Right And Wrong

Have You Ever Wanted to Do Right But Wrong Was Sitting Right There?

Guess what? You are not alone. The best of us feel this way. We have holes in our socks! What do I mean? Some of us have more obvious habits that are not God's best for us. You know; things like cigarettes in our purse, weed in our pocket, a hangover, or a few extra pounds around our waists. But some of us have well-buried, secret sins that we tend to deny because they aren't so obvious. So you see: We have holes in our socks.

I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience? Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

The reason I put the above in bold is that these are the words of God through The Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans in chapter 7 verses 14 to 25 in The Message Bible. WHHAAAT? You may be saying, “God has holes in His socks!????” No, but we do, and guess what, He knows it. Yet, He gave us the answer in Jesus Christ. God wants to mend the holes in our socks.

Your next line may be, “I don’t know about that; my socks are pretty holey.” They may be, but God is Holier than your socks! Do you believe that God can do all things? Do you believe that God is able? Let me tell what God has to say about this: “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG)

You may have a hard time wrapping your mind around the words of bold in this post, because it’s hard for you to believe that God can speak modern day English. But His Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever because the Word is Jesus Christ made flesh, and He is the same: The Great I AM!

And you may have a harder time wrapping your mind around the words of bold in this post, because what you see and are told by those wearing designer Christian labels on their persons are not these words. BUT, the bolded words of this text ARE the words of God. So don’t be fooled. Those Christians with designer labels of Christianity have holes in their socks, too! Whew! It takes the pressure off knowing that we don’t live by the will of man, but by the will of God.

You see those who have holes in their designer Christian socks are most likely offended by Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse facing a modern-day challenge. Yep, they have holey socks and are forgetting that we have a Holy God!

So let me leave you with God’s words, and not mine, again in modern English from The Message Bible. “So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

So I believe in a world that has lost its way, these are the days of the great awakening of the Amazing Grace of God!

Angels And Answered Prayer

SPIRITUAL WAR PRAYER

Reasons Why Our Prayers Seem to Go Unanswered

“And [the angel] said to me, ...Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind and heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come as a consequence of [and in response to] your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial] princes, came to help me, for I remained there with the kings of Persia.”

Daniel 10:11-13 (Amplified Bible)

VERY FEW BELIEVERS have ever given the devil, the fallen angel Lucifer also known as Satan, credit for being the powerful creature that he really is. He reigns as king over a tremendous kingdom. The kingdom of Satan is made up of depotisms, powers, master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness. the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere (Ephesians 6;12). If “the god of this world” (1 Corinthians 4:4) did not fear approaching and tempting the very Son of God, Jesus The Christ, he certainly does no fear us.

I don't want to go into the complexities of the prophetic book of Daniel; but for those of us who feel that our prayers have not been heard by the Most High God or feel that our prayers are going unanswered, by the glimpse we get into the supernatural sphere, we can see that God sent the answer the moment we prayed.

In this word of Scripture, it took the angelic messenger, believed to be Gabriel, 21 days to break through the forces in the supernatural realm to get God's answer to Daniel. And if the Archangel, Michael, had not been sent to come to Gabriel's aid, Gabriel would have been detained by the wickedness of the spiritual realm for much longer than 21 days.

Daniel was in mourning for 3 weeks, going without proper food and drink. It is implied that he wasn't even bathing as he should. Daniel was distressed; he was distraught. Does seeing into the unseen realm of the supernatural help your understanding that God sends the messenger with the answer to your prayer the moment you prayed? Does it provide you comfort if you are distraught? Maybe it does not.

You may be thinking, “It has been way longer than 21 days since I prayed for my answer!” Maybe it's been more than 21 years that you've been waiting for your answer, and like Daniel, you are mourning. When we are battle worn, we are weary, and we feel defeated. But in Christ, if we stand strong in His armor in the midst of the battle, and having done all to stand firm, continue in our stance of prayer against the wicked spirits of this present darkness, victory will be ours for the glory of our God.

