Keep the Spirit - from the best gift ever- going to prosper

It has become almost a cliche to say that we must remember the reason for the season. As this world focuses so much on getting, it makes sense that we would say giving is more important, to the point where we ignore calls to remember what God gave to us. They are drowned out.

So, instead I want to encourage people to pray - which makes sense because that is the title of this blog - for true change in our hearts.

After all, simply remembering the reason for the season during the season doesn't help us after the season. Nor does it help us do anything about it. Sure, I can ask people what they're most anxious to give or what they enjoyed giving the most. That helps a little. But, truly acting on the reason for the season means being  Christ-like long after the season.

Treating others with compassion

One big thing Christmas shows us is how to care about others. Whether it is volunteering to help the poor or just putting something in a Salvation Army kettle, if it is visiting an elderly neighbor or just sharing gifts with your family, there are many things we do at Christmas because there is a spirit of giving. However, these are things we should be doing all year round  if there is truly a spirit of giving in us.

As one example, standing against bullying is a sign of Christmas cheer. Putting an end to taunting and calling others names is something we can do to help. It also goes along with New Year's resolutions if one does these things. However, we can resolve to do better at any time. Christmas and New Year's just happen around the first of the year so it is a logical transition in people's minds.

This is what repentance is - turning from our own fleshly ways and turning our hearts to God's way. We as human beings often struggle with our fleshly nature.

Oh, some people are naturally more compassionate. Some people are naturally sweet and considerate and caring toward others, though even that has to be taught to some extent. They find it easy to follow those models of empathy and kindness, though.

Our culture likes to talk about a general spirit of Christmas causing this. However, we don't truly have the spirit of Christmas unless we have the Spirit living in us that we can because of Christmas.

That is because if we try on our own we might succeed sometimes but we will be doing it for ourselves or for others, rather than to honor the God who gave us that gift.

Think about it. It makes sense. Even if you think Christmas should be more about getting those presents, you need to be thankful for the present. Because, a person chose to give it to you out of kindness.

We don't earn presents; they wouldn't be presents if we did. They would be wages. A gift is something you don't learn - it is given out of the kindness of one's heart.

Just like the kindness of God's heart that gave us Christmas.

Receive the Best Gift Ever

The gift that keeps on giving. It can be used over and over. It changes your life for the better.

These and more describe what would be the perfect Christmas gift as a worldly thing, it would be something different for each person.

God provided us with one gift, however, which is even better. It is so special we need to not only receive it but tell everyone about it. Because it can be received any time, not just at Christmas. It matches all of those above sayings and then some, as it is the best gift ever.

We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But, it was while we were still sinners at odds with God that H e chose to come to this world as a baby. Not as a rich King somewhere, not even as a prince in a palace, but as a humble baby in a lowly stable.

We all hear the stories, we love that part of it. But, do you have head knowledge or heart knowledge of Jesus?

A good question to ask others - and yourself - is this. If you were to stand before God and He were to ask "why should I let you into My perfect Heaven," what would you say?

We can only rely on what Jesus did to get us there. You need to have heart knowledge because head knowledge doesn't help. It is like knowing a chair will hold you and standing next to it, claiming all the time that you can sit in it and it will hold you up but never sitting in it.

That faith is as easy as ABC. Admit you are a sinner, that you aren't perfect so don't deserve to be in God's perfect Heaven. Believe that Jesus died on the cross to take the penalty for your sins and rose from the dead. And, Call on him to save you from your sins.

You can pray a simple prayer like this, or lead someone in it. The words are not what saves, what's saves is when you put your whole faith in Jesus to save you. Talk to God and tell Him something like this.

"Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I know I can't reach your perfect heaven on my own. But I know you died to take the punishment for my sins. And, you rose from the dead. Lord Jesus, I pray trusting you to forgive me and make me new inside and save me from my sins. Lord Jesus, I trust you with all my heart and call on you to come live in me. In Jesus name, amen."

Once you have made that decision, of course, it is a matter of trusting the Lord to help you daily. He will be a constant guide, comforter, helper, friend, and so much more.

That's because it is a relationship with God that is the real gift of Christmas. He wants to guide and direct you through life.

Overcoming obstacles because Jesus knows all about them

We all face so much stress in our lives. We need God's love to get us through. Thankfully, that special gift of God coming to Earth is the key to that.

Remember, this means that Jesus knew what it was like to have homework, to go through the struggles of growing up, to have all sorts of different situations in His life. No, He didn't have video games or other modern things, but Jesus did have different things that could have distracted Him.

That is the key. He had those things in His life. And yet He never sinned. Jesus never had a sinful action, word, or thought. That is how He could be the substitution for our sin.

That also means that He can be our guide when it comes to life's problems. He is the wisdom that we need and with Him living in us through the Holy Spirit, we have access to that. And, if we do sin because of our fleshly nature, He is always there to forgive us.

I work with some inner-city youth. It is very hard for some of them to understand how He can help. One girl in particular has been bullied and realizes it is a spiritual battle to keep from retaliating, but it is hard for her to recognize God's power in her to rejoice and to let God be the strength she needs to get through things. Please pray for her, that she will learn to pray consistently and that she will start to grow in the Lord. She struggles also with pouting when she doesn't get her way, she is working on that but doesn't realize yet just how much power God can give her to overcome that.

