Are You an altar of Sin or Sacrifice?

"Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, They have become for him altars for sinning."

Hosea 8:11 

"My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God."

Hosea 4:12

       You can read the story in these passages but really, it's all the same compared to most stories in the Old Testament: People serve the Lord, start mingling with wicked people and eventually turn to idols.

    Old Testament, New Testament, us...it always boils down to our choice... to choose God or turn our back on Him. I've pondered these verses a lot and it's actually really a simple concept: IF we REALLY know God (and there are MANY things to know) and IF we REALLY love Him... why would we EVER choose something else to serve and surrender to? I believe the answer is: we wouldn't. 

     This is a sobering thought sweet friends and one I encourage you to look deep inside and consider. It's not hard to connect the dots, we are "living sacrifices" and the downside of that, we are capable of crawling off of the altar aren't we? Free will is a beautiful gift that God has given us because He actually wants us to choose to love Him back. Wow, if that one thing alone doesn't show us our Creator's heart, then I don't know how we will ever see clearly all the other ways He loves us!

    The downside of our free will, we get to choose whether we love Him or not. I use those words "love Him" because that is really what it is, don't you agree? It's not about whether we "know about Him" but whether we really "Know Him". 

    Isn't it crazy how we like to complicate things when it comes to our relationship with God? We have a million excuses for why being obedient to Him is so difficult don't we? But the Truth, the honest Truth... is that every single day, you and I have only 1 choice to make: obey Him or don't.

 

  Because it's not that we don't have what it takes to obey Him (we can list SO MANY scriptures here... my favorite though is "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phil 4:13) When we made the decision to accept what Jesus did on the cross for us, that He is God and His Word is Truth... He gave us His GRACE, that grace is what continually transforms us into who He has created us to be. When we accepted Jesus, we accepted everything that means, which all boils down to our surrender to His will which means Obedience.

      Honestly, our excuses... simply mean that our hearts are not willing to recognize God as our King. Oh how I wish I could tell you that God understands our disobedience and that it's okay if we struggle to obey Him and it's okay if we need a while to "work it out"... but the TRUTH is sweet friends, God understands our "human nature" but He has literally given us everything we need to overcome our sinful human nature. The Holy Spirit is with us 24/7, available to help us choose obedience and walk in righteousness every minute of the day. We have control over all 24hrs of our day, it's our choice what we fill that time with yes? We choose whether or not we give God time in our day in order to know Him better, in order to hear His voice, in order to fall in love with our Savior. So it really is that simple. It's 100% our choice.

    No, it is NOT easy, what "sacrifice" is? But when it comes to the altar of our lives, what does God see? A living sacrifice staying on the altar daily, sacrificing all the things that keep us from walking in freedom and living a holy life before our God, OR.. a life that continues to get up on the altar one day, then crawls off of it the next, or whenever the fire gets too hot, too uncomfortable, too "convenient"(think about this one a bit), and it starts chasing after worldly idols and worshipping Satan instead of the One who sacrificed EVERYTHING for us.... and we expect God to just simply "understand"?

     No sweet friends, it's so much deeper than that. It's all about our choice... to really love God over our human nature, to love Him more than we love our sin. I am learning that THIS is what it means to "belong" to Him. When we finally "get" this Truth... Oh the freedom that floods our souls when we are no longer bound by the chains of our sin but instead are set free by the Power of our Mighty, Awesome, Loving Creator. This isn't always the message we hear, the beauty of God's wonderful mercy and His
loving grace has the ability to reach us wherever we are and transform us into His righteousness. The gift of salvation is free to us, there is NOTHING we can ever do, to "earn" our way to Heaven... but sweet friend, WHEN we accept that free gift of Jesus Christ... we must "accept all of Him"... and that means, we learn how to love Him and know Him and be obedient to Him. Believing He simply exists and died for you.... is that really enough to be called a "living sacrifice"? I'm humbled by these scriptures and I hope you are inspired to take a good look at your altar because sin or sacrifice... it's really up to you. 

Patterns of this World

 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:1-2

       Ya know sweet friends, God has really been teaching me a lot lately about recognizing the things that break His heart and things that simply don't please Him. Wow, there are many! It really is amazing when we take a step back sometimes and just allow ourselves to look. I guess that's why God tells us to examine ourselves and to constantly ask Him to show us anything in our lives that needs to go. 

