Prayer for the Church in America, Nov 2018

Prayer for the Church in America, Nov 2018

Father, forgive us our sins!

Father, forgive those who You call by Your name for allowing immorality, a lack of integrity, sexual perversion, greed, self promotion and division in Your Body the Church. Forgive us that we except these sins as normal. Call us back to Your Light, Life and Love.

Father, forgive Your Body the Church that we have excepted and integrated what the world says to the point that we look like them and not like Jesus. Call us back to Your Light, Life and Love.

Father, forgive Your people who enjoy and desire the pleasures of the world more than the works of Your Kingdom. Forgive Your people who seek the comfort of life rather than being conformed to Christ. Forgive Your people who want to serve You according to their desire rather than Your gift and calling. Call us back to Your Light, Life and Love.

Father, forgive those who call themselves by Your name but openly reject Your Word and Your will. Call them out of the darkness of death and fear into Your Light, Life and Love.

Father, thank You that You are working repentance into the heart of Your people. Thank You that You are calling us out of the darkness of deception into the Light of Your presence. Thank You that You are calling us out of eternal death into Your eternal Life. Thank You that You are calling us out of the false love of religion into Your true Love.

Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace through this time of judgment and correction to Your Body the Church, as You work Your Light, Life and Love into our life.

A Prayer for the Government 2018

A Prayer for the Government 2018

Father, thank You that Your will in being done in the United States and it’s territories as it is in Heaven.

Father, thank You for the government that You have given us. Thank You for the men and women who were elected on November 6^th to the federal, state, county, city and municipal positions. Thank You that You are working through them to complete Your purposes in the United States and it’s territories. Thank You that You have given us the government that we deserve based on our morality, integrity and righteousness as a nation, a state, a county, a city a municipality.

Father, thank You that You are calling us as a nation to repentance for our sins of immorality, lack of integrity, greed, pride, murder, perversion and our outright rejection of You and Your will for us.

Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace on us as You bring judgment and correction to our lives, families, societies, industries, finances, medias and every level of government. Thank You for Your grace and mercy as You restore the United States and it’s territories to being Your Light and salt to the world.

Father, thank You that You have and are raising up men and women who will serve Your will in the United States and it’s territories and to stand alongside Israel, Your first and only other nation called to be Your Light and salt to the nations.

Truth and Freedom

Truth and Freedom

Many people including non-believers quote Jesus, one example is, “Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Most including believers do not truly understand what Jesus is saying and so they misuse this quote to speak of being free from something because they have learned a truth. That is not what Jesus was saying, the misunderstanding comes from not quoting the full statement and understanding the context in which Jesus was teaching. Jesus was teaching! He never just gave out quotable quotes! Everything He said is a lesson to be learned and lived, that’s why He said He would send His Holy Spirit to remind us of everything He said (John 14:25-26).

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My Word you are My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free?’” Jesus answered, “Truthfully I tell you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:31-36) There is so much in these verses but I am going to stay on subject.

In the natural the Jews were at that time under bondage to the Romans and had been under bondage to numerous nations throughout their history going back to Egypt. But Jesus was not speaking about natural bondage, He was talking about spiritual bondage and the Jews knew it that is why they could say they had never been under bondage to anyone. But, they had, they had been under bondage to baal, ashtora, magog, molech and many other false demonic gods throughout their history. But, Jesus brings it right to the heart of the matter – sin! Sin has ruled over humanity since the Garden of Eden and it ruled over every Jew.

So the freedom Jesus was teaching them about was from sin, no longer being a slave to sin. The truth was that they, like us were slaves to sin, under the bondage of doing what sin required with the eternal result of judgment and damnation. Jesus was talking about being free from the rule and power of sin and its eternal consequences. Study John 8 and Romans.

Here is a cross reference to John 8:32, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:17 Jesus said this after He washed the feet of the 12 disciples during the Passover supper. The context is this statement to them is, So When He had washed their feet, taken His garments and sat down again, He said “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and LORD, and you say well for so I Am. If I then, your LORD and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Truthfully, I tell you a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:12-17 also study Proverbs 22:17-21.

Now Jesus is not talking to the crowds but to His 12 select disciples and He is giving them an example of being a servant not a ruler. Jesus came as The LORD and Master, The Teacher, The Savior: but, He also came as a servant not lording over His disciples and the nation of Israel His authority and power, but teaching them how to live in it as servants. Jesus exampled for us being a ruling servant: we are to rule over His enemies while serving His creation by doing the will of the Father in the earth as it is in Heaven!

