(no subject)
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus - Philippians 2:5
Paul explains in Corinthians:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 1:18
If we lean on our own understanding and refuse to acknowledge his power, how can He direct us toward our calling?
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. - 1 Corinthians 1:20-21
The world sees Christianity and faith as illogical. And it is, from the world’s standpoint. But when taking on the mind of Christ, miracles seem the most reasonable choice- why suffer when God can fix everything?
If food is presented to a starving person, the logical, reasonable, practical, obvious, rational, pragmatic, commonsense choice is to eat the food and trust that it will provide strength. Why? Because it has been proven over and over that food provides nourishment.
From a spiritual standpoint, the only logical choice is to trust that god will provide a way through the hardest and most challenging obstacles Because it has been proven over and over that He can and longs to give us blessings.
The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. -Psalm 45:11
icon by
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' " (Matthew 7:21-22).
This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit." [Jeremiah 17:5-8]
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding [Proverbs 3:5]
It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect. [2 Samuel 22:33]
Samual 2:9 (the message)
"He protectivly cares for His faithful friends, step by step
But leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark
No one makes it through this life by sheer muscle"
Isaiah 30:15 (the message)
"Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves
Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me"
Deut. 8:17-18
17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
1 Chronicles 16:11
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Psalm 22:19
But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
Psalm 28: 7-8
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
Jesus relied completely on God for sustainment:
Here are some random scriptures I found the demonstrate dependence on God over self:
Matthew 6:31-33 wrote:
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. -Matt. 6:31-33
Romans 8:26-27 wrote:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
The Beatitudes from Matthew 5 CLEARLY demonstrate the opposite of self-reliance:
Matthew 5 wrote:
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
And Paul demonstrated the ultimate human dependence on God on the NT because he was completely dependent on God to get him through each day despite the thorn in his side, the messenger of Satan:
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 wrote:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
"For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Matt. 13:13-15)
No doubt this is REVOLUTIONARY stuff! - but then, what do we think life is all about? Having a pleasant time of things? That's not what the Christian life is all about. Jesus said,
"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, NAY, BUT RATHER DIVISION:
"For from henceforth there shall be five in one house DIVIDED, three against two, and two against three.
"The father shall be DIVIDED against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. ?" (Luke 12:51-53)
"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest ...
"And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, SUFFER ME FIRST TO GO AND BURY MY FATHER.
"Jesus said unto him, LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD: BUT GO THOU AND PREACH THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
"And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; BUT LET ME FIRST GO BID THEM FAREWELL, WHICH ARE AT HOME AT MY HOUSE.
"And Jesus said unto him, NO MAN, HAVING PUT HIS HAND TO THE PLOW, AND LOOKING BACK, IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD." (Luke 9:57, 59-62)
Pretty harsh, isn't it? Yes, no doubt it is! After all, none of these things - i.e., taking care of one's aged parents, saying good-bye to one's family, taking care of one's debts, etc. - are wrong. They are the "responsible" thing to do.
But when the "Kingdom of God" is in the balance, everything else must be jettisoned.
Again, all this may seem revolutionary to those who think that the main purpose of Christianity is to make life more enjoyable and comfortable in the "here and now" and to make our family-life more agreeable and 'pleasant'. But the fact of the matter is, real Christianity is REVOLUTIONARY "stuff" - the kind of "stuff" that will cost those who embrace if fully everything they have. Jesus said,
"... the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth ALL that he hath, and buyeth that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
"Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold ALL that he had, and bought it." (Matt. 13:44-46)
These are the kind of people of whom the Scriptures say,
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matt. 13:43)
Of course, this is NOT exactly the kind of Christianity that is advertised from the pulpits of today's "Establishment Christianity."
"Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." (Matt. 18:8-9)
God prohibit that any of us - because of the sometimes hard admonitions of the Bible, admonitions that are meant to lead us to life - should be offended because of them and like the "disciples" in John chapter 6, withdraw from the Truth, and walk no longer in it:
"Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? ...
