As Believers, we will all go through Seasons of our life. Doors open and doors close, as the Lord leads us on our journey. But many times, that closing door catches us by surprise and brings out the worst in us. We’re comfortable & very content where we are, thank you, and don’t want to change. Or we’re finally in a place of honor & accolades in our Ministry Outreach…so how dare the Lord shut us down! Closing doors can also be very scary, because what are we going to do now? So, we cling to the door handle & block the door closing with our bodies, all the while crying and complaining…or we curl up in an angry ball in front of the closed door and refuse to move…both of which are totally futile. Proverbs 16:25 tells us that there is a way that seems right to man, but it’s not God’s way…and we all know that God’s way is the best way. So, the next time a door closes in your life, accept it as God’s divine Will.
Tag: jesus
“That Church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors.” Charles Spurgeon
Don’t be fooled by a Church that is more entertainment than doctrine…more preaching of social issues & political activism than God’s Word…and more manmade rituals than God’s Truth revealed. That’s because, the Church that caters to the worldview rather than honoring God is dangerously close to becoming dead like the Church in Sardis that John wrote about in Revelation 3. (The Greek word for dead here meaning useless, spiritually dead, and faithless.) The world loves a Church where the only words from the pulpit are man centered, with no conviction or judgement of their sins…desiring rather, Polly Anna, feel good platitudes and worldly cliches about love and what it looks like today. They want a Church that takes the Bible seriously, but not necessarily literally…and questions Scripture rather than requiring blind allegiance & trust. The world likes the Church that doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable and places them on the throne of their life…all the while, pushing Jesus to the background. No wonder God abhors such Churches…
Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Earlier in the Book of Hebrews, the author quotes Psalm 102 when he writes, “But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.” There in Psalm 102 it goes on to say that everything as we know it will eventually wear out like clothing, be discarded and perish…except the Lord, for He will continue unchanged to all eternity. I don’t know about you, but the last few months have seemed like a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, so the quiet comfort and security of placing my trust in a everlasting Savior quiets my soul and gives me peace and hope.
Hebrews 2:8 ” In putting everything under Him, God left nothing that is not subject to Him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him.”
It’s almost like the Writer of Hebrews is looking around at the wickedness in the world at that time and lamenting…”Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him.” And sadly, we could say the same thing today as we survey the evilness and rebellion in our world. Jesus Christ has supreme power and rule and there will come a day when He takes His rightful seat of authority over this broken world. For submission to authority is either compulsory or voluntary…demanded or deliberate. And on that day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There will be no insubordination or willfulness…no pride or arrogance…for the world will see Jesus in all His glory, and there will be silence.
II Kings 23:4 ” The King ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the Temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley…”
King Josiah had ordered repair of the Temple…and during the work they came upon a lost book of the Law, (Deuteronomy). When read, the King ordered its requirements observed and then took active steps to clean up the mess in the Temple. In this Scripture, he ordered the priests and doorkeepers to round up all the foreign idols that had somehow wormed their way into the Temple. For the Godly and ungodly had been co-existing for so long… it was now considered acceptable. When false teaching infiltrates the Church it always does it in a subtle, indirect, and devious way…suggesting it’s just fine to accept.
Mark 7:33 ” After He took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.”
Jesus used His own saliva several times in the Bible to heal. In John 9:6 it says, “Having said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” In Mark 8:23 it says, “He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’ ” So why did Jesus do this very primal act? We know that Jesus was fully man but also fully God…and within His saliva was His DNA. DNA that held His chromosomes…His genetic information. But the spit Jesus smeared on these men held something much more powerful… it held within it the very essence of God.
Luke 2:15-16 ” The shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”
The shepherds had just experienced the greatest light show ever…more sensational than the biggest fireworks display…more glorious than anything the world had ever seen. Mixed with their awe and wonder was excitement…they had just been told about the coming Messiah. No wonder they all agreed to, “go to Bethlehem and see this thing,(Rhema) the Lord has told us about.” They had been given God’s Word…the Greek word is Rhema…and their enthusiasm was infectious. And after they had found the Christ child, their elation didn’t wane, for in Luke 2:17 it tells us that, ” When they had seen Him, they spread the Word ( Rhema) concerning what they had been told about this child.” These plain, ordinary men were the very first missionaries, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. They had no Theological degrees or advanced education… God’s Word had touched them and couldn’t contain their elation. They were compelled to tell others just as we should be. For the greatest story ever told is the one they spread…a Savior has been born to you; He is Jesus Christ the Lord.
Jude 17-19 ” But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
The world started scoffing at the notion of Jesus being resurrected from the very start. The Roman guards who were watching His tomb and the High Priests cooked up a story about Jesus’ disciples stealing His body and spread the lie far and wide. (Matthew 28:12-15) Over the course of history, the world has gleefully questioned and ridiculed Believers with, “Where is this coming He promised?” (II Peter 3:4) The world would like us to doubt and question our beliefs about the second coming, but we need to stand strong against those who malign the name of Jesus.
Revelation 3:3 ” Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wakeup, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
The Lord is saying, “Be ready!” Come out of that spiritual stupor and complacency you’re in. For you have been lulled into a false sense of security by your apathy towards God. Telling yourself that you’ll get right with God when you’re old, or when you’re done sowing your wild oats is risky business…for all we know, you may not live to see the sunrise tomorrow. Jesus said it best in Luke 12:40, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Today is the day of repentance… and a new moral reorientation of your soul.
Acts 24: 25 ” As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient I will send for you.’ “
Felix, the Governor of Judea, was well acquainted with the “Way”…in fact he was even married to a Jewess named Drusilla. So as he listened to Paul speak about faith in Jesus Christ, conviction hit a little too close to home. Conviction by the Holy Spirit is an intense persuasion…a laying bare of our personal sin, and the realization of the judgment to come if we don’t repent. Paul saw this force at work by the Holy Spirit first hand and later wrote to the Thessalonians, “Because our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” (I Thessalonians 1:5) Never underestimate the power of conviction by the Holy Spirit…for it is unrelenting and able to reach where no human words can.
Safetypinlove 