BUILDING A MANSION FOR JESUS

August 25, 2016 at 8:18 PM (From The Bible, Musings)
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If you could build a house for Jesus, if He asked you to build a house for Him, what would it look like? How big would it be? What would the floor plan be like? How would you furnish and decorate it? How much would it cost you? Or how much money would you spend on His house? For us who really love our Lord, we doubtless would spare no expense to build Jesus as lavish a mansion as we could possibly afford. If money wasn’t an issue or a limitation with us, we would build Him the best and the nicest mansion that money can buy. And we’d put it on a huge estate like the ones that kings and royalties have.

What if, instead of building Him a house, Jesus wanted to come and live with us in our house. What would we do to our house to make it truly fit for a King? You’d probably spend a lot of time cleaning the place up, maybe even remodeling it, so that Jesus would have a nice, clean, house to live in. You’d make sure that Jesus had the nicest room in the house.

On somewhat of a related note, I’m one who likes to drop by unannounced to pay you a visit. I know it’s a courteous thing to call in advance and see if it’s alright to drop by. But I wasn’t brought up that way. Everybody on the island was like me: you visited family and friends without an invitation or advance notice. We valued your presence and visit! And it didn’t matter to us, or them, what our house happened to look like at the moment. We were just glad you dropped by for a visit.

Now that I’m stateside and married to a Caucasian, I’ve learned that dropping by unexpectedly just isn’t nice: it doesn’t give the woman of the house a chance to clean the place up. A woman wants to make sure her house is nice and clean when company comes. A clean house gives people a good impression of a woman as being a good housekeeper.

The point is, we want our house to be nice, clean, and presentable for company. When that company happens to be someone who’s important, powerful, famous, or rich (like a politician, entertainer, or professional athlete), we work extra hard and long to make sure our place is as immaculate as possible.

I understand that God might not be as consumed about the presentability of our house as we are. He was, after all, born in a stable. A feeding trough was His crib. In this way, He really wasn’t picky about where He was born or lived.

But I’m sure Joseph and Mary took whatever time they had to clean the stable and trough. There was no way there were going to let their newborn Baby lie in a filthy bed!

The point is, we want to make sure that Jesus lives in as nice and as clean a house as possible. No way are we going to let Him stay in a pig sty of a home!

Some of you, perhaps many of us, can breathe a sigh of relief that Jesus Himself isn’t dropping by for a visit. Some aren’t comfortable with the idea of Jesus coming to see where we live and how we live. We wouldn’t want Jesus staying too long, much less living with us, because, well, we just can’t be on our best behavior for that long a period of time! We can’t do some of the things we normally do (like watch a smutty TV show) as long as we know Jesus is around. We’d have to watch our language and cut out the profanity that comes so easily to a lot of professing Christians.

Would it trouble or alarm you if I told you that, while Jesus isn’t here bodily to pay us a visit, He nevertheless is here in Spirit to pay us a visit? He’s here not just to visit us, but to actually live and stay with us! He said in John 14:23, All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them.

The word home is an interesting one. It literally means what it means: a place to live, a home. There’s nothing cryptic about the word. What’s so interesting about it to me is it’s the same word Jesus used in John 14:2. A lot of translations say, In my Father’s house are many rooms. For those of you who grew up with the King James Version, In my Father’s house are many mansions. The words rooms, mansions, and home are all one and same word in the original Greek text of Scripture.

Let me put it together for you. In John 14:2, Jesus is going home to the Father in Heaven so that He can prepare a room, a home, or a mansion, for us. Wow! Jesus is building a place for us! Can you possibly imagine what our house or room will look like after Jesus is done getting it ready? The streets of Heaven are made of gold. The gates of the City are made of pearl. The foundations are made with all sorts of precious gems or stones. The richest people on Earth can’t hold a stick to Jesus when it comes to building the best!

While Jesus is busy getting our homes ready, through His Holy Spirit, both He and the Father are dwelling inside us. Our body is Their room, home, or mansion! Yikes! Jesus really is living with us! He’s staying in our house!

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Like a mansion, house, or Temple, our body is where the Father and Son live in Spirit.

So what does our house look like? I’m talking about our body. But not just our body, but our mind, our heart, our thoughts, desires, and passions. We said all along that, if Jesus wanted to come visit us, or live with us, we would clean house and make sure our house is so totally clean, immaculate, and nice for Jesus. Well, Jesus is living with us in Spirit. He’s living in our body. Our body is His house. It’s His mansion. We wouldn’t think of letting Jesus live in a pig sty of a house. Let’s not have Him live in a dirty, filthy body!

How does our house become dirty? We don’t clean it. We make a mess without cleaning up after ourselves. We’re not organized: we leave things wherever we want to without putting them in their proper place. We don’t wash what needs washed. We don’t take the time, some of us are just too tired or lazy, to keep our house looking nice and clean all the time. We don’t pick up, or take out, the trash. We don’t fix what’s broken. We pretty much  don’t do anything to the house except mess it up. Mostly, we don’t care what our house looks like.

It’s the same way with our body. Some people don’t care what they body looks like. They let their appetites go uncontrolled, eating a lot, eating what’s not healthy or good for the body; drinking and ingesting stuff that, over time and repeated intake, become poison. The unhealthy stuff that we eat and drink, after years of not caring or not being temperate, makes our body sick and diseased. We don’t exercise, lose weight, or eat healthy. We’re too lazy to take good care of our body. All we do is mess it up. A lot of us don’t care about what we’re doing to our body.

Then there’s the spiritual side of our body. We allow all sorts of bad, dirty, wicked thoughts and desires to enter and stay in our mind. We adopt a way of thinking that really is perverse and abominable in God’s sight. Like pigs frolicking in the mud, we like being human—that is being carnal, selfish, and sinful—that the thought of cleaning up our heart and mind, being righteous, and living a holy Christian life, just has no desire or appeal to us. We say we’re Christians. But, like our house and body, we’re too lazy to be a good Christian.

So let me ask you in closing. Since Jesus is living inside you, in your body, how are you taking care of your body? What are you doing to your body? Are you cleaning it up? Are you content to let Jesus live in the pig sty that you’ve made for yourself?

I hope not. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He’s fit to live in the nicest, cleanest, most beautiful house that money can buy and that men can build. Take a good, long look at your body, your appetites, the way you treat, or mistreat and abuse, your body. Look at how you’ve furnished your body—all the thoughts, desires, and ambitions that you’ve put in your heart and mind. Don’t you think it’s time, in a manner of speaking, to clean the place up, maybe even build Jesus a mansion that’s worthy of Him? Like Paul said in Romans 12:2, And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.

Does God find your house, your body, acceptable? See your body as Jesus’ mansion. If you want Jesus living in the mansion you’ve got, fine. But, in your heart of hearts, if you haven’t taken the time to clean the place up, make it beautiful, and appealing to Him; then start right now with the demolition and remodel. Build Him a home that He’d love to stay in. Build Him the best because He’s worthy of the best. Besides that,  He’s building the best for you.

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MY ANSWER’S YES

December 25, 2013 at 10:36 AM (From The Bible, Musings)
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You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  (6)  Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  (7)  Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form,  (8)  He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross, Philippians 2:5-8.

Most of you who know me well know that I don’t believe Jesus was born on Christmas. That doesn’t make me a heretic or a radical. And, just so you know that I’m so totally fair and honest with the facts, let me hasten to say that no one, but no one, ‘cept God Himself, knows exactly when Jesus was born. Having said that, however, the preponderance of Biblical testimony points to Jesus’ birth in the fall, sometime in late September thru October. But definitely not anywhere near December 25. It isn’t a big deal to me and it’s not worth fighting over. But I just happen to believe that if we Christians are gonna stand for the truth and insist that our beliefs, actions, and lifestyle be in accordance with the truth; then we’d be a lot closer to the truth if we celebrated Christ’s birth in the fall.