"FROM THAT TIME MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK, AND WALKED NO MORE WITH HIM." (John 6:60, 66)
But rather we should be like Simon Peter who - when Jesus said unto the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" (John 6:67), said unto Christ,
"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
So, again, I pray - with ALL of my heart - that you will take no offense at what we say here. i only want to tell you the truth, and by doing so to "REVOLUTIONIZE" your walk with God and make you a PARTICIPANT in, rather than merely an observer of, the events of the "end of the age" - so that on THAT DAY, that GLORIOUS DAY, you will hear the words every true Christian longs to hear,
"... WELL DONE, thou GOOD and FAITHFUL servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD." (Matt. 25:21)
It is in the light of all this that I say, God forbid that we should DECEIVE ourselves concerning the reality of our walk with Christ!
And there is a very profound and intense reason I say this, and it relates back to the way so many of us have been made prisoners of today's economic system - even to the point that we no longer have any time left over for Christ and the "work of the church" - and that is this: MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, REAL SERVICE TO THE LORD REQUIRES TIME. If you have no time to serve the Lord, then you CAN'T serve Him. It's not possible.
DO NOT THINK THAT YOU CAN SERVE THE LORD WHEN YOU HAVE NO TIME TO DO SO?
Again I say, it's simply not possible. Serving the Lord requires not just "hearing," but "doing" also - as the Bible says:
"... Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, DECEIVING your own selves." (James 1:22)
Your "thinking" about serving the Lord is not the same thing as your "doing" it. Even your "praying" about it - if it has no practical outcome - is just another excuse for inaction, and in the end, all you are doing is DECEIVING yourself. The Bible says
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
"And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
"EVEN SO FAITH, IF IT HATH NOT WORKS, IS DEAD, being alone.
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.
"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD? (James 2:14-18, 20)
And what's more, do not think - EVEN FOR A MOMENT - that in doing a "good job" at work, or by being a "good provider," or by even being a "good mother" or a "good father" you are necessarily doing a work for the Lord. THE UNBELIEVERS DO THAT - and are they doing a work for Christ? The very real fact is, many in the elite classes - who crush the poor under foot and despise Christ and everything the Kingdom of Christ stands for - are "good mothers" and "good fathers." But will that count for anything for them on THAT DAY? No! - not even a little bit!
Now this is NOT to say that you have no responsibilities to your parents, or to your children, or to your employer - but if these responsibilities impinge on your service to the Lord, do not think that by discharging these responsibilities you will discharge your obligations to God. You won't! You are not necessarily discharged from your responsibilities to the Kingdom of God when you faithfully take care of your own responsibilities to your family or to your employer.
You say, however, that between your responsibilities to your employer and your responsibilities to your children, to your mother and father, and to your family in general, you have no time - or very little time - left over for the Lord. But if that's the case, you have TOTALLY misconstrued your priorities. Your priority must be FIRST OF ALL to the Lord, and then - only after you have discharged those responsibilities - are you permitted to begin discharging your responsibilities to your employer, to your mother, to your father, to your children, to your wife or husband.
Isn't this what the Bible says:
"He that loveth father or mother more than me IS NOT WORTHY OF ME: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me IS NOT WORTHY OF ME. (Matt. 10:37) ?
This is a hard saying, but it is, nonetheless, the truth. and i finally took the time to sit down and get it off and out of me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you're driving me nuts because this is the truth straight from gods word, and after all the shit i've taken from you on the subject, i am going down on record for once and for all!!!!
i wash my hands of it!
Christ MUST be first in our lives. In the Old Testament, this was expressed in the "principle of FIRST FRUITS." You gave God the FIRST FRUITS of your labor. God had to come first - first insofar as TIME was concerned, and second insofar as MONEY was concerned. God was, so to speak, paid first - before one's self, before one's family, before one's loved ones. The Bible says:
"Thou SHALT NOT DELAY to offer the FIRST of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the FIRSTBORN of thy sons shalt thou give unto me." (Ex. 22:29)
Again, the Bible says,
"And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the FIRSTLINGS of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always." (Deut. 14:23)
And yet again, the Bible says:
"Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.
