Without Me

O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23, Proverbs 16:1,9)

There is a purpose in all our lives. We either choose our own purpose or we choose God’s. There are only two options. Sadly, many choose their own. God plays no part in many lives. Going to church and sitting in a pew every week doesn’t make one a Christian. Being a certain denomination doesn’t make one a Christian either. I know these words will grate on some nerves but it is the truth, even a truth I had to learn...and continue to learn. 

Scriptures, whether Old or New Testament, either point to God or Jesus. Since Jesus is the Word of God (NT) and was in the beginning at creation (OT), it points to Jesus as also God. 

The Bible wasn’t written just for history. There was another very good reason, that being the Gospel message and the history involved in the purpose of that message. Christ was hidden in the rites, regulations, laws and actual things in the Old Testament so that when He became man in the New Testament (becoming THE New Testament) we would recognize Him. I hope that makes sense! All He was in the Old Testament was revealed through the New Testament. 

Anyway, I heard a song the other day. It’s difficult to find online and the songwriter not very well known. But he minces no words when he writes. He’s a humble Christian country songwriter who shares what he has seen in the Church, North America (he’s Canadian) and the world. How the Church has come down to the level of the world instead of maintaining its rise above it. How new preaching, new ways of doing church and worship are shaping the Church today, watering down the hard Gospel message of Jesus Christ. 

Sadly, the world is buying in to it: the love of Christ only being preached instead of His hard words of truth...the gentle, loving words He spoke highlighted and those verses of His rebukes, ignored. The verse from Romans 3:23...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...has not much clout anymore. Nor does Galatians 3:22...But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. These include you and me! None of us are good, unless we know Jesus Christ and have received Him as our Lord and Savior.

Belief and faith in Christ are not like of those listed in Hebrews 11 (read it, please!). Today very little of hell is preached. Funerals are choked with because someone was deemed a good person they must be in heaven...or there’s another angel up there now. I am so saddened to hear this. Where are the words he/she gave her life to the Lord and followed steadfastly and endured to the end, trusting in Him all along the way. Scriptures are plucked out that make us warm and fuzzy but so often no Gospel message preached, allowing others end up where this really good, kind person might really have gone. 

I’m being blunt. I sound unkind. I’m angry at many of these Churches and denominations of today. Many souls are being lost. I’m sad and angry with preachers who claim we can have all our blessings now, today! Those preachers who claim God is telling them to ask for funds for their private jets and obscene mansions, speaking absolute nonsense. These people will be responsible for even many more lost souls. There will be a special, extremely hot place for them someday if they don’t repent, like we should all do, of not wanting or seeking after truth, and desiring to live as Christ wants us. Not just loving someone but willing to speak truth in love, and taking the criticism of others, with a desire not for someone to go to hell but that they would receive the real truth and real life. 

Bottom line, this singer has some hard words to share. They will not be sung in churches unless he is invited to perform but they tell one story after another of how the Church is failing. I’m very glad that I am in a church where truth is preached, no outside books or authors are used for Bible study, and hard words are shared, where children are welcomed in the sanctuary, worship is real, love and fellowship warm...and we don’t need entertainment or movie nights, egg hunts, baptism parties or special programs to lure people in. You either like us or you don’t. But I can tell you this, you will hear the truth of God's (hard, sometimes) Word.

So, here are the words to a song I wish I could share via YouTube! The writer is Trevor Baker. From Canada. 

That’s Your Life:

I know this life we live down here is simpler than we make it.

But most of us just take this special gift of God and break it.

We chase the wind and look for sin in cold and forbidden places.

But our hearts are left so empty and it shows upon our faces.

Then heaven reaches down and says “I know just where you’re hurtin’.

Come and follow Me, I’ll fill that void for certain.”

The sweetest picture that I’ve seen is of a child who’s praying. 

You don’t have to understand those jumbled words they’re saying.

Something tells you God is not so big He wouldn’t listen.

That a voice that’s almost audible says “this is what you’re missing.”

Bigger men than you have found life’s answer on their knees.

But you don’t have to wait to go there, till you really feel the squeeze.

There’s something saying, that’s your life.

Hmmmm mmmmm mmmm mmmm.

Now, I don’t need to put the brakes on all that you’ve been doing.

But have you ever stopped to think of what it is that you're pursuing?

Cars and trucks and houses are for living not for showing.

Money’s not some god that’s for stashing or for blowing. 

Even when you win the game or climb the highest mountain,

Still you’re coming up so short of all the things that you’ve been counting.

Remember that one Christmas when your heart was feeling tender?

Or that moment late one night you nearly said, “God I will surrender?”

The time your heart was broken and you threw your hands up high?

When your friend was slowly dying and you just kept asking why?

In all of those occurrences you came so very close

To opening yourself up to what really matters most.

There’s something saying, that’s your life. 

Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm

What I’m singing isn’t complicated laws of rocket science 

But it requires some action on your part, some overdue compliance.

You know you’re going somewhere, not just pushing up some daisies.

And all this God stuff isn’t just for grandmas and for crazies.

You have thrown the baby out with all that dirty water.

You’ve been at odds with God; HE SO LONGS TO BE YOUR FATHER.

There’s something saying, that’s your life.... that’s your life.... that’s your life.

John 15:5-6 - I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the FIRE, and they are burned.

Grace and Peace

The best grace and peace can be ours! It would be wise to grab hold of them now. Know the truth and be set free. 

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the KNOWLEDGE of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO life and godliness, THROUGH the knowledge of Him who CALLED us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us EXCEEDINGLY GREAT A ND PREVIOUS PROMISES, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

(‭‭2Peter‬ ‭1:2-4‬)

For A Little While

1Peter‬ ‭1:6-9‬ ‭- In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 

How is your faith? Do you have faith? Who or what is that faith in? If it is not in Jesus, the hard truth is you have put your faith in something that cannot come through. Man or things cannot trusted. There is only One we can trust. 