There are also a couple boys who struggle with name calling because they don't realize it hurts her even so they talked about how it hurts. Please pray for them to stop bullying also and to behave better in general because they have many problems that have erupted over the last half year or so for some reason. It may be as simple as a spiritual battle but I don't know. Pray for that whole family, please.

 The whole ministry needs prayer in fact, so please pray as the Lord leads you about whatever situations may erupt.

These are the kind of things we need to talk to God about. When we don't, God knows the needs but we act as if we can handle them ourselves.

"Sure, Jesus could handle them when He was a kid," you might say. "But He is God." And, that's true. But when you know Him, He lives in you and you can turn to him for anything. From the biggest to the smallest.

That is what our country needs. For everyone to turn to God for help, because He is an ever-present help in time of need. That's why it's so important to know Him here, not just to be saved from sin but to be guided through this life filled with people who do not know Him.

Sharing his love so others can know

We share Christ's love so others can know Him and have Him living in them. We do it through our words but also our actions, by helping others and being Godly examples. Then, when people see how different we are they will realize there is something to what we say.

In other words, we aren't just saying it, we believe it and show it by living it.

That is showing the spirit of Christmas all year long. That is what this country needs. It is a relationship. It is not religion because religion is all about me and trying to reach up to God. However, none of those work. God had to reach down to our level and we just have to trust and call on Him.

Be part of the solution by dedicating yourself to the Lord. You can share something like this which can be freely printed out and used to lead others, or this where you can talk to volunteers about growing in your faith. you can get little pieces of paper known as tracks from Child evangelism Fellowship or the American tract Society or like the four spiritual laws to give people and use yourself. Posts in this blog cover numerous subjects such as the end of times and avoiding deception, God's justice being better than man's, overcoming obstacles, ending oppression, having victory over things, and much more.

 So, as one of them says, be the role model that many people need. So many need someone to look up to, and while Jesus is the one they should be, they need someone here on Earth to be that example so they can see how it is time.  you may be the only example of Jesus Christ they have ever seen. Don't shirk that responsibility. Many people need someone just like you. People need you to be christ-like and share the gospel.

Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves for revival to happen

More is happening with the previous post and other warnings, as one can see with this video by JD Farag.There is great deception coming we must avoid, as noted in the previous post, with much danger from our fallen world that will leave us fooled if we're not careful.  Even such facts as that the God of the Bible is not the same as that of Islam are hidden by our sinful world.

The most important wisdom is that God wants a person relationship with you, something that isn't taught elsewhere. It isn't about what you can do, it's about what God already did for you.

All you need is to:

1. Admit you're a sinner and fall short of the Perfection of God, and while your sin separates you from Heaven God created a way for you to get there;

2. Believe thatJjesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose fromt he dead; and,

3. Call on Him to forgive you and to save you by Calling on Him, repenting of your sin and trusting Him to make you new inside.

Being wise, then, means knowing what is right and wrong. After all, if you are going the wrong way you wont' get where you're going, right? You want something reliable, right? Here is a good site, by the way, on how we can know the Bible is reliable. (Read below, too, for an answer ken Ham says has help many believers with just a simple verse.)

Jesus told his disciples 2,000 years ago to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. This is important to do even today. How do we do that to survive in this confusing world?

Center wisdom on the God of love, comfort, mercy, etc.

Sometimes people don't notice words. Some see "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" and ignore that word, "beginning." (Some also ignore that the word "fear" means a healthy respect, like when you choose not to put your hand into a fire because you will get burned. You're not scared of it.) That's really dangerous because it can make a person sound like a Pharisee if they act like there is nothing more to know. I wrote a lot here on not being a Pharisee. We can open our minds to so much as long as we remember to keep the Lord's wisdom at the start of what we know - that's why it's the beginning of wisdom.

That ties into salvation - you get saved because you have a healthy respect for the fact you're a sinner in need of a Saviour because you can save yourself through good works, since we have all sinned; nobody is perfect. Once you are saved you can easily live by getting other wisdom as long as you keep that salvation and God's Word, the Bible, in general as your foundation.

Here's an example of other wisdom - germ theory. It was laughed at when it was first proposed because it was unlike what people had known before. However, it didn't contradict the Bible. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 11:3 says that things which are seen were "not made of things which do appear." In other words, they are made of things which don't appear to the eye without help. The Bible sometimes talks of the invisible meaning the spiritual realm, which Chuck Missler notes in a number of places is proven to exist by scientists; there may be as many as 10 dimensions or more. (He is in those links and some in a few of the links above.) However, unseen things can just as easily mean things we can't see with our own eyes, as it does in this case meaning atoms and electrons. (This is likely a verse with a double meaning, physical and spiritual.)

So, after a while science established germ theory. it was not part of science "falsely so called" as Paul warns Timothy of; germ theory is proper science. It doesn't conflict with the Bible. On the other hand, there are many things which do, as just a study of Answers in Genesis can show.

It's important to note that you don't have to be a Creationist to be saved from your sin, of course. That will be discussed later when I talk about sharing God's love and salvation with humility and care for others. For now, I'll just link this very good site if you are interested in the discussion and scientific evidence for Creation, and go back to the idea of centering wisdom on God's Word.

Just like the germ theory example, there are other things the Bible is silent on, but that isn't a problem. Even though the Bible is not a science book, it is still true in everything it says about science - indeed, it warns against science falsely so-called(1 Tim. 6:20), that is things that are called science but are not.

