Sermon on the Mount (Jesus Establishes His Ministry)

SERMON ON THE MOUNT (JESUS ESTABLISHES HIS MINISTRY) Not very long ago I read the very familiar Bible passage commonly referred to as the "SERMON ON THE MOUNT". It was as if I were reading it for the first time. Always before when I read it I was of the opinion that its substance was mainly the beatitudes. I have discovered it contains so much more than the lovely "Blessed are" verses. The Sermon on the Mount is several chapters long in Matthew. Having been reared in church sometimes I have to read something many times before I can get around the "Yeah, Yeah I've heard this before" attitude. I do not say this disrespectfully its just sometimes this is what I have to overcome in order to fully see what God is saying in a passage of scripture. Maybe, you have had this problem yourself and know it or maybe you have never realized it. I think it would do us all good to make an attempt to take our preconceived thoughts on the Bible and throw them away from time to time and approach God's Word as a little child. Our attitudes, opinions, and beliefs might just undergo radical overhauls if we could accomplish this throw away- reset from time to time. I was in such a mind frame when I read Jesus' message on the mountain. In Matthew chapter 4 we find Jesus beginning His ministry with a fast in the wilderness where He was tempted of the Devil. When He victoriously defeats the devil by quoting the Word of God He leaves the wilderness and begins calling out the twelve disciples. The Twelve respond to His call by leaving all and following Jesus. When Jesus finishes with this task I am not sure how much time elapses but His next order of business is to teach His newly called out disciples what it means to be called His disciples. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 it says, And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them In determining the application of Scripture it is important to know who Jesus is talking to as He begins His mountain top sermon. Jesus had developed quite a following by this time having healed some sick folks. He was followed everywhere He went. Many times when Jesus talked to the disciples there were others who could hear Him. I have seven kids. There is seldom a time when I am all alone with any of them in a room by reason there is so many in the house at any given time. A lot of times I call one of my kids to me in order to give them special instruction concerning some household rule. I have no problem with all the other children listening to what I am saying because the same stuff applies to them too, however the one I am concerned with addressing is the one I called to me. So I believe it is safe to say that Jesus was talking to his disciples in this mountain message. I also believe the Bible in numerous passages supports the belief that when Jesus was talking to His disciples it was the same as if He were talking to the New Testament Church. To put it another way... A disciple is for all intents and purposes a Christian. To establish Jesus is talking to His disciples even further we look to Luke another book of the Bible with this sermon on the mount account. Luke chapter 6 verse 20 says And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Jesus begins to tell them that they shall (not maybe) suffer persecution. Matthew chapter 5 verse 10 says Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Jesus is laying it all out on the table. He is letting them know what they are in for. He also tells them what they will receive for going through these hardships and choosing to forsake all and follow Him. He tells them even though they may be poor in spirit here, lose most of their friends (maybe even all that they currently counted as friends), though they would have evil things said about them, though they be persecuted for Jesus' sake; He tells them to rejoice and be exceedingly glad for their reward is in heaven. Jesus in all of these promises also issues some pretty hefty warnings. He tells His disciples their following of Him must be more than just an outward show. Matthew 5 verse 20 says 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. Jesus warns here with the strong words "in no case" can a man (remember Jesus was talking to His disciples here) or a "Christian" enter into heaven unless their righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. Exceed means 1 : to extend outside of 2 : to be greater than or superior to In order to understand this all important statement by Jesus Himself we must remember what a Pharisees' "righteousness" consisted of. Pharisees prided themselves on outwardly making a show of their "obedience" to the law. You couldn't make a superficial look at a Pharisee and find anything wrong with their life. They remembered the Sabbath, they fasted, they dressed in a way that set them apart from the less pious, they prayed faithfully, they had a working knowledge of the Scripture even if they were blinded to its truth, all in all outwardly they were unmistakably religious. Jesus tells us that we must exceed this "righteousness" if we want to make heaven our home. He says we have to extend outside of this, or be greater than they, or behave in a way superior to their "righteousness". How can we go beyond this? It is very important we know. Jesus thought if was so important He taught the disciples what His expectations were. Where the Pharisees stopped is where we must begin. Pharisees didn't murder; to do so would have broken the law. Jesus says in Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. If we let Jesus rule our hearts filling us with His love and we realize the seriousness of unrepentant anger towards others and get it out of the way through surrendering our desire to punish those who have harmed us to God we won't ever be even close to killing our fellow man for it won't be in our hearts. A person without Christ might succeed in not killing anyone but he can't succeed in not carrying bitter grudges, envy, and hatred towards someone. Jesus lets us know that we can't try the classic human ploy to cover guilt of sin in one area of our lives with more pious religious behavior in another area such as trying to read your Bible more....witnessing more, singing in church more, giving more in the offering plate, or "praying" more in God's general direction will not replace repentance and openly making amends with those we have wronged. Jesus says 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. The Pharisees