Live in Honesty

2 Corinthians 13: 7-8 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

 When we live in honesty and truthfully, we live in freedom. Your story doesn't change even when you tell it to several people. You don't have to try hard to tell it as you did the first time, the truth remains the same. You don't have to worry about who is looking over your shoulder or who might be watching you because the truth has nothing to hide. There is no fear in having someone check up on you. Truth and honesty are beautiful character qualities each one of us can possess.
As they used to say in the old days - Honesty is the best policy! 

Psalm 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Questions and Answers from my Church

Sunday March 24, 2013 - Palm Sunday
Sunday Sermon Review ( from my home church that I attend regularly )

During this season of Lent, our Pastors invited the congregation to submit questions and so today was the day where the questions were answered.
The service began with singing "Lead me to the Cross" and How Great Thou Art".

Our Scripture passage was Mark 11:1-11 - the story of Palm Sunday

 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

Pastor Ben was our speaker today and here is some of what he said:
Question 1 - What role does repentance play?
Jesus died on the cross for our sin.
He loves us with an unconditional love.
We need to get a definition of the word repentance: it means to choose God, it is a decision that we make. We decide to choose Jesus over ourselves, we choose God above ourselves.
We choose to follow God because He loves us so.
Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Love is action.

( Note from me - please also read a post I wrote on repentance - it is a good indepth study on repentance and what it looks like) link here -    http://livebyfaithonlinebiblestudies.blogspot.ca/2012/10/repentance-psalm-51.html

Question 2 - Why will we have to give an account of our actions and words on judgment day?
In our justice system, a person is judged either guilty or innocent
God's system works a little differently. It is about restoring relationship, repairing damage and fixing things.
In the Old Testament God sent judges. They proclaimed a message of repentance, for the people to change their ways.
We have forgiveness through the cross of Jesus. Jesus took the punishment we deserve.
The question becomes - How should I live since I've been declared innocent through the shed blood of Christ.
At the judgment, there will be rewards for what we have done here on earth.
God sees all that you do - God will reward us for what we do, even if no one else ever has seen it.
Our choices here ripple through eternity!
The judgement will be uncomfortable ( we must give account for every careless word ) but we must remember our Judge loves us. He is on our side!

Question 3 - We are taught to confess our sins to each other, how about confessing our sins to God?
Yes, we must confess our sins to God, name the sin and acknowledge it as sin before God.
Living the Christian life is not a "just me and God" thing - He wants us to do life together.

Question 4 - How do you find an accountability partner?
1) pray about it - God's Spirit lives with you so He will guide and direct
2) Take a risk - talk to someone and ask that person to be your accountability partner
( if someone asks you to be their accountability partner and you feel you cannot do it, then be kind enough to say "no" so they can find someone else who will actually be able to do it.
3) agree on some questions that will be asked - Meet on a set regular basis and ask these questions.

Question 5 - What does it look like to walk with a believer who disagrees with you about a right/wrong issue  especially if the Bible is very clear on this issue?
Ask your self if there is any possibility that you could be wrong.
Ask the person questions about the Scripture passage that this issue is based on/
Don't be condemning or judgmental
we must remember that a Christian is a person who has chosen to live his/her life for God
It does not mean that there will be doctrinal perfection.
We can have conversations with people who disagree with us.

The Holy Spirit's job is to convict of sin.
Billy Graham once said " my task is to bear witness, the Holy Spirit's task is to convict of sin and God the Father is the Judge."

The Holy Spirit is really good at His job!(Note from me - It is important that we remember that the Bible has authority in our lives and we must never back down from the truth found in Scripture. No matter who it is that is challenging us - the Bible will always have the final say in the matter and we will be wise to stand with the Bible and not against it at any time. )  

The reason people do not want to admit to the truth of Scripture is because then they will have to change!

Talk about things that matter - we need to get deeper than the weather and sports etc.
We are God's ambassadors - we challenge, we debate but always in the atmosphere of love and respect!

God has sent you to represent Jesus in your school, home, place of work!!

False Teachers - Know them by their Fruit

Matthew 7: 15-17 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mark 7: 21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

In our world today, there are many many teachers and preachers providing programming on the radio, TV, and through the internet. There are books coming out constantly that claim to be from the Lord. How do we know which Bible teacher or preacher to trust? We are told that in order to recognize a counterfeit, one must be thoroughly familiar with the authentic and in that way we will be able to distinguish the true teachers from the false. I have found though, that the false teachers also proclaim some truth mixed in with their deceptions. So it can be quite a challenge sometimes to differentiate between the true and false teacher. I am not going to name any names in this blog post but I want to explore what to look for. What does the Bible say about this? How can we know and what should we be looking for? Jesus says in Matthew 7 that false prophets come in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. This means that they are very deceptive - they really do look like good people whom we could trust - BUT they are not. Jesus also says  - Ye shall know them by their fruits - This means that it's not so much who they say they are but their actions ( their fruits) will make it obvious for whom they are working ( either for the Lord or for satan)  Jesus says a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Evil fruit is that which Jesus mentions in Mark 7 -evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness
SO, look at the life of the person who is claiming to be God's messenger - what kinds of things are they doing when they think no one is watching? What kind of life are they promoting?

