Psalm 119:11 Amp

Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

The Word of God stored up within you produces spiritual strength to your inner man.

Psalm 119:11 in the King James Version says “Thy word have I hid in my heart” the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew meaning for the word hid is to treasure, to treasure or store up.

• Treasure is something of value, how much do you value the Word of God?
  
• Do you value it enough to take the time everyday to get into it?
  

John 1:1 says the Word was with God and the Word was God, if you are spending time in the Word you are spending time with God. Knowing God is simple trust in the truth of His Word that He and is Word are one. You know the Word; you know Him. This is where you start in your journey to knowing Him and developing your relationship with Him. When we believed and received the truth of the Gospel of Christ, we were given a new life in Him. He came to dwell, live, abide within us. Our spirits were made alive with the life of God. But our spirits need to be fed just like our bodies need to be fed. If you aren’t feeding your spirit; your spirit will be weak and your flesh will dominate. But you start feeding your spirit with the Word of God, hiding it in your heart, storing it up in your heart, your inner man; you will increase in spiritual strength. Both Deuteronomy 30:14 and Romans 10:8 tells us God’s word is to be in our mouth and in our hearts so we can accomplish the Word. We live our lives from the inside out. His Word stored up inside us will give us the strength and capability to walk in His ways. It will give us the ability and capacity to change how we live our life on the outside. If you have trouble walking in love towards someone, store up His Word in your heart on love and forgiveness. If you have trouble giving; store up His Word concerning giving. If there are strongholds, sin, or weaknesses that you desire victory over; store up His word in your heart, till it becomes a part of you. And when those strongholds, sin, or weaknesses try to assert themselves you will have the strength within yourself to say NO, I AM A CHILD OF GOD and the GREATER ONE lives within me!

Scriptures to meditate on:

Psalm 119:11 (Amplified) Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

Romans 10:8 (Amplified) But what does it say? The Word (God’s message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach, [Deut. 30:14.]

2 Corinthians 4:16

 ….. Though our outward man is (progressively) decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being (progressively) renewed day after day.

You have an outward man which people can see and you have an inward man which God can see. It’s the inner self the above scripture is talking about which is your spirit and soul (mind). When you accept Jesus into your heart (spirit) as your savior, your spirit becomes alive with the light and life of God. People do not see what goes on in this inner man; however only God and you know what goes on in this inner man. It is through this inner man that change comes to the outward man.

Renewed – Strongs Concordance #341, anakanoo

          1. to cause to grow up , new, to make new.

                   a. a new strength and vigor is given to one.

                   b. to be changed into a new kind of life as opposed 
                       to the former corrupt state.

When we accept Jesus as our savior we are like new babies in Christ. We are to grow up in our walk with God. When we are babies in Christ our behavior may be immature and our thoughts are still more in the world than in the things of God. We have a new life of Jesus in us just like natural babies grow we too also need to grow in the things of God. What is inside of us comes out of us through actions, words, and attitudes, which other people see.

Colossians 3:10

And have clothed yourselves with the new (spiritual self) which is (ever in the process of being) renewed and remolded into (fuller and perfect knowledge upon) knowledge of Him Who created it.

According to this scripture you are to be changed inwardly in the likeness of Jesus. In I Peter 3:1-4 tells women how to win their husbands to the Lord. It is the inward adorning of the hidden man of the heart. They become a testimony for the Lord as their inner person changes; you too become a testimony of God.  

2 Corinthians 3: 2-3

(No) you yourselves are our letter of recommendation (our credentials), written in your hearts, to be known (perceived, recognized) and read by everybody.

You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with (the) Spirit of (the) living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

With the Word of God in you; you become testimonial written by the Holy Spirit as a witness for God. Let God’s Word become alive and living in you; directing your thoughts, changing your attitudes, and let it be a guidance for your life. Through God’s word the Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you into all truth.

Mathew 7:17-18, 20

Even so every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit (worthy of admiration), but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit.

A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear excellent fruit (worthy of admiration).

Therefore you will fully know them by their fruits. 

You are known by your fruit. Your fruit are your actions, words, or habits. Your fruit will be good or bad depending on what is inside you. Have you ever seen a beautiful red apple? By looking at it you think that will taste very good. Only when you actually bite into it, it’s bitter? Your fruit, your outward actions or appearance can be like that. Everything looks good on the outside but the inside is bad. You were instantly changed in your spirit from death to life but your mind needs to be renewed daily. As your mind lines up with the Word of God, your actions and appearance will line up with the inner man of your spirit and your fruit will be sweet. 

Doing all the right outward things isn’t what God is looking for or what makes you right on the inside. As you line yourself up with righteousness that was given to you through Jesus and renewing your mind to the Word of God your behavior will become right. Matthew 23:28; people can seem right outwardly but inside they are full of iniquity.

