Incomplete Obedience!

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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis:

I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say.

I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God.  Remember the teaching you were given and heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.

A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy. Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life, and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers.

If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:1-6

Years ago there was a military raid into Iran in an attempt to free the Americans who were being held hostage at the United States embassy. The mission was aborted when two helicopters ran into each other on the ground in a sand storm. The U.S. President called the effort an "incomplete success!"  That means the mission failed. It was a creative way of trying to put a better face on the tragic outcome.

What about your obedience to the Word of God? Are you obeying God completely or is your response to God's Word an "incomplete success?"

Instead of using these last days in searching the scriptures for prophetic references about the return of Jesus why not search the Word to discover another way you can be completely obedient to it? Of course you should keep watching the sky, but more importantly keep doing the things that God's Word encourages you to do. Then when He comes you will be working in His Harvest field! There would be no better place to be when Jesus returns!

"Lord, I know You are coming soon and I also know that there are those who still have not turned their hearts to You even at this late hour. Use me today Lord to bring someone else to the point of decision! Thank You Jesus. Amen."

God Will End the Day!

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Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?

“Has anyone known

the thoughts of the Lord

or given him advice?

Has anyone loaned

something to the Lord

that must be repaid?”

Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

If the wisdom, knowledge and wealth of God could be measured no man on earth would live long enough to read the results! God's wisdom begins in simplicity and never ends. When we encounter the wisdom of God even the greatness of the wisdom of Solomon is like foolishness itself. All the wise men on earth cannot collectively even show up on the same scale as God's wisdom.

And what about the knowledge of God? God does not learn. No truth comes to Him, it all comes from Him. You cannot tell God something He does not already know. God even knows the heart of every man! All of God's questions are rhetorical because He already knows the answers!

And the wealth of God cannot be compared to any other because God ultimately owns everything! If a thing exists it is because God created it, and God can, without justifiable judgment from anyone take it out of existence!

There is a popular phrase that is used a lot in public discussions in The United States. It is "at the end of the day." It is taking the place of phrases like "when all is said and done." or "the bottom line is." I would like to soberly and seriously use that phrase about God. "At the end of the day, God will end the day!"

"Lord, I fall down before You like a leaf in the forest. I am only a drop of rain in the storm or a grain of sand on the beach. It is amazing that You let me call on You at all. And yet because of Your amazing love for me I can humbly even stand in Your presence. May You be praised forever. Amen."

Not a Substitute!

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Moses said a person could become acceptable to God by obeying the Law. He did this when he wrote, “If you want to live, you must do all the Law commands.”

But people whose faith makes them acceptable to God will never ask, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?”  Neither will they ask, “Who will go down into the world of the dead to raise him to life?”

All who are acceptable because of their faith simply say, “The message is as near as your mouth or your heart.” And this is the same message we preach about faith.  So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death.  God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.

The Scriptures say no one who has faith will be disappointed, no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help.  All who call out to the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:5-13

As a parent of six children I can guarantee you that I frequently made errors in judgment in relating to my children. Sometimes I disciplined too harshly and then i might not apply any punishment at all when it was really needed.

But my love for my children never changed. I loved the most obedient child the same as the most rebellious. Rebellion meant that I could not show my love in the same way but the love was the same.

Some Christians are like the child who obeys his father, but in his heart he is standing against God in every way. Others have their hearts turned toward Jesus, but frequently fail in their obedience. The goal of course is to be both committed and obedient. But of first importance is your heart. If your heart is not right toward God then nothing else matters.

"Lord, I call on Your name with all my heart. May my obedience to Your commands be an evidence of the right relationship I have with You and not a substitute for it. Thank You Jesus. Amen."

Wisdom Not Gold!

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With great understanding,

Wisdom is calling out

as she stands at the crossroads

and on every hill.

She stands by the city gate

where everyone enters the city,

and she shouts:

“I am calling out

to each one of you!

Good sense and sound judgment

can be yours.

Listen, because what I say

is worthwhile and right.

I always speak the truth

and refuse to tell a lie.

Every word I speak is honest,

not one is misleading

or deceptive.

Proverbs 8:1-8

Why are old people often wiser than the young? The answer to that is quite simple. Those of us who are now old have made many more mistakes than the young and have learned "not to touch those fires again."

And of course the truly wise man is the one who learns from the mistakes of others. When he sees the tragedy of the foolishness of other men he sets his course to avoid those paths that lead to death.

But there is a way that is even greater. Instead of waiting for your own stumble or even the foolishness of others to instruct you the wisest man listens to the Word of God and orders his steps to walk on that path.