It's like a person who has not studied history for a living can still know George Washington was the first president. There are other things one can learn. One must use the Bible as a guide to the truth of such things, though - just like that non-history student needs to look at the list of American presidents to find others and not at the list of British monarchs. :-)

Wisdom means applying knowledge, too. Now, unless you are a time traveler, you don't need to rely on George Washington being the first president for more than a test answer. However, other wisdom can be used.

Like germ theory, things come up that didn't in the old days. Traffic safety rules, for instance, have a basis in Scripture - put others before yourself - even without laws being passed about them. Something like post-traumatic stress disorder, for instance, is not mentioned but we know that we are to be compassionate toward others and tenderhearted, understanding that some need treated differently as we see in Jude 22-23. (I suppose 1 Samuel 30, where David pursues and enemy and lets those who remained behind to take part of the spoil, could be an instance of those with PTSD,  but I think those are simply people who were not physically capable of fighting. However, this is a good example of where Christians can easily agree to disagree.)

The ones in first Samuel and those mentioned in Jude also are good verses to show how we need to be very kind to others, and Jude demonstrates how with some we must share the gospel as Jesus did with the woman caught in adultery, not condemning but simply loving and understanding she needed saved. That will be covered more in the second part of this post on not being a Pharisee, though.

Back to the person with PTSD, we also have to realize that there are ways to help a person recover from it and to deal with what they are going through that are Biblical and some that are not. This, then comma shows that need to have a Biblical foundation, how following the Lord needs to be the beginning of wisdom so that when you go out and find all the other things that are out there, that you have that foundation that can leave you being a Godly person and faithful follower.

Be harmless as doves

One big aspect of wisdom is knowing how to figure things out. This requires using be praying that God gave you. Not everyone has the same brain. Some, like Ravi Zacharias, have incredibly deep minds. But, you don't have to be someone like him to be able to use Godly wisdom. as noted aboveAny believer can determine how to act even in areas where the Bible is somewhat silent, like post-traumatic stress disorder, which was discussed before, or totally as with the aforementioned Germ Theory, becasue of the power of the Holy Spirit in that believer. We can't do it in our own strength, but God can and will strengthen us when we trust Him to.

Being harmless as doves is one command of Jesus that will greatly help as you interact with others - and, since Jesus is God, He will give power to obey that command. (Yes, the context is that He tells His disciples this then, but there is clearly a spiritual aspect where we must do it today, too.)

One important thing to remember is that we should not be Pharisees. I wrote this post looking at some of the major problems with being a Pharisee and why one should not do that. There are others, too, though.

Pharisees, by definition, are not as harmless as doves. Jesus says they of their father the devil, among other things. They do nothing to draw people to Christ.

In today's world, Pharisees keep people from Jesus by not being kind, understanding, and so on. Of course, we must take a stand against sin, but we must also love the sinner, just like Jesus with the woman caught in adultery in John 8.

How do we do this?

Loving Others to Jesus

While we have to take stands against sin, we don't know peoples' hearts, so we can't even presume they are committing specific sins unless we see them doing it. Even then, the simple ABCs above need to be done in such a way that draw people, not repel them. A dove is a symbol of people, and is a very harmless bird - it doesn't go around attacking others like, say, a blue jay.

In other words, admit you're a sinner, too. We all are. We all fall short of God's perfection. So, it doesn't help to just accuse the person of sin -the Holy Spirit does that well enough anyway. (Yes, john John 16:712 it says the Spirit is even there to convict unbelievers.) They need to know that sin is a problem impacting all of us, ut that there is a remedy so that God doesn't have to keep us out of Heaven, and that in fact He desires a person relationship with each of us.

That relationship is the key. A person who is having a discussion about Creation might be convinced that God created the world, but what good does that do if they don't trust Jesus Christ to save them? It is worthless. However, if they trust Jesus Christ to save them, they have a erlationship with God and they can then pray and read the Bible and have the Spirit convict them, or they can just go to Heaven someday and have a very stunned look ont heir face, as if to say, "Wow, I never realized that."

You can even tell them, "One of us will have an amazed look on our faces, and wouldn't you want to be there to see mine if you're right?" It's just like if you are witnessing and you tell someone, "If I'm wrong, I have lost nothing, I have pleased many by being amoral, upright person who loved and helped others. if you are wrong, you have lost your soul, and it won't matter what you havd in this world. Because, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

In the same way, you can be friendly and engaging with others while keeping the Gospel the main thing. For instance, that person with PTSD may struggle with ordinary life. Even such thigns as getting out of bed can be a struggle for someone suffering from depression. They may have suffered horribly in a war, or maybe just because of issues growing up. Certain thigns you say may have little meaning to you or even be very positive things but may bring very negative reactions to them.

In cases like that, you need to keep an open mind. Don't make it so open your braisn fall out, as the joke goes, but remember to approach the situation from their perspective. If you hd, for instance, been mistreated growing up by people who claimed to be Christians but weren't, how would you be able to be won to Christ? Isn't it by being told calmly and gently that God isn't like the abusive people they knew, but that God is instead a loving God who never acts out of spite, malice, etc.. Just explaining that anyone can claim to be a Christian can help.

No, the Bible doesn't talk about PTSD or some of the worst things people can have done to them or germ theory or other things, but the Bible does have principles that can govern our lives, like being tenderhearte, acting just like Jesus does throughout the Gospels.