       I think a lot of these things that displease Him, that we allow to come into our lives, are not intentional. But I don't believe that makes them any less wrong, they still hurt His heart and as His Children, if we really do love Him, then it is our job to know the things that displease Him and do our best to intentionally not do them. It's a hard pill to swallow isn't it? But the more I've studied His Word and sat at His feet, the more I've realized how important it is to Him... that we WANT to know those things and WANT to live lives that please Him.

     In this journey I'm still on and will be until the day I die, I am starting to recognize and understand what the "patterns of this world" are. Now here's the kicker... it actually isn't a mystery, but pretty plainly laid out right in front of us! Which is what hurt my heart the most when I finally saw it. I think maybe because we are so surrounded by the things of this world, sometimes we have a harder time recognizing the danger and are more concerned with just adapting to it.. yikes right?

     So here's just a few examples, there are so many, but these are the most visibly on display for us.. (now don't worry, I'll get to the encouraging part of this blog soon, bear with me!)

What are the Top 3 things this World LOVES?

1. SEX

2. ALCOHOL

3. MONEY

YES???

     These are the easy ones to spot aren't they? Everywhere we look we see these things advertised, promoted, pushed, constantly in our faces, in movies, in music, in magazines, in stores... unfortunately, in many churches as well these days. We are surrounded.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17

    And then there are many other patterns that this world loves that are just as fluid but not so much in the spotlight. This comes with attitudes of rebellion, hate for righteousness, disrespect and hate for others, a callousness for God, ect.

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying it's power. And from such people turn away!" 2 Timothy 3:1-5

    Do you know what I've been realizing lately? How easy it is for us to get caught up in the "patterns" of this world. It's so crazy to me how there is really nothing new under the sun. Sure there might be more of it nowadays and we might have different variations but it's all still rooted in the same sin, the same defiance against God. Back in the Old Testament, you could see the patterns of the Israelites... God told them to destroy all the people in the cities they went to battle with...WHY?.... Because those people were wicked, they worshipped idols (demons), they followed demons, they embraced sin and God didn't want them influencing His people! A little different take than what we're taught today huh? (that's worth a ponder too, yes Jesus taught us how to love our neighbor... but does that mean that this concept of His Children not mingling with wicked people really changed? The verse above from Timothy... is New Testament, after Jesus had come and taught us how to love our neighbors... right?) (also... isn't it crazy how our churches are so focused on bringing in the "lost" "unbelievers" "people who don't love Jesus" and not only inviting them into our houses of worship... but plugging them into ministry!? so now we literally have unbelievers .... ministering and leading God's people.... and we wonder why our churches have lost their power and confuse people in this world more than reach them today? yes?)

      Often the Old Testament also talks about how the nation of Israel (the leaders) led the people into sin.... and look at our nation today. Our tax money goes to pay for abortions and other things that clearly go against God's Word. Places that we spend our money at, some give that money to organizations that spit in God's face and support things that God tells us not to do. We don't really think of those things do we? I know I never really thought too much about it until I was reading about Israel and thought, "How does our nation cause God's people to sin..." and then, wow, it's humbling isn't it? And it can feel overwhelming when you start to see the sin that permeates our world. So what can we do? Are we really supposed to be concerned or worried about what the world is "forcing" us to do? It's not really in our hands is it?.... well, I don't know... is it?

      I'll admit sweet friends, this has been a hard pill for me to swallow because it's forced me to really think about it and we don't like to really think about things do we lol? Because if we stop to think about it, then comes knowledge of what we are doing and we all know "ignorance is bliss" right? Well.. not really, if we actually want to please God with our lives then we don't want to be ignorant about how He feels about things... and that's where I'm at.  So personally, I am in the process of paying closer attention to the world around me and very intentionally deciding what I allow myself verbally to support and also what my money goes to support as well. This has not been easy friends and honestly, I'm scared of what I may find out next ya know? Like I heard that my favorite chips brand might be giving profits to Planned Parenthood... and I LOVE these chips! but seriously... they're just potato chips right? We might think, "what's it gonna do to that company if you stop buying those chips Darby?"... and my answer is, "I don't know, probably nothing...but it shows Jesus that He is more important to me than those chips, that I will stand on and up for His Truth and not support those who choose to advocate for and advance sin in this nation"  And I think it's worth it don't you? 

