Where would you prefer to be? Right in the middle of the raging turbulence of a storm, or in the calm and peacefulness found in the eye? Of course the answer is quite easy to assume. It’s in the eye of the storm. What is actually happening in the eye of the storm? Not much of anything. As a storm is swirling around in a circular motion, there is an axle in which the storm is rotating on. It’s not a literal axle, but let's just imagine. As the outer spiral of a storm spins at a high velocity, practically destroying anything in its path, in the eye of the storm ,is where a calmness is found. In the eye, it’s almost as if there is no storm at all. Oh yes, there are winds and rain in the eye, but it's nothing like in the outer spirals of the actual storm itself.
As you live in this life facing all of its ups and downs, all of its heartaches and pitfalls, and all of life's storms, where do you find yourself? Are you in the raging turbulence of life's storms trying to battle them alone, or are you in the eye of the storm with Jesus?
For those who do not know Jesus, those who do not have a close, personal relationship with him, those people are in the outer spirals of the raging storms of life. These people are the ones that face all of life's problems alone. They try to work things out for themselves by arguing, fighting, taking and /or dealing drugs, getting arrested and thrown in jail, getting divorced, abusing children, abusing themselves, losing their jobs, losing their will to live, and in some cases committing suicide. Unfortunately, many of these type of people never reach the eye of the storm and never find that peace and calmness that they can have with Jesus in the midst of their storms.
But what about those that do know Jesus? Those that do have a personal relationship with him. Where are they? They are in the eye of the storms of life. You see, that is where Jesus is. He is in the calmness of all storms.
You see, Jesus never said in his word that once someone began living for him, that all of their cares and worries, trials and temptations, and raging storms would all come to an end. It’s going to be smooth sailing from here, all the way to heaven. No, he never said that. But what he did say, was that he would never leave us or forsake us. That means that no matter what you are going through, if you have a relationship with Jesus, then he is there with you, and if he is there then you should have peace with you as well. For where Jesus is, there you will find peace. For Jesus is the peace-giver.
If Jesus is with us through the midst of our storms, then why do we sometimes react to our storms the way that those do, that do not know him? Have we somehow slipped into the inner spirals of the storm and began to battle them ourselves? Have we lost our confidence in Jesus? Do we sometimes forget how he arose from sleeping on the boat with the disciples, calmed the wind and the waves, setting the storm at ease? Are we of little faith?
What we must understand, is that we are going to go through storms in our lives. Some storms are physical through sickness, ailments, pain, or disease. Other storms can be financial with job loss, endless bills to pay, unstable work, or even unexpected bills to pay which come possibly due to emergency situations. Still, other storms are mental. These are through the bombardments of thoughts of carnal, fleshly, lustful, greedy, materialistic desires, that feeds upon our emotions from a point of temptation.
But do we or anyone else have to face and go through these storms alone? No, we don’t. No matter what we may think, the only way we can ever get through our storms safely, is to go through them in the eye of the storm where Jesus is. Those that do not choose to climb aboard the boat of safety that Jesus is in, will continue spinning in the spirals of life's storms. If we stay in the boat of safety with Jesus where his peace and calmness are, then he can use our storms to strengthen us and help us to grow closer to him.
There is a sense of hope and confidence in God when you are in the eye of the storm. The reason, because of what you have seen God do in the past, from helping you, changing you, and delivering you from your past storms and calamities. This allows you to have faith in God and to know that he will do it again.
Have you ever worried about having enough money to pay your bills by their due dates? Did you expect the worst and then it never happened? Did you finally get the money to pay the bills without it causing you a problem with you creditors? Probably all of us have been in that situation more than once.
But did Jesus sit back and do nothing? Did you remember that he is Jehovah-jireh, which means that God will provide? If you did and if you believed that he would help you, then he did! Right? Of course he did! That is what he does for those that are in the eye of the storm where he is. You see, those that are in the eye of the storm are God's children, and to be in the eye, means that God's all-seeing eye is watching out for his children as they go through their storms with him by their side.
As we stay in the eye of the storm, there will be times that God will calm the storm around us, and allow us to blow through that storm without difficulty. But there are other storms that he will not calm for us. Those are the storms that he allows us to go through. But in those storms he calms us down, so that he may work his plan in us during that particular storm.
We must remember what Paul wrote in( Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose).
If we are God's children, then we should be in the eye of the storm. But if we are not in the eye, then we have somehow allowed our storm to consume us back into the raging spirals of the storm, where we try to handle it ourselves. If all things work together for good as Paul wrote, then that means all of the good times, all of the bad times, and all of the storms in our lives will work together in God's plan for our lives.
Where are you in life? Are you in the storm with all of its destruction in your path? Would you like to get into the eye of the storm where the peace and calmness lies? If you do, then give your life completely over to Jesus and take that one step from the raging spirals of your storm into the peacefulness and calmness that lies with Jesus, in the eye of the storm.
Jan 21,1998
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A Trophy On Hells' Mantlepiece
The tour ended in the trophy room. As Satan had just ended his tour of Hell for his newly appointed CEO staff, someone asked him," Excuse me, but what are all of these trophies for?"
As Satan turned to address the question, he smiled with a proud, devilish grin, as if to be flaunting himself because of the trophies in question.
"My newly appointed CEO staff, these are not just any trophies from just any competition. These my friends, are my trophies of those that once belonged to the most high God above; those that once had a close relationship with the savior of the world, Jesus Christ".
Satan continued, “These are those that turned their backs on God, pretending that everything was okay. What they never understood was, that all the while, I was intervening in their relationship with God, throwing at them my little 'enticements‘, which turned them away from God".
Someone asked, “How were you able to acquire them so easily? Didn’t God put up a fight for them?"
