus didn’t say just believe in me.  Why?  Because unlike us he is God and he knew this guy loved possessions more than him.  So when Christ told him to sale all he had he couldn’t do it.  Why?  Because he just couldn’t let go of self.  So he forfeited the Kingdom of God for the things now.  This is like the stuff at the top of the funnel.   The things in my life that are not Christ center are probably different than the things in yours, but there is an end of the funnel and it spits everything out in the same place.  The Church will survive, but many who are in it will not.  In Thessalonians 4:17 the Bible says that when Christ returns for the believers who are alive they will meet him in the “clouds” and the dead will rise first in verse 16.  Notice though that Christ is not on the Earth he is in the Clouds.  Why? Because he is taken his Bride out of the way.  Out of the way of what?  Judgment!!

One day Religion will be destroyed.  This event will take place towards the end of the seven-year tribulation period.  Revelation 17:1 “And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of wrath, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come here; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters”.  In Revelation 17 we have Babylon the harlot, which represents religion.  In the OT (book of Hosea) Israel is the wife that turns to a harlot in the picture of Hosea’s wife Gomer.  In the NT the Church is the bride and is promised to be united with the bridegroom Jesus Christ.  However there is a harlot and she has always been around. She goes all the way back to Genesis 11 in the history of Babel.  Babel desired to build a tower to over take God.  God put an end to that by changing their language to the point they could not communicate.  However the spirit has never died.  As John said the “spirit of the antichrist” is already among us in I John 4:3.  You see over time man has always wanted to worship.  We are created to be beings to worship God, but by our sinful nature we reject the things of God.  However the desire of worship is still there.  This is why there are religions all over the earth of every kind, so man can feel his desire to worship.  The Church is filling that void for many today.  It gives them a place or something to worship, but they worship the creation not the Creator.  When Jesus returns for his bride there will be several Churches barely affected.  If you noticed in the seven Churches of Asia study I have just went through there are more bad characteristics then good.  Today there are more lost than saved in most Churches.  How do I know?  Well as my pastor once said the men in the Bible who were filled with the Holy Spirit were constantly leading others to Christ.  Today either we are rarely filled with the Spirit or fewer are truly saved.  So when the Church is quickly vanished the world will go on and it will be Church as usual with one exception.  Nobody will be witnessing Jesus in the Church.  Jesus will be removed from Church worship and religion will be king.  Sin will be forgotten.  Nobody will preach sin instead it will be that old custom as “do as thou wilt”.  You see we are funneling down to that point now.  The movement that is going on is progressing to end and the harlot Church.  Just think how many people are in love with their Church.  Someday it may house the worship of idolatry, with sexual perversion and drunkenness.  You may say no way, but I say look at what is happening now.  Pastors trading drugs to young boys so they can sleep with them and bribe them to keep quite.  Lesbian pastors, Homosexual pastors, pedophile members, and swingers in the pews.  We have a sin problem in our Churches.  It is not ok to trade spouses.  It is not ok to have strippers come to men’s Sunday School classes.  It is not ok ignore sin and promote sinners.  Folks this is happening all over the world and we will continue to funnel down in the wrong direction.  All of these small things that we think will never happen at our Church can creep in over time.  It is like the Casting Crowns son “Slow Fade”.  Don’t be in love with the Church be in love with Jesus.  Should a bride love herself more than the groom? 

Isn’t it great to know we don’t have to be a part of this.  God has called us to be holy just as he is holy.  We have to acknowledge our sins and repent of them.  We have to study his word and seek him.  We have to witness to the lost and pray for them.  We have to worship the King and adore the name of Jesus.  Oh how I love Jesus!  Why he loves me I will never understand but graciously accept his love!  I can be encouraged because Jesus is coming soon.  Paul said that we are to encourage one another by the coming of Jesus Christ.  I love going to Church and I can’t wait until the next meeting.  I am not going to let the bad keep me out of his worship because when he returns for his Church I want to be ready.

