THE PASSOVER LAMB

   And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
   And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water:  follow him.
   And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?
   And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared:  there make ready for us.
   And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said utno them:  and they made ready the passover.
   And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.
   And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
   And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them:  and they all drank of it.
   And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.  (Mark 14:  12-24)

   This passover feast was unlike any previous passover, and that night was the beginning of all things new in the lives of the disciples, which would also become a memorial service unto Christ in the lives of millions of people from that day, even until now. 
   For the disciples did not know that, before noon the next day, Christ, the Passover Lamb, would be dying on a cross for the sins of the world.  That Christ would become the perfect and sinless Lamb of God to be slaughtered and thus end all other forms of sacrificial offerings to Almighty God; for as soon as Christ died, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom, and the feast of the passover would never be the same again:  for Christ, the Lamb of God, arose from death three days later---as Christ passed over from life, to death, and back to life.
  Therefore, when we observe this memorial in churches today, let us be reminded that the communion service, or Lord's Supper, is not about us, but about Him.  It is not to remind us of what we do for others or for Him, but it is about what He did for us. 
   For if Christ had not been able to pass over from life, to death, and back to life, neither will we.  And if Christ had not been able to return to Heaven, neither will we.
   For Christ is:  our Passover Lamb.

  

CAST YOUR BALLOT

   And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell:  but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  (Joshua 24: 15)

   God created us.  And in our creation, Almighty God created in us a free will:  the will to choose, the will to make decisions:  whether to believe and follow God, or the freedom to go another way.
   God is not a dictator, and the Almighty did not create us to be slaves unto Him. 
   God loves us with a love that is truly beyond our own comprehension.  Though we can know and understand part of His marvelous love, we certainly can not know, nor understand, all of His love because we live in a world that knows not the love of God; for we are surrounded and governed by people who are haters of God. 
   Either we love God, or we hate Him.  Either we are for God, or we are against Him.  We can not love God and also love the world; for this world is at war against Almighty God.  For if we say we love God but also love the world, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
   Even in sports, you can not be a member of two teams.  You must choose which team to serve.  And by choosing a team on which to serve, the other team is your enemy, and your goal is to defeat the other team, your enemy; but if you do not compete to defeat the other team, you are a hypocrite:  and your teammates will know this about you. 
   If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.   If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faitherful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  (I John 1: 6-10)
   So then, by this free will that Almighty God has given to us in our creation, we must either choose Him, or reject Him.  We must follow Him, or go another way.  We must choose to believe that Christ was crucified for our sins, or we must choose not to believe it.  We must choose Christ for our salvation, or reject Him
   As you cast your ballot, you must vote yea or nay.  There can be no waiting, nor no delay.  You must vote and get in the line of your choice.  For you know in your heart the honesty of your vote, now you must drop your ballot in the box; and your future is now in the box. 
   As you cast your ballot, please remember:  you have influence.  Others are watching you.  Others will do as you do because of your influence.  So then, what about your children and grandchildren?  There are two doors ahead:  one door leads to heaven and the other door leads to hell.  Which door will you lead for others who are following you because of your influence? 
   The decision of your ballot is for eternity:  now cast your ballot.  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve. 
  

PERFECTLY PROUD

   Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.  (James 4: 6, 10)

