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My King once wore a crown of thorns…

We put too much trust in human leaders. For some reason, we feel that they are the ones from whom our security and safety derives. Nothing could be further from the the truth.

God wants us to turn to him for leadership. He wants us to follow him because everything he says and does is good, right and perfect. However, mankind rejected him, not just once, but over and over again.

The Israelites were chosen to be the people through which God would spread his Gospel and through which a Savior would come to the earth. He wanted Israel to follow him but they wanted a king to follow.

God granted their request but it still grieved him that he was rejected and a man put in his place. The first king of Israel was Saul. He was chosen by God but, in the end, rejected God and was defeated by David.

While David was a man after God’s heart, he made horrible mistakes. His sins were enormous. Still, he turned to God and God answered him. From that point on, the kings of Israel were a mixed bunch who mostly strayed from God to follow the idols that were made by man’s own hands.

Over and over again, mankind makes the same mistake. We look to our leader as something larger than life. The truth is, they are simply other men and women. They are sinners like the rest of us. Some follow God but most do not.

They stray from God and think that they and those who think like them are the true answer to life’s problems. It makes no sense but still they persist in their beliefs and those who follow them do as well.

In this country, we are on the eve of an election for our President for the next four years. There is a sharp divide amongst the voters. Each side thinks that they are better than the other. Many have contempt and worse for those who follow the other candidate.

It is this kind of behavior that leads to hate, destruction and physical violence. It leads brothers to kill one another in the name of what they believe in. It isn’t a war but it may become one. There is nothing worse than a war that pits the citizens of a nation against each other.

In the end, there is no winner. The country loses.

I pray that the election is fair and safe. I pray that no one cheats and that no one resorts to violence to stop others from exercising their right to vote. I pray that whomever is elected President, puts his trust and faith in God.

In the end, whoever becomes President was put in place by God. Sometimes, he blesses us with those who, for the most part, follow him. Sometimes, he curses us with exactly what we deserve.

My fear is that once God lifts his hand of protection from this nation, that there will be no return until the day Jesus comes back to claim his church.

While I fear that former, I look forward to the latter with joy, peace and hope. My leader is God and my homeland is heaven. I am passing through this life and will try to do what God asks me to do.

I will not place my faith in mankind because I am one of them and I know how great a sinner I am. There is not one of us who is better than the other.

We are all sinners who need to be saved. Our sins may be different to us but to God, they are all the same and the judgement is death unless you accept the forgiveness Jesus bought for you by dying in your place. No matter what you believe, there will come a day when every living thing who has ever lived on earth will confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

Philippians 2:5-11

Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility],

who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes—the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it]; but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man].

After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.

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Which master do you really serve?

It is important for Christians to understand that security comes from God and not from a political party, a social cause or a single individual.

We are easily led astray when we let our own thoughts guide us rather than looking to those of our Creator. God is the only real truth, real goodness, and real security and peace that mankind can find.

We want to believe that we can take control of our society and of our world. We want to think that somehow what we want to do is the right thing to do.

However, if there is no basis for those actions in the Bible, then the actions are not from God. If they are not from God, then there is only one being responsible for them. That being is Satan. He, and his minions, are constantly trying to tempt Christians into following his dictates and with that, he can control them.

He cannot fill Christians as the Holy Spirit does but he can make Christians feel as if they are doing what is right and just.

He does this easily with non-believers as they are his servants. There are only two masters that mankind serves. If you are not serving God, then you are serving Satan, whether you know or acknowledge it.

Satan is a liar, a thief and a murderer. He is responsible for all kinds of evil. His followers work through his dictates though they have convinced themselves that they are doing good.

They are not.

Those who follow Jesus and believe in his sacrifice for our salvation and who have accepted it, will live with him in heaven for eternity. Those who do not follow Jesus, will be doomed to eternity in hell with Satan.

It can’t be stressed enough that time is short. You are not promised even one more minute in this life time, you need to make a conscious decision about whom you will follow and with whom you will spend eternity.

Don’t let society lead you to where you should not go. Don’t let peer pressure convince you that something is right when you know in your heart it is wrong. Don’t be guided by anything other than what God has communicated to us through his word, the Bible.

If you put your focus on God, live everyday according to his dictates and put all thoughts and actions through the filter of what God has said, you will be walking according to his will for your life.

It is never too late to change the way you think and how you live. God is no respecter of persons, he loves each of us the same. The only difference is there are those who love him and those who do not.

Those who love him and follow him have a place of peace in their lives. They have something true and everlasting to cling to when everything seems to be falling apart.

Truth always casts out lies. Light always casts out darkness. Good vanquishes evil. It may seem that evil is in control but there will be reckoning and evil will be destroyed.

Learn to lean upon Jesus and live in truth and light for the rest of your days and throughout eternity.

James 4:4

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

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Our Judgement Day is coming…

In the past, in times of trouble, it would bring out the best in people. For some reason, that doesn’t seem to have happened during this pandemic. For a large group of people, it has done exactly the opposite.

For many people, the good has risen to the top but for those who have turned the wrong way, their evil has come to the forefront.

For some reason, this is the group that the media has decided to highlight has being in the right. They want everyone who has a grievance for their cause to be acknowledged as good. It has become a world upside down.

That is, if you watch this group and if you watch the media without their mindset. If that is the case, you are probably aghast at what is going on.

If you agree with their thoughts and plans, you think that everything is working to your good. It isn’t necessarily for the good of mankind, but it will consolidate power for the purpose of evil.