 1 Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

God knows what is going on inside of everyone. He doesn’t only look at what people do but He looks at what is going on inside them; their motives and attitudes. You only see what men let us see unless God gives you discernment.

Spend time in the Word and let the Word of God change you from inside out. So the fruit of your actions will be good.

Too many of us now days are playing the game of “I’m a believer” and sometimes I’m not. But this is a dangerous game to play. Not only for you, but for others.  We’re hanging in the balance. Your salvation is not a joke or a game. I would hope your soul having the possibility of ending up in hell forever would cause you rethink some of your decisions. Nothing on this world should have that much power over you, to make you shrug off the importance of your souls’ final destination. It’s not only dangerous for you, but if you are one those sometimes believers, do you not realize that your peers, fellow employees, maybe even your parents are watching you. What statement is your life saying. That do what you want now, and care about your soul later? You’d better be careful what you’re saying to God with your life and to others. Because you’re playing a dangerous game. Please make the decision today to trust Jesus Christ with your life and hold on. For your reward will be great.

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“I am the vine, you are the branches: he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5

This is an amazing piece of scripture.  I know I’ve written about it before now, but please go over it again.  Read John 15:1-11.   Be blessed as you see the power of the Holy Spirit in each believer to do His will.  Know that abiding is more than a “Hello.  How are you?” every morning.  Truly abiding in Christ is seeking Christ with all your heart, soul, and mind every day.  It is walking in the Spirit so you do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

The picture in John 15, is of a grafted vine.  If you’ve seen grafted plants (citrus is another plant that is grafted), you know there are 2 living plants joined together to form one.  This new plant then takes its food from one root source and produces fruit from it.  I used to think that I was a plant and Jesus was a plant.  When I abide in Him and He in me, we are then one strong plant that can produce amazing fruit.

But that is wrong!  Jesus is the living vine.  I am just a stick!  Apart from God I cannot grow, mature and produce anything!  The only thing I am good for is the fire!  Oh, what a thought.   That at my best, I am only good for one thing–the fire!  (Now, I know why Isaiah wrote “All my righteousness is like filthy rags!”)

But when I abide in Christ, He takes the ugly stick I am, becomes my lifeblood and transforms me into something I could only dream of.  My stick becomes beautiful with leaves the Father feeds through deep roots.  As I dwell more and more on His Word, tiny fruit begin to form on my ’stick’.  After spending time with my Savior, I become more and more like Him and true abiding has taken place.  My fruit is not little, but so big I cannot contain it.  And when I try to contain what He has given life to, the beautiful branch I was becoming turns back into an ugly stick.

No, even now as fruit is growing on my branch, I must still abide in Him or else the branch I became in Christ and the fruit it bears dies.   I must ask my Lord, “What will You have me do with Your fruit?”  It is not mine to give, but His.  He has a plan for what He gives me.  It is not for me to flippantly throw in the wind or use at my disposal.  His gifts and fruit are from above and have a Godly purpose.

I pray each one of us see how our fire worthy stick become a fruit laden branch.  He is so good and I am truly in awe of His love for me.  Apart from God I can do nothing.  Amazing!

What if things weren’t really what they seem? You know that you have all the time in the world because you’re young, my education will always guarantee that I’ll have a roof over my head and food in my belly, the gas supply won’t run out and etc. We try to comfort ourselves but not putting too much thought into these scary what if scenarios. It’s better left unimagined. But there is one “what if” that you should never ignore, because it could put you in Hell.

I’m talking about the question of Hell or Heaven, Jesus and eternity being real. Have you considered the possibility of the Bible, the Bible Prophecies and the love of Jesus being for real. If not, you should really consider it and take it seriously. We’re willing to believe the news when they tell us “oh it’s no big deal, you don’t have to worry” but when the bible warns of us coming judgment and danger as well as about the love of Jesus, we need scientists, credentials, and before our very eyes proof before we believe what the Bible or “what that Jesus guy” says. But I’m here to say: You’d better wake up!

Every choice has an outcome. So here’s the deal: A. You can believe there is a God and He came to earth and died for our sins And to be saved from our sins you believe in the power of Jesus. You believe He could actually die for your sins and raise from the dead. And by doing that, He defeated eternal death (punishment for your sins and separation from God forever) for you.  B. You can deny that there is a God. But  no matter which option or opinion you choose both will come with an outcome. The difference will be is where you’ll find out that your decision was either right or wrong. Heaven or Hell? God or No God? You be the believer.

Please read more

I promised myself I won’t talk about movies, especially since most of them are simply surreal, unreal and also not so recommended to be watched. But I recently watched My Sister’s Keeper, and I realized: this is life! Life happens. You may be the person that does a lot of things, tries to change everyone, the world, the situation, encourage others and make everyone happy – but if sickness comes in, if death comes in, you will have to accept it. This is life.

