Seek the Old Path

I would urge anyone, EVERYONE to read your Bibles. I don't care what you believe or your religion, denomination and organization but if what you believe, your interpretation or what your church teaches does not equal to the teachings of the Scriptures there are grave consequences to face on the day of judgment.
This is no laughing matter. If you interpret the scriptures to please yourself or to please others, you certainly are not pleasing God.

2 Peter 1:19-21 KJV

19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:20  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Just read the scriptures for yourself. Remove your own preconceived ideas and just read it to learn. This is your life and salvation and truth are in the pages.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

There are of false doctrines in the world even among 'Christian" circles. Everyone wants to believe they are right but look into it for yourself.

Proverbs 14:12, 16:25 KJV

12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Read 2 Corithians 11:1 - 4, Galatians 1: 6 - 9

This is what can be noticed with doctrines that are not the truth. They either add to the Word of take away from it.
I say this because I lived the experience of not knowing the scriptures for myself, not being able to defend my faith from the Scriptures. The Bible.
If you want the truth look into it and don't just select things here and there. Take it as a whole. God has not changed. He is still righteous. He still executes judgment, and he is still merciful to those who would humble themselves before him, on HIS terms not yours. He made us not the other way around.

Jeremiah 6:16 KJV

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Don't be ignorant, time is short and I even fear for myself but I want to enter into the Kingdom of God. I certainly hope that you will too.

Deuteronomy 12:32 KJV

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

The command in the Old Testament is also in the New.

Revelation 22:17-21 KJV

17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

God bless.

No respecter of persons

"God is no respecter of persons."

It is a profound statement that really need to understand (I speak for myself also).
Now in our day and age position and prestige are revered and preferred above the regular man.
The kings and the queens, prince and princesses; all the royalties will be given the high esteem.

The same for our education and governments goes. Well of course the scriptures do tell us to respect and give honour those that are in power over the land. The three Hebrew boys in the land of Babylon had respect unto king Nebuchadnezzar, even though he was in the wrong. This is how it is in the world.

The church is to be different. Do we give preference over certain brethren? Do we prefer the well off one's that God has bless financially, or do have an equal love for the brethren?

James 2:1-9 KJV

1  My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.2  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;3  And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:4  Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?7  Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?8  If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:9  But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

We can easily fall into this mess. The scriptures say it is  SIN to do this. This shows we in heart love one brethren and hate the other. 

1 John 3:14-18 KJV

14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Originally I wanted to point out something brother Paul had said, and I'm going to.

Paul we know was a faithful apostle, and great preacher, and man willing to suffer all manner of persecution for the church's sake so that they would be spotless at the coming of Christ.

Here's one thing that Paul did not do. He did not exempt himself from the possible wrath of God. He always encouraged that those who are faithful will inherit the Kingdom of God, but those that live in sin will be destroyed in God's wrath.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 KJV

24  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

It's a sobering conclusion he makes. Paul could preach all he wanted, healed and evangelized, don't might miracles for thousands and started dozens of churches in his ministry, and all these are good things, but, if he lived a life of sin hidden from everyone else, his efforts to please the Lord, would be in vain.

Are we living in sin? Is it a secret to everyone else, yet we allow it to overtake us. Be forewarned. If we don't overcome it through the grace that has been given to us and justify until we don't see it as a sin, will be cast into the lake of fire, because we didn't wholeheartedly serve God.

2 Peter 2:20-22 KJV

20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Jesus Christ pointed it out in the sermon of the mount.

Matthew 7:21-23 KJV

21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Lord Jesus Christ, he will never through a righteous man into destruction only the wicked will go there.
These people did miracles and preached and in the end they won't inherit the righteous's reward. It says MANY. No doubt some of them will be well known and highly esteemed. They could be in your church too or you could be one of them with positions in the church. 

I urge you to examine your heart, your soul, your intentions, everything. Plead for mercy and grace to overcome. The time is short and wickedness abounds.

It may sound harsh to some but it's a hard truth I've accepted. You should too. God uses two methods I realize to save people. He will encourage you as you follow Him and He will chastise you if you seem to veer off the path to turn from Him.

Consider my words as I do the same. May Jesus Christ truly help us.

Salvation Conversation

God is love you say? I totally agree with you! If we live a sinful lifestyle, God is love, most definitely. I can't, however, tell you that God is pleased with how you behave or carry yourself in public and in secret. He hates, yes He HATES it.

God loves righteousness and he hates iniquity, because He is HOLY! 

1Corinthians 13:6 "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth" 

If I love that which is good then I must hate that which is evil, to have a pure love, yes?

Does He love the sinner, yes. So much so that He sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins and make a way of salvation for you. [John 3:16 - 21] 

That's a lot of love for a father to give the only child he has, much more with God who sees all our sin and disobedience every single day.

If I love babies, I must hate abortion.

If I take joy in marriage, then I must hate fornication, adultery and homosexuality.

If I love to see a hard working person earn their fair wages, then I must hate that which gains through dishonest means.

So now that He extends the only way to salvation, through Jesus Christ His Son, what will you do with His love.

Will you surrender and submit to His will and receive mercy or would you rather to pay for it yourself, pretending to love Him with words and end in destruction? [Matthew 7:13-27; 15:7-9]

You know that deep down in the heart you love Jesus, you say? [John 15:10; Exodus 20:1-17]

Fascinating...

Did you know that your heart has the amazing ability not only deceive you but justify your actions? [Jeremiah 17:9, 10]
The worse thing you can believe is that you are okay when you really aren't.
If you tell yourself that you can inherit what God has in store for the righteous, and you aren't righteous yourself you have a false hope in something you don't deserve, because you're trying to get in some other way. [Psalm 50:16-23; John 10:1]

But if you just come to Him, He will be a merciful Father to you. He will forgive your transgressions and remember them no more. [Isaiah 1:16-18; 55:1 - 11]

DO NOT try another method, don't pray to anyone else. Jesus alone is more than enough for you.
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If anyone says that to become a Christian is easy, it is not. It is not, it has never been and it will cost you EVERYTHING.

We don't go to God on our terms... oh no, we go to God on His terms, his way, according to His Word. The Bible (I trust the KJV more, since other versions seem to be a derivative of it, and I did some research).

We are not going to know God from reading a book about somebody, who knew somebody, who knew God, not from magazines or booklets, or best sellers. It is to just read the Bible. And if you may feel that you cannot understand the Bible without some help from other religious literature that profess that its interpretation is truth, read the scriptures and see for yourself.

Jeremiah 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

If you are given some sort of justification why you do some things, and reject others, consider this; there are many scriptures that warn against doing that.

Matthew 5:17-20

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 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.

19 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.

20 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.

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A cathedral in Lubeck, Germany has these words inscribed on its walls:

You call Me master and obey Me not.
You call Me light and see Me not.
You call Me the way and walk Me not.
You call Me the life and live Me not.
You call Me wise and follow Me not.
You call Me fair and love Me not.
You call Me rich and ask Me not.
You call Me eternal and see Me not.

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Go through the scriptures. They will make you wise unto salvation.

Repent; turn from your sins.
Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and serve Him. He already is Lord.
Be baptized in His name.
Learn about Him and learn how to love him and how to worship Him.
Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you, and you will learn to be like Him and if you continue walking with Him then He that began a good work in you will finish it.

Righteousness is an Acquired Taste

Today I read this verse and it was today I actually realized what it meant. I read it before and I guess I never noticed. This is why the Bible, the Word of God can never get old.

In this parable Jesus was comparing old wine verse new wine. Or rather making an implication of the old life of sin and worldliness verses the new life in Christ and leaning towards righteousness. The word I want to point out is straightway, another word we can use is immediately. 

Notice he says that no man having drunk old wine straightway desires the new one, but rather he say, the old one is better. I'll start by saying that righteousness is an acquired taste, after all no man was born righteous (Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:), meaning that the life of sin that we would have before coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and accepting is one we preferred and were comfortable with. 

Becoming one who is righteous is a process, a growing process... you start somewhere. But you must persist... like I said, its an acquired taste... and once the taste is acquired, you should start to hate the old life.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

This statement speaks to loving your enemies... quite contrary to mankind's heart which is inherently evil... Anyway I was saying the problem with people isn't that we don't love righteousness, the problem is, we don't hate sin... its true. We love good happening to us and we feel good when we do something good, but think about this, do we hate sin? Lets think about it and I don't mean some sin, I mean all of them... No justification, but confession!

Righteousness is an acquired taste... a process, it take renewal of the heart and mind...

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Additional Verses: 1John 2:15; Ephesians 5:17; 1Thessalonians 4:3;

Chastisement

Do you ever get that feeling, while watching a fellow Christian with the wrong habit, to give them correction to let them grow more Christ-like but tend to draw back from it because he or she may take offence to it.
You probably have it in your head that they'll end up say something like: "Why are you judging me?" or
"You know it was just a joke, lighten up."

I was conversing online with a friend of mine earlier today. I've known her for a few years now and we talk from time to time. Today she shared with me something about a bad habit she had, something I had noticed when we first met. I'm glad to say that she now realizes that it was wrong of her and has made it up in her heart to repent of it.

But it got me thinking of something...
Are we willing correct those who need correcting regardless of what their justification? (I speak of those who are in the faith). Do we shy away from being an offence to others for the sake of friendliness?
An even more interesting question is, when was the last time you received correction from someone more mature in the faith and how did you take to it?

Receiving Correction

Scripture points to two types of person when it comes to correction:

Proverbs 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

The wise and foolish are quite contrary, one to another and the book of Proverbs are really shows what they are.

For a foolish person, receiving correction is a problem since more than not, they are "wise in their own eyes" and "it's fine... don't worry about it".
The person correcting us isn't trying to embarrass us or humiliate us. Their first priority is to build us up spiritually. They see something wrong and they want to help. Now God will send correction anyway he sees fit, whether by brethren, through His Word, your God-given conscience (keep it sharp) or maybe even in a circumstance.
Nevertheless, it is for our own good.

