Posts filed under ‘Religious – Christian – End Times’
You Are a Fragrance to the World
I’m willing to bet that even as Paul set off for Damascus where he chased down Christian after Christian (these were Jews who had converted, not Gentile Christians) in anger (Acts 8:3), God was busy using Paul’s recollections of Stephen’s death and the forgiveness he had evidenced for his murderers to thoroughly soften Paul’s heart. It worked. Though he may have begun in a form of righteous anger immediately after the death of Stephen, God would not let Paul off the hook, so He continued to bring that scene to his mind repeatedly. I imagine Paul’s recollection of that event and his trying to convince himself that Stephen “deserved” it was part of what gave Paul his anger toward Jewish Christians. But God used that for other purposes and God won the day.
Why Did God Tell Zedekiah to Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar?
So does the situation with Zedekiah and Israel provide us with information that is helpful for Christians today, who live in such a corrupt nation as America? I’m treading very lightly here when I say that I believe there is an application that Christians can apply to their own lives. I would also like to issue a caution flag. You, the reader, are ultimately responsible for how you perceive not only God’s Word, but how you receive what I (or anyone) teach. Take what I say and compare them with Scripture. If you believe I have missed the mark, then so be it. You need to follow what you believe God states or implies in His Word. As for me, I believe God is getting me to see that resistance to a corrupt government is often futile and causes more problems. I’m not talking about resisting criminals in day to day living. I’m talking about the people that God has allowed to be in leadership positions and who oversee the laws of this nation and the tone that is created in society because of that.
God Told Zedekiah to Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar
Jeremiah had been warning about the eventual fall of Jerusalem, precipitated by Nebuchadnezzar, but it did finally arrive. The day came and it came with a vengeance. Can you imagine living inside a city where you know there is an army outside, building ramps and things in order to be able to get into your city? Let’s remember what God had said to King Zedekiah. He said that if Zedekiah went out to the officers (to surrender), all would be well. Oh, he would be taken captive, but he would survive along with his entire household. Moreover, Jerusalem would not be trashed and burnt to the ground.
What Does It Really Mean When God Says to Come Out of Her?
Yes, there is an application here. I believe it is this: When the world’s system (Babylon) starts invading your local church, you can try to stand against it through prayer and discussion with leadership. You will probably fail though because the world’s system cannot get into the local church without permission of the leadership. By the time you notice it, it’s already been approved by the leadership. If you can’t get leadership to see the problem, you are left with only two choices. First, you can stay and continue to pray while you quietly work to wake people up. If you do this, know that you will likely come under fire and you may eventually be seen as someone who is working against “God.” Second, you can simply leave.
When Marketing Replaces the Holy Spirit We Get Corporate Christianity
The sad fact of the matter is that because religious organizations are too often seen as corporate structures, the same type of abuse that happens in secular humanistic organizations can and does happen in religious ones. The difference though is that the abuse that occurs within churches, parachurches, and other religious organizations is often done under the guise of biblical doctrine and theology. It’s enough to make the average Christian puke. No wonder Jesus says what He says about most of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. It’s sickening.
Too Many Christian Leaders Act Like Demagogues or Bullies
Here’s what I see happening today. Christian leaders in expensive suits, with “best-selling” after their names, who have power and money and name recognition. Too often, it is verboten to critique or criticize these individuals because they have too many (virulent) followers who will come after you with all manner of evocative in your face finger jabbing techniques and acrimony. But isn’t that also part of the problem?
Our Amazing Eyes and Seeing Through a Glass Darkly
But one day, according to Paul, the things we cannot see now, but surely exist, will be seen. This will occur after we leave our “tents,” our physical bodies behind, exchanging them for new ones that will no longer be affected by sin. Those bodies will be free of the sin nature and the ravages of sin itself. There will not only be no death, no sickness, no fatigue, no need to sleep (though I imagine that if we chose to sleep, it would be sleep like we’ve never experienced!), no real limitations on us. We will literally see and hear what we’ve been missing!
Continue Reading November 4, 2015 at 12:01 PM Leave a comment
It’s Not the Career Necessarily But Living Like a Christian In Your Career That Counts
I now understand more fully that it is not only okay to use our gifts in our career choice, but that we should, and it now makes perfect sense. In any job, we should comport ourselves entirely in a way that brings God glory. This alone creates a testimony that speaks to others, without having to be preachy. Chances are excellent that opportunities will come our way to use our mouths to point others to Jesus. Years ago, I thought all Christians needed to be in some sort of official ministry. Not anymore. God has people He wants to reach in the corporate world, the political world, and the entertainment world. He needs people who want to pursue those areas so that they can be a witness for Him. Certainly, there are temptations and traps in any field and it is necessary for the Christian to avoid them all, but not to necessarily avoid the career path itself.
Continue Reading November 2, 2015 at 4:44 PM Leave a comment
Prayer and Praise, Part 5
But I also wonder if sometimes, Christians who experience these healings (or medical “cures”) sometimes come to a point of starting to believe that God provided the healing because of their faith in the matter and not because He simply chose to heal according to His will and purposes? I see some whose cancers are in remission and who are living a full life because of it and I wonder if they are often tempted to think that their “faith” made them whole, or “allowed” God to “heal” them?
Prayer and Praise, Part 4
Yet, what do we Christians do all too often? We pray for specifics to a certain situation and often we do so before we even truly know what God’s will is and we rarely, if ever add the words, “yet, not mine, but thy will be done” to our prayers. We tend to think of those words as being “defeatist.” How can we really “believe” God will provide the answer we are looking for if we add those words to the mix? Answer: we can’t believe He will do what we ask, so we don’t add those words.
StudyGrowKnow 