Jesus Saves,

RR

Post Christian Church Age IX

Praise God for his goodness!  Today we come to the seventh of the seven Churches of Asia study.  It is a Church that a lot of “Church” people have heard about.  Laodicea is the lowest of the low.  They make Corinth look like a bunch of Apostle Pauls.  This is the saddest portion of scripture in these two chapters.  Again I want to reiterate that we are not living in a Church age called the Laodicea age, but instead we live in a time that many people resemble the characteristics of Laodicea.  We have to keep in mind that there are God’s people all over the world who are doing his work and making a difference.  Elijah thought he was the only one left and God reminded him that there were 7000 fired up men of God who had not bowed to Baal the pagan god.  Now let’s look at the scripture and see what God’s word says.  

1.    The Church at Laodicea

Revelation 3:15-16 says, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So, then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth."

When you study the Bible you have to do so in context in order to understand the scripture.  I want to point out two words in the first sentence that describe the seriousness of the condition.  “Cold” and “Hot”.  If you have read through the earlier posts then you may recall the Church at Sardis.  They were according to the scripture “dead”.  In this verse the “cold” is the “dead”.  In my last post I covered Philadelphia.  They were the Church who were sold out to Christ or in other words they are the “hot”.  However with Laodicea we have a “lukewarm” bunch.  You know when I think of lukewarm I always think of coffee that has just been setting for a long time.  Isn’t coffee wonderful?  Seriously, its awesome, but when it gets lukewarm it is terrible.  However I like iced coffee drinks.

Well apparently lukewarm Church members make God sick, but here lies the real problem and that is they are lost and have never been saved.  Many believe and teach that this is an apostate Church and like I said in my earlier posts I to have learned over time that I was just wrong about some of things I have taught in regards to this subject myself.  I will cover apostates in the upcoming post(s) when I summarize this series and we look at the movement of the Church.  For now we are going to look at this in the context.

Laodicea says “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”.  Wow!  Do you see America?  Isn’t funny how people are always saying and singing God Bless America?  What else can God do for America?  What about the Church?  I will bet you money that at the next Church meeting you are in 85% of the prayer request will be for the sick.  Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with praying and ministering to the sick, but how many times do you see it in the early Church history recorded in the Bible?  My point is this, we are so far removed from real worship that the only thing we need God to do in the Church in America is heal our neighbor or a loved one.  I mean this in no disrespect, but if somebody tells you tomorrow that I am facing death don’t be surprised because 100% of the people I know are as well.  So what should we be praying about?   Jesus said in verse 17 “ and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”  What is he saying?  Christ is telling the Church of Laodicea that they need to get it in gear and realize they are trapped in a sinful disgusting lifestyle that is separated them from God.

In verse 18 he says, “I counsel you to buy from me”.  I love this!  Seriously, I love this!  What are you buying?  No, not from Wal-Mart, what are you buying from this world?  Some people buy into the talk shows and the political correctness nonsense.  Some people buy into politics as if “we got all of the people from this side our country would be fixed”.  Some people are buying into fashion thinking, “if I only had this then I would be happy”.  I see young girls buying into the idea I need to look like this supermodel in order to have value.  I see adults sinking into depression because they are filling their life with material things to replace the void of the Holy Spirit.  You know I could go on all day with this, but what matters is what are you buying?  Jesus in this verse mentions gold, white garments, and eye salve.  These are major industrial products that were common to these people.  You see Christ is offering them the spiritual by using material products in a matter they can relate to. 

I said this was the saddest for a reason.  It is my opinion that those who are in this category will have a very slim chance of getting out of their lost state.  However it is possible or Christ would not have offered them repentance in verse 19.  You know what kind of Church member is the Laodicean?  They are the ones who don’t know that they are not hot or cold.  Because they are warm enough to know they are not cold and cool enough to know they are not hot.  This means they are lost and have no clue.  When the invitation is given they don’t even consider their own sole needs to get right.  They have no discernment and no conviction of the Holy Spirit.  This means the only way they can be saved is by a overwhelming moving of the Spirit.  What if the next time there were prayer request you said, “I want us to pray for the lost Church members”?  Well you may stir up a mess, but you would get an Amen from me! 

