This is a very important discussion for evangelicals: to what extent do we have direct access to God, or we need some mediation.

It is an age old question, which is framed now in terms of the legitimacy, for evangelicals, of a mystical view of Christian life.

Some (like Tim Challies, discussed here my Rachel Held Evans), unaware of their Enlightenment paradigm, have concluded that a mystical vision is contrary to the basic tenets of evangelicalism, if not even to Christianity itself.

We have had such opinions formulated by Romanian evangelicals of extreme fundamentalist extraction (like, for instance, Dan Paul), but fortunately, very few are taking them seriously, not only because of the virtual absence of arguments, b ut also because of the hateful attitude with which they approach the whole matter.

Anyway, I could not disagree more with them, as the readers of this blog are well aware.

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Has God’s plan gone awry because Christ was rejected by the very people who were prepared for Him, meaning the Jews? Our passage previously has revealed that as always some open their hearts to God’s revelation while others hardened their hearts. Yet if God elects and selects as He did with Isaac and Jacob, isn’t He unfair? In verses 14-18 we encounter another preliminary stage in the developing argument for God sovereignty, particularly as it deals with Israel. [Which culminates in chapter 11 and the guaranteed wholesale turning to the Lord of Israel.]

When some receive the light and others do not, the operating of God’s grace can be seen. But if God does not reveal the principles on which He makes His choices [or decisions], that is no reason to call His justice into question. He is the Merciful and Compassionate One.
God’s right to choose is seen not only in Abraham’s children and grandchildren, it is seen elsewhere. In today’s text we see it operating in God’s dealings with the King of Egypt who stubbornly refused to heed God’s Word and warnings. Here we learn that the audacity and rebellion of man can never thwart the purposes of God. God has a right to deal with the obstinate and defiant as He so chooses.

We should not think God unfair though. God’s mercy is far wider and higher that anyone dare hope, but no one is entitled to it and no one can demand from God an accounting or the principles on which He bestows mercy and grace nor that He should bestow it differently than He does. God’s mercy and grace may impose conditions but they cannot be made subject to man’s conditions. Bless God though, for He delights to show mercy and has lavished it upon mankind.

I. God’s Choices Are Not Arbitrary, 14.
II. God’s Choices Are Merciful, 15-16.
III. God’s Choices Overrule Evil, 17-18.

In verse 14 a question is introduced asking if God ever makes unjust choices? “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”

Was God unjust in choosing Isaac over Ishmael, and Jacob over Esau? [The Greek negative particle (m) with a question implies a negative response.] The emphatic responds is, “Never at all!” A lot of people have a real problem right here. [They see God as being unfair in acting outside or before mankind's purview; his freedom of choice and his responsibility for actions.] They want to know how could God choose to love Jacob, and hate Esau before they were even born?”

The answer is simple. It is because God is sovereign. The mystery to me is not that God hated Esau. The mystery to me is that God loved Jacob, and an even greater wonder is that He loves me, a conniver just like Jacob.
Did God choose correctly? Read your Bible and you’ll see that Esau wasn’t interested in spiritual things, but attracted to carnal things. Yes, God chose correctly—He always does.

II. God’s Choices Are Merciful, 15-16.

Two arguments are made to prove there is no injustice in God. The first is derived from the Scriptures and the second is derived from the unchanging character of God who cannot be unrighteous. Verse 15 reminds us that God has claimed in His Word the prerogative of divine right.

“For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’”

It is not unjust for God to exercise a sovereign’s right to make decisions according to His justice. An example of God implementing His prerogative is found in His word to Moses (Ex. 33:19) which Paul here quotes. As the sovereign God, He has the right to show mercy to whomever He chooses. In fact, He is not under obligation to extend mercy to anyone.

When did God say this? After the people of Israel had sinned by dancing around the golden calf in a sin-feast at Sinai. There the people sinned grievously. If God had acted simply in justice, He could have blotted out His people. Moses prayed for them. Instead of judgment, God proclaimed to His servant Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Ex. 33: 19). That mercy was seen in sparing a sinful nation.. Why did God pardon them? Because God is merciful.

Now if there ever was a man who could dictate terms to God it was Moses. But there never has been such a person. The blessing Moses demanded is granted not on the basis of merit but on the grounds of what God considers best. God grants graciously and mercifully but only as and what He chooses to grant.
Now God is not like a mad dictator saying He can do whatever He pleases. For He is revealing that His actions toward humanity will be true to His character of love, justice and mercy. The integrity of God’s character governors His actions.

Yet God’s freedom and mercy is advocated in these verses. God’s superior power, His ability to execute what He desires, is everywhere acknowledged. Our fear, however, is that God will use His power arbitrarily and without regard to His subjects, or even against them. Everyone agrees that God is free; but is He just?

Since the bases of God’s decisions or choices is His mercy, verse 16 reveals that man’s will or effort is not the supreme consideration. “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”

Therefore experiencing His mercy does not . . . depend on man’s desire (lit. “the one willing”) or effort (lit., “the one running”). No one deserves or can earn God’s mercy. God’s mercy does not depend on man’s worthiness to receive it. Man does not need to earn or deserve God’s mercy. Mercy, like grace, stands above limited human worth and effort. It is free, because God is not bound to show mercy to any. It is not the exercise of man’s will or man’s striving that compels God to withhold His judgment, but His mercy.

Human effort is a necessary response of gratitude and commitment to God for His grace in Jesus Christ, but it doesn’t merit grace. With regard to election God remains totally free, not to employ arbitrary (or worse, malevolent) designs, but to express mercy.

III. God’s Choices Overrule Evil, 17-18.

It was C.S. Lewis who stated that “there are only two possibilities in the universe. Either a man says to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ or God says to man, ‘All right then. Your will be done.’ If you choose to do your will in this life instead of God’s will, then one day you will face God’s justice.”

What is the relation between God’s mercy and His judgment is the issue of verses 17-18. Mercy and justice are not opposed to each other but work together.
The thought moves from Moses to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt at the time of the Exodus. In verse 17 the Apostle Paul presented his third historical illustration of the Sovereign Lord’s purpose. “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’”

[Note that this quotation is introduced with the words, "For the Scripture says," in place of "thus saith the Lord," equating the words of God with the words of Scripture.] This Scripture quotation comes from Exodus 9:16. To the Egyptian Pharaoh of the Exodus God said through Moses, “I raised you up” or I brought you onto the scene of history. Scripture is speaking a vivid reminder that it is God who raised Pharaoh up.
“I raised you up” is not only a reference to Pharaoh’s emergence in history, but to God’s providence in sparing him. Pharaoh deserved death for his oppression and insolence, but his life would not be taken during the series of plagues, so that not only the full extent of his hardness of heart might be evident but also that the greatness of God in the deliverance of His people (Josh. 9:9) might be more clearly evident.