     "Living sacrifices" can be painful at times sweet friends but I believe when it comes to "not conforming to the patterns of this world"... this is what it actually looks like. Practically living out our commitment to Him in the littlest of things in order to bring Him glory with our lives and to shine a light in the darkness. Love you sweet friends, praying for you as you walk out your life as a living sacrifice, and pray for me... we can do this! 

"If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:21-24

"But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them."  Ephesians 5: 3-7

Fearful Intimidation?

 

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Psalm 34:7

"You have been given a banner to those who fear You, That it may be displayed because of the truth." Psalm 100:4

       We are called to be "salt and light" to this dark and dying world. We are called to preach the Good News that there is One who loves us so much that He died on the cross, bearing all the weight of your sin and my sin, sin that carries the death penalty, sin that separates us from our Creator, sin that destroys, sin that binds us and breaks us, sin that takes away our hope, takes away our futures, sin that torments and taunts, sin that permanently separates us from the love of God and sends us to an eternity in Hell.....

                                       Jesus took all of that.

      He laid down His life in our place and died, for you and me so that we could know Him and walk in freedom from sin.

      God calls us to walk in freedom. This is HUGE sweet friends. His grace and power he bestows on those who choose to accept Him, is what empowers us, not to live in sin freely.... but instead to BE FREE from sin and walk in righteousness! No one is perfect and of course there is always areas in our lives that we need to be laying down in surrender to His will. But what an amazing gift He has given us! What freedom we have as we move through this life here on Earth...

      So what happened? When is the last time you heard someone speak of their bondage of sin? When is the last time you heard someone testify of the freedom they have found in Jesus? When is the last time you heard a preacher tell you that God hates our sin?

"In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. To turn one away from the snares of death." Proverbs 14:26-27

       In the Bible, people feared the Children of God. Did you know that? They were afraid to go up against them because they feared the God they served. They witnessed God's power revealed through His Children enough that they understood He was mighty, He was powerful, He was real, and He could crush them in an instant. Nothing was impossible for their God.... What happened? People don't "fear" Christians today, in fact we have become a target for persecution, we are the brunt of a joke, the world has no problem rising up against us do they? Why don't they fear us anymore?

                                                                          It's simple.....

      WE stopped fearing God a long time ago. WE no longer believe that God becomes angry with us when we embrace sin in our lives, we just know that He loves us so that's all that matters. Because of this serious heart condition, we no longer think anyone's sin is a problem, we just focus on God's love and hope somehow that is enough to provide a good witness to the world and we've done our duty to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel."   We've become so polite that we no longer feel the need to take a stand for what we know breaks God's heart and spits in His face because, well, it might make an ungodly person..... mad at us.

     We've turned our churches into hospitals for the sick instead of universities for the Believer. We have made our churches so focused on this lost world, that that is now WHO is attending... and leading... and teaching.... and ministering... not spirit filled strong Children of God who love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind... but the lost are leading God's Church???

     People see "Christians" today and they don't see a peculiar people, they see themselves, and if they simply choose to talk about Jesus a lot too, then they can be just like us. 

      We have become a joke to the world. Because we have become nothing but mouth pieces to God. We stand for nothing. We are too intimidated by the loud ungodly people of the world who are both outside and inside our churches, who make us cower and bow down to their way of doing things, and when we cower long enough.... we begin to find it easier to just join in and go along with their way of "worship". We build up and worship the idols of this world right along side the people we are trying to "reach". We bow down to demonic forces and pray for God's blessings.

        And we wonder why the people we read about in our devotions had such power and authority, nations of people would tremble before a Child of God, prophets would call down fire from Heaven, young boys would slaughter giants... how did these men and women and children of God have their enemies trembling in fear?

                                                  Because they KNEW Him.

                                                  Because they LOVED Him.

                                                  Because they TOOK HIM AT HIS WORD that....

