Though HE slay me

Job 13:15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution

In our western civilization we constantly hear about this Christianity that guarantees health and wealth or either says, "Come to Jesus and He'll make you happy!" In that we see something so contra distinctive in comparison to what we see in the Bible. We Christians are guaranteed peace in the midst of the storm. Why? Because we know our hope does not lie in the disappointments of this world. Our home and treasure is elsewhere. God has given us a seal and a promise called the Holy Spirit and Comforter so when test and trials come to us in life they do not bankrupt us from the faith. I utter at the the thought that I should be mad at God after reading Job 38. To draw this conclusion I would have to be a illegitimate Christian, one born from another father and not the God of the Bible. As true Christians we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. So whatever the trial may be it is and was sovereignly orchestrated by the God of the Universe who controls everything. This is so much easier to grasp when you are not going through a trial; but in the midst of it; it must become a reality.

If we fail when the test comes, the reality of our true state is laid bare before all.

Matt 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Job is a rather popular book and most of us have heard of his story at one time or another. Job, convinced of his own innocence, maintains that his suffering cannot be accounted for by his few sins, and that there is no reason for God to punish him thus. However, he refuses to curse God's name. Job loses everything he had after God agrees to let Job be tested by Satan to see whether he would be as faithful if God did not bless him with material possessions. In this we see that God is totally sovereign and nothing happens without Him allowing it to happen. At this time in my life I have accepted this and try to see this in light of the Holy Scriptures. When things happen like in Job's life;we are not guaranteed an explanation for everything that happens, but we are guaranteed that Christ will be with us at all times in adversity. When does your scripture memorization and study come to life? They come to life when they become a reality and you have to rely on the simple yet complex promises of God. No I am not speaking any fancy Word of Faith jargon, but all of our studying must be tested.

Zechariah 13:9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; And each one will say, 'The Lord is my God.' "

In context Zechariah was speaking of the remnant that would be saved from Israel and vaguely mentioned the Cruixifiction of the Messiah. Even in this we can see that we must be tested. There is so much to extrapolate from the book of Job. The scripture reference listed above is Job's rebuttal to his three friends Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. A fourth, Elihu the Buzite, first begins talking in chapter 32 and bears a distinguished part in the dialogue; his arrival is not explained. The friends spend a week sitting on the ground with Job, without speaking, until Job at last breaks his silence and complains of his misery. His four friends try to accuse Job of sins that they feels is the reasoning for his suffering. Obviously Job knows better and without a doubt knows his position with God. Do you know yours? Job was a honorable man and this is the reason why he had the temerity to stand before a Holy God and attempt to declare his filthy righteousness. After God makes a verminous exposition of Job, Job realizes his true state.

Job 42:1 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 “I know that you can do all things,and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;I will question you, and you make it known to me.’5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,but now my eye sees you;6 therefore I despise myself,and repent in dust and ashes.”

The Lord Rebukes Job's Friends After getting a secure handle on Calvinism amongst other essential things we see that as believers; there are no accidents and no surprises in the eyes of God. We cannot attribute evil to God, so please do not misunderstand me. We just understand that God is totally perfect, sovereign and works everything in accordance with His will and plan.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Some factual information obtained from http://www.wikipedia.org/

Indictment

John 3:20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

I have a question.. Do unbelievers and lukewarm Christians(not Christians at all) hate us? John said, "When we see Him we will be like Him" If we are going to be like Him and see things more clearly in eternity, will we not rejoice when the wickedness is purged from our presence? Think about this question. When they stand before God and are indicted for all there sins; are they not mad at the very God that possesses us as believers? The presence of the Holy Spirit is the only thing restraining them to be who they really are at heart; & that is wicked, prideful, boastful, and idolaters. Can people hate God? He who is totally blameless and can they hate him without reason? Yes, just look at the crucifixion of Christ. I noticed this reality in some of my family members. They see me as some radical fanatic who just goes a little too far with this Christianity thing. I can hear them say, "You don't have to do all that" "Do you have to put God in everything" "Do you think about anything else besides God" I am going a little overboard here.. but you get my point.
Does the way you try to serve Christ make other so called Christians feel uncomfortable? When it comes to controversial things, isn't it funny how people run from them? I know that people grow at different paces sometimes but when we are enlightened to sin in a specific area of our life through God's Word, the test is do we immediately conform or do we say,"it is hard and I need more time" I say more time for what? You have your command now MOVE SOLDIER!!!