God will never point you in the direction of hell! His teaching shows you the way of life not death! So as you read your chapter or even verse for today be soberly certain that you are drinking in the wisdom of God and satisfying your thirst on the water of life.

"Lord, I ask as Solomon did that You give me wisdom, not gold so I may please You today and walk in the path of life forever! Amen."

Fountain of Blood!

In the future there will be a fountain, where David's descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt.

The Lord All-Powerful says:

When that time comes, I will get rid of every idol in the country, and they will be forgotten forever. I will also do away with their prophets and those evil spirits that control them.

Zechariah 13:1-2

In the late 1700's William Cowper wrote: "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emanuel's veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."

The truth of those words lives on today. Jesus satisfied the justice of God so that we can bask in His love and forgiveness. There is nothing more Amazing than the Grace of God poured out on sinners! Our own righteousness is useless. Filthy rags are more valuable than human righteousness.

I get caught up in doctrine, theology, church, culture and even right living and completely forget that without the Blood of Jesus washing me clean, none of those things would make any difference at all!

It is the fountain filled with the Blood of Jesus that washes me clean so I can stand before Almighty God forever! The Blood of Jesus is the only remedy for the inevitably tragic fate of all mankind. Nothing but the Blood of Jesus can even begin to remove the stains of sin.

"Lord, I come to You needing to be washed by Your Blood. My sin has no other cure than Your precious Blood. Thank You Jesus. Amen."

God Loves You!

I have given myself completely for their sake, so they may belong completely to the truth.

I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

I have honored my followers in the same way you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. I am one with them, and you are one with me, so they may become completely one. Then this world's people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.

John 17:19-23

It is only when you have a child of your own that you begin to understand how much your parents love you. In a human sense parents play the role of the Creator of their children. God, the Creator loves each of His children with the same "I Will Die for You" love that a human parent has for a child. It is the same but it is also greater by many magnitudes.

In fact, God in the person of His Son Jesus did die for His children! The story is remarkably simple and yet utterly complex. God's ultimate creation which was made in His own image turned from Him and ran away to live a life that ends in Eternal Death!

The sorrow of God gave way to a Plan that would bring mankind back to that perfect relationship of Creator and Created.

Jesus came to earth and worked God's Plan by dying on the Cross. His resurrection sealed the deal and the price was paid for every man to shed the burden of his sin and return to the Father who created him.

"Lord give me a new awareness of the greatness of Your love for me. Help me to believe that which the world cannot believe. Lord, I choose to rest secure in Your love today. Amen."

Six Hours!

It was about nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed him to the cross. On it was a sign that told why he was nailed there. It read, “This is the King of the Jews.”The soldiers also nailed two criminals on crosses, one to the right of Jesus and the other to his left.

People who passed by said terrible things about Jesus. They shook their heads and shouted, “Ha! So you're the one who claimed you could tear down the temple and build it again in three days. Save yourself and come down from the cross!”

The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses also made fun of Jesus. They said to each other, “He saved others, but he can't save himself. If he is the Messiah, the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross! Then we will see and believe.” The two criminals also said cruel things to Jesus.

About noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until around three o'clock.  Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”

Some of the people standing there heard Jesus and said, “He is calling for Elijah.”  One of them ran and grabbed a sponge. After he had soaked it in wine, he put it on a stick and held it up to Jesus. He said, “Let's wait and see if Elijah will come and take him down!”  Jesus shouted and then died.

At once the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.

A Roman army officer was standing in front of Jesus. When the officer saw how Jesus died, he said, “This man really was the Son of God!”

Mark 15:25-39

Some people lived for several days while hanging on a cross.  Jesus was on the Cross of His crucifixion from nine o'clock in the  morning until three in the afternoon.  From our perspective two thousand years later it is hard to believe that no one on earth knew what Jesus was doing on the Cross except Christ Himself.  For His followers, His mother, the casual observers, and everyone else who passed by the cross that day the crucifixion of Jesus was just a terrible tragedy and to His disciples it put an end to all their hopes and dreams. 

The greatest event in all of human history was happening right in front of them and no one had any idea about the eternal significance of that day!

Like the followers of Jesus at the crucifixion you may be witnessing or even be a key participant in some of the most critical acts of God in these last days.  

Jesus was only on the Cross about six hours.  Mark off the next six hours in your life and ask God to show you what He is doing in your presence today.  

"Lord, like everyone who stood at the foot of Your Cross I am blind to what is really happening around me today.  Show me Lord how Your hand is moving in the world around me. Let me see the things I cannot see and know the things I cannot know without the touch of Your Hand on my heart!  Thank you Jesus.  Amen!"