She was into witchcraft until she got to college and her Christian roommate asked her to go to a sermon. Then something wonderful happened!
Category: Accepting Christ is your choice
God’s Spirit empowers us!
Love your neighbor
How wide and deep is your faith?
When we hear the call of Jesus in our hearts and choose to follow Him our faith is the drip that becomes, or should become, a roar in our lives. God uses the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts and plant a seed that will grow into a new creation. It is our responsibility to help that seed to grow by watering it with the Living Water of God’s Word.
Some people tend toward watering it occasionally, like once or twice every year. Some who feel God leading them into a deeper relationship will water it a few times every month. Those who demand to be His disciples and want an intimate relationship with Him will water that seed every day regardless of what is going on in their lives. On the drive to work, while they are at work they will listen to Bible readings when they can. They will listen to praise and worship music and be in the spirit of worship on their way home.
I’m sure there are some different people who fit into a category in between those that I spoke about in the paragraph above and there are a few who dive deeper into the Scriptures than the disciples I spoke about as well. My point is that we, as Christian believers, fall into all sorts of slots and categories. Some are deeply involved in the mission field, some teach classes at the church, some lead Bible study sessions/classes at their homes and then there are some who have received Jesus and are confused about their role so they don’t do anything with it except attend church…sometimes.
There were people in all of these areas even in the early church but not many. Why do I say this? Because, most of the people in that early church just fifty to one hundred years after Jesus was taken up to Heaven were Jewish converts to Christianity. They had the Scriptures that were taught in their synagogues and had learned to have faith in God from their history and the prophets and had been persuaded that their Messiah was Jesus Christ! While it was true that there were also many pagans who had come to know Jesus as their Savior, a good percentage of the early church were, like Paul, converts from Judaism. Their faith was built on the Old Testament and what they had heard from the disciples and Paul himself. Most of them had unshakable faith.
The church today has become more “flexible” in their teachings and in their faith which can be a good thing but in some areas of the “message” flexibility can be a bad thing. Because it can lead many to believe that they can live like a Christian and not commit deeply to it. Being “like a Christian” is like being “sorta pregnant”, it doesn’t work that way! You either are or you’re not!
Allow His Spirit to be your guide
Love your enemies…
Following God’s ways…
Be prepared…
When God invites you into an adventure it’s a special moment, a divine moment . . . an eternal moment. You won’t get many. So, be prepared. Be ready with a quick, “Yeah, dad. Totally.”
If you have ever felt that God was calling you to do something…do it. Don’t argue with Him like so many children do with their parents and grandparents today. Sometimes what He calls us to do for His Kingdom doesn’t feel like a “safe” thing to do. Consider what Moses did or what David did. One had left Egypt because he had committed a murder of an Egyptian. One came to bring his brothers some food from home and found a giant of a man mocking the army of Israel and their God. Both of them felt the Spirit calling them to do something that was dangerous and outside of their comfort zones. In David’s case, the need was apparent and immediate. He did something about Goliath with God’s strength and help the stone that he sent toward Goliath’s head killed the giant.
Moses had lived away from Egypt and the plight of his people for many years before God called him to go and free the Jews from captivity. He didn’t want to do what God asked and he argued with God about his ability to do it but eventually, he did go and God freed the Jewish people from bondage that had lasted for four hundred years.
What does their example tell us today?
Both of them were chosen by God for their purposes and we are as well. Our purpose…your purpose may not be so grand as theirs but to God, it is still important. Each of us has a purpose and sometimes it takes a while for us to be ready for it even if God called us many years ago. Sometimes we run from God the way Jonah did. Sometimes…we just ignore the call and hope that God will choose someone else. But God knows our strengths and our abilities and our calling may be to live our life before someone else so that they will hear Him one day. Our example of living our Christian life every day could be our calling and it could be yours.