Satan replied, "Oh of course he did. But you see, while he was fighting for their eternal salvation, I was fighting just as hard for their immediate decisions, through my enticements of worldly pleasures that always gratifies their carnal man. You see, God gave his human creation the power of choice. No matter if they know right from wrong, or how much truth of God's word they know; he gave them the power of choice to make their own decisions. These are my most prized possessions. For they once belonged to my ultimate enemy, the most high God. The other ones that you have seen earlier in the tour, mean nothing to me. They were mine already because they never came to the decision to accept Jesus as their savior and fulfill God's plan of salvation. Remember I told you that he gave them the power of choice. So due to the worldly pleasures of life, they never gave their lives over to God to allow him to cleanse them from their sins, which meant that when they died, they were mine".
"Allow me to explain to you how I can usually get one of God's children to become one of mine. Before they become God's children, they are living in sin whether they realize it or not. All humans have fleshly weaknesses. Many times they are not always the same. That doesn't matter though. I can always entice them according to their own individual weaknesses".
Satan continued, “After they make the decision to give their lives over to God, I give them a little time to 'get their feet wet' with him, then I start working. As for some, I don't have to wait too long because they just can't seem to 'let-go‘, of those worldly pleasures. You see, I know that God is going to allow them to go through valleys and storms in their lives. He will also even allow them to go through extremely dry spells in the spirit; as to see if they really mean business with him or not. Sometimes he will allow me to do things to them. Unfortunately though, he limits me. But that doesn't matter; because once I get my foot in their door, I begin to persuade them in the decisions they make as I tap into their power of choice".
"For a while, I’ll let them alone in their prayer life. I’ll let them pray and feel like they are on top of the world, but all the while, I am setting up my plan of action. But then the time comes and I begin my attack. I hit them from every side. I make it hard for them to pray and to read God's word, by continually throwing up worldly pleasures in front of them, which distracts them from God".
"If they are married, I attack their marriages. All humans have little quirks about themselves that their mates don't particularly like. I will intensify them to their spouses and many times it causes an argument between them. Attacking married couples is a lot of fun. I always get a good laugh out of hearing them bicker with each other. Usually, if I play my cards right, I can eventually get God's children to stop praying altogether. Not to mention that they usually stop reading his word also, and that is a huge plus for me".
Satan continues, “Another way that I attack them, is by destroying their desire to worship and praise God when they go to church. Many times they will be spiritually backslid or in the process of backsliding and still go to church services. But when they stop lifting up their hands, stop clapping, or praising God with outward expressions, I can see that my attacks are working. I also place thoughts in their minds, which causes them to expect things in church service to run like clockwork. An example of this is, expecting services to begin at a certain time and end at a certain time without failure; never allowing God to do what he wants to do for them in each service. This increases the complacency in them. I play on their emotions which tears away the excitement of living for God out of them. When this happens, they usually become withdrawn from being involved in their church's outreach program".
"At that point, witnessing to the lost people of the world becomes unimportant to them. They even begin to feel like, ‘what’s the use to witness. Let somebody else do it‘. They eventually develop a selfish attitude of, ‘well thank the Lord I'm saved‘. All the while, as they continue to let down in their reading and praying, I plant thoughts in their minds deceiving them into thinking that they are alright with God, and that they are strong enough in that, they do not have to pray anymore. When they stop praying altogether, it’s as if they have just opened the door to their hearts and asked me to come right on in. This allows me to harden their hearts a little easier, because I am able to do it from the inside".
"As I harden their hearts, I also plant seeds of bitterness into their ground, and they begin to sprout up almost immediately. The bitterness is usually laced with back-biting and rumor-spreading. You see, it’s not so much that I can bring down God's children using worldly pleasures from outside the church; but it is much more fun and rewarding to bring them down using their own brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh what fun!"
Satan continues, “Once I can bring disunity amongst a body of believers, I can then begin to dissolve that church body. I entice some members to leave that church body and begin going to another church. Still with even others, I can stir up the fire of troubles in their lives just enough, to get them to quit going to church altogether. While with others, I can distort God's word in their minds and cause them to believe in his word much differently than before, which will cause them to leave the church also".
"But I guess my favorite way to bring down God's children is in their prayer life, or should I say, the lack of a prayer life. Ha! Ha! You see my friends, I know God's word better than most of those humans on earth. How do you think I was able to deceive Eve, which ultimately led to Adam's fall into sin? It doesn't take much to twist God's word around in the minds of those humans. I’ve been doing it for thousands of years".
"You see, I know what John wrote in his first epistle in chapter four, verse four,(Ye are of God,little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world). But too many times those humans forget that they have the power of the Holy Ghost in them to help them overcome me and my worldly enticements. I also know what Jesus himself said in Luke's gospel in chapter ten, verse nineteen,( Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing by any means shall hurt you). See I know these things. But those humans get so wrapped up in their materialistic world, that they fail to realize the power that lies within them. That’s why I attack their prayer life so strongly. If I can keep them from praying through whatever means that it takes, then they are not going to learn and really understand just how much damage that they really can do to me and my kingdom".
Satan continued, “I’ll let you people in on a little secret. If those humans would pray everyday and read God's word, and when they pray, if they would pray the scriptures like Jesus did when I tempted him, and if they would take on the armor of God by calling it out when they go into prayer, and if they would pray more in warfare prayer through the intersession of the spirit, then there would be no way that myself or any of my band of demons could cause one of God's children to ever fall into my hands. If they would stay faithful to God even through their tough times, then no matter what I threw at them, they would never fall and become one of my prized trophies on this mantlepiece".
"But I am not going to let up in my attempts to bring down God's children though. I am going to continue to entice them and continue throwing things in their paths to cause them to stumble. What God's children need to realize, is that they have power and authority over me; and even though I am pretty tough, if they would remember and pray the scripture, James 4:7,(Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you). If they would resist my attacks and use the power and authority that they have over me, then I have no choice but to flee from them and leave them alone. I have to, because that's what God's word says".
"But they just do not want to resist me and my lies. They want to give in to my temptations and enticements and as they do, they become weaker and weaker. This is where I get them".
"Unfortunately for me, there will be some that will climb out of their weaknesses, overcome my attacks, and call on God again, and they are the ones that are going to make it. But as for others, well, you will find them here on this continually expanding mantlepiece, in this prized trophy room, and with each new addition, I will be grinning from ear to ear. That’s what this trophy room is for my friends".
"For you see, my newly appointed CEO staff, you too were once children of the most high God,but now you have become, my trophies on Hell's mantlepiece. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Dec27,1997 revised Dec7,2000
As Satan turned to address the question, he smiled with a proud, devilish grin, as if to be flaunting himself because of the trophies in question.
"My newly appointed CEO staff, these are not just any trophies from just any competition. These my friends, are my trophies of those that once belonged to the most high God above; those that once had a close relationship with the savior of the world, Jesus Christ".
Satan continued, “These are those that turned their backs on God, pretending that everything was okay. What they never understood was, that all the while, I was intervening in their relationship with God, throwing at them my little 'enticements‘, which turned them away from God".
Someone asked, “How were you able to acquire them so easily? Didn’t God put up a fight for them?"
Satan replied, "Oh of course he did. But you see, while he was fighting for their eternal salvation, I was fighting just as hard for their immediate decisions, through my enticements of worldly pleasures that always gratifies their carnal man. You see, God gave his human creation the power of choice. No matter if they know right from wrong, or how much truth of God's word they know; he gave them the power of choice to make their own decisions. These are my most prized possessions. For they once belonged to my ultimate enemy, the most high God. The other ones that you have seen earlier in the tour, mean nothing to me. They were mine already because they never came to the decision to accept Jesus as their savior and fulfill God's plan of salvation. Remember I told you that he gave them the power of choice. So due to the worldly pleasures of life, they never gave their lives over to God to allow him to cleanse them from their sins, which meant that when they died, they were mine".
"Allow me to explain to you how I can usually get one of God's children to become one of mine. Before they become God's children, they are living in sin whether they realize it or not. All humans have fleshly weaknesses. Many times they are not always the same. That doesn't matter though. I can always entice them according to their own individual weaknesses".
Satan continued, “After they make the decision to give their lives over to God, I give them a little time to 'get their feet wet' with him, then I start working. As for some, I don't have to wait too long because they just can't seem to 'let-go‘, of those worldly pleasures. You see, I know that God is going to allow them to go through valleys and storms in their lives. He will also even allow them to go through extremely dry spells in the spirit; as to see if they really mean business with him or not. Sometimes he will allow me to do things to them. Unfortunately though, he limits me. But that doesn't matter; because once I get my foot in their door, I begin to persuade them in the decisions they make as I tap into their power of choice".
"For a while, I’ll let them alone in their prayer life. I’ll let them pray and feel like they are on top of the world, but all the while, I am setting up my plan of action. But then the time comes and I begin my attack. I hit them from every side. I make it hard for them to pray and to read God's word, by continually throwing up worldly pleasures in front of them, which distracts them from God".
"If they are married, I attack their marriages. All humans have little quirks about themselves that their mates don't particularly like. I will intensify them to their spouses and many times it causes an argument between them. Attacking married couples is a lot of fun. I always get a good laugh out of hearing them bicker with each other. Usually, if I play my cards right, I can eventually get God's children to stop praying altogether. Not to mention that they usually stop reading his word also, and that is a huge plus for me".
Satan continues, “Another way that I attack them, is by destroying their desire to worship and praise God when they go to church. Many times they will be spiritually backslid or in the process of backsliding and still go to church services. But when they stop lifting up their hands, stop clapping, or praising God with outward expressions, I can see that my attacks are working. I also place thoughts in their minds, which causes them to expect things in church service to run like clockwork. An example of this is, expecting services to begin at a certain time and end at a certain time without failure; never allowing God to do what he wants to do for them in each service. This increases the complacency in them. I play on their emotions which tears away the excitement of living for God out of them. When this happens, they usually become withdrawn from being involved in their church's outreach program".
"At that point, witnessing to the lost people of the world becomes unimportant to them. They even begin to feel like, ‘what’s the use to witness. Let somebody else do it‘. They eventually develop a selfish attitude of, ‘well thank the Lord I'm saved‘. All the while, as they continue to let down in their reading and praying, I plant thoughts in their minds deceiving them into thinking that they are alright with God, and that they are strong enough in that, they do not have to pray anymore. When they stop praying altogether, it’s as if they have just opened the door to their hearts and asked me to come right on in. This allows me to harden their hearts a little easier, because I am able to do it from the inside".
"As I harden their hearts, I also plant seeds of bitterness into their ground, and they begin to sprout up almost immediately. The bitterness is usually laced with back-biting and rumor-spreading. You see, it’s not so much that I can bring down God's children using worldly pleasures from outside the church; but it is much more fun and rewarding to bring them down using their own brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh what fun!"
Satan continues, “Once I can bring disunity amongst a body of believers, I can then begin to dissolve that church body. I entice some members to leave that church body and begin going to another church. Still with even others, I can stir up the fire of troubles in their lives just enough, to get them to quit going to church altogether. While with others, I can distort God's word in their minds and cause them to believe in his word much differently than before, which will cause them to leave the church also".
"But I guess my favorite way to bring down God's children is in their prayer life, or should I say, the lack of a prayer life. Ha! Ha! You see my friends, I know God's word better than most of those humans on earth. How do you think I was able to deceive Eve, which ultimately led to Adam's fall into sin? It doesn't take much to twist God's word around in the minds of those humans. I’ve been doing it for thousands of years".
"You see, I know what John wrote in his first epistle in chapter four, verse four,(Ye are of God,little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world). But too many times those humans forget that they have the power of the Holy Ghost in them to help them overcome me and my worldly enticements. I also know what Jesus himself said in Luke's gospel in chapter ten, verse nineteen,( Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing by any means shall hurt you). See I know these things. But those humans get so wrapped up in their materialistic world, that they fail to realize the power that lies within them. That’s why I attack their prayer life so strongly. If I can keep them from praying through whatever means that it takes, then they are not going to learn and really understand just how much damage that they really can do to me and my kingdom".