His itneraction with the woman at the well in John 4 is a great example of how He interacted with someone He encountered ina  way that drew her into the conversationa nd got her thinking about spiritual things. And, there are ways you can get others thinking, too.

Answers You Can Use for Everyday Encounters

One example I've used here before concerning people who claim to be Christians is the King of Belgium example. If I say I'm the King of Belgium, whatever I do, good or bad, has no bearing on what the real King of Belgium is like. In the same way, people can't define what Christians are based on their own ideas, it has to come fromt he Bible, jsut in the same way the definition of "King of Bekguim" isn't, "anyone who claims to be King of Belgium is automatically King." it is, "The person who was born into the royal family and succeeded to the throne after the previous King's death."

Of course, some might just complain about the hypocrites in general, but with that, you can say something like this: If you are a dog lover, and you want to hang out with other dog lovers, does the fact not everyone love dogs impact your love if them? No, it shouldn't if you really love them. You might hang around people you think are really goofy, in fact - they say "Here is a picture of my dog" and you look and nothing is there, or they pull a leash around with a hamster cage attached and pretend it's really their dog. You would still love your dog the same, though. In fact, these crazy people should inspire you, if you hang around them enough, to say, "Hey, don't just talk about dogs, get one, they're so awesome!"

In fact, that's a part of this I hadn't thought about till just now: The presence of hypocrites should make us want to live for God even more so we can show people just how wonderful it is to truly live for God in our walk and not just in our talk.

People will have questions, of course. For instance, Ken Ham has said that he has found lots of people become believers when he answers a specific question with a specific verse. That quesiton is, "Where did Cain get his wife?" The answer is found in Genesis 5:4, Adam and Even had sons and daughters. (According to a historian, Josephus, an old tradition said Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters, but this shows it could have been a lot more.

Other people might have questions about all the evil in the world. We have some very good radio shows here about that, among other shows, but a good simple answer is that God doesn't want us to be mindless robots. He would, in fact, have to use cartoon physics to stop our free will. he wants us to choose to love Him because we want to, because of His great care for us - for it was while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.(Rom. 5:8) thankfully, he then rose triumphantly fromt he grave, but He had to humble Himself and come down here to do that. He chose to do it willingly, becuase you and I and every single person was on His mind.

He suffered in all ways like us(Heb. 4:15-16) so we can go to Him with anything. In fact, when I first started reading the Bible I would ask questions about lots of things, and He would always assure me in prayer that He cared for the exceptions, for the handicapped like me, for those who were unique. He loves each and every one of us.

Because of this, He doesn't want us to act like rules are the only things that matter. We need to show grace and mercy. Jesus knows each of our hearts, just like that woman caught in adultery whom He set free because He would soon take the punishment for her sin and for everyone's sin. (Including the guy - the Pharisees were so much into show but they didn't want to take responsibility themselves - the guy committing adultery should have been in the temple condemned with her since they were caught in the act, but he was nowhere to be found.)

Jesus hated that attitude of the Pharisees. They would criticize the fact that He healed on the Sabbath, even though they would stop and do things like pull an animal out of a ditch or something; as Jesus asked them, "is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?" God was making a point that He didn't want people to be overly burdened, and the Pharisees were taking what God meant for rest and recuperation (the Sabbath) and making it all about themselves and their rules.

Yes, rules are vital to make things run smoothly, like traffic rules or rules in the home. However, we must be careful that rules do not become our gods. God Almighty loves and cherishes everyone, even those who don't follow the normal pattern for things like a two-parent family with the dad being a Godly leader. God accepts and cherishes exceptions - a Godly parent isn't going to mind if you're 5 minutes late because you stopped to rescue a baby from a burning building, after all; they'll be proud of you because you sacrificed yourself for the Lord; nyou've honored your parents by following what God called you to do. I once heard of a 3YO who - during a fight between his parents - was able to recitehome rules like "be nice," "say you're sorry," etc. to help them to settle down and possibly prevent what could have spiraled down to divorce. (Probably not, but the point is that God used that child for His purposes.)

While the Bible's examples aren't quite as drastic, the Bible does show people like David, to continue something like the curfew analogy, who was almost surely expected back right away from taking food to his brothers in the field, and instead he stay around and killed Goliath.(1 Sam.) Gideon tore down the idols his father had put up because they dishonored God and his father was worshiping them instead.(Judges 6) And, we see people such as the Shunemmite woman, who He calls great for leading her household when her husband was unwilling.(2 Kings 4:8 and onward) That's because God loves each of us, and wants to help us grow into people who will be like Him regardless of our circumstances and who will seek to dow aht is right in His sight, not their own.

Be the kind of person who will draw people to the Lord

I wrote an entire blogged book about that Shunemmite woman and how women or even children/teens/youth can be used by God to lead. It can be found here and should be printed out and shared via print or online with everyone.

The key, then, is to be kind, friendly, the kind of person who people will see that love and faith resonating in. That doesn't mean that you have to be perfect. People  should be able to see that you accept you're not perfect but that you know the one who is and that He is guiding and directing your path to help you to become better.

When you show that love, you accept people. It's like a guy in a t-shirt and jeans bringing his family to church - nobody should care what he wears, it's the person on the inside that counts. Now, if his t-shirt is filled with cursing you can politely suggest that he's sending the wrong message, but you don't have to have your "Sunday best" - especially if you don't have such clothes. The idea of wearing a suit and tie is a cultural thing, and another problem that can arise which is like the Pharisees is that people mistake cultural norms for Biblical ones.