Over and over again, Pharaoh is moved by the momentous events that overtake him, only to revert, once the impact wears off, to his arrogant attitude of resistance to God’s demands. Repeatedly, he hardens his heart (Ex. 5:2) until finally God hardens it for him (Ex. 7:3). The history of Pharaoh’s heart-hardening should be noted carefully, as should the Lord’s explanation of his actions. God “raised up” this man in order that His power might be made known. God can be glorified through those who oppose Him as well as through those who trust and serve Him. The wrath of man can contribute to the praise and glory of God (Ps. 76:10).

God placed Pharaoh in his position of visibility so that when his hard-heartedness came into conflict with God’s purpose he would become an international illustration of the eventual outcome of opposing the purposes of God. If Pharaoh had been born in a cabin and lived in seclusion, his sin would have been neither lesser nor greater. But God placed this arrogant man in a position where his adamant refusal to consent to God’s will would not only lead to his own downfall but also to a world wide demonstration of divine power. God’s freedom to so act is a right of His sovereignty.

The Book of Exodus is clear that Pharaoh pits himself, not against Moses, but against God, and that God uses Pharaoh’s hardness as a means to demonstrate His glory! The effect of Pharaoh’s hostility, in other words, accomplishes the opposite of its intent, for it results in the liberation of the Israelites. Pharaoh’s hardening benefits those whom it was intended to harm (the Jews). Through Pharaoh’s resistance God’s power (Rom. 9:22) was demonstrated as He freed the Israelites from under Pharaoh’s hand. God’s name was proclaimed in all the earth as other nations heard about it and were awed (Ex. 15:14-16; Josh. 2:10-11; 9:9; 1 Sam. 4:8).

Verse 18 is the climatic conclusion of the argument. “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”

The case of Pharaoh poses a knotty problem because the hardening of his heart is sometimes attributed to God (Ex. 4:21; 7:3; ’9:12; 10:1,20; 11:10) and sometimes to Pharaoh himself (Ex. 7:14,22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,35; 13:15). In the Exodus account, Scripture records twenty times when Pharaoh’s heart was hardened—ten times of which God hardened his heart and ten times of which Pharaoh hardened it himself. Understand, that when God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He was only confirming Pharaoh’s own decision. So don’t feel bad about Pharaoh, for even though he saw miracles happening and heard God’s Word very powerfully presented, he hardened his own heart again and again.

He hardens whom He wants to harden (lit. “make stubborn”; Ex. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:27; 14:4, 8; 14:17). emphasizing the freedom of God’s action. Because of God’s proposal, Pharaoh hardened his heart (Ex. 7:13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34-35). All this shows that God chooses and works sovereignly, but not arbitrarily. Yet Pharaoh was responsible for his actions.
Pharaoh making stubborn his heart is an evidence of unbelief and rebellion. God’s method of dealing with those who reject the revelation of Himself in nature and history is to abandon them to move into still greater excesses of sin and its consequences as we learned Romans l.

IN CLOSING

God does not act unjustly in His sovereign choices. Yet He has claimed His right and freedom in His Word to act not only in justice, but also in mercy. Throughout history God has often temporally employed severe measures in order to serve His gracious ends, which is the salvation of man.

Trust in the Lord with all your Heart!

The wonder is not that some are saved and others are not, but that any body is saved at all. For we all deserve nothing from God but judgment. But thankfully God is a God of mercy, for we one and all must bow before Him.
Do not harden your heart this today against the revealed will of God. Cast yourself at His pierced feet and ask Him to soften your heart to His will and way. Listen to His blood stained gospel and surrender to the only One who can save you. Heed His Word and yield to His sovereign power and purpose.

There are two kinds of magnets, steel magnets and soft iron magnets. The steel magnet receives its magnetism from the load stone, and has it permanently; it can get along very well alone in a small way; it can pick up needles and do many other little things to amuse children. There is another kind of magnet, which is made of soft iron, with a coil of copper wire round it. When the battery is all ready, and the cups are filled with the mercury, and the connection is made with the wires, this magnet is twenty times as strong as the steel magnet. Break the circuit, and its power is all gone instantly.

We are soft iron magnets; our whole power must come from the Lord Jesus Christ, but faith makes the connection. Good works flow from a connected relationship with God by faith. Works and faith do not go hand-in-hand, as though they are two rails of a train track. No, works flow naturally from a life of faith; works are the product, not the partner, of genuine lasting and purely biblical faith.

Divine Sovereignty does not relieve men and women of the responsibility for their actions. If anyone is lost, the blame is theirs, but if anybody is saved, the credit is God’s. God shows His mercy toward those who have trusted Jesus and demonstrates His patience toward those who have not. Our great hope is that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21).

Related articles

• Romans, From Guilt to Grace, A Study of Romans 3 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• “What can we learn from the life of Isaac?” (altruistico.wordpress.com)

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
(Habakkuk 2:4 KJV)

Don Fortner

“In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 4:6

Here is the law of Christ’s church and kingdom. This is the believer’s rule of life. And this must be the principle by which we function as a church. “This is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as he gave us commandment” (I John 3:24). Being united to Christ by faith and to one another in the bond of love, let us endeavor always to demonstrate these two graces.

1. WE LIVE BY FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.  “The Just shall live by faith.” First and foremost, this means that we have salvation and life by faith in the Lord our Redeemer. We trust his righteousness as our only righteousness before God. And we trust his shed blood as our only cleansing from sin. Child of God, ever bear in mind that our only acceptance is in the Beloved.  But, this also means that we live in dependence upon Christ alone. We depend upon him to supply all our needs. We depend upon him to give us direction and to protect, uphold, and strengthen us. Not only do we trust Christ to save us, we trust Christ to sustain us. We go on believing on the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ.

2. ALL TRUE FAITH WORKS BY LOVE. Faith is an active, working grace. Every true believer loves Jesus Christ. His life is governed by this love. “We love him because he first loved us.” We love his person, his righteousness, his Word, his will, his ways, and his kingdom. The child of God is not a rebel. He lives in loving submission to King Jesus. And where there is true faith there is also a love for the brethren. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Love is the bond of perfection. Love is that bond which knits us together giving us strength and peace. Brethren, as we love Christ, let us love one another.

