THE LAST WORD!

REVELATION 22:21

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's Holy people."

Have you ever noticed how some people like to have the last word in any conversation?  No matter how long the conversation goes on or how many topics are covered there is always that last word to be said.  The Bible is so complete and complex that it takes more than a lifetime to digest and understand.  Only God is omniscient and knows it all, we can never be like him.  The question then becomes, what was the last thing that the Lord Jesus placed in His Word?  I believe that it is not an accident that the truth for today was THE LAST WORD!

The final prayer in the Bible begins with a petition that blessing and favor, that is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with all His saints.   The Messiah is praying for His Holy people.  Those of us who have been set apart by Jesus Christ and are exclusively His should be given a full portion of grace, blessing and favor.  Our answer is, may it be so Lord!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all.  Even at the end of His Holy Word the Lord was praying for us and He said it when He also said, "I am coming soon"!

Do you feel like you are being favored by God?  Do you feel like you are receiving God's blessings every day?  Do  you know that you are living by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? 

Are you one of God's Holy people?  If your answer is yes then Amen!  If the answer to the above questions is no, then stop right now and consider your position.  You have made a choice by rejecting or not accepting the gift of Salvation that Jesus Christ has offered you.  You are responsible for your choice.  There are consequences to your choices and one of those is that you will not receive the Grace of Jesus Christ the Lord God.  Who gets THE LAST WORD? 

IS IT OPEN OR CLOSED?

REVELATION 3:7

"This is the message from the one who is Holy and True, the  one who has the key of David.  What He OPENS, no one can close;  and what He CLOSES, no one can open!

The Lord knows all things about you personally.  If you belong to Him then He has opened a door that no one can close.   The door to your heart was opened when you obeyed Him and His word and did not deny Him.  Because you have obeyed and persevered you will be protected and saved and the door to heaven will never be closed to you.  The Key was Jesus and He has opened a door that no one will ever close.  We all remember His words; "behold I stand at the door and knock.  If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will dwell together as friends!"

Conversely when the Lord closes a door, no one can open it.  That should bring about the fear of God that is the beginning of Wisdom.  No one, including yourself or any other human being or so called god can open the door to Heaven.  Do not be fooled.  To be separated from God is to suffer eternal punishment and the second death.  You had many times to make the right choice in your life.  You either choose not to accept the free gift of Salvation from Jesus Christ, or you have made no decision.  Making no decision is the equivalent of rejection of the Lord.  You are either for or against Him.    A no vote or a non vote is not one of acceptance.  

Those who are victorious will sit with the Lord in the throne room.  Anyone who has an ear and hears the Word of God and obeys will be saved from the second death.  Listen to the Spirit of God and try and understand what the truth for today is.  Jesus is asking you a question regarding the door to your heart IS IT OPEN OR CLOSED?

THEY ARE MINE!

REVELATION 3:5

"All who are victorious will be clothed in white.  I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and His angels that THEY ARE MINE!"

I do not know how you feel, but I personally find great comfort in this truth for today.  This is a promise of the Lord Jesus Christ about how He will treat those of us who hold out to the very end in His name.  That is what it means to be victorious.  You open your heart to Jesus Christ and you invite Him in to dwell with you forever.  You become more like Him every day and you grow in faithfulness and righteousness every year.  You could never leave Jesus because there is no other place you can go to be saved.  Jesus sees everyone like this as worthy and victorious.

What are His promises?  He will be our advocate at the great white throne judgement and He will announce before the Father that we our His.  We will be clothed in white and enter into the heavenly kingdom for eternity.  Our names will be written in the Lambs Book of Life and they can never be erased.  Our sins will be forgiven and forgotten.  We have understood what the Spirit was saying to the churches and to us personally.  We had ears and we have heard the Word of God.  

How about you?  Have you made the commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Have you given Him your life and been Saved?  Have you learned His Word and His Commandments.  Have you listened to His prophets and the Lord's Words.  Have you grown in Him?  Or have you walked away from the path to truth and light and Salvation?  Are you walking the straight and narrow path or have you fallen by the wayside?  Remember that the truth for today and the message of the Lord is that He expects you to hold out to the very end.  These are the ones who are victorious and these are the ones that the Lord says, THEY ARE MINE!

WHATEVER YOU DESERVE!

REVELATION 2:23

"I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person.         And I will give to each of you WHATEVER YOU DESERVE!"

Man is sinful by nature.  That means that it come naturally to each of us to be deceitful in our thoughts and intentions.  We try to hide our true feelings and thoughts from others.  Why if others knew what we really thought it would be chaos.  If your child asks you if you like the painting or drawing they have just done, what would happen if we told them the bold and honest truth?  If  your spouse asks how they look, what if you said what you truly thought?  If you look at a person of the opposite sex with impure thoughts, what if others knew what you were thinking?  We tend to guard our true inner thoughts and feelings for good reason.

God on the other hand knows and searches out our thoughts and feelings and intentions and He knows what you are thinking.  You can run but you can not hide from the omniscient God.  So if you really do not love someone that you tell, He knows it.  If you do not respect your mother or father He knows it.  If  you do not have Jesus Christ as the first thing in your life, you are not fooling Him.  If you worship other idols or images you are not fooling God.  If you pretend to others that you have not committed murder, but you have contributed to an abortion, you are not fooling God.  When you steal, no matter how little or how much He sees and knows about it all.  If you commit adultery you may be fooling your spouse for a while, but you will never fool the Lord!

As believer's we have to be careful that our thoughts, and actions are in concert with our true feelings and beliefs.  What you whisper will be shouted to God.  What you do in the dark will be seen in His light, always.  You need to be sincere and honest in your words, thoughts and actions.  If you are not you will only be fooling yourself, but you will never fool God.  Knowing that this is true, remember that God will reward you with WHATEVER YOU DESERVE!  If that does not affect you and your relationship with God, you do not understand the truth for today!  Be honest with yourself first, others next, and always with God!

CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT!

REVELATION 2:19

"I know all the things you do.  I have seen  your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance.  And I can see  your CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT in all these things."

We know that God is omniscient and therefore knows all things, but how often do you remember that He knows all the things about you?   What we do in the dark is seen in the light by God.  What we whisper is shouted in God's ear.  There is nothing you can do or have done that was not know to God!  He knows your name and He knew you before you entered your mother's womb.  It is therefore so awesome that He has seen our love, faith and service to Him.  He knows of our patient endurance and all about us.  There is only one question that remains.  Has He seen Your CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT?

God knows if we have been charitable, and He knows if it is increasing or diminishing.  The Lord keeps a record of what we are doing and it is clear to Him if we are improving or diminishing in His sight.  Are your more recent works greater and more numerous than  your first?  He knows our deeds, just as He knows all about us.  Just as we expect our body to grow and mature, the Lord expects our spiritual body to grow and mature as our life continues.  The question for today is, has there been an improvement in  your life as God sees it?

The answer is a resounding yes for most of us.  What about the rest of the believer's?  This is a way to test your walk and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Are we becoming more and more like Him every day?  Has your love of God and others increased?  Has you faith become stronger and stronger as the years pass?  Has your service to God and others increased and improved?  Are you more patient and tolerant as the years go bye?  In short are you more like Christ than when you first believed?  What will be the measure to the Lord is that He sees in you a CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT!

WHAT CHRISTMAS IS?

MATTHEW-MARK-LUKE-JOHN

Christmas is made up of two words, Christ and mass.  The mass for Christ was to celebrate His birth, it was a festival.  It is to remember Christ's birth that we celebrate Christmas.  It would appear that although Christians may remember what Christmas really is, the rest of the world has done and will do everything it can to obscure and marginalize the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  They agonize over every part of the Christmas story and what it means to believer's.  Because they do not believe they try in every conceivable way to destroy something that they do not understand and in some cases even hate.  Unfortunately because of the influence of the world and our own greed and covetousness even Christians have distorted the Christ Mass and made it into something quite different.  

What is Christmas to you?   Is it a time for you to eat and drink and receive presents from all you can influence?  Instead of a birthday for Christ has it become a birthday party for you and all your family and friends?  How much time and space have you made for the Lord Jesus in your festival?  As believers we have to guard against being influenced by those who only want to use the Lord as a tool to enrich themselves.  The world has gone so far as to create another figure that will bring us toys and gifts and is a jolly old white bearded philanthropist.  Santa Claus is not our Saviour and he can not save anyone.  He gives nothing to anyone.  He is a way for the world to take our eyes of Jesus and the gift of God and the Holy Spirit to each of us.  

