Are You Separated?

Authentic believers in Christ simply cannot fit into the world’s system. We are supposed to be different. We have different values, a different Lord, and a completely different agenda.

Yet, if we take a simple glance at many who profess to believe, we don't see much difference between them and the world. The preachers and teachers love the world and have taught those under them to do likewise.

Yet, Jesus said if you hate your life in this world you will have life eternal. John said that if you love and copy and mimic and follow the ways of the world, the love of the Father is not in you.

Here's a test for you - Jesus said that the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that it's works are evil. Jesus said that the world would love it's own, yet said it would hate us, call us evil and separate us from their company because He has called us out of the world. Peter said they would call us evildoers because our ways are different. Does the world (or even in these Laodicean like times, the "church"), treat you well or are you a reproach?

Jesus called us to be holy, separate and polar opposites of the world and all it's ways. He called us to be lights that expose and reprove the unfruitful works of darkness that we ourselves once walked in. Yet, how can we do that when we still walk in those unfruitful works? We have deceived ourselves to be unequally yoked to the world, by "Christianizing" the values, things, customs, practices and ways of the world? We cannot!

We cannot serve two masters, let alone five,, ten, or twenty! We can only love and serve one! You didn't tell your spouse on wedding day that you will love and serve them and this person, and that person, and that one over there, and ... if you didn't they wouldn't have married you! They expect and demand whole and complete loyalty and they should!

Are you unequally yoked? Are you corrupted or perverted by the world? Are you of a double heart and mind to the Lord? Awake to righteousness! Examine yourself! Come out and separate yourself and wholly follow the Lord! I am here for you -message me if you need.

6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

Isa. 55:6-8

Deceived Hearts? Say It Ain't So!

 What? Can a Christian's heart deceive itself to think they can model and imitate the world and think they are still living a set apart, holy life dedicated to the God they say they whole heartedly love and serve? Yes indeed!!!

In Jeremiah 17:9 God tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jesus also talked about the wickedness that lies in a man's heart in Mark 7:21-23 - saying that all these evil things come from within and defile the man. So truly wickedness lies in the heart of all men, Christians are not exempt! Again, in Jeremiah 17:5 the Lord says that cursed is the man whose heart has departed from the Lord. The Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel in 6:9 that His heart is broken in pieces with His people's whorish heart which has departed from Him to chase after the abominable idols they have set up in their heart (14:3; 33:31, etc.).

Yet, the Lord spoke of a generation that always erred in their heart to depart from the Lord. An evil heart of unbelief. A heart hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3). Oh, they call Him Lord, but do not the works He has instructed them to do in His Word - Mt. 25:11-12; Lk. 6:46; 1 Jn. 2:3-6. 

Oh I can hear the casual Christian filled with the world, having a form of godliness and religiosity - this doesn't speak of me! I'm okay. No one is perfect. And besides, my Christian buddies are doing the same. Yet, Galatians 6:7-8 tells us not to be deceived, that what we sow we will reap! Have you in all your ways been sowing the fruits of righteousness (Jam. 3:18; Prov. 11:18; Heb. 12:11), or have you rather been plowing wickedness, reaping iniquity and eating the fruit of lies with yours buddies (Hos. 10:13)? Are you an honest doer of the whole Word of God (Jam. 1:22-25)? 

Have you deceived yourself into a love of worldly things? (1 Jn. 2:15-17) Have you learned the ways of the ungodly and practice them without a pricked conscience? I have recently observed professing Christians once again observing their own form of Halloween, though with a different name in most cases. The casual observer notices no difference! The apostle Paul asks the Corithians what partnership does righteousness have with unrighteousness? What portion or part has does a believer share with an unbeliever? What fellowship has light with darkness? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? Why? Because we are the temple of God and He has called us to separate ourselves from such things! He calls us to cleanse ourselves from such wickedness and live in holiness in the fear of God! Alas, have you separated yourself, dearly beloved and elect of the Father? Or have you turned your heart after other gods/idols to serve and worship them? (Dt. 8:19; 11:16)

