IS THE BODY OF CHRIST SICK
Current mood: blessed
Category: Religion and Philosophy

What has happened to the Body of Christ?  What have we become to the world?  Does the world see Christ, or do they see a group of people who profess, without any manifestation, that they believe and know Jesus Christ?  What are the preachers preaching?  Is there a hell and a lake of fire that burns where water is not quenched and the worm dieth not?  Do we believe in hell anymore?  Are we in fact going to heaven?  These are just some of the questions that are lurking about amongst Christians. 

The older church used to say that things of the world would creep into the church; now, these things are walking and talking in the church.  Things that the Word of God clearly states that should not be named amongst the saints are walking boldly amongst the saints of God. 

See Ephesians 5:3-7: 3. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  6. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.  7. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

Where has the true Christian gone?  The works of the flesh are alive and vibrant in the Body of Christ; but, one is hard pressed to find the works of the Spirit. 

See also Galatians 5:19-23: 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness, 20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

It seems that we have revelation[ed] ourselves right out of the true tenants of our faith and our walk with God.  We have more understanding, but less control over our flesh and desires.  We take pride in the fact that we are no longer church but Kingdom minded and we still don’t understand what it means to LIVE HOLY.  We are asking God to use us, but what are we rendering unto the Lord? 

I have personally seen so much flesh on parade in the last year that I had to ask myself: "where is the Holy Ghost"?  Is He still living on the inside and is He a keeper?  Of course, the answer is He will keep you, if you allow Him.  However, one must determine if we are saying yes with our mouths or our hearts.  If we say yes with our hearts, then the Holy Ghost has something in us to work with when it is time for us to be kept, in spite of us.  On the other hand, if our yes is just lip service, then we find ourselves doing the damnable things that are mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21.  YES, what does it really mean?  Y = yielded, E = entirely, and S = to the Spirit.  Have the body received the Holy Ghost since we first believed – is that problem that there are too many ’Christians’ that do not possess the Spirit of God?  Could it be that this is the reason we as Christians cannot give a complete yes to God?  Clearly, there is a base problem that needs to be corrected so that Christ can flow freely in the earth before His return.

See Acts 3:20-21: 20. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21. Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

See also St. Matthew 24:14, 22: 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. . . .22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

The Body of Christ really needs to regain her reference for the Lord Jesus Christ.  We need to stop taking Gods forgiveness for granted.  We need to stop frustrating the grace of God on our lives.  We need to understand that just because we are called, chosen, and sent; we are not above the God’s laws for living Holy.  The Word of God in Isaiah 5:14 says "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." 

Let us that know better, do better in living a holy and righteous life.  It is understood that God must lend us His righteousness because all of ours is as filthy rags, but we must do all we can to live a life that God would be pleased to lend His righteousness to.  Selah.

12:36 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Raise Your Hands If You're Sure
Category: Religion and Philosophy

There is a deodorant and antiperspirant on the market called "SURE".  The commercial says that it makes one confident and secure — so, raise your hands if you're sure.  This means if you have taken the necessary precautions by bathing and applying this product, then you don't have to worry about the aroma from your person being offensive to the people in which you come in contact.

The word of the Lord through Malachi speaks of the frustration of God with the children of Israel.  He was sick of their sins and tired of the stench of their corruption.  In Malachi 1:6, He asks "if He is their Father or their Master, then where was His honor?"  Their offerings to Him were disrespectful and unacceptable; so much so, that He stated in verse 10 that "He was not accepting the offering from their hands."

That is like the Church today.  We are offering God any type of praise, any type of worship, giving big monetary offerings and expecting Him to simply accept them.  When we know full well that our praise, worship and money are polluted.

There are many ways that we can offer pollution unto God.  Let's look at some of the ways we treat each other in the body of Christ.  We backbite.  We scandalize our brothers and sisters. We kill each other with our tongues and attitudes, and we destroy each others' dreams and each other's aspirations before they can come to fruition.

We, the Church of Jesus Christ, need to understand that God is not pleased and He is not accepting the offering from our hands.  We must offer Him pure worship, pure money (regardless of the amount), and pure praise.

God has given us a way out of the filth, but we allow our pride, arrogance and self-absorption to interfere with the plan of God.  Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that they brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.  After reading this passage again and again, I have come to the realization that so many of us are guilty of this.  We say, 'I don't have anything against anybody, so I am off the hook.'  But, that is not what this passage has instructed us to do.  It says that if you remember that your brother has an ought against you then you leave your offering and be reconciled with your brother.  We must understand and remember that we are our brothers' keeper.  If we have an ought against our brothers, it is our responsibility to get it fixed.  

Let's go a bit further, to Matthew 18:15-17.  Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou has gained thy brother.  16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.  17   And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. 