Now the world wants to take Christ out of Christmas!  Can you believe the audacity of the non believers?  They do not want us to use the word Christmas for good reason, they know it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  They do not want to bow down to God and they do not want to confess that Jesus is their Saviour.  From the beginning and certainly now, there are two groups of people in the world,  those who love Jesus and want to celebrate His life, and those who choose not to accept the Lord in any way.  Your task as a believer is to avoid the influence of the world and discern between the truth and the lies of the evil one.  If you love Jesus and remember to celebrate His birth and what the party is for, then you will reject any attempt to eliminate or marginalize Jesus and you will teach your family WHAT CHRISTMAS IS!

WHO IS A LIAR?

1 JOHN 2:22

"WHO IS A LIAR?  Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.  Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an Antichrist."

The world has always and continues to be separated into two distinct groups.  The first group contains those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord God.  That means that they believe that Jesus is the Christ and that He and the Father are one, along with the Holy Spirit.  This group places all their hope and trust in the one and only true God.  The Holy one has given us the Spirit and we all know the truth.  We know and understand the difference between the truth and lies.  Jesus is the truth and He is the way and He is the Light and there is no other way to come unto the Father but by believing in Him. 

WHO IS A LIAR?   Who does not know or tell the truth?  Anyone, is an inclusive category and in this instance makes up the other distinct group in the world today.  That group includes anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.  That group includes anyone who denies the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  They are titled as Antichrist!  They are opposed to the Lord Jesus and do not believe He  is the Saviour of the world and they do not believe He is

 God.  They do not have the Father and they do not have the Son in their life and they have no Spiritual discernment.  In short they do not know the truth and they are therefore LIARS.

It is becoming clearer every day that their is a split between these two groups that is more than palpable.  Each group is driven by their beliefs and they are diametrically opposed to one another.  They are not to be mixed and there resulting lives are predictable.  One is telling the truth and the other is telling lies.  One has respect and love and fear of God and the other does not.  As a result of their beliefs they make choices and act in concert with their beliefs.  If the group that is Antichrist do not change and come to a saving grace, they will die in their sins and be eternally dead in Hell.  Remember the words of the devil, "did God really say that" and "Surely you will not die"?  Same lie and the same Liar!  

LIVE FOREVER

1JOHN 2:17

"This world is fading away, along with everything that people crave.  But anyone who pleases God will LIVE FOREVER!

Throughout the history of man many attempts have been made to be able to live forever.  The Egyptian Pharaohs tried mummification and crossing the river of the dead.  We have people who are cryogenic ally freezing themselves for a future comeback.  We have stories of vampires and other creatures that supposedly live forever, all untrue.  These just represent the desire of man to be able to live forever and the fear of death that haunts every soul.  We are all just fading away and everything we have accumulated with us.  Is it possible, is there a plan whereby each of us could LIVE FOREVER?

There is only one way that you can live forever!  There is only one way that you can end up with a mansion and eternal life!  There is only one way that you can live without pain and sorrow and illness and eventual death!  This is the "GOOD NEWS",  that has been told to and accepted by many.  How about you, do you know that you can live forever in perfect bliss?  If you do not or do not believe that it is possible, rethink your position.  If you can believe in vampires and werewolves and zombies that live forever than perhaps you could consider the truth for today.  

The question becomes for those above, how do you LIVE FOREVER?  The answer is so simple and yet the choice is left up to each individual.  You must believe in Jesus Christ the Lord God and accept Him into your heart.  You must believe that He died for you and rose again to ascend into heaven where He awaits believer's.  Once you have accepted the free gift of Salvation, and you have learned the Law's and commandments of God and become more like Him, then you will be on your way to eternal life.  In short, if you do what pleases God, you will LIVE FOREVER!

DO NOT LOVE THE WORLD

1 JOHN 2:15

"DO NOT LOVE THIS WORLD nor the things that it offers you, for when you love this world, you do not have the love of the Father in you."

Most people love and even crave the physical pleasures of this world. Many people crave everything that they see and their desire is to accumulate as many possessions as possible. The fact is that most of us fall in love with this world and everything that we can obtain in it. We are proud of our achievements and possessions. All these things are of this world and the truth for today is that the Lord tells us, DO NOT LOVE THIS WORLD. In fact His equation is laid out for us; the more we love the world, the less we love the Lord. The more we love the Lord the less we love this world.

What do you love? What do you cherish? Are they the things of this world? Everything that is in the world such as the lust of the flesh, and the craving for sensual gratification is not of God. The lust of the eye and the greedy longings of the mind lead to pride and a sense of separation from the Lord. Are you upset when you can not have the car or home or clothes that you see and desire? Do you spend a lot of your life trying to maintain your youthful appearance? Do you have a great fear of loosing your life and facing death and leaving this world? The Lord Say's DO NOT LOVE THIS WORLD!

Some see a contradiction in the world that only God can explain. Those who love and are devoted to the Lord and His Word are truly His children. Just as an earthly father knows how to give gifts to his children, so God gives gifts freely to His children. That is why those who are faithful and righteous and love the Lord with all their heart never have a concern for the things of this life. They do not worry about what to eat or wear or where they will live. In fact the Lord showers down blessings on those whom He loves. The ones who give the most in this world are the ones who get the most in this world. The thing that remains clear is that those that receive this bounty love the lord and they DO NOT LOVE THIS WORLD!

LIVING IN HIM

1 JOHN 2:5-6

"Those who obey God's word truly show how completely the love Him. That is how we know we are LIVING IN HIM. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did."

How can you tell if someone is LIVING IN HIM? How do you know if you are LIVING IN HIM?
If any person says that they live their lives like Jesus, by definition they would be LIVING IN HIM. In fact the truth for today is that there is a perfect way to know if you are living out what you are saying. That you are a doer of the Word and not just a hearer of the Word. The question that you have to ask yourself is; am I obeying God's Word? Those who obey God's Word truly show how completely they love Jesus and that they are living in Him!

In our present vernacular we would say that you have to walk the walk, not talk the talk. If you say that you abide in Jesus then you ought to walk like Jesus walked. The ones who treasure His Words and understand His precepts and observe His messages truly love and obey God. That is what is known as LIVING IN HIM! That is how we can know and recognize and be sure that we are living in Him. We have reached maturity with our relationship with Jesus Christ the Lord God.

If you say you abide in Jesus Christ you ought to walk and conduct yourselves in the same way that the Lord walked and conducted Himself. This is your personal debt as a believer. So the threshold question to ask yourself is; am I truly obeying God's Word and do I completely Love Him? Am I becoming more like Jesus all the time? Am I walking in His path and footsteps? Am I trying to live like Jesus did, by obeying God the Father and doing His will? Do you completely Love the Lord? Then you know and can say the I am LIVING IN HIM!

FOOLING OURSELVES

1 JOHN 1:8-9

"If we claim we have no sin, we are only FOOLING OURSELVES and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to the Lord He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."

I have met some christians that believe that once they accepted the Lord into their lives they never committed a sin after that. I have met some people who believe they are "good people" and they are not sinners. I have met many people who while in the midst of committing habitual sin, deny it to others, but, most of all they deny it to the Lord. What are they thinkng? The truth for today is that we are all sinners. We were born in sin. We continue to sin even after we become "christians". I for one sin every day and I know it. I also stopped fooling myself a long time ago. I know how wretched and filthy I am and if it were not for Jesus Christ the Lord God I would die in my sin and never achieve eternal life.

How about you, do you claim you have no sin? Are we FOOLING OURSELVES? If you claim you have no sin, you are not living in the truth and you are calling God a liar! In order to live in the light and have true fellowship with each other we have to be truthful and acknowledge that we are and continue to be sinners. It is the blood of Jesus Christ and our repentence of sins that cleanses us. We can not lie about our choices and actions. We need to bring them before the Lord and confess them to Him and ask for His forgiveness. That is the only way to get rid of all the wickedness that enters our life.