"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" Hebrews 10:26-31

"If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments." John 14:15

"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run or labored in vain." Philippians 2:12-16

"Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:7

"'The Lord will judge His people' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31b 

       We are "His people".... it's time we start acting like it. This message is not for everyone sweet friends, there are MANY Children of God who walk with fire and power because they love the Lord with everything they have! There IS a remnant of God's People right now carrying the presence of God with them wherever they go. But there are way too many "Christians" that are in name only and it's time to decide whether you REALLY follow Jesus or you don't. This world will get worse, sin will abound, and the hate for God's people will continue to grow and rear it's ugly head. God tells us so. BUT.... the choice is ours sweet friends, will we BE the Children of God that causes the world to tremble because we carry with us the presence of the All Powerful, All Mighty God, the Creator of All Things... or will we choose to bow down and embrace the lies of the Enemy who's ONLY GOAL is to drag people to Hell? We can't love Jesus only half way.... it's all or nothing. God says if we are found luke warm... He will spew us out of His mouth... that's not Heaven folks. We must CHOOSE TODAY Whom we will serve. The God of the Bible is STILL the God of the Bible. It's time the World got reintroduced to Him... don't you think? Maybe it's time His Children... got reintroduced as well. 

Quick Devotional Thoughts: Joshua 7 Don't hold accursed things!

 Reading in Joshua today (Joshua 7) how God commanded the Israelites to not take any item from the wicked people that they destroyed. And of course, one guy did. (these guys never learned... kinda like the rest of us!) God commanded Joshua to destroy the next city of Ai. The city only had like 12,000 people so it should've been easy but they went to destroy it and ended up being chased away and some Israelites were killed by this small city. Joshua was upset and scared and God told him: (vs. 10-13 in the pic)

Yikes right? Well, as the story goes, they found the guy and the stuff and they killed him and burnt his body along with the accursed items AND THEN God gave them triumph over the city of Ai. This is not a pleasant story, just like many accounts of things that happened in the Bible. But it does drive home one very important thing: God does NOT like our disobedience and He literally HATES sin. He does not want sinful things or people influencing His Children. Has anything really changed????

Sweet friends, there are so many things for us to learn and understand about God isn't there? I read about how God did things in the Old Testament and then He sent Jesus. What an AMAZING MERCIFUL ACT OF LOVE that really was!!! I don't think we can ever fully grasp what an incredible gift Jesus is to us. BUT... through Jesus, brought His grace and His mercy into our lives, taking the place of sacrifices and death on the spot for our disobedience. We should be so very thankful for that!

But here's the thing sweet friends, God still hates sin and God still does not like our disobedience. God still does not want wickedness or wicked people influencing the lives of His Children. And God is still not with us or allowing us to win our battles against the Enemy, if we are indeed embracing the same wickedness that our Enemy (Satan) possesses.

This Truth is still Truth today! If we want God to protect us and lead us to victory, and bless our lives.... we MUST be obedient to Him with our lives and stay away from the wickedness of this world. "But Darby, how do we witness to the lost if we can't reach out to them where they are at?".... We witness to them, by being different, by not engaging in the same wicked things, we love the people of this world... it doesn't mean we act like them. It doesn't mean we participate in evil in order to reach the lost. We, love Jesus with EVERYTHING we do, and we realize that GOD is SOVEREIGN and He is more than capable of bringing lost people into your path without you needing to seek out wicked places and activities to find them. The important thing, is know the voice of your Heavenly Father, if HE tells you to go, then go. But only if it's His voice. He is still the same God who calls His Children to righteousness despite how the world "feels". He is the same God who despises wickedness and is angry when His Children turn to it and embrace it.

As a "Christian Community" or the "Church", we have stepped outside of God's heart on these issues in our own desire to "reach the lost". We have pushed our "seeker sensitive" agendas, patting ourselves on the backs and high fiving each other because we have become so effective in "saving people" and "bringing them into the Kingdom of God" (and I am just as guilty here...) but the real question is: Have we? Have we really led people to the feet of Jesus where they have embraced Him and have allowed Him to transform them into His Children, living their lives in victory and freedom against the Enemy of their souls? Where they love Jesus with all their hearts and strive daily to please their Creator? OR.... have we merely played with wickedness, and not only played with it in order to gain an audience, but have we not also brought it into our Houses of Worship? God is Love.... but He is Holy First. We must remember Who HE is so that we can actually BE Who He is calling us to be. Worth a ponder. Love you sweet friends, praying God will help you in this area and pray for me too, we all have work to do!