Again, God is saying to the Church, "Look, knock it off.  Stop sowing the seeds of discord and all of the other nonsense.  Grow up and become the adults you need to be — be the examples for the babies that are in our midst and are coming.  How can we win the lost when we cannot speak to each other; when we cannot follow the instructions ourselves?

Let's continue on a little further, to Luke 17:3-4.  Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  4   And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.  Sometimes, we need to be rebuked.  The Scriptures say that "open rebuke is better than secret love." (Proverbs 27:5)  However, when you rebuke and the person repents, then forgive them.  The word "forgive" in this passage means to FORGET ABOUT IT, NEVER TO BRING IT UP AGAIN.  We get in our selfish mode and say things like, "I can forgive, but I can't forget it."  What if God remembered the way we have mistreated Him?  What if He stopped talking with us every time we hurt Him?  We must start following the principals set forth in the scriptures.

We want to know, why our prayers are not being answered.  Why isn't this happening or that?  I worship God and praise Him.  I am a giver.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PEOPLE OF GOD, Check the aroma of your praise and worship.  Is it a sweet smelling aroma to the Father or does it have the stench of the works of the flesh?

I feel impressed by the Holy Ghost to say this:

"I am tired of saying the same thing over. I am coming with a rod of iron to judge accordingly.  I have given you ample time and space to correct this problem and you are not hearing my words.  I am tired of you killing my babies with your foolishness and your filth.  This is your last warning."..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The good news is that He is merciful and He is giving us one more chance to change.  Please join me in repenting, soul searching and some spiritual house-cleaning; so when He looks for our worship, we can raise our hands and be sure.  

There are things that we must do such as: (i) be certain to love everybody unconditionally; (ii) take immediate action according to the Word of God, if there is a problem with a brother or sister.  When we do this, we can then worship Him in Spirit and in truth.  When we are able to lift clean hands and a pure heart, we will see and experience the uttermost where there are no boundaries.

8:38 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Leave Your Past Behind
Current mood: determined
Category: Religion and Philosophy

We, as people of God, tend to be very concerned about our past.  We judge ourselves and others according to where we have been.  We determine our future based upon things we have suffered or just experienced.  It is sometimes difficult for us to appreciate what God is doing for us and where He is taking us because of our pasts.

This type of mentality is detrimental to our spiritual growth.  My daughter once preached a message entitled Get Past Your Past.  In this message, she talked about how the enemy uses our past to take our present out of focus and distort our future.  Another minister friend of mine stated: We are more concerned about our past than we were when our past was our present.  (Pastor Marc Smoot 2006)  We wait until our present becomes our past before we become concerned enough to make necessary changes or even desire to change it for the better.  It can be a vicious cycle because we find ourselves stuck in our past and never entering into our present - not to mention looking to the future. 

I am finding more and more that we like to carry our past troubles around like a badge of honor.  We have the air of Look at me; I am a child of God. See how I have suffered.  We carry it like an alabaster box and hold it close to our bosoms, when God is asking us to break it at His feet.  We think that no one will think of us as being holy and sanctified if we have a constant smile upon our face.  This cycle must be broken.  Jesus states in the Word of God that :

No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

One might ask the question, How do we break this cycle of living in the past?  After all, hind sight is twenty-twenty.  The Word of God tells us that we are snared by the words of our mouth. (Proverbs 6:2)  We need to be like the Little Engine That Could going up hill saying I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.  The words coming out of our mouth should be all positive.  We should be saying to ourselves, even when there are things circling my stance in God; better known as, circumstances, God can and He will make a way.  My Pastor, Donald A. Wright, preached this in a Friday night prayer meeting.  We take life too seriously.  Sometimes, we take life too seriously for good cause.  Our experiences in life, or our past, is the  only point of reference we have, therefore, everything we think, feel or know is based on that reference.  Some things are serious, but we have a God who tells us to cast our cares on Him. (1 Peter 5:7)  We need to rest in the love of God and trust Him completely.  I believe that is what Paul meant when he wrote:  

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:13-14.)

We cannot continue to live in our yesterday.  We must press forward. 

Therefore, from this day forward, I say, No more!  Ive had enough of the long-face.  Ive had enough of the heavy, hung-down head.  It is past time to lift up my head because I am a gate.  I am an everlasting door and the King of Glory shall come in.  The Lord strong and mighty is the King of Glory. (Psalms 24:7-9)  Therefore, I must open myself up and let Him in so He can shine forth and then my life will give Him Glory. 

The things that have gone wrong in my life may or may not have been MY FAULT, but, nevertheless, it is MY RESPONSIBILITY to cast them over on the Lord.  God is faithful and just.  He has not let us down, nor will He ever let us down.  If we are going to walk this walk, we must trust the Lord to make the right decisions for our lives, or what is the use?  I can truly say like MaryMary, I cried my last tears yesterday.

I am stepping out of my past, standing in my present and looking forward to my future.

8:43 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment