PASSING THROUGH

Jesus never owned a home,
   and He never had a room
      to store His stuff.

The clothes He owned
   were the clothes He wore.

He was never attached
   to the things of this world;
for Jesus, you see,
   was just passing through.

And when He died
   He was buried in a borrowed tomb,
and when He arose
   He was clothed with light.

We, too,
   are just passing through;
but what do people do
  with the stuff we leave behind?

And when we arrive
   at the tomb of death,
do we arise clothed in light,
   or do we forever
      remain in the dark?
     

SPIRITUAL CORRUPTION

   During the forty days' temptation of Jesus Christ, it is written:

      Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou will fall down and worship me.  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:  for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thy serve.  (Matthew 4: 8-10)

   Satan is the god of this world in which we live.  This world is his kingdom.  Therefore, Satan is the god of all systems within this world in which we live.  The devil is the god of governments, the god of religions, the god of false churches, and the god of money and all money-making enterprises throughout the world. 
   Satan desires worship.  Just as he said to Jesus:  fall down and worship me.  For Satan did not want Christ to get to the cross to die for sin.  Therefore, Satan wanted to corrupt the mind of Christ in order to prevent the Lord's way of salvation to be complete.  Satan wanted Jesus to become his prisoner, just as the devil wants all people to be his prisoners. 
   Money is Satan's treasure chest to corrupt the minds of people, and when people sell their souls to the devil, the devil rewards them with financial gain; and they will build unto themselves financial empires.
   False churches are places for Career Opportunities:  Apply Within.  If your application meets the requirements for a job opening, you will get the job; and with this new job, you will work for your wages and you will build unto yourself a financial empire.
   False churches are also the places for false prophets, false ministers, and false priests, and they are building unto themselves financial empires. 
   For you see, salvation by Christ is a free gift because Jesus paid the sin debt with His death on the cross; and to receive the free gift, all you need to do is to accept Christ and you will saved from your sin.  This is a simple plan and the plan has never changed.
   Likewise, the Good News of Christ is written in the Holy Bible, which you can read for yourself, and you can read it freely. 
   False prophets, ministers, and priests, however, take the free message of Christ from the Bible and present it for the purpose of financial gain.  They expect to be paid for their services rendered because teaching and preaching is their job, or their work to earn their wages.  Such people are called hireling prophets.  They are like gunslingers who are paid for services rendered.  False prophets, ministers, and priests teach and preach in order to deceive people, but also to persuade people to give contributions and love offerings for their ministries, which is spiritual extortion, for they keep the money.  False churches also keep the money. 
  Such people convince their audiences that it is God who is blessing their ministries when, in fact, it is Satan who is blessing their ministries with the money within this world system.
   Take away the money and false churches would go out of business, for they would go bankrupt:  they are not built on the foundation of Christ.
   Take away the money and the false prophets, false ministers, and false priests would go bankrupt, and they would seek career opportunities in other professions.
   Just as Satan tempted Christ and wanted Christ to fall down and worship him, the devil will also tempt you to fall down and worship him.  Look for the attachment of personal gain:  for people often say---"What's in it for me?" 

IDENTITY THEFT

      Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  (Matthew 7: 15)
      Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24: 4-5)
      And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.  (Matthew 24: 11)
      Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:  and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  (Matthew 24: 9) 

