God is listening

Millions of Americans, on a regular, daily (hourly?), consistent basis, proclaim, "God Damn!".  American television, movies, music, radio, and all forms of entertainment use His Holy Name as an expression of disgust, of anger, and of condemnation.  "God Damn" is only followed by "Jesus Christ" and the "F" word as "acceptable" cursing for our eager ears.

Might He be answering America's "prayers"?

Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Exo 15:4  Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

Exo_20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Lev_18:21  And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Lev_19:12  And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

But those who call on Him for salvation, shall not fear, but ready for the next life, His glorious return and a new life on a new earth.

Mal_3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Psa_72:19  And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

Psa_113:2  Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.

time for a change

Our country is a mess.  A stagnated Congress, an anti-Constitutional President, a Presidential contender who doesn't see the characteristic horror inherent in his "hijinks and pranks " (I am disgusted by his flippant explanation and pitiful apology), and a U.S. Supreme Court Justice who admires the Constitution of South Africa more than the Constitution of the United States.

Comedienne Maria Bamford quipped, "My mom is very religious and she said, 'Whatever you think about all the time, that's what you worship.' If that's the case I'd like everyone to pop open their Diet Coke cans and turn to page 37 of their People Magazines. In this holy scripture, we read the parable of Ms. Valerie Bertinelli."

Exactly.  The self indulgent distraction and willful ignorance of the American public brings our country to the brink of  manic self destruction.  What has happened to our country, our society, our culture, our "way of life"? I think the following excerpt from a Wiki on "The American Way" aptly illustrates the twists and bends that our jointly followed path of freedom has taken:

"The comic book superhero Superman fights for "truth, justice and the American way." In some modern comic books it has been changed to "truth, justice and hope" (after the events of the Infinite Crisis miniseries), and in the 2006 film Superman Returns the phrase was recited by the character Perry White as "truth, justice, all that stuff." The "Up, Up and Away" comic book story arc firmly re-established the slogan as "truth, justice and the American way." .In the Christopher Reeve movies, the phrase is used semi-ironically. In Superman the Movie, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) responds to the phrase by laughing and remarking "You're going to end up fighting every elected official in this country." (The film was conceived shortly after the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal). In Episode 1 of the 1948 Columbia Pictures serial Superman entitled "Superman Comes to Earth", Clark Kent's adoptive father John Kent tells Clark that he must use his powers to fight for "truth, tolerance and justice"."

The election of Barak Obama points to our collective dis-function; we elected a man to lead us to promised "change" without his once defining what that change would look like.  As a distracted nation we collectively ran blindly off a cliff of "hope" and see now that Obama's idea of change is to change personal freedom for slavery to government.

There are two things I know.

1. We cannot legislate morality, but that does not mean we shall be tolerant of, or indifferent to, those things we know to be wrong.
2. God defines "wrong" and "right"; He is still in charge and will remain so past the end of human existence.

Stand for what is right and moral.  Follow God.

Pray for the elected leaders of our nation, that they will learn, know and follow the will of our God.

This is the only hope left for our nation.

I have made a decision to vote, or to not vote, in the following manner:

• I will not cast a ballot for an incumbent politician in any office.
• I will not vote for any politician or party who advocates immoral or destructive behavior.
• If the above two choices are all that remain on the ballot, I will not vote for that office.

I can see that this will leave me with few choices to make; I will trust God to make up the difference.


"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.   I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."  ~  Revelation 22:12-13

urgently meeting the needs of others

KLOVE gave us this verse in their "Encouraging Word" daily email last week:

"Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive." ~ ~ Titus 3:14, NLT

"... meeting the urgent needs of others ..."

Frequently I over analyze the needs of others brought into my view, allowing opportunities to pass that should have bless someone else, and bless me in the giving.  I learned long ago that giving is far beter than receiving, but I still struggle to hold on to that which is really not mine to begin with.

"Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God.   I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.   I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds.  For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.  "I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.    If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.   Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?  Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."

~ Psalm 50:7-15 NASB

He owns it all.

Ask those who know me well and most will likely tell you that I am a "giver".  Far too frequently, however, I pick and choose, I analyze, I weigh my cost before I let go.  That's not what God tells us and that's not a strong show of trust in Him who provides.

Every time I have had an urgent need, that need has been met, provided by God, through the hands of others or through purposeful circumstance.  Shall I do less with the resources God has entrusted to me?

No, it's not always easy.  There are many times when I choose to hold on to "mine"  because I have a personal need or desire and I don't let go to avoid cutting myself short.  That's an understandable human reaction, but I'm supposed to be "led by the Spirit".

"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.   For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."   But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.   For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.   But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."  ~ Galatians 5:13-18

Maybe if I spend less on my "desires of the flesh" I will not cling so tenaciously to that which might be handed over.  Maybe if I spend more time "counting the cost" before spending and less time acting on personal whimsy, I might do more with far less for myself.

I certainly don't have all the answers.  I don't have unlimited resources, but my Father does and I should trust Him to provide through me to those in need.

Our God measures out to us that which He knows we can be entrusted to steward for Him.

Acting in good stewardship and avoiding foolish behavior,  perhaps I may always be ready when an "urgent need" is before me.

"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." ~ Luke 6:38

Father, help me by moving my selfish desires, my "knowledge", my flesh, me, out of Your way. Move in me to meet the urgent need of others.

prophecy being fulfilled or just coincidental?

"And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.   And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name."  ~ Revelations 13:15-17 NAS

"Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,  he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."" ~ Revelations 14:9-11

What do you think?

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the Word

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1:1-5   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Revelation 1:8  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 3:20   Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

The Word is Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, Messiah, Lord of Lords and King of Kings.  He has always been there for us, is with us now and shall remain with us to the end.  He waits for each of us to know Him, to accept Him and to enjoy His company.

Enjoy the Word.

www.standontherock.org

All bible verses are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), courtesy of The Lockman Foundation.

I was just reading about the controversy in the Presbyterian denomination concerning their homosexual clergy ban.

It grieves me that so many, who lay claim to the name of "Christian", are ready to bolt from the true faith in the name of "a way to live together amid great diversity of opinion".

Hebrews 6:11-20"

Now we want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, so that you won't become lazy, but imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: I will most certainly bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.

And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise.

For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.

Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

We have this hope--like a sure and firm anchor of the soul--that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a "high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

Unchanging, unbending, unwavering, God.

Who are we, if we are they?

Luke 11:17

Knowing their thoughts, He told them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls".

Luke 11:23

Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.

Neil Anderson stated in one of his devotionals, "Christians are not being narrow-minded when they stand on what God has declared."

We, the church, must stand together and reside firm in the faith.

Revelation 22:6-14

Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must quickly take place."

"Look, I am coming quickly! Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic words of this book."

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me.

But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow slave with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

He also said to me, "Don't seal the prophetic words of this book, because the time is near. Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy go on being made filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; and let the holy go on being made holy."

"Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates".

The world has been orchestrated to separate us from the one who is "faithful and true" and to weaken our witness for Him.

1 John 4:4-6. 

You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception

Listen, pray hard, stand together on the truth that comes from the One who is true.