These are the keys, “Do you know what I have done to you? You should do as I have done to you!” We cannot be free from the sin of lording over others until we know the truth. Jesus the LORD of all creation in the heavens, in the seas, in the earth and under the earth came in obedience to the Father as a servant to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death. The proof of our understanding is doing the will of GOD in the earth as it is in Heaven as a servant to all whether sinner or saint. Like Jesus we have to cry out to our Father in Heaven, “Not my will, but Your will be done!” If we serve GOD how we want only doing what we feel called to do rather than seeking first His Kingdom for our life (what He gifted and called us to do).

That’s another scripture that is often misused, Matthew 6:33, “Seek you first the Kingdom of GOD and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” That is almost exclusively taught as a provision and prosperity verse because that is what Jesus had been talking about, food and clothing and in another passage, appearance, He also talked about shelter. These are not the things of GOD’s Heavenly Kingdom that He wants us to seek! He wants us to seek Him, His righteousness and His Heavenly Kingdom. Food, clothing, shelter and health are the side effects of seeking GOD first and His will for our life, not the goal of seeking GOD first for our life!

Remember the parable of the houses built on sand or solid rock, Matthew 7:24-28, from all He said from the beatitudes, the Our Father prayer, in-depth defining of the commandments and the LORD, LORD statement He concluded with the fact that if we do not know and keep His commandments, if we do not build our life on the foundation of who He is, our life’s work will be lost and possibly us with it. Study (Matthew 5 – 7)

Remember, it is not about me nor is it about you, it is about Jesus and Him lifted up so that humanity is drawn from darkness to His Light, Life and Love!

Matthew 7:21-23 and 24:15-28 (Sheep and goats)

Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 24:15-28

What is the difference between the goats of the world and the sheep of GOD’s Kingdom and what about those who think they are sheep but are not? These two passages deal with these issues and to me it seems clear but many Christians cannot tell the difference.

The sheep and goats of Matthew 24 is easier no matter what your perception the scriptures are clear. The sheep are those who believe that Jesus is the Son of GOD, that He was born of a virgin, that He lived a sinless life overcoming every temptation that came against Him, that He obediently and willingly went to the cross, healing us by the scourging of His back (by His stripes), washes us clean of our sins by the shedding of His blood, takes upon Himself our judgment as sinners so that we will not be judged by Almighty GOD, rose from the grave defeating death and hell and giving us resurrection and eternal life, sent His Spirit (Holy Spirit) to live in us to teach, council, and use us to complete the will of GOD in the earth, ascended to Heaven and seated us with Himself at the Father’s right hand giving us His authority over powers, principalities  and rulers of darkness; that is born again, Spirit filled friends of Jesus who do the will of God in the earth as it is in Heaven by keeping His commandments and doing the works of GOD; those who study and live the Bible as light and salt to do the will of GOD in the earth as it is in Heaven. The goats are those who do not believe all of that and do not live it.

Matthew 7 makes it clear that there are those who believe they are sheep but they are really goats. How can that be? It is easy to explain but may be hard to except. The gift and calling of GOD is without repentance or irrevocable. There are many who claim to be atheists but in life they found the gift and calling GOD formed in them in their mother’s womb have exercised it to their benefit and even the benefit of others, yet they still deny GOD. There are those who had some sort of religious experience and have joined a works orientated group that calls themselves Christian. There are those who had some kind of religious experience and have found the gift and call GOD placed in them in their mother’s womb but, they use it for their own glory and gain rather than as a sacrifice to Jesus; they might be called to be a missionary but soon develop a missionary training organization that sends our missionaries while they live the good life at home. I know, I  went from being s Spirit filled new believer (sheep) to being a goat, to seeing where I really was and repenting and returning to the sheep fold of Jesus. Only GOD knows the sheep from the goats, that is why He divides them and judges them as seen in both teachings (these are not parables, Jesus is teaching Kingdom truths).

We are not called to judge but only to discern the difference. We are called to love one another as Jesus loves us, to love our neighbor as we love ourself and to do the will of GOD in the earth as it is in Heaven or to seek first the Kingdom of GOD and His righteousness.

Education, Experience or wisdom

Today most people say you need a good education to get ahead in life, some say all you need is experience, the reality is that we need both. But, education and experience together are not enough, we need something that only comes from GOD and is only available to those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of GOD and the Savior of the world, His Spirit, Holy Spirit!