If the Lord's Word has a place in your life and in your heart you must confess your sins. By accepting the truth that no one is good, no not one and that no one is free from sin except God we take the step needed to be a righteous and faithful servant of God our Saviour. God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If we do not want to live in spiritual darkness and we want to live in the light then must have the blood of Christ to cleanse us of our sins. If we are not willing to do this then we show that His Word has no place in our hearts. We are just FOOLING OURSELVES if we claim we have not sinned. Confess your sins today and ask for forgiveness!

LYING

1 JOHN 1:6

"So we are LYING if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth."

Man is born in sin. That means that his natural instinct is to commit sins. You can see it in a little baby or child who tells lies and does it with a smile. You can see it in those who try to hide their real persona and put on a fake smiling face while they lie and sin. It is so apparent when those who professed to know and love the Lord commit egregious acts against society, man and God. Examples would be preachers who run off with and commit adultery with someone other than their wife, and wives who have adulterous relationships while they are peers of the church. There is only one way to overcome our sinful nature and that is by accepting Jesus Christ.

When we open the door to our heart and ask Jesus to come in and dwell with us, we become a new person. Old things pass away and a new spiritual man if born. We put away our old sinful nature and become a righteous child of God. The closer we come to the Lord, the more we become like Him and it would be impossible for us to return to our old nature and our old sinful ways. In fact, that is what the truth for today is all about. The truth is you can know if you are lying about your relationship with God right now.

Are you living in spiritual darkness? Are you committing habitual sin that has never changed since you came to the Lord? Are you an adulterer, a drunkard, a liar? Do you put God first in everything that you do? Do you honor your parents? Do you commit murder or steal or testify falsely about others? In short, are practicing the truth and spiritual righteousness of God? When you do sin, do you repent and stop practicing what you know to be wrong in God's sight? If you say you have fellowship with God but you go on living in spiritual darkness you are not telling or practicing the truth. You are LYING! God is light, there is no darkness in Him. If you are His child you must be like Him. Confess your sins, He will be faithful to forgive you and cleanse you from all wickedness. Stop LYING!

WORSE OFF THAN BEFORE

2 PETER 2:20

"When people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, the are WORSE OFF THAN BEFORE."

They say that a dog will return to its vomit and a washed pig will return to the mud. This is an expression of what the nature of the beast really is. The question is, will man return to his sinful nature once he has escaped from wickedness in this world, as a result of knowing Jesus Christ? The unfortunate answer is that some get tangled up and enslaved in sin again. The problem is that they are then WORSE OFF THAN BEFORE! It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness, than to know it and then reject the command they were given to a holy life.

When this happens it causes the faithful and true believer's great agony and pain. It is heart breaking to see someone who professed to love and believe in Jesus Christ fall away from the truth and the way. They may have been pastors or leaders in the church. They may have been your family member or a close personal friend. They were someone you looked up to and they reinforced your belief and faith. Then for whatever reason, they fall of the path to righteousness and they return to sin and this wicked world. You know that they are even worse off then they were before they became Christians, but, they have returned to their mud and their vomit.

Many of those that walk away from Jesus Christ never come back. They are lost in their sin and they did not hold out to the very end. The admonition throughout the bible is that as believer's we are expected to hold fast and remain faithful until the very end. The Lord knows how to rescue Godly people from their trials. But He keeps the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgement. Are you one of those people that escaped from this wicked world and then returned to sin and became tangled up and enslaved again by the devil. Wake up, the devil wants to kill and destroy you. Get on your knees and beg the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you and treat you as the prodigal son, welcoming you home again with His Mercy and Love. If you do not you are WORSE OFF THAN BEFORE!

MORE AND MORE

2 PETER 1:2

"May God give you MORE AND MORE grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus Christ our Lord."

Peace, peace and there is no peace. That represents the lives of non believer's. They never know the peace that passes understanding. The peace that comes from the grace and salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace that allows us to go through the trials of this world with the complete knowledge and understanding that we are just passing through and our heavenly reward is yet to come. What can men do to us or our body, nothing! We fear the one who has control over our eternal soul and our renewed heavenly body. That is why we have peace and that is why it passes over the understanding of non believer's.

The truth for today however addresses the believer and is a prayer we should all want to come true in our own lives. It is understood that we will have peace and grace in this world, the question is how much. Peter is praying that God will give us MORE AND MORE peace and grace as our journey with the Lord continues. We know that this is the truth because we have experienced it in our lives. The more we learn about the Lord, the more peace and grace we have. The knowledge of His Word is powerful and helpful. It gives us reassurance and security to know His truth, which sets us free.

We should all pray that the Lord will give us MORE AND MORE of His love, grace and peace. The way to ensure this is to continually grow in your knowledge of God and His Word. The more you understand the Lord and His plan, the more confident you will become in His promises. He has assured us of eternal life with Him if we just believe Him and His Word. We need to read and understand His promises as given by the prophets, commandments and Laws of God. The more they are a part of our lives, the more and more grace and peace we will have. It is the personification of the justice and fairness that is God.

STAY ALERT!

1 PETER 5:8

"STAY ALERT! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

Non believer's ridicule the idea of a devil, do you? We believe the Word of God and it tells us about the devil and his demons. In fact Jesus Christ mentions the devil on numerous occasions and if He believed the devil existed why wouldn't you? The devil is the enemy of God and wants to be God. He has fallen from grace and will spend eternity in Hell after the judgement. The truth for today is that there is a devil and he wants to devour you. He is cunning and deceitful and has many plans to lead you to eventual death. STAY ALERT!

The devil is not just the enemy of God, he is your enemy and many do not even know or believe that he exists. That is part of the devils plan, to make you believe he does not exist and that God did not really leave us His warnings in the Word! The first step in believing and knowing about the plans of the devil is to believe in Jesus Christ the Lord God. If you believe God then you will know about the devil and what his desires are. You will learn to see and understand how the devil and his demons work. You will learn to resist the devil and you will understand how to have the devil flee from you. STAY ALERT!

The devil prowls around this world and will until the return of the Lord. He is like lion, looking for some prey that he may devour. The devil will look at you and will decide if you are weak and vulnerable to his attack. As a non believer you are likely prey that has no defense. As a believer you are at least aware of his existence and his plans for attack. Plus you have as a defense the King of Kings and His Word. If we stand firm in the righteousness and faith of God he will not find us to his liking. We will learn to resist his temptations and to know what his eventual desire is. The devil wants us to die eternally just like him. With God as our defense he will flee if we just stand firm. STAY ALERT!

THE EYES AND EARS OF THE LORD

1 PETER 3:12

"The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil."

In general terms we can make the following statement: Evil things happen to evil people. We say it in another way also, you get what you deserve. The same can be said of people who do the right thing, for the most part good things happen to them. Actions bring about reactions that are similar. Good choices lead to good results. Bad choices lead to bad results. We know in our hearts that this is true, that is why we feel guilty when we do something wrong or evil. So how does this truth for today apply to our lives now? The simple answer is if the consequences of your choices and actions has lead to your unhappiness and harm, you may want to consider what your relationship is with God. When you pray, does He hear you?

The Lord turns His face against those who do evil. That means that God turns His back on those who do not listen to or love Him and His laws and commandments. God is not there to listen or help those who are evil. In that God owns everything and controls everything in the universe one could make a conclusion as to what will happen to those who are evil. Evil things will happen to evil people, and the one that is irreversible is that they will be eternally separated from God and will never see His face or have a personal relationship with the Lord. God is light and so evil people will be subjugated to darkness for eternity. THE EYES AND EARS OF THE LORD, are on everyone and you should be afraid if He turns His back on you.

The Lord is watching when as believer's we do what is right. He sees us and knows us and responds to us. The Lord hears the prayers of the righteous and His ears are open to hear our pleas. The best part is that He answers us. Imagine if every prayer you made was never heard and there was no positive response. You would never have your prayers answered. What a contrast between those who are faithful and righteous in God's sight. That is why the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. You need to be afraid if God will never look at you or hear you cries and prayers. Turn from your evil ways and accept the Salvation of Jesus Christ. You can not escape THE EYES AND EARS OF THE LORD!

NO FAVORITES

1 PETER 1:17

"Remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has NO FAVORITES. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as foreigners in this land."