Hebrews 12:5 -11 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

I'll give an example of myself. While in my 4th year of University and acquiring for skills in animation, I started to brag to one of my classmates about what I could do. My Christian friend, Garwin, came over to me afterwards while I was standing by myself and told me what I did was wrong, and I shouldn't be trying to exalt myself like that. How did I take it? I told him "Thank you", because I understood what he wanted for me.
It's like what most parents will probably do for their rebellious teenagers, but as teens (for those of us who are here) we've see it another way. It's strange too not only when they tell us not to do what we want to, but they usually end up being right in the long run.

In all honesty, correction is good for us to receive. It shows that God is caring for us, and it is better to receive it willingly.

Giving Correction

Giving correction isn't something for a person who thinks they are better of when they aren't:

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

It's really good when we can care enough to correct someone, however sometimes we may get angry for what our brethren may have done and say it in such a way that rather than them being more encouraged to continue in the Lord or even to do the right thing, they get offended and feel degraded.

Listen, none of us are perfect but the aim is to strive to perfection.
There is something my wife and I discuss sometimes and it's about how to talk to people.

"You can be right in what you say, but wrong in how you say it," she'd say sometimes, and I agree.

We have to consider for a moment, how would we want to the situation to be handled with us? Are we so "over-righteous" (holier than thou attitude) that we cannot care for them. It's possible to be like a Pharisee in how we reason with people.

Ecclesiastes 7:16  Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 

Paul spoke about how he would have come to the brethren in Corinth and basically asked them "Which would you prefer, A or B, A or B?"

1 Corinthians 4:18-21
18  Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19  But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
20  For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21  What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

So let's really consider how we give and receive correction from our brethren okay, and remember, we don't belittle the sin but we pull out brethren out of it with love.

Jude 1:20-2520  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.22  And of some have compassion, making a difference:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

 See also: James 5:20, 1 Peter 4:8

Bless God and God bless.

Encouragement

I just want to encourage you today, that regardless of the circumstances you are going through, whether you are a Christian or not, yet... that if you lean on the Lord Jesus Christ, he will carry you through and you know, sometimes we go through things we don't expect we can survive and we come through it, and it makes us more refined and stronger. Its in these things we ought to give the Lord thanks for...

Note this verse:

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Yesterday I heard a very encouraging comment by one Pastor Brown, "Obstacles are seen by those who lose sight of their goal!" I don't know where he got it from but it was encouraging!

I say, we take the obstacles and turn them into stepping stones!

God bless you and if you are not saved, God loves you, what will be your response? Will you respond to His love?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16-17) 

Remember one thing also... Loving God is not a mere thought or word of mouth, but attitude towards Him and His Son, His teachings and relationship to others... I'll never have all the answers but, this I will do, try my hardest to follow God.

Continue to strive a share my fellow brothers and sisters!

Live or Die

I was reading Ezekiel 18 today and I wrote a little of what I got from it. I hope you'll read it and refer to the verses in there.

In this chapter of Ezekiel God reproves Israel about their unequal judgement. One of the main points that came out for me was the issue of repentance and turning from one's sins. Verse 4 speaks about God's ownership of all souls, (see Genesis 2:7), and then has a correlation with the first part of Romans 6:23 which even speaks about the judgement of God, and reward of the righteous and the wicked. (see Revelation 22:11-12).

He then defines what is just of man to do in verses 5-9, and says that they which do these things shall sure live. But the righteous man has a child which does not do justly and walk in God's statutes and judgements as their parents did, as expounded in verses 10-13, then that child shall die and his/her own blood shall be on himself/herself because they had committed sin in the sight of God. Alternately in verses 14-17, if the child has an unrighteous parent, and sees the sins of the parent and does not follow in the sins of the parent but rather does righteously in helping the poor and living for God, he shall live.

The parent bears their own sin and so does the child their own sin. I guess you could say, "every man for himself" for in these cases they knew what was right and did not do it.

The concept it seems according to the following verses, Israel questions why the child doesn't bear the sins of the parent and goes as far as to say that God's judgement is unfair because when the wicked changes his way and becomes righteous all his sins are forgotten and he shall live, but if the inverse happens where the righteous in all his years of righteousness, becomes wicked in the end,his righteousness is not remembered. (see Ezekiel 18:20-24)

The righteousness of one's mother or father or family and friends cannot save us? It is not that the reputation of a godly friends or family that can save us. Each individual must have faith in Christ and live for Him, the problem is that we put of Christianity as the bible puts it for a "cultural Christianity", meaning we just grow up in it, having fellowship with brethren and family in Christ but never having a true intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and we as humans have the very outstanding ability to justify ourselves and our actions so that we don't seem to bad, saying hings like, "they had it coming", "I couldn't do any better", "that's just how di ting set", scripture says that "the heart is deceitful..." But we always have the choice, to sin or not to sin, to live or to die. Not only does God show us that their is life and death, as a Father loves His children He say, choose life.

God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. (see Ezekiel 18:23)

Here is the Love of God!