I am learning to not try to always think things through and accept some things like the Sovereignty of God. I say this because I don't understand why people go to church and have no intention on conforming their life to Christ-likeness. Is there any logic behind this? Why waste your time doing this if you are lukewarm and not totally submitted to your life manual the Bible? I see so many people who just go to church thinking somehow by this deed they can appease the wrath of God on judgement day. We have to pursue God with the type of temerity that we have seen in the scriptures by men like the apostles. Look at the indictment of the church of Laodicea.

Revelation 3:15 `I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 `So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 `Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 `Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 `Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

I don't know what has happened to me in the past year. I am consumed with the reality of God in all His majesty and feel as if my world revolves around the Gospel as if nothing else matters. I recall when I was struggling with questions at my previous church congregation regarding the insidiousness in the so called church. I would seek out the truth as if my life depended on it. When I would get hardcore facts about the history of the church as we know it, people would doubt me and thought I was off my rocker. In this I started to question my Faith. I felt like a man deserted on and island in the middle of nowhere. No-one could hear me. I would hear voices in the distance on radio, books, and other sources that echoed the truth I was coming in contact with. In retrospect I can imagine Christ saying...

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I see Christians always talking about Heaven and no-one talks about judgment. Talking about getting crowns of glory but no-one mentioning condemnation for the wicked. Can you imagine Noah in his day warning the people about the coming judgment in which no-one had ever witnessed before. Do we not have the same task that he had but only with more tools and proof upon proof? Christ is coming back one day to separate His sheep from the goats and we have the foreknowledge of this truth that has been written for us in His Word.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

Matthew 24:37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

"True Unconditional LOVE"

I am reading through the book listed on my column called "The Exemplary Husband" by Stuart Scott with my good good friend Lionel(aka "that is SIN") Woods and it has challenged our Christianity tremendously and has made us grow through the exposition of the scriptures in only a short time. I recommend this book for anyone not just husbands.


The Dictionary or the world defines love as this;
A deep, tender, ineffable "feeling" of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.

How does this contrast with the Biblical Worldview of Love? Let us look and see.

1 Corinthians 13(emphasis mine)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

First let me say; Isn't it ironic how truth is connected to love? No coincidence here. Truth is conformity with fact and reality or whatever corresponds to reality. The type of love we see in these passages are rarely seen in our culture today. Yes we see couples who are happy and love without limits but are they manifesting true Biblical love? We see couples continuously getting divorces over ridiculous things. Most commonly we see divorces due to selfishness. In our culture people love and they will say it is unconditional but when something goes not according to their plan they retract their love like a rattle snake after a vicious strike to its victim. Really their love for you is tied to how they perceive your love for them. This is NOT Biblical Love, it is love centered around their own selfish will. Let me pause and say, "I have not arrived and I am learning this daily in my marriage and my wife can be a witness to this fact" I have seen enormous flaws in my past with the way I loved my wife and people in general and it is always tied to how I am treated versus how I would like to be treated regardless of their reaction towards me. You see our relationship to God is first and to people second. The way we treat people is a direct correlation of our understanding and obedience to God.

People profess to be Christians all the time, but put them under the fire or give them pressure and their heart will manifest the true reality of their total depravity if they are not true believers. Let us look at what James says:

James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

In this James hits the nail on the head. We are self-centered by our Adamic nature from birth but we are now striving after the qualities and nature of Christ and they are contrary to this world. If you look into your life, just think how putting the needs of others would make a difference in every situation. This is no way makes men passive or feminized, it on the contrary emulates the attributes of Christ with love and truth hand and hand; you see it can be no other way. If you love your friend or family member, your love for them compels you to tell them the truth about their corrupt state, that is true love.