When we accept each other as beggars telling other  beggars where to find bread, we will be able to be humble and loving and to the thigns the Bible commands - e4dify (build up and not tear down) one another, exhort (strongly encourage/urge to do good things) one another, love one antoher, pray for one another, consider one another better than ourselves, etc..

Each of us is better than somebody else at something and worse at something. Maybe you're not as outgoing but you can share the gospel in other ways, simply by being therefore someone and maybe not talking as much as just listening. Others, like me, overcome handicaps and other adversities without complaints, sowing a confidence that can only come from God.

The important thing is, remember that others might not be able to verbalize their questions. We do need to use words to share the Gospel, and in fact ask people if they know for sure they're going to Heaven. A really good way to put it is, "If you were to stand before God and He were to say "why should I let you into my perfect Heaven, what would you say?"

Be wise as serpents, so you can keep your main focus, your beliefs, your attitude, your life, centered on the Lord. And, be harmless as doves, so people will want to be in God's perfect Heaven, where there can be no sin, selfishness, etc.,. God will make each of us new on the inside continually as He works in us, and will perfect us when we get to Heaven. But, it makes sense that we follow His perfect plan for our lives so we can have those blessings and rewards for doing so.

God will bring perfect world & promises how; avoid promises of it being different

Posts here - and the inner-city ministry blog a similar post to this will be in - discuss, in one way or another, ways God can use us to bring people to Him, especially through Repentance Revival and, as part of that, our prayers.

God cares a great deal that people come to Him. His Gospel is for everyone - anyone can call on Him at any time and trust Him by faith to forgive them of their sins and make them new inside, as I'll relate more in the final section; you can do that right now if you haven't. He unconditionally loves each of us - you - and calls us to go into all the world and preach that Gospel to everyone.(Matt.28:18-20)

When a person trusts Jesus Christ as Saviour with their whole heart, He makes them new creatures inside. (2 Corinthians 5:17) This is why I emphasize the need for repentance in revival; it's not just repentance being required for prayer. That heart change is vital to ending violence against women, working together as equals who accept we're all one race, etc.. It is good for Christians to glorify God by being Godly examples and seeking to bring these lost souls to Christ so they can change on the inside and not just on the outside, which is how the world tries to do it. God looks on the heart, which is what is important..

It is important to remember that the salvation of souls must be the main thing, though. Too often, imperfect people try on their own strength to accomplish goals, which leads to deception. Two particular deceptions involve losing our focus; hence the need to focus on things like the good thoughts of Philippians 4:8. We must avoid them and also help others avoid them. If we don't, we can be led astray with terrible consequences - especially with the second.

One is a doctrine that has been espoused by many, such as the Pilgrims and Puritans. This isn't saying they lacked a relationship with God. I simply mention them as an example to show how easy it is for saved people to fall  for it.

We Can't Bring the Kingdom Ourselves

Luke 17:20-21 shows Jesus answering a question about when the Kingdom of God would come. His words lead to talk of false Christs, but notice it is the Kingdom of God which He says won't come with observation; you can't point and say "There it is." It's within each believer because believers have the Holy Spirit. His kingdom is not of this world; indeed, we are called ambassadors(2 Cor. 5:20) precisely because we who trust Christ as Saviour are citizens of Heaven. So, this verse has nothing to do with making the world perfect ourselves, because we can't - we can only let God use us to make things better in His perfect plan, by leading people to Christ like int he above links.

The problem was, the Puritans, etc. saw a great, pristine wilderness inhabited by some natives (who only certain ones even though to share the Gospel with, a sign of their sinfulness), and a total lack of the persecution of Europe. These things made them tink it was - if not Heaven on Earth - a place they could turn into it. They looked at their situation, saw people could only be blessed by hard work in building and growing their colonies, and used those  circumstances to create something akin to the error of the prosperity gospel today. They simply forgot that the Bible never teaches us to focus on worldly goods. Instead, we are to build our treasure in heaven where it is going to last forever.(Matthew 6:19-21, etc.) So, the old "Protestant work ethic" is good in how it inspires hard work and determination for the Lord, but bad if it's used to belittle those who can't work as much or who work but their rewards are built in heaven.

As noted, it's easy to fall for the error of looking only at circumstances and still be saved; Even John the Baptist did when depressed in prison. Jesus told his messengers to show him all the Miracles that were done and that would remind him that yes, Jesus is the Christ, the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."(John 1:29) As the previous link states, people who believe this false teaching think they are using God when in fact the Bible says God uses us in His perfect plan. The circumstances they got wrong were thinking that they were using their faith to settle this country when in fact God was using them and trying to get them to be Godly people and thus show the natives an example of Jesus Christ. They just refused to listen to Him. Some did because they weren't saved and so didn't have the Holy Spirit. Others did because of that inherent sin nature that caused them to insist on their ways. this is just one reason why I always say in these posts that we need to repent for the last 400 years, not just the last 40.

This brings us to one of the reasons we can't bring the Kingdom of God in ourselves. There are severa, and I'll only get into a few here.

1. We haven't improved since then. We can't bring the Kingdom of God in on our own because we still have a sin nature, and imperfect people can't create something perfect, just like someone who has only read anayomy books or watched TV can't do brain surgery and hope to do it well. People still seek their own way; as noted in other posts, many want to be superior to others instead of equal. Some truly want equally, but as will be shown, when God is left out of the picture it only leads to a lack of true freedom. Godly justice, which is better than any person's. This is because...

