God’s Thoughts are Higher!

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Turn to the Lord!
He can still be found.
Call out to God! He is near.

Give up your crooked ways
and your evil thoughts.
Return to the Lord our God.
He will be merciful
and forgive your sins.

The Lord says:
“My thoughts and my ways
are not like yours.

Just as the heavens
are higher than the earth,
my thoughts and my ways
are higher than yours.

Isaiah 55:6-9

Have you ever known someone who is really, and I mean really smart. You know the kind of person who seems to know a lot about everything in the world. Sometimes that person has a doctorate degree in some field, but sometimes they have little formal education. It seems to be simply how God made their brain with the ability to absorb and process lots of information very efficiently. I am not one of those people. I like really smart people, but truthfully they also frequently seem to be out of touch with the rest of us.

How smart is God? You may think that is a silly question, but it is important for you to recognize that God's intelligence quotient is beyond being measurable.

Here is the problem. Some people spend their lives trying to challenge and question the ways of God. Their defiance of God is like a man who doesn't like gravity, jumping off of a building to see if it is really true. And so their lives are filled with suffering and pain that comes from running in to the brick wall of God's truth.

Debating with the ways of God is like a six year old challenging a college professor. Who wins that debate?

Instead of pitting yourself against God and His ways, why not listen to God and learn. God will debate with you if you insist, or God will enlighten you. The choice is yours and Jesus is the way!

A Shadow of Heaven!

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Since all priests must offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ also needed to have something to offer. If he were here on earth, he would not be a priest at all, because here the Law appoints other priests to offer sacrifices. But the tent where they serve is just a copy and a shadow of the real one in heaven. Before Moses made the tent, he was told, “Be sure to make it exactly like the pattern you were shown on the mountain!”
Hebrews 8:3-5

What else on this earth is a copy of something in Heaven? Frankly, I think the answer is almost everything on earth represents something in Heaven. When God created the earth in it's state of perfection it must have been a lot like Heaven. No sin, no death, no sickness and no sorrow. All those things came after the fall of man.

God told Moses to make the tabernacle tent exactly like the one in Heaven and He also tells every man and woman who decides to get married to make their marriage exactly like the one in Heaven.

Marriage is a shadow or copy of the marriage between Christ and His Bride! That's what it's all about! If you change the rules about marriage then you draw the wrong picture here on earth. Divorce and unfaithfulness are unknown qualities for Christ and His Bride. A wife ruling over her husband is not like the marriage we see in Heaven. Every attempt to pervert marriage here on earth blurs our ability to see, on earth what is happening and will happen in Heaven.

Marriage is only one way we mirror Heaven itself. There are many more. Look for them and strive to make everything you do and every relationship on earth like it would be if you were in Heaven. The practice will soon be very valuable. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Let the Holy Spirit Interpret!

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Here is my warning for everyone who hears the prophecies in this book:  If you add anything to them, God will make you suffer all the terrible troubles written in this book.  If you take anything away from these prophecies, God will not let you have part in the life-giving tree and in the holy city described in this book.
The one who has spoken these things says, “I am coming soon!”  So, Lord Jesus, please come soon!
Revelation 22:18-20

The consequences of adding to or taking away from the Words that God has spoken are very severe. God expects me to "tell it like it is" and not to embellish or diminish the Bible. Now to be completely clear, that warning is only found in the Book of Revelation, but most people assume as do I that it applies to the rest of the Bible as well.

Here is what I believe is the danger and the temptation. Scholars and theologians use the wisdom of this world to try to understand the Word of God! It is foolish. That would be like using kindergarten drawings in order to understand the great painters and artists down through history. There is no comparison.

The opposite is indeed true. You can use the great artists to help you understand the kindergarten art, but not the other way around.

You can also use the Word of God to help you understand the wisdom of this world and how imperfect and even foolish it is. But the Bible is it's own commentary and the Holy Spirit gives the only reliable and trustworthy interpretation.

The consequences of tampering with or simply ignoring the Word of God are not pretty. When it comes to the Word of God, hear what God says, do what God says and leave the interpretation to the Holy Spirit!

A Heart Like God’s!