Remember that God is light and there is no darkness in Him (1 Jn. 1:5). Moreover if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the Truth (1 Jn. 1:6). Is the path you are walking as a shining light that shines brighter each day, or is there some darkness lurking in your heart that is causing you to stumble with you even realizing it? (Prov. 4:18-19; Jer. 13:16)

Dear Christian, take heed to your ways. Examine them. Deceive not yourself. Just because others in your circle are doing it, doesn't mean that it is right and well pleasing before the Saviour of our souls and the righteous Judge Who will expose all unfruitful works of darkness. What exposes unfruitful works of darkness? Light of course (Eph. 5:11-13). How is your walk? Are you walking wisely or foolishly? (Eph. 5:15-17; Prov. 13:20) Normally those in darkness hide (Jn. 3:19-21), yet even today, those that name the name of Christ are walking in darkness and are not ashamed to let others know, but rather encourage others to follow the destructive ways (2 Pet. 2:2) and many are happy to do so! Yet, if we name the name of Christ we are to depart from iniquity! 2 Tim. 2:19; Mt. 7:21-23, etc.

Have you aloud yourself to be deceived? Take an inventory of the furthest reaches of your heart. Get into the Word! Ask God to search your heart for any wickedness. When it is found, forsake it and repent and God will be plentious in mercy towards you! Don't delay! Get right with Him today!

Nothing More Insulting

There is nothing which is more insulting to the holy name of God than to profess Him with your lips and deny Him with your life. 

Many who profess to be Christians are so enamoured by the things of this world, that the love of the Father and His Truth is not in them. They have been blinded by the God of this world and God has given them over to a strong delusion that they should be lies - as is evident by their love and friendship of the world, not realizing that they have given themselves over to other gods and have forsaken the one true God, Who is a jealous God and rightfully so!

You need to stop and examine yourself, your thoughts, your desires, all that you do with Scripture. Why are you driven to such things? Are you honestly pursuing to love God with all that you are? Denying yourself of earthly pleasures. Always putting Him first and even others before yourself. Or do you still enjoy flirting with the world? 

Like I have said, so many professing Christians have deceived themselves as they chose not to be holy, set apart, or not to be unequally yoked with the things of this world, but rather have chosen to be buddies with it. It appears they don't know what it means to be set apart from the world and wholly devoted to God. We are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! Repent! Seek God! Amend your ways! Not later, NOW!

Sin is truly in the camp and the leadership must like it that way. Maybe they practice the wickedness of the world themselves. Maybe they are also under the strong delusion God has aloud because they do not have an honest love of His Truth. How often have you seen "church" discipline? We are in dire need of it! 

This post will probably get likes from the very people I'm trying to wake up. Even as the Lord told Ezekiel, that they hear your words. They will like what you say, but they will not do them. Instead they will continue to run to the worldly things they covet.

How much time do you spend in the Word of God? Many preachers set the bar so low it's no wonder that those who should know and put it into practice don't. I'm sure most of you do not spend near enough time in it. Why? For most there is no honestly good reason. There's no better time than the present to get off your phone, off of FB and all the worldly endeavors that will not amount to a hill of beans in eternity. We will all individually stand before the righteous Judge and give an account for our self. Will Jesus call you a good and faithful steward? Or will He say that He never knew you despite all your supposed religious Christian activities that is nothing more than smoke in His eyes that is detestable to Him because you practice unrighteousness? 

I could give numerous examples of worldliness in our lives and in God's called out assembly, yet you need to get into His Word for yourself and prayer and take an honest assessment of yourself to start. How thorns come in and choked the Word? Are the roots exposed on the rocks in the hot sun? Examine yourself! Take ernest heed! Bring yourself into subjection! Your life is a vapor. Here today, gone tomorrow. Sow to yourself in righteousness today!