2. God alone can change hearts. It truly is a heart problem that can't be fixed completely by laws. Believers have the Holy Spirit in them so God can use us to bring people to Him. He is the one who saves, though. We only do our part by sharing our Testimony, giving a Gospel tract, writing, singing, giving of ourselves through teaching, food, or whatever, or anything else that's God calls us to do. As 1st Corinthians says, sometimes Paul plants and Apollos waters, sometimes it's the other way around, but God is the only one who can truly give the increase.

3. Some parts of the Millennial Kingdom can't possibly come without God's intervention. For instance, there being no war and animals being peaceful, and you can't tame wild animals. Also, one verse tells of how many people will want to follow the Jews up to Jerusalem because they know that God is with them.(Zechariah 8:13) Today, anti-Semitism is rampant, and it won't stop till the devil is vanquished by God Himself. Jesus will rule and reign in the Kingdom on His throne in Jerusalem, and will return with a whole mess of staints, the number used being the highest possible in Greek.(Jude 14-15) All the events of Revelation have to happen first, too. There are others, too.

Of course, for centuries Christians have fought injustice, built hospitals and orphanages, fed the hungry, and so on; all of these are great causes. The question is, does the saving of souls come first? Is the good work done to glorify God and draw others to know Christ as Saviour? If so, that is what God wants.

There are people who do such things with other motives, though. They might do it to make people look at them, though the applause of people shouldn't be our goal - these good works must be done heartily unto the Lord. This is why at the bema seat judgment, where our works are judged, some will be burned up because they were built on the wrong desires, though once a person is saved that soul is saved forever.(1 Cor. 3:11-15)

Even worse, some people do such works and totally dishonor God, trying to create a society apart from God and His principles and perfection. Such things are very dangerous, and lead into the worst deception.

The Coming Great Deception

The problem is that so many refuse to accept God's forgiveness because they delight in sins of some sort. In sharing how to avoid being fooled by the devil, and what to do if millions vanish, those links shared a few ksys, but it needs to consistently be emphasized that Godly principles include things we all should love.

Think about it - honesty, respect for others, mercy, grace, kindness, etc. are all Godly principles we should want to build in our lives; people just don't like them when they have to apply them in situations where they don't want to, a result of that sin nature. The devil has tried to make people only focus on what God is against, but instead we must keep emphasizing the things Christians should all be for, such as forgiveness, mercy, and His loving, willing sacrifice on the cross, the death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ - who was God in flesh - for our sins.

2 Thessalonians 2 is one of several places we read about the devil's attempt to defeat God through the antichrist, and it has some very sobering words for those who love the lies the devil puts out instead of God's unconditional love for each of us. Strong delusion will come to them and they will believe the lie this evil being puts forth.

We don't know what that lie will be; there may be quite a few of them. One link mentioned in both those links int he first paragraph in this section menions demons pretending to be aliens, for instance. It could also be something else.

However, the key is that the devil will try to make this world seem perfect for sinful people left behind. Why? Becasue he is a counterfeiter, and wants to create a counterfeit system that will bind people to Him and enslave them. We don't follow God becasue we have to; we do it becsue we want to based on what He did for us. However, the devil wants to enslave people with things. Some of them, people can see are really dangers, yet they still get lured into them. Others are much more benign looking.

One of those lies is that people can create a perfect world without God.

This connects with that first point. We can't make this world perfect; we can't bring the Kingdom of God ourselves becasue we are imperfect humans. It is very dangerous to fall for any system that tries to cause people to think they can create that perfect world themselves. Indeed, often ministers refuse to preach about the end times becasue they don't want to think of jesus comings oon because they want to believe that we can build a perfect world for Him. Yes, some ministers are simply unaware of anything and just need to study to show themselves approved, getting out of their comfort zones. Others, however, truly want to think that people can make their own utopia.

Of course, it's great to work for change. We must end oppression, end racism, and prevent evil as best we can; we are never told to sit by and watch things such things happen.

The difference between what God wants us to do and what the devil tries to do is all about context. When doctors, nurses, etc. get together for a medical mission and the Gospel is presented once people receive the help they need, that is honoring Christ, for instance. When the poor are helped by a group that preaches Christ crucified, risen, and coming again for one's sins and the poor have the Gospel presented to them, that is beinging more souls into the Kingdom. However, when things are not done with Christ at the center, when a ministry does something but neglects the Gospel, then  they are not doing their job. (The dangerous "social gospel", which as the link shows is not Biblical since it doesn't focus on Heaven)

The antichrist at first will be a man of peace, bringing everything together and everyone together. This will please a lot of people, but it will only be for a short while. The true colors of this society will be shown - as shown in Revelation - by thigns such as its hatred of those who preach the God of the Bible and the necessity of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It will further be shown by the forcing of a mark in (or on, or both) the hand or forehead, where nobody can buy or sell without it. It might be voluntary at first, but either way, it will cause one to pledge allegiance to this devil incarnate.

All that is why I say elsewhere, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER take that mark!

 The great deception could be someone claiming to be Jesus. It could be an alien, perhaps the return of the Nephilim coming with it as pointed out here.(There is weird, unBiblical stuff out there about these creatures, but Chuck Missler and anyone he links are good, as he is a well-respected scholar ont he subject; this is why I ilnk his page.)