Satan continued, “I’ll let you people in on a little secret. If those humans would pray everyday and read God's word, and when they pray, if they would pray the scriptures like Jesus did when I tempted him, and if they would take on the armor of God by calling it out when they go into prayer, and if they would pray more in warfare prayer through the intersession of the spirit, then there would be no way that myself or any of my band of demons could cause one of God's children to ever fall into my hands. If they would stay faithful to God even through their tough times, then no matter what I threw at them, they would never fall and become one of my prized trophies on this mantlepiece".
"But I am not going to let up in my attempts to bring down God's children though. I am going to continue to entice them and continue throwing things in their paths to cause them to stumble. What God's children need to realize, is that they have power and authority over me; and even though I am pretty tough, if they would remember and pray the scripture, James 4:7,(Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you). If they would resist my attacks and use the power and authority that they have over me, then I have no choice but to flee from them and leave them alone. I have to, because that's what God's word says".
"But they just do not want to resist me and my lies. They want to give in to my temptations and enticements and as they do, they become weaker and weaker. This is where I get them".
"Unfortunately for me, there will be some that will climb out of their weaknesses, overcome my attacks, and call on God again, and they are the ones that are going to make it. But as for others, well, you will find them here on this continually expanding mantlepiece, in this prized trophy room, and with each new addition, I will be grinning from ear to ear. That’s what this trophy room is for my friends".
"For you see, my newly appointed CEO staff, you too were once children of the most high God,but now you have become, my trophies on Hell's mantlepiece. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Dec27,1997 revised Dec7,2000
A Trip Up A Mountain
How many times has someone ever climbed a mountain, reached the top, but never began at the bottom? Never, I'm quite sure. Or how many climbs has someone ever made up a mountain and never had to struggle with the climb over rough terrain, or without any equipment consisting of tools, ropes, anchors hooks or claw boots? Again, never.
But just as it is a struggle, an effort, an exertion of energy, and sometimes appearing to be a task too big to handle; at the moment a climber reaches the summit of the mountain in question, an overwhelming sense of achievement and relief floods him. An uplifting feeling of accomplishment pounds his heart nearly out of his chest. His thoughts become focused on the end result of his long, hard struggle to climb the mountain.
As the climber views the scenery all around him, he realizes that the long, exhausting climb was worth it. To see a view, in which only a few handful of others will ever see, in itself is victory. But just as the victory of accomplishment is ever so sweet, the descension down the mountain inevitably comes to fruition, in which the long climb down must take so, a to lead to another mountain at another time, another climb, another struggle, another victory.
Are you climbing up a spiritual mountain, to result in an awesome experience with God on that mountain? For a person to have an experience with God on a mountaintop spiritually, there will be struggles, set backs, rough and rocky terrain, as well as deep crevasses to avoid. But in order to reach the summit of that mountain with God, these things will most certainly play a part in a person's quest towards the top.
A well experienced climber will always be properly prepared to attempt a climb up a mountain. He knows what is necessary to have as he pursues the challenge. His first goal will be to set up a base camp, in which he can begin his numerous pursuits towards the summit. He may make several attempts towards the summit by climbing to certain points and establishing secondary camps ,then descending back down to base camp, in order to regroup, become increasingly more focused, achieve rest and strength to ascend to the summit. Then, after all precautions have been taken to ensure a safe ascension, he shall then begin his final attempt for the top.
So many times a Christian will attempt to climb to the top of many mountains with God, but will fail to prepare properly. Due to improper preparation, a Christian in attempting a climb, will slip and fall into the deep crevasses along the way, thus making it extremely difficult for themselves or someone else to help them out of those crevasses.
The first thing that a Christian should do in order to ensure a strong, safe climb to the top of a mountain with God, is to acquire all of the tools necessary for the climb. These tools are: faith in God, commitment, trust in God, dedication, belief in God's Word, sincerity, humility, compassion towards others, a willingness unto God, and love for God as well as others. Without these necessary tools, a climb up a mountain with God will always leave a Christian staggering at the bottom.
Along with these tools, a Christian must establish a base camp. A Christians’ base camp is prayer. At the base camp of prayer is where a Christian can regroup himself with God after struggling on the rough terrain of his climb. There, he can become more focused on following God's pathway up the mountain(which will always be the best pathway). He can rest in the camp of God's presence in prayer and receive spiritual strength, to begin yet another attempt at a long climb up the mountain.
With each attempt up the mountain, there should always be a retreat back to the base camp of prayer. In doing so, a Christian climber will always go a little farther on the next attempt.
Finally, with the struggles, crevasses, and the rough terrain behind him, the Christian climber will reach the summit of the mountain with God. At the summit of his mountain, he will find many completions of God's plan for his life have been achieved. Quite possibly a struggling ministry will come into fruition, in which many souls will be won to the Lord as a result of it. Deliverance from many strongholds will be had relationships with others will be mended. Weaknesses in certain areas of the climber's life will be overcome in order to finally see a victory over them.
But most importantly, at the summit of the mountain, the Christian climber will find himself in a deeper relationship with God. In doing so, he crosses over new thresholds into a deeper spiritual walk with God.
But just as it is with mountain climbers, a Christian climber will begin his descent down the mountain. This is not to say that the mountaintop experiences with God are over, but that it is a time for the Christian climber to descend back down to base camp-prayer. There he will become prepared to climb again as God will bring him to another mountain to climb, in order to have another mountaintop experience with God.
Do you struggle in your mountain climbing? Are you falling into mountain crevasses too deep to get out of? Did you forget your climbing tools? Where is your base camp? Is it in prayer? If it's not, then it should be.
Aug 25,1998
But just as it is a struggle, an effort, an exertion of energy, and sometimes appearing to be a task too big to handle; at the moment a climber reaches the summit of the mountain in question, an overwhelming sense of achievement and relief floods him. An uplifting feeling of accomplishment pounds his heart nearly out of his chest. His thoughts become focused on the end result of his long, hard struggle to climb the mountain.