A 12 week old baby

Mar14

BEAUTIFUL BABY, ONLY 12 WEEKS IN THE WOMB…

A NICU nurse, who worked a long time at a Denominational Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina said, “When I first went to work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, I helped to care for a baby this size until it died. Because it was too small and the lungs were too underdeveloped for the doctors to be able to do anything for it, we put it in an isolette and kept it warm and did all we could. We thought it slept, and didn’t seem uncomfortable and didn’t cry or grimace, it couldn’t breathe right and I think it died in less than half an hour. I then had the sad job of helping to get it ready for burial, and take it back to its grieving mother.”

“Our hospital had a special kit with a tiny hand-sewn dress, a ceramic footprint mold, a tiny little fleece-lined box like a bed, a sympathy card with a sweet poem about the baby’s early departure, etc. I’m sure that particular baby was a girl, because the little care package I used was pink. That was the difference in the doctors’ attitudes where I worked as opposed to the ones at a hospital across town. At the other hospital they would have treated it like a “fetus.” Where I worked, they treated it like a baby. I was so blessed to work in an environment like that.”

DOES THE PICTURE SHED ANY LIGHT ON ABORTION

Psa. 127:1-2 – God is truly the power in this universe.

Vs. 3 – children are a gift from God himself – HERITAGE = inheritance

Deut. 7:12, 13 – God is no less powerful today than in O.T. times

Gen. 4:1 – Eve understood where children come from

Psa. 50:7-12 – Everything belongs to the Lord – not man

1 Sam 2:3-5 – Hannah rejoiced with the little life God gave her

Vs. 6 – God is the source of all life

Ezek. 18:4 – God claims all souls

If God gives these lives, does he not give the children’s lives too?

I.    ABORTION IS WRONG

1. Gen. 9:5-6 – LONG BEFORE THE O.T. WAS GIVEN – WRONG TO TAKE LIFE
2. 2 Chr. 28:3 – unwanted children- have always plagued mankind
3. 2 Chr. 33:6 – they had a quaint expression to cover their murderous deed.
4. Rom 9:10-13 – SOME ARGUE THAT A CHILD IS NOT ALIVE UNTIL it IS BORN
5. Luke 1:36-42 – John the Baptist was-six months along when he responded
6. Vs. 44 – tells the cause of his leaping
7. Vss. 40-44 – – tells this was the -Holy Spirit speaking – not her opinion
8. Lev 17:11 – The Lord declares where a man’s life is
9. How soon does that little body get blood in it?
10. Ecc. 12:7 – God gives that little body a spirit
11. When a man takes that spirit from the body . . . destroying God’s work
12. Ex 21:22,23 – Accidental miscarriage – was punishable by a fine in O.T.
13. LEV. 20:1,2 – UNDER O.T. LAW IT WAS MURDER TO KILL AN UNWANTED CHILD
14. Vs. 3 – God counted this as defiling his sanctuary & profaning his name
15. Vs. 4,5 – It was a sin not to kill the one who destroyed his child
16. True – we are not under the Law of Moses today – however – we can see God’s judgment concerning getting rid of unwanted children

II. GOD COUNTS IT AN HONOR TO HAVE CHILDREN

1. PSA. 127:3 – GOD DOES NOT COUNT IT A CURSE TO HAVE CHILDREN
2. Psa. 107:41-43 – Wise men know children are a blessing from God
3. Who is it that teaches us to hate children?

Humanist Manifesto II, (1973) article 14 – “The world community must engage in cooperative planning concerning the use of rapidly depleting resources . . . and EXCESSIVE POPULATION GROWTH MUST BE CHECKED BY international concord.”

3. These are the same ones who press so hard for abortion

Humanist Manifesto II, Article 6 “In the area of sexuality, we believe that intolerant attitudes often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct.” The authors affirm the “right to birth control, abortion, and divorce.”

4. Rom 1:24, 25 – We may not see these folks as our enemy¾but note what the humanists see

Humanist Manifest III, (1980), opening paragraph humanists see established religion as their chief enemy.”

5. 1 John 4:3 – The N.T. Christians were warned to watch for these people

“Regrettably, we are today faced with a variety of anti-secular trends: the reappearance of dogmatic authoritarian religions; fundamentalist, literalist, and doctrinaire Christianity.”

