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Vida4U “Purchased Peace” 

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 2 Cor 5:18&19 (to whom has He reconciled us to? To Himself!! Let that sink in. Not an angel, not even a Seraphim (super angel) but to Himself).

To reconcile, a word used of the Divine work of redemption, insofar as God Himself is the only one who can change the course of man. From Eternal Damnation to Eternal Salvation, He Himself is the only one who can make for Himself a fitting sacrifice to save man. No one else is Holy enough, Pure enough, or loving enough to be able to suffer the wrath of a Holy God’s hatred of sin without becoming damned themselves. We hear and teach that  Jesus took our sin, that He died on the Cross, and that is true, but in our ignorance, we have no concept of all the moving pieces or requirements or the suffering that had to be endured that would make the Son of God our Redemption/Atonement/Savior.  It could only have been Him, starting with His Virgin birth. A normal birth would have disqualified Him; he would have taken on the sin of Adam and would not have been a spotless, pure sacrifice.

Therefore, in His love for us and for His Father, He left His Throne and took upon Himself our humanness without compromising His Holiness. He came to earth in the womb of Mary and was born like all babies. It’s a fantastic story, an amazing Truth, an amazing reality for all generations and times to come into Eternity. I’m saddened because we talk about this so much that this amazing truth falls on calloused hearts and deaf ears.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:34-35 

And Jesus spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:- Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up, and choked them:

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Matt. 13 (and for this 1/4th of good ground, it makes all His suffering worth it).

People will say, “I’ve tried Christianity and it didn’t work for me,” as though Christianity is something you try, like a plate of food. But let that plate of food be your only food, and I guarantee you that you will eat it and be grateful. We have too many distractions and too much ego. These two make the Gospel unpalatable. Based on this parable, there are three hearts that reject the seed of the Gospel, and only one heart receives it. Which heart are you?  Maybe the best approach is to acknowledge a defective heart and pray to the Creator of hearts to create in you a clean heart, a soft heart, a hungry heart, so that it readily wants to absorb God’s Truths.

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away — the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:25-27

Such an extraordinary promise, and no one is forcing God to make this commitment to us. It is by His own volition. So pray this verse into your life, knowing that it is God’s good will to do so.

Question: If I were to ask you, what do you think impresses God? Can we really do anything, some excellent work of sacrifice and charity that would impress Him? So many of us get stuck on the wheel of doing good deeds, thinking we can impress God. We should do good deeds, just as a healthy peach tree bears good peaches. It’s a natural byproduct of abiding in Him. Abiding in Christ, His love, His peace, His joy in us should produce kindness, humility, love for our fellow man, etc. It is His Holy Spirit producing that which is not natural, but supernatural. 

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is — the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?

For — all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man (or woman) will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my Word. Isaiah 66:1-2 (so it is not what we do that impresses God, but who we are becoming; the humility of our heart before Him).

God looks upon those who are contrite (meaning crushed, contrite, in Awe of) in spirit and tremble at my Word (Isa. 66:2). Those who tremble (not scared of but scared of disobeying) God’s words are accounted as obedient (Ezra 9:4).”

There can be no greater or more critical prayer than, “God make Your way known to me and in me cause me to revere and love Your Word. 

Question: When do you think God planned man’s redemption? Did He watch man for several hundred years and then decide His desire to fellowship with man was failing? Did he need a plan B because plan A was failing? Was He surprised by our inability to seek Him? Seeking Him but failing, so then we forced Him to take a drastic action. None of the above, but from the earliest scriptures, we see God’s intent to save man and to bring him back into fellowship with Him. Knowing this should make us feel very secure.

And I will put enmity (speaking to Satan, being in the form of a serpent) between thee and — the woman (the Virgin Mary), and between thy seed (the Pharisees that hated Christ) and — her seed (women do not have a seed, so it is a direct reference to Christ). He shall bruise (literally to crush) thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15

This is when we were reconciled to the Lord, from the beginning of man’s existence. God knew we would fall, and He had His means to bring us back to Him. It would cost Him everything, and He was willing to pay it to open the way for you and me to know Him. This is a big deal. Knowing this, the sacrifice that the Trinity was willing to make to save us should far exceed any need for security and sense of worth that we need. 

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man (not married)?

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35-36

He cleared the way, “He did all the heavy lifting,” and only asks us to come to Him and believe and grow in faith. As we read the Bible, we will understand more fully His atonement and redemption for us. It’s a crazy, miraculous story when you really think about it.

For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy Word. And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:37&38

Catholic’s call this The Immaculate Conception, which it is, and then there’s Mary’s willingness to conceive the Christ child, which is also noteworthy. Being pregnant and not married at that time was punishable by stoning to death. I don’t think that most of us consider or ponder that the call of God on Mary had consequences, and so it does for us as well (the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a bastard, without a legitimate father, John 8:41)

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then — said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Yet God’s commitment to man is unwavering and, in my opinion, far beyond what we deserve. God didn’t owe this to us; He chose to do this because of His love for us. So when we feel God is absent, or not listening, or He doesn’t care, we are entirely wrong. He is using the disappointments, the painful events, or even things that we don’t understand to form in us a faith that says, despite all this, God is still trustworthy. I don’t have to understand it all, I have to understand that He loves me. We learn that this life is one of vanity, much of it is me-focused, and He is honing us into making Him the focus. If He were to restore that relationship, or give us our dream job, or dream house, would we stop seeking Him, stop praying? We don’t want to admit it, but we would stop or lessen our pursuit of Him. The difficulties keep us humble and seeking Him.

God must be first in everything, before our spouse, before our girlfriend, before our job, before our kids, or friends, period. He must be Number One, not a close second, and the harder it is for us to do that or want to do that, the more it proves to us the degree to which we have made other things in charge of our happiness. No human being or earthly thing should ever take His place in our heart. It should be reserved for the Lord alone, and until we do, we will continue to have strife, problems, and disappointments, as people just being human let us down. 

Most of you know that I had back surgery several months ago because of my scoliosis and work injury. I am still healing from that. The pain I feel now is localized in my lower back, and not shooting down my right leg as before surgery. Trials and pain are necessary to straighten out our souls as well.  He is looking to the future and sees that without some corrective spiritual surgery, we would be lost, without His hope, doing our own thing. He must be first, no other gods, as in people, desires, or wants before Him. And it is the hardships and challenges in this life that reveal to us our heart and need for Him. In these times, we are faced with choices to change our course and confess our sin or continue and reap theconsequences of our sin. We need to forsake anything that stands in the way of our knowing Him. His peace and love, wisdom and joy are found in seeking and surrendering to Him and not the temporal solutions we find in this world. As men, we turn to our jobs, a hobby, or even something more destructive, such as porn( and it is destructive, it reduces women to objects, and our loneliness explodes as we start disconnecting from genuine relationships).

For women, it could be an overemphasis on our looks because of our husband doing porn, or because of our own insecurities, or we can overemphasize our job, or maybe a porn addiction as well (at times, couples do it together, thinking it will “spice” up their sexual relationship, it’s a lie). We need to face our insecurities, addictions, and fears with the Lord, and if we have gone down this road to this degree, some Christ-centered counseling would be super helpful. 

We need to learn about God’s promises of freedom and learn how to apply them to overcome them. Getting on our knees, and finding His help and strength changes our future for the better… Way Better. He shall do the work in you as you seek Him. 

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have success.

Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 

Joshua 1:9-10

Father God, 

Thank you for this deep dive into our soul. This proves your intention that you want a real relationship, day in and day out, and not a religious relationship where we check off the box every time we make it to church. Let your Truth permeate every part of me, show me my idols as I seek to surrender all of me to all of You willingly. I lack so much understanding of your ways. Help me to grow in your wisdom, for it is true, righteous, and without hypocrisy, as man’s wisdom is. Teach me to love you and you alone. Amen

Thank you, 

Your child

Written by Arthur, as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Vida4U “The Kindness of the Lord” Part III

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4 (“overcome them,” referring to physical adversaries of the gospel, to anything that hinders the flourishing of the gospel in our lives). For most of us, our worst enemy is ourselves. Our carnal man is one enemy that Paul refers to in Romans 7:15 to the end, but as Paul also says, “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” Therefore, it is a matter of nourishing our spiritual selves. It comes down to a choice: do I want to be honest with God and enjoy the benefits of being in fellowship with Him, or do I want to go it alone, living a “lukewarm” life? 

The following promise should provide you with all the motivation you need.