We can't forget that we, as true Christians, are a persecuted Church in the face of the rampant wickedness of the people of this world. We live in a culture of sin and abominations against the Holy Spirit; we live in a culture that ranks with those of Babylon and of Sodom and Gomorrah. The culture of the world is turned against the faith of true Believers, yet we must continue to pray; we must continue to come boldly before the throne of God with our requests.

“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8 (Amplified Bible)

We live in intense times of spiritual warfare. We ARE being persecuted for our faith, but continue to stand in the full armor of God in the midst of this battle. God never promised that weapons would not be formed against us, but promised that NO weapon formed against us would prosper. He never promised that locusts would not eat up the years, but that He WILL restore the years the locusts have eaten. God never promised us no shame, but that He would give us a double portion for our FORMER shame.

“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14 (Amplified Bible)

And all God's people say, “Amen and Amen!” There IS power in the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Let's not forget that though the battle rages all about us, victory is ours in The Lord! And, don't forget that your answer was sent the moment you faithfully prayed.  So we need to be brave and of good courage; we need to wait for and hope for and EXPECT the Lord!

Focus Not On Your Circumstances But On Christ

Don’t Make Your Problems Bigger Than Your God

When Peter walked on water not only were the seas turbulent, but so were the times. John the Baptist had just been beheaded. Those who believed he was a prophet were distraught.  After the execution of John, the people turned to Jesus. This is how 5000 men, plus their women and children, came to be fed with five loaves of bread and two fish found among the throngs in the hands of a small child.

These were also superstitious times. Herod, who had executed John the Baptist told his attendants that Jesus was John raised from the dead; Herod attributed the miracle working power of Christ to the resurrected spirit of John the Baptist. The crowd was following Jesus because they had seen the miracles He continually performed upon those who were sick. And, as the feast of the Passover was approaching, Jesus knew this crowd of followers meant to seize Him and make Him their king; yet, it was Herod who was the ruthless Roman king of Judea and the Jews.

These were times characterized by conflict, disorder, and confusion. Times that were neither controlled nor calm, just like the seas that Peter would walk upon. The feast of the Passover was approaching, and this meant so was the crucifixion of Christ. The times of Christ were at a climatic crescendo, increasing in their intensity; and Jesus' disciples, including Peter, were surrounded by this turbulence.

It was in the midst of these difficult times that Peter, the disciple who would deny Jesus Christ three times in one night in the near future, walked upon water surrounded by stormy seas. It was Peter, with the other disciples, Christ directed to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away and went up into the hills by Himself to pray. It was Peter, a fisherman who knew the sight of an approaching storm that would evoke stormy seas, who obediently got into the boat with the others. And, it was Peter who Jesus would reach out His hand to catch and hold as he sank in the stormy seas, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

After saying this very thing to Peter, it was the same Christ Jesus who would say to Peter in the next breath of the Bible, “You are Peter, a huge rock like Gibraltar; and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” And the same Christ who would immediately, in the next breath of Scripture, turn away from Peter and say to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You are in my way; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.”

I think Jesus was controversial with Peter because he was building the character and faith of Peter to be like the rock of Gibraltar. In this time nearing Jesus Christ's crucifixion on the cross at Calvary, He was preparing Peter for his God-given destiny, and that was to be the rock upon which to build His church. He was teaching Peter to keep his focus not on his circumstances, but on Him, Jesus the Christ.

When Peter kept his focus on Jesus Christ, he walked on water; when he perceived and felt the strong winds of his circumstances, he sank to the point of sure death. But, Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” And instantly, Jesus reached out His hand and caught Peter. Then, they got into the boat, the wind ceased, and the boat crossed to the other side.

How does this relate to you and me? God allows us to go through bad times to bring us into something better. He allows storms to come against us to make us rock strong in our faith. Some things can only be learned in the storm; yet the storm can only take us where God allows.

So, don't focus on your circumstances, but keep your eyes focused on Christ; don't make your problems bigger than your God; don’t slip into the seas. He will calm the storms in your life, and He will take you to the other side. Turbulence is part of our destiny to get us where we are supposed to be. Don't be afraid of those seas. Stand strong!