If God will grant us this faith which works by love, everything else will fall into place.

Amen !! 

HL ~ http://www.donfortner.com/bulletin_articles/48_galatians/gal%2004v06%20Faith%20And%20Love.htm

Please visit Pastor Don’s Website for more edifying teachings :

Here it is! The ‘first’ episode of this fun paranormal entertainment show by W. Aymerich and his cast of crazy professional paranormal investigators from THE DARKSIDE SYNDICATE. Listen as they give their advice and opinions about popular topics in the paranormal. Or open the door to new interesting topics and guests you may have never heard or known of. Nothing is sacred onTHE DARKSIDE... so grab a beer, coffee, wine and sit back and get ready to be entertained with the unknown and ROCK! On This weeks show –

 SHOW NOTES

TOPICS: Darkside Girl of the week! Sammi, Club 27 (Amy Winehouse dies), KXAS TV in Dallas, TX UFO sighting on highway webcamera, Ghost - Fourth Horseman Of The Apocalypse, Evidence from The Parsonage in Historic Norcross

DARKSIDE Girl Sammi

UFO Footage in Ft. Worth, Texas

Fourth Horseman Of The Apocalypse MSNBC - Egyptian Riots Original Full Video

CLICK HERE and get all the full evidence on The Historic Norcross Parsonage (Now Known as The Nest)

MUSIC: Metallica,  Avenged Sevenfold,  Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath

Joseph’s brothers were very surprised to find themselves seated in age order at table in his house (Genesis 43:33-34). As mature men, their precise ages could not have been so apparent to their host, could it? Then what surprised them even more was that their youngest brother was treated to five times as much food! It was not as though there was any shortage, here in Egypt, the bread-basket of the known world. It was not as though he could eat five times as much! The point was, that Benjamin, their youngest brother, was being honoured and treated as of higher status; and the table-order must have only served to emphasise that point.

My guess is that Joseph was trying to give them plenty of clues, in the hope that they might start to smell a rat, and start joining up the dots. He probably also wanted to see their reaction to little bro being privileged. Would they count their own blessings and be glad for him, or would they envy and begrudge? Would the leopards that bloodied that wonderful, embroidered cloak have changed their spots? And would they cope with their values being turned upside down?

For that matter, how do we cope when our values are suddenly challenged? Sometimes God does the most surprising things, and very young Christians are given giftings way beyond what we think they can handle, or there are shifts in the way our church is organized and we feel threatened, or there is a radical change in the style of worship songs, or someone begins to worship God in a way we are unfamiliar with. When God is on the move, you can expect the unexpected. Are there some spots you need to change?

Reblogged from CitiIMPACT Missions:

CitiIMPACT's TEXAS Tornado Response.

Local resident, "It was like HELL!"

Overnight and At this hour our on the ground assessments were and are underway in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes. We're working through local authorities and Local Churches to get them needed HELP & HOPE. We also have Relief Aid supplies on the way.

We'll be working long term to help the residents overcome this disaster.

Read more… 43 more words

Local resident, “It was like HELL!”

Overnight and At this hour our on the ground assessments were and are underway in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes. We’re working through local authorities and Local Churches to get them needed HELP & HOPE. We also have Relief Aid supplies on the way.

TORNADO LIKE HELL

We’ll be working long term to help the residents overcome this disaster. Watch our FB & Twitter posts for ways to help. Also, please click the links below.

You can:

Bring a Mission Team

Donate NOW

Get Prepared.

AND OF COURSE—ALWAYS PRAY!

CitiIMPACT Missions IS YOU. Please RESPOND!

Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
(Proverbs 26:20 KJV)

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears. As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport? Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
(Proverbs 26:17-28 KJV)

Here below follows Mathew Henry’s exposition of these verses, taken from e-Sword.

Proverbs 26:17

1. That which is here condemned is meddling with strife that belongs not to us. If we must not be hasty to strive in our own cause (Pro_25:8), much less in other people’s, especially theirs that we are no way related to or concerned in, but light on accidentally as we pass by. If we can be instrumental to make peace between those that are at variance we must do it, though we should thereby get the ill-will of both sides, at least while they are in their heat; but to make ourselves busy in other men’s matters, and parties in other men’s quarrels, is not only to court our own trouble, but to thrust ourselves into temptation. Who made me a judge? Let them end it, as they began it, between themselves. 2. We are cautioned against it because of the danger it exposes us to; it is like taking a snarling cur by the ears, that will snap at you and bite you; you had better have let him alone, for you cannot get clear of him when you would, and must thank yourselves if you come off with a wound and dishonour. He that has got a dog by the ears, if he lets him go he flies at him, if he keeps his hold, he has his hands full, and can do nothing else. Let every one with quietness work and mind his own business, and not with unquietness quarrel and meddle with other people’s business.

Proverbs 26:18-19

See here, 1. How mischievous those are that make no scruple of deceiving their neighbours; they are as madmen that cast firebrands, arrows, and death, so much hurt may they do by their deceits. They value themselves upon it as polite cunning men, but really they are as madmen. There is not a greater madness in the world than a wilful sin. It is not only the passionate furious man, but the malicious deceitful man, that is a madman; he does in effect cast fire-brands, arrows, and death; he does more mischief than he can imagine. Fraud and falsehood burn like fire-brands, kill, even at a distance, like arrows. 2. See how frivolous the excuse is which men commonly make for the mischief they do, that they did it in a jest; with this they think to turn it off when they are reproved for it, Am not I in sport? But it will prove dangerous playing with fire and jesting with edge-tools. Not that those are to be commended who are captious, and can take no jest (those that themselves are wise must suffer fools, 2Co_11:19, 2Co_11:20), but those are certainly to be condemned who are any way abusive to their neighbours, impose upon their credulity, cheat them in their bargains with them, tell lies to them or tell lies of them, give them ill language, or sully their reputation, and then think to excuse it by saying that they did but jest. Am not I in sport? He that sins in just must repent in earnest, or his sin will be his ruin. Truth is too valuable a thing to be sold for a jest, and so is the reputation of our neighbour. By lying and slandering in jest men learn themselves, and teach others, to lie and slander in earnest; and a false report, raised in mirth, may be spread in malice; besides, if a man may tell a lie to make himself merry, why not to make himself rich, and so truth quite perishes, and men teach their tongues to tell lies, Jer_9:5. If men would consider that a lie comes from the devil, and brings to hell-fire, surely that would spoil the sport of it; it is casting arrows and death to themselves.