Did you come from a family with more than one child? Did your parents have a favorite child? What did you think about your brother or sister being the favorite? As humans we do have a tendency to gravitate toward one of our children at the expense of another for a variety of reasons. We are acting in the flesh and we even know that it is wrong. Our heavenly Father on the other hand has NO FAVORITES. We are all equal in the sight of God and He respects us all as individuals. It is pleasing to know that we will all be judged and rewarded according to just what we do. It does not involve any other child of God. We are individuals and are seen by the Father exactly that way.

Each person must live in reverent fear of the Lord. Remember the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It also involves knowing and loving Him. Our relationship with the Father is based on one of being His child. We are to be obedient and faithful and righteous in His sight. We will be judged on our belief and behavior. We show respect for the Lord when we walk in His path and do His will. Those who do not love and respect the Lord and do not believe in Him will also receive their just reward and will be judged accordingly. He will say depart from me for I never knew you. The way we live and the choices we make determine our eternal future.

Finally we need to always remember that we are foreigners in this land. We are pilgrims just passing through. We are going to be here for only a little while and then our eternal future will be decided on what we do here and now. We alone are responsible for our choices. We can choose to believe in Jesus Christ the Lord God, or we can reject and disrespect Him. Not making any decision is the same as rejecting God. Either you have a reverent fear of the Lord and His Saving power, or you do not. Remember you made the choice that leads to your judgement and what rewards you will receive. As for the Lord, He has NO FAVORITES!

OBEDIENT CHILDREN

1 PETER 1:14

"So you must live as God's OBEDIENT CHILDREN. Do not slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You did not know any better before."

When we come to the Lord and ask Him to dwell with us, we become a new person. All the old things have passed away and all things are new in our spirit. In the past we may have been involved in habitual sinning. An example would be drunkenness or adultery. Now we know better than before we came to be a believer. We find we can not commit the same sins and they fall from us one by one. The Lord has freed us from our bonds and captivity and it is no longer possible to be the same old nature that preceded our opening the door to our hearts. Our desire is to be obedient and a loved child of God. Now we know better than we did before!

As a child of God it is important to be one that the Lord approves of and continues to love. The way the Lord will know about our faith and righteousness is our behavior. If we were to slip back into our old ways of living and return to our habitual sinning, then God would know that we have wandered from His path. Just as any child must be obedient to their parents if they hope to do well in this life, we must be obedient to the Lord's will if we hope to obtain eternal life with our heavenly Father. The most important point to remember is that we now know better as a believer than as a slave to sin. We did not know better before coming to the Lord, we do now!

The impulse to satisfy our own desires may be strong, as it had been in the past, but we know better than to live for ourselves. We have become the children of God and we must now do His will. It is not our desires that control our lives but it is the Lord's desires that we must conform to. We must not slip back to the old nature or the old man, that is like a dog returning to its own vomit and it displeases God and means our separation from His will. You have no excuse in that you know better because you know God. Your job now is to be an OBEDIENT CHILD. If you have wandered, now is the time to get back on the right path and turn again to God and walk in His path.

NOT SEEING IS BELIEVING!

1 PETER 1:8

"You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious and inexpressible joy.
The reward for trusting Him will be the Salvation of your souls."

You have heard the expression that seeing is believing. Nothing confirms the truth to a person like seeing something with their own eyes. Using our senses is the way of confirming something to be true. You can think of an example in your own life that confirms the above statements. When that confirmed bachelor finally got married you said, I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes. The list is endless, the message is the same. We find something to be trustworthy if we see it with our own eyes.

Have you ever seen God? Has Jesus Christ ever been revealed to your sight personally? Do you see the Lord Jesus Christ right now? Then how can you be sure He exists if your senses, including your sight, do not reveal this to be true? It takes genuine faith to believe something that your senses can not confirm. This is the proof of a real love for the Lord Jesus Christ. You love Him even though you have never even seen Him. You trust Him even though He is not evidenced by your senses. You have inexpressible joy and you rejoice in the knowledge of Him. In this case, NOT SEEING IS BELIEVING!

The Lord has proved His existence in so many ways. We see His handy work in the universe. We have His word and that of His prophets. We have His existence written in our hearts and minds if we will but only listen. Believer's hear that still soft whisper of the Lord in their ear, and their hearts are filled with his indwelling spirit. Their is a great reward for trusting and believing in the Lord. He will be our salvation and will save our souls for eternity to be with Him. Are you counted in that blessed number of saved souls that understand NOT SEEING IS BELIEVING?

TESTED BY FIRE

1 PETER 1:6-7

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being TESTED BY FIRE as fire purifies gold. Your faith is far more precious than mere gold."

One of the most asked questions by non believer's is; "If God is such a Good God, why do bad things happen to good people?" What they really want is a pass on bad behavior and its consequences. Bad things happen to people who break God's laws. This is a just result. If you suffer because you steal or kill or bear false witness, that is to be expected. The same applies to all of us who violate the law and commandments of God. Bad choices lead to bad results. We would all be dead in our sin if it were not for Jesus Christ the Lord God and His Grace and Salvation. So one of the answers is that "no one is good, no not one." We have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God. That is why bad things happen to "good people".

Now for believer's there is a second answer that is contained in the truth for today. We need to be truly glad, for there is wonderful joy ahead for us. We may have to endure many trials for a little while. After all our entire life is so short in comparison to eternity. We will have to face the consequences for our choices and actions that test our faith and show that it is genuine. We are going through the fire of life while here on earth, but this is not our final destination and we are just passing through. We are being purified just like gold that is put through the fire many times to come out perfected. We are being TESTED BY FIRE!

Our faith is more precious that gold. When our faith remains strong through all the many trials, it brings us much praise and glory. When Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world it will bring you honor that you passed the test. It will be unspeakable joy that is your reward for enduring the trials and tests of the Lord. We will come face to face with Jesus and see Him for eternity. That is the prize that we all strive for, that is why we are willing to be TESTED BY FIRE. It is only for a little while that we endure this and without His salvation we would not deserve to be Saved! So be truly glad!

CHOSEN

1 PETER 1:2

"God the Father knew you and CHOSE YOU long ago, and His Spirit has made you Holy."

God is omnipotent. That means that He knows all things and everything. It is not surprising that God knew you, in fact He knew you before you were in your mother's womb. God even knows your name and everything about you personally. After all He is your Father and you are His child. God had foreknowledge of your accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour. God knew that you would be obedient to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and you would be sprinkled with His blood. You were consecrated, sanctified and made Holy by His Spirit. You were chosen and foreknown.

Now you will be spiritually blessed with His grace. He will give you His grace and peace in increasing abundance. You can be free from fears, agitations, and moral conflicts as a result of your being in Christ Jesus. You are one of the elect, or chosen and now God's Spirit has made you Holy. Your desire will be to obey Jesus Christ. Your reason for living is now clear. It is to worship, praise, know and love Jesus Christ the Lord God. We will continually Praise the Lord!

God knows everyone and so the question is why have some been saved and some lost? This truth for today is important to differentiate and distinguish between the saved and the unsaved. Everyone is given the same opportunity to "come to the Lord". You are given a free will and free choice by God the Father. You choose whether or not you will believe in Him and open the door to your heart and ask Jesus to come in and dwell with you. Some choose to do so and some choose not to do so. God is Omnipotent and He knows in advance and even before you are born whether or not you will accept or reject Him. That is how He knows who the chosen are! They are the ones who have CHOSEN Him. What is your choice?

BROUGHT BACK

JAMES 5:19-20

"If someone among you wanders away from the truth and is BROUGHT BACK, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins."

We all know someone who professed to love the Lord at some time in their lives and then they wandered away from the truth. In fact when this happens it can be very confusing and unsettling to our faith. We tend to believe that once you have tasted how sweet Jesus Christ is, where can you go? There are horrific examples of peers in the Christian community who have brought many souls to the alter of Christ, and then fallen off the path and separated themselves from God. Pastors and church leaders are not immune to wandering away from the truth. What happens to them?

I think of a very close boyhood friend who tried to bring the "Good News" to me in high school. I rejected him and his message and failed to understand, the beginning of Wisdom is the fear of God. As life would have it, I came to the Lord and my entire family has been wonderfully changed by the Lord. I have been saved and redeemed and have eternal life. I can not even imagine what my life would be like with out the Lord being first in everything I think or do. I saw my friend recently and assumed he was still a believer. He was not, he even proudly professed to be agnostic. What a reversal of belief. I love the Lord, he does not, what happened?