Child, Come out of your Mess!

Sweet friends whether you've given your heart to Jesus recently or you gave it to Him many years ago, I'm sure you've realized at least one thing: it isn't easy! Giving our hearts and lives to Jesus is the best thing we could ever do but it does come with a price. As we become "living sacrifices" (Romans 12:1) we are constantly learning how to love Jesus more and more with our lives. In doing this, we begin to learn more about the heart of our Savior. We begin to recognize the things which bring Him honor and glory and the things which break His heart, and we do our intentional best to do what we know pleases Him right?

     So why is it in our "Christian culture" today, that we often find ourselves celebrating our "beautiful mess"? Now I totally understand the concept that "no one is perfect and Jesus loves us anyway" which IS TRUTH however I am afraid that this attitude that seems to be sweeping across our Christian community is incredibly dangerous to the minds and hearts of Believers. Here's Why:

    Our sin... is a big deal. Jesus died on the cross for it. Not so that we could freely sin but that we can be free from sin, no longer bound by it, no longer overcome by it. FREE. When the World looks at us they should see people who are different, who walk in Freedom and Victory. What an incredible witness to the power and love of God, if His Children are walking examples of how He can change a life! And that is exactly who He calls us to be sweet friends. We are the example of what a "New Creation" looks like. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

      So what is the danger of living a life drenched in our failure to be free from sin? Or even basking in the fact that our lives are a little messy? or we are a mess because of... what? What type of things in your life is causing you to label yourself a mess? ..... This mindset is dangerous because, we are missing out on God's Plan for our lives! Let's tackle the first LIE we have allowed ourselves to believe: 

Lie #1. God loves you so come just as you are... and STAY just as you are! 

You wanna know the crazy Truth about Christianity? Christianity is THE MOST INCLUSIVE Religion on the Planet. No matter who you are, what you've done... Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open to you. His love is unconditional. God loves everybody. AND..... Christianity is THE MOST EXCLUSIVE Religion on the Planet! Once you've decided to give your life to Jesus, He sets you on a path of Transformation as you continue to grow closer to Jesus. See, you have to actually "mean it", you can't just say "yes I want to give Jesus my life" and then not give Him your life. Lip service will not get you an eternity in Heaven, only a heart surrendered to Him will. He makes this VERY clear in His Word. (there are many passages of scripture that address this but Psalm 119 is one of my favorites)

Lie #2. Our sin doesn't really bother God. 

Oh sweet friends, our sin breaks God's heart! Yes, Jesus came to this Earth and willingly took every sin you and I have ever and will ever commit and He placed the weight of the death and shame of those sins on His own shoulders and died a long, painful, agonizing death for you and me so that we still had a way to an eternity in Heaven with Him.... because He loves us that much.  We can never fully understand what a HUGE deal it was for Jesus to do this for us. It was so bad, even God turned His face away... do you think after watching His Son die so brutally with the entire weight of OUR sin on His shoulders, that God doesn't get angry when we treat His sacrifice so callously by having the attitude that it's "no big deal" if we continue to sin? Do you know why it breaks God's heart sweet friends? Because when we casually sin and we don't stop and think about what we are doing as His Children, we are missing the point and the freedom of what God actually did for us! It means we don't really have a grasp on Who He is and who we can be through Him! We are missing out on so much more because we choose to live selfishly and we miss out on the true freedom and victories and blessings that God has for our lives if we would just give Him our hearts completely. 

Lie #3.  Striving for Righteousness is prideful and self-righteous....