So, we go through trials in our lives. We all do. This we cannot deny. So if we have faith in Jesus alone, He will help us get through. Faith is knowing and trusting in that truth.

Perseverance and patience are also good traits to have. Persevere until He returns or our lives end. And be patient for both! We know we will all die but we can also know He will return. I’d like to still be alive when He does. It will be difficult because there is another, not so wonderful promise...that no matter what we see in this work right now, how society has changed and things are getting out of hand, it will only get worse. Sorry! But if we can persevere...and it better start now.

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James‬ ‭1:12-13‬)

Until He returns we are asked to establish our hearts. I see that as strengthening our faith...again, not in earthly things or man, but in our Lord Jesus. We must be patient for His return. He will, you know. Will He find you looking to Him? Can you honestly say your faith is in Him? 

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ... (1Peter‬ ‭1:13‬)  

I can’t say it enough. We have to know Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. That revelation knowledge. He must be the center of our lives, not through man’s rituals but through faith in Him. Establish your heart today.

James‬ ‭5:7-8‬ - Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

A More Excellent Name

Hebrews 1:1-4 - God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Read that again taking in every word slowly. No glossing!!

All throughout the Bible God has spoken of something better to come. Something important. Someone who would come to bring this dead world. It was concealed within and throughout the Old Testament but nonetheless written that we might know the signs in days to come and today that all that was prophesied was true.

Of course, this is Jesus. Intricate details of sacrifices, temples and their furniture and utensils pointed to Him. People were appointed by God to do marvelous, albeit at the time, outlandish things that made no sense (like Noah building an ark for a flood from heavy rains which had never existed). Moses. the miracles and the exodus. People, who were types of a future deliverer, One to come.

When this Jesus came into ministry He came to abolish the need for endless sacrifices and became that one Deliverer, that one Promise of a better life, eternal life.

He was not only concealed in the Old Testament, He was seen through the gloriousness of creation because the One to come was there creating by His undeniably brilliant, awesome spoken word!! Creating things only He could.

People, there is no One greater than He. Jesus. Nothing is hidden from Him, not even our thoughts. Only He has the power over life and death. He holds your life and where you will go when you die. There are only two places. There’s no in between where family can buy your way out. Look in the Bible. See if it’s written there. Only heaven and hell are spoken of in various ways. There's only good and evil, black and white. There is no being kinda good. Either you are for Him or against Him. Neutrality does not exist for Him.

God, in His excellent name, created all things and He will remove all things bad. He will allow some in this world to dig themselves graves through wrong living, called sin, yet is always offering them chances at knowing and receiving His Son for the forgiveness of their sins. We cannot assume we know Him. We must know Him.

Many in this world live by church rules, all man made, like the Old Testament priests. Jesus came to do away with those rules to establish instead a relationship with Him. However, those laws are still important because they are there to show us what sin is...so we may know Him. We can never achieve to perfection any of those laws, but Jesus was the perfect sacrificial Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world. That's what it’s all about. It’s why He was killed, because religious men were threatened by this Man who came with a new message of hope, not through rituals but through grace and relationship.

No one else should be honored more greatly than the One whose name IS more excellent. He calls everyone but not everyone hears or listens. He says the sheep hear His voice. Do you? Will you? Will you listen? Your life depends on it!

Philippians 2:9-11 - Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1Timothy 1:13-15 - ... I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

We all start in darkness, blindness, ignorance, unbelief and denial. But God...

Oh, that unbelief. We can know who Jesus is and still not have belief. Even churches vary in their beliefs. Some teach unsound doctrine, twist scripture or teach outright falsities. It's why we need to know Jesus and the truth of His Word, not a man's.

So here we have the Apostle Paul. He admits to have been (one of) the worst of the worst. He has shared a lot in the Epistles of the New Testament of his conversion, the truth that was revealed to him, the change that took place and his eventual dedication to God and sharing of the Gospel wherever he was sent.

We think we know it all. We think we know what we need to know for right now, today, for whatever suits us. There is a world beyond ourselves and our wants. Sure, we need money, food, a house and transportation. God allows us certain niceties too.

However, it’s not about the here and now but about eternity. It's about all of us sinners that Jesus came to die for. The Bible says, For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (1John 2:16)  We have things in this world to get us by, but our eternal life is what is most important. Ask anyone who has gotten dreadful health news or gone bankrupt or everything lost in a fire. Sometimes we have to lose something in order to know what’s most important. Jesus said this: For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36)  Nothing more important than your soul. The Word says to lose is to gain.

The Bible also shows us that if we choose to trust in Christ, all we need (not want) will be given to us, those things necessary for life. Through our knowledge of Him and gaining His wisdom we realize the important things. We’ll be satisfied with basics. I don’t care about the size of my house but I do so enjoy seeing what’s outside the windows. To watch God's creation grow, flourish, fade and die knowing it will start all over again! Wow. God doing what He does.

So, where am I heading with these thoughts?? I was a sinner saved by the grace and mercy of our God. I had nothing to contribute to this but accepting His offer. The truth of Christ became part of my life. I see what’s most important. I love that I can talk directly to God and know He hears and even answers requests. I love that there are people in my life who share this wisdom, who can spend time talking about the things of God, who just understand. There’s a unity and it’s center cord is Christ. Had it not been for Him I’d still be in darkness, blindness, ignorance, unbelief and denial. We can all have those conversion moments, maybe not all like Paul’s, but it can happen. We are all ignorant of the real truth until we really yearn for it.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus...(1Timothy 2:3-5)

1John 5:20 - And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.