Article 9: We deplore the efforts by fundamentalists (especially in the United States) to invade the science classroom, requiring that creationist theory be taught to students and rewiring that it be included in biology textbooks.” Secular humanists consider this “a serious threat both to academic freedom and to the integrity of the educational process.”

The humanists decry “contemporary orthodox religion as “anti-science, anti-freedom, anti-human,” pointing out that secular humanism places trust in human intelligence rather than in divine guidance.”

·           Psa. 127:3-5 -Why would we not want to take our children to heaven?

Children are the only earthly possession we can take with us to heaven

If these false teachers can convince us not to have children, they have fewer enemies

That isn’t to say – they may be having as many kids as they can

The more abortions – the less people to share the wealth of natural resource

Is this anything but covetousness?

They claim, “We are not really taking a life if the child isn’t born”

Know John Baptist leaped for joy at 6 months!

Yet they know – if they did nothing – a life would surely come into world!

1 John 3:15 – murderers will not enter heaven

Whether I ask someone to murder for me or do it myself, I am a murderer

Many generations ago, people called it “Passing their children through the fire”

Jer. 32:35 – this action is so terrible it never entered God’s mind

They called it “Passing their child through the fire.”

Today we can call it “abortion”

The fact is – it is murder

So many ways of aborting a child – yes – so many ways of murder!

Eph. 6:4 – we are commanded to train our children – not kill them

1 Sam 2:6 – God is the one who gives life…

We have no business taking someone’s life away

·           Ezekiel 16:20-21¾God claims all children as his.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? 21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

We may get to keep the children for a few years, but soon they leave home.

¬   We may call them ‘our children’ in the sense that they came through us, but whose are these children in truth?

-Beth Johnson

The least of them

“And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me” (Mathew 25:40 NET).

If one looks at this statement literally it is perhaps one of the most powerful statements in the Bible. That is, the way that you treat any human being is the way that you are treating Jesus. If Jesus came up to you and said “I’m hungry”, I am sure that you would give him all of the food that you had. But what about that drug-addicted man, dressed in rags, who is always begging by the side of the road. According to this scripture, there is no difference between the two.

Seeing Jesus everywhere you look will change your outlook on life in a dramatic way. He is your neighbor, the stranger, why, even your enemy. This sits right with our call to love everybody. In the accompanying passages of this parable, Jesus talks about feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, visiting the sick or those in prison, clothing the naked and taking in the stranger. All of these actions are visible, practical, and tangible demonstrations of love.

I am a full-time caregiver for my wife. As such, I cannot work a regular job, as she requires constant attention and care. I had a brother in Christ, who probably lives a mile away, say to me, “I’ll pray for you.” He knows both my situation and my needs but the best he can do is pray for me. He doesn’t visit and doesn’t call, let alone come and watch my wife to relieve me of my stressful duty for a few precious hours.

On the other hand, I’ve had sisters who came and cleaned my apartment. I’ve had brethren who watched my wife when I was in the hospital. I’ve had brethren who have brought me food and have given my wife clothes. I’ve had brethren who have watched my wife so I could go food shopping. I’ve had brethren call to check up on me and encourage me along the way.

Let me tell you that words are cheap. When I look back at my thirty years of Christianity, what stands out to me are those who demonstrated love to me. I can scarcely remember the sermons preached but I can vividly recall when somebody was there for me in a time of need.

As such, I want to help others out whenever and as often as I can. I look at every person as if they are Jesus and I “say how can I help?” Of course, I can never meet the needs of every single person I encounter within my life. Then again, Jesus didn’t heal all the lepers in Israel, or raise every dead corpse, did he?

Do as much good to as many as you can – that is the lesson for the day. “The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed” (Proverbs 19:17).

By John Kaniecki

Contentment in Every Circumstance

Philippians 4:10-13

Many people think contentment is elusive, because happiness and peace never last. But is that really the reason? It’s common to associate a state of satisfaction with a positive situation, but Paul challenges this idea when he says, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11).