As the climber views the scenery all around him, he realizes that the long, exhausting climb was worth it. To see a view, in which only a few handful of others will ever see, in itself is victory. But just as the victory of accomplishment is ever so sweet, the descension down the mountain inevitably comes to fruition, in which the long climb down must take so, a to lead to another mountain at another time, another climb, another struggle, another victory.
Are you climbing up a spiritual mountain, to result in an awesome experience with God on that mountain? For a person to have an experience with God on a mountaintop spiritually, there will be struggles, set backs, rough and rocky terrain, as well as deep crevasses to avoid. But in order to reach the summit of that mountain with God, these things will most certainly play a part in a person's quest towards the top.
A well experienced climber will always be properly prepared to attempt a climb up a mountain. He knows what is necessary to have as he pursues the challenge. His first goal will be to set up a base camp, in which he can begin his numerous pursuits towards the summit. He may make several attempts towards the summit by climbing to certain points and establishing secondary camps ,then descending back down to base camp, in order to regroup, become increasingly more focused, achieve rest and strength to ascend to the summit. Then, after all precautions have been taken to ensure a safe ascension, he shall then begin his final attempt for the top.
So many times a Christian will attempt to climb to the top of many mountains with God, but will fail to prepare properly. Due to improper preparation, a Christian in attempting a climb, will slip and fall into the deep crevasses along the way, thus making it extremely difficult for themselves or someone else to help them out of those crevasses.
The first thing that a Christian should do in order to ensure a strong, safe climb to the top of a mountain with God, is to acquire all of the tools necessary for the climb. These tools are: faith in God, commitment, trust in God, dedication, belief in God's Word, sincerity, humility, compassion towards others, a willingness unto God, and love for God as well as others. Without these necessary tools, a climb up a mountain with God will always leave a Christian staggering at the bottom.
Along with these tools, a Christian must establish a base camp. A Christians’ base camp is prayer. At the base camp of prayer is where a Christian can regroup himself with God after struggling on the rough terrain of his climb. There, he can become more focused on following God's pathway up the mountain(which will always be the best pathway). He can rest in the camp of God's presence in prayer and receive spiritual strength, to begin yet another attempt at a long climb up the mountain.
With each attempt up the mountain, there should always be a retreat back to the base camp of prayer. In doing so, a Christian climber will always go a little farther on the next attempt.
Finally, with the struggles, crevasses, and the rough terrain behind him, the Christian climber will reach the summit of the mountain with God. At the summit of his mountain, he will find many completions of God's plan for his life have been achieved. Quite possibly a struggling ministry will come into fruition, in which many souls will be won to the Lord as a result of it. Deliverance from many strongholds will be had relationships with others will be mended. Weaknesses in certain areas of the climber's life will be overcome in order to finally see a victory over them.
But most importantly, at the summit of the mountain, the Christian climber will find himself in a deeper relationship with God. In doing so, he crosses over new thresholds into a deeper spiritual walk with God.
But just as it is with mountain climbers, a Christian climber will begin his descent down the mountain. This is not to say that the mountaintop experiences with God are over, but that it is a time for the Christian climber to descend back down to base camp-prayer. There he will become prepared to climb again as God will bring him to another mountain to climb, in order to have another mountaintop experience with God.
Do you struggle in your mountain climbing? Are you falling into mountain crevasses too deep to get out of? Did you forget your climbing tools? Where is your base camp? Is it in prayer? If it's not, then it should be.
Aug 25,1998
A New Beginning
Sometimes we become so stale in our way of life, that we need a change, a refreshing, a new beginning. Or maybe all we need is just a new approach to life, with all of its ups and downs. A new focus, if you will, on our routine of life.
What breaks up the monotony of day after day ,into week after week, into month after month, of the endless grind of working at a job to make a living? It's that long-awaited, planned and saved up for, vacation.
On a vacation, the routine of a hectic schedule is interrupted with one to three weeks of laid-back, sunshine-in-your-face, toes-in-the-sand, rest and relaxation. We call it a little "R n R". What does the vacation do for you? It allows you to rest, forget about work, the bills, the daily "bump and grind" at the workplace, the 'grown-up' responsibilities; and allows you to spend time with your family in a happy place-a vacation resort, amusement park, a beach, etc.
Once the "R n R' is over, you're back on the job and into your never ending schedule of life. But while on vacation, did you bail out of your life and its hectic schedule? Did you find that deserted island, set up your little shack on the beach and plan to live the rest of your life as a hermit? Did you get so fed up with your life that you abandoned your responsibilities and your dreams because things got a little tough?
No ,you didn't give up or quit. You went right back to your home, your job, your responsibilities, your life. You see, you realize that it is all worth it, to go through life with a beautiful family, a home, a sense of security, and yes, even the hard battles and rocky places of life. You know all the while, that where one vacation ends, that just around the corner another one is soon to begin.
So it is in our spiritual walk with God. Sometimes, with what appears to be a never-ending 'bump and grind' spiritual battle, a dry desert, a wilderness, a mass bombing of temptations: ranging from visual enticements to mental thought attacks, is really just God's way of getting you stable enough and firmly rooted deep enough in him, so that he can send you on that spiritual 'R n R'. That rest and relaxation in him, where everything looks good from up on the mountaintop.
How do you climb a mountain? By first walking through the valley or wilderness below it. Then when you reach the top of that mountain, you can then see just what you went through to get to the top of it, and realize that it was all worth it.
Many times we loose our focus and direction with God. With what appears to be chain-reaction calamities, are really just areas of weaknesses in our lives surfacing, so that through prayer, God can bring them to our attention, and help us to overcome them. But often times, we don't pick up on God's little hints about these things, so as to allow him to do his work before they develop into bigger things .Unfortunately, this escalates our problems to the point that we view ourselves in a pit too deep to ever get out of. This causes some to loose their desire to hold on, and sadly, many give up and bail out.
But throughout these unfocused areas of our lives, God is still working. He shows us just enough of our lost sense of direction in our lives, in order that we would really begin to seek him again with more desire and determination, according to his direction.