Proverbs 26:18-19

See here, 1. How mischievous those are that make no scruple of deceiving their neighbours; they are as madmen that cast firebrands, arrows, and death, so much hurt may they do by their deceits. They value themselves upon it as polite cunning men, but really they are as madmen. There is not a greater madness in the world than a wilful sin. It is not only the passionate furious man, but the malicious deceitful man, that is a madman; he does in effect cast fire-brands, arrows, and death; he does more mischief than he can imagine. Fraud and falsehood burn like fire-brands, kill, even at a distance, like arrows. 2. See how frivolous the excuse is which men commonly make for the mischief they do, that they did it in a jest; with this they think to turn it off when they are reproved for it, Am not I in sport? But it will prove dangerous playing with fire and jesting with edge-tools. Not that those are to be commended who are captious, and can take no jest (those that themselves are wise must suffer fools, 2Co_11:19, 2Co_11:20), but those are certainly to be condemned who are any way abusive to their neighbours, impose upon their credulity, cheat them in their bargains with them, tell lies to them or tell lies of them, give them ill language, or sully their reputation, and then think to excuse it by saying that they did but jest. Am not I in sport? He that sins in just must repent in earnest, or his sin will be his ruin. Truth is too valuable a thing to be sold for a jest, and so is the reputation of our neighbour. By lying and slandering in jest men learn themselves, and teach others, to lie and slander in earnest; and a false report, raised in mirth, may be spread in malice; besides, if a man may tell a lie to make himself merry, why not to make himself rich, and so truth quite perishes, and men teach their tongues to tell lies, Jer_9:5. If men would consider that a lie comes from the devil, and brings to hell-fire, surely that would spoil the sport of it; it is casting arrows and death to themselves.

Proverbs 26:20-22

Contention is as a fire; it heats the spirit, burns up all that is good, and puts families and societies into a flame. Now here we are told how that fire is commonly kindled and kept burning, that we may avoid the occasions of strife and so prevent the mischievous consequences of it. If then we would keep the peace, 1. We must not give ear to talebearers, for they feed the fire of contention with fuel; nay, they spread it with combustible matter; the tales they carry are fireballs. Those who by insinuating base characters, revealing secrets, and misrepresenting words and actions, do what they can to make relations, friends, and neighbours, jealous one of another, to alienate them one from another, and sow discord among them, are to be banished out of families and all societies, and then strife will as surely cease as the fire will go out when it has no fuel; the contenders will better understand one another and come to a better temper; old stories will soon be forgotten when there are no new ones told to keep up the remembrance of them, and both sides will see how they have been imposed upon by a common enemy. Whisperers and backbiters are incendiaries not to be suffered. To illustrate this, he repeats (Pro_26:22) what he had said before (Pro_18:8), that the words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, deep and dangerous wounds, wounds in the vitals. They wound the reputation of him who is belied, and perhaps the wound proves incurable, and even the plaster of a recantation (which yet can seldom be obtained) may not prove wide enough for it. They wound the love and charity which he to whom they are spoken ought to have for his neighbour and give a fatal stab to friendship and Christian fellowship. We must therefore not only not be tale-bearers ourselves at any time, nor ever do any ill offices, but we should not give the least countenance to those that are. 2. We must not associate with peevish passionate people, that are exceptions, and apt to put the worst constructions upon everything, that pick quarrels upon the least occasion, and are quick, and high, and hot, in resenting affronts. These are contentious men, that kindle strife, Pro_26:21. The less we have to do with such the better, for it will be very difficult to avoid quarrelling with those that are quarrelsome.

Proverbs 26:23

This may be meant either, 1. Of a wicked heart showing itself in burning lips, furious, passionate, outrageous words, burning in malice, and persecuting those to whom, or of whom, they are spoken; ill words and ill-will agree as well together as a potsherd and the dross of silver, which, now that the pot is broken and the dross separated from the silver, are fit to be thrown together to the dunghill. 2. Or of a wicked heart disguising itself with burning lips, burning with the professions of love and friendship, and even persecuting a man with flatteries; this is like a potsherd covered with the scum or dross of silver, with which one that is weak may be imposed upon, as if it were of some value, but a wise man is soon aware of the cheat. This sense agrees with the following verses.

Proverbs 26:24-26

There is cause to complain, not only of the want of sincerity in men’s profession of friendship, and that they do not love so well as they pretend nor will serve their friends so much as they promise, but, which is much worse, of wicked designs in the profession of friendship, and the making of it subservient to the most malicious intentions. This is here spoken of as a common thing (Pro_26:24): He that hates his neighbour, and is contriving to do him a mischief, yet dissembles with his lips, professes to have a respect for him and to be ready to serve him, talks kindly with him, as Cain with Abel, asks, Art thou in health, my brother? as Joab to Amasa, that his malice may not be suspected and guarded against, and so he may have the fairer opportunity to execute the purposes of it, this man lays up deceit within him, that is, he keeps in his mind the mischief he intends to do his neighbour till he catches him at an advantage. This is malice which has no less of the subtlety than it has of the venom of the old serpent in it. Now, as to this matter, we are here cautioned, 1. Not to be so foolish as to suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by the pretensions of friendship. Remember to distrust when a man speaks fair; be not too forward to believe him unless you know him well, for it is possible there may be seven abominations in his heart, a great many projects of mischief against you, which he is labouring so industriously to conceal with his fair speech. Satan is an enemy that hates us, and yet in his temptations speaks fair, as he did to Eve, but it is madness to give credit to him, for there are seven abominations in his heart; seven other spirits does one unclean spirit bring more wicked than himself. 2. Not to be so wicked as to impose upon any with a profession of friendship; for, though the fraud may be carried on plausibly awhile, it will be brought to light, Pro_26:26. He whose hatred is covered by deceit will one time or other be discovered, and his wickedness shown, to his shame and confusion, before the whole congregation; and nothing will do more to make a man odious to all companies. Love (says one) is the best armour, but the worst cloak, and will serve dissemblers as the disguise which Ahab put on and perished in.

