BE WISE

      Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  (1 Corinthians 2: 9)
     For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  (Jeremiah 29: 11)
    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  (Isaiah 55: 8-9)
    Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he:  before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.  (Isaiah 43: 10)


   Have you ever thought that God has plans for you?  That not only does God have plans for you in life beyond the grave, but that He also has plans for you in this life, in this present here and now?
   Have you ever thought that He, who created the universe, has plans for you as a human among humans?
   Have you ever thought that you, even now and wherever you live, could be a servant of the Most High God, who abides in heaven?
    When God revealed His plan for the life of Noah, he believed in God by faith and built an ark on dry land. 
   Abraham was 75 years old when God revealed His plan for his life, and Abraham believed in God by faith and became the father of a new nation, a nation that had previously never existed on the earth.
   Fanny Crosby is one of the pioneers of Christian music.  Before her death in 1915, she composed more than 8000 Christian hymns and Gospel songs, and Fanny Crosby was blind!
   In 1866, a 19-year-old man in North Carolina, named Calloway Blevins, believed that God called him to be a preacher---even before he knew how to read!---and he became a church pastor for more than fifty years.
   Therefore, come before God with all humility, and ask:  What plans do you have for me?
   The world sees Noah, Abraham, Fanny Crosby, and Calloway Blevins for acting in foolishness, yet they were wise in the eyes of God.
      Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called:  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.  (1 Corinthians 1: 25-27)
   For it is better to be wise in the eyes of God than to be foolish in the eyes of the world.
  


 
  


     

AN EVIL DISEASE

      There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:  A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it:  this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.  (Ecclesiastes 6: 1-2)
   There is an evil that I, too, have seen under the sun, and it is the evil of man's invention of religion.  This is common among men, women, and children, and it is an evil disease, a disease of the mind, which corrupts the souls of people all over the earth.  For religion enables people to remain separated from Almighty God.
   To know God is to know the love of God because God and His love are inseparable, and God cannot separate Himself from His love.
   To know Christ is to know God because Christ and His heavenly Father are one, and they are inseparable. 
   To reject Christ is to reject God, which is also a rejection of the love of God.
   As humans, we are the children of God because God, our heavenly Father, created us.  But because our sins have separated us from God, we do not know God, which means that we do not know our heavenly Father, which also means that God is a stranger to us. 
   Because religion is a creation from the imaginations of men, people enter religion to find a false heavenly father, which is a father that does not exist, and which is also a father that is not living.
   In religion, people worship a false god, a god from the imaginations of men.  And in their imaginations, they believe that this god exists, that he is living, and that he will answer their prayers as well as provide them a way to enter a heaven, or a paradise, after they die.  Yet this heaven, or paradise, is also an invention from the imaginations of men.
   Moreover, religion can have several gods and goddesses, which can include the sun, the moon, stars and planets---none of which are living, but are assumed to be living by the power of deception in the minds of people.  And because none of these gods and goddesses are living, none of them has love. 
   Religion reveals to us the power of an imagined father god.  But because people have rejected God and His love, they will believe that their imagined father god loves and cares for them---even though he is not living.  Thereafter, such people will believe that the image of their father god, as seen by photographs, paintings, and portraits has power, and they will worship the image.
   Furthermore, religion has the power to persuade people to believe that a man of the earth can also be their father god, and that other people, in other religions, should convert from their evil ways and believe in their father god, whom they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands.
   But because God is not in man's religions, neither does the love of God abide in man's religions, which means that the people are believing in a false love, or an imagined love.
   Religion, therefore, is not a house of love, but a house of anger, for its people will rise up in anger in defense of their religion, in defense of their god and gods, and also in defense of their human father gods, whom they believe are gods on earth.  More evidence exists in the fact that they will kill fellow humans in defense of their false god and gods as well as in defense of their earthly father gods.  So then, is this how they express love by murdering fellow humans, whom God created?
   Therefore, to know God and to experience His wonderful love, come out of religion and come to Christ.  Wherever you are today, come out of religion and out of this evil disease that is common among men. 
      Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.  (2 Corinthians 6: 17)
     
     