John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last.(emphasis mine)

1 Peter4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.(emphasis mine)

Being In LOVE?

I have come to the realization that this is not a Biblical Term.(via pg.104 Exemplary Husband) Biblical Love is never a state. Love is always a commitment, a choice, or an action. So the Bible crucifies what we call "In Love", in this we see people say they fall out of love or fall into love as if it is some magical hole in the air. Love is something totally aside from our fickle emotions. If you look at people in the Bible in Acts, at the time of conversion you very rarely see any documentation of emotions tied to their salvation aside from joy and happiness in their suffering in which they see it as an honor to be counted worthy to suffer for HIM. We are to Love our wives as Christ Loves the church and love one another as our self. If love is simply tied to feeling or sex, when we have hard times the marriage will diminish and a allegory can be made from that to how we see the prosperity gospel preached and when people go through storms of life(in which the Bible promises persecution to every true believer) they fade away.(parable of the Sower)

Analyze your love in the face of the truth of God's infallible Word. I assure you that you will see a immediate need for a change in the way you deal with people and not just your spouse. Remember your horizontal relationships are just a reflection of your vertical relationship with the Creator of all. In Christ

"Heaven" The Believers Paradise.

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Heaven can be defined as an eternal state of communion with God; everlasting bliss. Bliss is supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment. So in essence we have a taste of heaven here on Earth as believers. The Lord has given us a Comforter and a seal of deposit(The Holy Spirit) of what is to come to every true believer.

As we look back in history we can see Heaven on Earth in the Garden of Eden before the fall and in this we can see what is to come in the future. Total communion with God without the hint or even thought of sin. This I cannot fathom. John said when we see Him we will be like Him. I don't know how this is going to be because sin is forever around me, we cannot escape even the thought of it here on Earth, our only hope is to dwell on the holiness of God. We can see the reality of sin for the believer when we look at Paul in Romans 7. Paul caught a glimpse of Heaven and sin was still a factor all the days of his life. If we say we have no sin we make God a liar and the truth is not in us.

In this life we get so entangled with the minuscule affairs. Silly arguments and debates all for what? We hear echoed throughout the New Testament to have an eternal perspective on life. We are to have eternity on our eyelids and be thinking and dwelling on Him constantly, (He) Jesus the Christ is all that matters, I pray daily for the Lord to keep eternity on my eyelids; if not I will get caught up in the now and make decisions based on my fickle emotions. When it comes down to it people who are entangled in sin and a lifestyle of rebellion towards God, they are not thinking from an eternal perspective. Heaven and Hell are so real to me. Everything that God has said has come to pass or is coming to pass. Not one prophecy has ever failed- He is flawless and we are without excuse. This is why the Cross is so essential-without it we have not hope. Look at what Paul says to the Colossians

Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Can you imagine sitting in the presence of God totally unveiled and we see His Glory totally removed from the thought of sin and the troubles of this world. We will see Him as He is. I think about this but it is almost as if my mind has a cap on it and I can only go so far. There has been nothing we have seen ever the can compare with the forthcoming glory. Look at the accounts in the Bible where the Prophets and Apostles are before God and look at their responses. The Holiness of God is something we have lost sight of in our culture. Holy Holy Holy.

Check out Isaiah 6:1-4
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

You know when I see the animals killing each other to survive in the wilderness on the discovery channel(maybe it is just me) it seems as if they are tired and they too await the second coming of Christ. There will be no killing in Heaven. I think of the passage in Isaiah that speaks of the tranquility we find after Christ judges this wicked world.

Do you have this hope? Or are you worried about what tomorrow brings.

James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

"Heaven" The Believers Paradise.