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance — the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them (how will Joshua be strong?) Joshua 1:5&6

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have success. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:8 & 9 (this promise of victory is for all believers. Whatever your “assignment” is, this is how you hit it out of the park). 

So here is my question. I’ve shared two fantastic promises, some of my favorite ones. One is from the Old Testament and one from the New. These promises have been there forever. Why then do we fear? Why then do we get defeated? God says He is greater than he that is in the world and that no one can stand before Him. So then why do we live defeated lives? God’s promise of conquering is prefaced on our obedience to reading the Bible. Most of us don’t like to do things when we are told to, and some of us do not like to read. So what then? 

We need an attitude shift, a different perspective on God’s commands. Instead of seeing God as telling us to read, which He, as God, has every right to, what if we see Him as inviting us to dine with Him? Would that change our attitude? 

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh(the world) I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Revelation 3:20

And His invitation is far beyond just eating with Him, but also ruling with Him. Now that is one dinner invitation I do not want to miss! 

So, changing our perspective from being forced, which is the devil’s spin on God’s command, to the truth of it, is an invitation with great rewards attached to it. 

Next question: Is there something secret about reading the Bible, like a formula, or is there no secret, but rather a relationship being cultivated between a Holy God and us? For this relationship to succeed, God commands us to be Holy, that’s like commanding me to fly. That will never happen, yet if there’s a command in God’s Word to be Holy, then there’s a means of attaining it. He never commands something without providing the means to attain it. 

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation( the way we live our life), Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear ( reverence for the Lord) 1Peter 1:15&16

This next verse is a key verse because it applies to our whole Christian life, regardless of what we are doing or involved with. It’s actually a verse that I need to quote more…

Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

Zerubbabel was God’s instrument to rebuild the temple. It was not to be a work of man but a work of man yielded fully to God, where God, not man, gets the glory. God was going to infuse all involved with His Spirit and skill to do it, especially Zerubbabel, who would be directly answering to the Lord. And by implication, it is the same today.

It’s not up to us to build ourselves up, to become Holy. We are God’s living Temples, and just as He infused the workers with strength, wisdom, and skill to build the physical Temple, He sends the Holy Spirit to build His temple inside us. 

When you plant a seed in the ground, provided you water it, the seed has all it needs to grow. In its DNA, it contains the coding necessary for root growth, which enables it to extract nutrients and water from the soil. Additionally, in the DNA coding, it produces leaves, a specific tissue that captures sunlight and produces food for the plant through the process of photosynthesis. The seed is a miracle, just like we are miracles. The ability to have the “seed” of the Holy Spirit in us is the same. Provided we soak ourselves in His Presence via His Word, He has all He needs to grow righteousness in us. Do you ever wonder why it is so hard for most Christians to make time to read the Bible? Because this is the one thing Satan fears, you will experience resistance from yourself, your day, and even feel too busy, etc. If you get into the habit of studying God’s Word, satan knows he can’t stop you. You become dangerous to his mission of destroying your life or, at the very least, nullifying your life.

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (Extravagant giving not required, only obedience ).

He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 

When we accept Christ, we enter into the Christian life, which we quickly learn is a wrestling match between our carnal man and the Holy Spirit. We never had this fight before. It is like having a third voice in our head that loves God. It takes time for the Holy Spirit to change us. Before the flesh said I want that and we said yes. Now our flesh says it wants that, and the spirit says you really don’t. It won’t fulfill you like you think. There’s no peace in that. Our obedience to God’s request is crucial in winning the struggle between our flesh and the spirit within us. 

***And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:32

This is why we came to Christ in the first place. We are making a mess of our lives; we have no enduring peace.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26 (thirsting, hunger, emptiness, restlessness, feeling lost are part of our life here, apart from Christ). 

A growing, personal relationship with Jesus is incredible. That we can actually have a personal relationship with the God of the Universe is beyond an honor. To have victory over all our vices, insecurity, lust, self-hatred, anger, etc., by following His lead, is nothing short of a miracle, just like the seed is a miracle. And it’s essential to note that we follow Him, not the other way around. 