A WINK IN THE MIRROR

   How can people say they are Christians, yet they deny the Word of the Lord, which is the Bible?
   And how can people say they are Christians, yet they do not believe in the words of Christ as written in the Bible?
   The answer to these questions is easily understood. 
   Many people have been deceived by the leadership of a Christian church, or by a Christian religion, and their salvation is a perception in their minds; after which they see an image of themselves in their imaginations.  After that, they fashion their lives in accordance to the image they see in their imaginations, after which they present themselves to others according to the image that has been framed in their own minds; for their belief is in the words of people, and not from the Word of the Lord.  Which means that their faith is in the words of people, and not in the Word of the Lord.  Which also means that their trust is in people, and not in God.
   Thereafter, they live their lives according to a false image they have of themselves, for their belief, their faith, and their trust is in the people they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands. 
   They become devoutly religious and devoutly devoted to protect and defend the image they have of themselves, always desiring that others will see them as they see themselves:  high and lifted up.
   To them, appearance is everything, for they seek the attention and praise of others. 
   They like for all eyes to be upon them, to see their good deeds, to see them as helpful neighbors, and as pillars of the community. 
   They willing hold positions of leadership, such as in churches, in religion, and in civic organizations, for this also helps them to keep their image buffed and polished:  for what others think about them is of utmost importance to them, and they will continually strive to have others say some nice words about them. 
   Devoutly religious people are devoutly devoted to their religion as well as devoutly devoted to the image they hold of themselves in their imaginations:  perfect in all of their ways, high and lifted up, and above other people.  They consider themselves to be models for others:  model citizens, model parents, model civic leaders, and models of what others can be if they can be like them.
   If people do not believe that God is living, however, neither will they believe that God can speak.  And if people do not believe in the resurrection of Christ, neither will they desire Christ for salvation.  Thus they will trust in their religion to save them from their sins, which compels them to believe that their religion is more powerful than Christ, for Christ, like themselves, is only an image in their own imaginations; and because they believe they are perfect in all of their ways, they actually worship the image they hold of themselves as they will also worship the image of the god of their religion.  For when they look in the mirror, the face winks.
      Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of a cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2: 5-11)

GOOD OL' DAYS

   Let me tell you about the good ol' days in America when there was genuine happiness across the land, when there was abundant peace and prosperity from sea to shining sea. 
   Let me tell you about the good ol' days when children could walk to school without the fear of being kidnapped, when churches had no locks, and when we could leave the keys to our cars in our cars.
   Let me tell you about the good ol' days when homes were happy homes, when the family meal was a time of gladness, when we were thrilled to see the rising of the sun, and when we found comfort in sitting on the porch at evening to see the stars appear in the night.
   But take a look at us now. 
   ---We lock our homes, lock churches, lock cars---and take the keys with us.
   ---Our nation's debt is over $17,000,000,000 and climbing daily. 
   ---Cities are going bankrupt. 
   ---Companies are going out of business.
   ---Manufacturing is at its lowest level since the Great Depression years of the 1930s.
   ---Unemployment is at all-time high and climbing daily, it is virtually impossible for a person to launch a new company, and children are confused about the definition of "family". 
   The wounds of our nation are self-inflicted, and it would be wise if Americans stopped living in the delusion that our nation is going to heal itself.  While our nation's leaders constantly strive for peace in the Middle East, there is little peace here at home as families are struggling to survive.  And while our nation's leaders are unable to fix our own problems, they offer solutions to lands across oceans as if the whole world needs our leadership.
      Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?  for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Matthew 2: 1-2)
   In the good ol' days, people came to America to be able to worship God freely.
   In the good ol' days, "IN GOD WE TRUST" to Americans meant what it said.  Today, however, who is the god that Americans trust?
   Has our nation become as it was in the days of Herod the king?
   Do the days of our past look better than the days of our future?
  