Do we need a new beginning? Do we need to wipe the slate clean and start all over? Or do we need to allow God to refocus our blurred vision on the same issues at hand, allow him to help us make a new approach to these issues, and allow him to show us his way of winning the battles?
If we would allow God to clear our vision, refresh our commitment unto him, and allow him to fight our battles instead of we, ourselves, then he will bring us to the end of those battles, take us off of the front lines of life for a while, and bring us into his rest and relaxation, his 'R n R'.
Do you want to take your own vacation only to return to the calamities of life, unchanged? Or would you rather take God's vacation, where peace and rest always abounds and his vision is always clear? How clear is the vision of your decision?
Jan 1,1998
What breaks up the monotony of day after day ,into week after week, into month after month, of the endless grind of working at a job to make a living? It's that long-awaited, planned and saved up for, vacation.
On a vacation, the routine of a hectic schedule is interrupted with one to three weeks of laid-back, sunshine-in-your-face, toes-in-the-sand, rest and relaxation. We call it a little "R n R". What does the vacation do for you? It allows you to rest, forget about work, the bills, the daily "bump and grind" at the workplace, the 'grown-up' responsibilities; and allows you to spend time with your family in a happy place-a vacation resort, amusement park, a beach, etc.
Once the "R n R' is over, you're back on the job and into your never ending schedule of life. But while on vacation, did you bail out of your life and its hectic schedule? Did you find that deserted island, set up your little shack on the beach and plan to live the rest of your life as a hermit? Did you get so fed up with your life that you abandoned your responsibilities and your dreams because things got a little tough?
No ,you didn't give up or quit. You went right back to your home, your job, your responsibilities, your life. You see, you realize that it is all worth it, to go through life with a beautiful family, a home, a sense of security, and yes, even the hard battles and rocky places of life. You know all the while, that where one vacation ends, that just around the corner another one is soon to begin.
So it is in our spiritual walk with God. Sometimes, with what appears to be a never-ending 'bump and grind' spiritual battle, a dry desert, a wilderness, a mass bombing of temptations: ranging from visual enticements to mental thought attacks, is really just God's way of getting you stable enough and firmly rooted deep enough in him, so that he can send you on that spiritual 'R n R'. That rest and relaxation in him, where everything looks good from up on the mountaintop.
How do you climb a mountain? By first walking through the valley or wilderness below it. Then when you reach the top of that mountain, you can then see just what you went through to get to the top of it, and realize that it was all worth it.
Many times we loose our focus and direction with God. With what appears to be chain-reaction calamities, are really just areas of weaknesses in our lives surfacing, so that through prayer, God can bring them to our attention, and help us to overcome them. But often times, we don't pick up on God's little hints about these things, so as to allow him to do his work before they develop into bigger things .Unfortunately, this escalates our problems to the point that we view ourselves in a pit too deep to ever get out of. This causes some to loose their desire to hold on, and sadly, many give up and bail out.
But throughout these unfocused areas of our lives, God is still working. He shows us just enough of our lost sense of direction in our lives, in order that we would really begin to seek him again with more desire and determination, according to his direction.
Do we need a new beginning? Do we need to wipe the slate clean and start all over? Or do we need to allow God to refocus our blurred vision on the same issues at hand, allow him to help us make a new approach to these issues, and allow him to show us his way of winning the battles?
If we would allow God to clear our vision, refresh our commitment unto him, and allow him to fight our battles instead of we, ourselves, then he will bring us to the end of those battles, take us off of the front lines of life for a while, and bring us into his rest and relaxation, his 'R n R'.
Do you want to take your own vacation only to return to the calamities of life, unchanged? Or would you rather take God's vacation, where peace and rest always abounds and his vision is always clear? How clear is the vision of your decision?
Jan 1,1998
A Place of No Return
There is something within each of us, that will take us to a place of no return. What is this thing that can do that? How does it work? Are we destined to live with it throughout our lifetime? Yes, we are destined to live with it throughout our lifetime, and what it is, is called your will, and the way it works is through our power of choice.
Life is filled with daily decisions that must be made. It’s our choice as to what decisions we will make. Whether they be good or bad, right or wrong. But what is this place of no return? Can the choices that we make, lead us to this place of no return? If we make the wrong choices, will we suffer for all eternity or could we possibly be given another chance to escape this place of no return? What if we make the right choices? Will we receive a reward? Will the destiny of our lives bring us happiness? Will we be under the guiding hand and protection of the Almighty God?
The answer to the previous three questions is yes! We will receive a reward which is eternal salvation, our destiny will bring us eternal happiness living in heaven, and yes, we will be under the guiding hand of the Almighty God.
But on that same note, by making the wrong choices, our eternal destiny can take us in a different direction. Our reward, if you will, will be in the eternal flames of Hell. Our destiny will bring anything and everything but happiness, and we would be cast away and out of the presence of the Almighty God for all eternity! Get the picture?
The key word here in both cases is eternal. What does eternal mean? It means everlasting, immortal, never-ending, infinite. Every human being will spend all of eternity somewhere. We all have an eternal soul and will exist in the place of our own eternal destiny, as a result of what choices we will make here in this lifetime on earth,.
But what about this place of no return? Every situation that we are faced with in our lives will require decisions and actions of some sort. For example: Someone goes into a bank, they are armed and have plans to rob the bank. Until they pull out the gun, hand the note to the teller, or yell at everyone to hit the floor, they have not reached the place of no return. Until they perform one of these actions, they appear as a normal customer in the bank. At this point, they still have time to change their decision about robbing the bank. Within themselves, they are fighting with the choice as to what to do. But once the gun comes out, the decision has been made. This is the place of no return. If they rob the bank, they may or may not get away with it. If they don't rob the bank, then they are surely going to jail for bringing a gun into the bank even in a failed attempt to rob it. In this place of no return, the decision made was ultimately to rob the bank, whether it failed or not.