This is a classic example of someone among us that wanders away from the truth. He made a choice and it was to separate himself from the Lord. I tried to explain that he was dead in his sin and did not even know or understand it. I urged him to consider his position, that if incorrect, would lead to his death and eternal damnation. I reminded him that as young boys he had used that argument on me and I too had refused to believe it. Still, it is ironic that we had changed positions and now if I am wrong, no harm is done. If he is wrong the consequences are death! I pray today that he may be brought back and that he will be saved from death and that he will be forgiven of his many sins. The Lord answers prayers and I believe this one will be heard!

JUST DO IT!

JAMES 4:17

"Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it!"

There is a legal concept that can help to illustrate today's truth. In law there are two kinds of errors, or what we call sins. There is an error of commission. That means that the party commits an act of breaking the law. He commits sin. Then there is an error or sin that is one of OMISSION. That means that the party failed to act and by doing so broke the law or as we say sinned. Essentially is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. You are breaking God's law and in certain cases you are breaking man's laws also. You need to remember this!

The best example that we can think of has to do with your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Everyone has had an opportunity to hear the Good News and the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ. Everyone has written on their hearts and minds the fact that there is a God and He has expectations of you. Your purpose in being here on earth is to worship the Lord God. You are to believe in Him and His resurrection. Jesus is the only one who can save you from death and eternal damnation. If you accept the Lord you will be saved. If you reject the Lord you will be lost and separated eternally. Most importantly, you know what you ought to do, but you have not done it. This is the unpardonable sin.

Those who reject God do it with full knowledge of their desire to reject God and His laws. They do not want to be burdened by bending their knee and confessing with their tongue that Jesus Christ is the Lord God. They do not want to give up control of their lives and their ability to conduct themselves in any way they see fit. They do not believe in sin or hell or the devil or any consequences for their actions. Remember it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. It is an unforgivable sin to know what you have to do in your relationship with the God of this universe and then not do it. It is appointed unto man to die once, and then the judgement. You will be judged by your actions. There will be consequences to your sin of OMISSION. Get right with God now, JUST DO IT!

HUMBLE YOURSELVES!

JAMES 4:7-8

"So HUMBLE YOURSELVES before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you! Come close to God, and God will come close to you."

How do you humble yourself before God? There will be tears for what you have done. There will be sorrow and deep grief in your spirit for how you had rejected God and committed so many sins against Him. There will be sadness instead of laughter and gloom in place of joy for all the harm you have done to others in your life. There will be a recognition of the harmful words and deeds you committed before you found the beginning of wisdom, the fear of God! When you know God and Love Him you will understand that without Jesus Christ there is no Saviour. You could not have your sins forgiven and received God's mercy without Jesus precious blood. That is a humbling experience.

Prior to your being born again and opening the door of your heart to the Lord, you were being controlled by the devil. He tempted you in so many ways and you never understood his power. The biggest lie is that you would not die in your sins. The devil does not want you to believe in the Lord, in His existence, or His Power over life and death. You were dead in your sin and you did not even know or understand it. Now you have wisdom and understanding and the devil can no longer deceive you. That is what is meant by resisting the devil. You do not want to listen to him or believe all of his lies and temptations. Once you have proven your belief and faithfulness to the Lord, the devil will tire of trying to influence you and he will move on, or flee from you.

Repentance means turning from your sinful path and walking toward the Lord. Once you walked right into sinning and death and you did not even know what the consequences would be. Now you know that you must become more Christ like in all your thoughts and deeds. You must come closer to God. Guess what will happen when you do this? God will come closer to you. As you learn His commandments, laws and about the prophets you will increase in faithfulness and obedience to God and you will become more like Him. What a contrast to that of being separated from God and the consequences of the second death and eternal damnation! The first thing you must do is HUMBLE YOURSELF!

PROVE IT!

JAMES 3:13

"If you are wise and understand God's ways, PROVE IT by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom."

We have all heard the expression that talk is cheap. It costs nothing for a person to say he will do something and then never do it. It can cost a lot to keep your word. You must do what you say you will do and the price can be obedience and faithfulness to your word, without compromise. In order for us to not only hear the Word of God but to do the Word of God requires a whole different level of commitment. Being a doer of the Word and not just a hearer of the Word takes wisdom and honor and humility and a purity of belief in God's expectations!

The premise is that to do this you are wise. The beginning of wisdom is the fear, knowledge and love of God, that as a true believer you must already have. Understanding comes from knowing His commandments and listening to His prophets and learning His Word. Let us assume that you have attained that level of faithfulness and trust in Jesus Christ the Lord God. Now and only now can you PROVE IT. How can we prove our wisdom and understanding of the Lord?

The way to prove that you wise and understanding of the Lord God is to show the following traits. You must live an honorable life. You must avoid dishonoring God or yourself. You must do good works. You can not just say you love God, you must demonstrate that by your treatment of others. Do you give of yourself and your treasures to others? If someone comes to you and cries out for help do you listen and answer, or do you turn them away? When you do your good deeds do you make sure to let everyone know? It is important that you be honorable and do good deeds with humility. Let others tell of your actions, do not brag. The only way you can accomplish all this if to have the Lord in your heart and His wisdom in your mind. PROVE IT!

AS LONG AS I HAVE BREATH!

PSALM 116:1-2

"I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray AS LONG AS I HAVE BREATH."

What a beautiful scripture that is filled with the truth for today. First of all, I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and He knows my name! Jesus Christ the Lord God will have mercy on me even though I am a sinner and have missed the target so many time. I have prayed for mercy and He has heard me and granted it to me. Can you imagine that God bends down to listen to us and our prayers? He reaches down to touch us if we will just reach up to touch Him. Knowing all this is more than the mind and heart can comprehend, but, AS LONG AS I HAVE BREATH I will pray to the Lord.

The Lord hears my voice now, just as He has heard it all along. He listened to my prayers and supplications because He loves me. God has inclined His ear to me and turned to hear my prayers for mercy. Because of this I will call upon Him for my entire life. I will keep praying to Jesus Christ until I draw my last breath. His name will be on my lips as my life ends.

Have you reached the point were you put the Lord first in your life? Do you call upon Him for anything and everything? Can you say with a certainty that Jesus Christ is my Shepard and therefore I have all that I need? What is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing that you do each night? The correct answer is to pray to the Lord and seek Him and His will. That is why we love the Lord, because He listens to us and our prayers. He bends down from heaven to listen to us. I will pray to God AS LONG AS I HAVE BREATH!

TEMPTATION

JAMES 1-13

"Remember, when you are being tempted, do not say God is tempting me. God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else."

What are tempted by? Is it fame, fortune, something sexual? Bright lights and loud music get the attention of people and they tend to be interested in anything involving the opposite sex and the body beautiful. They want love and respect and faithful families and friends. What are you tempted to do to achieve this type of goal? Are you willing to do things which are sinful? Would you steal, lie, give false witness or commit adultery or murder? Lots of material things that this world has to offer are a TEMPTATION.

Who do you think is tempting you? Is it yourself? Is it the devil, who makes you do it? Is it God? The truth for today tells us to consider it an opportunity for great joy when temptation comes our way. Your faith and endurance and ability to grow in the Lord will be tested. When your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect, complete and need nothing else to remain faithful. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. God promises us a crown of life afterward. There is one thing you must never do, however!

Do not say God ever tempted you. God is never tempted and He will never tempt others. Temptation comes from your own desires, which entice us and drag us under. These desires and temptations give birth to sinful acts. When sin is allowed to grow it brings death and separation. Whatever is good comes from God. Whenever someone is tempted to commit sin it of their own choosing and they alone are responsible. They alone will suffer the consequences of the actions and choices. You have no one to blame but yourself if you submit to TEMPTATION!

NOT TO US LORD!

PSALM 115:1

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness."

It is human nature to want to take the credit for good things that happen to us. We believe we make things happen in our lives and those of others. We like to bask in the glory of our victories and our achievements. We want to believe that we have power and control over our life and that what we decide and do will make the difference. If we are wealthy we take the credit. If we are successful in business or our chosen profession, we are the ones responsible. If we create anything of value or achievement, we are the ones responsible. Then what is it this truth for today is trying to tell us?