didn't commit adultery that would be breaking the law. Jesus tells us 27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. If we would realize the seriousness of Christ's warning that we must go beyond the outward motions of "obedience" and drill down to where sin gets its start and if we would let God have control of these areas we would never fall into the traps of sin like fornication, adultery, drunkenness, murder, and covetousness. If we realize Jesus said we must go beyond the outward obedience of not cheating on our spouses we will be quick to repent of the thoughts that will lead us down the path of mental adultery. If we do this in all the areas where sin might tempt in our lives; we certainly won't ever be guilty of the outward show of these great evils. Be honest now...have you ever heard a message in some "church" or on the radio where the "preacher" is saying "Sometime you can't tell a lost person and a Christian apart because some "Christians" are so wicked?" Does this sound like Jesus' teaching that our righteousness has to exceed or go beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees? How can we ever be deceived to believe one can get by with not even having the outside of the cup cleaned up? Remember Jesus said 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. NO CASE seems pretty clear to me if I clear my mind of preconceived notions and read it like a child would do. NO CASE means there is no exceptions to the rule. Jesus also warns His disciples that in order to follow Him and make heaven their home they would have to be willing to give up anything that would stand in their way of repenting and turning from sin. He lets them know sin carries the punishment of hell and it is such a serious danger we should be willing to part with our own body parts if they would cause us to sin and lead us to hell. 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. I can't help but think of all the "eternal security" or better named unconditional security sermons I have heard where I've been told that once you are a Christian you can never be in danger of going to hell. When reading these verses I had to ask myself if this is so why did Jesus give the warning to His disciples. They would not have thought to themselves..."Listen to Him...I'm sure He's talking about somebody else" because Jesus was talking to them...He was looking purposely at them. Remember in Luke it says And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples Now I know and you know our hands,eyes and feet are not what truly make us sin...it is our hearts clinging to desires, passion, loyalties and emotions other than God. This warning however lets us know there will be no excuses accepted in judgement. Something as connected to us as the body parts we were born with won't get us any sympathy from a righteous God who sent His righteous Son (part of His own body) to die for a people whose righteousness is as filthy rags. God forbid that anyone would think they could earn their salvation because Jesus' precious blood has to cover the best we can do because its filthy to God. When we as sinners bring Jesus our worst and Christ forgives us there are some things He asks in return. He requires we give Him our lives but not our lives as we lived them before we came and repented; when we lived to our own pleasure and evil desires. We must present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God and He says this is just what is reasonable. The best we can give God will take the covering of Christ's blood to make acceptable...but because of this do not be deceived to think we can present God with less than at least filthy rags (our righteousness) and He will have no choice but to accept whatever we give Him. Thank the Lord for the Holy Spirit which enables us to go beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees. When we yield to the Holy Spirit in repentance and let Christ live through us we are somehow enabled to keep not just the letter but the intent of the law. When studying Christ's teaching to his disciples as He was teaching them what to live and teach I was struck by the thought that I was reading some of the most important verses in the Bible. I realized every other Bible author would never contradict what Jesus Himself was setting up. I also realized that every preacher or teacher should in no way contradict Jesus' foundational Christian teachings as recorded here. I realized my beliefs would have to be in line with these foundational truths if my beliefs were true at all. Thinking these thoughts I began to read the following verses... Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 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. Wait a minute I thought to myself...I have heard "preachers" and teachers say "Sometimes you can't tell true Christians and non-Christians apart. Jesus says I can tell false prophets by their fruits. I think sometimes we think false prophets will look like wolves and be unmistakable to spot to anyone looking for wolves. Jesus says they will be in sheep's clothing. If they are in sheep's attire then how am I going to know them when sometimes according to certain "preachers" and teachers Christians will be in wolves clothing? According to Jesus I don't have to worry with this confusion because Christians will not be in wolves clothing and the wolves in sheep's clothing will give themselves away by their fruits. What fruits is He talking about here when they are dressed like sheep and in verse 22 they can say 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. Sounds like they have all the outward show of the Pharisees and if we can't see their heart how will we know them in order to not follow them? Jesus says by their fruits we shall know them. If it isn't how they look or act in this case what else could it be but by their words. Our words are fruits and the Bible says in Matthew 12:33-37 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. The false prophets words will betray him or her. Their words will not line up with Christ's teachings. With this in mind pay special attention to these verses. Matthew 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. All of those messages in "Churches" and from radio preachers and sunday school teachers who told me there were wicked "Christians"...who told me you couldn't tell a saved person sometimes from the lost person and used their former unfaithful selves as examples were lying to me. Jesus said A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit He let me know through this simple universally accepted fact who I should listen to and who I should turn away from.... an apple tree will always bear apples...ect..ect. His example is so straight forward and easily understood. (that is until a false prophet gets a hold of it.) False prophets try to convince me sheep sometimes wear wolves clothing...they tell me I shouldn't judge those "sheep" to be lost or found only God can do that. Jesus knew I would need to know who the false prophets and professors were or I could easily be deceived by one of them that is why He gave the disciples and me and you His teachings and let us know not about judging but what He would call fruit inspecting. We don't need to judge these false "Christians" and false prophets, preachers, teachers, professors...ect..God's Word already does that. My responsibility is to base my life on Christ teachings. He is my foundation. I will reject the teachings of all who teach other than what He revealed in the sermon on the mountain. If I accept and follow those who would have me believe contrary to the doctrine of Jesus Christ my tree will be hewn down and cast into the fire with theirs. Jesus also likened these false teachings to building a house on shifting sand. He lets me know it will fall. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Once again these verses are recorded in Luke chapter 6 verse 43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. In this account it says if we do not live Christ's teachings we are building without a foundation. The Bible says Christ is the only foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:11 - For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. This means Christ laid down His foundation of teaching here. To build on something other than what He teaches here is to build without HIM. Until I read this sermon afresh I had always hesitated to call the teachers and "preachers" false prophets who taught the doctrine of wicked "christians" living unconditionally secure or teaching what is otherwise called the doctrine of "eternal security". I no longer hesitate. In my ignorance of the Scriptures I almost missed the important directions on how to spot a false prophet and almost failed to witness in boldness of the truth of Jesus Christ. How sad we are so easily blinded and silenced by our own ignorance of what should be common knowledge in the churched world. (Jesus Christ's foundational teaching) I find it interesting to note that those who would preach salvation is not by works when justifying ungodlyness in their lives will be the same bunch who make big shows of their good works such as door to door "soulwinning"...sunday school increases and turn out...church membership drives...keeping track of sermons preached, souls "won", revivals attended, persons baptized...how many missionarys they support personally or through encouragement to others support..etc, ect..(Many "wonderful works") I am not saying any of these things are "bad" in and of themselves but it is interesting to note there is no evidence of Paul keeping track and recording how many were saved when he preached some message. He doesn't report how many messages he preached, how many he baptized, how many churches he single handedly started, how many mission trips he went on, how much money he gave in support of others ministry. If fact I can't think of a time any of the apostles in Acts reported such totals. Jesus didn't even list how many healed. All these things are really just bragging about something that doesn't really matter. What does matter is not the works you can list you have done but have you been doing the will of the Father. Matthew 7:21 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. If you believe we are living in the last days it is interesting to note that Noah, a preacher of righteousness, preached a long time and only took eight souls with him into the ark. Jesus said, Luke 17:26 - And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. I'm not saying men can not be saved but in times of great wickedness comes great oppression and blindness to the gospel of righteousness because men love their "easy" lives of rebellion and living for pleasure. If the hundreds to nearly thousands these churches claim to rescue from the pits of hell, in some small towns where these churches are , we would be seeing revivals break out। Year after year, with these numbers the nightclubs, bowling alleys, movie theaters, and bars would be going out of business। However even with these boasting claims their communities stay and grow more and more Godless. Could it be we are living in the last days? Could it be their gospel appeals to the wicked hearts of men who want their name on some roll but still want to reserve their hearts for the evil imaginations and wicked workings they have always persued? The sad fact is those who teach good trees can bear evil fruit and go about trying to win others to this false persuasion are like the Pharisees in yet another way. Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. The ones they witness to and "win" most times never darken the door of a church or never change anything in their lives. They just go on living to their own selves only now they have been assured that their bad tree producing bad fruit is really a not so great good tree producing bad fruit. If they come to church they get a shame on you for not doing better type message with a don't worry be happy even if you don't change at the end. They hear this instead of Christ's Words 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. If you have been following false prophets you are building your life on shifting sand without a foundation and those teachings will fail you in judgement and with those false teachings your life will fail and all the souls you bore false witness to while doing your "wonderful works" will be destroyed if they fail to get in the Word of God and see what Jesus Christ taught and be converted from the false doctrine of unconditional security. Matthew 7:22 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. Don't let Christ's foundational doctrine astonish you into rejecting it on the grounds that it is just too foreign from what you have been taught, what you have believed, and what you may have taught or are teaching others now. Matthew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine You must follow Christ and His astonishing doctrine or be lost with the Pharisees. Will you leave all and follow Christ?