Huh? I cannot tell you how many times this attitude comes out in people. I think we have adapted to this attitude of "no one is perfect" so much that anyone who literally strives to live a life that is pleasing to God, gets labeled as something bad; as someone who "thinks" they are better than those who choose to live in sin and talk about Jesus. Sweet friends, we have stepped so far outside of God's Word in our world today, that actually living for Jesus seems radical and crazy. How sad is that? Let me reassure you, if you are striving to live for Jesus and please Him with your life, there is NOTHING "prideful" about that. In fact, it takes more humility to walk closely with the Lord and seek His face daily over the decisions in your life. It takes humility to ask Him to show you the things in your life that don't please Him and work to get rid of those things. It takes humility to lay down things that you want to keep simply because He tells you to let them go. It is more "self-righteous" to think that you can embrace the things that God tells you to stop doing and somehow it won't really matter to God that you walk in disobedience because somehow you think you "deserve" Heaven despite walking all over His sacrifice simply because you can point out to Him that "nobody's perfect"?  Don't be deceived sweet friends, it is never wrong to strive to love Jesus with your life. It all boils down to your heart attitude. You can "pretend" with words and deeds or you can "do" with words and deeds. God knows your heart and He calls us all to WALK IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, never apologize for taking God seriously with your life!

 "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know hat He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him." 1 John 3:4-9

     Now it all comes down to this, We are Children of God and we need to be so very careful where we set our minds. No, we are not perfect and we won't be until we are safely in the arms of Jesus in Heaven, but until then, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and PERFECTER of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2) We need to continue to allow God to transform us as we grow closer to Him, we need to AIM for perfection (2 Corinthians 13:11) This world that we live in.... might be messy, that is to be expected, but WE are not supposed to be like the world but set apart, full of the Spirit and everything that entails, none of which implies that we are left a mess in Jesus. If you truly find yourself feeling like you are in fact, a "mess", I encourage you sweet friend, don't stay there and don't be comfortable there. Jesus died for your mess so that you would not have to live in it and be bound by it. He came to set you free and through His Grace, you can walk in victory! 

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless. Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Jude 1:24

"Little Children (new believers), let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:7-9

God offers us hope doesn't He? We do not have to be a mess! That is Awesome! We have the choice sweet friends, we can spend our time practicing sin, or practicing righteousness... now, which one will you choose? 

How can a Christian help a ghost?

      

How do we help them GO INTO THE LIGHT? How do we help them BE SET FREE? How do we help them REACH OUT TO THEIR LOVED ONES? How do we help them FIGURE OUT THEIR PURPOSE? How do we help them take care of their UNFINISHED BUSINESS? How do we help them CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE?

               We don't.

Because "ghosts" don't exist.... but demons do. Angels also exist. "Paranormal" is real because there is a spiritual realm that is very real and that spiritual realm meets this physical realm all the time. If you believe strange things are happening that you simply cannot explain... you are not crazy, but you may be misinformed as to what exactly you are dealing with... and that's where it can get very dangerous if you are not careful.

     Brothers and Sisters in Christ, those of you who love Jesus, who read His Word, who believe that what He tells us is the Truth..... you know better. Maybe you've never really thought about it and it is so easy to get caught up in the fascination and mystery of it all, and the world we live in is definitely spellbound by it all (why wouldn't they be?) But sweet friends, we must take a step back and seek the Truth about the paranormal before we engage in something designed to destroy us.

     How can we be certain that there aren't any dead people still wandering around with unfinished business? 

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" 

Matthew 25:46

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:23

"Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise'."

Luke 23:43

The story of the rich man and Lazarus after they both died found in Luke 16:19-31

       Jesus tells us that there are only 2 places we go when we die: those who have given their lives to Jesus and live for Him = Heaven, those who have rejected Him and embraced a life of sin = Hell. Period. There are no second chances to take care of "unfinished business". We all get one chance at life here on Earth. 

      What we fail to understand is that demons have been around since the beginning, they know history. They know all the stories, many of them were the influencers of terrible things that happened to people in their homes, ect. They are exceptional role players, and we are so gullable to be tricked into believing what they want us to believe. We might ask ourselves "Why? Why would demons pretend to be a person that haunts a place?" Answer: Because they will go to ANY lengths possible to get you to believe there is ANYTHING other than Heaven or Hell when you die.