James in speaking to believers says, “If anyone of you lacks wisdom let him ask GOD who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given him. But, let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind. Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the LORD; for he is a double minded man unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8.

A good example of this is King Saul: Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Look you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD and the LORD said, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me that I should not reign over them.” Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel that he may save My people from the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people because their cry has come to Me.” So when Samuel saw Saul the LORD said, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.” Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance?” When Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. When he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families the family of Matri was chosen. Saul the son of Kish was chosen but when they sought him he could not be found. Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, “Has the man come here yet?” The LORD answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.” So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” So all the people shouted, “Long live the King!” Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly, you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your GOD, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom shall not continue.” So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel and fought against all his enemies on every side. The word of the LORD came to Samuel, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as King for he has turned back from following Me and has not preformed My commandments.” As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe and it tore. So Samuel said, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. The Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. (Excerpts from I Samuel chapters 8-15)

Study I Samuel 8 thru 15 to understand the rise and fall of Saul, the only time he sought the wisdom of the LORD was when he was looking for his father’s lost donkeys and even then it was at the urging of his father’s servant who was with him. GOD raised up Saul and gave him everything he needed to be king and reign over the nation of Israel and defeat all of its enemies. GOD gave Saul many opportunities to repent and to seek Him and to keep His commandments, but Saul did not seek for GOD’s wisdom in how to accomplish all the he was called to do as king he did not even seek the LORD when he knew he had sinned and needed to repent, he asked Samuel to pray to the LORD for him to be forgiven. Therefore Saul did everything in his own understanding and strength and they always failed him.

Compare Saul to David whom GOD chose to replace Saul, David was a man of violence and sinned before the LORD, yet GOD called David, “A man after My own heart.” Why? Because he kept the commandments of the LORD and he always truly repented and personally sought the wisdom of GOD in everything that he did. Study 1 Samuel 16 thru 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Kings 1 thru 2.

Solomon the son of David asked for the wisdom of GOD to rule the people of Israel and the LORD gave it to him. He became the wisest and richest King of Israel ever and his reign was a reign of peace and prosperity for Israel. Yet he turned away from the LORD and GOD divided the kingdom between his son Rehoboam and one of Solomon’s servants, Jeroboam. GOD gave the northern kingdom of 10 tribes to Jeroboam and Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. Both Rehoboam and Jeroboam rejected the wisdom of GOD and sought to reign as they desired. Study 1 Kings 2 thru 14.

So education, experience and the wisdom of the LORD is not enough if we are to serve the LORD we must also be humble and repentant, obeying His commandments as given not as we interpret them. We must seek His Kingdom first and do His will above everything else.

If we do not have His Spirit living in us and do not have His wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment we will not be able to keep His commandments and do His will! GOD’s commandments are in His Word to humanity, the Bible. His wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment are found as we learn and live His Word and follow the instruction and discipline of His Holy Spirit.

It’s the without and within lifestyle of Christianity that allows us to hear GOD, know GOD and serve GOD. If we believe GOD’s Word in our heart and live it for everyone to see in humility as the LORD directs then we can be friends of Jesus not servants, John 15:9-17, “As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments you shall abide in My love, just as I have kept My father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”

To be the friend of GOD we must obey Him and keep His commandments! If we are the friend of GOD then we will keep His commandments and obey Him!

Friendship with GOD is produced by obedience because obedience is better than sacrifice. Sacrifice is religious works that bear no fruit just responsibility and guilt in not being able to perform or pride and judgment of others in selfrighteousness rather than humbly recognizing our personal need of GOD’s presence, guidance and love. Study Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John and Jude.

Life and Death

Life and Death

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to His death,,,” Philippians 3:10.

Most of us understand the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering even if we do not want to experience them, well the suffering part for sure.

We all want the power of His resurrection working out in our life now, we want the resurrection life of Christ while we live this life. Many of us understand the fellowship of His suffering part of which is the testing, trials and tribulations of life as a Christian. Reject by family, friends and the world even as Christ experienced it is also part of the suffering. People calling our transformed life and the works of GOD that we do as stupid and evil, etc.

To me the crux of this passage is being conformed to His death, in the King James it says unto, to me this has a deeper meaning. In modern English the word to has a pretty generic meaning, we used to have two words, to and too. To was a designation or destination like, “Take me to the store.” Too meant to be included like also, “When I went to the store my wife went too.” All that to say that unto has a greater meaning today than to. I want to be included in His death, I don’t just want to understand what it means for my life I want to experience His death.

