Thursday, March 29, 2012

The “Prince of the powers of the air”

The “Prince of the powers of the air” (Eph. 2:2)

The powers that be, the “power of the air” exist all around us, of course. These satanic powers, and the desire of “power” in this world, then, are of the devil, and not of the Lord. Why do we constantly try to achieve power in this worlds’ system? The business of this old world is, frankly, none of our business! Most influence, power, or “business acumen” come through treachery and trickery to some extent, and does nothing to serve the eternal purpose of God. We already know the danger of riches, but too often we seek this grave danger, the success of the world! All power, and manipulations of men, all “charisma”, and influence for the prosperity of this world’s organizations or policies, is not of God, but is of the world. We are told not to “love the world, neither the things that are in the world” or the love of the Father is not in us. (1 John 2:15-17). Unfortunately we are very vulnerable to these things. We need to let the Holy Spirit guide us into all Truth, and quit the foolishness of this world.

Keep in mind that in Luke 4: 6, Satan said directly to Christ; “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” Jesus never rebuked him for making a false statement as He did elsewhere in scripture.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

All I need and want

All I need and want

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

I’ve always wanted riches,
But I’ve always needed redemption;

I’ve always wanted reputation,
But I’ve always needed reconciliation;

I’ve always wanted reliability,
I’ve always needed repentance;

I’ve always wanted restitution,
But I’ve always needed rehabilitation;

I’ve always wanted revenge,
But I’ve always needed remorse.


Christ has given me everything I Have always wanted,
And he has given all I need.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Pray for America!

“And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal. 3:12)

How long will the Lord put up with the Muslims proclaiming their false god? Oh, how ala makes a mockery of our Lord, and seems to get the victory over God’s people, but his day is coming. In the meanwhile, we must pray; we must pray that the Lord would bless our nation, and destroy the altars of Baal that boast themselves against Him.
The name of the Lord is become a reproach in our society today. God forbid! The Almighty, one and only true God of all creation is slighted for the sake of a powerless god that doesn’t even live today, and evil prevails. Terrorism is at its peak, and we, as children of the Lord, must call upon Him in prayer to show Himself strong, and defeat the giant of Muslimism. His arm is strong against His enemies, and surely the end is near for them, but let us do what the Lord would have us to do, and remember 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” We desperately need the Lord to heal our land. Are you praying for your country, my friend? That is our sole duty toward society--to pray; anything else is inconsequential. Look with me at Psa. 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” He has chosen those that have chosen Him; we need to get back to God. To obtain the blessing of the Lord on our nation, we need to draw nigh unto Him, and pray for our country. It is up to God’s people, not the politicians; not the laws; but the Christians--we are they which will make a difference by humble prayer coupled with righteous living. We must seek God’s face. It’s never too late to pray, with God all things are possible.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Properly Growing

Properly Growing

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. K. 2:52)

Jesus grew in four ways, physically, spiritually, socially, and of course, in wisdom. If He grew in wisdom and in “grace” with the Father, how much more must we? Let’s examine these four aspects of growth:

He increased in wisdom
Could it be that the Lord had to learn the Fathers’ ways just as we do? He grew from an infant into a man and increased daily in the Truth. Notice that wisdom is the first mentioned “growth” even preceding stature. He learned from an infant, and was undoubtedly born with a greater capacity to know and to understand the will of the Father. We are never to old, nor too young to learn of the grace of God, and the ways of His leading. Start your children out right, by creating in them a desire for the Holy, and point them to the One who knows from His youth, the will of the Father. This would take diligent effort in the Word, daily, seriously, and reverently; it would not hurt to supply the household with good, solid Christian music too, some of the old hymns, and none of this modern day mumble-jumble. Jesus grew mentally.

Jesus increased in stature
Stature is one thing we have not much control over, but it may be important to know that Jesus was human enough to grow physically. It is comforting to know that our Savior and I have a few things in common--we grow mentally, and physically without a lot of effort on our part. Perhaps that is the limit for most of us when we compare our lives to Jesus’, but it need not be that way completely.

He grew in favor with God
Jesus grew spiritually. He was obedient to the Father in every way, and because of this, He grew mightily in the Lord. He grew as man grows, but because he was without sin, He grew much quicker. Sin hinders our growth, and “all have sinned”, therefore we cannot attain to the heights that Jesus reached when on earth, but, by the grace of God, we can work toward that goal. The closer we get, the greater our capacity to find favor with God. One man can grow more rapidly than another, as we all know, by abiding in the Word, and way, of the Lord. To obtain the favor and the blessing of God is the greatest accomplishment man could achieve, and ought to desire. Our standing with the Lord will guide the rest of our lives in truth and favor if we will do right by Him. Our testimony will reveal what we really are.

Jesus also grew in favor with man
Not only did He grow in favor with God, but He grew socially, in favor with man. Of course there were those who opposed, but the real men followed Him, and still do. Those who are bent on evil and self seeking, will never find the hidden treasure of the favor of God, not unless they forsake their evil ways by taking Christ as their Savior. To obtain the favor of man we must do right also. Most of us think we have to become what they are to obtain their favor, but most men respect the man that has values and does right at all cost. They may not always understand why we would do it, but they often respect us for it; of course, we may not realize that at the time--they do not grovel at our feet and tell us how much they admire us, but they may never forget the example they have seen in us. How wonderful that the Lord gives us favor with men too.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Second Coming of Christ

1 Thess. 4:14-18

The hope of all the church is the return of Christ for His own. Satan seeks to downplay this doctrine because when we look to the second coming, the world loses it’s hold on us. The economy is no longer so important; politics loses it’s power in our lives; gas prices take second place to the Lord, as does everything else. Yes, the second coming takes first place over all that this world has to offer--or at least it should! Today it is in question among many “believers” as to whether there is a second coming or not. Some see it as an allegorical fallacy, while others view it as a futuristic event that never is obtained in this lifetime. There are many various thoughts concerning the second coming, but we, the elect know that Jesus is coming soon and we shall walk with Him in Glory. This still ought to be our motivation, our hope, and our great joy, and it shall stand paramount to all the doctrines and teachings of mankind until that final step takes us into the heavenly realms, and we shall see Jesus. Let it always be first in our desires, and hide itself deep into our hearts, and never, ever forsaken lest we fall short of the blessing and forfeit our reward as we work for the Lord.