Monthly Archives: June 2020

Tough Words – Our Heavenly Father

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Today is Father’s Day, a day that we recognize our earthly fathers for all that they do for us. For some, this is a day to remember fathers who are no longer with us. I am thankful for a great God-fearing earthly father.

Today I want to talk about who our Heavenly Father is. I am convinced that many people today do not know who God truly is. Yet it is more troubling that many people in the church do not truly know who God is because there is a major distortion in the church. There are even many preachers who are not even truly saved. How do I know this? Because we are living in the days of the Great Falling Away. 1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV) warns us, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons”. The enemy has been setting up camp in churches through false teachers and philosophies of man. Any gospel that is not the True Gospel does not save.

Not only do people in churches not know who God truly is, but they also take him lightly. Modern Christianity has been dumbed down to a few bullet points with a prayer to join a social club.  We have a type of Christianity that accommodates to the way of this dark world. 1 John 1:5 (ESV) tells us, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”. God is light and has no darkness. Why is this significant? Because it is one of God’s many attributes and we are in a world that is filled with darkness. There are many professing Christians who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but there is no difference in their lifestyle from an unbeliever.

Truly coming to God for Salvation is giving up. We cannot save ourselves, only Christ can do that. When is the last time in private you cried out to God for help with the sin you still need to conquer? When is the last time you sought your Heavenly Father and waited until He showed up? In today’s fast-paced world, we want everything to happen right away. I can be guilty of this, I work in technology, and I have the mindset of things always being fast paced. But we all must learn to sit in the secret place and wait on God. Psalm 91:1 (ESV) tells us, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”.  Additionally, Jesus told us in Matthew 6:6 (ESV), “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”.

Jerimiah 29:13 (AMP) tells us, “Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”. We must seek our Heavenly Father with all our heart. Not only do we need to seek Him with our full heart, but we must also seek Him with the right motives. Are we seeking Him just for the benefits? Are we seeking Him to just have our ticket to Heaven stamped? These types of mindsets have become normal in much of Christianity because the me-centered gospel has become mainstream. We must realize that the Bible is not about us, it is about a God who is willing and able, sovereign, and the same yesterday, today and forever.

We need to have a higher view of our Savior Jesus Christ. So many people take the Cross lightly. Revelation 19:12-15 (ESV) tells us, “His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.  And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”. Let those words sink in and reflect on why the Blood of the Spotless Lamb is taken lightly and abused in the church today. I cannot think of the words He will say on the day of judgment to the leaders of the great falling away.

We must wake up to who God is. We must recognize who our Heavenly Father is according to His Word. Everything we need for this walk is found in His Word, and we have the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and to lead us into all truth. The best thing the church in America can do today on Father’s Day for our Heavenly Father is to take its trash out. Everything that is in the church that is not of God needs to be thrown out and burned. Everything that is of the world that has been allowed in the church, needs to be thrown out. Everything in our lives individually that does not line up with His commandments needs to be removed. Dear friends the end is near! Jesus is coming and there are going to be many pew warmers and even pastors who are going to be in shock when this day comes.

As we celebrate Father’s Day take time to reflect on what our Heavenly Father expects from us as both a church and individually.

Acts 21:37-22:30 — A Reflection on Real Christianity

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I have been working on making some changes that you will soon see on this blog, which is why I have not posted as much as usual. I wanted to pick back up in the Book of Acts. In my last post, I left off on Acts 21:36 which is where Paul was attacked in Jerusalem and taken to the barracks.

Acts 21:37-40

In verses 37 thru 40, we see that Paul asks the commander if he is permitted to speak, the commander is surprised by Paul’s use of the Greek language. In verse 40 it says Paul spoke to the people in Hebrew, he was likely to be speaking in Aramaic since this was considered the new Hebrew. Paul also states that he is a Roman citizen from Tarsus, a city of importance.

Acts 22:1-4

This is where we see Paul’s first apologetic speech that is documented in the Book of Acts. Apologetics is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as, “reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.”. Many Christians do not realize the importance of apologetics today. Apologetics is necessary to defend the faith, there are many great people in this field who serve God. An example of this would be defending the Biblical account of creation over the theory of the Big Bang or Evolution. If you are going to be going to a college in the fall, I would highly recommend to you to study some apologetics on Genesis. We must stand strong on our faith!

During Paul’s speech, he first introduces himself and provides his background. We then see that he talks about how before he became a Christian, he was involved with ordering persecutions of Christians. This right here is an example that we must pray for our enemies. Even though we cannot tolerate what our enemies do, we must pray for their Salvation.

Acts 22:6-21

Paul goes on and talks about the encounter he had with Jesus, which you can read the full account in Acts chapter nine. Those who were around Paul when this happened, as he recounts what took place had great fear over the light, which was the Glory of God, that they saw. When the presence of God came in Acts chapter nine, during Paul’s encounter, the presence of God was taken seriously. People were not joking around or taking it lightly, they were fearful of what they were experiencing.

The Presence of God

In John 8:12 (ESV), Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”. Jesus is the light of the world. This light they saw in Acts during Paul’s encounter was referring to Jesus being the light of the world. The light of Jesus is brighter than anything we can ever imagine. The people that were around when this took place in the Book of Acts became fearful of what was going on because the presence of God was there. They were not joking among themselves or carrying on like they normally would, they were afraid. Yet today when God’s presence supposedly shows up in many churches, people are still on their cell phones. Really? I would honestly question what type of presence showed up at your church. I can say with assurance that most churches today do not really know what the true presence of God is like. Why do I say that? I say that because a lot of what I have seen, and other people have seen shows that the church in America on average has little to no reverence for our Lord.

Let us look at Exodus 3:5 (ESV), “Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”. Now let us look at Leviticus 19:30 (ESV), “You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord”. Why am I pointing these Scripture out? Because if we want the presence of God to truly show up in our church services to convict and reveal people’s sin, then our houses of worship must give reverence to God. Why are so many churches in America and around the world looking like the bars and night clubs of the world? Why are so many churches making it casual to come to worship Jesus? The new norm in the church is “go grab your favorite drink and get comfortable”. Really? That is not the God of the Bible, and that is not the God I worship.

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”. Having true knowledge from God is reflected in a sincerely God-fearing character. We have too many people who claim to be Bible-believing Christians and are concerned about going against the trends and customs of this world more than they are fearful of the Living God. Hebrews 12:28 (ESV) instructs us, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,”. If we are profoundly grateful for the gift of Salvation, then it should be reflected by how we worship God. We need to get back to having total reverence to God.

Acts 21:22-30

Going back to the Book of Acts we see that Paul also talks about meeting Ananias. He is the one who baptizes and converts Paul. We then see the people listening to Paul speak tell him to stop speaking and condemn him and want him to be put away. The leaders realize that since Paul is a Roman, they are unable to put him away or mistreat him. Because of this the Sanhedrin council becomes divided and Paul is put in the protection of Roman soldiers.

Final Thoughts

This chapter gives us another opportunity to review Paul’s conversion to Christianity. Before he became a Christian, he was in a position of power, after he became a Christian he was in a position of persecution and poor health. Yet he still pushed on. He did not live his best life now; he was not prosperous in the sense of earthly things. Yet why do so many Christians think they are entitled to chase these things? Christianity is not built on the wealth of men, but on the blood of men. Let us take the time to really re-evaluate how we view our Christian walk. Are we seeking power for our own gain, or are we seeking God alone diligently because we need a Savior?