Having said that, today is Christmas 2013 and I started thinking about what ran through Jesus’ mind when the Father came to Him one day in Heaven’s glory and said, Son, I’ve got a plan to save mankind. But in order to do that you’re gonna have to go down to Earth, become a human being, and eventually die a very painful and humiliating death on a Roman cross. It’s a lot to ask, I know. But think about it and get back with me, okay?

Jesus was God. And, being God, He knew the end from the beginning. He knew what His life on Earth would be like before He even took His first breath as a human being. Think of the incomparable grandeur of Heaven’s palace. Now think of a stable with smelly animals; the poo and filth that’s typical of a stable. Think about rags for a robe. Then think about having to obey a very imperfect mom and dad. The Father’s the only Person He’s ever obeyed and had to obey. Think about being made fun of, being ridiculed, rejected, and called a deceiver. People even called Him the devil! Think of being pushed around, slapped, whipped, tortured, and made a public spectacle as He was nailed to the cross. I can imagine the pain and humiliation He must have felt. But the thing that I can’t imagine is Him bearing our sins, taking the punishment for them, and suffering the abandonment of His Father while He hung on the cross. The Father had never done that before. I know what it’s like having God feel so distant, so silent, so absent, from my life. I’m sure you too know the feeling. And you know it’s just plain dreadful not having God anywhere near. I would dread that so much that, if God ever abandoned me, I’d rather die right there on the spot than live a second more without His presence and love.

Anyhow, I think about all this and I know that Jesus knew full well what He’d be getting into if He consented to the Father’s plan. But, wonders of all wonders, He agreed to it and became one of us. Why? Because that’s how much He loved us and wanted to save us. But, love aside, Jesus was so totally submitted and obedient to the Father that even if it meant being humiliated and killed at the hands of sinful men, He was gonna obey the Father no matter what. He was gonna obey even if it killed Him.

Each one of us is at a level or a point of obedience. There are some things that we would obey God in. And truthfully, there are some things that we just won’t do for God. There’s no way we would obey God. Some would rather die than obey God in a certain matter or area of life.

I look at Christ. He was so totally willing to obey.  Psalms 40:6-8 puts it this way: You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that You have made me listen, I finally understand—You don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.  (7)  Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures:  (8)  I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your instructions are written on my heart.”

Back in the youthful days of my generation Andrae Crouch was the biggest name in Gospel music. One of the songs he sang was entitled Yes, Lord, yes. The lyrics go like this: I’ll say Yes, Lord, yes; To your will and to your way; I’ll say yes, Lord, yes; I will trust you and obey; When your Spirit speaks to me; With my whole heart I’ll agree; And my answer will be yes, Lord, yes.

How about you, dear friend? How far along are you in your obedience to God? Are you willing to obey God even if it kills you? Are you ready to live for God? Ready to live in obedience to God in everything He asks and requires of you? If your answer, like mine, is Yes, Lord, yes, can you prove it? Like Christ, when you make obeying and pleasing God your life’s desire and ambition, you’ll find that obedience really isn’t as hard as we’ve made it out to be. God gives grace to enable obedience. I pray that for the rest of this year and the coming year God will shower you with His grace and that you’ll experience His love, His presence, and His favor.

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RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD: MEETING UP WITH DA JUDGE

June 8, 2013 at 9:28 AM (God Thoughts, Musings)
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THE PRESENT AFFECTS THE FUTURE

THE FUTURE AFFECTS THE PRESENT

Everything that I believe and do in life stems from my basic belief concerning God. It’s this. God is Real. He’s Alive. He’s True. His Word, the Holy Bible, is true. And God is true to His Word. It’s an act of faith on my part. I know that. And I’m cool with it.

If I end up being wrong, what have I lost? Believing what I believe has made me a better person, it’s given me a meaninful, purposeful life,  and I don’t regret that for one minute. Make that a nanosecond.

When it comes to the sins and pleasures of the world and body, really, seriously, what have I missed? I’ve never known a boozer, druggie, junkie, or erotomaniac who enjoyed living, who enjoyed life. They were miserable and diseased. They hated themselves. Hated what they were doing and how they were living. Lots of them died an early death or ended up killing themselves.

So in this lifetime alone I’ve proven my case, namely, A BELIEF IN GOD AND A LIFE LIVED ACCORDING TO THAT BELIEF GIVES ONE A BETTER LIFE IN THIS WORLD. A LIFE FILLED WITH PURPOSE AND MEANING. GOD MAKES A BELIEVER A PERSON OF INTEGRITY AND CHARACTER. GOD MAKES A BELIEVER A BETTER PERSON.

Can a person who doesn’t believe in God live life with meaning and purpose? Can they be truly happy and self-fulfilled. Can they be good people? Of course they can! In a way, I’m happy for them because I begrudge no one their happiness. I’d rather see people happy than miserable. But, believing what I believe, I also feel very sorry for them because no matter how happy you are in life, A LIFE LIVED WITHOUT GOD WILL END UP IN A LIFE LIVED WITHOUT GOD.  I’m talking about eternity and Hell. Speaking of which…

Have you ever found yourself in a position where you really wanted to tell someone off, but lacked the courage to do it personally to his face? Of course you have. We’ve all been there. We went on and on about the miserable dog behind his back. But we wouldn’t  act or talk that way in front of him. Why? Because we lacked the guts to do that. We were also afraid of what he’d do to us, or say to us, if we told him off.

Here’s a second scenario. Have you ever been so convinced of something that you were willing to go to the top, go to Heaven or Hell, as it were, to argue your case? You did that. You went to the boss. You argued and debated with your best friend, your worst enemy, your most ardent critic. You gave it your best shot, confident you’d win the argument or case. And what happened? To your total shock and surprise, you were shot down! Turned out, they had a better argument than you did. They had the kind of convincing data, proofs, evidence, and smarts that proved you wrong. You couldn’t believe it! You were wrong in spite of the fact you believed you were totally right. And, having been proven wrong, you were so totally humiliated! We’ve been there too. All of us have. And it definitely was one of those times in life that we’d just as soon forget.

In either scenario, this is what’s gonna happen to us when we stand (I’d probly be kneeling) before God the Judge. The Bible says every knee will bow to Me and every tongue will acknowledge that I am God (Romans 14:11). Every means everyone. You and me included. It doesn’t matter whether we believe in God or not. God says there’s a time coming when every single one of us will get on our knees before God and acknowledge the truth, so long denied by many, that there is a God and they’ll actually get to meet Him. You can choose to stand. You can dare God to His face and stand. You can say that now. But when you actually get there, you will kneel. And you will say the words you’ve refused to say all along: There is a God. And you, God, are God. It’s gonna happen. How do I know that? Because God said it’s gonna happen and I believe Him. I believe Him more than I believe you or anyone else. He never lies. He’s never wrong. Why in the world would I believe a fellow–no matter how smart, convincing, or well-meaning–who’s prone to lying and being wrong?

Let me switch scenes here for a moment. Matthew 7:21-23 gives us a sobering picture of what lots of people are gonna be faced with when they get before the Judge: Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.  (22)  On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.’  (23)  But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.’

In a similar scene, Matthew 25 tells us that all the peoples of the earth will be brought before the Judge and He’s gonna divide the good folks from the bad. To the bad, here’s what He says: Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.  (42)  For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed Me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give Me a drink.  (43)  I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite Me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give Me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit Me.  (44)  Then they will reply, Lord, when did we ever see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help You?  (45)  And He will answer, I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me.  (46)  And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life (Matthew 25:41-46).