Now we have came to the end of the seven Churches and it is time for us to look at the movement of the Church that I spoke of in the very beginning of this study.  In the next posts I will begin where we began.  Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  Everything in this world is moving towards the end.  The world is changing and so is the Church. What is happening?  What do you need to do to prepare?

Jesus Saves,

RR

Post Christian Church Age VIII

Today as I write this it is beautiful outside and a blessed day to live in East Tennessee.  God’s glory is all around us and he is manifested in the fall colors with the cloudless sky and sunshine on English mountain.  I am excited about today’s post because it is breath of fresh air from some of the topics I have covered so far.  This section of scripture is just another reminder that not all is lost in the mission of the Church and Christianity.  Too many times I see Church members who are so hurt or tired of the conflicts and they just want to give up.  Be encouraged by the reading of God’s word.  Every trial that we have in our life is to display the glory of God.  You know Paul said that if there had not been law he would not have known what sin was in Romans 7.  The same can be said about our trials.  If we didn’t have them then we wouldn’t have known how God worked in our lives.  You know I think sometimes that I wish I could have made different choices when I was younger and then my life would be better some how.  However the friends, family, and Church family that I have are results of God’s plan not mine, and I am so glad he is in control and not me because I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Now let’s look at the scripture in regards to the sixth of the seven Churches.

1.    The Church at Philadelphia

Revelation 3:8 says, "I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name."

The Church at Philadelphia is a Church on fire for God.  Most commentaries call it the Church in revival.  I guess I can agree with that however revival is a snapshot of time.  It means to revive from a dead state.  That is what The Church at Sardis needed to be revived.  All born again believers will experience revival in their Christian life.  We have ups and down and sometimes we get sidetracked and fell to serve Christ the way we should and his love brings us back into the fold.  This begins a revival in us and we get back on track.

Philadelphia is not a perfect Church but they are a great Church.  I want us to look at one particular statement our Lord makes in regards to this Church.  “I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.” (Rev 3:8)  Paul refers to a door being open in I Corinthians 16:9, II Corinthians 2:12, and Colossians 4:3 as an opportunity of service for the Lord.  We also see in the closing of this subject in verse 19 that Christ says he “stands at the door and knocks”.  I believe that what we see here in scripture is the Lord is saying to Philadelphia that because of their consistent loyalty and work to build the Kingdom of God he has opened a door of communion with them so that they will have insight in regards to the will of God as well have discernment when handling the enemy.  You will notice in verse 9 there were some who were coming against them and Christ called them the synagogue of Satan.  This meant they were Jews who denied the messianic nature and deity of Christ and were working to destroy the Church in its early stages.

We all need an open door in our relationship with Christ.  I have met some Church members that resemble the Church at Philadelphia.  They were the kind of people that cared for souls.  They pray for the lost and the broken and they constantly seek God’s will in prayer.  Here is the thing we need to understand and that is God has offered us an open door of communion.  We can have insight to God’s desire for our lives.  We can have closeness with him to encourage us in the darkest hours and to encourage those who need us in their time of trouble.  What we have to avoid is having so much clutter that we can’t get to the door.   

God loves you and he loves me.  I have met so many people that never could grasp that.  How much does he love me?  He decided he would take his sons life for my wretched soul.  Think about that!  God took his sons life to give life to millions upon millions of people who don’t even consider him.  If he would do that do you not think he wants to have an open door relationship with you so that you will know what he wants from you and know how much he cares?  The Church at Philadelphia got it and they resemble the believer who knows their Savior!

May God bless you and keep you!