The point is – enjoy life. Not: enjoy doing as many bad / illegal things that you think you like, but just enjoy your family life, your relatives, visiting and knowing people and places – appreciate this. Don’t just go over these things. Be “moved” and “touched” by things, be attached to people, open to others, be a friend and get friends close by. I would even say: be a good & interesting person online, have friends on facebook / twitter and really mean it, interact, get to know others and let them know you. At least humanly, in the society and in the family, that’s the best you can do…. of course, you can also know God, find Him, seek for Him…. It’s not only about trying to change things, but it’s mainly about living.

So many people today are trying their very best to have a purpose, a peace of mind, something to give them some type of satisfaction. I’ve tried it, celebrities do it, our parents and grandparents. We’ve all gone through life trying to find the reason to be breathing air. And once in a while we find something that keeps our attention and all of our efforts but then the glamour fades and we desperately begin trying to find a way to feel that we have something to contribute to this world. But in all honesty there is no way to true happiness without a relationship, a face to face trust and love relationship with Jesus Christ. You can drink all the alcohol, take all the drugs, achieve ultimate success and have all the sex you can want, but you will never find true ecstasy without Jesus. You say you want a purpose, you say you have needs, well then look to the one that can fulfill them all. His name is Jesus.

Wanna know more about this face to face honest relationship click here

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. ~ Mark 16:18

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* Why would Jesus promise to protect his disciples against serpents, but gave no promise to protect against other harmful animals?

* Why would these “snake handling” nutjobs flirt with death? Does it give them some extra “edge” in life, besides stupidity?

* How can these types of Christians point fingers at Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and claim they are wrong? This is the ultimate in “nutiness”.

(Tweet us!)

Is Twitter a network facilitator, or a participant in message and meaning? Should the environment be open or should it be sanitized, moderated and censored? I don’t know. I also haven’t seen anything formal or significant on policy or approach that provides clarity for the Twitter community.

So why is this an important issue?

Lets take an example. The #Iranelection hashtag (hashtag is a deliberately flagged search term, preceded with the hash character – ‘#’) was a trending topic on Twitter for many months. The topic and Twitter posts covered a host of nasty, sensitive and confronting material based around the election, election violence, democracy and media transparency during this period. The conversation still continues. Twitter was one of the few open outlets that allowed apparently unfettered comment to escape Iran, as traditional media and international visibility was shut down and journalists ejected. Twitter it seemed, let all of this content into the public arena, and there would be no doubt that certain forces were trying to prevent such material from entering certain geographies or to shut down and divert certain conversations completely. Twitter played an active role when they decided to delay a planned network maintenance outage, due to the importance of the dialogue and the volume of traffic. Perhaps no one sees this as an issue, but positive interference is still interference, and changing systematic behavior because of the nature of the prevailing message extends into territory that is much more than network provisioning. I’m not suggesting that it should have been handled any differently, just that it showed clear involvement with the message.

Twitter Intervention and Stewardship

Twitter ’suggest’ people you should follow when you create a new account, or any time you go back into the ‘Find People’ function (under the section ‘Suggested Users’). Twitter regularly remove inter-account linkages in occasional clean-outs and also make decisions on the suspension of accounts. If you use Twitter, you have probably come across the ’suspended account’ graphic. This is all generally accepted and welcomed maintenance and hygiene practice. Suspension for example, would normally be the result of a breach of the Twitter ‘terms of service’, including falsifying an account, obscene material and so on. Twitter suspends accounts, such as the publicized closure of the Dalai Lama account, because of misleading ’spoofed’ operation but chooses to leave thousands of others, with lesser profile, open, despite their clear violation of the terms of service. Obscene content is also on a continuum and based around moral values as well as laws that vary considerably by state and country. There is plenty of pornographic, violent, adult and offensive content on Twitter (as there is online), so for better or worse, Twitter makes a determination. Clearly there is censorship on Twitter! This is not surprising, and it is welcomed intervention by the majority of users, probably even necessary for the effective functioning of the network. There are always going to be people on the ‘thank-you Twitter for getting rid of (insert topic, content, person or view here)‘ and those on the other side of the fence.

Guidelines and Policy

It would of be good however to know what Twitter’s policies and processes are. Is there review, escalation, appeal, audit and accountability? If the #Iranelection stream was instead focused on US domestic politics, a certain political party, or something ‘closer to home’, how would that have gone down? What happens to Twitter streams that relate directly to Twitter – the competitive environment, new social media plays, investment, dirty-linen and so on? How much pornography is too much? How are under-aged Tweeps (Twitter People) handled in comparison to adults (by the way, what is underage in the Twitter world, 16, 18, 21 – how do we know)? In Australia, Indigenous communities have very strict rules relating to the discussion of the recently deceased, known as ‘Sorrow’ material. What happens to the accounts, posts and comments relating to Tweeps who die? Maybe most of the time we don’t care and we expect and assume that Twitter (the people running the network) will act fairly, honorably and in so far as possible without heavy-handed cultural, national or other subjective bias. Can we really expect this? Is this what is happening?