So what’s my point? Remember those times when your boss, friend, or critic shot you down because you were wrong even though you believed you were right? When you’re wrong God’s gonna do the same thing with you and shoot you down because He’s right. HE’S ALWAYS RIGHT. When we present our defense to the Judge we can say whatever we want to say. We can make our case. Prove our point. Like all those times we thought we had an air-tight case, but didn’t; God’s gonna shoot us down if He’s got the convincing, damning proof against us. If it exists, He’ll have it! And He’ll use it against us. God’s gonna have the last word and our arguments aren’t going to win the case! That’s just the way it is and no one, but no one, is gonna fool the Judge.

What am I saying in all this? What happens now in this lifetime, here on earth, will also, and eventually, happen when we’re brought before the Judge. I honestly can’t look God in the face and tell Him He’s wrong. I can’t say that to His face and that’s why I don’t say it here on earth. Why? Because He’s not wrong. He’s never wrong.  You guys can say whatever you want to say about God now. I guarantee—okay, I believe—you’ll be whistling a very different tune when you actually get to meet Him.

I can try and argue my way into Heaven; fudge or finagle the facts; twist the truth just a bit. But THE JUDGE’S NO FOOL. THERE AIN’T ANYONE GONNA FOOL THE JUDGE! It won’t work when I stand before Him and that’s why I don’t try and do that  here on earth. A knowledge—okay, a belief—in what’s gonna happen on the day of judgment is what keeps me acting and living the way I do right now here on earth. It’s a good way to live. A good way to die. And a good way to be judged.

THE PRESENT AFFECTS THE FUTURE: what I do now, or how I live now, affects what happens to me in the future when I meet God. But, just as importantly, THE FUTURE AFFECTS THE PRESENT: what I know will happen when I meet God is the reason why I live the way I do today. It’s a good way to live and I wholeheartedly recommend it to you.

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RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD: GOD’S LOVE AND HELL

May 2, 2013 at 10:32 AM (God Thoughts, Musings)
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Talking about sinners today is a really tricky, sensitive issue because it makes it sound as if the Christians who are talking about it are hateful, insensitive, intolerant, and judgmental. We’re accused of being unloving. Worse yet, gasp, unchristlike. Unscriptural.

Yes, there are Christians who go overboard and become unchristlike in their stance for righteousness and the truth. Some mean well and don’t know any better. Others are just plain hateful. So, yes, whenever anyone of us acts unchristlike towards anyone, the unsaved especially, we deserve a good tongue lashing and verbal trashing.

But what happens when we take a stance for truth and right and we aren’t hateful, self-righteous, judgmental, or unchristlike about it? What happens when we speak out with love and in love? Would taking a stance against sin be wrong or inappropriate? Truth be told, a lot of people would rather that everyone just shut up and not say anything about sin or sinners.

I’m not hateful or judgmental. I love sinners. I really do. I hate the sins they’re doing. But I’m concerned enough about their souls and eternal destiny to speak up against their sins and lovingly offer them the hope of salvation and the hope of a changed life found in Christ.

I was thinking about God’s love not too long ago. Namely, John 3:16, For God so loved the world. He loved the world. He loved and cared enough for sinners to send them His Son as a saving sacrifice for sin. If you had one, and only one, son would you kill your son, or have him killed, to save the life of a stranger or an enemy? God did. Jesus is God’s undeniable proof that He loves sinners and wants to save them from Hell. God is love (1 John 4:8). He loves sinners.

Only thing is, God left the gates of Hell open. He didn’t shut them up. I mean, if I saw the entrance to an underground world of eternal pain and misery I would shut the entrance up, cover it over, and secure it so that no one would ever fall in. This is love, isn’t it? You would do the same thing yourself. Why? Because this is what love does. Right? Yet God in His love for sinners didn’t shut the gates of Hell. Why? Damned souls are still falling into that pain pit at a record clip. These souls He loves He lets perish in the pit. And yet, He calls Himself, He is, the God of love.

The very talk of Hell causes many to deny God’s love. In their view, there’s no way God can be love if He sends people to Hell. Hell, to them, is proof that God isn’t love. He isn’t loving.

But God is love—even with Hell and in spite of Hell—because that’s what He says He is and I naively believe God for who He says He is. Besides that, I have human and world experience to prove it. Read on and I’ll show you.

God is love. And He works very hard and long to try and save sinners. 2 Peter 3:9 shows us God’s heart of love towards sinners, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins.

No, God doesn’t send people to Hell. All of us are free to choose our way and make our own decisions. God honors and respects our choices.

But choices have consequences. We suffer whatever consequences our decisions bring. We can blame God and everyone else for the consequences we suffer. We can choose to reject all blame or responsibility for our decisions and actions. But doing so will not relieve us of the self-inflicted consequences of our choices.

It’s like the crook who cries Foul! behind prison walls. He’ll ramble on about the unjust nature of his  incarceration and blame a cop, a lawyer, a jury, and a judge for being in prison. But for us who know better, the guy robbed a bank. He got caught. His imprisonment is his fault and no one else’s.

Generally speaking, a crook doesn’t commit a crime with the intention of going to prison. He figures he’s gonna make a clean getaway. If he gets caught he’s smart enough to beat the rap. Yet, for all his smarts and swagger, he lands up in the prison he never thought he would see.

This is the way it is with sinners and Hell. For all their bravado, sinners don’t want to go to Hell. But they end up there because of their sins. Now, really, whose fault is that? God’s or their’s? God didn’t make them sin. They chose to sin. They wanted to sin. So if Hell, like prison for a crook, is where sinners go to be punished for their sins; why do we blame God for sending sinners to Hell? If, in our right minds, we don’t blame a cop, lawyer, or judge for a crook’s incarceration; why are we so otherwise minded to blame God for all the damned souls in Hell?

God is love. In our preferences of love, He could have covered over Hell’s gates. He could have done away entirely with that miserable place and make it non-existent. But what good would that do? Seriously, stop and think about it. What good would that do?

Let’s translate the question into the reality of our day. What would happen if we closed all our jails and prisons? What if every prisoner was freed and loosed? What if no rapist, murderer, or pedophile was locked up or put away for good? What would our society and community look like then? Would we want to live in such a dysfunctional, No Hell, “utopian” society? The fact is, we’re already surrounded by gobs of people with criminal tendencies. That’s scary enough! Would we want to add to that sense of insecurity by emptying our prisons and letting every criminal go free? Life wouldn’t be normal as we know it now: it’d be a war zone where everyone’s attention would be riveted around self-protection and preservation. You can choose to live in such a society if you like. But I believe I speak for the majority when I say that that’s not the kind of place I’d like to live in.

It’s lamentable that people choose to be criminals. It’s sad when criminals are locked up. But it’s for everyone’s good. It’s what we call a necessary evil. A necessary evil that’s spurred by society’s care for its citizens, its efforts to promote the common good, and it’s vigilant, unceasing work to preserve peace, security, and the pursuit of happiness.

Turns out, God is similarly-minded. He really is a God of love. He has the smarts on us. He knew what He was doing all along when He made Hell and He was doing it for everyone’s good. Hell is undesirable and unpleasant. It’s a necessary “evil” if you want to call it that. But necessary nonetheless.

Hell’s existence doesn’t deny God’s love, any more than all our jails and prisons are a denial of society’s need to protect itself and promote the common good. If anything, and to the contrary, in my thinking, Hell proves God is love. When you do everything you can for everybody’s good—Calvary and Hell included—that is good and that is love.