"And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the FIRSTFRUITS of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
"And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps." (2 Chr. 31:4-6)
When we give unto the Lord, we don't give that which is left over after we have taken care of our own needs. Like all good servants, we MUST take care of the Lord's needs first, and then - only after His needs are taken care of - do we take care of our own needs. That's what being a "good servant" is all about. And it is specifically to the "good servant" that Jesus said,
"... WELL DONE, thou GOOD and FAITHFUL servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD." (Matt. 25:21)
The "good servant" takes care of the needs of his Master FIRST - or does anyone really think that a servant who is waiting on his master's table and who suddenly stops and leaves for an hour or two to take care of a few personal errands of his own - leaving his master to fend for himself - and then returns to carry on, is a "good servant." Surely such a servant would be fired.
But isn't this what we do with the Lord when we take care of our own needs first - and only after we have finished taking care of these needs and the needs of our own family - do we take care of the Lord. Who would want to have a servant like that?
But, again I say, isn't this what we are doing when we, for example, pay our own bills first, and then - after we have taken care of these debts, do we take care of "tithing" to the Lord? Of course it is!
Yes, that's EXACTLY what we are doing when we pay the mortgage (or rent), when we pay the car payment, when we pay our Visa and Master Card bills, our utility bills, even our groceries - and then, after all these bills are taken care of, we give what's left - if anything - to the Lord? Of course it is! Are we then a "good servant?" No, we are not!
Some might say, "I admit that I am too deeply in debt, and I have not given the FIRST FRUITS of my labor to the Lord. Give me a chance to pay my obligations off first (for instance, my car, my expensive TV, my Thomasville furniture, etc.), then I will serve the Lord." But that won't cut it either. Don't rob the Lord to take care of your own sins of omission.
The Word of God is shamefully fulfilled which says:
"... this people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they do honour me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men ..." (Is. 29:13)
Better to sell the car (and get a clunker), and return the TV and the furniture - for who says that you will have tomorrow to pay these debts off. You have no assurance of tomorrow. The Bible says:
"Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:13-14)
So where are we in all this?
WE ARE AT THE "END OF THE AGE" - that's where we are.
We are in an "emergency situation" a crisis situation that demands a RADICAL solution. Being "moderate" and "half-hearted" in our Christian life will no longer do.
Every servant of God is being called to take action. In this present situation, we must be able to say as Paul said to king Agrippa,
"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision ..." (Acts 26:19)
Christ is calling us today! And He is saying - just as He said to Paul so many years ago,
"... rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
"Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God ..." (Acts 26:16-18)
He is calling us to this kind of Christianity today - and I tell you the truth, that unless it can be said of you as it was said of Paul and his followers, that "THESE ARE THEY THAT HAVE TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN ..." (Acts 17:6), then you simply have no idea what REAL Christianity is all about.
Radicals are the kind of people who can say with Christ:
"... THE ZEAL OF THINE HOUSE HATH EATEN ME UP ..." (Ps. 69:9; cf., John 2:17)
This means, one has expended EVERYTHING on the Lord; it's all gone; there is NOTHING left over. One's radicalism (i.e., zeal) has exhausted everything, it has eaten up one's very means of survival. There is no bank account that has been left untouched, no money that has been left unspent - one's substance is entirely gone! Pretty radical, huh?
But one needs to understand something here, Christianity is not something you can trifle with. You must either get in or get out. That's EXACTLY what Christ meant when He said,
"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue (i.e., vomit) thee out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:15-16)
"Blessed are ye (kimberly), when men (roy) shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
so... laugh if you want to, think of me as a hypocrite if you must, but this is why they call him GOD:
i believe he is going to put you to the ultimate test. as long as you have to keep paying for me, you have to keep working, and that damn job has robbed you maybe even of your eternity so it's not worth it! i think that he will provide for me another way. but don't dance a jig yet roy - it's the ultimate test don't you see? because then what excuse will you have??? then you'll really be up shit creek without a paddle....
of course once i realized this, i asked the lord "where do i sign?" (hehe)
i didn't hear him laugh at that, but he might've been smiling REAllY loud, i was too chicken to look.