Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Resource on our country, FYI.
If you ever want to research the beginnings of our country, Dave Meyer (Joyce Meyer Ministries)has good information you can get. He has researched this thoroughly and sadly there are many American Christians who actually believe there was meant to be a church & state separation and don't know the actual foundations of this country were Godly, Biblical principles. America is a Christian country with the freedom for people to make their own choices about religion, but it is becoming an ungodly nation that is removing the very God our money says to trust from its fabric. Let's not be uninformed believers. Satan does his best work in darkness. Scripture says "resist the devil an he will flee from you". Can you imagine how fast he would flee if all Christians in the country put up a real solid resistance to his advances? The servant's heart should be to please the Father's heart. To all things in life believers must ask "does this glorify God?" and if not, what our responsibility is should be our very next thought.
Faith-Based Citizens
If you are an American and you are a Christian it is your obligation to know what is happening in this country and do your part in doing whatever you can to preserve our God given rights & uphold our Constitution. It is a privilege to live in the USA. Don't be blind to what is happening under our very noses, or too busy to let unconscionable people ruin the future of your children & grandchildren. I have never been interested in "politics" but I AM interested in the government I will live under in old age, and the government my grandchildren will live under.
Yes, I believe this is part of the move into end times, but that doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing...we "fight the good fight" and we will hear "well done, good and faithful servant". If you can do nothing else...pray. Prayer moves mountains. I do not care what party you belong to, but Christianity by its very definition can only be conservative in values. Jesus wasn't morally liberal regardless of what today's denominations may be endorsing. Remember, Christianity is not man's religion...it is relationship with Jesus, the only compass we should be using for our decisions.
My best suggestion if you want honest reporting is to listen to Sean Hannity on FOX News, and to Mike Huckabee also. If you have more time, listen to Glenn Beck, The O'Reilly Factor, and Greta Van Sustren. Go to town hall meetings, write your representatives, and voice your opinions. This is part of what makes America a democracy, and if we don't stand up & be counted now, we may wake up one day in the not too distant future to find our children are living under a Socialist government.
Remember, God is NOT the author of confusion, and when bait & switch tactics are used by a government to distract it's citizens, that is confusion.
If anyone wants to know more about things from this writer's perspective feel free to email me. I have been trying to keep up with it, and I am personally outraged at the ideas that have come into our vision in the past 7 months...not surprised, as many of you most likely are not either. Our nation WAS founded on Godly principles by Godly men, and it has strayed far from that and has taken a serious nose dive of late.
Yes, I believe this is part of the move into end times, but that doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing...we "fight the good fight" and we will hear "well done, good and faithful servant". If you can do nothing else...pray. Prayer moves mountains. I do not care what party you belong to, but Christianity by its very definition can only be conservative in values. Jesus wasn't morally liberal regardless of what today's denominations may be endorsing. Remember, Christianity is not man's religion...it is relationship with Jesus, the only compass we should be using for our decisions.
My best suggestion if you want honest reporting is to listen to Sean Hannity on FOX News, and to Mike Huckabee also. If you have more time, listen to Glenn Beck, The O'Reilly Factor, and Greta Van Sustren. Go to town hall meetings, write your representatives, and voice your opinions. This is part of what makes America a democracy, and if we don't stand up & be counted now, we may wake up one day in the not too distant future to find our children are living under a Socialist government.
Remember, God is NOT the author of confusion, and when bait & switch tactics are used by a government to distract it's citizens, that is confusion.
If anyone wants to know more about things from this writer's perspective feel free to email me. I have been trying to keep up with it, and I am personally outraged at the ideas that have come into our vision in the past 7 months...not surprised, as many of you most likely are not either. Our nation WAS founded on Godly principles by Godly men, and it has strayed far from that and has taken a serious nose dive of late.
Friday, August 14, 2009
New visitor?
If you are a new visitor to this new blog and like what you see, please also visit www.divineappointments.vpweb.com/
If you want to suggest a topic or submit a photo reflecting the glory of God, email me at ecbcfbt@gmail.com
May God bless your every step.
Shalom,
Liz
If you want to suggest a topic or submit a photo reflecting the glory of God, email me at ecbcfbt@gmail.com
May God bless your every step.
Shalom,
Liz
A rending...
Has there been spiritual conflict in your heart? Does it seem that you are torn between this and that service, or here and there to serve? Are you conflicted about this interpretation or that opinion? Have the circumstances of your life tested your very sanity? The curtain in the temple was rent when the greatest lasting change took place on the earth. Luke 23:45. This removed the barrier to the Holy of Holies so man could enter in without the High Priest. Perhaps the rending of your heart is to remove a barrier between you and God? We tend to push ourselves in various directions, and we tend to push each other down many paths, but Jesus wishes to lead us down his path for us. If there is conflict in your spirit it may be there for a reason. Be still, and listen for his voice. Ask for discernment and peace. God allows things for a reason, and if there is a rending in your spirit God may be bringing about change, and you will then know (even if you do not see it) the path to follow. Look at Jesus' parable in Lk.5:36 Sometimes the rending in our spirit is because the old and the new in our life are not matching up...that is when change comes about. God may want to take us to a higher level, to a deeper conviction, or perhaps to a whole new place in our love relationship with him. It is times like this often when a scripture we never saw clearly or understood before becomes so apparent, so look up the topic of your conflict in his word. He may show you a new thing that will bless you immensely. Never miss an opportunity to grow in God. Never resist the work of his spirit in you. Just embrace the work and growth and run with God, for he will never leave you or forsake you. You are his servant and he desires to bless your heart and out of that blessing he will in turn bless others through you. Don't try to make the things of God happen, but rather allow them to happen. Don't despise the conflict in your heart, but rather ask God to change you. This is the reality of sanctification. Therein lies the shaping of the servant's heart.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
DONKEY BEFORE THE CART
Servant was resting in the evening, reflecting on God's order of things. How often servants get it all mixed up or even worse, don't even consider it. Envisioning Jesus appearing for supper one night servant began to look at what the Lord had laid out in his word and would no doubt share were it asked of him. Would not "commandments" trump everything? Most likely, and all the servants knew what they were...oh, they might not know them in order or exactly by heart, but most knew the substance of them and that was what most mattered...that they knew enough to have their heart convict them if they strayed. But then, Jesus had said there was a "greatest" commandment...see Mt. 22:35-40. It was to love God and your neighbor. He had said everything else hung on that! If we love God and our neighbor we WILL obey the others. We are all sinners saved by grace, and we will stumble & fall (SIN) but it will not be our "lifestyle", for when we accepted Christ as our Lord & Savior we became new and began a process of change that would go on for the rest of the journey. Because of the Holy Spirit operating in us, if Jesus were at supper with us he would tell us we are to be a growing reflection of him, and consider our neighbor above ourselves servant concluded.
From love, Jesus would tell us, comes obedience and that is how we do not violate the other laws. No matter what religion we are associated with, or church we attend, we are all ultimately responsible for our own correct adherence to what the Lord asks of us. This requires understanding and wisdom, so servant thought that Jesus would say to always ask for those things when reading the Father's manual for life. Jesus left the ordinances of baptism and The Lord's Supper and clear instruction about what they meant. One was to publicly declare our allegiance to him, having once asked him to live within us. Mt. 3:2 "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"...servant thought that it really didn't get much clearer. The order was there...from love for God repentance comes, and from that same love declaration to the world of salvation follows. John was sent to baptize the new "believers"...those who had accepted Jesus as Savior & Lord of their life, which required understanding. The other ordinance was meant to call our attention regularly to the sacrifice Christ made for us. A wise man once told servant some things are "you don't have to, but you get to" and that seemed to flow with the love/obedience order of ordinances as well as commandments.
Servant wondered about the principle of tithing. Was it a "have to" or a "get to"? Jesus had once said that he loved a cheerful giver and that there were matters more important than the tithe! Mt. 23:23 The Father had also said we could test him in this. Servant pondered that perhaps knowing man's innate greediness he allowed a test because man's wisdom would kick in and then his love would take over and he would "cheerfully" give the tithe. Sounded like another "get to" and that the Father knew love was more important than money ever could be, and love would also propel servants to tithe. It is a principle set forth by the word of God, but more importantly it is a love response inspired by the love of God for us. Giving out of love for God is far more rewarding than giving out of legality servant thought, and he reflected that the Father probably felt that way too. So there is the order of things servant surmised...love comes first, then giving to God.
From love, Jesus would tell us, comes obedience and that is how we do not violate the other laws. No matter what religion we are associated with, or church we attend, we are all ultimately responsible for our own correct adherence to what the Lord asks of us. This requires understanding and wisdom, so servant thought that Jesus would say to always ask for those things when reading the Father's manual for life. Jesus left the ordinances of baptism and The Lord's Supper and clear instruction about what they meant. One was to publicly declare our allegiance to him, having once asked him to live within us. Mt. 3:2 "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"...servant thought that it really didn't get much clearer. The order was there...from love for God repentance comes, and from that same love declaration to the world of salvation follows. John was sent to baptize the new "believers"...those who had accepted Jesus as Savior & Lord of their life, which required understanding. The other ordinance was meant to call our attention regularly to the sacrifice Christ made for us. A wise man once told servant some things are "you don't have to, but you get to" and that seemed to flow with the love/obedience order of ordinances as well as commandments.
Servant wondered about the principle of tithing. Was it a "have to" or a "get to"? Jesus had once said that he loved a cheerful giver and that there were matters more important than the tithe! Mt. 23:23 The Father had also said we could test him in this. Servant pondered that perhaps knowing man's innate greediness he allowed a test because man's wisdom would kick in and then his love would take over and he would "cheerfully" give the tithe. Sounded like another "get to" and that the Father knew love was more important than money ever could be, and love would also propel servants to tithe. It is a principle set forth by the word of God, but more importantly it is a love response inspired by the love of God for us. Giving out of love for God is far more rewarding than giving out of legality servant thought, and he reflected that the Father probably felt that way too. So there is the order of things servant surmised...love comes first, then giving to God.
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