Each of us has someone in our circle that might only listen to or pay attention to our example. We might not know who it is but one day in eternity we will. Your calling may be for a large ministry but you don’t think you have the ability. God can take your ability and your resources and multiply them in ways that you can’t imagine. I never imagined that my website would draw as many readers as it has and I pray that it will continue to grow until Jesus comes to set up His Kingdom on Earth. Look around on my site and see if you could do this. If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, please seek Him out soon because none of us is guaranteed another day.
Breaking Down The Mark Of The Beast (Part 2)
You may recall that I posted a presentation refuting the lie that one who has taken the Covid vaccine has taken the Mark of the Beast. The above video presentation explains it perfectly, and I want to provide my commentary to the presentation to clear up confusion and provide more examples to grasp this difficult concept. So, what is the Mark of the Beast? A good idea I would suggest is to picture it from a spiritual perspective. I would also call it “The Mark of Satan.”
In summation, the Mark of the Beast signifies your allegiance to the Antichrist, the False prophet, and Satan. There are three things you need to remember when studying and discuising this subject area.
1. God AND Satan Want To be Worshipped, but for Two Distinct End Goals
We see throughout Scripture that Satan wanted to exalt himself above the Lord Almighty, who is worthy of worship. This prideful attitude is what led Satan to be kicked out of Heaven. Jesus was tempted to worship Satan, showing Him all of the beautiful kingdoms of this world.
In Revelations 14, God sends three angels to warn the nations to fear [reverence] God and worship Him. Anyone who took the Mark would be sujected to God’s wrath, casting him to the Lake of Fire.
God = Eternal Pleasure, Temporal Pain. Satan = Temporal Pleasure, Eternal Pain
2. The Physical Object Of Worship
A solid example of worshipping things from a physical and Earthly perspective is a typical teenager who idolizes her romantic relationship with her boyfriend. She cannot survive one second without hanging out with her boyfriend, who promises her the world, all her dreams coming to pass, and every beautiful outcome one could imagine. But, when the teenager gets into a minor conflict with her boyfriend, it’s like WWIII started. Behind the scenes, the teenager neglects her academic responsibilities, leading her to fail all of her classes.
The point I am trying to make in this example is that the objects we are attached to can rapidly (and subtly) have an impact on our spiritual lives, and even our family and personal lives. The main goal of idolatry is to separate us from the main object of worship (God). Satan wants to distract us with something so comforting and intriguing to our senses in order to take our focus away from Jesus.
Satan’s Mark of the Beast is a culmination of these temptations, with the physical sources of worship being the False Prophet (the Second Beast), and the Antichrist. The reward Satan offers to those who take his mark is the privilege to buy or sell, or even keep a job. No mark = no mulah!
3. The Spiritual Object Of Worship: Satan
The scary reality with idolatry is that you do not have to do a blood covenant, shout “Hail Satan”, or be a member of the Church of Satan to actually worship Satan. If he can’t convince you to outright bow down to him through an organized system, then why not just have this young woman place purchasing her flashy possessions ahead of Bible meditation and going to Sunday School. Oh wait, forget Sunday School, because my old friend from college invited me to a party where they are going to get drunk and play games to get la__. (when you know well you are married). Can anyone smell smoke up here? 🙂
Now, how convincing is a ten-day vacation to Hawaii just to outright follow Satan? Hmmm! I would take a vacation anyday, but for Satan? That’s a bit promising, right? (Sorry not sorry, I am out on this one. Pass!)
Jokes aside. Anything you worship that is not God presents a horizontal and versical source. (a) The physical [like the Antichrist, by taking the Mark] (b) Satan [pledging allegiance to his kingdom for worldly gain.]
All it comes down to is: How far will you go to follow Jesus, and are you willing to sell your soul to Satan to avoid getting killed and persecuted, in exchange for the world? Today, let’s actively practice taking a stand and not dily-dallying around. TEAM JESUS!!
Jesus loves you!
The Living Message of Christ 