Evil tries to take over. It wants to destroy good. It has been that way from the beginning. God created mankind to live in spiritual harmony with him but he also gave mankind free will. That gave mankind the ability to choose between good and evil. They chose evil.

That was the beginning. Adam and Eve chose to sin. In the very next generation, Cain killed his brother Abel because he was jealous. It wasn’t for reason other than that. He just didn’t like that Abel did something more pleasing to God.

From that point onward, man continued to sin. The breadth of their sin became immense. God decided to destroy all of mankind, save one family, because the people were sinful beyond ever receiving redemption.

Mankind began again, with Noah and his family. They sinned and the cycle began again.

We are heading for a time when mankind will, once again, reach that tipping point. God will look at us and know that all those who could be saved through the salvation of Jesus Christ, absent the great tribulations, were gathered.

At that point, I believe, that God will bring judgement on the earth. The trials will bring others to acknowledge that the Lord is the God of everything. They will know that Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, is their savior and they will give their lives to him.

Those will be the few, unfortunately. The majority will continue to reject God and salvation. At the appointed time, Jesus will return to this earth. He will gather all of his believers and the wrath of God will be poured out on the rest.

They will face the judgement of God and they will have no answer. They will receive the punishment that they deserve.

I am so glad that Jesus opened my heart to his truth. I am so glad that the majority of my family has accepted him as well. I pray for those who have not and for those who knew him and have since rejected him. I can only pray that they will find their comfort and solace with him once again.

Whether the great tribulation is in our immediate future or not, we are all facing our own trials and tribulations. Only God can save you and keep you in his protection. Troubles will continue, illness will still happen and the body will die. When that happens, each individual will have to face God on Judgement Day, to account for their lives.

If you are saved by the Grace of Jesus Christ, your sins will be washed away and God will not see them. If you are not saved, you will be found guilty and doomed to eternal separation from God.

You have free will. Choose which you want, eternal life with God or eternal death separated from God.

Revelation 20:11-15

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

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Would you trade your soul for popularity?

More and more often, I’ve seen self-professed Christians embracing things that the Bible strictly calls out as sin. While I will not question their Christianity, I will suggest that they need to look closer at what it is that they are actually saying.

Our culture has accepted sin as good and wholesome. Each year that goes by, something more egregious becomes the “new” thing to be. We’ve accepted sexual immorality in many forms, we’ve accepted violence against one another, we’ve accepted the rejection of Jesus Christ. Not only that, for many, these sins, and more, are actually considered normal and the absence of these sins is unacceptable.

How upside down can we, as a people, become?

It is one thing to live in a society where sin is legalized and accepted and it is a completely different thing for Christians to actually embrace sin.

We are all sinners and we all sin, in one way or another, every single day. Yes, Christians, you sin too. You also know that we are both forgiven and called to walk away from sinful lives.

To turn around and say sin is good is sinful, in and of itself. When you embrace sin, you are holding God at arm’s length. You are separating yourself for the one who died to save you. You are, more and more, turning your back on Jesus. At some point, you will certainly choose to walk away from Christianity.

Does that mean you are no longer a Christian? That you are no longer saved? I can’t answer those questions. It is not for me to do so. I can, however guarantee, that any protection God may have afforded you will be removed. You will no longer have an anchor in the storm of life.

If this is what you want to do, go right ahead. God gave you free will and you can exercise it.

What you cannot do, is warp the Bible to fit your false theology. You cannot say that Christianity is something that it is not. You cannot lead others along the same false path you are heading down.

To do so is strictly forbidden and God has promised his wrath for those who lead Christians into sinful behavior. Christianity is not a get out of jail free card. There are responsibilities and there are punishments.

I would not want to be in line for God’s retribution for this reason. If you choose to do so, then it is fitting and just that God would do exactly as he promised.

I will pray for those who preach apostasy under the guise of true Christianity. I won’t follow them but I also won’t consider their punishment, one day, as anything other than good and true.

Matthew 16:25-27

For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and THEN HE WILL REPAY EACH ONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT HE HAS DONE.

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Hold fast to Jesus…

How awful it must be to be one of the lost. It must be a time of confusion, a time of hate, a time where life itself must seem pointless.

I’ve been there and it has been many years since God touched my life and turned me around. I still remember the feelings I had and that was at a time when life around me seemed stable. It was my life that was out of control.

Today, society is on the warpath. It is out to kill the beliefs and thoughts of anyone who doesn’t agree with them. A time is coming when it will not be enough. They will want to kill those who differ from them.

Christians are called to be different. We are called to be like Jesus. He was killed and told us that we would be persecuted, too, for his sake.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we know what will happen. Why? Because we were lost and then found. Remembering the thoughts that went through our own minds should not be a stretch.

We know and yet, we still love Jesus. We know that he gave everything to us. He gave us his life, he gave us his forgiveness, he gave us eternal life.

What does it matter what others think of us? We know that what we are doing is pleasing to God. He is the ultimate judge of everyone. Those who persecute us with either become believers or face the final judgement for what they have done.

I am sad for those people. They have the opportunity and they choose to throw it away. They will have eternity to regret what they have done.

Stay the course, Christians. Follow Jesus. Love others, even those who accuse you and hate you. Know that you are doing what God wants you to do and that is why you are hated.

Better to be hated in this life than to face eternity without God, never knowing his love.

Matthew 5:10-12

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”