       Demons know the Truth and they are desperate to keep us from knowing it as well. God tells us time and time again (1 Thess 5:22, Rev. 21:8, Eph. 5:11, 1 Peter 3:11, 1 Cor. 5:11, 1 Tim. 4:7, Isaiah 1:16, Micah 3:7, Lev. 19:26, Deut. 18:10-13, Rev. 18:23, Isaiah 47:12-14, Isaiah 8:19, Lev. 20:26-27, 1 Chron. 10:13-14, Eph. 5:11, 3 John 1:11, 1 Cor. 10:21, 1 John 4:1-3, 2 Chron. 33:6, Nahum 3:4-5,) to stay away from evil. He talks to us about Mediums, witchcraft, astrology, speaking with the dead, ect. because it's the work of demons. These practices have been around FOREVER, they are nothing new. Demons use these practices because it is easy to pull us in and cause us to take our eyes off of Jesus. Mediums are not talking to your dead loved ones, they are talking to the demons that watched you grow up. Demons know things about your life! They know your uncle bought you a little red wagon when you were 4, they know you lost a button off of your favorite sweater, they know you need to hear your loved one say they are proud of you... it's not hard for them to know exactly what you need to hear in order to get you to open yourself up to them and their continual influence in your life! 

      We are so desperate to contact those we've lost, and understandably so. We miss them and that's ok. But it's not okay to buy into the lies of Satan and disregard the Truth of God's Word. Even the Disciples bought into the lies of the Enemy and believed in ghosts, did you know that?

"When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost!' they said, and cried out in fear." Matthew 14:26 (Mark 6:49, Luke 24:37)

But.... then Jesus taught them and showed them the Truth, with the same scriptures and parables listed above.

     Angels and Demons do exist, and we do see them, the affects of them, we sense their presence... because it's all real. We just must get to a place that we know which ones we are dealing with. Demons disguise themselves as "good" and "light". Angels don't come and play with us either. Your cupboard doors are opening up on their own, stuff is moved to different places, loud noises scaring you and keeping you on edge.... probably not an angel. Dead people are showing up in your house... not an angel. Some child or lady in white wandering around... not angels. Demons LOVE to play. (not in a fun way by the way) The question is WHY?.... Because, if you knew there was an actual demon living in your house, you'd probably want it to leave yes? But, if you think it's some old war vet or lost child roaming your halls... well, you might offer your friendship and tell it you have no problem sharing your home with it, you can simply co-exist. And that is exactly what it wants you to do, welcome it into your life. Demons are not wallflowers... they are there to work.... on you. 

     It's time we wake up to the Truth. Ghosts are not real but demons are. So what do we do Christian? We can't sage them out, no wooden cross replica is going to do a thing, holy water...nope. (the demons might make you think that it does for a while) but the ONLY WAY to get rid of demons, is to 

1. Get right with Jesus first. Make sure there is nothing going in your life that may have allowed demons access to you. Sometimes unknowingly, we've invited demons into our lives by our own choices of sin and reluctance to be obedient to Christ in our lives. God does tell us that rebellion against His Word does attract demons so to speak. So check your life first and ask God if there's anything in your life that needs to go and be repented of. He'll tell ya.

2. The Holy Spirit "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4 We have the ONLY TOOL needed to make a demon leave, living inside of us! How cool is that! Some people get caught up in long wordy prayers, some people take time to literally ask the demon 20 questions.... do you know that in the Bible... neither Jesus or the Disciples spent that much time dealing with the demons? Most of the time Jesus uttered ONE WORD: "Go" ... pretty contradictory to what we've seen and heard nowadays huh? There is Power in the name of Jesus and when we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit.... those demons don't stand a chance! *whenever I face demons...and it happens often enough.... I generally ignore the demon and start praying out loud to Jesus that He would fill my home with His presence and drive any evil thing out... and He does. I also pray in the Spirit when I don't know what to pray and that works too. Because it isn't US that drives out the demon but Jesus who drives it out. 

Remember that #1 is first... because the Holy Spirit and a life of sin do not live together, and if you are not right with Jesus, honestly, you have given that demon permission to stalk your life and that demon, doesn't have to do a thing you say, because YOU have no authority. Only through Jesus and the Holy Spirit do we have any authority. So be very careful, because it can get ugly really fast if you try to face those demons on your own power. "I'll fight the demons with the light of goodness I have within me" is the dumbest thought process ever. You need Jesus. Period.

"Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims,' Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?' And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." 

Acts 19: 13-16

Demons aren't stupid. They know whether you have Jesus or you're just using His name.

It's also very important that you get right with Jesus and stay right with Jesus because...