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THINKING ‘BOUT ME

March 21, 2013 at 11:07 AM (God Thoughts, Musings)
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A lot of Christians struggle with God’s love for them. They don’t believe God loves them. Not after they’ve failed Him. Not with all the bad stuff that’s happened to them. They want so much for God love them. But they think God’s turned His back on them. In their eyes, they’re the living damned. It’s a hellish existence and my heart goes out to these tormented souls. How can I possibly help them? How can I convince them God loves them no matter what they’ve done and no matter what He’s allowed to happen to them?

Let me put God’s love for you on hold here. I’m changing scenes, but stay with me to the end because it’ll all come together. Scene 1. I honestly don’t struggle with God’s love for me. That doesn’t make me any better than you. I just found a way to get past the doubt and rest in God’s love for me. It goes back to the fundamental core beliefs that I live by. Maybe if I share these beliefs with you it’ll help make it a whole lot easier for you to accept God’s love for you.

  • I believe God exists. Every one of us has to settle it at some time or another whether there is a God. And if there is a God, which ones of these gods, or which one in particular, is the true God. The world offers us a ginormous pantheon of gods to choose from. I grew up in a Christian home. But even after studying the world’s major religions in college, I chose to place my faith in the God of the Judeo-Christian faith.
  • I believe the Bible is God’s inspired, infallible Word. Every one of us have had to wrestle with whether or not the Bible is wholly true, partly true and partly wrong, or wholly fable and fiction. Going to seminary, I had lots of chances to doubt the historicity and validity of the Bible. For so many Bible scholars, the Bible was nothing but a work of men—not God. And since it was written by men, without God having any say or hand in it, then, yes, it’s only inevitable that we would doubt the Bible, either in whole or in part.

Doubt is tormenting. It’s hellish. It’ll drive anyone crazy. Faith is the complete opposite. It’s a peace and rest.

I choose to take God at His Word. I believe He inspired the entire Bible, it’s true, and He’s managed to preserve it through all these generations so that we today can know what He wants us to know. I don’t doubt the Bible because I don’t doubt God. It’s as simple as that. Until you come to this point of faith you’ll always have your doubts about some things that God said in His Word.

I went through nearly a year of doubt and argumentation with God when I was a teen searching for answers to life’s most puzzling mysteries and contradictions. But when it was all said and done, God showed me He was God, not me. His thoughts weren’t my thoughts. He was so much smarter than me. And even though I didn’t know or understand everything, His Word was still true. From that day on, I chose to believe the Bible at face value simply because God said it. End of argumentation, doubt, or debate.

For some, it takes a lifetime of wrestling and seeking to come to this point of faith. Many never come to faith. But if you profess to be a Christian you owe it to yourself—and God—to believe God exists, He’s the one and only real, true God, and His Word is true in every way without any falsehood or lie. If you come to this point of faith, then everything else about the Christian life and experience becomes a lot whole easier. You won’t understand everything. I don’t. We’re finite creatures with limited brain capacity. We’ll never understand God totally. But we can believe even without understanding. That can be challenging at times. But all that God has ever asked us to do from the beginning is believe Him.

Change of scene.  Now we go to Scene 2.  There’ve been times when we’ve thought a lot about someone. Sometimes fear causes us to do that. Sometimes it’s jealousy. Lust. Or worry. But the one thing that most of us can easily relate to is love. If you’re married to the love of your life, like I am, you remember all the pre-dating, dating, and courtship time you spent dreaming, day-dreaming, visualizing, and thinking about the love of your life.  Longing for the next time you’ll be together again. The point is, a lot of your time was spent thinking about your love. It’s still the same way today, even after all these years of marriage. You think a lot about the one you love.

Change of scene again. Scene 3. Picture yourself at the beach. Just for curiosity’s sake, you make it your life’s ambition to count how many grains of sand there is on the beach. On all the beaches in the world. Impossible!, you say. You can’t possibly count each grain of sand that’s on all the beaches in the world. The point is, there’s so much sand in this world that it’s beyond numbering. And that’s just the sand on the beaches. Think of the enormity of the impossibility of counting each grain of sand in all the deserts of the world. That’s a lot of sand!

When it comes to God’s love for you, let me put these scenes altogether for you. Do you know that God spends a lot of time thinking about you? Yes, you my friend. I’m talking to you by name.  God spends an awful lot of time thinking about you! I know a lot of times we think that God’s so busy—like we are—that He can’t possibly think a whole lot about me. He’s got gobs of other people to be thinking about!

But no matter how many people there are in this world, the simple fact of Scripture is this: God is thinking about you. Remember that familiar verse in Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Wow! God is actually thinking about you! You’re on His mind! He hasn’t forgotten you! He hasn’t ignored you! He’s thinking about you just the way you think about the people you love. Now why do you suppose He’s thinking about you? Because He loves you!

What really clinches it for me is this. God is not only thinking about you, but He spends an awful lot of time thinking about you! He’s always thinking about you! Like the innumerable sands in life’s beaches and deserts, God spends a ginormous amount of time thinking about you! Read it for yourself in Psalm 139:17-18a, How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!  (18a)  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. Wow! How awesome is that! God’s thinking so much about you that, if you were to count how many thoughts He’s thought about you, His thoughts would number more than all the sand that’s in the world! That’s an awful lot of sand! And that’s an awful lot of thoughts that God has thought—and is still thinking—about you! God must love you an awful lot to spend a lot of His time thinking about you!

Think He doesn’t care about you? Think He doesn’t know what’s going on with you? Look at what David wrote in the first four verses of Psalm 139, O Lord, You have examined my heart and know everything about me.  (2)  You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.  (3)  You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.  (4)  You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. Dear friend, God knows you inside and out. God sees you every moment of every day. God cares a lot about you.

That’s easy for you to say, you might say. David was a man after God’s heart. God loved him. But I’m no David. If you knew all the things I’ve done, you’d know there’s no possible way God could love me.

But you’re wrong, friend. David was a man after God’s heart. But he was deceptive with the Philistines (1 Samuel 21). He got so angry one time that he was bent on killing a man (1 Samuel 25). He committed adultery with another man’s wife and ended up murdering the man to cover up his sin (2 Samuel 11). His General warned him not to count the army, but David insisted and, as God’s punishment, 70,000 innocents died in a plague (2 Samuel 24)! 70,000! I guess you’re right after all. You’re not David. You haven’t killed 70,000 people.

God chastised David sorely for his sins. But He still loved him dearly! And that’s the same kind of love that God has for you, my dear. Your sins, your past, or your present, do not keep God from loving you. He loves you still in spite of it all! And the amazing thing of it is, God’ll never quit loving you! You can read it for yourself in Lamentations 3:22. John 13:1 is my very most favorite verse of all time. I’ll let you read it for yourself. It’ll floor you. What these Scriptures are saying is, you can’t stop God from loving you!

God loves you, dear friend. He loves you lots. And He’s spending an awful lot of time thinking about you. Don’t doubt it or question it. Don’t resist it. Just believe it! Because that’s the way it really is.

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NOT A CHANCE

January 23, 2013 at 4:32 PM (From My Life, Musings)
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My sister-in-law’s been fighting an aggressive form of cancer for the last couple of years. She’s been in the hospital for the last couple of weeks fighting for her life. Thankfully, the Lord brought her back from the grave, as it were, and we were able to hear her talk out loud again, smile as always, pray, sing, and have as jolly a time as could be had in a hospital bed.