There are times in everyone’s life when you question God. Why did He allow this, or not stop that, or not heal me, etc., and yes, I understand. I can take the next 5 Vidas trying to explain why God doesn’t answer the obvious and still not address everyone’s specific situation. Overall, and this may offend some of you, we are being too myopic, which is soeasy to do when you are not able to offset it with another greater truth. What about His pain? Bearing the sin of the whole world, past, present, and future, for every single soul, whether they accept Him as Lord and Savior or not, was placed upon Him. I can’t imagine the sense of filth and guilt He must have felt, a Holy, Holy God having to bear this. Or what about having been one with the Father for all of Eternity past, and then on the Cross, when you need your Father the most, He abandons you. You who do not have a father or an irresponsible father, you will never have to fear this with the Lord.

And I’m not saying we don’t experience pain, but we will never experience rejection from Him. He bore our sin so that we would not be rejected. He is here to comfort and strengthen us. I was so hurt one time that it felt as though my heart died. I had no feeling of love for anyone, not even my wife and girls. I just looked at them and felt nothing. I went downstairs to my study, closed my door, and just cried. I opened the Bible to 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter on God’s Agape love, and God met me. His presence was there, and He felt like a wave at the ocean when it hits you. Except as the wave of His presence passed through me, I felt His love, and with each wave, the pain was being washed away, and my heart started to come back to life. By the third time (one of God’s numbers, 3, 7, 12), life and love were back. I’ve never experienced that before. The only feeling I can relate that to is when I accepted Christ in my life. This experience felt just like that. Also, being blamed for my brother’s death has caused me much pain for most of my life, but remembering that Bobby is in Heaven helps tremendously. 

So, if I am talking to you, having perhaps gone through similar struggles, lean hard into Christ. The worst thing you can do is blame Him or be bitter at Him, as many people do. All you are doing is prolonging the pain and your healing, and probably damaging the relationships you value most because bitterness has a way of seeping into other parts of our lives. To help you heal, read the events leading up to, at the time of, and of course afterwards of the Crucifixion in all four gospels. Understand that though He did that for all, He would have died just for you.

“So when this corruptible (our bodies) shall have put on incorruption( our new bodies), and this mortal shall have put on immortality,( Paul is making the point that we have a glorious future so stop living as though this is all there is) then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? — The sting of death is sin (for sin damns us); and the strength of sin is the law ( for we naturally do what we are told not to do, and that makes us guilty. Just review the 10 commandments and see how many we violate daily. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ( as John the Baptist titled Him, “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World”). 

So any suffering, however severe, is not forever. Forever is Eternity, which is the gift that Christ has brokered for those who have made Him their Lord. Therefore, we must bend our lives towards His holiness. Just as I would if I wanted a suntan, I must expose myself to extra sunlight. Holiness is not attainable by humans, but if we expose ourselves to Him regularly, we will transform. 

I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; John 14:16

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26 ( Amen to this Truth) 

Some sins of the flesh are just part of our sin nature. Temper, anger, lust, and so on, these are often passed down through family genes and are the hardest to overcome. Yet that doesn’t mean we have to give in to them. We can absolutely resist, experience healing, and have the victory. Read Numbers 14.11 

The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Sometimes it feels like these emotions/ vices are too strong, that I will never achieve victory.  Yet God is the Creator of our being, and via His Holy Spirit, He is making us a new creature. Time, patience, and the memorization of specific verses that address our struggles are key to defeating these strongholds.

Therefore,  any man who is in Christ is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

2 Cor. 5:17

Father, 

Thank you for this time and this teaching. Let our souls be as soft ground that readily takes in the water of the spirit. Let our lives be radiant as we live out our lives being examples to those around us, especially to our families. 

Thank you,

Your son by Grace,

Arthur

Wisdom Series V

Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, as do stripes the inner depths of the heart. Proverbs20:30

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6

God rejected King Saul from being King, for he continuously disobeyed the Lord, although he was not dethroned immediately. It took time; God had chosen David to replace Saul, but David was a youth. Yet even as a young man, God said He had found a man after God’s heart. 

But now thy kingdom shall not continue( the prophet Samuel addressing Saul): the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. 1 Samuel 13:13-14

Obeying God is not a choice, though many of us view it as such, and because of such, we flounder in our walk with Him. If we obeyed Him as a son or daughter obeys their parents, we would abide in His presence. King Saul’s multiple infractions caused God to end his rule. Disobedience is a rejection of God’s rule. I don’t think we understand how important it is that we obey. In disobeying God, Saul opened himself up to a tormenting spirit. All disobedience, small or significant, has consequences; it’s not an idle or irrelevant act. I have become very sensitive to this. 