Lesson Of The Creaking Chair

Making time for devotions is probably one of the biggest struggles a Christian faces. What is the best time in the day to study God’s Word and pray? I suppose this varies for every Christian. With seven kids, one of which being two and one being 10 months old the mornings are filled with little feet getting me out of bed wanting breakfast as soon as their feet hit the floor. Sometimes this “great awakening” comes between 6:45 and 7:00 am so mornings have always been a challenge for me. Mid-afternoon is no good consistently for me either. Something always is needing attention around this time. If it gets real quiet in the house (This seldom happens) after lunch you may find me napping. Finally, I generally get to the end of my day and in utter exhaustion fall into bed between
10:30 and 11:30 pm.

For a very long time I have tried to fit time in for devotions whenever I felt I had a free moment. This method has failed me miserably. The Lord really began to deal with me concerning the excuses I would give to explain my ultimate lack of time spent with Him. One day I decided, if I had a public job ( I am a WORK at home Mom) I would most likely have to get up at
6:00 am every morning whether I felt like it or not. Why could I not show as much devotion to the Saviour of my soul?

I began my plan of action, one morning, by rolling over in bed at 6:00 and picking up my Bible. I began to read while my husband snored. The temptation to fall back to sleep was too great. My sleep filled eyes would get heavier and heavier until finally I was startled awake by the sound of my closing Bible when the hand holding it would fall over because it was attached to a sleeping body. I realized if I was going to be successful at consistency I would have to leave the bed behind to have my time with God.

The next morning the house was in a hushed silence ( which happens rarely in a house containing so many bodies) I creeped to the living room to avoid waking sleeping lions. When I sat down in my recliner it made a creaking noise as if to protest being used so early. The sound it made brought back unexpected memories from my childhood. How many times had I heard that sound wake me in the mornings? My parents took their place in their chairs early in the morning to have their time with God throughout my memories of childhood. My parents, however, were not the only ones who came to my mind this morning. I remembered spending the night at my Grandparent’s house and sleeping on the couch only to be awakened early in the morning as my Grandfather, Riley Hensley, took his place in his oversized chair. I remembered opening up sleepy eyes to see him reaching for his Bible, placed on a table, by that chair side. I closed my young eyes and contentedly went back to sleep in the soft glow of his lamp light and the gentle sound of turning pages. All these memories came flooding back to me the moment I heard the creaking chair of mine. I was no longer alone in my living room. I was surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses. They had set the example and unknowingly had witnessed to me of the importance of this sacred hour I now spent with God. I wept as I wondered if my children were listening. I wondered if I would be that witness to them. Would I continue the legacy of the creaking chair?

Each morning now when I wake up and I think about just rolling over and falling back to sleep I remember the sound of the creak in the chair and I think to myself, “What if that chair doesn’t creak today?” Any morning could be the morning my children would hear and learn the importance of such a time spent with God. A memory could be created that would get them out of bed in the later years of their life to nurture the treasure of a relationship with the Most High God. My faithfulness now could result in a lesson taught that would one day lead them to discover the love they can experience while spending time alone with God.

Maybe you have a chair like mine that should creak tomorrow morning. God Bless.

Positive Outlook

Positive thinking is something we hear quite a bit about nowadays. The theory is that I can change my circumstances just by thinking positively. How true is this?
The Bible doesn't say positive thinking changes things what it teaches is prayer changes things. The Bible says in:

James 5:16 - Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The Bible also says in:

Matthew 17:20 - And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Wow that is incredible....all this comes through prayer. Prayer if done sincerely and consistently creates and feeds faith and faith creates a positive outlook. If I am praying in faith about a circumstance in my life I will not be talking negatively about it. I will be conducting myself in a way as to be expectant of the answer to my prayer. I will be changing my surroundings by changing my attitude towards them.
Negative thinking comes from a lack of praying and an abundance of complaining. This approach to life will keep you in a cycle of depression and apart from the heart of God. If you are caught here the first step is to repent. The second step is to count your blessings. You have much to be thankful for; food, clothing, a roof over your head, air to breath, family that loves you, a Heavenly Father who died for you .... etc. If you are homeless and sleeping in your car then thank God for your car. If your family hates you then thank God that He loves you and is willing to forgive you no matter what you have done. The importance of this exercise is that you think and meditate on how much you take for granted. There is something somewhere you can thank God for no matter how low you are now. The third step is to start a consistent devotional time with God. This time should include Bible reading and fervent prayer to God. Quit asking God to give you what YOU want and start asking God to make you what He wants. If you do these three things it will impact how you feel, how you think, and how you are perceived, and most importantly how you stand before God.

Please note that this blog spot address has changed from inclined2analyze to devotionsandopinions.blogspot.com

The Dawn

God came to me in shades of night
Dark so thick I could not see
And there within the blackness
Spoke light and love to me.

In my fears I trembled
So weak I couldn't stand
But then I felt Him reaching
Found Hope within my hand

I discovered there a strength
I hadn't known before
The things I thought were lost to me
He spoke and did restore

I've faith enough to follow
Where He leads me now
And though I do not know just where
It matters not somehow.

Grey streaks of light now fill my sky
And so I follow on.
His love my light and dawning
Soon the darkness will be gone.

Written by: Laura L. Grapes
Copyright 2008

I Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Legacy of Anger

Proverbs 22:24 -25 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

Are you easily angered?

