While reading a Word from the Lord on the Elm Street Blog this morning the Lord Spoke this to me:
Matthew 5:17-20:
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
That's a tall order folks!
In this touchy feely, "Your ok, I'm ok, we're all ok," luke warm, wishy washy thing, that calls itself the modern, up and coming church today, where does the above scripture find its place?
There is no place for Righteousness, every one does what seems right in his or her own eyes.
Jesus Said:
Matthew 10:22
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
How does that scripture fit into todays touchy feely, I want to be accepted by the world kind of mentality?
Timothy said:
2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
The Lord gave me this scripture a long time ago:
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
It seems that it is a fact, that the world loving church does not believe that Jesus is to return any time soon, that He doesn't care how we behave, how much we love the world and the things of the world. He doesn't care how much be borrow from the world, their music, their movies, and put His name to it, and pass it off as Holy, a sacrifice to Him, a way to win the lost. Are we totally mad, have we totally lost our way?
It seems so.
Why are we so bold as to chant that God doesnt change, and act in a way that shows that we do belive He changes?
Why we don't believe that the Holy Spirit is the one who draws men and women to salvation....we need a warm fuzzy movie, we need some head banging music, God needs our help to modernize things, He certainly doesn't have the power to reach souls in this day and age without kicking it up a notch...why we need coffee shops in church....gotta feed the cravings...gotta make the church as enticing as the world. Oh how far from the heart of God and the Truth of His Word we have fallen?
1 Samuel 15:22-23
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Obedience is better than any sacrifice, we can make unto the Lord, and to listen and take heed to His Word, is what He requires. Folks we can break our necks doing what we belive to be good things for the Lord but if they are not in line with His Word they are nothing but filthy rags before Him and fit for nothing but to be burned.
God does not change He is the same today as He was yesterday as He shall be tomorrow, we don't need to invent ways to win people to Jesus, we have one duty, that is to allow His righteousness to shine through our lives. Sadly it seems we no longer have any concept of what righteousness is. Jesus said "If you love Me you will keep My Commandments."
Who and what do you love more today? Is it important to you that your in right standing with The Most High?
If you love The Truth, you will be spared what is to come. If you do not love the truth you will be turned over to believe a lie, and you will be damned.
This blog is designed to make you "think". Also to encourage,exhort,edify and "Warn" the saints of God as we see the day of The Lord on the horrizon.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
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4 comments:
Something to think about: which commandments has the church decided to throw out because they are supposedly legalism? If we are born again, given a new heart, one with the law written in it (which was always the promise of the new covenant) why is it deemed a legalistic burden to walk in His commandments? If it is written in our new hearts, isn't obeying it our heart's desire? If the LORD does not change, which part of His Law does He not care about anymore? Jesus came to fulfill the Law, but He doesn't change either. He comes to fulfill it still - in us. As we walk in Him and surrender to Him and obey Him, we will find ourselves walking in His commandments because that is His promise. They bring light to the eyes and joy to the heart. His Commandments were not new. When He said love God and love your neighbor, that was just the bottom line of all the existing Commandments. When John said the Word became flesh, he was talking about the Word of God, the Commandments and Promises which describe God's character, the Torah, becoming flesh.
Unfortunately, the church has brainwashed us into thinking this is a dangerous thing, as if we are falling away from the faith to freely choose to obey any outward commands. It is true that our righteousness must exceed mere outward obedience, but that doesn't change the outward requirement. And it is true that our Righteousness is Jesus, and that we ourselves can't measure up, but Jesus in us is going to live according to His eternal Word if we yield to Him, and He will give us freedom and joy as we believe and yield.
When I was a new believer and, as I mentioned in a previous comment under Others May, You Cannot, I began being taught by the Holy Spirit certain things about the way He wanted me to live, which He always showed me in the Bible, and I didn't even know what was in there yet. He is still showing me things I didn't notice before. I don't judge people who have not been taught the same things as I have yet, because the Holy Spirit is responsible for convicting us and leading us into all truth in His time. He doesn't show us everything at once, but as we are able to receive it and ready to walk in it. We don't all have the same issues and the same calling and function, we are not supposed to be cookie-cutter Christians, but unique vessels for various uses. Something the Holy Spirit tells me I cannot do could very well be something He permits others to do without blame. (I'm not talking about things like sexual sin or drunkenness or those kinds of blatant things.) They won't be guilty just because I tell them about it and they don't believe it, but only when He tells them and shows them in the Word and they say, "Yes I see that but I don't care. I don't love the truth enough to die to myself and let You live that way through me."