Jesus Saves,

RR   

Post Christian Church Age VII

Praise God and welcome back!  Today I want us to look at the fifth of seven Churches in Revelation 2-3.  The Church at Sardis is the next one in line and it is one that represents many Churches and Church members that I know.  Let’s look at the scriptures and see what similarities they have with our current day.      

1.    The Church at Sardis

Revelation 3:1 says, "... I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and [but] art dead."

Have you ever been to a dead Church?  The Church at Sardis was dead.  What makes a dead Church?  Dead members who have no desire to change create a dead atmosphere.  This was exactly the problem at Sardis.  They had the make up of what people would consider to Church, but there is no passion.  Today we have Churches that have somebody to do all the different roles, the bulletin gets printed, the sanctuary gets decorated, the Church gets cleaned, the sermon gets preached, the Sunday School lesson gets taught, and all the things that we consider Church get done.  The Problem is that nothing happens.   There is no movement of the spirit and Christ is not glorified.

For some reason we overlook the serious of this condition.  In my opinion this is one of the most serious conditions that a Church or a Church member can possibly be in.  We look at the obvious outspoken sin and clearly identify there is a problem, but when people look like Christians and are not causing a problem their just inactive and have no passion we overlook the seriousness of the condition.  It is not ok to be dead. If a person is dead there is one of two reasons they are in that condition.

1.    The most likely reason is they are not saved.  To be saved means that the Holy Spirit resides inside of a person.  They are reborn and the old man is dead.  It is the old man that is controlled by desires and who Satan has power over.  Paul describes in Romans 6 after the old man is dead the new man is resurrected just as Christ was resurrected.  The Holy Spirit controls the new man unlike the old man, which is controlled by desires and evil influences of the prince of darkness.  Jesus told his disciples that he was leaving them but the Father would send unto them the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit.  Christ lives inside of us through the Holy Spirit.  Now if someone acts if they are dead then what man is resembled the old or the new?  Paul says the sin equals death.  It is the reward, wage, or payment of sin.  So if someone acts dead spiritually this cannot resemble the new man.  The Holy Spirit does not make men act like knots on a log.  He gives men life not death.  When a person is saved they may make mistakes and have down days, but living a spiritually dead life is not a characteristic of salvation.  I will cover more of this subject down the road when I go over the fruits of the spirit.

2.    The other way a person can be in this position is that they are saved but are in a backslidden lifestyle and have separated themselves from God.  This is a temporary place for someone to be.  You cannot stay there long if you are in this category.  Israel found themselves in backslidden positions often.  Some generations repented and came back to God and some did not.  In the scripture here in Revelation Christ has sent the message to them to repent or unexpected “thief” judgment would come upon them.

The Lord says in Genesis 6:3 that “his spirit will not dwell with man forever”.  There is an end to all things that we know of as the normal world in which we live.  To many people go to Church and think they have done God a favor.  I do not understand why people go to Church and are dead.  Personally I would go and do something I enjoyed instead of going to Church and not enjoying it.  For so many people the only joy that get out of going to Church is seeing people, hearing the gossip, going out to eat later, or some other lame form of fun.  Church should be a place to rejoice the risen Savior who was beaten for our transgressions.  It is a place that we should be able to sing his songs read his word and testify his works in our life.  It is the place that we should go to prepare ourselves for the fields that we will enter into during the week and help all that we can.  Anyone who is not excited about going to Church has an issue with God and they need to fix it!

Look forward to sharing more of God’s word this week for his glory!

Jesus Saves,

RR   

Post Christian Church Age VI

 Today I am covering the Church at Thyatira and like the other Churches we have seen in these scriptures it also will have reverence with our current day Church members.  The issue at this Church is false doctrine.  Not only is doctrine and issue but a second generation of false doctrine has came into the Church at Thyatira.

1.    The Church at Thyatira

Revelation 2:20 says, "Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou allowest that woman, Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols."