It cries out to us that NOT TO US LORD, not to us but to your names goes all the glory. The Word is telling us that God is deserving of all the glory in our lives, we are not. We need to acknowledge and remember the truth and mercy of the Lord. But for the Lord we would not even have life. We come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing and whatever we are given is a gift from the Lord and we need to thank Him and praise His name. We need to give all the Glory to the Lord!

The Lord is loving and faithful and He gave the earth to us to live in and control. He gave us initial life and He gives us eternal life if we just believe in Him and His Saving Grace. So if we accumulate some possessions for a moment in time they are not really ours. Instead of becoming proud or bragging about our achievements we need to keep our Lord first in our thoughts and prayers and lives. If there is any glory to be handed out it must be the Jesus Christ the Lord God. Where does the glory go, NOT TO US LORD!

ALL THAT YOU NEED!

HEBREWS 13:20-21

"Now may the God of peace- who brought our Lord Jesus up from the dead, the great Shepard of all sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood- May He equip you with ALL THAT YOU NEED for doing His will."

The Lord is my Shepard, I have all that I need. That is one of my favorite scriptures from the 23rd psalm. What about you, do you have ALL THAT YOU NEED? Are you fully equipped by the Lord Jesus to do His will? Many people answer in different ways. Many feel reluctant to share their faith and understanding of the Lord's will with others. The will argue that they are not equipped to do it. They may not understand the power of the Holy Spirit to speak through them. If you are one of those people who feel inadequate this prayer is for y0u. We pray and know that God will give you all that you need to do His will.

What is the will of God? A question asked by everyone. It is different for each person but it is the same for everyone. You are here to worship the Lord God. To believe in Him and open your heart to Him. You are to fear, know and love God and Love one another. That is the will of God! When you became a believer and grew in His love and mercy you were equipped with all that you will ever need to do His will.

The power of God brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepard, and ratified the eternal covenant with His blood. God has therefore the power to equip you with ALL THAT YOU NEED to do His will. It is not your power that you should look to, it is the power of God. Step out in faith and the Lord will reward you. May He produce everything that is pleasing and good to Him in you! After all the glory belongs to Him and Him only, forever and ever!

SACRIFICES THAT PLEASE GOD!

HEBREWS 13:16

"Do not forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the SACRIFICES THAT PLEASE GOD!"

Many believer's ask themselves, what can I give to God? God does not need anything, He made everything. So what is it that you could do that would please God? What is it that you can sacrifice to Jesus Christ the Lord God? There are a number of answers. The first one is your heart. You can open your heart and ask Jesus to come in and dwell with you. You can believe in Him and that He was raised from the dead to Save you. Next you can increase your wisdom by knowing, loving and fearing Him. You can learn His commandments and His Word and what His prophets have to tell us. By being faithful and righteous you have the ear of God.

Assuming that you have done all of the above and even more, what is it that is left for you to sacrifice to the Lord? What can you do that will please God even more? The truth for today is that God wants you to remember to do good things and to share what you have with others. What does it mean to do good? It is not enough that you are not bad and you do not disrespect others, it means giving respect and doing the right thing to others. The golden rule is to treat others as you would like to be treated. That is what it means to be good!

Finally the Lord will have blessed you with much as you believe in Him and rely on Him. Out of the abundance that God has given you, whatever level that may be, He wants you to share with others and give to those who ask you. You should have a heart to give, rather than receive. Are you giving to the Lord and to others out of your bounty? Is it your nature to share with others? Sharing and doing good to others, those are the SACRIFICES THAT PLEASE GOD!

WHAT A JOY- WHAT A DELIGHT

PSALM 112:1

"How JOYFUL are those that fear the Lord and DELIGHT in obeying His commands."

Is your life joyful? Do often find life delightful? I remember a pastor that would say, "what a joy and what a pleasure", every time I was with him. He was filled with delight for life. He was at peace and had joy for his everyday life. Does this sound like you and does it describe your life? I know for sure that all those who have a healthy fear, love and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ are joyful people. They are the type of individuals that delight in obeying God's laws and commandments. The know His Word and His Prophets. They look to God first in everything that they do. Does this describe you?

The other side is that there are many who are sad and depressed most of the time. They do not have much pleasure and they are eternally negative. What is missing from their lives? If you look closely you will see that they do not know, love and fear God in a healthy and respectful way. They have not achieved wisdom and understanding. They do not have the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom.

If you want to be able to say, WHAT A JOY- WHAT A DELIGHT, you need to take an over all assessment of your life. To those who have rejected God, you will never find peace, joy or happiness until you do. To those who have accepted God and then retained your old negative habits and do not have a healthy fear of God and His power, you can achieve true peace joy and happiness if you learn to love, respect, know and fear God even more. You make the choices and you are responsible for your choices. You can choose to be more joyful and have a more delightful life if fear God and obey His commands!

NO DISCIPLINE IS ENJOYABLE!

HEBREWS 12:11

"NO DISCIPLINE IS ENJOYABLE while it is happening-it is painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way."

You have heard that if you spare the rod you will spoil the child. In our society today it is not looked upon with favor to use a rod on your child for discipline. The reason is that abuse did occur in some cases. Children were beaten and abused with the excuse that the parent was inflicting discipline. So lets be clear here, we are not suggesting that as a parent you have the right to inflict excessive discipline and we do not agree with striking a blow to the head or other areas that are off limits to parents. In fact no loving parent would do such a thing. There is however an over reaction by some that believe you should not touch your child as a form of discipline. That is not what the Word says and it is not correct for the child, even yourself!

No discipline is enjoyable to anyone at any time and especially while it is occurring. In fact discipline is painful or at least it is meant to be. The idea is to bring your attention to what you are doing wrong and to train you not to do it again. Today mother's take their children to the restrooms to inflict some corporal punishment or threat thereof. It is the only way that a child senses that the parent is serious. After repeated verbal warnings that have no power, the child learns that there may be some consequences to there actions that bring pain and discipline.

What is the result to the child after the discipline? There is a peaceful harvest of right living. If trained properly they do not have to receive the rod every time they act up. They are trained in the way they must grow up. The same thing happens to us as adults. If we act up and abuse ourselves we pay a price that is quite apparent to us. The Lord applies the discipline and it can be painful, but if we listen afterward there will be a peaceful harvest and right living will occur.
NO DISCIPLINE IS ENJOYABLE in our lives, how are you doing with your training?

CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!

HEBREWS 12:2

"We run with endurance by keeping our eyes on Jesus, THE CHAMPION, who initiates and perfects our faith.

How many times have we seen individuals and teams declare themselves the "champion of the world"? In reality that is like fame, fleeting. Today's champion is tomorrows bum. The emperor of Rome declared himself a god and acted as though he was the champion of the world. In fact he did God's bidding when he called for a census of the world. No matter what human being declares himself a champion, he is not. If you win the race and are given the wreath and declared champion you had better consider the momentary reward that is soon replaced by reality and the rest of your life.

How do we run a race with endurance and play any season of games? The truth for today is that the Word recommends keeping your eyes on Jesus. Call on His name and pray to Him for help and guidance and endurance. Think back to how many times you have seen an individual or a team give all the glory of their victory to Jesus Christ the Lord God. The praise God and give thanks for His help. So even if they are the champion for the moment they recognize that there is a higher power that is greater then themselves. We owe everything to God and they acknowledge that truth. Lets face it there is only one CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!

Jesus Christ the Lord God is the CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! Do you keep your eyes upon Jesus in everything that you do? Do you look up to Him? Do you try to pattern your life after the Lord's? After all the Lord initiates everything and He is the perfecter of our faith. Who will be left standing after all the human champions have passed on? Who is eternal and was there before the beginning and will be there until the end? We may get a temporary position that is one of a champion but it is only for the moment. Jesus Christ the Lord God is the CHAMPION OF THIS WORLD!

FOUNDATION OF TRUE WISOM!

PSALM 11:10

"The fear of the Lord is the FOUNDATION OF TRUE WISDOM. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom."