People caught up in the church world and steeped in its way of doing things, even many who appear to have a strong walk and deep devotion, often agree with all the statements I just made above until I give a practical example of it in my own life. Sometimes I don't even have to say anything, they just observe me abstain from certain things and get in my face wanting to know why. Excuse me? And if I get fed up and say exactly why, even though it's often nobody's business (maybe I'm only fasting from something temporarily), that's when they start gnashing their teeth and hurling abuse and saying I have a religious spirit and calling me names! And I think, wait a minute, who started it, I was over here quietly minding my own business, so just who is trying to put who in bondage?
Does this happen to you too? It's crazy!
Outstnding Amy!!! I have tryed to say what you have sad here so many times and almost no one gets it. We try to live out all of God's Torah commands in spirit and in truth. This is not a heavy burden for us It is a joy. Yeshua has given us a love for obeying His whole Word. Not perfectly by any means but we love to try.
Peter.
Helen,
First of all, I want to say amen to what you wrote. It is at the very root of what God is speaking to those who will listen. If our righteousness does not exceed that of the Pharisees, if we do not be hearers and doers of the word and love being obedient to the Lord, than we will not enter into the kingdom of God. They praised Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him. It is sad that so many are going to think that they have lived their life for God, when really they never chose to buy of God oil (Holy Spirit) when all who were around them, and even the Master was saying to get oil. I have never understood the depths of the parable comparing the five wise as I do today. I believe much of what we are seeing today are those who seem to be saying the right things, but are not led by the Spirit of God.
We must have the Spirit of God living in us and through us everyday. We must not think on what man can do to us, or what man will think, but rather wake up everyday putting on the mind of Christ and dying to ourselves. You are right in saying God is looking for those who will be obedient. The truth is, He finds no pleasure in disobedience and only those who love to live their life according to the leading of the Spirit will God take pleasure in.
Amy,
What you spoke is true. There will come a time in every Christian's life (true Christians, those who live to be Christ like in every way) where the love of the Truth, the love of everything Jesus said and did will be so great in us that keeping His commandment will be a joy to do (it reminds me of the first song I heard when I realized who Jesus was in my life, the lyrics say 'And it's my joy to honor You').
This is an interesting topic, especially since many of us at the chapel, at different times, have been talking about how important it is to keep our eyes fixed on God. In the times to come, and even now, there will be people that seem to be so close to the truth, look the same and talk the same, but there will come a time when one will be taken and one will be left. When one will be accepted by God and brought into His chamber, and one whose end is the words "depart from Me for I never knew you." We must live our lives everyday knowing that there is nothing between us and God, and I believe the best way to do this is to ask God that He may answer clearly in our ears.
In the end, we must all work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We must choose daily to love the peace of God and love to hear His voice more than anything in this life for it is in this that we know who are God's and who are not (His sheep know His voice).
God bless,
Ryan
Wow Helen, so true - and Amy also, thank you! Yes, the Bible is so clear that we are to obey His commandments, and far from being legalism, when led by His Spirit, they are our life, our freedom and His very character in us. The sadness in seeing so many false converts who accuse us of legalism (I relate to your experience there, Amy) live like they never even opened their Bibles.....and yet, even a babe in Christ truly filled with His Spirit is taught of God and begins walking in His ways before they have even read all their Bible or understood it, as you also said Amy.
"We must choose daily to love the peace of God and love to hear His voice more than anything in this life for it is in this that we know who are God's and who are not (His sheep know His voice)." Amen to that also Ryan, and I just commented on Dave's latest post, that this is a desire for me more than ever, as I have not spent the time in prayer and communion with Him lately as I should, and as a result, I have not been listening as I should. Love to all, prayers appreciated.
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