First lets clear up who Jezebel is.  This is not the OT Jezebel who was married to the wicked King Ahab.  However is lady is just as cancerous to the local Church.  We have several of them among us today.  She is a self proclaimed prophetess and a leader of the Church.  She teaches sexual immorality and it is promoted in the Church.  She also promotes eating the things sacrificed unto idols.

The sexual immorality issue should be obvious as to why this is not allowed.  God has commanded us to be clean and righteous.  Sexual immorality destroys marriages and homes.  It leads to incest, rape, sexual abuse, and pedophilia.  Today every time we turn on the news we see a young lady or little girl has been found dead and left in the darkened woods or some dirty dumpster site because her predator took her life after he satisfied his desire.  God designed sex to be between one man and woman in a married union.  There are no exceptions in scripture.

The eating the things sacrificed to idols is a little different for us to understand.  It doesn’t sound appealing and nor was it to the Jews.  It was against their laws and their culture.  This subject is also associated with sexual immorality throughout scripture.  The meats that came from the animals sacrificed in false pagan rituals with sexual immorality going on in the backdrop would be sold to butchers to sale.  Here is the issue.  This is a matter of discipline and control as well as cleanliness and holy living.

Today in our Churches there are spiritual matters that are similar to the issues at the Church at Thyatira.  We have allowed sexual perversion in our Churches and we have done so by media.  Our young ladies don’t know who Ruth was but they want to be like a Hollywood actress that glorifies carnal beauty.  Our young men don’t know the temptations that Joseph overcame but desire to be like their favorite athlete who caves to temptations.  Why?  Because the doctrine has been watered down. 

There is a social gospel that encourages men to be the person that they want to be not the person God has called them to be.  To many Church members today are still living in the old man body and mind.  Sin is not being rebuked in the Church like God’s word clearly reads.  When preachers do preach the Gospel and rebuke sin many see him as being negative.  Many Church members have decided that is better let people conduct themselves in any matter they feel fit rather than someone consider them to be old fashion.  The social gospel is sending people to hell.  If you are living in un-repented sin you must repent.  You cannot live like the devil and enter the Kingdom of God.  Don’t take my word for it let’s look at God’s word.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?  Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionist, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (ICor 6:9-10)

The social gospel ignores the Gospel.  The reason that so many are compromising doctrine today is because they have no love for the word of God.  Instead of reading his word they covet mans word.  You see Paul says in the next verse that so were some of us like these overtaken by sin but we were washed, sanctified, and justified by the name of Jesus Christ.  Now that is the Gospel!

The Church at Thyatira had no self-discipline and neither do many Church people today.  They covet because they say its normal or because God wants them to be blessed.  We have an epidemic of gluttony in our Churches.  I have never heard gluttony rebuked in Church but I have seen people eat until they needed a cart to role them out of the fellowship hall.  I just saw on the news that within the next couple of years 42% of Americans will be obese.  What’s the big deal?  Gluttony clouds the minds of the fortunate to the point they don’t understand the need of others.  Here is my point in case.  Today 26,000 children will die because they starved to death.  Starvation is one of the most cruel and inhumane ways to die.  The body will begin to eat it’s self.  I have heard of children eating dirt and leaves just to put something in their stomach to minimize the hunger pains.  The muscles in the body will deteriorate because the lack of proteins the body has received will cause the body to eat the muscles.  The child’s head will throb in pain and the body will slowly shut down because the lack of carbohydrates the body needs to create energy is not available.  This process is slow and can take several weeks.  It is a slow and painful death.

God wants us to make a difference!  He created all men in the likeness of his image so that he may be glorified.  There are people all around us that need our help.  They like us were created in the same glory.  The first thing we have to do before we can make a change is let God make a change in us.  We need to be cleaned and made pure in his sight and let his spirit work in our lives.

Look forward to several new posts starting this Monday!

Jesus Saves

RR