Anyways, we determined from the outset that we wanted God to be glorified in Doreen’s life. Of course we wanted her healed. But most of all, we wanted God’s will to be done and for Him to be glorified through Doreen. We are not God. He alone holds the power of life and death. If He wanted Doreen bad enough He could have her and we would rejoice through our tears because we know where she’s going and who she’ll be with. There’s nothing grander than heavenly glory and there’s nothing on this earth that can keep a Heaven-bound saint from going home when it’s God’s time for her to be home. But until God lets us know it’s time to let her go we continue to pray and believe for healing—after all, that is His promise and it’s one of the things Christ provided for us at the cross.

So for the last few days we’ve been lifting Doreen up in prayer, joined by a multitude of believers and friends who’ve petitioned the Lord on Doreen’s behalf. I know God’s been blest and glorified as He’s witnessed the love, unity, prayers, and praises of His people. So many people have rallied around Doreen; they’ve lifted up the shield of faith and wielded the sword of the Spirit against satan on Doreen’s behalf. The devil’s got himself a bruising and a licking! I know God’s been so pleased and glorified by that.  He’s graciously blest us with miracles each day as we’ve seen Doreen drink more and more water, eat more broth, mashed sweet potatoes and bread, and converse freely with us.

Among the many Scriptures that we’ve lobbed against the devil are the oft-repeated promises that God has given us: the prayer of faith shall heal the sick and the Lord shall raise her up; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; He sent His Word and healed her and delivered her from all her destructions; He heals all her diseases and redeems her life from destruction; the shield of faith quenches every fiery dart; with God all things are possible; with faith nothing is impossible; what things soever we desire, when we pray, we believe that we receive them and we shall have them; delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart; resist the devil and he shall flee from you; and many, many more.

You all know what the Word of God that Christ quoted in His wilderness temptation did to the devil: the Word sent the devil packing. The devil couldn’t do anything against God’s Word! He couldn’t win as long as Christ was using the Word against him.

In the same manner, we’ve used the sword of the Spirit against the devil and I mean to tell you, I kid you not, the devil’s been bruised and sent to the canvas time after time after time. What a glutton for punishment!

Anyways, the Lord did a marvelous work of encouragement for me as He took me to a couple of Scriptures that I had never before put together. The first was the promise of James 5:16, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. God wasn’t calling my attention to myself, as if I was going to win this battle on my own. No, this battle belongs to the Lord, the victory is His, and He has won it on His own. So the Lord wasn’t lifting me up necessarily: He was just reminding me that prayer really works when a righteous person’s praying.

Then the Lord took me to Hebrews 7:25 and Romans 8:34 where Christ is at the right hand of the Father, praying and interceding for us. Christ, brethren, is praying for us! He isn’t idle in glory: He’s praying! For us! He lives! To pray! For us!

I don’t know what you think about Christ. Some people think that Christ is only interested in our soul and He’s praying only for our soul to be saved from sin. Nothing else. But let’s face it. Christ is every bit human like us—except He’s sinless. When we have loved ones hurting we rush to their side to help them. When they’re under attack—being slaughtered and killed—we don’t just stand by and watch it happen. We get right smack in the thick of things and we do what we can to protect, save, and help the ones we love.

Jesus does the same. He loves Doreen very much. He died to save her. She belongs to Him. She’s family. From up in Heaven He sees what the devil’s doing to Doreen and what He sees moves Him to action. It moves Him to prayer. And when Jesus prays what do you think is gonna happen? Is God gonna answer His prayer? You bet!

Then the Lord put everything together for me. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Jesus is praying. It hit me like a ton of bricks! With Jesus praying—the most righteous man that ever was—His prayers are going to win out. The devil isn’t just fighting against us by ourselves: he’s fighting against Jesus too, who’s fighting him right back! Just like in His wilderness temptation! With Jesus fighting and praying the devil simply doesn’t stand a chance! Christ has him beat in this battle! The devil really is a loser! We’re victors through Christ! We have nothing to fear  or lose! We’re gonna win this one no matter how it ends because Jesus is praying! Thank you sweet Jesus for praying!

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THE DOWN SIDE OF BEING SURE

January 1, 2013 at 8:24 PM (From The Bible, Musings)
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If you’re anything like me, I know you like to be sure about things. We like to be confident, knowledgeable, and self-assured. We like being right about things. And when we know we’re right a lot of us savor a fight, a show-down, to prove we’re right.

I just hate it when I’m not sure! Worse yet, I hate it when I work hard to make sure I’m sure and, after all the time and effort trying, I still end up not being sure at all.

Like I said, we like being confident about things. We don’t like the unknown. We want to know what’s real and true. We want to be right. Believing we’re right is nice. But it’s not enough. We want to know beyond all shadow of a doubt that we’re right.

But as commendable as that desire may be, the down side of being sure is this. Being sure isn’t necessarily the same thing as being right. It’s nice to be sure. But just because we’re sure doesn’t automatically mean we’re right.

That sounds oxymoronic, doesn’t it? After all, we equate being sure with being right. We like being sure! And when we’re sure about something we automatically assume we’re right.

But are we really? Not necessarily. Not always. Think about it. Dig into the vast hard drive of your memory and see if you can recall a time when you thought you were right, but weren’t. While you ponder on your own life’s experiences I’ll like for us to look at a life experience of a mortal such as ourselves. His name is Hananiah.

Now Hananiah was a prophet in Judah. He lived during a very tumultuous time in Jewish history. The  Babylonians have attacked and subjugated the Jews.  Jerusalem has been plundered. The rich and the noble, along with tens of thousands of Jews, have been carried away captive to Babylonia. Only a few were left behind in Jerusalem. Through the Babylonian King’s good grace, a Jewish King was installed and allowed to rule in Jerusalem. There were three such kings and the last of these was King Zedekiah.

Anyways, throughout this whole ordeal—even before the Babylonians descended on Jerusalem—the prophet Jeremiah, among other faithful prophets of the Lord, advised the King to surrender to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and avoid needless bloodshed. Judah’s fall and captivity was ordained of the Lord and any resistance to Nebuchadnezzar would be futile.

Naturally, the prophet’s advice didn’t go over well. It was treasonous and unpatriotic, to say the least. And besides, there were prophets aplenty who advised the King to disregard Jeremiah’s doom-and-gloom approach to life.

Hananiah was one of these prophets. Four years into Zedekiah’s eleven-year reign, Hananiah stood up in the Temple and prophesied aloud, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.  (3)  Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.  (4)  I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 28:2-4).

Wow! This was great news! It was exactly what the nation needed to hear in such dismal, depressing times. Even Jeremiah jumped with elation and declared, Amen, Hananiah! May your words come true indeed!

But Jeremiah knew better. He’d heard from the Lord and what the Lord told him stood in stark contrast to Hananiah’s uplifting prophecy of hope. Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.  (8)  The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.  (9)  As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet (Jeremiah 28:7-9).

Here were two men of God with two very different, conflicting, prophecies. Both prophets claimed to speak for the Lord. Both preceded their prophecies with a thus saith the Lord. And both men were utterly sure of themselves!

In fact, Hananiah was so sure that he was right that he took the yoke that Jeremiah wore around his neck and he broke it and said, Thus says the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years (Jeremiah 28:11).

How did Hananiah get to this point of confidence and assurance? He was so sure of himself!

Yet, we know in hindsight, he was miserably, tragically, wrong.

Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:  (13)  “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.  (14)  For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.'”  (15)  And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.  (16)  Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord’ (Jeremiah 28:12-16).

In two months’ time, Hananiah was dead (Jeremiah 28:1, 17).

Hananiah was so sure of himself! But he was wrong in spite of the fact that he was sure! Which is to say, it’s possible to be wrong about something that you’re sure about.