Probably most Twitter users believe that the ‘trending topics’ are determined purely on some mathematical algorithm. Some manipulation is of course needed to group the same conversation where the #hashtag or keyword has identical or very similar meaning to others (which would divide the conversation). Should Twitter remove some inflammatory, sensitive or offensive ‘trending topics’, or weight them in some other message-aware fashion. When would this be appropriate, and when would it not?

Balance – The ‘No God’ / ‘Know God’ Example

On the date of this post, there was a trending topic – Know God. Somewhat earlier there was a trending topic – No God. It is no surprise that this philosophical battle would be waged on Twitter. Religion, spirituality, politics, and sex are stock-in-trade topics for discussion in many social networks. It would appear that ‘No God’ as a trending topic was either removed, or was merged within the ‘Know God’ trending topic. Both clearly have different and largely opposing meaning. The issues that arise are both practical (which trends are the same) and political (what should be manipulated). It would appear from other traffic trend analysis, and from simply watching the Twitter stream through windows such as Twitter Fall, that ‘No God’ should have remained in the trending topic list on a mathematical basis. I think it is fair to say that this is an area with strong opinion and it is unlikely that any 140-character message is going to solve the debate – I am certainly not pitching any view! Surely if Twitter are intervening with the removal of one trend, then they should remove the other counterpoint trend at the same time?

[I am not making an argument for either trend, so please, no hate mail or 'un-following'. This is not a forum for comment on the No God/Know God debate and any such comment will not be published here. Comments on social media censorship, social media policy and intervention practice and related topics will be most welcome and published.]

My view, and hopefully the reasonable one, is that intervention is a necessary and largely unfortunate component of platforms such as Twitter. It must be a pain in the proverbial for Twitter itself to manage. The intervention should however be based on clear policy that is balanced, equitable and non-partisan. Can Twitter currently claim balance and how would the community know?

Please contribute to the conversation, make comment here, and post on the social media network we love – Tweet away!

We’ve all seen those little quizzes they used to pass out in class, we’ve heard the songs, and read Romeo and Juliet. But do we ever think that Jesus is asking the same question? Check out this PowerPoint, because not only do you desire love, but so does Jesus. The question is…” Do You Love Him?”.

It’s like this: The expectations, the rules and regulations in the bible aren’t for you to achieve on your own. No, God made them so impossible to do on your own because He wants you to depend on Him. It’s impossible to make all the right changes on your own, but by trusting Jesus you can be a better you.

Christ Enthroned

I suppose it is not fair to pose a question without having an answer, but then again God is not fair. Look at the parable of the workers (Gospel According to St. Matthew 20) when those who came to work late received the same wage as those who had been there all day.  God is gracious and merciful.  God is not fair, and shouldn’t we be grateful for that?

But, back to the question posed the other day - Do we love God, or do we love the idea of God? It seems to me that there is a vast difference between the two.  As I see it, we most often love our ideas of God more than we really love God.  This is because we are comfortable and familiar with the God we have pictured and created in our mind.  We are not so comfortable with the real God because whoever or whatever  God is, above everything else, God  is an unfamiliar and uncomfortable mystery. The simple fact is that we do not know God.  How can we love someone we do not know? We do not even know God to the extent that we can ever know God given our human limitations.  We know about God.  We know what we imagine or think or believe about God.  But, do we really know God?  I know about many people in this world who I do not really know at all.  I know their names, their faces, where the work, what church they attend, who their relatives are, but, I do not know them.  Many people know me, and my name and what I do, who my children are, where I come from, but they do not know me.  To know someone is to engage with them regularly and intimately for a long period of time.  I cannot know someone in 30 minutes, an hour or even in a month or a year.  It takes years and years before we truly begin to know someone.  I thought I knew my wife when I fell in love with her and married her.  What I did not realize at that time was how little I really knew her.  We now have been married 20 years and I am still getting to know her and learn things about her I never knew before.  How can we expect anything less of knowing and loving God?  We must know God before we can love God. And, perhaps the most important thing to remember, as we begin to try to know and love God, is that God is not anything like us or like we imagine God to be.  God does not behave in the way we behave, the things that are important to God are not the things that are important to us, God does not react to the world the way we do.  Even though we are made in the image of God, that does not mean God is anything like us.  I will have to find the source of this quote, but some great writer once said, “In the beginning God created man in his own image, and ever since mankind has been returning the favor.”  That is so true, and so wrong and harmful to both ourselves and others. If God could be contained within our conceptions, thoughts and beliefs then God would not be God at all.  Unless we realize this truth, accept it  and embrace it, all we are really doing is loving our idea of God.  And, this would be the greatest tragedy and sin of all. 

Pax Vobis

Now we’re not judging them, that’s not what we are doing. But what we are doing is looking at their lives and really seeing what its saying. Now compare just what we’ve seen these so called role models doing to what is spoken about their behavior in the bible. And many of these celebrities claim to serve God. But do they really? I wouldn’t know it by their lifestyle or their decisions.

Isaiah 2:8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands,  to what their fingers have made.

We all may not be physically bowing down, but many of us have spiritually and morally submitted ourselves to these people.

The entire point many people miss in the responsibility of being a Christian is this… What ever we do and wherever we are, we are supposed to represent God. I was once told that being a Christian meant being a little Christ. When people look at us, they are supposed to Jesus. Not ( fill in the blank). Where is Jesus in any of these lives? And you may say, well you don’t what they’re like at home. That’s true but, every single one of these people have a main platform, a stage and spotlight of their own to be a example to those who are looking up to them. What are they doing with the opportunity to share their faith if they believe? And the same goes for you. What are you doing with the opportunity God has provided for you? Is your life a good example? Or is it a commercial for “ Just Don’t Do It.?”

Change the Way You Think

We all need to be like the Israelites and call to God. For Him to help us, the nation that we live in and other nations who are under this blind spell of idolatry. Some of us have been going to churches where they are too busy talking about others to really help you, or churches that just want you as a number and not a person. But for the safety of your spirit, you need to seek God as the Israelites did and ask God to show you where to go so that you can see Him. I hope that you didn’t come just because of a friend or because you knew someone, (that’s nice) but I hope that you came because even if out of curiosity you wanted to see Jesus for yourself. You wanted to know if God really still existed does He care?

Well He does. But as we said before the topic tonight you have to want change, and that means you will have to try. So please don’t just listen tonight, go home and really think on this. Really ask yourself, is my life all it can be in God’s eyes? I guarantee that if you mean it, He will too by helping you be all that you can be.

Desire to Turn it Around? Here’s How:

Want to know Jesus for yourself? Open your heart and mouth and really talk to God. Let Him know everything that’s ever bothered you and worries you, and give it all to Him.

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 17:29-31 ²⁹“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. ³⁰In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.“

This man is our savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose from the dead, to bring us eternal life.

The LORD is with you when are with Him. It’s only natural for us to sin. And God understands this. But when we purposely go out not caring what God or anyone else thinks, knowing that we’re wrong. You can only expect the consequence of this action. And you shouldn’t be shocked when you see it.

Have I Told God to Leave Me Alone?

What does it mean to forsake? Well forsake in the dictionary is to renounce or turn away from entirely. So really it’s just a way of saying, turn your back on, a way of saying “be gone” or “get lost”. When you choose to do things that you know will offend God this, is what you would call forsake. It’s like slapping God in the face and saying “I don’t care what you think”. And this is the mentality of the world today. It tells you “It’s okay, live life the way YOU want to! It’s your life! But is it really?

Formed for A Purpose

Psalm 139: 13-16 where it says “For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”

Jeremiah 1:5 where it says “ ⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,  before you were born I set you apart…”

God has set you apart and created you for a reason. You may feel like you don’t but you do have a purpose. But in order to know it, you have to seek the one who created you. Not yourself, not your mom or dad or grandma. But Jesus Christ.

A Dangerous Trend

The trend today is to believe that you yourself control your destiny and that you yourself are God. Not so! I don’t see that anywhere in the bible. Do you? The bible warns us in many scriptures that in the time before Christ’s return people would start listening to even the most ridiculous ideas of religion and faith. Just turn on the news. You’ll see how far people’s imaginations and ideas have gone. And the fact is they’ll never know God as long as they continue to look to themselves for the answers. No one will.

Only 1 God

There is only one God and His name is Jesus. He is the one that formed you in your mom’s belly, He’s the one that named you, He is the one that died for you and if you believe that He did this for you, He is the one that has cleansed you of all the wrong if you ever did and will do, and saved you from an eternity in hell. But you’ve have to believe.

God loves you and wants to be apart of your life, but you have to let Him. He won’t just barge His way in your heart like some burglar and taking things out of your life. He’s not going to stand over you with a whip and demand that you do it His  way. But instead He will gently stand on the sidelines of your life, and wait for you to come to Him. Oh sure He might call out to you in those moments when your heart is willing to listen, those nights where your looking out the window wondering “where did I go wrong?” but again you have to be willing to listen and then answer.  God will not dictate your life. But if you listen what He is saying is simply “Let me help you. I just want what’s best for you.”