We don't know what that delusion will be, so it's important to avoid it and be ready now by trusting Jesus Christ, not by preparing like some of those aforementioned weird sites talk about.

There is one way to avoid this delusion.

That is to know the truth. Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life, Noone can come to the Father but by Him. (John 14:6) This Gospel is inclusive of everyone. Children under the age of accountability go to Heaven by the cross because they can't yet understand the need for Jesus Christ to die in their place. In the same way, each of us must go not based on any work of our own. It must be based on one's trust in Christ Jesus alone, calling on him by faith and believing that He took the punishment for one's sins, and then repenting and trusting Him to save them and make them new inside.

That is all that is needed. Then, you can be part of the Kingdom of God by simple faith, the moment you call on Him to save you by simple faith. You will be an ambassador for Christ, as noted in one of numerous great shows ont he radio page here. You can also e-mail with great online volunteers here

Most importantly, you can sahre the Gospel with others and help them avoid the judgment coming on this world for the evil in it. We can't save this world from sinners. But, we can let God use us to save sinners from a lost and dying world..

Humility, equality, common sense key to stopping violence

A rash of assaults on women and other complaints have dotted the landscape in and out of sports. While the previous post on coming together for racial equality contains keys to solving this problem, as do posts on things like the good thoughts of Philippians 4:8 and other posts in this blog, this is a specific problem which has troubled people since man brought sin into the formerly perfect world,and death by sin, so that death passed unto all men, for that all have sinned.(Rom. 5:12)

That need for humility, of course, is crucial. That post shows how we must never see one race or any group as superior, something discussed more in show 143 here. Here, it means one must not see one gender as worthy of more respect than another. However, it is much more than that.

A desire to be better can be used in a positive way when it leads to hard work, learning new information, strategies, and skills, etc., in order to improve one's lot in life. However, those all deal with raising oneself up in ways that please God, so His perfect plan for your life can be fulfilled, not putting others down. They involve honing God-given things to improve one's abilities to glorify God.

Not only that, but not since Ben Franklin's time has it been possible to know everything there is to know. There will always be someone better than you at something and someone worse than you at something. Hence, there is a need to accept that God has given skills and talents and accept His perfect plan for your life, That perfect plan is fulfilled when you grow in Godliness and develop those rather than letting lust rule and tear others down or wanting what isn't yours.

Yes, I used lust there. Envy, jealousy, and so on could all be placed there. However, what are those but certain kinds - envying someone with better clothes or cars or something is just a lust for those things, for instance. The Bible sums up sin by referring to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.(1 John 2:15) Certainly, we want to live, but we don't want to have such pride in it that we think that we have a better plan than God, because God's perfect ways are much greater than our imperfect ways.

Good Thoughts and Attitudes to Ponderr - Putting Others First

This is why, as in Philippians 4:8 above, we must "flee also youthful lusts"(2 Tim. 2:22); this isn't just about physical affection, it is about fleeing that selfishness that causes a person to lust for power and therefore to mistreat those less powerful than them.

This brings us to equality a little more first, to move forward to common sense by making a few comments about the body from the above links, namely that we all perform different roles in that perfect plan, but they all work together to move the body forward along the right path.

To use a silly example, let us suppose that the eye decided it wanted to do something different than the legs says the person was walking along. So comma the eye starts moving the head a different direction. Then comma di convinces the arms to move one of the legs into that direction. Of course, that is silly, although at first you might have thought of a person distracted by something, turning their head, and walking right into a telephone pole. Indeed, that happens sometimes. The point is that this is causing the body to lose focus. There are, of course, timesthe eye see something and realizes that the legs are moving in the wrong direction. That is where the brain as a central processing unit is so important, such as when you are walking around trying to find something, and suddenly you see it out of the corner of your eye.)

Let's use that analogy with the brain as the central processing unit and explore the area of common sense. However, it will not be common sense as imperfect people see it, but as God created us, because His ways are perfect.

There are many reasons that the Fruit of the Spirit(Gal.5:22-23) includes things like temprance(self-control), longsuffering(patience), etc.. We need these things to be Godly people; He calls us to be holy not just in our actions in refraining from certain sins but in all manner of conversation, a word which means conduct.

I'd like to take a moment to praise a few boys; these 6-8 year olds are in our church's Wednesday night AWANA program at the same time as a similar-aged girl who has some autism traits. Because of this, she pushes hard at times. She has only done this a couple times, and we as a staff and her parents stay on top of things, but the point is that this girl can't control herself as well as most kids that age.

So, a few times she has pushed these boys playfully, not realizing how hard she is doing it. And, these boys either just stare at her and then walk away or just ask me, "What's her problem." They don't fight back. I have praised them quite a bit for not pushing back, let alone hitting. They know quite well there is no reason to hit this girl. Other workers and I are rightfully proud of their self-control at those times.

All that is to say this. It should be very easy for us to get in our minds an image of a person just walking away from a situation. At their age, of course, it helps to know someone is going to praise them for their self-control, and that praise will sink in and - in the future - help them remember that self-control is a positive thing. Even if a person hasn't had that self-control praised before - or even practiced  it - self-control is still required.

Why? because women are built differently, just like the parts of the body are different. You wouldn't put eye drops in your ear to try to get ear wax out, nor would you put hydrogen peroxide on your skin to make an insect bite stop itching. Things need treated differently depending on where they are - eye drops go int he eye, hydrogen peroxide goes in the ear, etc..