Don’t get me wrong here because I’m not knocking being sure. I think we all should be sure, if not absolutely sure and confident, about the things we believe, the decisions we make, and the actions we take.

What I’m asking is, What makes us so sure about the things we’re sure about? How do we get to this point of surety, confidence, and certainty?

  • We can have the facts to back us up. The evidence. The proof. But the facts, evidence, and proof can be misleading. They can be mis-interpreted. Tampered with. The people who supply us with the facts, the evidence, and the proof can distort and manipulate the truth. People lie in order to conceal the truth.
  • Circumstances can be so convincing and fool us into faith and surety.
  • A person with charisma inspires confidence. But charisma is a poor determinant of the truth. Ever heard of Jim (James Warren) Jones?
  • Majority opinion or the unanimous voice of others can fill us with confidence and boldness. But people can be wrong and the majority likewise. The majority and unanimity of the masses are not a reliable gauge of truth or right.
  • Many of us go by logic. If it makes sense, then it’s right and true.
  • If it’s scientific or if it can be scientifically proven, then it’s right and true.
  • Sometimes, wealth and power imbue us with confidence.

If you do what I just did, that is, stop and think about all the ways you get confident and become sure of yourself; I think you’ll understand the basis, source, or reason for your confidence. And you can gauge the real strength or weakness of your confidence.

So let’s look at the diversity of opinions and beliefs that we’re confronted with. The atheist mocks and decries the existence of God. The Satanist insists Satan is God. The evolutionist has a scientific explanation for the origin and diversity of life. The rationalist has an air-tight logical argument against faith. The secularist disproves the Bible. The skeptic insists there’s no heaven or hell or judgment. The ecumenicalist claims all roads, all religions, lead to God. Each religionist adamantly insists that his religion is the only true, right religion. The Christian sticks by the Bible and decries everyone else to be wrong, deceived, and damned.

Each one, like Hananiah, is so sure of himself. There is no entertaining the possibility of being wrong. No matter what each one of us believes, we’re sure about what we believe. And because we’re sure, then we’re right.

But, as in the contrast between Jeremiah and Hananiah, two persons with two very divergent and contradictory views can’t both be equally true or right. One is true and one is false. One is right and one is wrong.

So how do we tell who’s right or wrong? Jeremiah said, As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet (Jeremiah 28:9). In other words, when what we believe or say comes to pass—or doesn’t—then we’ll know who’s right and who’s wrong.

You’ve heard of the adage, you’ll just have to wait and see. In other words, we won’t really know for sure until it happens. Or doesn’t. It’s like God’s saying, Okay. If you won’t believe Me or the Bible, I guess you’ll just have to wait and see who’s right and who’s wrong.

How long must we wait? Well, when it comes to proving the existence of God, of heaven, and hell; or disproving it; when it comes to proving the truthfulness of the Bible, or disproving it; we’ll all have to wait till we die to know for sure. If perchance we awake after death and find ourselves face to face with God, then we’ll know that Christians got it right after all. If we live on after death and find ourselves standing before Buddha, then we’ll know that all the world should have listened to Buddha and none other. If we don’t awake after death and aren’t conscious in some other world or kind of existence, then we’ll all know that the atheists were right after all.

But, until history or reality proves us right or wrong, we nevertheless press on with a remarkable confidence that we’re right. How can we be confident in something that hasn’t yet been proven right or hasn’t yet come to pass?  Say what you will, but I say this. Until we’re proven right or wrong, we only believe we right. All confidence and surety is a matter of faith. The Christian, the atheist, the evolutionist, the rationalist, and all the others—whether they will admit it or not—only believe they’re right. They can’t prove it until history or reality proves them right or wrong.

I’m a Christian. I believe unfailingly in the Divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. And I believe the Bible is always right. I would like to say I believe I’m right. I’m not gonna say I’m right because I’m honest enough to say that there’s been times when I’ve been wrong. Even when it comes to the Scriptures, there have been times when I believed I was right, I was Biblical; but was later shown to be unscriptural and wrong. So the most I will say at this time is, I believe I’m right.

The point is, our confidence or assurance, that state of being absolutely sure and adamantly convinced, is a matter of faith.

You can believe in your logic, your science, your religion, or whatever it is you firmly believe. I’ll stick to my faith in God and the Bible. We are all persons of faith. We’re all alike in this one respect. But, unfortunately, we’re not all right. You may think otherwise and be absolutely convinced you’re right. Hananiah was similarly convinced. And if I’ve succeeded in showing you anything, I hope you’ll see in all honesty—both from the Scriptures and from your very own life’s experiences—that  it’s possible to be sure and still not be right. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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KICKING GOD OUT

December 18, 2012 at 6:51 PM (From The Bible, Musings)
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SCRIPTURE TEXT

Matthew 12:43-45,  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.  (44)  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.  (45)  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A DEMONIAC KICKS GOD OUT

In the post-modern world in which we live, a lot of people, including Christians, deny the reality and existence of demons. They allege that demon possession is a myth and fairy tale that people in an unenlightened age invented to explain abnormal human behavior.

But the fact that (1) Jesus taught on demonic possession; (2) Jesus spent a huge portion of His time casting demons out of demon possessed people; (3) Jesus commissioned us to cast demons out of people (Matthew 10:8, Mark 16:17); and (4) the early church cast demons out of people (Acts 5:16, 16:16-18); all tell us that demonic possession is very real. It happens. And I’ve got news for you: it’s still happening to this very day. I’ve cast demons out of Christians and these Christians will be the first to tell you that it’s possible for people today to be possessed.

Anyways, when a demon is cast out of a person it goes thru dry, arid, waterless places looking for rest. In ancient history, deserts were known to be habitations of demons.

Anyways, this cast out demon goes thru waterless places looking for rest. Now you’d think that out in the desert where there’s nothing to do there’ll be lots of time for a demon to kick back and relax. We equate rest with sleep or leisure, taking a break from working. But for a demon, rest is not inactivity or not working. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Rest, for a demon, is to be busy possessing and afflicting a human being. Demons don’t like it when they’re not living inside people and oppressing them.

So this demon decides to return to the person that he was cast out of. You see, when a demon is cast out of you, you need to know that this demon is going to want you back. He’s not going off to possess someone else–not if he can help it. This demon wants you because he knows you pretty well. He knows your weakness. He knows which of your buttons to push to get you to do some pretty shameful, wicked stuff. This demon knows you, he loves you, he wants you, and he’s coming back for you.

Now when the demon comes back, he finds you empty, swept, and garnished (verse 44). You know how a lot of renters will totally trash a house out. When they leave, you go in there and look dishearteningly at the mess that you’ve got to clean up and what it’s going to cost you to get that house back in a livable condition. You get right to work and get rid of the mess, repair and paint the walls, lay new carpet down, get new appliances, hang up a few paintings, and, wow, that house really looks nice now! That’s what Jesus means when a house is empty, swept, and garnished.

When a demon has been cast out of you, you do some house cleaning. You get rid of the stuff that got you possessed in the first place: you get rid of the booze, drugs, porn, anger, lying, and stealing. You clean up your act and your life. You go to church, read your Bible, and pray. You hang out with Christian friends and live life differently. You bear the fruit of the Spirit. You’re all nice and clean. And do you know what? You feel really good about yourself! You’re happy and you haven’t felt this good in a long time!

Guess what. This demon isn’t done with you. He wants you back. But he isn’t going to live in a clean house. HE CAN’T GET BACK INSIDE YOU IF YOU KEEP YOURSELF CLEAN AND WALK CLOSE WITH THE LORD.

That demon doesn’t give up easy. He wants back inside you and he’s going to keep on trying. So what this restless demon does is he goes and finds seven other demons who are a lot worse and more wicked than himself.

