Why Do We Need God?

Shake It Off

“Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you
go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.”
Matthew 10:14

As Jesus began to prepare His disciples for their calling as
leaders in the Church, He decided they needed to go out on
their own and learn to do what they had previously seen Him
do. For soon Jesus would no longer be physically with them
and they needed to know who to operate in His absence. So He
gathered the disciples together and instructed them to go
out into the surrounding cities to preach and demonstrate
the Kingdom of God. At the very end of His instructions,
Jesus tells his disciples to do something, that is not as
spectacular as His other instructions, but is essential to
their having success in what they have been assigned to do.
This essential piece of wisdom that Jesus shared with his
disciples has just as much application and revelation for
us today, as it did when He originally spoke these words
over 2000 years ago.

Jesus first instructs His disciples to take no money for
their journey, preach the Kingdom of Heaven, heal the sick,
raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and when
it is all said and done – know when to “shake the dust off”.

Jesus said that their ability to shake off criticism, rejection,
opposition and other people’s opinion of them was just as
important as their preaching the gospel, healing the sick,
raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons.
Jesus knew that their ability to overcome persecution and
rejection was critical to their ability to succeed at what He
told them to do. If they succumbed to criticism and rejection,
there would be no preaching, healing, raising or cleansing
because they would quit and abandon what they were sent to do.

We too must learn to shake off the dust that others cast upon
us to stop us and move forward in life. There are times in life
when we will have to go at it alone! If you never learn to
shake off what life and others will place upon you, you will
find yourself bound and unable to move forward in life because
you’re carrying things and burdens that God never intended
for you to carry.

Not only must we learn to shake off the dirt that others place
upon us, but we must also learn to shake off the dirt that
we’ve accumulated and held onto over the years. There are
things in our pasts that have clung to us to remind us of what
we used to be. This dirt may be failures, words that have
wounded us or mistakes we’ve made that we are trying to make
up for that hinder us in moving forward into our assignments
and callings. Many of the disciples had less than desirable
pasts that they had to shake off and move forward despite
their history. There was Matthew the tax collector who had
to shake of the guilt, shame and condemnation of his past
occupation in order to move forward in the ministry that
Christ had given him. If Matthew had not learned to shake
off what he knew about himself, and what others were saying
about him, he would not have been able to minister with the
conviction and power necessary for him to do what Christ
instructed him to do. The enemy will use other people’s
attitudes and opinions to try to cause you to doubt yourself
and forfeit what God has for you.

What is it that you’ve allowed to lay dormant because of
rejection, opposition or someone’s opinion of you? Has someone
said something to you that has caused you to doubt yourself,
your ability, purpose or future? If so, do what Jesus told
His disciples to do – “shake it off” and keep moving!

Repent First

“Regret” is a plain sense of sorrow for offensive or immoral behavior. “Penitence” is a sincere admission of transgression with an implication that the penitent intends to undertake moral improvement. “Contrition” is an absolute relinquishment of self to complete and perfect penitence for misdeeds. “Compunction” is a simple pang of conscience for a contemplated action of questionable morality. To “REPENT” is a deep commitment to turn away from our sin (or that which offends God).
*
We must REPENT and give control of our life to God. This is God’s Blessing to us, by His Grace, to exercises our gift of “freewill” to choose Him, REPENT, and follow Jesus’ path. Glory to the Lamb of God! In His infinite mercy and inconceivable love, He forgives us and blesses us, even when we do not deserve it.
*
Today’s evangelists are doing a great disservice to their listeners by preaching a watered down version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their words serve only Satan, as their followers fall away from Grace and God’s Blessings He intended for us. We cannot be seeking, or doing, God’s Will for us as we live for the world. We fool ourselves into believing that we must get by in the world, or give into desires of the flesh, and God does not hold it against us.
*
We live in ’secret sin’, or what we consider ‘little sins’, which aren’t hurting anyone. If it offends God, who is Holy without compromise, it hurts us and our relationship with Him. We can’t possibly receive that which He has intended for us. We may feel like everything is fine, and we are getting away with our desires, for now, but, we are heading for disaster. Many live in adultery, or with hate for one another, and say they are “Blessed by God”. They are so confused.
*
Many people are walking around calling themselves Christians, and believing they are, but, live far out of the Will of the Father (Mat 7:21). They live in iniquity, which they never gave up from the time they said a little prayer, sometime ago, and tagged themselves “Christian”. God hates all sin, large or small. The watered down Gospel we receive does not depict the true God’s Holy and Just nature. Evangelists would have us believe that attempting ‘good works’ by walking in righteousness is not what God expects from us. The truth is, ‘good works’ will not alone get us to Heaven, but, is completely expected of us, by God’s commands.
*
I encourage you to read The Four Step Program if you are seeking knowledge regarding salvation, and what it takes. It really is very simple, but, it is acquired in steps, not just one simple act of reciting a prayer and saying we believe it. I say to you, out of love, you are only fooling yourself and gain nothing if you have not truly turned your life over to the Lord. If life went on as usual for you, and you do nothing to resist temptations, and live in sin, you were never really saved at all.
*
The first step in accepting God’s greatest gift of salvation, is to admit we are a sinner. Then we must repent, or turn away from that which offends God (sin). We do not become sinless Saints. We are still human, and expected to slip. We are convicted by the Holy Spirit in our hearts that we have offended God, and we immediately repent, and ask forgiveness. He is faithful to forgive us. We do not continue with the sin, until we are satisfied, knowing it is wrong, but, we will seek forgiveness afterward.
*
Our own President claims to be a Christian, but, supports killing God’s creations. What a horrible message to the people he leads, that you can be a Christian and choose any ridiculous thing in life regardless it offends God in the most heinous ways. These types of Christians have no idea what the Bible says, or believe it. This is what a Christian is. A follower of Jesus’ Gospel, and God’s commands. We cannot call ourselves Christian and do evil. It is mixing water with oil…it doesn’t!
*
The Blood of Jesus does not mix with sin, it covers it, washes it clean. The very first thing to be accomplished in order for us to be washed clean by the blood, is to repent, and stay away from sin as much as possible. If we are aware that what we are doing is wrong, God always provides a way out of temptation. We cannot use the excuse, “The devil made me do it”. We have been given intelligence to know right from wrong. We have been given the Holy Spirit, if we truly accepted Christ, and if we seek His assistance, He will assist us out of temptation, always.
*
God does not force us to turn away from sin, or the world. He gave us freewill, to choose for ourselves. This is what our salvation is dependant upon. Our choosing to walk in the other direction, away from the world and fleshly desires, is exactly what a Christian makes. We are also expected to read His Word, and serve Him, by speaking of His ‘goodness’ to others.
*
The Lord’s Word is clear, and inerrant. If we do not believe that, then we are not “Christians”. We have compromised the commands of the Gospel, to suit our desires. Hence so many religions which are supposedly based on the Holy Bible. Everyone wants to interpret God’s Word to suit their own needs and desires. It is not a smorgasbord, where we pick and choose what we like for today. Just like man’s law, or civil law, we cannot decide we don’t like the way it sounds, so we don’t have to obey it, as it was written by men.
*
God’s law was written by men, by the will of God, and the accounts of Jesus’ life. Man’s law was written by men, by the will of the people, mostly inspired by God’s law. We cannot choose to ignore man’s law. God’s desire for a relationship with us, is based on our faith, and depends on our exercising our freewill to choose Him. However, we must take the narrow path, that leads to the narrow gate, into His Kingdom.
*
Evangelists not only lie, but, take snippets out of context, to support their Warm and Fuzzy Sermons. They count on appealling to those, especially whom, refuse to get into the Word on their own. They sell books, many books, appealing to those, especially whom, refuse to repent, but, do not want to realize they are so far away from God. We cannot blame the evangelist as we are standing in Judgement.

As In The Days Of Noah

In the last days, as described in Matthew 24, perilous times will come… those times are here – now. There will be scoffers, but, one day every tongue will confess He is God, and every knee will bow.

Redeeming The Time

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but
as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what
the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17

 

One of the most precious gifts God has given mankind is—
time.  A major characteristic of time is that you will
never have more of it than you have right now. With each
breath you take, you are that much closer to taking your
last breath. We all reach a point in life where we realize
that we’ve lived more life than we have left.  The older
we become the more careful we are of what and with whom we
spend our time on.  We begin to realize that we truly do
 not have time to waste!

Some of you may look over your shoulder at your past and
smile with satisfaction at how you used the time that you’ve
given, while others may reflect on their past and wish that
they had the ability to do some things all over again.  However,
what is done is done.  We must do the best we can with the time
we have left.

What do you do when you now have the wisdom to do a thing
right, but you don’t have the time to do it all over again?
What do you do when opportunities, like water, have slipped
through your fingers and the doors that were open are now shut?
You may be asking: “Is there any way to regain what I’ve lost
over the years?”  The truth is, you will never be able to
reclaim the time lost – but you may be able to “redeem” the
time you have left!

The Bible instructs us to “redeem the time”.  If we are
instructed to redeem the time, the next question that must be
asked is: “How do we go about redeeming our time?” The answer
actually lies within the word redeem.  The word redeem in the
Greek is “Exagorazo”. It is a compound word made up of the
preposition “ek” which means “to come out of” or “from”, and
the verb “Agorazo” which means “to put to work in the
marketplace”.  The marketplace is simply a system of exchange.
The way to redeem your time is to exchange the system in which
you are investing your time.

Many Believers, although born again by faith, still operate by
a system dominated by the flesh. Anything that is not logical
or probable they shy away from because they fear not being in
control of the situation.  They are operating under a system
of works, which can only pay them a wage, which correspondingly
controls their worth.  This is the reason a person can work
hard all their life and discover that the time they spent
working was wasted because it could not give them what they
earnestly desire – freedom and fulfillment.

God’s system, or the Kingdom of God, is one of redemption that
is founded on faith.  Our productivity and worth is not based
on our abilities or efforts, but our faith and obedience to
God’s Word.  Everything we receive in this system is a gift.
Jesus said, to seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all things will be added onto us
(Matthew 6:33).  God does what we can’t do by our believing
(in faith) that He can do it!

In the Bible, Abraham tried to have a son, under the system
of flesh (or his own abilities and efforts) for almost 100
years without success. God gave Him in a moment, by faith,
what he could not produce by his flesh over a lifetime. God
redeemed Abraham’s time because Abraham switched systems.  He
received by faith what he could not produce by in his flesh.

Like Abraham, God has allowed some of you to live long enough
to know that your system doesn’t work. God can fix in a moment
what has been broken for years.  It all depends on the system
that you are investing your time and efforts in.  It’s not to
late!  Switch today and redeem your time!

The Man In The Hole

more about "The Man In The Hole ", posted with vodpod

The Anti-American President

more about "The Anti-American President", posted with vodpod

The Difference Between Being Lost and Being Led

“Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went
out into the wilderness.” Exodus 15:22

Many people who find themselves stuck in difficult situations
often feel as if they’ve become lost. Somehow, they’ve
arrived in a wilderness where everything has dried up and
nothing seems to be growing. Many of them have lived in this
wilderness for so long that they have given up on things
changing and concluded that this must be all God has in store
for them.

On numerous occasions, they have attempted to
change their situation, but all of their efforts have failed.
If this sounds like you, you may not be lost at all! You may
be squarely within the Will of God. All dry places in life
are not the result of being lost. Sometimes God leads us
into dry places and uses them as a place of preparation.

In Exodus 3:8, when God met Moses at the burning bush, He told
him that He was going to deliver His people from bondage and
into a land flowing with “milk and honey”. Yet, we know when
God delivered His people from bondage, He led them directly
into a “wilderness” where they spent 40 years.

We know that their wilderness experience had a purpose because the Bible tells us that there was a shorter route available that they
could have taken and avoided the wilderness altogether. Exodus
13:17 says, “God did not lead them by the way of the land of
the Philistines, even though it was near “ (underline mine).
Whenever God leads you somewhere He has a predetermined
purpose for you, even if the route is a longer than what you
expected. The longer the preparation, the greater the
promotion.

If takes much longer to get a PhD than it does
a GED. I am not putting down those who have a GED. Praise
God for it. For some, it took just as much determination to
get their GED than it did for some to get their PhD. However, we
are speaking of principles.

Oftentimes, your wilderness is the doorway to your promise.
At the initiation of Jesus’ public ministry He was not led
into the temple, but into the wilderness. Jesus had to be
first prepared in their wilderness before He could preach his
first sermon.

If you are in a wilderness right now, remember what you
learned while there because it will be necessary to sustain
you in your Promised Land. Don’t faint or lose heart. You
may be at the door of your promise and purpose. I know it has
been a long journey, but it will be worth your while. I know
others may have arrived sooner at their place of destiny, and
you are still making your way toward your destiny.

What God wants to do in your life, requires preparation, therefore
He had to take you the long way. There are no short cuts in the
Kingdom of God – only God’s way. I know, all the while you’ve
thought that somehow you where lost. You may not have been
lost at all. You just may have been led!

By Dr. J.C. Matthews, Senior Pastor of Dunamis Life Ministries and Chancellor of The International Kingdom Institute.

Surviving Dry Places

But He answered and said, “It is written, Man Shall not live
by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God “. (Matthew 4:4)

What does Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4 have in common outside of them being almost identical in wording? Of course, they are both found in the Bible. The answer is: They were both spoken in a wilderness or a dry place. Moses and Jesus
both were concluding extended stays in a wilderness and came
to the same conclusion. Their conclusion was: “Man does not
live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of God.”

You may have never spent any period of time in an actual
wilderness. However, at some point in your life you will
find yourselves in some very dry places. Your dry place might
be emotional, financial, physical, spiritual, relational or
some other form of deficiency or you have in your life. Each
person’s wilderness is just as real as the other’s. These dry
places and times in our lives are not designed to kill or stop
us, but to grow us in our relationship and understanding of God.
They are places of decision and learning where the flesh is
tried and our spiritual man (or woman) is matured

The wilderness is not always a bad place. The purpose for the
wilderness in our lives is three fold. These purposes are to:
(1) try us – physically, mentally and spiritually, (2) reveal
ourselves to ourselves, (3) bring us to a place of total
surrender to God. We must come to a place where we no longer
seek fulfillment, meaning and sufficiency in others or our own
efforts - but in God. Until we learn to trust God’s Word in
every situation we cannot enjoy the promises He has spoken
over our lives.

I don’t know what your particular wilderness is, but I can tell
you that the test and the lesson is the same. God does not
deny that you have needs. However, He does say that your primary
means of meeting these needs should be found within His Word.

If you are currently in a “dry place” in your life ask yourself,
“What is it that God is trying to teach me here?” “Have I been
depending on His Word or something or someone else?” The answer
to these questions may determine how long you’ll be there. The
children of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness before they
entered into their promise because they continually failed the
test. Jesus passed His test the first time and left His wilderness         experience in 40 days. The way to shorten your time
in these dry places of life is to learn the lessons taught
while there.

Regeneration vs The Idolatry of Decisional “Evangelism”

A Paul Washer Lecture based on today’s evangelists lack of guiding men to properly giving their life over to Christ. It is not about a five minute prayer, but, a lifetime of repentance. I present this as I’ve had so many negative comments about what so called Christians call “Doom and gloom” messages. Well, it’s your doom, but, the message is the Gospel truth, whether you believe it or not, is irrelevent.

more about "Regeneration vs The Idolatry of Decis…", posted with vodpod