Too Many Voices!

But first we have to get rid of those extra voices and opinions that are keeping us from  listening to God and receiving His help. Not I’m going to tell you throw out your television or stop going to movies. But what I am going to try and help you do is see what it is in your life that is causing you to tune out God. We are going to see who is your idol; your god other than God.

What Are They Telling Us?

When you cut on the TV. what do you see? You see naked women, porn, obscene jokes and pranks. Lessons on how to hook up with that boy next door, a tattoo design you might get next week, monkey’s playing in trees. But through all the channels you go through, you may find only 7 at the most and maybe 10 Christian oriented stations. Why? Because the world doesn’t have time to know what God wants for their lives, they’re too busy trying to find it for themselves! And they’ve got the rest of us buying into that attitude too.

How many of us are too busy going to the game, to the mall, to the club, to that new restaurant, hanging with our boyfriend or girlfriend, to care what God wants? And there’s so many more distractions we could list, but we’d be here all night.

When are we going to wake up and stop using excuses and get on the ball of doing Gods will?!  What is that important in your life that you can’t take out even a little time out for God?

Too Busy?!

You invite someone to church and they say “ I have to think about it or I might be busy” Busy doing what?! I guarantee if the person were in danger or about to die, they’d have all the time to find some “god” who would listen to them and promise them some kind of hope.

When are we going to get serious? The bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4; that the Devil also known as Satan has blinded us who don’t know God. This basically means we’re walking around thinking that we know what we’re talking about but we really don’t. You are considered blind spiritually, until you come to know Jesus. Anyone who doesn’t know Jesus Christ for themselves, has no business what so ever, trying to tell you how to live your life! But so many of us have that very type of person or perhaps many people telling us how to live our life. How to make it better, be better. What do they know about better?!

Too Many Voices Continued…

Statistics, when you watch the evening and national news tells us that the media has a powerful control over us. It dictates what we wear, where we eat, what kind of bed we sleep in, who we sleep with, what we like and what we don’t like, and the list goes on. What ever happened to being independent; to each have our own God given purpose and mind?

Exodus 20:3

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

my prayer today is

that you would know God

that i would know God

really know, not just know about, not just know facts or words or theories or doctrine

but know and walk with and connect and be in relationship with….

know.

that the busyness of the world wouldnt encroach on this precious relationship

that the things seen and the things going on around wouldnt take presidency over what is really the most imporant thing in the world, in our lives, in eternity

to know the One who made us and loves us and sent His Son to live and die for us

to know the One who rescued us and redeemed us

know.

he is closer than the air, closer than the wind,

he is Unseen and Almighty and Always With Us.

he is God.

let us walk with Him and know Him and love Him.

“The quest for His face is the ultimate quest. But to embrace the quest for the face of God, one must be ready to die. Thus, this quest is not a journey for the faint of heart. It is far too costly to pursue from mere curiosity”. Bill Johnson

But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.  Hebrews 11:6

One thing I have desired of the LORD,That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. Psalm 27:4

]]> http://youthencountergod.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/i-never-knew-you/ Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:11:36 +0000 PFA Youth http://youthencountergod.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/i-never-knew-you/

“I DON’T KNOW YOU… I NEVER KNEW YOU”

INTRODUCTION

We’ve recently been discussing the growing loneliness of people in the United States. And a study that says that loneliness is detrimental to our health. Loneliness has also been linked to physical and mental ailments, including sleep disorders, high blood pressure, and increased risk of depression and suicide. Some of the most profound loneliness can occur when other people are present.

LONELINESS… Sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned.

I DON’T KNOW YOU

Those words would have to be the most devastating words for anyone to have to hear, but can you imagine what it will feel like to hear it from the mouth of Jesus? Just think about that for a moment… “I Don’t Know You… I Never Knew You!”

I NEVER KNEW YOU

That is, I never approved of your conduct, never loved you, never considered you as my friend. There are a lot of people who give no thought to God in their lives and then some who do know Him, but you’d never know it unless they told you.

Psa 1:6, 2Tit 2:19, 1Cor 8:3

WHAT KIND OF FRUIT DO YOU HAVE?

Whether you are good or religious, in the pulpit or the pew, you cannot produce separate from the source of the vine. The flowers may be beautiful and fragrant, the leaves thick and green; but this is simply an image. It is the fruit that God judges us by. The way we live our lives. What kind of fruit are you bearing?

Mat 7:16-18

SALVATION IS A WAY OF LIFE

To be considered God’s friend, requires a renewed relationship with God through Jesus Christ because of Adam’s sin and then a lifestyle change. How can you feel lonely in a crowded room, and how can God say “I don’t know you… because there was no emotional connection.

2 Chr 7:14, 1John 2:4, John 10:27

You know the expression “The In Crowd”/ the VIP list; which means that if you’re apart of it  your somebody. Did you know you can be in a crowd of people and still be lonely if God is not in the mix of  your life? And yes the same goes for those church people who are running to churches simply because of the crowds, the music and how good the person in the pulpit looks. So many are pretending to have religion, but sadly many will “pretend” themselves into hell. Many need to make the decision to be 4 real. Don’t play games with God. Are you 4 real or not? Not only are you playing a dangerous game with yourself, but remember other people are watching you. What is your life saying? You say that you love God. But is your lifestyle agreeing with you? Are the things that you do, ok with God according to His bible. You’d better make sure.

Make sure that you are being 4 real not only with God, but yourself as well.

Not only is God looking at our lives, but so are others. What is your life saying to them? Is your lifestyle teaching people to treat God like a Santa Claus?

You know, ” I’m good when I need something, but I do what I want for the rest of the year.”

Mat 7:13-14, 18:20

BE AWARE OF CROWDS

Remember a crowd is a large number of people, a mob is a disorderly crowd of people. Jesus encountered both in his ministry and his crucifixion. Remember don’t just follow the crowds. You could be going into something you wish you never entered.

Mat 4: 23-25, 26:45-47, 27:19-23

IN CONCLUSION

All of us at some point in our lives have felt loneliness and isolation, but can you imagine the fear and terror that would grip your heart when you realize that you were never saved after all? Can you imagine standing before God and hearing these words “I never knew you… Depart from me.”

Mat 7:21-23

Please don’t let this words be spoken to you.

God has love for us all if we let Him.  The whole will of God is to have a restored relationship with Him. Don’t you want that? It may sound corny, but life isn’t the same with Jesus in it… It’s better. Seriously.

To see the main will God has for your life click here

The Christian Defense Coalition is welcoming Muslims planning to hold a large prayer gathering Friday on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

More than 50,000 Muslims are expected to take part in the event Friday on Capitol Hill. Pat Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, says it is sad that some Christians have been hostile to the Muslims planning to gather Friday.

I would add, that it’s sad that people who profess to be Christians, are hostile to anyone and act just like the world! They may think they know God, but didn’t Jesus say in John 16:2, that these very same “religious” people who kill you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father.”

The Muslims who kill Christians all over the world, fit acurately into that compartment, but that is only because, as Jesus said, “There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father.” The same problem exists for both the “carnal” or unredeemed person as it does for a Muslim. Neither one has “really understood the Father.”

A Christian does not act in a “hostile” way toward anyone. Jesus said in Luke chapter 6, “⁴³“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

“They are receiving numerous calls from people who profess to be Christians, full of hateful language to them, telling them to go back to their own country, when they are Americans and they love this country,” he notes. Jesus also said, “²⁷“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” You see, that’s only possible when a person asks Christ to save them from the nature they can’t control. That’s why he came, died and rose from the dead. To make it possible for us to “have control” to do good by being born over again by His power and NOT By the law. (Which never could save anyone!)

Mahoney says while some Christians may be uncomfortable at the prospect of the prayer event, he believes it shows the greatness of America.

“It is important to send a clear message that the Christian community loves the Muslim community. That we do not hate Muslims, that our heart is not set against Muslims, and that with the heart and compassion of Christ, we are to reach out and build bridges,” he adds.

I would add that you can’t build bridges with a stick or a gun in your hand, but with an open hand, willing to reach out in the love of Christ. It may be one sided, but let it be one sided in love, on our side, if it has to be. I don’t “embrace” the Muslim religion and never will. I embrace the person in the Muslim religion and if I can preach the Gospel to an openhearted Muslim, I will tell him or her of the love and good news, till I am no longer breathing.

Mahoney and Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, hosted a reception for the organizer of the Day of Islamic Unity.

I will not judge Mahoney or Rob Schenck for that gesture. But, how do you know that it won’t be a catalyst, that God will use to set that Muslim free of the slavery of religion forever… we don’t.

I pray it does. That’s my prayer! But even if it doesn’t, they may have shown that they’re a child of their Father.

Listen to the podcast on Schizophrenic Faith HERE

Sure you can! But understand when looking for answers from God, it takes patience and a willing heart (you really want God to answer you). God will always give you an answer. Now it may not be the one that you were hoping for. But God will give you an answer. We suggest before you try to do it on your own, find someone who has been in church and has been attending bible study and frequently prays to help you. They may hear or see something that you may not be aware of while studying. Just continue to pray this prayer:

“Jesus, I really want to know what it is that you want to say to me. I’m all ears right now, and I’m desperately asking you to tell me what you wish for me to know. Please show me all that you will have me to know and allow me to understand what you’re showing me and to use it throughout my life. In Jesus name I ask and pray amen.” If your sincere as you ask this, God will show you many amazing things in His bible and in your life.