In our life here on this earth, we have a decision to make as to whether we are going to give our lives over to God and accept his way of life or not. If we do choose to give our lives over to God and begin to live for him, we still have yet another decision to make. That being, are we going to sell-out to God, turn our backs on our past lives, and allow him to mold us and make us into what he intends for us to be? If we do, then we've entered into the place of no return. By doing so, God in turn will begin to commune with us and reveal himself to us, through spiritual revelations, deeper impressions in our thoughts, as well as removing the spiritual scales from our minds, in that we may understand his word more clearly without any deceptions from Satan.
Sometimes people will say in reference to being in their place of no return,” I’ve come too far and I know too much to turn back now".But that's what it is going to take for each of us, if we plan on entering into our place of no return with God.
After fulfilling the born again experience with God as described in the book of Acts, this is the element that will take us into the place of no return with God. As we grow with God after being born again of water and of spirit, something begins to take place in us. It’s a changing or a transformation of our inner selves in the heart and in the mind. It’s these transformations that will continue to lead us further into our place of no return.
To be in a place of no return with God, is an extremely awesome way of thinking and living. The excitement of experiencing the changes in our lives is somewhat overwhelming. To remember our past lives as to how we lived, what we did, where we went, what we said, and then to see where and what God has brought us from and to where he is taking us, is exciting in itself. By observing our own lives from time to time in this manner, this continues to solidify us in our place of no return.
But what about the times when we sin even after coming into our place of no return with God? There will be times in our lives that due to our weaknesses, we will sin. Even though we will face our weaknesses from time to time, we must, at that moment, make the decision as to whether we will give in to these weaknesses and sin, or whether we will allow God to strengthen us at our moment of weakness and abstain from the sin.
Many times we will be strong enough in God and resist the temptation to sin. But unfortunately, there will be those times when we will not resist, in which we will sin. But did you want to commit the sin? More than likely you did not. Then why did you? The reason: due to your weakness, you crossed over the thin line of decision, and allowed yourself to enter into that other place of no return. Yes, there is another place of no return for God's children. It’s called the place of temptation and sin. But when you succumbed unto the sin, did you turn your back on God and walk away from his place of no return that he has established for you? No, you just stood at the crossroads of life, lost your sense of direction, and took the wrong turn at the intersection of temptation.
You stood face to face with decision making time. Since you decided to flirt with the temptation, you slowly began entering into that other place of no return. There was still time to resist, but the pull of temptation was strong enough to persuade your will. As you yielded yourself to the temptation, you completely entered into that other place of no return and committed the sin.
God will give his children a chance to escape from that other place of no return of sin. It is called repentance. After we have committed the sin, God’s spirit lays conviction on our hearts. Then when we confess the sin and repent of it, God forgives us and we have then escaped from that other place of no return.
But there is a place of no return in which God will not forgive us and we would be destined to the eternal flames of Hell. It is a place called blaspheming against the Holy Ghost. Jesus said in Matthew 12:31,....but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
That is a place of no return in which no one should dare to enter!
But what about those people that use their power of choice not to serve God? Do they enter into a place of no return of some other kind? Actually, by them not giving their lives over to God, they are already in a place of no return without doing anything. As a matter of fact, every man, woman and child on the face of the earth are already in that place of no return, until they make the decision to give their lives over to God. As sad as it is, this place of no return that I am speaking of, is called Hell or the lake of fire.
Being born into sin, puts all of humanity on the road to Hell. In that fact, we have no choice at all. But God gave mankind a will with the power of choice to make one of two decisions. The first choice is to get off of the road to Hell, by a person giving their life over to God and allowing him to begin to clean their life up, setting their destiny for heaven. The second choice is the easy choice. Choose to do nothing. But! If a person makes the choice to do nothing, they are ultimately choosing to go to Hell because they did not choose the only other choice that mankind has, and that is to give their lives over to God and become his children. You may say, “but I thought that all of the humans in the world belonged to God. Not true. Humanity is a creation of God’s, but because we were all born into sin, we are not his children until we have become born again as stated in the book of Acts,chp2,10 &19.
Does God give humanity a chance to escape the place of no return that we are all born into? Yes he does. It’s called repentance, committing your life unto God, and accepting and fulfilling his plan of salvation. This is the only way that humanity can escape that place of no return. No matter what people may say or believe, there is no other way.
God loved us so much, that he wrapped himself in a robe of flesh called Jesus Christ. God himself knew that as Jesus Christ, his mission was to be born through the sinless virgin birth of Mary, teach and perform miracles, prepare his disciples to spread the gospel of truth, die on the cross for humanity's sins. Resurrect, and ascend into heaven.
Was God in a place of no return? Yes he was. But being a human being in the form of Jesus Christ, he had the same power of choice that he gave humanity. But his purpose and plan was not to live a long life as a human on this earth. His purpose and plan was to rescue his creation, humanity, back from sin and an eternal death in the lake of fire. Humans were never, again I say never, supposed to go to the lake of fire to burn for all eternity. That place was prepared for the devil and his angels. As Jesus, fleshly and human, he probably wanted to bypass the cross. Of course no one really knows. But as God, Jesus was obedient to his own plans to die on the cross.
God Almighty stayed in his place of no return. He was the only one that could redeem mankind by becoming a man, the lamb of God, die on the cross to take away the sins of the world.
What will you do? Will you use your power of choice to escape from humanity's place of no return and enter into God's place of no return, in which it will give you eternal life in heaven. Or will you choose your own place of no return and one day find yourself in Hell's place of no return?
Feb 2,1998
Life is filled with daily decisions that must be made. It’s our choice as to what decisions we will make. Whether they be good or bad, right or wrong. But what is this place of no return? Can the choices that we make, lead us to this place of no return? If we make the wrong choices, will we suffer for all eternity or could we possibly be given another chance to escape this place of no return? What if we make the right choices? Will we receive a reward? Will the destiny of our lives bring us happiness? Will we be under the guiding hand and protection of the Almighty God?
The answer to the previous three questions is yes! We will receive a reward which is eternal salvation, our destiny will bring us eternal happiness living in heaven, and yes, we will be under the guiding hand of the Almighty God.