The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. It is the essential element in our foundation of learning about God. Without this our foundation of belief is built on sand and will fail. If this fear of the Lord does not come first then we have not even begun to establish wisdom in our lives. It is the essential element that starts our growth in understanding and wisdom. In other words fear of the Lord is a prerequisite to even starting to establish personal wisdom and understanding. Then we can add to that wisdom when we obey His commandments.

When you do the will of God then you can be understood to have started your growth in wisdom. Once begun is half done. This saying is true in this sense, that once you have a fear of God you started in the right path and have a foundation that will stand and not fail you in the future. Another way to say this is that to Fear, Love and Know God is your beginning. If you do not have this you have nothing. Once you have obtained the Fear, Love and Knowledge of God you have the beginning of Wisdom. If you then learn and observe His commandments and the laws and the prophets you will obtain understanding and a growth in Wisdom.

Many in this world pretend to be wise when they are totally ignorant. They do not have a fear of God and therefore their journey to wisdom has not even begun. They may be able to parrot information and be seen as clever, but they will not be able to obtain the wisdom and understanding of God ever. They will fail for they are men and fallible. They will never be able to save anyone and they will never solve the problems of this world. They are a pathetic shadow of reality and they do not even know it. They are dead and they do not even know it. Can you be any more unwise than that? To those that fear, love and know God you have the FOUNDATION OF TRUE WISDOM!

AMAZING AND DELIGHTFUL!

PSALM 111:2-3

"How AMAZING are the deeds of the Lord! All who DELIGHT in Him should ponder them. Everything He does reveals His Glory and Majesty. His righteousness never fails."

Do you ever just stop and ponder the amazing deeds of the Lord? Do you delight in His Glory and Majesty. Do you know that His righteousness never fails? We tend to exclaim wonder at each new invention of man or his visual or auditory technologies that we see and hear. In comparison to mans works God is AMAZING AND DELIGHTFUL. We need to thank the Lord with all of our heart that He even cares about something as insignificant as ourselves. When we meet with Godly people we need to share our amazement and delight in the wonders of our God. God is so gracious and merciful that we need to review His wonderful works.

To the unbeliever this must be a great mysterious life. They do not know who made it or who it is that they need to fear. They do not know what will happen to them after this life. They do not know why they are even here. They take life day to day and never have a faith or belief that they can rely on to save them. No wonder they are unhappy and despondent and willing to do anything that comes to their mind. They have no law, no commandments, no morals and no reasoning that is absolute. They may be amazed at what man has been able to do or accomplish but they fail to understand that man can not overcome death, cure disease and eliminate pain and suffering. What is amazing and delightful to them is temporary and incomplete, and never brings them satisfaction.

What a contrast with Jesus Christ the Lord God. He is perfect and everywhere and all knowing. He is able to save us from death. He is able to overcome any disease. He eliminates pain and suffering and gives us eternal bliss. His deeds are amazing, beginning with bringing the world and universe into reality with His Word. We have a bible full of His many deeds through the people that He breathed life into. When you ponder and consider what God and those he touched accomplished it is AMAZING AND DELIGHTFUL! Think about His glory and majesty and remember He and His righteousness never fail us.

REASONED FAITH!

HEBREWS 11:19

"Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. In a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead."

Faith is such an important part of being a believer of Jesus Christ the Lord God. Without faith there would be no stories in the bible to teach us. We learn so much from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob along with Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and all the prophets. Praise God that He left His Word for us to learn and reason about His nature. The point of the truth for today is that Abraham used his reasoning to align with his faith in order to do the right thing. Abraham had an only son that came as a miracle of God and now he was being asked to sacrifice him to God. Do you think you have the faith to sacrifice one of your children if God asked you?

Abraham used his reasoning to come to a correct and Godly conclusion about what God asked him to do. Abraham knew in his heart that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life. He knew that God is omnipotent and had the power over life and death. Isaac also knew that God never breaks His promises and He promised that Isaac would be the son through which his descendants would be counted. If Isaac died then he could not be the one to deliver the promises of God. He had faith in God and he had reasoned judgement that complimented it.

How about you? Do you have faith in God? Do you believe His promises to each of us to give us eternal life? Do you know that He will bring you through death and give you new life? Have you been able to reason that God through His Word and His promises has given us the knowledge that we need to understand the Good News? Are you looking forward to eternal life in heaven with the Lord? God is able to do anything, including bringing us back from death and giving us eternal life. We arrive at this position with REASONED FAITH!

FOREIGNERS AND NOMADS!

HEBREWS 11:13

"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were FOREIGNERS AND NOMADS here on earth."

Do you see yourself as a foreigner or a nomad? We are told that we are pilgrims, just passing through, is that how you see yourself? If you believe God then you will accept that this is not your home and that you belong some where else. Are you looking forward to a country that you can call your own? Are you looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland? God has prepared a city for us and we believe in His promise. We may not have received it yet but we can see it from a distance and we welcome the chance to go there.

So many people become attached to the possessions they acquire here on earth that they are reluctant to leave them. Remember you do not own your home, your furniture, your jewelry of anything that you believe you possess right now. God owns everything and you are just the steward of it until your life ends. You came in with nothing and you will leave with nothing. If you have accumulated wealth and money it will be given to others and you can not retain it. You are truly a Nomad living in a temporary dwelling.

Although we would like to think of ourselves as a part of our community and country we are not. We are really foreigners and we do not belong to this world. That is hard to grasp and understand but suffice it to say that the passport that you hold is a forgery. Your real homeland and the place you will spend eternity is not on any document that you hold today. Are you looking forward to that time and place? Until then we remain FOREIGNERS AND NOMADS!

SOMETHING FROM NOTHING!

HEBREWS 11:3

"By faith we understand the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."

This is what separated God from all the pretenders. Name all of the so called gods that men have worshiped since time began and ask yourself this one question, could they make something out of nothing? Can they make dirt, let a lone a universe? Inert gods such as the sun, moon and stars make no such claim. Animals of all types and descriptions were made themselves and are incapable to making anything. Confucius, Mohamed, Buddha and all the others that men have worshiped have never claimed to have made our universe. In fact they can not even make dirt! That is what separates the One True God from any others.

God spoke and the universe was brought into being. We know by faith that He formed the universe that we see, from something that can not be seen. Everything that we know from all of our senses has been made by God and He formed it out of Spirit not out of previous tangible items. God can make something out of nothing. No one but God can do this and those with the wisdom and knowledge of God can discern the difference between God and the pretenders.

In the beginning God fashioned, formed and prepared the heavens and the earth. God created them. God spoke and the universe was formed at His command. We now see what could not be seen except by the Spirit of God. It does not take faith to see the earth, sun, moon or stars because they are available to our senses. It does take faith to know and understand that God made the Heavens and the Earth. He made the universe out of nothing . He spoke and His will was done. God alone can make SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING!

IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE!

HEBREWS 10:37-38

"For IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE the Coming One will come and not delay. The righteous ones will live by faith, but I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away."

You and your family are on a trip to Grandpa and Grandma"s. The children are in the back seat of the car and they continually ask, "are we there yet", "when are we going to get there"? You understand because time to them is nebulous and uncertain. The children are a captive audience and can go no where until you arrive at your destination. Many times we are like the children in that we want to know when Jesus Christ is going to return. We ask, "Is the Lord returning soon" or "the signs tell us that this is the time for the Lords return". We are just as anxious as the kids and just as upset when the time seems to continue forever. The difference is we are not a captive audience.

Remember that God's timing is not the same as our own. He measures time in a much different way and a day to him may be like 10,000 years to us. In that we do not even live for 100 years it is not surprising that the truth for today is that Jesus Christ is coming IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE! Do not miss the most important part of the statement. Jesus Christ is Coming! He will return as He told us and He will bring the new earth with Him. Those who remain and are faithful will meet with Him in twinkling of an eye and so will we ever be with Him, IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE!

The righteous ones will live eternally as a result of their faith. The righteous and faithful will be with the Lord forever and ever. The other part of the scripture once again reminds those who have come to a saving grace and knowledge of God that they must hold out to the very end. That is why God Say's that He will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away. Once you have tasted the sweetness of Jesus Christ, where can you go? Some do turn away from God and they commit the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit and the Lord. God did not make that choice and the consequences can be blamed on Him. If you turn from God of your free will you will suffer the consequences that are just and fair. Separation from God forever!