   Jesus warned us about the future, and we are living in that future. 
   Counterfeiters do not counterfeit fake money.  They counterfeit money that is real.
   Impersonators do not impersonate dead people.  They impersonate the living.
   Is Christ real?  Of course He is real!
   Is Christ alive today?  Of course He is alive today!
   Because Jesus is alive, this is the reason for false prophets, false ministers, and false priests:  for they want people to believe that they are Christ because they want people to believe that they are sons of God---with all of the attributes of God:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  They want people to believe that they have the power to forgive sin, and that their way to heaven is the right way:  which is the opposite way of Christ!  And they are dressed in sheep's clothing.
   False ministers and priests created false churches in order to deceive people to believe in a false way that leads to salvation as well as a false way to heaven.  False churches are dressed in false environments.  And the dogmas and doctrines of false churches are written by the false prophets, ministers, and priests as counterfeits of the Holy Bible.  Rites and rituals are added from paganism, thousands of years old, but because of deception, people believe that the rites and rituals are necessary because they are vital to the religious experience. 
   The false prophets, ministers, and priests are guilty of identity theft because they have attempted to steal the identity of Christ by making themselves to appear as Him.  These same people have been about their illegal falsehood ever since Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, and they are presenting this same illegal falsehood in churches today---in the United States and in nations all over the world. 
   But does this behavior excuse the people within the congregations of false churches?  Not necessarily.  When people know that Christ is the Son of God, but refuse to acknowledge Him and cling to their false churches, they are also guilty of identity theft by pretending to be Christians.  With their words they say they are Christians, but with their hearts they know they are still obedient to their religious dogmas, rites and rituals, which they refuse to release in order to come to Christ.  And they want others to believe that they are Christians by their association with a church that is a false church.
   How do you know, then, when Christians are fakes?  Because they do not want to hear the story of Jesus, they do not tell the story of Jesus, and neither do they want to hear stories from the Bible.  Instead, they are happy with their counterfeit production.  And they believe they will get to heaven by their own religious way, and by ignoring Christ. 
   Jesus warned us about a false identity and the seriousness of this matter:
      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.  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?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:  depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  (Matthew 7: 21-23)
 

The Road to Nowhere

   When was the last time you saw politicians and religious leaders laughing?  Or is the only time they smile is when they have an audience?
   Politicians and religious leaders drink their water from the same cup, and they eat their honey from the same jar.
   Could it be that politicians and religious leaders are not happy people?
   Look at the history of politicians and governments over the past six thousand years.  Can you name one happy person leading at least one government of any nation anywhere in the world?  Can you name one happy book that has been written about one government leader in all of human history?
   Now look at the history of religions over the past six thousand years.  Can you name one happy person leading at least one religion of any nation or community in all of human history.  Can you name one happy book that has been written about one religious leader in all of human history?
   So then, if you combine the histories of politics and religions, what do you see?  Have either politics and religion done any more for people than they have been doing over the past six thousand years? 
   The actors change, but the script and the stages remain the same:  politicians talk politics, and religious leaders talk religion. 
   Today, do you see happy people all over the world?  What are people living for?  Are they living for politics and religion? 
   All over the world, people are following politicians, and people are following religions.  Does this explain why there is so much misery in the world? 
   Politicians and religious leaders do not give people anything to be happy about; therefore, they do not give people anything to laugh about; for if politics and religion is what people need, why is their so much evil in the world today?
   Today, can you find one political leader or religious leader who is a voice for Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, or the Holy Bible?
   People of politics and religion are followers of Satan, not God, and they are leading people on the road that leads to Nowhere. 
   Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, and Jesus came to defeat the works of the devil.  And when people meet Jesus for the first time, they put on a happy face:  for now they are free from the bondage of sin, and we are also free from the bondage of politics and religion.
  This is also the reason politicians and religious leaders are against Christians:   they are against Christ and they do not want people to be happy in the Lord.  And they want people to remain their prisoners on the road that leads to Nowhere.
   Knowing Jesus is about getting out of jail and experiencing freedom and fresh air for the first time.
   Know, too, that God has a plan that far exceeds any plan that politics and religion can give people.  It is also a plan that neither politicians and religious know.  And that plan God shares with us in the Holy Bible.  Read about it and be thrilled.

FIVE SMOOTH STONES

      And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in his scrip; and his sling was in his hand:  and he drew near to the Philistine.  (I Samuel 17: 14)