God sends Samuel on a journey to anoint David as Israel’s future king.

So it was, when they came(David’s family to Samuel), that Samuel looked at Eliab ( the oldest and the tallest) and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his physical stature, I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:13-14 ( our society puts so much emphasis on the outward, be careful not to get sucked into that value system, you won’t find peace of God there) 

None of Jesse’s sons were selected, so Samuel asked Jesse if all his sons were present, and Jesse said no; there was stillthe youngest one tending the sheep. Samuel told Jesse to send for David. As soon as Samuel saw David coming, the Lord told him to anoint David. Everyone probably thought that Samuel was making a huge mistake, preferring the youngest son over the oldest in a society that rewarded the firstborn. 

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him( David) in the midst of his brethren, and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah( his home). But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.”  1 Samuel 16:13

The translation here is rendered so that God is sending the evil spirit. What happens is our continued disobedience invites the evil spirit, but God has nothing to do with evil. If we ignore God’s Word continually, we open our souls to worldly values and suffer the consequences. We have no peace or joy, we start to compare, emptiness grows, and there are more arguments. The bottom line is that it is not what God wants for us. 

(Lev. 26:14–46)

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Duet 28:15 -68(there’s a whole bunch of curses).

God is speaking to Samuel to instruct Saul…

Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them.” 1 Kings 15:2-3

King Saul did not obey the Lord’s command. Instead, he kept the best of the livestock, supposedly to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord. 

When King Saul met Samuel, he claimed to have fully obeyed the Lord, and Samuel replied, “And the bleating of the sheep I hear? And Saul said I have saved the best to offer as a sacrifice to your God. Then Samuel said Has 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 heed( the Lord) than the fat of rams. For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, andstubbornness is iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22&23  

Seems like harsh words from God, rebellion like witchcraft? Since witchcraft and rebellion defy God, God sees them as the same. The practice of witchcraft is in direct opposition to righteousness, and stubbornness is like idolatry because you’re putting yourself before God. It is as if you are worshipping yourself. Sounds strange to us, but not to God. Whoever or whatever you worship,  you will follow, and whoever you follow after you will worship.

God’s calling for us is clear.  He is looking for sons and daughters who will seek and obey Him. He wants to develop in us a heart of obedience. The Lord is my Dad ( personal and intimate), and God is the  King of Kings. He is asking for obedience from me, and He has every reason to expect it from me. He has commissioned me and enabled me by His Holy Spirit to be His representative to my family, workplace, and neighbors. This needs to be our attitude; we need to pray to have a heart for God as David did.

When we choose not to obey the Lord as Saul did, this is what happens; we “grieve” ( Eph. 4:30, to afflict w/sorrow) the Holy Spirit, and if we persist, then we “quench” (1 Thess.5:19-21) the Holy Spirit ( quenching is worse, it means to begin to extinguish) and we invite the ramifications of sin to plague us. Here’s how Paul puts it.

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey you are that one’s slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness( Life)? Romans 6:23 

Paul draws a line between obeying the Lord and following our passions. We will be slaves to one or the other. 

Now this next part is a little confusing because we are constantly sinning. The best way I can explain this is actions that convict me now, didn’t a year ago, as my spirit becomes more Christ-like, I become much more sensitive to my thoughts, actions, and speech. However, I am held accountable for my conscious thought, action, and speech level. If we continue to sin on the conscious level, we not only quench the Holy Spirit, but the next step down is that we become endangered of becoming lukewarm. This comment was first mentioned by Christ to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:20. They were a well-financed church and hence felt that they were doing things right. 

Jesus points out their “lukewarm,” apathetic nature three times in His rebuke to them. As a result of their ambivalence to spiritual things, Jesus would have nothing to do with them. He would “spit them out,” as the people of Laodicea would spit out the tepid water that flowed from the underground aqueducts into their city. With their apathy came a spiritual blindness; they claimed to be wealthy, prosperous, and successful, as some of us do. This is precisely what sin does: it blinds you from your actual state of need. The Laodiceans thought they were “cool with God,” only to discover that the Lord could only rebuke them. With the other churches, He was able to find something good to say. Even Sardis, a church almost dead, the Lord found some saints who were true to Him.  

From my commentary,” ‘In contrast to the other six churches, where Christ had something positive to say, the Laodicean church Christ has nothing positive to say. He begins His message with condemnation: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, ( miserable), pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:15-17). 

God sums up this church: successful business people, hard workers, probably family-oriented, and even churchgoers. However, God saw their hearts. He found them full of pride. As He told Samuel, man looks outward, but God looks on the heart. So here’s the most important question: When God looks on our hearts, what does He see? 

Even the church of Sardis, almost dead, God found something positive to say;

You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels. Rev 3: 4&5( such an important statement) 

*** This devotional is not easy to read if you are walking the fence with God, which is what lukewarm is. However, removing cancer from the body is not easy either, but it is necessary to save a life. There’s much pain as the surgeon’s knife separates cancerous tissue from healthy tissue. I’m sure he needs to cut into healthy tissue just to be sure that all the cancer is removed. Afterwards, the nerves, organs, and tissue need to heal, and it hurts (!), but this pain is the pain that leads to life. This is what I am experiencing after my back surgery. And then there’s pain that leads to death. As the cancer is not dealt with, it spreads, doing its dirty work, killing organs and blocking blood flow until it takes one’s life. As with sin, we must distinguish the type of pain we are experiencing. God’s conviction is uncomfortable, but it is the pain thatleads to life. We need to heed Him; to remain in sin is to be disconnected from God’s peace and love. Like Laodicean, we will sense we are fine, but sin has a deadening effect on our soul. If we continue to sin, we will follow in their and Saul’s footsteps. Disobeying God’s calling over our lives is a grave mistake. Do you want to go down that path?

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matt.7:13&14

**Romans 6:23( this verse is just five paragraphs above) “…know ye not that to whom you obey..” may sound weird, noone wants to consider themselves a slave; but when we do things that we are not proud of, be it in action, speech or thought we are in servitude to those desires. Can I be even more blunt? The Bible is our standard; it teaches us how to live in fellowship with the Lord. He is our Father and Creator, and to live contrary to Him, to not be in relationship with Him, is to be in sin; it is the very essence of sin, even if we are not doing anything “wrong.” We are saying no to His purpose and plan for our life, no to His authority over us, no to the relationship He as our Creator and Father created us to have with Him. I do not know what it is if this is not the very root and essence of sin and pride! It is His Right that we submit to Him. Just as the father of a child has the authority over his child, the child is to be submitted to his father. 

** SIN has the letter “I” in it, and the word pride has “I” in it.Because of my pride, I chose to reject God’s authority over me and govern my own life, which is SIN. Sin is a noun, a state of being outside God, not being in fellowship with Him,and a verb, the actions, thoughts, and speech that occur because we are outside His Spirit. It started in the garden when God gave the parameters and man disobeyed, and that spirit of disobedience has been with man ever since. 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

I can guarantee you that life will become harder, no peace, and more frustration, more anxiety, and emptiness if we continue to live outside of His will. Continuing down this path, we will feel that God has abandoned us when, in reality, we have abandoned Him. 

How about you, where do we stand? Do you have regular devotions, prayer, and Bible study, or only when you are stressed out or having a hard time? And if you pray, do you pray a self-focused prayer, “Lord help me to succeed or do you pray with humility,” Lord help me to be more like You.” Asking Him to help you succeed is not necessarily wrong, provided that succeeding with Him is number one. And when you do succeed, give Him the credit. Succeeding is not for our glory, that would be a shame, but for His. There is nothing He values more in this world than a relationship with each of us. Will you commit to loving Him, serving Him, and opening up your heart to Him, knowing that we are incapable of doing any of this if He doesn’t do it through us via His Holy Spirit, but we must have the “want to” 

**Father, 

This was a tough study, cutting deep to remove the cancer of pride, arrogance, and self-will. It hurts now, but it’s the pain that brings life. The fruit of righteousness is yielding to Your Spirit, allowing You to convict and heal. Then peace, joy, oneness with You, etc., everything good can come. Let us long for a oneness with You so our spirit man/woman can thrive under Your care. Thank you for the truth, it is our only chance to live freely with you. 

Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, as do stripes the inner depths of the heart. Proverbs20:30

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6

Your son, by Your Great Grace, 

Arthur 

June 2025 – The Beauty of Spring

April 2025 – Oasis

February 2025 – Small Yard, Big Appeal

January 2025 – Opportunity Knocks

2025