Proverbs 26:27

See here, 1. What pains men take to do mischief to others. As they put a force upon themselves by concealing their design with a profession of friendship, so they put themselves to a great deal of labour to bring it about; it is digging a pit, it is rolling a stone, hard work, and yet men will not stick at it to gratify their passion and revenge. 2. What preparation they hereby make of mischief to themselves. Their violent dealing will return upon their own heads; they shall themselves fall into the pit they digged, and the stone they rolled will return upon them, Psa_7:15, Psa_7:16; Psa_9:15, Psa_9:16. The righteous God will take the wise, not only in their own craftiness, but in their own cruelty. It is the plotter’s doom. Haman is hanged on a gallows of his own preparing.

- nec lex est justior ulla
Quam necis artifices arte perire sua -
Nor is there any law more just than that
the contrivers of destruction should perish
by their own arts.

Proverbs 26:28

There are two sorts of lies equally detestable: – 1. A slandering lie, which avowedly hates those it is spoken of: A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it; it afflicts them by calumnies and reproaches because it hates them, and can thus smite them secretly where they are without defence; and it hates them because it has afflicted them and made them its enemies. The mischief of this is open and obvious; it afflicts, it hates, and owns it, and every body sees it. 2. A flattering lie, which secretly works the ruin of those it is spoken to. In the former the mischief is plain, and men guard against it as well as they can, but in this it is little suspected, and men betray themselves by being credulous of their own praises and the compliments that are passed upon them. A wise man therefore will be more afraid of a flatterer that kisses and kills than of a slanderer that proclaims war.

Amen !! 

Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
(Psalms 119:12 KJV)

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My first few weeks of teaching the teens it was often really hard to hold their interest and pull discussion out of them.  However, with this material you gain the students attention right away and that leads right into discussion.  You also have a choice of lesson plans each week where you can do a discussion or an activity based lesson plan.  I personally love the discussion plan because it tends to draw more discussion and Bible searching from the students.   And each week you are also given a weekly devotional that has 7 seven days worth of mini-devotions for the students to do on the topic you are discussing that leads into next week’s topic.

Over all I am just really excited about this material, not only because of the interest it has gained with our students, but mainly because it is solid Biblical curriculum.  Each week the students are challenged to look at their walk with Christ and see if their actions and relationships are leading others towards Christ or pushing them away.  They are also challenged to grow in their relationship with Christ on a deeper level each week.

If you work in a youth group or sunday school setting with teens, I highly recommend the “Fuel Ignited” series!

Most Jews now living in the Arab world belong to communities dating back to Biblical times or originating as colonies of refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. In Syria, Jews of both origins, numbering altogether fewer than 3,000 in 1987, are found. After a mass-emigration in 1992, today fewer than 200 Jews live in Syria, mostly in the capital. Syrian Jews are Arabic-speaking and barely distinguishable from the Arabs around them. In Syria, as elsewhere, the degree to which Jews submit to the disciplines of their religion varies.

King David lifts the head of the Philistine, Goliath.

Proof of the Nephalim’s existence    <Click for vineoflife.net

The Dog Says:-

Thanks to vineoflife.net, I can show you inescapable evidence of the Biblical Nephalim Giants whose descendants include the Goliath killed by King David, Jesus’ direct descendant.

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However, because of the unrest among the young people, new music began written, sung, and published. In 1967 Broadman Press released one of the first (of what would become a phenomenon) “Youth Musicals.” This musical was entitled, “Good News.” The interesting thing about this particular musical was that 8 years later the song of invitation and commitment from this musical was granted “hymn-status”.

So the question I ask us today is this; “What do I care about?” or “Who do I care about?” As I have prepared for this message, I read sermons of a number of preachers. One preacher offered these thoughts, “We cry when our dog gets run over, but are unmoved by our friend who is outside of Christ. Parents shed tears when their daughter comes down the aisle to be married and are insensitive about her coming down the aisle to be saved.” The question is, “Do we really care?” The Apostle Paul cared.

Today we continue our study of Romans. We turn to Chapter 9, reading verses 1-5. Be reminded that Paul has just ended the previous section on the spiritual high of saying, “nothing has the power to separate us from the Lord of God IN Jesus Christ our Lord.” What becomes obvious is that he passionately believes that EVERYONE NEEDS JESUS, no matter what it takes. Each person, whether Jew or Gentile, needs the forgiveness. Love, justification, and life found in Jesus. And in true “Apostle Paul” form, he expresses that he is willing to do whatever it takes for others.

Charles Colson was a tough lawyer who worked for President Nixon at the height of Watergate. He was successful, but he still felt empty.

One afternoon a friend shared his faith in Christ with him, and a short time later Colson became a Christian. Comic strips like Doonesbury ridiculed him. Soon Colson found himself in prison because of his previous activities during Watergate. They were the worst 2 years of his life, but he kept his faith. He was appalled at the prison conditions and how prisoners came out worse than they went in. Today his organization has 15,000 volunteers who disciple prisoners for Jesus Christ.

Chuck Colson cared enough to do something for others. Because of His trek, he had a heart to help the prisoners. His heart still controls him to this day, I believe, because he has never forgotten those 2 years in jail.

The apostle Paul never forgot his past. I believe that, until his dying day, in his mind’s eye he could see the faces of those believer whom he hunted down and persecuted. He remembered the emptiness that each experience brought Him. As he penned these words, he was continually overwhelmed by the goodness and graciousness of God toward him and he wanted all his friends, acquaintances, and fellow Jews to find the Savior. His heartbeat was, by any means he could, to reach as many people as he could, as quickly as he could. This was His HEART! He really cared!

This morning I ask this question; “Do you, do we, or do I really care?” If we do, just like in the life of Paul, it is a matter of the heart. If we care truly care then we’ll have a heart for at least 3 things, let see what these are.