   Anger is the prevailing characteristic of proud people.  Tell a proud person he just make a mistake and he will get angry at you.  (Who are you to correct a perfectionist?)
   Proud people do not like to be corrected, for in their own minds, they are perfect in all of their ways. 
   Proud people will not admit their own mistakes, for in their own minds, they do not make mistakes; for they are perfect in all of their ways. 
   Proud people abide in a social class unto themselves and all other people are beneath them. 
   Proud people keep their outer shells polished and well-groomed, for they want others to see how wonderful they are. 
   Proud people are above the Word of God, for they do not need or want any words from the Holy Bible. 
   Proud people of religions that do not worship Almighty God, Creator of the universe, are double proud.  Because they have learned to obey all of their religious laws, rules, and regulations, they see themselves as perfectly fit to go to God's heaven when they die.  And because they participate in all of their religious rites and rituals, they keep themselves scrubbed and cleaned of all their ungodly sin; after which, they exit their institutions with an air of pompous pride that says:  "Look at me!"
   Proud people of religions without Almighty God see no need to submit themselves to God because, in their own minds, their religion is sufficient for the cleansing of sin. 
   Proud people of religions without Almighty God see "born again Christians" and "Bible thumpers" as in a class beneath them, or even as infidels; and, as infidels, we need what they have from their religions:  for we are not true Christians (as they are) because we do not subscribe to their religions.
   Jesus called a certain group of people, the scribes and Pharisees, as hypocrites and vipers. 
   Religiously proud people are also hypocrites and vipers because they resist Almighty God.  They resist the fact that they are sinners in need of salvation.  And because of their resistance to confess to God that they are sinners, they are hypocrites, or pretenders of righteousness.  And because they are too proud to admit they are sinners, they are also vipers:  they will spew their poisonous venom on others. 
   Religiously proud people also raise their children to be just as proud as they are because their children never see their parents confessing to God that they are sinners.  They never hear their parents confessing any of their mistakes in life.  Thus, their children learn to never admit mistakes, nor even to admit that they are capable of making mistakes:  like father, like son; like mother, like daughter.  Therefore, religiously proud families can produce generations of perfectly proud people.  And generation after generation these perfectly proud people die---without Christ for the salvation of their souls. 
   Hypocrites and vipers are perfectly proud, and they cover themselves with anger.  They are the children of Satan, doing as Satan does:  because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  (I Peter 5: 8)
   Perfectly proud people are as roaring lions, walking about, and seeking whom they may devour.  Because they resist Christ for their salvation, they are consumed by evil and evil will come out of them. 

STINGER MISSLES

   For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  (Ephesians 6: 12)

   Your greatest enemy today is Satan and not people, for Satan is the instigator of all evil upon the earth. 
   Your greatest threat to dying an early death is at the hands of a fellow human, who is consumed with the evil of Satan. 
   Your greatest threat to freedom today is the result of fellow humans, who are consumed with the evil of Satan.
   Your greatest threat to peace and happiness today is the result of fellow humans, who are consumed with the evil of Satan:  to disrupt your day, to get upset or mad at you, or to turn your television channel.
   Your freedom of religion, or to exercise your personal faith in God, will be challenged by another human, who is consumed with the evil of Satan.
   Jesus was crucified by people who were consumed with the evil of Satan. 
   The global government that is rising upon the earth, which is the New World Order, is the work of people who are consumed with the evil of Satan:  to control, to dominate, and to enslave the people of the world.  And they will kill people who will not agree with them, just as they killed Jesus 2000 years ago. 
   For you see, hypocrites and vipers abide in egg shells; and they keep their outward appearance polished and in the proper apparel in order to deceive others from knowing the evil of Satan that abides within them. 
   Humility will take the stinger out of people.  But without humility, people will always be stingers in the lives of others. 
   Because of my pride, I resisted knowing Christ for a long time.  But when I humbled myself and confessed to God that I am a sinner, I was able to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior, and then I became a student.  And because of this humility, I surrendered my stinger.
   As people, our war is not against other people, but we are engaged in a great warfare against Satan, the god of all evil.  As long as people resist Christ, they are accepting Satan's evil:  but people are unable to see this in the physical because Satan operates in the spiritual.  And only Christ can enable us to know the difference.
   Jesus knew His enemies because of their pride.  We also can recognize our enemies because of their pride.  For it is the prideful who disrupt peace on earth, create problems, instigate wars, and kill people:  just as it was the prideful who crucified the Son of God. 
   Humilty before God is the only way to remove our stinger missles. 
  