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You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.” But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong.
Matthew 5:43-45

During the 1970's there was a worship chorus that became popular in what was called the "Jesus Movement." The words were: "To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus, all I ask, to be like Him. All through life's journey from earth to glory, all I ask, to be like Him."

The tune was simple but the message of that prayer was profound. When you ask to be like Jesus, you are asking for a life of rejection. You are asking for a path of needing to see the power of God at every turn. You are asking for disappointment and yes, you are asking for the Cross. Finally, when ask to be like Jesus, you are asking for enemies to love and abusers to pray for!

The path to being like Christ is humble and lowly, not high and mighty.

When you ask to be like Jesus you will have lots of enemies to love and abusers to pray for! So today, instead of complaining about them get on with loving your enemies and praying for those who abuse you.

Your enemies may or may not change in response to your love, but your heart will grow into the shape of God Himself!

Life Goes On!

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Now Christ Jesus has come
to show us the kindness
of God.
Christ our Savior defeated death
and brought us
the good news.
It shines like a light
and offers life
that never ends.
 
2 Timothy 1:10

God created Adam and Eve with the potential to live forever with Him. It was the sin choice that brought death into the picture. Before they sinned and only God knows how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before sin slithered into and abbreviated their lives, death was an unknown possibility.

If Adam and Eve had never sinned, Cain could not have killed Abel. If death is removed from the list of possibilities everything would be vastly different. There is no imagination great enough to postulate what life was like before sin entered the picture.

So here is the simple understanding of Jesus' death on the Cross. Because of sin every man dies. On the Cross, Jesus received the penalty for Adam and Eve's sin as well as for yours and mine. When Jesus died the flood gates of Hell that were first opened in Eden swept over Jesus Himself. When Jesus arose from the grave He defeated Death and put it back in the bottle for eternity!

We like to think of someone who has terminal cancer and does not die as a "survivor." But curing cancer does not stop death. It will come, and it will come to everyone until Jesus returns.

But when I am united with Christ and become one with Him, death looses it's sting. Death becomes a paper tiger and cannot harm me because of Jesus. As a follower of Jesus Christ you must not forget that no matter what happens LIFE GOES ON!

In God I Trust!

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Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life. Instruct them to do as many good deeds as they can and to help everyone. Remind the rich to be generous and share what they have. This will lay a solid foundation for the future, so that they will know what true life is like.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

The battle over "In God We Trust" on American money is not insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The phrase has appeared on U.S. coins since 1864 and on paper currency since 1957. The question is simply this: Do we trust in our money or in God? So it was decided that we would remind ourselves that we must trust in God by printing it on our money.

Since this declaration of trusting God is on virtually all of our money does that mean that our money is only used for righteous transactions? Of course not! Every drug deal or liaison with a prostitute is paid for with money that declares that we trust in God. "In God We Trust" is a reminder not a statement of reality.

It is important to have "In God We Trust" stamped on our money, but it is more important to have it stamped on our hearts as a reminder that everything we have comes to us because of His grace and mercy.

When I was a kid I remember getting a rubber stamp kit. It had an ink pad and changeable letters. I think I stamped everything I had with something.

Here is a good idea. Make yourself a stamp that says "In God I Trust," and stamp everything you own with it.

It's just a reminder to trust in God instead of your things!

Fishing for Men!

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"Look, he is coming with the clouds,"
and "every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him";
and all peoples on earth "will mourn because of him."
So shall it be! Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 1:7-8

When Jesus returns there will be joy for all who call Him Lord, but what about the others? For them there will be a sudden realization of the depth of their sin. No longer will the reality of God be hidden from their view.

There will be no atheists when Jesus returns. Everyone will instantly believe and the crying will begin. The opportunity to turn and follow Jesus will be gone forever and the bleak future without the light of God is all they will know. It will be the mother of all disappointments. Every heart will panic and throb with the cry of "How could I have been so foolish?"

It will be together the most joyous and the saddest moment in all of Eternity!

It is important that believers look forward to the joy of that moment, but don't forget the others. When you interact with people today ask yourself this question: Will this man or woman, created by God rejoice or weep when Jesus returns? For those who do not follow Jesus one moment of this day may be the watershed for eternity. Pray for everyone you encounter and ask God to give you the words to call them to Him!

You will discover great joy and excitement as you spend at least part of this day Fishing for Men!