1. A Heart for the Truth – Paul begins in verse 1 by saying, “I am speaking the truth.” Paul was all about the truth. When he was Saul, in his heart the truth was this; ‘these people of ‘The way’ were perverting the world and religion, and thus needed to be dealt with because Jesus, the imposter, was dead.’ It was only after being confronted on the Damascus road with the eternal truth of a living Lord Jesus, he became more passionate about truth than ever before. The truth is that which Paul has just stated at the end of Chapter 8, “In Jesus there is nothing able to separate us from God’s love.” It is one thing to say God is love and another to live and believe it.

a) God’s Love Compels Us – Here is a truth which is difficult to fully comprehend; “When we were sinful, outside of God’s grace, and rebellious, God loved us.” God’s love poured out of heaven into a manger in Bethlehem, flooded the hill called Calvary, and continues to be poured out into our hearts today. It is a love which requires action, invokes relationship, and inspires change. 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died.” The word “compels” literally means to urge us or press us forward that the world may know the truth, His truth.

b) God’s Love Captivates Us – When we truly sense God’s love poured out into our hearts, we become overwhelmed by the enormity of it. The strength and determination of God’s love is so massive that once experienced, nothing can separate us from it. When we get a clear understanding of and experience in God’s love, we will be captivated. It is very similar to the great love stories of literature. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, they shared a captivating romantic love. It carried them to an untimely death. Because we have had such an “easy go” in the USA with respect to our beliefs, we may need to discover this kind of love for God.

c) God’s Love Converts Us – Here is a surprise; “People are different.” For some, they respond to seeing on the cross just exactly how much God loves them. For others, they respond to seeing the cross in terms of how God deals with sin. Still others respond to a combination of these two truths. But make no mistake, it was not God’s desire to punish sin and offer judgment that prompted Calvary. Calvary is God’s display of love. The truth is this; “God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus into the world while we were sinful to pay the required price for our sins.” It is out of His GREAT Love that He saves us. This is the truth, like it or not.

Today it seems that we have almost ‘an aversion’ to truth. Half-truths, deceit, and dishonesty are all in vogue. For the past few years, we have all been frustrated by national politics. Who of us knows what to believe and whom to trust? When truth is not center-stage, then the entirety of society is fragile because the foundation of trust is gone. One of the results of this type of fracture is “apathy.” Think about it. When truth is relative, nothing or no one can really be trusted, confidence is non-existent, security is lost, and apathy sets in because “what’s the use?”

This could explain the sentiment of apathy in the US today. George Barna tells us that 40% of evangelicals do not believe in absolute truth. Is it any wonder that baptisms, church membership, & attendance are down? A heart for the truth seeks to understand & know these reasons.

2. A Heart for the Lost – Of all the people we can name who was and is focused on winning the lost and discipling the saved, Paul heads the list. He, like Jesus, was all about reaching people. Look at verse 2-4 & discover;

a) An uncompromised conscience – In the last part of verse 1, Paul writes, “My conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit.” Paul believes that a person’s conscience is a very helpful tool, but he also teaches, writes, and believes that a person conscience can be damaged or destroyed. Young Timothy was pastoring a church that was giving him a very difficult time. When Paul wrote his first letter to this young man, he spoke of the damaged conscience in chapter 4:2 telling Timothy that “Liars have a compromised, damaged, or seared conscience.” The word seared in most translations have accompanying it the graphic description of a “hot iron”, “a branding iron”, or a “heated iron.” You see, lying (and sin) makes the conscience insensitive. To really care we must have a sensitive heart, a heart for truth, and a heart for lost people. Sin damages our conscience.

b) An uncommon concern – Are you reading this with me? Paul begins by writing words like “intense sorrow” and “continual anguish” to describe his inner emotions about his fellows Jews being saved. How long has it been since you have fretted over someone’s salvation? For me, my hurt comes over those who “think” they are saved, but offer no evidences, and believe me there are many out there!

May I ask, “How concerned are we that someone in our family, our list of friends, or our acquaintances, is outside of grace? Jesus was concerned about all and the call for us is to be concerned.

c) An unchanging commitment – Paul doesn’t stop his words with just conscience and concern; he raises the stakes to the level of commitment.
He writes an unbelievable thought, saying, “I COULD wish I were lost, if it meant my brothers would be saved.” What a huge commitment. Paul has such a desire to see his countryman saved that he would literally sacrifice his own life for their benefit. He was committed to it. He would give all.

When I first became a pastor, fairly regularly people would come by and share with me about lost family and friends asking me to pray with them about the salvation of their loved one. Obviously, we would covenant to pray together. Truth be told, I could always tell when someone had a heart for salvation to take place. Their request was a little different. They would say, “Bro. Bill, my cousin needs the Lord, I’ve tried but seem to get nowhere, will you go with me?” When we have a heart for the lost, sending someone else is not enough, we must go.

3. A Heart for the Savior – We have already discussed the compelling, converting, and captivating love of God, but in this understanding lies the big question; Do you have a heart for Him? Today, we can have a heart for many things and they can be good things, but they are not HIM. We can a heart for our church, our buildings, our class, our small group, or any of 100’s of good and great things which are part of the body of Christ. However, when these things capture our heart, we have missed the best. Jesus. (Say it with me). Quickly, think with me of Jesus, our Savior.

Co-exist? satan with God? God with satan?

a) The only one – Jesus is the only one who could die for our sin. As the old hymn reads, “none other with do.” He is God’s only Son, given for God’s only ones, and that is you and me. Without HIM, I have no hope. Because,

b) The only hope – It is sad to say but most of us have seriously forgotten what it is like to feel hopeless. Imagine yourself in the 100th floor of the North Tower on 9/11. The initial impacted floors 93-99 and feels like it rocked the entire building. Smoke, dust, and fire quickly fill up the 100th floor. But that doesn’t matter to you because you find yourself hanging on by your fingers outside your office window looking at the earth below. What chance would you have had for survival? Very slim. So if you were hanging there with the world going falling apart, and suddenly a helicopter appears with a rope headed toward you, what would you do?

c) The only way – In our multicultural society, many have bought into the mindset of universalism. Why is this so? Because it has been so subtly worked into society and the church. “Co-exist” they say, Church I have a serious question for you to ponder, Can God and satan Co-exist? If your answer is yes, then How? Is it working now? Church remember Jesus is still the only way. Can I Get an Amen!!

Related articles

• Romans 8 Part 2, The Certainty of God’s Love (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Past, Present and Future of Salvation, Today’s Study of Romans 5 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• What Do You Really See When You Look in the Mirror? (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Sharing in the Life of Christ, Romans 8 Pt. 1 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Romans, Chapter 6, Enslaved to Righteousness or Enslaved to Wickedness? (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

If the light is right, the image will be dazzling, if not, it’ll be flat, dull and lifeless.

Good lighting is critical for a successful photograph, no less outdoors, where you can’t really arrange it much. Getting a perfect, correcttly exposed shot is often a question of chance, more of, a being at the-right-place-at-the-right-time scenario, as these moments are usually transient. If you don’t shoot them pretty smartly, you’ve lost the shot.

Bright summer sunlight reveals the intricate details of this butterfly’s wings.

I’m not talking about the professional variety that’s carefully planned with numerous images recorded over a number of days or even months, but just a spontaneous scene that either arrests the attention for a short period of time or by chance when everyone in the family photo looks great and no one’s blinking – the ones that make the album or picture frame.