SNAKES AMONG US

  When Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and vipers, the Lord knew what He was saying, for He knew them; He knew who they were and who they represented.
   From this lesson, we should be able to see and know that there are hypocrites and vipers among us now:  in our own world, in our own communities and neighborhoods, within our own churches and religious institutions, and oftentimes within our own families.
   People are hypocrites when they live a double life.  Internally, their souls are darkness; but their external appearance appears to be light. 
   Hypocrites live in a world unto themselves:  they are self-centered, envious, jealous, and full of anger.  They like having their own way.  They enjoy being right all of the time and everybody else is wrong.  They spend time thinking about how good they are.  They live in a social class by themselves, which is above all other social classes, and therefore they look down their noses at other people, even people within their own families.  They live lonely lives, created by their own visions of themselves.  Instead of drawing people toward them, they push people away because of their pomp and pride.
   Hypocrites do no wrong, they make no errors, and they are encapable of making mistakes.  They have no need for other people because of their self-sufficiency.  They have no fears and they have no tears because of their pride.  And because of their pride, they will never admit to being wrong, they will never admit to making mistakes, and, of course, they will never admit to God that they are sinners because they believe they are above sin and are in no need of repentance.  Unto themselves, hypocrites are perfect in all of their ways.
   Hypocrites want and need to be in control of others as well as to control situations when with others.  If they can not control certain people, they do not participate in activities.  So they choose their target audience with calculations for success.  They do not have many friends because they do not want others to know their true identity.  So they cling to the people they have tricked.
   Like Jesus said, hypocrites are vipers:  they are as snakes and their venom is poison.  They contaminate others with their presence.  They draw others away from God because they are not friends of God:  but rather they are professional pretenders.  They know the language of church people or religious people, and therefore they know the proper responses that will lead others to believe that they are are just and righteous before God. 
   Hypocrites are deceivers.  They are usually religiously devout.  They seek control and domination of others.  And they seek to create division in other families.  They are against God, against Christ, but they are very much in favor of religion; and because they are religiously devout, others tend to think well of them as nice people, based on their outward appearance and by their personalities. 
   Hypocrites are not open and totally honest with others; neither can they be.  When they speak, they do not like being challenged nor corrected; for in their own minds, they are never wrong about anyting. 
   Hypocrites and vipers desire to control and dominate others, which is the same characteristic model of people who want to control the world, such as the New World Order that is presently rising upon the earth.
   The unseen danger of hypocrites and vipers is the fact that their conscience has been seared and they are no longer responsive to the call of God for their salvation; for they are incapable of believing that they are sinners and in need of Christ.  They are cold and heartless individuals, for underneath their do-good image is selfishness and self-exaltation; and their outward appearance is merely pretense.  They are very good actors.  Remember, a snake is still a snake, and snakes bite when least expected.
   As Christians, recognize them:  then avoid them as much as possible. 
   Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:  Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord....  (II Corinthians 6: 14, 17)

THE GREATEST

   But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  (II Corinthians 4: 3,4)

