Neither cold nor hot

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth"  (Revelation 3:16 KJV). Look around. The world is being shaken by the hand of God. Chaos floods many nations, and most eyes are on the government, looking for answers. We no longer look to Christ for the answers but to man. As a result of seeking for the answers in other things besides Christ, a lukewarmness has come to the nations. Religion is seen as something done only when trouble strikes. America has become so cold, and we stand so far from the Lord. The home of the brave is seen, through God's eyes, as the land of the bondage. It is not only here in America, but in the majority, if not all other nations. Many have fallen asleep. A great cloud of darkness has come over many, and with it a great falling away from our morals and purities. We may look okay and even say all is right, but what is going on in our world is far from being right. This darkness has the tendency to blind the heart of the lukewarm believer. This blindness makes them see things as if nothing is wrong, while the deceiver, the devil, uses them and binds them up.  Come on people. We need true repentance in our lives and in the House of God. It will only come when one has made up their minds to run from this darkness and into the arms of Jesus. Let's not take these last days for granted. God has called you and I to spread the Good News. Jesus said unto them, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47 KJV). There is still some time. However, no man knows how much time there is. God bless you all.

For whither thou goest, I will go.

"And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16 KJV). Ruth had nothing to lose. She followed after her mother in law, and wherever Naomi went Ruth went too. Ruth decided to turn her back on the world she knew, the world that she grew up in. She turned her back on all the idolatry and the rebellion against God. She was not going back. Have we truly made up our minds to follow Jesus for the rest of our lives? Or do we still want and long for the things of Moab, a place that is spiritually dead and filled with selfishness and pride? Ruth saw her way out of the world, and she was not about to lose this opportunity. Naomi knew Ruth was steadfast in her mind and that she was not about to go back. "Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me" (Ruth 1:17 KJV). Have we gotten desperate in our fight for our souls? How much do we really want freedom from the burden of our past? How much do we really love Jesus Christ? Enough to follow Him? It's time to follow Him. We will not regret it. Do not be left behind.  Run to Christ and let Him fill you up. God bless you.

He lingered

"And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city" (Genesis 19:16 KJV).  Lot was a righteous man, who lived in a city that was filled with immorality and all kinds of other perversions. He had a choice to live there or not, but like the rest of us, he got comfortable. The more comfortable we get in our surroundings, the weaker we get spiritually. Lot saw all that was around him, and it vexed and grieved his heart. Yet, he was not willing to fight for himself or his family. He was not about to give up all he had worked for, all he had gained in life, just because his surroundings had "some sin". This sin was not enough to move him or cause him to fight on his knees and cry out to God. He was comfortable surrounded by this sin. He thought everything was O.K. Lot was far from God, and his heart had no ambition to heed to God or run for his life, even after the the Lord told him to flee for his life. The angels told Lot to get his family out of the city and to run to the mountains. Lot did not take the warning from the Lord seriously, but instead he decided to linger. There's no time to linger today. The Lord is calling us all out of the sin that surrounds us. There is no time to get comfortable. We have family members, sons, and daughters that need to get out of destruction. It's up to us to get alone with the Lord and to pray, as Abraham prayed for his nephew, Lot. Stand in faith. God is able even when all looks impossible. Praise God. God bless you.

Every man is tempted

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" (James 1:14 KJV). There is so much the eyes of men and women face today. Wickedness is just about everywhere we look, and is waiting for someone to stop and desire it. We know what lusts so easily grab us and those that don't even bother us. Every one of us has a lust that we battle with. It comes and goes whenever it pleases. So many times it will try to attract us, and when we fall into it, it will only hold us down and make us feel ashamed. This lust, the appetites of the flesh, once conceived, brings forth sin, and sin, when it is all done having its time with us, brings forth death. Neither man nor any program can stop sin. For when lust comes into one's life, its desire is to kill one spiritually, to separate man from God. We really need to be careful, for the world is filled with darkness and evil spirits that will hold a person in bondage, filling that soul with sin and death. "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11 KJV); Peter makes it clear that those fleshly lusts are out there. No one is exempt from them. We just can't be drawn away by them. The Lord has given us the cure over this lust, that ever so lingers in our beings, "Draw close near to God, and He will draw near to you"(James 4:8). Stand in Christ, and run to Him, He is our savior and there is no other. Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. God bless you all.

But also in power

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake"  (1 Thessalonians 1:5).  The word of God has shaken the world for 6,000 years, and it will continue to do so. The Apostle Paul let's the church in Thessalonica know that the Word of God did not come unto them by word only, but by power and through the Holy Spirit. The Word of God apart from the Holy Spirit is only words, but with the power of the Holy Spirit moving behind the words it becomes alive. Today many people don't read the Bible on a daily basis. Many just can't understand it. However, when one is born again of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit is alive in their life, the Spirit of God interprets the very Word that He inspired man to write many years ago. The Holy Bible is not to be taken lightly. In the world today, who has time to read it and much less allow the Holy Spirit to live through them? The Apostle Paul knew that the only way to proclaim Christ crucified to the Gentiles was through God and not himself. So, along with the Word of God and Paul's obedience to the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit was able to move through him. These are not Paul's words we read, but they are the words of God given by the Holy Spirit. We need the Living Word of God in us, and it becomes more alive to our spirit by the Holy Spirit dwelling us. Praise God for the Holy Spirit who He has given unto all who believe.

The Lord always before me

"I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psalms 16:8 KJV).  We must go all the way with Jesus. Through our struggles, our pains, and our trials, no matter what comes against us, we have to make up our minds we are going all the way with Jesus. Through the dark times, dry times, and times we can't feel God there's no turning back, for Christ has called us and we will follow Him. When temptation surrounds us and doubt tries to grab us, there's no other way out but through Jesus. There's no time to quit or to look down. Jesus is coming soon, sooner then we know it. So, we must pick up our crosses and surrender ourselves to the Lord today, to the one who gave Himself for us. Jesus did this in order that we may be free from all that Satan and life tries to hit and discourage us with.  Jesus walks where we walk. He is everywhere we go. When the battle for our souls hits close to home, He is our defender. He stands up for us. He is at our right hand. We shall not be moved. Thank God for salvation. God bless you.

A good soldier

"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (II Timothy 2:3 NKJV). The Apostle Paul went through some very tough times in the ministry. So, he knew what it took to serve the Lord out of the depths of his heart. He did not choose to follow Christ, but Christ chose him. Paul followed and obeyed every word that the Lord gave to him, even in the darkest of prisons and through the coldest of nights. The Apostle Paul went many days without food or a place to find rest. He trusted in the Lord, and he knew by faith the Lord our God would supply all his needs. Paul was a man who was very familiar with suffering, yet we never hear of him turning from the Lord to go back to the world. He knew the trials he faced would bring out endurance, patience, and a greater hope in our Lord. Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the Lord, not to put fear in young Timothy's heart, but to encourage him in Jesus Christ and to let him know that there would be some hard times ahead. Paul told him to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and when hardship comes to endure it and follow after Jesus as a good soldier (II Timothy 2). We, as believers, face many hard times, and when one stands for Christ, there are more hard times to come. We are called, just as Paul and Timothy were, and it is through following Jesus Christ that one is made into a soldier.  When the hard times hit where it hurts, which usually begins at home with family, we are not to get entangled with the affairs of this life. Let the Lord do what He does best, and that is to bring light and life to a soul. "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of  this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier" (II Timothy 2:4 NKJV). God bless you all.