IT IS A TERRIBLE THING!

HEBREWS 10:31

"IT IS A TERRIBLE THING to fall into the hands of the living God!"

Think back and remember what the beginning of wisdom is. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. So many people find it hard to understand why they should have to fear a loving God. In fact they say if God is good then He would never do anything to harm us. They are correct, if you love God and have opened the door to your heart and asked Him to come in then you will find Him to be a Loving and Good God. So what is the truth for today that this scripture is trying to teach us?

If you do not fear, love or know God and believe in Him then you are separated from Him and have chosen to reject or not accept Him. God wants everyone to be saved and to fall into His loving arms but He has given you free choice as to whether you accept Him or reject Him. By doing nothing you have not accepted Him and that is the same as rejecting Him. You are either for or against God. You can not remain neutral. If you reject God or continue on sinning after receiving Him into your heart, you are in peril of God's judgement and the raging fire. Now we come to the importance of this truth for today.

IT IS A TERRIBLE THING to fall into the hands of the Living God. Everyone will face judgement after the first death. If Jesus Christ is your advocate you will receive mercy and be found free of sin and guilt. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour then you will be rejected by God who will tell you that He never knew you. You will thus be separated from God for all eternity and you will be sent into utter darkness and the raging fires of Hell. Let me ask you a question, is this a terrible thing? If you do not fear the second death and Hell then you are not deserving of mercy and you have no wisdom. Your choice, your decision!

THE WORST PUNISHMENT!

HEBREWS 10:29

"Just think how much WORSE THE PUNISHMENT will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us Holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have disdained the Holy Spirit, who brings God's mercy to us."

If we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that cover these sins! You can only expect one terrible thing, God's judgement and the raging fire. Moses law called for people to be stoned to death for their sins, after the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much WORSE THE PUNISHMENT will be for those who trample on the Son of God. When you deliberately continue sinning when you know the truth there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover your sin.

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin. When you treat the blood of the covenant that made us holy as if it were common and unholy, with complete disdain, you have insulted and blasphemed the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings God's mercy to us and you have rejected Him. If you know that adultery is wrong but you continue in it you are guilty of committing continuing sin with knowledge and thus you are an enemy of God. It would have been better for you if you had never known God. You will get THE WORST PUNISHMENT!

God Say's "I will take revenge, I will pay them back", to those who deliberately continue sinning. God said, "I will judge my own people", in reference to those who trample on the the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. You have only one possible option to reverse this eternal position that you have chosen. You must first get on you knees and beg Jesus Christ for forgiveness and you must truly repent of your sins. That means you can no longer commit the sin. If it is adultery, you must terminate the relationship right now and stop sinning. The choice is yours, you control your actions one at a time and if you do not repent, and turn around you will receive THE WORST PUNISHMENT!

WITH GOD'S HELP!

PSALM 108:13

"With God's help we will do mighty things, for He will trample down our foes."

Have you ever noticed how many times the winner of a contest gives all the glory to God? This thanks is offered up by individuals and teams. Think of how many participants offer up a prayer to God and ask for His help. By no means does this apply to everyone. How often the winners seem to involve God is not easy to count or determine, but, it would appear the frequency is high. The real issue is not whether you will win or lose with or without God's help, the real issue is do you put God first in everything? The first commandment of God is placed there because of its importance.

In our present day vernacular we say, "keep the first thing first". Translation of this comment would be that we should go to God before we do anything and always keep Him first in everything that we do. As believer's we can do many and mighty things but a precondition would be that we pray for God's help. Do you really believe that you can do mighty things on your own? With God's help we can do might things. Before we engage in battle or a contest or anything of consequence, we should seek the help of the Lord.

We all want to be valiant. If that is so then we should understand that it is with and through God that we can be valiant. It is God who will tread down our enemies and bring us victory, not ourselves. Before the big exam or test pray for God's help. Before popping the big question to that certain someone, or the boss, pray for God's help. Make it a habit of thinking and seeking God first before you do anything. Always remember that it will always be "God willing" for your answer. You do not have to stand alone, you are never alone if you have God as your Saviour. With God's help we can do anything.

ONCE AND FOR ALL!

HEBREWS 10:12

"But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time."

What do you think of a system that you have to repeat day after day to be affective? The priests offered sacrifices to God every day to atone for the sins of the people. The sacrifices were not effective for all time and the proof is that they had to be repeated time after time. Thus we see that the old covenant was merely a shadow of things to come, a template of what must be done to save sinners from death. The priests sacrifices could never take away the sins of the people. The was only one way for sins to be forgiven, ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Whereas the old covenant sacrifices were never perfect and never satisfied God, the New Covenant Sacrifice of the perfect Jesus Christ was. Christ was our High Priest on the order of Melchizedek and He was the perfect sacrifice that was without sin. Jesus offered Himself up to God as a single sacrifice for sin. That one one sacrifice was good for all time. As you know Jesus never had to sacrifice Himself again. After Jesus Sacrificed Himself He was seated in the place of honor at God's right hand. He remains there waiting for His enemies to be humbled under His feet.

By that one offering we were made Holy and perfect in the sight of God. There are three witnesses. The Holy Spirit testifies that this is so. God testifies that this is His beloved Son and He placed Him at His right Hand. Jesus testified to His being the perfect offering many times. Once He said why do you call me good, only one is good and that is God. Jesus also said He came to do God's perfect will. When called the Messiah He never denied it. So the perfect sinless offering was made in the body of Jesus Christ and is was ONCE AND FOR ALL!

TURN BACK AND LIVE!

EZEKIEL 18:31

"Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die. I do not want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord, TURN BACK AND LIVE."

Think of the most outrageous and immoral person you can think of. The one with all those things that point them out as rebellious. Drug users, homosexuals, drunkards, murderers and thieves. The ones who disfigure their bodies with tattoos and metal and bone accessories and disrespect authority. Atheists and Agnostics who cry out that God is dead and reject Jesus Christ as the Lord God. Do you have someone in mind? How about the liar and the adulterer and the seemingly sweet child of God that in reality is depraved of mind and deceives everyone.

God says that He will judge every person according to their actions. Sins will destroy the person who commits them, if they never repent of them. All the acts we discussed above are done by so many people and the question is what will become of them. They will die in their sins and be separated from God for eternity. They are dead and they do not even know it. When they pass away on earth, their soul will be judged and then sent to eternal Hell. This is not what God wants or intends, but it is the truth and if they can hear and then react there is Hope for them!

Listen to God and His Word and Repent. That means that you have to turn around and away from your sinning and turn toward God and His path to righteousness. Put your rebellion behind you. You can find a new heart and a new spirit if you open the door of your heart to Jesus Christ. Why should you die eternally. God does not want anyone to die and be separated from Him for eternity, but each individual makes their own choice about what to believe and what to do. You must repent and ask God for forgiveness if you want to live. Are you sinning today, TURN BACK AND LIVE!

HAS THE LORD REDEEMED YOU?

PSALM 107:2

"HAS THE LORD REDEEMED YOU? Then speak out! Tell others He has redeemed you from your enemies."

Can you think of a more important question to ask anyone? If you were in an audience and the pastor asked you if you had been redeemed, would you raise your hand? Has the Lord redeemed you? If the answer is yes, then praise the Lord. If the answer is no, then you have a choice to make that will determine your eternal resting place. To all those who can answer yes to the question, here is the truth for today and the Word of the Lord.

We as the redeemed have a responsibility to speak out and tell others about our redemption. Do you speak out to others and tell them of the saving grace of God? We have been snatched away from the enemy and we have been purchased with a price by Jesus Christ. It is not too much to ask that we share our testimony with others and tell them of the Saving Grace of the Lord. This is the Good News that can save others from death and the enemy. Some are shy and reticent to speak out for fear that they are not eloquent enough. This does not require eloquence, it requires obedience.

Give thanks to God, for He is Good! His faithful love endures forever. His Word to you today is that you should speak out and tell others of His redemptive Love. Tell them they too can be saved and avoid eternal death. This gift of life is not for you alone, it is for everybody and faith comes from hearing and that can come from you. HAS THE LORD REDEEMED YOU? Tell everyone you can that has happened to you. Snatch someone from the fires of Hell!