There are varying degrees of wickedness among demons. Some demons are not as bad as others. This explains why there are varying degrees of wickedness among men. Some murderers will kill only once or twice, while others will keep on killing until they’re dead. Some alcoholics will drink occasionally, while others drink on a daily basis, while still others drink on an hourly basis.

So now you’ve got 8 demons after you and 7 of these demons are a lot worse, a lot more wicked, a lot more alcoholic, a lot more drug addicted, a lot more rich, a lot more sexual and perverse, a lot more tempting, appealing, and irresistible.

They can’t come inside you unless you open the door of your soul to them. If you don’t do the right thing and resist these temptations, if you decide you want to enjoy these sins again, you’re opening your house back up to these demons. They come in and you’re 7 times worse than before. You thought you were really messed up before when you had 1 demon. Now you’re really really messed up, you’re more hooked, you get yourself more booze, more drugs, more guns; you watch more violent movies, you learn the ways of mass murderers, then you go out there and do what these demons have taught you to do.

Jesus closes this lesson by saying in verse 45, Even so will it be to this wicked generation. In other words, this generation of Jews were possessed by one demon, as it were. Jesus came along, cast these demons out, and helped them clean their lives up. But now, because of their religious leaders, they’re starting to turn away from the Lord. The furnishings are coming down. The house is getting dirtier. And in turning away from the Lord they’ve become like the repossessed demoniac: they’re a lot worse off than before.

HOW MUCH MORE WICKED IS OUR SOCIETY TODAY

Jesus declared that generation of Jews to be wicked, evil, and adulterous; possessed like a guy with 8 demons. That was before they had TV, movies, porn magazines, and the internet that made sexual sin so easily and readily available.

That was a time when everybody was pretty well covered up and there wasn’t a lot of skin exposed. Now we’ve got so much skin showing that there’s little left for the imagination.

That was an evil generation before they had gobs of factories churning out beer, meth, cocaine, and sex slaves. How much more evil are we today?

This generation of Jews in Jesus’ day were evil at a time when sodomites stayed hidden in the closet for fear of being stoned. Now the gays have come out of the closet with a vengeance, brazenly advocating for equal rights and legitimacy. Marriage is being redefined and the gay lifestyle is being legitimized and legalized. I don’t hate homosexuals. I just don’t like the fact that they’re contradicting God, twisting the Scriptures, and trying to convince everybody that God and Heaven are cool with their lifestyle. God destroyed the sodomites of Sodom and Gomorrah. And I just don’t think that He’s changed His mind about sodomites. All I’m saying is, if that generation of Jews was really wicked to Jesus, how much more today!

KICKING GOD OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS AND NATION

During that wicked and evil generation in Jesus’ day, the Old Testament was the only thing they taught in their schools. Today we’ve kicked God, the Bible, and prayer out of school. And look at what has happened to our schools and children since then.

I ask you, what harm was there in having God and the Bible taught in our schools  Who did God hurt that He was expelled from school? What did He do wrong that we sent Him home? What was so wrong with teaching our children to pray? For generations of time God, the Bible, and prayer were taught and encouraged. Society turned out alright when God was in school. The older folks that went through that education turned out okay. They weren’t all saints. But they weren’t monsters eithers.

Now look at what’s happened since God has left our schools. Look at the state of our schools, our communities, our nation. Most of all, look at the state of our kids and ourselves. I believe we will see in all fairness and honesty that we’re never better off when we kick God out of our lives, our schools, our communities, our nation. Like a demon repossessed person, we’re gobs worse off when we turn our backs on God. And, sadly, the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School is a sad and tragic lesson of what happens when we kick God out and let the devils in.

KICKING GOD OUT OF OUR HOMES

We see very graphically what happens when we kick God out of school. We see where this nation is headed as we begin to kick God out of our nation and our social consciousness.

But let’s bring the tragedy closer to us and ask, Are we kicking God out of our homes? Oh, we’re not doing it blatantly and brazenly. But when we don’t teach our children the Bible, when we don’t take them to church, when we don’t have a spiritual, godly mindset and atmosphere in the home, when we teach our children by example that life is all about working hard and making good money so that we can buy the fine things of life and enjoy life to the hilt—with no mention of God, no time for God—haven’t we kicked God out of our homes? And if that evil, wicked and adulterous generation was 7 times more wicked and demon possessed than before, how in the world do we expect our homes and our families to be anything less than 7 times more wicked and possessed without God?

KICKING GOD OUT OF OUR LIVES

Let me bring it even closer yet. Let’s not talk about our children and family. Let’s talk about ourselves. Are we kicking God out of our life? No way! We’re Christians, you say. Yes, thank God for that. That’s what we say.

But what do our actions say? Do we talk to God much during the day or the week? Do we read our Bibles? Do we think about God? Do we think about what we heard in church? Are we spiritual? Do we talk about God and spiritual matters in the home? Do we sing Christian songs of worship to Him? What kind of music are we listening to? What kind of books are we reading? What kind of movies are we watching? How do we spend our leisure time? We have time to study or pray, but what do we do instead? Watch a movie. Surf the channels. Go shopping. Hang out with friends. Browse the net. Facebook. And before you know it, gasp, the night is done and it’s time to go to bed. No talk of God. No thoughts of God. No time with God. And we say we’re not kicking God out of our life? Who are we kidding? Certainly not God.

BRINGING GOD BACK IN

Brethren, if we don’t bring God into our life we’re going to be spiritually dead, wicked, evil, and adulterous as a demonically repossessed person. We’re not going to fare better than our schools, our communities, our nations, or the demon-possessed people living all around us. The evil that visited Sandy Hook can visit us at any time.

Do you know who I want to visit us? The Spirit of God in a fresh outpouring of repentance and revival! Do the research. Read the history books. Whenever revival swept a community or nation the crime rates went down, social conditions improved, families were strengthened, and people were a lot nicer to one another. Saints didn’t kill sinners. Sinners were saved, not killed. Isn’t this what we want? Isn’t this what America needs today?

This is Christmas time. Over two thousand years ago there wasn’t much of any room for Jesus in Bethlehem. It was as if the little town was kicking Jesus out. Thankfully, a stable was found where Jesus could be born.

In the Bethlehem that we call our homes, our churches, our communities, our nation, our world; can we let Jesus back in? Jesus is the answer for a sin-sick world. That’s why God gave us Jesus. Jesus is the Savior that can kick the devils out of our life, clean us up, and make us look good, feel good, and live right again.

We’ve seen what happens when we kick God out. Brethren, it’s time to kick the murdering devils out. Today, let’s bring God in. Let’s clean house. Let’s begin right here. Right now. Let it begin with me.

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RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD: CONSEQUENCES

November 28, 2012 at 11:48 AM (God Thoughts, Musings)
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Back in the old days when I was a kid and when my parents themselves were kids, we believed in punishment. Corporeal punishment. We got spanked on the butt. And it wasn’t always with a belt or a switch (which we were made to fetch for ourselves). Sometimes the higher powers would use what we called the Board of Education. It was a 1×4 piece of lumber that stung your behind to high heaven and brought the toughest punks to tears.

You can call it punishment, discipline, or training. They were all the same to us back then. We got a licking when we messed up. It was part of parental duty and loving concern. They were making sure we learned the right things, cut out the wrong stuff, and grow up the right way.

Nowadays, that  kind of discipline is considered child abuse. Unfortunately, in the world in which we live today, a lot of parents and adults are abusive. And I, for one, agree that the laws against child abuse are a good thing. The children need to be protected if the parents aren’t going to do that. (Wish to God the government would protect the unborn children too!)

