A CERTAIN Judgment

MY God Wouldn't do that!

I was reading the Book of Amos yesterday and my Bible's intro for this describes it as: God announcing His certain judgment on a people certain He would not judge.  What a fitting description for much of the modern day church.

There has been an extremely successful effort underway to repackage what the Scriptures call "the world" and rebrand it as being of God.  Under this brilliant marketing campaign, religion has fashioned "another Jesus" (II Corinthians 11:4).  This new Jesus provides people with an alternative to following God's ways while still being able to consider themselves "Christian".  It produces a "Christian" who names the name of Jesus, but stands diametrically opposed to everything that Jesus is.

Our Father's Love Letter to You

In a previous article, I wrote on the topic of what it means for God to be Our Father and how reconciliation with Him means a restoring of the heart of patriarchy in our lives. 

I recently saw the following poem from Barry Adams in Dr. Annie Zac Poonen's book entitled "Woman, Why Are You Weeping?"  I pray that it encourages you.

FATHER’S LOVE LETTER

The words you are about to read are true.  They will change your life if you let them - for they come from the heart of God.  He loves you.   And He is the Father you’ve been looking for all your life.  This is His love letter to you.

The Mercy of God

May God Have Mercy On Our Souls

As I listened to this message today, it so convicted me.  I realized that at times in my heart - even if I hadn't verbalized it - I had been telling God, "It is just not fair."

Hear me here.  I am not speaking of conscious thought.  I am speaking of the hidden matters of the heart.  While I was holding on to faith and pressing on in the Lord, inside I was questioning: Why God?  Why is such and such happening? Why are you allowing it?

Honestly, I know that there are times we will have questions. However, at the heart of such statements is the belief that somehow, we don't deserve "this" [whatever "this" may be].  It is an accusation against God's righteousness.

Truths I've Learned by Pastor Zac Poonen

In these series of sermons, Pastor Zac Poonen outlines some truths that he has learned in his many years as a Christian.  I was originally going to call this article, "OUCH!" and once you hear the sermon, you will likely know why. 

As always, he has a way of explaining in very straightforward terms key principles of the Christian faith which are sure to feed your spirit and encourage you in the journey.

• God loves us as much as He loves Jesus.
• God delights in honest people.
• God delights in cheerful givers and not things done by compulsion.
• We must treat every human being with dignity.
• Holiness comes by looking on to Jesus.
• What it means to "take up our cross" daily.
• The world's opinions of us - whether good or bad - are fit for the trash can.
• We must be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
• The test which should be applied to any "truth" is does it make you more free?  Free from the world, from sin, from people, from tradition, etc.
• This world's values are the opposite of God's values.
• Nobody can harm us except we ourselves.
• Knowing God intimately is the secret to being strong.
• God has a solution for every single problem you have.
• God has got a perfect plan for each of our lives.
• The new covenant is far superior to the old covenant.  What was external in the old becomes inward in the new.
• We will be rejected and persecuted by the world.
• There is no pre-tribulation rapture.
• God will supply all of your needs.
• We must receive all whom God has received.
  

The Valley of Achor for a Door of Hope

Hanging By A Line of Scarlet Thread

"Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee." Zechariah 9:12

Have you ever felt that the burdens you carry are too heavy for you to bear?  That God was not hearing your prayers or responding to your petitions?  That you were just overwhelmed or alone in your situation?  Such things caused me to seek God for a renewal of His hope in me and a better understanding of how to hold on to it.

The Scriptures are full of references to God's love, His longsuffering, and His mercy; where His arm is outstretched to save.  The Book of Hosea is one example of this.  The word "Hosea" literally means salvation.

The Sovereign Grace of God

Grace is for the Undeserving

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." James 4:6

The key to receiving the grace of God is to be humble, which is why God repeatedly commands man to humble himself (Exodus 10:3; Deuteronomy 8:2, 12; II Chronicles 7:14; 34:27; Jeremiah 13:18; Matthew 18:4; 23:12; James 4:10; I Peter 5:6).

The opposite of this is pride, which is the root of why Lucifer fell.  It stands in stiff-necked contention against God and against His ways.  Pride hardens the heart so that we cannot receive the things of God...even His grace (Daniel 5:20; Obadiah 1:3).

We have spoken previously on the topics of eternal security, predestination, and free will.  However, in the following video, David Pawson discusses the topic of God's sovereignty and His grace.  What is sovereign, irresistible or unconditional grace? What does it mean to be "saved by grace"?  Minister Pawson examines what a Scriptural understanding of grace is so that we can truly appreciate God's gift.

I Cannot Perfect Myself

The Man in the Mirror

One thing that a religious mindset will always do is get you to focus on how what YOU need to do to change yourself.  Self-improvement, self-actualization, self-evolution, self-fulfillment, self-awareness...

Even those who profess to have no religious affiliations still display this religious way of thinking.  From the atheist to the buddhist or the wiccan, they all belong to the same school of thought: man can improve his own self. 

Have you ever considered how much time, money, and resources are wasted every day as people try to "better" themselves?  Just take a look at marketing ads as an example.  Need to obtain bigger bust lines, bottoms, or lips?  There's a surgery for that.  Need to remove wrinkles? There's an injection for that.  Need to enhance your concentration or intellect?  There's a school or conference for that.  Need to grow longer eyelashes?  There's even a drug for that.  Businesses make billions of dollars each year, by taking advantage of people's desires to mold themselves based on what looks good in their own eyes.

People spend their whole lives examining themselves in the mirror and trying to perfect what they don't like.  Yet in the end, they die in the same wretched inward condition in which they lived, because the extent of their change can only be cosmetic.