Of course, it's also wrong for women to bully men, but the vast major5ity of this selfishness in hwo they treat others is done by males in a relationship. This is why Jesus kept pushing meekness, another Fruit of the Spirit - thsi is power under control, not overpowering people but tenderly guiding.

Not only that, but men and women are equals, we just have different general attributes, with each individual having their own and needing to be accepted for how God made them.

We have shared that some but as a church generally failed to speak out strongly against abusive behavior, a failure we must repent of, as I've noted before, in praying for revival. Of course, it can also be argued that the Holy Spirit convicts people of the evils of such things, and that people who do them are not going to be in church or will just sit and pretend to be Godly because their hearts aren't right or perhaps they never trusted Jesus Christ to save them in the first place.

Whichever the case is, domestic violence is an evil which must be stopped. The way to do it is by changing our attitude toward others.

Proper Attitudes About Relationships - Eliminating Lust

Before, such as here, the need was discussed to center our focus on others and not ourselves. That is certainly part of it. When we realize other people matter, we will be kinder and more considerate and realize that some people have handicaps, for instance, like I do with several physical and developmental ones. However, it goes beyond just helping a blind person see something that you can see perfectly well.

The important part is to recognize that while we refer to girlfriends, boyfriends, spouses, and children as "ours" in one sense, they really aren't in another sense. Oh, relation ally, there is a logical sense that, yes, you are related to someone in such and such a way - "this is the computer's mouse" means that mouse is used by that computer - but relation does not equal possession. Any mouse could be used as long as it's compatible, to use that example further.

Relationships were created by God before the fall of man - Adam and Eve are married in Genesis 2:24-25, while sin doesn't come into the world till the next chapter. After sinc omes in, there is suddenly disputing and arguing and the chance for all sorts of things. Physical lusts suddenly existed when they didn't before. Instead of automatically being a perfect situation, a relationship takes work on all parts - A healthy relationship requires communication, and that communication is easily broken if we're not careful.

This is where that lust comes in. Even without that problem in language, there is that desire to make a relationship everything we want rather than working together toward a common goal. It's as if the eye and the ear, working together in a body, suddenly decide they want to do different things. Or, worse yet, the left leg and the right leg try to go off in different directions.

Some central processing unit is needed. God provides that processing unit through his Word, the Bible, which tells us to love one another, to edify (build up) one another, to be subject to one another  and to work with one another. The Bible never commands one side to boss the other around and doesn't even allow it, in fact. As that one link said, Eve was created from Adam's side, not his head or foot.

And, parents are to be examples of Godly love, compassion, gentleness, kindness, and so on, teaching their children to be part of that loving unit by co-operating and becoming kind, caring people who will not act selfishly. Just as most if not all of the boys have been taught who were being so kind when that girl was being so pushy.

If one party is not able to be a spiritual leader, that God commands, another shoudl take over and try to work themselves out of a job jsut like a missionary would. This free blog book, based on the Shunemmite woman's story beginning in 2 Kings 4:8, shows how, and should be widely distributed.

We need the courage to stand up for woman and children because they need protection. Yes, at times we must sand up against female abusers, too; we should always look at the facts of a case as well. However, we must be willing to take a stand for the absolute right and wrong that God commands us to have in protecting those who are mistreated, so that they know they can feel safe in coming to us and that we will stand for them and against abusers. Look at it as getting an abuser help if you must, but we as a society should not accept what is really just a form of lust - a lust for power, power that is not our right to have. There is never any reason to hit a woman, and in fact even nonverbal abuse is wrong because we are not meant to force others to do anything in a relationship. We are supposed to lovingly guide. (Yes, even discipline of children, though it may have to be harsh at times, should NEVER be about brutality and power but has to be about showing Godliness by guiding them in a Christlike manner to be examples of Godly character themselves, by showing those fruits of the Spirit so they will want to copy and will know how. You might, as that blog book shows, even be able to be the one a kid copies who isn't your own, becasue we all need role models and some kids need to use other adults as those models of good behavior.)

This iswhy such violence is wrong - communication must be the center of every relationship, and adults are able to verbalize their concerns without such threats against someone who is less able physically. If a person has trouble, they must walk away till they're calm; against part of that meekness Jesus had and that we should have, too.

In fact, I'll go a step further and say that the entire appetite for lusts is way off. There are many better things to do than that, and it should be an honor to be a virgin. Sadly, not everyone will be, but there is no excuse for any man to be taking advantage of someone. If one man wants to do stuff with a woman outside marriage that's one thing, even though it's sin and cheapens it, but life is not a video game and there should be no competition or guys getting together in what was created to be a very special time for one man and oen woman to share! God created that stuff to be done within marriage as a special thing between a husband and wife, in fact! No woman should ever be put in a situation where she feels pressured into doing something she doesn't want to - and no man should, either!

After all, God gives freedom, the freedom that He provided on the cross when He died to take the punishment for our sins and rose from the dead. Each of us is only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life. It's a prayer one can pray right now - just Admit you're a sinner and fall short of God's protection, Believe that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died for your sins and rose from the dead, and Call on Him to save you, Choosing to let Him make you new inside and forgive and cleanse you and come live in you.

Once you trust Him to save you, He makes you new inside.He will grow the Fruit of the Spirit(Gal.5:22-23) in you. You can do it right now where you are. And, go he to e-mail with someone and get gerat encouragement.