   The greatest trick Satan has ever pulled over the minds of people is the illusion that he does not exist.  That is pretty slick, isn't it? 
   Could you convince people that you do not exist?  If you could, then you could walk in a room and no one would see you.  
   Next, Satan has convinced people that even Almighty God does not exist, and people believe it.
   Satan has convinced people to convince people that the theory of evolution is fact and not theory.
   Satan has convinced people to convince people that the big bang theory is fact and not theory.
   Satan has convinced people to convince people that there is no place called hell, and people believe it.
   At the same time, Satan has convinced people to believe that there is a place called heaven.  This does not mean, however, that this heaven is God's heaven, but rather the illusion that this heaven is God's heaven.  And since there is no hell, then all people will go to this heaven when they die because no person is bad enough to go to a place called hell for eternal damnation, right?
   On top of this, Satan has convinced people that there are many ways to this heaven, and it doesn't matter which way you choose, just choose a way and you will go there.  You can believe that you have a little bit of sin in yourself---which everybody does, you are told---but certainly your little sin is not sufficient for eternal damnation, is it? 
   Satan has people believing in the song about Santa Claus coming to town and you will not get Christmas presents if you have been naughty.  Oh, my.  It's time to straighten up and do right.  And once Christmas is over, then you can resume your world of careless living:  doing whatever you want to do for another year, or when Santa Claus returns again.
   Santa Claus is an illusion, which we plant in the minds of children and children believe it because we have the power of persuasion.
   Religion is also an illusion, planted in the minds of people and people believe it because of the power of persuasion.  Therefore, Satan has also convinced people to create religions, and, if you are to get this heaven, then you must join a religion and participate in all of its doctrines and disciplines, rites and rituals.  And in so doing you can bypass Almighty God.  See how it works?  Religion is like a cake with icing and candles, and Satan is the party host:  he's slicing the cake.  And just as people believe that Santa brings Christmas, people also believe that religion brings salvation. 
   As for our Scriptural text for today, the gospel of Christ, which is the good news that Jesus saves sinners, who are lost people---people who do not know God---this gospel is hidden from them and they do not see it.  But when people confess to Almighty God that they are sinners and invite Jesus into their hearts to save them from their sin, then the gospel is no longer hidden.  At this time, a believer in Christ will see with new eyes, which enables us to see the lies of religion---which, before, we believed to be true. 
   Satan is the god of illusion and his messengers are as gods of this great deception.  They are just like their daddy, Satan, doing exactly as they see their daddy doing; for they, too, are deceived by the great illusionist. 
   But have no fear, for God is greater, and He will deliever you out of your bondage if you will give Him the opportunity to do so.  But if you deny Christ this opportunity to save you from your sin, then the Lord will leave you alone; and when you die, the devil will get your soul.
   But what about your children and grand-children?  They will follow you because you are the example to them.  So before you deny Christ, think about them.  Think about others, who are watching you and doing as you do.
   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved.  (John 3: 16, 17)
  So then, who is the greatest? 
  The greatest is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of kings and Lord of lords.

ONE YEAR LATER

   In the month of November, 2011, I began writing this 7th Highway blog.  At that time, all I knew was that I wanted to write about God although I did not know what I would write, how I would write, nor when I would begin.  So I went to the Lord in prayer concerning this goal, and this blog had its birth in prayer.  Every article I have written over the past year has also had its birth in prayer. 
   Over the past twelve months, I will tell you that this past year has been the greatest year of education I have ever received in a one-year period of time!  As I have studied God's Holy Bible, and, as I have searched and researched for information about the topics I have covered, receiving an education was a total surprise.  About 90% of all the information I have covered in the past year has been new information for me.  I will tell you that I only wish I had known all that I have come to learn thirty years ago.  But I did not know it then. 
   The purpose of my blog has been to share the good news of Jesus Christ.  In so doing, I have made every effort to write truth in each and every article that I have submitted.  For if I am not going to write truth, then I will cease from this endeavor. 
   Just over a year ago, I was playing golf, having a good time, and enjoying my retirement.  And all of that changed when I began to write the 7th Highway.  A year later and I am not the same person I was a year ago, for I did not know the change that would happen in my own mind and in my own heart; for now I see the world through new eyes, with a new mind, and also with a new heart:  and the world I see is in not a pleasant world to see.  In one way, this is sad; but on the positive side, at least even now I know the truth of the world I see with my own eyes, and I am no longer blinded by my own perception.
   For you see, we are surrounded by a worldwide web of evil people:  a network of evil minds that will control the world with a new world government which is called the New World Order.  Therefore, I fear the evil that is coming upon the people of nations around the world as well as for the nation of the United States.  I fear for the children and the grandchildren in nations around the world as well as for the nation of the United States.  The future will not be pleasant.  This is frightening because this new government will kill and murder people all over the world.  This they must do in order to bring all people under submission to be ruled as slaves.  Nothing good will come from this new tyranny upon the people of the world. 
   Knowing this, I pray for people every day.  I pray that people I know will be saved by Jesus Christ, and I also pray for people I do not know and have never met to do the same.  But I also know that time is running out.  Now is the time for people to be saved, for there will come a time when they will not want to be saved because, if they resist Christ, often enough and long enough, they will be consumed by the evil that is consuming the world. 
   One year later and I am not the same.  The Lord has opened my mind to truth in ways that I can not number as well as in ways that I do not understand:  other than to say that He did it for me; I did not do it by myself.  And for all that God has done for me in the past year, He can also do it for you.