A MAN WITHOUT GOD

   Without the knowledge of God, the behavior of a man will be no more than a wild animal, or a beast of the field.
   Without the knowledge of God, a man will become a devil with the character of Satan:  a master of lies, a master of deception, and a master of hypocrisy.
   Without the knowledge of God, a man will believe that he is a god on earth:  believing he has the authority to forgive sin, the provision for people to go to heaven, and a way to avoid hell.
   When people abide without the knowledge of God, they will follow the man they believe is god, and they will become like him:  masters of lies, masters of deception, and masters of hypocrisy.
   A man without God believes in the god of his religion, which, to him, is God. 
   A man without God will also believe that the god of his religion abides in a man of the earth, which, to him, is God in the flesh.  Thereafter, he will live in total obedience to that man, bow to him and kiss his ring, do as that man says, go where he says go, and even give his own life as a sacrifice unto his God in the flesh.
   A man without God will only believe in those things that he is told to believe.  He will not question, he will not doubt, and he will not turn his face to the left, nor to the right, for his mind and his heart will always focus on the man whom he believes is God. 
   Satan is the father of lies, the father of deception, and the father of hypocrisy, and a man without God inherits the characteristics of his father, the devil, for he becomes a master of lies, a master of deception, and a master of hypocrisy. 
   A man without God creates an image of himself in his own imagination, and he presents himself to others according to the image he has of himself, for he wants others to believe in the image that he appears to be.
   In truth, however, he is the opposite of the image he appears to be.  Because he has been deceived to believe in a god, he becomes a deceiver, and, operating through his personality, he appears to be a man who believes in God.  This man is a servant of Satan, and, like Satan, he does not want others to know his heart, for he is a man of secrets.
   Just as Satan convinces people that he does not exist, a man without God does not want others to know that he worships Satan in secrecy.  Therefore, the less others know about him, the more he can conceal his own identity with the devil and thereby operate as a secret agent for the god of his religion.
   And just as Satan believes he is perfect in all of his ways, a man without God will also think that he is perfect in all of his ways, which is the image he presents in the presence of others:  the perfect husband, the perfect father, the perfect employee, the perfect citizen of his community, and perfectly sinless because he believes his religion has cleansed him from his sins:  by his participation in rites and rituals, or from water baptism, or from absolution by a man who pretends to be a god.
   A man without God does not believe in Almighty God, Creator of the universe, for his faith is in the god of his religion.
   A man without God does not believe in Christ, for Jesus, to him, is only an image in his imagination, and the god of his religion has more power than Christ the Lord.
   Neither does a man without God believe in the Bible, for the Bible, to him, is forbidden knowledge.
      When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understand as a child, I thought as a child:  but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  (I Corinthians 13: 11)
   A man without God still speaks as a child, he understands as a child, and he thinks as a child.  Because his faith is in a god of his imagination, he has surrendered his mind, his way, his thoughts, and his will; and, like a toddler, he follows the daddy of his religion, for he is unable to think for himself and he is not free to make independent decisions, for he is a prisoner of his religion and still living in chains as a spiritual slave.  And unless he submits himself to Christ for salvation, he will never put away childish things.

TERRORISM: WAR AGAINST CHILDREN

   Children across the United States and around the world are suffering from social abuse, for we are now living in an age where adults have turned their wrath against children of all ages, and many adults across America love and care for their pets more than they love and care for human children.
   Children have been neglected, unloved, undisciplined, and many of them have received their educations from television, entertainment, movies, music, personal computers, and video games, and thus their behavior has been fashioned in their minds from the minds of adults and a multitude of inventions that became babysitters and nannies for children. 
   For example, a man can speak for God, yet people will call him a rightwing radical Christian fanatical, but that same man can go to a football game, take off his shirt and ring a cow bell, and people will call him a fan and post his picture on Facebook, for they rejoice in his fanatical behavior at a football game.
   Go to the toddler and consider his ways.  Left alone, untrained, undisciplined, and unloved, the toddler will become a terror at home, a terror in the neighborhood, a terror at school, and off to a teenage detention center he will go as authorities try to correct his bad behavior with therapy and psychological evaluations to try to determine why he is unable to be normal and behave himself.
   Today, we are seeing more and more children and teenagers committing violent crimes, vicious murders, and mass killings of people at schools and movie theaters, and we ask, "How could a child be so bad at such an early age?"
   Consider his toddler years and the way his mind was conditioned to behave in his environment, while, at the same time, adults relieve themselves of any responsibility by placing all of the blame on the child.  The kid needs therapy. The kid needs to do some time in a detention center. The kid needs behavioral prescription medication from a psychiatrist. 
   But what do adults need? 
   Nothing! 
   We want to change the behavior of kids without changing the behavior of adults!  Which relieves adults of personal responsibility and personal accountability. 
   Across the United States and across nations throughout the world, pedophilia is out of control, an epidemic of sexual abuse of children of all ages.  Adults in many places sell their kids to traffickers of children of all ages for a fistful of money as children have become no more than a commodity, such as coffee and tea, or for another fix from a needle of heroine, a snort of cocaine, or a bag of marijuana.
   And in this world of adults against children, the children lose.  As a result of this war against children, the children suffer mental and physical torment as they are captured, drugged, beaten into submission, and sentenced to a prison of sexual slavery---while the very people who were supposed to protect them, to defend them, and to fight for them turn their minds and hearts another way.
   Therefore we are engaged in a great war, a war of the worst kind.  Hidden from our eyes from the people in government, by the people in religion, and hidden from television news cameras, this war is virtually silent, virtually invisible, and virtually little known, nor even believed, as mankind is presently unleashing his wrath against innocent, helpless, and defenseless children with man's depravity.  Who will help the children?  Who will rescue them from man?  Who will hear their cries in the night?  Who will know about their pain and great sorrow?  For this is that war of terrorism that man will not discuss in a White House briefing, nor from the Vatican.  Like Pontius Pilate, they wash their hands.
   Because people around the world have turned their faces against God, God has turned His face against the world as the world is becoming a global Sodom and Gomorrah, which is the evidence of the depravity of mankind, and which is also the evidence of global social abuse of children.
   And because the United States has turned its face against God, God is turning His face against the United States:  because of its depravity toward children and the rise of Satanic religions.
      My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:  because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:  seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4: 6)

WHEN JESUS APPEARS

   There is much about this world that we know, and there is also much about this world that we do not know.  For the things that we do not know, we should go to God for answers because the mind of God contains the knowledge of the universe, which includes things seen as well as things not seen.
   Man, on the other hand, looks at those things that he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, and from that examination he renders his conclusion, which he calls scientific evaluation.  But because man does not look at things through the eyes of faith, he will not believe that other evidence is possible because he will only believe in those things that he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands.
   For example, religion is based on those things that man can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, whereas belief in God is based on believing by faith, for we cannot see God with our eyes, nor touch Him with our hands.
   If people do not believe that God is living, then their belief in God is only an image in their imaginations; therefore God, to them, is whatever they imagine God to be.  And if God is whatever people imagine Him to be, then He cannot be living---which means that they are in control of God, and that they dictate to Him whatever they want Him to be.  For this reason, people can believe that they are gods, and that they desire a God who will do as they say do.  To them, God is no more than a puppet, or no more than a dog on a leash.
   Human imagination is watching events on the widescreen television of our minds, or believing by sight and by sound, and not by faith. 
   Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  (Hebrews 11: 1)
   Looking through the Bible through the eyes of faith, however, we can believe in an event called Noah's Flood even though we were not there to see the flood with our own eyes.  And though there is geological evidence that supports a great flood, many people will not consider this evidence because they still want to believe that the Bible is wrong:  because their faith is not in God.
   Looking through the prophecies of the Bible we can also know the future if we will believe by faith in the words of God; but if we do not believe in the historical events of the Bible by faith, neither will we believe in the prophecies by faith.  And even though those prophesies are now current events, people can refuse to compare current events with Bible prophecies because they still want to believe that the Bible is wrong:  because their faith is not in God.
   After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and before the Lord appeared unto the disciples, Thomas said, Except I shall see in his hands the print of his nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 
   But when Jesus appeared, the Lord said unto Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.
   And Thomas said, My Lord and my God.
   Jesus then said, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed:  blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
   Thereafter, Thomas, by faith, departed Israel and traveled to India to take the Good News of Christ, where he served the Lord all the days of his life. 
   When Jesus appears, the lives of people can be changed and transformed in a heartbeat of time.
   As Jesus said unto Thomas, the Lord also says unto us:  be not faithless, but believing. 


(Scripture today is from John 20: 25-29)