Lens flares, although not tecnically correct, cause this gaura, a beautiful bedding plant, to dance in a fantasy of light.

There’s something fascinating about shiny objects. Light gives substance to many items including art forms like stain glass windows, jewellery, paintings and other things such as beautiful lamps and sunny rooms. And it’s the rays of sunlight bursting through leaves, filtering interesting shadows as it goes, that causes foliage and creatures alike to shimmer.

The light causes a riot of optical delights.

Light has the ability to give its power freely and unquestioningly; its nature is non-discriminatory and everything in its path, from the unwanted weed, to the most distasteful creature and the most lacklustre corner, is transformed when touched by its magnanimous beams.

The sunlight shines through the buttercup yellow blooms of this Bauhinia tomentosa forming a pretty halo around a bee.

When it comes to light in the garden, autumn is is the time many deciduous plants and trees really show their mettle. As if to compensate for a lack of temperature, their leaves exude warmth by turning into masses of gold, red, orange and coppery coloured foliage to redeem a chilly, sometimes drab winter landscape.

The Liquidambar tree is one of the most beautiful trees in autumn when its leaves change to bright red, copper and gold.

These autumnal treats remind me of Moses’s Burning Bush in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 3:1–15). I love a good story and there’re some great narratives among the biblical texts. According to this one, set during the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt (1500 – 1000 BC), God, after over 400 years of silence, uses the burning bush to communicate with Moses while he’s in the wilderness.

Using the living power of the garden he created, God instructs the understandably reluctant Moses to return to Egypt and liberate his people from oppression and suffering. From a literary aspect, the Burning Bush makes a wonderful dramatic device. It’s also an allegorical exegesis representing God’s presence in the garden and is a decisive turning point in this historic narrative. It’s a revelation of God’s promise of a future relationship with his followers. Consequently, Moses is effectively persuaded by this luminescent demonstration to embark on a mission that’s to prove fraught with complex difficulties. These include no less than nine rather unpleasant plagues, dreadful diseases, high wind and thunderstorms.

A lone tree in the Eastern Cape countryside stands out in the autumn sunshine.

I imagine the Burning Bush to be a vision of botanical triumph – the garden at its best. And to suggest these events might have no factual foundation is missing the point. Stories with universal themes like these rise above the limitations of scientific examination. They’re an exposition of human experience.

A Liquidambar tree on the left blends in with a smaller Maple tree.

Autumn is certainly a sign that things are about to change in the garden. As deciduous plants and trees gradually change their colour and their leaves begin to die, they’re a colourful reminder not to forget that spring will eventually come and liberate the garden from the dormancy of winter.

Good candidates for autumn colour are

The Liquidambar, Maple and Pride of India trees (Lagerstroemia indica) and the Virginia creeper (parthenocissus)

May 15, 2013 … Prayer Garden

This is a garden that was at Forrest Hills Mountain Resort in Dahlonega, Georgia. This is where we stayed last year for our anniversary. It was so quaint and peaceful. It makes me think about the garden where Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:36-39 …Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.”
37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons with him. He was beginning to feel deep anguish. 38 Then he said to them, “My anguish is so great that I feel as if I’m dying. Wait here, and stay awake with me.”
39 After walking a little farther, he quickly bowed with his face to the ground and prayed, “Father, if it’s possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. But let your will be done rather than mine.”

The last few days have been very trying. The devil is trying hard, to break our Spirit. He knows just how to do it to. He likes to attack me, by attacking my husband, which always flows over. Its moments like these, that we need to just find a quiet place to pray and give it all to God. We have to get all the noise out of our head so that we can focus on the voice of God. God already knows our hearts and what we are going through, but he needs to hear it from us. We need to go to him, just like we go to our natural friends and talk to them. We need to have a relationship with him everyday, not just sometimes, when we are in need. What kind of friend would we be, if we only went to someone and called them friend, when we needed something. I have a saying about those kind of people, I call them “Users & Abusers’. Be sure not to treat God in that sense.  He is not just a friend, he is our Father in Heaven and we should be able to go to him with everything. The GOOD, The BAD and the UGLY.

Psalm 139 (GW)……a psalm by David.
1 O Lord, you have examined me, and you know me.
2 You alone know when I sit down and when I get up.
You read my thoughts from far away.
3 You watch me when I travel and when I rest.
You are familiar with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a single word on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and in back of me.
You lay your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is beyond my grasp.
It is so high I cannot reach it.

7 Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
Where can I run to get away from you?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in hell, you are there.
9 If I climb upward on the rays of the morning sun
or land on the most distant shore of the sea where the sun sets,
10 even there your hand would guide me
and your right hand would hold on to me.
11 If I say, “Let the darkness hide me
and let the light around me turn into night,”
12 even the darkness is not too dark for you.
Night is as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You alone created my inner being.
You knitted me together inside my mother.
14 I will give thanks to you
because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book
before one of them had taken place.
17 How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I try to count them,
there would be more of them than there are grains of sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.

19 I wish that you would kill wicked people, O God,
and that bloodthirsty people would leave me alone.
20 They say wicked things about you.
Your enemies misuse your name.
21 Shouldn’t I hate those who hate you, O Lord?
Shouldn’t I be disgusted with those who attack you?
22 I hate them with all my heart.
They have become my enemies.
23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind.
Test me, and know my thoughts.
24 See whether I am on an evil path.
Then lead me on the everlasting path.

Below is a song that I really love. It really hits home to me. When something is troubling us, this is the way we need to come to God. If you don’t know the song, take a moment and check it out. Let me know what you think, I would love to hear your opinions.

“Need You Now (How Many Times)” by Plumb

Well, everybody’s got a story to tell
And everybody’s got a wound to be healed
I want to believe there’s beauty here
‘Cause oh, I get so tired of holding on
I can’t let go, I can’t move on
I want to believe there’s meaning here

How many times have you heard me cry out
“God please take this”?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

Standing on a road I didn’t plan
Wondering how I got to where I am
I’m trying to hear that still small voice
I’m trying to hear above the noise

How many times have you heard me cry out
“God please take this”?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

Though I walk,
Though I walk through the shadows
And I, I am so afraid
Please stay, please stay right beside me
With every single step I take

How many times have you heard me cry out?
And how many times have you given me strength?

How many times have you heard me cry out
“God please take this”?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

I need you now
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
I need you now
I need you now

May God Bless each & everyone that receives this message.
Donna Jones

Hmm….  (NaturalNews) Angelina Jolie announced yesterday that she had both of her breasts surgically removed even though she had no breast cancer. She carries the BRCA1 gene, and she has been tricked into believing that genetic code is some sort of absolute blueprint to disease expression — which it most certainly is not. Countless millions of women carry the BRCA1 gene and never express breast cancer because they lead healthy, anti-cancer lifestyles based on smart nutrition, exercise, sensible sunlight exposure and avoidance of cancer-causing chemicals

Jolie, like many other women who have been deluded by cancer quackery, decided the best way to prevent the risk of breast cancer was not to lead a healthy, anti-cancer lifestyle, but rather to surgically remove her breasts in what she describes as “three months of medical procedures.” (NaturalNews)

Now the world (woman) are going crazy and wanting to also remove their breasts to ensure they will not get cancer in the future?  What!  Are these people who earn a lot of money and in the public eye all the time really an example of what we should look like, live like, eat and do to our bodies?

Come on!  We have our own lives to live according to Gods will and His Word.  Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”  The closer we get to God the closer we get to the plan (good plan) for our lives.

Dont be misled by the world with all their glamour.  Find yourself in Christ and you will be at peace.  Blessings.

Article: NaturalNews

Don Fortner 

True Christian love is not universal. It does not extend to all men. The fact is, if I love the Lord Jesus Christ there are some people I cannot love. There is such a thing as a righteous hatred.

Listen to God’s servant David, the man after God’s own heart. He wrote these words under the infallible influence of God the Holy Spirit – “Do not I hate them, O Lord,- that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies” (Ps. 139:21-22). A reasonable inference from those two verses is that those who are the Lord’s enemies, those who hold our God in contempt, are to be counted as our enemies and held in contempt by us.

Yes, the Lord said for us to love our enemies and to pray for those who despite fully use us. That, by the grace of God, I can and will do. If a man abuses me, slanders me and does me harm, I can love him, forgive him, pray for him, and seek the best for him. BUT OUR LORD NEVER COMMANDED US TO LOVE HIS ENEMIES! And that is something I cannot do. Elijah held the prophets of Baal in comtempt. The Apostle Paul pronounced a curse of irreversible woe and eternal damnation upon any who came preaching another gospel. John the Beloved forbids us to receive into our homes those who deny the doctrine of Christ, telling us neither to feed them nor wish them well. David hated those who hated his God. And I find that same passion in my heart for the false prophets of our day.

Love for Christ constrains me to hold those in contempt who rob him of his glory as our Redeemer and King. Love for the souls of men compels me to denounce those who preach a false gospel. Love for the church of Christ, the family of God, compels me to despise those who pervert the gospel of Christ. Love for the Lord God constrains me to hate those who deny his sovereignty and despise the gospel of his saving grace and majestic glory.

How can I do otherwise? Those who are the enemies of the cross of Christ are my enemies. If I love Christ I cannot love those who deny the efficacy of his blood. I will not, I cannot cease to denounce and oppose the doctrines of antichrist and those who preach them, whether it comes in the form of papacy or in the form of modern fundamentalism. Loyalty to Christ demands loyalty in opposing his enemies. It would be far easier, and much more reasonable, for me to embrace as my friend a man who had brutally raped and murdered my wife than it would be for me to embrace as my brethren men who are set in opposition to the gospel of the grace and glory of God in Christ.

What about you? Will you continue to embrace as true preachers and brethren men who deny the gospel of God’s electing grace, redemptive glory, and saving power? Will you continue to attend a house of worship where the blood of Christ is despised and the Word of God is trampled under foot? Will you continue to be identified with those who are the enemies of the cross of Christ? I admonish you who love the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of his grace. Search the scriptures to see what God has revealed about his Son, find a man who is preaching the gospel as it is revealed in the New Testament, and go hear what he has to say. God may just speak to you through him.

HL - http://www.donfortner.com/radio

We are bound to love our own enemies, but we are not bound to love God’s enemies. We are to wish them, as enemies, a complete overthrow; but to wish them, as men, a gracious conversion, that they may obtain God’s pardon, and become his friends, and followers, and servants. C H Spurgeon 

biblical decoration (representing the night at Gethsemane garden) on a house in Nördlingen (Germany)

I’ll read a Facebook status that says something along the lines of “He’s all I think about when I get home, and I just can’t wait to be with him again. I love him so much!” And you know, besides the fact that those status messages are completely annoying, they’re so far off from what a godly relationship is.

Now it has always been a firm belief of mine that in order for a relationship to be good and healthy, it must have one component within it, and this one component literally holds everything together. It is the one thing that makes that relationship good and that one thing is Jesus Christ. Now let me clarify. I don’t mean that both people are Christians. Amen that’s great, but it’s not what necessarily makes a relationship godly. On the contrary, both people, man and woman, not only need to be Christians, but they need to have a strong relationship with Christ.  They need to love Jesus more than that significant other. Because until they learn to love Jesus, they can never truly love that other person. (If you want to know more about biblical love, then check out my post entitled “Love is…Love is not…Love does not”. It’s linked below:) )

Your significant other should be one who draws you closer to the Lord; who encourages you to get in the Word. If they’re not doing that, I’m sorry to say, but they’re not as great as you make them out to be.

My point in telling all of this was not to burst your bubble of happiness, but rather to open your eyes to all that God offers. God wants to give you a happily ever after, but you’ve got to follow His plan.

I’m single now, and probably will (purposefully) stay that way for a few more years. But when I do start dating, I want my relationship to be Christ-centered. I want someone who’s going to hold me accountable. I want a man who loves Jesus so much more than me. Until I find someone whom I think has those characteristics, I’m staying single, because anything less is empty.

Until then I will run my race, making Christ the source of my joy and contentment. And then, hopefully, one beautiful day, He’ll send me a running partner. Someone to yell at me and tell me not to give up, even when my feet start aching and I begin to grow weary. We’ll run together, side by side, facing every obstacle as a  team. And we’ll live happily ever after.

 ”Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Thanks for reading!

-Alex

P.S. I’ve written a few other post on dating. Check them out below if you’re interested!

“Teenage Dating”-http://justplainalex.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/teenage-love-relationships-i-e-drama-broken-hearts-and-bad-decisions/

“Love is…Love is not…Love does not”- http://justplainalex.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/love-is-love-is-not-love-does-not/

“The List”- http://justplainalex.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/the-list/