   On his way to meet Goliath, the Philistine giant, David picked up five smooth stones for his sling.
   While there can be several lessons, or applications, for the five smooth stones, one application is this:
   Goliath had four brothers, but with David's faith in God, he knew he needed only five, or one stone for each of the giants; for David's faith was in God and not in himself. 
   Another application for the five smooth stones is this:
   Do you have any giants in your own life?  Are there certain people at certain times who gnaw and nag at you and can be quite bothersome? 
   What about the giant of unemployment and the fears that come with it?
   What about the giant of an ailing parent or grandparent?  Can you take care of them in your home, or do you need to consider nursing assistance?
   What about the giant of alcoholism, drug addiction, or losing weight?
   What about the giant of a child who has gone astray and is now hanging out with the wrong people?  You know the child is heading for trouble, so what do you do?
   What about the giant of playing golf?  Can you handle it by yourself, or do you need some help in order to improve your game?
   Do you suppose God prepared Goliath and the Philistines in order to test David's faith?
   David became the king of Israel, at which time David continued to face giants in the time of his leadership of an entire nation.  And as David ruled Israel with his faith in God, the king had success; but when he relied on himself, he found trouble:  such as the trouble he found with another man's wife, whose name was Bathsheba.
   Could it also be, then, that God prepares giants in our own lives as a test of our faith?  If so, then it is wise for us to stop and pick up five smooth stones before we go to battle against the giants we face each day?  In other words, stop and pray before marching onward as an army of one unprepared for war.
   The giants will never go away:  we are going to experience them all the days of our lives.
   When we look and see giants in our lives, perhaps this would be a good time to remember the words God spoke to Jeremiah the prophet:
      Be not afraid of their faces:  for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.  (Jeremiah 1: 8)
  

THINGS NOT SEEN

      Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  (Hebrews 11: 1)

   Faith is invisible.
   By faith, you can believe in God; and by sight you can believe in religion.  But faith is not God, and neither is faith religion.  Therefore, you cannot share your faith:  you can only share the substance of your belief:  whether it be God, by faith, or whether it be religion, by sight.
   Neither is faith a building, a book, nor dogmas, doctrines, and philosophies:  for these things are visible.
   God is also invisible, but by faith you can believe in God, which is your evidence of things not seen. 
   Whereas religion is visible, and you do not need faith to believe in religion:  for your belief in religion is with your eyes and not with your heart.  As long as you can see your religion, you will believe in it; but if your religion should close its doors and cease to be, what would you do?
   By faith, you can believe that you can play golf; but if you never make an effort to play golf, you  never will:  and you can continue to believe that you can play golf all the days of your life.  To play golf, then you must put legs under your faith and initiate the process of making things happen.  But if you do not move forward by faith, your golf clubs will never move.
   By faith, Noah believed that God was sending a flood of water upon the earth at a time when rain had never fallen before. 
   By faith, Abraham left his country for a land that he had never seen.
   By faith, Moses believed that he was to lead the people of Israel out of bondage in the land of Egypt when he had never been a leader before.
   If you believe by faith that water baptism is for the remission of sins, then your faith is not in God, who is invisible.  For if water is sufficient for salvation, why were people, for thousands of years, not getting in line to be baptized until after Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem?  Water, therefore, cannot be crucified, so water cannot die for sins.
   For at first, water is in the form of an invisible gas; then it becomes visible in liquid form; then, as it evaporates, it becomes invisible gas.
   Jesus, at first was invisible, then He became visible by His birth; then He became invisible after His resurrection.  Jesus, therefore, is the water of heaven for salvation while water of the earth remains water of the earth; for water of the earth can do no more than it was created to do:  to water the earth!
   Consequently, water baptism for the remission of sins a hoax, a deception, and many people still believe in this lie by sight.  For if the water of the earth should disappear and never return, what would religious people do for salvation?
   By faith, Christians believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though we were not there that day in Bethlehem:  this is our evidence of things not seen.
   By faith, Christians believe that Jesus was crucified for our sins, even though we were not there that day in Jerusalem:  this is our evidence of things not seen.
   By faith, Christians believe that Jesus arose from death, even though we were not there to see the empty tomb:  this is our evidence of things not seen.
   And by faith, Christians believe that Jesus will come again, which is our evidence of things not seen.
   By faith, Christians tell the story of Jesus, and not the story of religion.
  
  

PRIDE & HUMILITY

   People get offended
      if you lie to their faces;
   then they get offended
      if you tell them the truth.

People get offended
   if you talk about their politics;
then they get offended
   if you talk about your own.

People get offended
   if you talk about their heroes;
then they get offended
   if you talk about your own.

People get offended
   if you talk about their religion;
then they get offended
   if you talk about the Lord.

Because of our pride,
   this is our nature:
We want to be right,
   no matter if we are wrong.

For when we are wrong
   when we do not want to be wrong,
our egos get scratched
   instead of smooth and polished.

Am I humble,
   or am I proud?
Just as the Lord
   for He pondereth the hearts.

      Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:  but the LORD pondereth the hearts. (Proverbs 21: 2)