Contentment isn’t something that comes naturally; it is learned. And what kind of classroom do you think God uses? It’s not in the midst of comfort and ease that we sense gratification most profoundly, but in situations that cause us to be troubled, fearful, and anxious. Paul had plenty of opportunities for these lessons because his life was a series of hardships (2 Corinthians 11:23-33). And in his letters, he passes down what he’s learned about contentment.

Focus on Christ rather than your circumstances. Paul had every reason to complain, because he was wrongfully imprisoned. Yet in his letter to the Philippians, he didn’t blame anyone or grumble. Instead, he kept rejoicing in Christ because that’s where his focus, affections, and devotion lay.

Focus on what God is doing through the situation. Paul saw how the Lord used his imprisonment for the greater progress of the gospel (Phil. 1:12).

Focus on the omnipotence and goodness of the Lord. The apostle was confident that his circumstances were under the sovereign control of God—the One who causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).

In essence, we could say that Paul evaluated his circumstances through a God-centered lens. The result was joy and contentment in every situation.

Charles Stanley

Burning in our hearts

The boisterous crowd fell silent. They had gathered in the summer of 1536 to witness an execution, a man burned at the stake. He was just a little over forty years old, an Oxford scholar, and a felon facing the death penalty.

So what had he done?

All eyes were on the victim. Flames snapped and crackled as the wood at his feet began to be consumed. Soon the man, too, would perish in its flames.

So what was his crime?

William Tyndale (1494-1536) had a simple ambition. He wanted to make the Bible available to the common man. You would have thought it was an innocent enough ambition, but powerful forces did not want just anybody to read the Bible.

At stake was the power and position of many clerics and churches whose practice differed too radically from Scripture. A plain reading of God’s word would reveal that these shepherds of the people had led their flocks astray. A measure of the clerics’ fear can be seen in the ruthless way they sought his life.

When one cleric objected to Tyndale’s proposals, he stood and declared:“If God spares my life, before many years pass, I will make it possible for the boy behind the plow to know more Scripture than thou.”

Such undiplomatic language did not endear him to the powerful and the entrenched. He had to flee to Holland, where he began to translate the Bible into common, plainspoken English. Copies of this precious work began to seep back into England, and the authorities, incensed, set a bounty on his head.

In 1536 Tyndale was betrayed, and fell into the hands of the Church authorities. At his trial he was convicted with the death penalty. As the crowd watched with the fascination of horror, the great man had something to say. His last words were a prayer:

“Lord,” his voice rang all around the courtyard, “Open the King of England’s eyes.”

Do me a favor, if you would, please. Take out your copy of the Bible, and hold it for a moment. Do you own anything more precious? There was a time when only the rich could own a Bible, so expensive was its manufacture. That changed with the invention of printing by Johann Gutenberg in 1456. Of course the first thing he printed was a German Bible.

Tyndale’s English Bible was so dangerous, so “revolutionary” that he lost his life for publishing it. But it should not escape our notice that it was so precious, so marvelous that thousands of Englishmen risked their lives in order to obtain it, and read its truths.

Have we taken something for granted? You can pick up a Bible at “Wally World” for less than five dollars. And you won’t have to smuggle it home. You can obtain a Bible “App” on your cell phone in just a few minutes. You probably own a variety of Bibles, large print, Study Bibles, various translations. The biggest danger you face by owning a Bible is…a changed life!

• Tyndale’s Bible was valuable enough to die for. Is your Bible important enough to read?
• Tyndale’s Bible was important enough to smuggle across the gray English Channel. Is it important enough for you to obey?
• Tyndale’s Bible was responsible for lifting the spirits of thousands of Englishmen – carpenters, lawyers, doctors and, yes, the boy behind the plow. Is it important enough for you to live?
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No fire burned hotter, the day Tyndale died, than the fire of God’s word. Will it burn in your heart too?

When the disciples of Emmaus reflected on their encounter with Jesus, they felt a burning in their hearts: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).

Stan Mitchell