The thing of it is, back then, no kid ever died or ended up in a hospital after a licking. We didn’t grow up scarred or hating our parents. We loved and respected them (after the pain went away). We turned out the way we did—that is, pretty good folks, if I may say so myself—because of the discipline, training, and punishment that our parents lovingly gave us.

Today, we still believe in training and discipline. We’ve taken the corporeal aspect out of things, but we still levy a bevy of negative-type reinforcements to help teach the kids what’s considered proper and improper behavior. We ground them; withhold their benefits, rewards, or privileges; put them on a points or strikes system; and the like. This is what we do in the family or in an educational/institutional setting.

Let’s talk about law enforcement. Society has laws. It lives by laws. The laws tell us what’s good or what’s expected of us. And when we mess up, the laws have consequences. It may be a traffic ticket, arrest, trial, and imprisonment; a death sentence, a fine, community service, and the like.

As in child-training, the law’s punishments or consequences are designed to punish and discourage or deter bad behavior.

A civilized society has laws and consequences that are deemed for the overall good of society.

But even uncivilized societies—for example, the bush and forest tribes that have largely been untouched by modern civilization—have their own laws, morés, or codes of conduct that the tribes’ people are expected to live by. And when they violate the morés they suffer the consequences that are imposed upon them by the tribe.

Everywhere in human society, past and present, primitive and modern, we humans have accorded ourselves the luxury of making laws and enforcing them. We require people, including ourselves, to obey the laws. And when we don’t, we’ve set up for ourselves a bevy of punishments to punish and deter bad or criminal behavior. This we deem to be for the good of human society.

Imagine what life would be like if we didn’t have laws. I’m thinking of my younger days when I was in the Philippines. There were no road lines or traffic lanes. Manila was packed wall-to-wall with jeepneys, motorized tricycles, and buses, each forging their way. If I stuck so much as the palm of my hand out of the jeepney I would be sure to touch another jeepney—that’s how insanely close traffic was! I learned right then and there that it’s a good thing to have road lines and traffic lanes. And on a larger note, I realized the value of laws.

Laws are, for the most part, a good thing. I know there are bad laws too. But by and large, laws are designed with the public good and benefit in mind.

Now think if we didn’t have punishments. The laws wouldn’t do a bit of good if there were no consequences for violating them. The consequences play a part in deterring most people from breaking the law. Without punishments, think of the chaos we would live in if people could break in and steal or kill without being arrested, tried, and imprisoned. Crooks and criminals would roam freely throughout the community, terrorizing the neighborhood. We wouldn’t be safe or secure. We couldn’t live in peace or at ease.

So what am I saying? Laws are, for the most part, a good thing. They’re for society’s benefit. And as much as we may dislike suffering the consequences of disobedience, the punishments that society lays on the disobedient—be it in the home, school, the workplace, or society—are also for the general good of society.

Now here’s what I’m really trying to say. If we as humans accord ourselves the privilege of enacting laws and consequences—for the general good of society and all mankind; then why would we not give God this same privilege? I’m talking about God’s laws as written in the Bible and the human heart. I’m talking about Hell and God’s prerogative to be the sole and supreme Judge with the power to punish and damn the disobedient?

I think it’s laughable, no, it’s insane, how a lot of people won’t let God lay down the law and punish those who break the law; yet we do the very same thing! If we can do it—if we can make laws and punish the disobedient—then why can’t God? Why do we find it so abhorrent, so primitive and unenlightened, to believe in a God who punishes disobedience? What is naturally found in civilized and uncivilized societies—the establishment of law and consequences—is, to me, a logical and self-evident argument for a belief in God’s law and Divine punishment.

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RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD: FEELINGS

October 31, 2012 at 12:07 PM (God Thoughts, Musings)
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DOES GOD HAVE FEELINGS?

I was laying in bed a short time ago having one of my “random” moments. What if God doesn’t have any feelings at all?  Whether any one of us will admit it or not, a lot of people believe He doesn’t.  

God can look at what we’ve done to the American Indian. The Negro of a dark, shameful era in American history. More recently, what America is doing with the unborn and the unwanted. And now, what America’s doing with God Himself. The nation is literally kicking God out of the public sphere. Whether we’re talking about public prayer, Bibles, the Ten Commandments, the freedom of Christian expression and conviction, or anything else Christian; vocal, militant, mainstream America wants nothing to do with God.

The nation’s assault on God has come to the very root, foundation, and core of any civilized society—the family. We’ve begun to change the traditional, really, the Biblical, definition of marriage and family.

What does God think about all these?

Anyone with feelings can’t help but be outraged by these travesties of justice and morality. You don’t have to be a Christian. You don’t even have to believe in God. All you have to be is a person of feeling, a person with feelings, and you will be outraged at all that is grossly and inhumanly wrong. We can talk about the treatment of animals. About what goes on in the farms and slaughterhouses where the nation’s meat supply comes from. We can talk about the poisonous chemicalization of our food supply, the depletion of natural resources, the rain forests, global warming, the ozone layer, and a whole host of other hot-button issues that people are so passionate about.  

We respond because we’re creatures of feelings. We feel pain. We identify ourselves with those who are pained—be it human or nature—and we get pretty vocal, even militant, about things that really get under our skin and arouse our dander. Why is that? It’s because feelings lead to a formative response. They lead us to action.

We can talk about the rightness or wrongness of our feelings-induced actions and responses. An anti-abortionist’s killing of an abortion provider; or a PETA person assaulting a woman in furs; are examples of the rightness or wrongness of an action that are matters of discussion or debate. Actions are another matter of discussion for another day. I’m simply trying to lay the groundwork here and say what we all already know: our feelings lead us to action.

What if God, unlike us, doesn’t have feelings?  Then it would be easy to understand why He can be so aloof or uncaring about all the evils that exist in our world. God doesn’t care!  It’s like God doesn’t exist!  He isn’t going to judge us for our evils or wrongs because He plainly doesn’t care. He doesn’t feel what we feel. He isn’t insulted, angered, or passionate about the things that we feel strongly about. He can look at what America has done to the Indians and the Negroes, or look at the genocide of the unborns, the killing fields in Russia, Europe, Cambodia, and Rwanda in bygone years, and not care or bring it to judgment because He has no feelings that would make Him care. Make Him mad. Militant. Responsive.

A person’s disbelief in God and consequent disbelief in prayer is a soothing and rational explanation for the presence of pain, suffering, and death. If God exists, if He feels what we feels, He wouldn’t possibly allow any of this to happen to us! The mere fact of pain and death are, to many, proof that God doesn’t exist. Or, if He does, then He plainly doesn’t care! And we flatly don’t need a God who doesn’t care!

But herein comes the problem. If this is so, if God doesn’t have feelings, then, within the framework of all of us who believe God made us, Can a God without feelings create people with feelings?  Can a God who doesn’t know anything about love, hate, anger, and the like, make people who feel such things? Feel what He doesn’t? Would God make us with something that He Himself doesn’t have, namely feelings?

You can mull on that while I move on. I’ve answered the question for  myself because I’ve read the Book and I know the Lord. God does have feelings. And, like us, He gets vocal about what He feels (the Bible); He’s responsive to what He feels (Calvary) and, one day, He’ll become militant about what He feels (the Tribulation and Day of Judgment).

In the meantime, regardless of where you’re at in Christian growth or where you stand in the Biblical, theological spectrum, rest assured that God has feelings. That’s why He’s going to bring every thought, every action, every person, every evil and travesty, to judgment. Feelings lead to a response at some time or another. We shouldn’t be surprised if they have this same effect on God.

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