"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." Matthew 12:43-45

Now, this particular verse is talking about demonic possession of a person, but I want to warn you... i believe that is the goal of demons. To play with you enough... that eventually you give in to them completely. I've seen it happen with people and it is not pretty. This is serious stuff and the way to stop that from ever happening... is to put a stop to demons even hanging out in your life. The only way to do that.... is to get serious about your relationship with Jesus. 

      If we are IN Christ, we have NOTHING to fear. Churches no longer preach about demons or Hell but they are still very real. This world is getting darker by the day, just as Jesus told us it would. Wickedness is running rampant and the truth sweet friends, there literally are demons behind every bush. But we do not need to fear, the army of the Lord, the angels He puts charge over His Children, and the fact that Jesus has already defeated every. single. one. of. them. when He died on the cross for us gives us the VICTORY! His redemption lives in us sweet friends!  We must let Truth rule and reign in our hearts and in our minds. This world is lost and it is quick to buy into the lies of the Devil. Protect yourself by putting on the "Full Armor of God" so that you can stand firm against the tricks of the Enemy. Demons have a plan... it's ultimately your soul that is in play. Don't let them win. 

Establish My Heart

     

       So this year I didn't have any new year's resolutions. I have nothing against setting personal goals, I think it's a great idea! But this past year, 2020, has really opened my eyes to a lot of things, yes it was a different and at times difficult but there was a lot of good that came out of that year as well. The one singular observation that constantly rose above all others, was the state of the heart of man.            Wow, so many things happened that really brought people's hearts to the surface. It was amazing watching neighbors taking care of neighbors when the pandemic hit. It was a beautiful thing to watch the young people grocery shopping for the elderly so they wouldn't have to go out in public. It was amazing watching small businesses acclimate to the restrictions and yet find creative ways to still accommodate the community. And even greater watching the community rally around the small businesses and keep them afloat during this horrific time for businesses. 

     Churches were actually putting feet to their faith and began reaching out past their walls into their communities and sharing the love of Jesus through actually feeding the hungry and helping the needy. Watching Believers in Jesus out in the streets having worship and baptisms and sharing the message of Jesus in the midst of chaotic and fearful times in our country and world. When many were being told they couldn't gather by those who wished to see churches shut down and God's people silenced, they stood up anyway and boldly walked out their commitment to Jesus and remained obedient to who God calls us to be, especially in the midst of darkness. God's Children were busy shining a light.

     On the other side of the spectrum, I saw the ugliness of hearts surface. I saw people who can't tolerate anyone else's way of thinking, destroying people's businesses, towns, livelihoods. I watched as people would physically attack those who thought differently than them. Hate spewed out of the mouths of children who have been taught that everyone is out to get them. I've watched people lie and use other people to push an agenda meant to destroy all that is good. I have listened to dangerous rhetoric repeated over and over again until people simply believe it because they've heard it so much. The list goes on really. The condition of man's heart has been on full display both good and bad this past year. ... And I'm sure 2021 will be much of the same.

     So no resolutions this year but I ran across this verse one day and I decided that THIS will be my focus this year: 

"For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, 

A broken and a contrite heart - 

these, O God, You will not despise."

Psalm 51:16-17

     Staying humble isn't easy is it sweet friends? But it is necessary to living a life that truly pleases God and a life that is full of peace. And we need BOTH of those things today don't we? The world will be how the world will be. God warned us about the direction it was going and He's told us to stand strong and hold to our faith. The only thing we CAN control in this life is our relationship with Jesus. 

     I believe that now more than ever, we need to be extra diligent in loving our Savior. We are being tested now and will continue to be tested in the days ahead. Our commitment to serving Jesus with our lives, our knowledge of what God really says versus what we "think" He says, and our ability to stand up to the Enemy of Christ without cowering or backing down will all be determined in the days ahead.

    We must really know Him sweet friends. The only way to navigate the way ahead, the way that leads to Eternal Life, the way that separates us from the rest of the world... is to really know Him. What we "think" we know, is not enough! We must seek His heart, we must study His Word, and we must be willing to change the things in our minds and lives that do not align with what He tells us to do. It won't be easy, but it is so worth it! Know Him well sweet friends, Know Him Well. oh, and Happy New Year!