How do we do that? How do we experience Jesus’ death? The answer is in the Gospels! Jesus said several times, “Take up your cross.” A couple of times He included, “..and follow Me.”, He made these statements to the Jews in general and to His disciples specifically. He also said a couple of times, “If you save your life you will lose it and if you lose your life for My sake you will live.”, again He made these statements to both the Jews in general and specifically to His disciples.

So what was Jesus telling us that Paul stated he desired to do? Become a Christian, get crucified and die? Not in a physically literal sense! But, in a practically literal sense! Just like Jesus who left His glory as GOD to be born as a man and live a natural physical human life, He faced temptation just as we do, He resisted sin just as we are supposed too, Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing and He only said what He heard the Father saying. When once as a man when He struggled with the suffering He faced He called out to His Father, “If it is possible let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless not My will but Your’s be done.” Jesus did what He taught us to do, He did the will of His Father over what He preferred knowing the physical, emotional and spiritual suffering that He was about to experience!

When the scriptures say, “Obedience is better that sacrifice.”, this is what it means. Yet sometimes obedience is sacrifice, even unto death, as it says in Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and not loving their lives over death.” The same thing that Paul was saying to the Philippians, to experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection you must participate in His suffering and be fully conformed to His death.

The death of self to your own physical, emotional and spiritual desires and needs; death of self to what the world (family, society, culture, religion) says and offers physically, emotionally and spiritually, death of self to everything that is not what GOD is doing and saying to us!

How do we know what GOD is doing and saying? By reading and studying His word, the Bible, to humanity everyday; by spending time waiting on Him (in His presence) worshiping, praying and listening everyday; by asking His Holy Spirit who lives in us as born again believers in Jesus Christ to remind and teach us everything that Jesus said; by asking Him for His wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment; by seeking His gifts of the Spirit (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, diverse tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healing, prophecy and faith ) and His Spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance) in our life.

When we are fully yielded to Him it is easier to live the life He formed, called and gifted us to live (His will) over the life of our desires (our will).

Study Philippians 3 and the Gospels, do a word search on obedience is better than sacrifice you will find that Jesus, Moses, David, several prophets, and Paul said it so it must be important.

Free Will?

Free Will

Free will, there is a deception! What is free about it? Yes it did not cost us anything to get it GOD gave it to us when He created us in His image. The difference is that He is GOD and we are not, He is Pure and we are not, He is Just and we are not, He is Righteous and we are not, He is Truth and we are not, He is Perfect and we are not.

So when GOD created humanity in Adam and Eve He gave them free will and Adam sinned by disobeying one simple rule, “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” That was the only rule! There were no other rules, they were to take care of the garden, but that was not a rule that was a responsibility based on their keeping the one rule.

Being GOD, He knew that this would be a problem otherwise why would Jesus have been crucified before the foundation of the world was laid. So GOD already had a plan of salvation for humanity when He created humanity in His image with free will.

The ability to freely choose came at a price, Jesus’ life and death as the sacrifice for sin for humanity. To redeem us back to the Father because that first act of free will gave away our responsibility and therefore our rights. Ever since then we have struggled with doing what is good or what is evil and most decide to do what is not good.

How do I come to that conclusion? Just look at the world, less than half of the people of the world claim to believe in the GOD of the Bible (who is the only true GOD), and less than half of them actually know and obey GOD.

The other deception about free will is that it is a right. We have the right to chose as we will. Actually it is only an ability and the choices we make all come with consequences. We are actually only choosing to obey GOD or not to obey GOD; every time we make a free will choice we are either obeying or disobeying GOD.

Therefore our free will choice just as Adam’s free will choice determine the current and next phase of our life based on the consequences of the results of our choice. When we choose to obey GOD the consequences will work to our favor and good, but when we choice disobedience to GOD then the consequences always lead to death. That was the known consequence for Adam and Eve and it is the know consequence for all humanity when we choose self will over GOD’s will.

Self will always leads to death and GOD’s will always leads to life. The consequences of sin is death and the consequences of obedience is life.

Jesus said He only came to do the will of His Father and we saw that in the garden of Gethsemane. “Father, if this cup could pass from Me, but not My will but Yours be done.” He also taught us to seek the Father’s will for ourself. “Our Father who is in Heaven, holy is Your name, Your Kingdom come Your will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven.” “Seek first the Kingdom of GOD and His righteousness and all of these things will be added to you.”

If doing the Father’s will was the only option for Jesus it should be the only option for us!

We have a free will but it is neither free nor a right and our decisions always come with consequences whether good or bad.