Let's look at some more characteristic of false prophets and false teachers as described in the Bible:

* deception - ( shall deceive many - Matthew 24)
* sign and wonders - ( shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, - Mark 13)
* destructive, untrue doctrines - (who privily shall bring in damnable heresies - 2 Peter)
* in word or action they deny the Lord; ( denying the Lord that bought them,  2 Peter)
* they are popular and are held in high regard by many people ; ( all men shall speak well of you! Luke 6)
*does not confess Jesus is not from God - ( confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God 1 John )

As I read through this list, what I see over and over again is that the false teacher lies. He lives a lie and speaks a lie but all the while tries to have people believe that he is a true Christian. He pretends to be a true preacher of the gospel.

Heavenly Father, You teach us in Your Word to be careful of the false teachers among us. We ask that you give us wisdom to discern and to know who is of the truth and who is deceiving us, and help us to not follow those destructive teachers. Protect us Father.  In Jesus Name we ask, Amen

A Book in the Church Library...Osteen

A couple of Sundays ago I was in our church library and I saw the book Everyday a Friday on display. It is written by Joel Osteen. I signed it out and now I am wondering if what the author teaches is a type of  the "Kermit the Frog" gospel? It's not that I disagree with all that he says, I do believe in looking for the good and being positive but I feel he takes it to the extreme. A quote from  the book "If you go through adversity with a smile on your face and a song in your heart, on the other side there will be a reward".  Really??  I think we are much better off casting our cares on the LORD,  He heals the brokenhearted and goes with us through our troubles. I believe that we need to trust in the Lord regardless of the outcome of our difficult circumstances.
It seems the author's message is a lot of fluff, boost your own ego and make yourself happy. I find that quite different from how we are taught in the Bible to find our joy in the Lord, whether we are in good times or bad, the Lord is our strength. The author says that if we smile through our struggle, then we will have passed the test and then good things will come to us, while the Bible says in Matthew 6: 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you .
It is in wholeheartedly seeking God that we find joy. We don't find real joy in stuff here on earth. The author of the book talks of wearing your blessings - him and his wife wanting another property real bad and how God told him its okay and to go ahead and get the property. I compare that with the song  "Be Thou my Vision"  that we sing in church occasionally. Verses 4 and 5
4.Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

5. High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

For a person like me who knows people who have been called by God to give up the normal stuff of life, to go to difficult places to work with very poor people, this whole "smile to get blessings" doctrine seems absurd. I know from my own life and the hard things that I have went through, if someone had told me to just smile through my difficult days and that if I did God would bring me out with rich things, I would have not have made it. I can tell you many a day there were only tears and I have found that when I lean on God and His Word, I am strengthened.
A few years ago my friend was very excited about "the Secret" that Oprah was promoting. It was also a think positive and you'll get stuff message. My friend's husband was working out west in the oilfields at the time. Shortly after he came home, he  got sick. I'll never forget when he came to our place to pick up one of our boys to babysit his child, when he came to the door and the shock in his face as he told me the doctor had given him only three months to live and that he had cancer. A few days later my husband and I went over to their place to see how they were doing, and he told us that he was going to beat the cancer, with this positive message stuff. He wasn't able to beat it though, the pain got really intense, he got paralyzed, and died within three the months. The postive thinking didn't help him, but he was really searching and I do believe that he found the Lord during those last few months and that is comforting.

Like the old song says- This world is not our home, we are just passing through, Our treasures our laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

It is not my call whether the church should promote books such as these but I do find it questionable.

The Church and the LGBT Movement....

Luke 18: 7-8  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
⁸ I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Jesus asked the question - When He comes back to earth, will he find faith here? The question I am asking today is similar - Will the church stand up against the culture of today, that is Will the church cave in to the LGBT movement that is sweeping our nations or will the church stand with God's Word the Bible and condemn all such activity? It would appear that this could well be the make or break issue that will show who is on the Lord's side and who is not.  God is not going to allow people ( Christian or not) to mock Him and His revealed will and truth as recorded in the Bible. For the sake of His own Name, He will act.
The Bible says in Galatians 6: 7-8  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

As we study our Bibles we will not find one place where sodomy is approved of in any way. Throughout the Scriptures sexual sin of every sort is strongly condemned and unless repented of will have serious eternal consequences.  Sodomy and the like only brings ruin and destruction on individuals, families, cities and nations who pratice and promote such a lifstyle.

Isaiah 3: 8-10  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
⁹ The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
¹⁰ Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned down to the ground due to the homosexual sin and violence that accompanies it. The Bible says that these stories from history are supposed to teach us to not make the same mistakes. 2 Peter 2:6    and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly

The Bible says that other sin is done outside the body but immorality  ( which also includes homosexuality ) is done within the body. Our bodies belong to the Lord and as such serious effort should be made to keep it clean to the glory of God.  1 Corinthians 6:18 -20  Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Many people today will say that because the Bible teaches that as Christians we are to be people of love, therefore we cannot condemn the homosexual lifestyle of the people around us. While it is most certainly true that we as Christians we are to be the most loving people on the planet, this cannot mean that we take the side of sin and oppose God and His word. It is not love to justify something that God condemns, something  that is an abomination to Him and for which He will surely bring suffering  and judgement for. The loving thing to do is to sound the warning bells and urge people everywhere to repent and escape the wrath of God.

1 Corinthians 6: 9-11  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

We have already seen the LGBT movement enter into the churches of Canda and the United States. There are churches where the pastors and other church leaders are gay. It seems more and more churches are failing to stand for the truth of God's Word.  The Bible teaches that in the Last Days many will be led astray and fall away from the truth and sad to say it appears that this has already begun. It is time that we who are Christians take a strong stand for truth and righteousness. Stand with God. Stand with the Bible!

When Jesus returns - Will He really find faith on the earth?