Many times I have heard the laughing comments of people referring to someone's fiery temper as if it were something to be admired. Being a red head I have heard the endless comments regarding the supposed terrible tempers of all red heads. Comments made with a silly grin as if they would like to see a demonstration of the supposed temper in the next few minutes. The truth however is, according to the Bible, an inability to control one's anger is not something to be admired. The truth is it is a snare to our souls and the souls of whomever finds themselves in our company. Sadly the ones we are laying this dangereous snare for are the ones we love and care about the most; they are our own children and close family members.
The Bible says we are not become friends or go anywhere with a furious and angry man. Our children and spouses have no choice however but to be subjected to our fits of temper and thus they learn our ways and this cycle of ensnarement lasts generations.
Anger and the inability to control the emotions can grow into so many full blown manifestations with consequences that are far reaching. Many things can be traced back to uncontrolled emotions....anger, quarreling, bitterness, hate, murder...do we really want to lead our loved ones into this treacheous territory? My mother has always quoted what she heard somewhere,"What parents do in moderation, children do in excess." Do we really want our children fine tuning the abilities to fly off the handle...or storm out of a room...or throwing objects...or yelling...or screaming...or pouting and sulking?
If these are your vices your pet sins...REPENT. Ask those around you who have seen the anger rule you to forgive you and share with them this verse in Proverbs.
Anger and uncontrolled emotions do not just cost you. Our children are watching and learning from us. Let us not leave to them this legacy of anger. Let us put it off like an old garment and ask God to cloth us in His meekness, quietness, and righteousness.

Sacrifice of Others

Have you ever pondered how the sacrifice of others has made or makes your life possible?

For instance when we were kids we never dwelt on how much Mom or Dad sacrificed to put food on the table every meal. We just sat down and dug in. Just think about the hours working earning the money to buy the food, the labor in meal planning, cooking, and the cleaning up afterwards. Now that some of us are grown up with families of our own we are just beginning to truly see and appreciate the countless sacrifices our existence has required.

Almost everything we enjoy in life has come through the hard work of others. The items we purchase in the store, the cars we drive, the businesses we work at, our education, the beds we sleep in, the homes we live in, the wood we used to construct our homes, and even the air we breathe and for those who are blessed by it....the salvation of our very souls... can be attributed to the hard work, ingenuity, careful thought, and grudging or loving sacrifice of either mortal man or God Himself. None of us are self sufficient...with any meditation on our dependency we can see how any such thought is mere ignorant pride. Even if we lived in the days when men grew their own food and felled their own trees to build their houses we would still need God to supply the rain and fertile soil in which to grow our food. No two ways around it we certainly need God for survival here on earth and in the afterlife....and I have already made the case for needing others here on earth in this post-modern world we now live in.

Take a moment to humbly reflect on the sacrifices others make to bless your family. Think about God's Supreme Sacrifice given for your soul's salvation. Then think about what you are sacrificing for the well being of others. Do you give it cheerfully or grudgingly? Then search your soul deeply; are you sacrificing anything for God? If so do you sacrifice it cheerfully and humbly or grudgingly and hatefully?

Remember God says He loves a cheerful giver! Are you busy giving cheerfully? Think and pray about it.

Vote!! Vote!! Vote!!

The last day before the election and the politicians are out in numbers in Missouri. Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barack Hussein Obama, and even Hilary Rodham Clinton will make an appearance here today. Each one of them are trying to persuade you to vote for them tomorrow. Each one of them with distinctive views on where this country should be headed.

So much is at stake in this election....if you value your freedom and want America to keep the same great liberties we have experienced for 232 years your choice on which canidate to vote for could enable those freedoms to survive or could begin the dismantling of what we have always known America to be. Barack Hussein Obama in a recent comment said he wanted to create a civilian task force....Sounds a little bit like the KGB to me. He has also said our founding fathers squelched our liberties and didn't go far enough....they didn't spread the wealth. Hello!!! that was because they weren't creating a communist country.

Will this man even spend one day in the White House holding up the Constitution? So far his statements all point to the fact that he thinks he could have done better than our founding fathers. He isn't happy with our nation...the way it has been for 232 years....he wants to change it. Is that what you want? Do you honestly think we would be better off if we were more like the nations in the European Union? Does the United Nations have the answers on a better form of government with members like China and Russia? They make a lot of proclaimations but they turn out to be clouds with no water all they know is how to oppress a people successfully.

Government is not God and cannot solve our nation's ills. Vote to protect the freedom that allows us to turn to the ONE TRUE GOD who can heal our land.

I am voting for John McCain and then I'm praying for him because he doesn't have all the answers either....because he is a mere mortal man....he will just hopefully allow us to continue to live in the freedom to pursue life and liberty....without telling us how much we can make, buy, or own...and without a new version of the KGB.