Jeremiah 29:11

Colossians 1:10   ……..and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor Him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the the time you are learning to know God better and better.

So you want to know God better, you want a closer relationship to Him. You are getting a good start with the way you treat others through your kindness. When you reach out to a volunteer organiztion and give them your time. If you are not working right now, learn your way to God through serving others and stop thinking about how it’s going to be to hard for you, you won’t have time, you have to make time. Stop thinking about what you need and just groaning about it and go help someone. You are making that step that God watches. Acts of kindness -works of faith.

..Have you ever heard anyone say I will forgive them but I will never forget? What if God had that attitude toward us? What if he defined love in the same way? We would be in big trouble. 1Corinthians 13, teaches us that love behaves itself and does not seek its own. Love is kind.In this passage of scripture the words for love are taken from the Greek word agape meaning as a love that prizes its object above other things, with an unwillingness to abandon the object. [Thayers Greek lexicon]..That describes how much God loves us–with a love that died for us when He didn’t deserve it. We can ignore God, disobey Him, and mock Him; yet He will love us. we can’t truly know God without experiencing His love, and we know God when we love others.. [1John 4:7-8] 7-beloved let us love one another. For love is of God: and everyone that loveth is born, and knoweth God. 8–He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8.

I’ve been reading Psalms today, specifically the end of 119.  It’s very long so I grabbed a chunk.  With the Bible, it’s hard to stop reading so I kept going.  Psalm 119 is a beautiful chapter on God’s Word.  The psalmist really grasped the need for God’s Word and tells of hiding it in our hearts, saving us from enemies and just rejoicing in His Justice, knowing that His Word is ultimately the final Word in all the earth.

But I found in interesting the following chapters are fairly short and speak of  false accusers (Chapter 120), help from God (Psalm 121), peace and mercy (Psalms 122 and 123) and the list goes on.  But in Psalm 119, there are 176 verses on the goodness of God’s Word.

I often wonder if things are repeated in the Bible because we are a stiff-necked people and it takes a lot to get through our (my) thick skull.  But here, in the Psalms, God fits His word together perfectly.  The chapter on God’s Word is full of wisdom.  The other subjects following 119 can only be fully grasped by reading and knowing God’s Word.  Why does this amaze me?  That God plans not only the outcome (the Bible put together), but also the order, author and specific words to be used.   I know all Scripture is God Breathed, but He put it together with His own hands and tied beautifully it so we could unwrap it as our individual needs arise.

I must know God’s Word through daily reading (on my own), studying (once a week with other believers) and worship (corporate reading and listening to the Bible).  Once I seek Him through His Word, I can know His presence even more.  Through reading and knowing God’s Word, trusting and following become a little easier.  Peace and Mercy start to pour out of my life.  Grace and Humility overcome pride and arrogance.  The fruit of the spirit become my lifeblood and most importantly, God is glorified…Amen!

Amazing!  So much inspiration in one book…so much life to know…so much I have yet to learn from a book wrought with the finger of God. Oh how precious it is.

Teach me your ways, Lord.  So I may walk in your truth.

Well, I’m not off to a good start with posting regularly.  I apologize.  But today, I pick up myself, dust off my cloak and head straight in to what God is saying to me.  And are you in for a treat!

Matthew 13 is full of parables.  The disciples question Jesus as to why He is speaking in them and Jesus replies, “The knowledge of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”  In other words, the average person didn’t understand.  The Disciples had an advantage of living with Jesus.  Everyone else went by rumors of what Jesus could do.  So when people came, Jesus spoke to them in a manner they could relate.  He spoke of sowing a field, baking bread, mustard seeds, weeds, treasures, pearl merchant, and fishing all in this chapter.

But my favorite of Matthew 13 is verse 52.  In 51 Jesus asks the disciples if they understood and they said, “Yes.”  So, he continues and says, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.”   That’s me!  Actually, it’s anyone who is a disciple of Christ!

I love that we bring out ‘new treasure and old.’  I don’t know about you, but what comes to mind when I hear treasure is the living Word.  There are times when I go to familiar verses and they just reiterate things I’ve known for years.  A reminder of the ‘old’ in my life (old ways God has worked in me and used me.  Some things I will never forget!)  And of course the new treasure is just as exciting.  New ways He uses me and teaches me through His Word.  New mercy I feel for a friend in need.  Grace to endure one more day. Or it could just be a new understanding of what He is saying.

Anything from God is a treasure whether new or old.  My salvation is not God’s first work in me, although I would classify it as an old treasure (John 3:16, Romans 10:9).  It occurred almost 20 years ago, yet I find it refreshing every day.  I pray you find old treasure (verses) exciting and capture every new treasure as you did the first one.  God is full of riches and I pray you know Him to the fullest.

May you have life and have it abundantly!