But on that same note, by making the wrong choices, our eternal destiny can take us in a different direction. Our reward, if you will, will be in the eternal flames of Hell. Our destiny will bring anything and everything but happiness, and we would be cast away and out of the presence of the Almighty God for all eternity! Get the picture?
The key word here in both cases is eternal. What does eternal mean? It means everlasting, immortal, never-ending, infinite. Every human being will spend all of eternity somewhere. We all have an eternal soul and will exist in the place of our own eternal destiny, as a result of what choices we will make here in this lifetime on earth,.
But what about this place of no return? Every situation that we are faced with in our lives will require decisions and actions of some sort. For example: Someone goes into a bank, they are armed and have plans to rob the bank. Until they pull out the gun, hand the note to the teller, or yell at everyone to hit the floor, they have not reached the place of no return. Until they perform one of these actions, they appear as a normal customer in the bank. At this point, they still have time to change their decision about robbing the bank. Within themselves, they are fighting with the choice as to what to do. But once the gun comes out, the decision has been made. This is the place of no return. If they rob the bank, they may or may not get away with it. If they don't rob the bank, then they are surely going to jail for bringing a gun into the bank even in a failed attempt to rob it. In this place of no return, the decision made was ultimately to rob the bank, whether it failed or not.
In our life here on this earth, we have a decision to make as to whether we are going to give our lives over to God and accept his way of life or not. If we do choose to give our lives over to God and begin to live for him, we still have yet another decision to make. That being, are we going to sell-out to God, turn our backs on our past lives, and allow him to mold us and make us into what he intends for us to be? If we do, then we've entered into the place of no return. By doing so, God in turn will begin to commune with us and reveal himself to us, through spiritual revelations, deeper impressions in our thoughts, as well as removing the spiritual scales from our minds, in that we may understand his word more clearly without any deceptions from Satan.
Sometimes people will say in reference to being in their place of no return,” I’ve come too far and I know too much to turn back now".But that's what it is going to take for each of us, if we plan on entering into our place of no return with God.
After fulfilling the born again experience with God as described in the book of Acts, this is the element that will take us into the place of no return with God. As we grow with God after being born again of water and of spirit, something begins to take place in us. It’s a changing or a transformation of our inner selves in the heart and in the mind. It’s these transformations that will continue to lead us further into our place of no return.
To be in a place of no return with God, is an extremely awesome way of thinking and living. The excitement of experiencing the changes in our lives is somewhat overwhelming. To remember our past lives as to how we lived, what we did, where we went, what we said, and then to see where and what God has brought us from and to where he is taking us, is exciting in itself. By observing our own lives from time to time in this manner, this continues to solidify us in our place of no return.
But what about the times when we sin even after coming into our place of no return with God? There will be times in our lives that due to our weaknesses, we will sin. Even though we will face our weaknesses from time to time, we must, at that moment, make the decision as to whether we will give in to these weaknesses and sin, or whether we will allow God to strengthen us at our moment of weakness and abstain from the sin.
Many times we will be strong enough in God and resist the temptation to sin. But unfortunately, there will be those times when we will not resist, in which we will sin. But did you want to commit the sin? More than likely you did not. Then why did you? The reason: due to your weakness, you crossed over the thin line of decision, and allowed yourself to enter into that other place of no return. Yes, there is another place of no return for God's children. It’s called the place of temptation and sin. But when you succumbed unto the sin, did you turn your back on God and walk away from his place of no return that he has established for you? No, you just stood at the crossroads of life, lost your sense of direction, and took the wrong turn at the intersection of temptation.
You stood face to face with decision making time. Since you decided to flirt with the temptation, you slowly began entering into that other place of no return. There was still time to resist, but the pull of temptation was strong enough to persuade your will. As you yielded yourself to the temptation, you completely entered into that other place of no return and committed the sin.
God will give his children a chance to escape from that other place of no return of sin. It is called repentance. After we have committed the sin, God’s spirit lays conviction on our hearts. Then when we confess the sin and repent of it, God forgives us and we have then escaped from that other place of no return.
But there is a place of no return in which God will not forgive us and we would be destined to the eternal flames of Hell. It is a place called blaspheming against the Holy Ghost. Jesus said in Matthew 12:31,....but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
That is a place of no return in which no one should dare to enter!
But what about those people that use their power of choice not to serve God? Do they enter into a place of no return of some other kind? Actually, by them not giving their lives over to God, they are already in a place of no return without doing anything. As a matter of fact, every man, woman and child on the face of the earth are already in that place of no return, until they make the decision to give their lives over to God. As sad as it is, this place of no return that I am speaking of, is called Hell or the lake of fire.
Being born into sin, puts all of humanity on the road to Hell. In that fact, we have no choice at all. But God gave mankind a will with the power of choice to make one of two decisions. The first choice is to get off of the road to Hell, by a person giving their life over to God and allowing him to begin to clean their life up, setting their destiny for heaven. The second choice is the easy choice. Choose to do nothing. But! If a person makes the choice to do nothing, they are ultimately choosing to go to Hell because they did not choose the only other choice that mankind has, and that is to give their lives over to God and become his children. You may say, “but I thought that all of the humans in the world belonged to God. Not true. Humanity is a creation of God’s, but because we were all born into sin, we are not his children until we have become born again as stated in the book of Acts,chp2,10 &19.
Does God give humanity a chance to escape the place of no return that we are all born into? Yes he does. It’s called repentance, committing your life unto God, and accepting and fulfilling his plan of salvation. This is the only way that humanity can escape that place of no return. No matter what people may say or believe, there is no other way.
God loved us so much, that he wrapped himself in a robe of flesh called Jesus Christ. God himself knew that as Jesus Christ, his mission was to be born through the sinless virgin birth of Mary, teach and perform miracles, prepare his disciples to spread the gospel of truth, die on the cross for humanity's sins. Resurrect, and ascend into heaven.
Was God in a place of no return? Yes he was. But being a human being in the form of Jesus Christ, he had the same power of choice that he gave humanity. But his purpose and plan was not to live a long life as a human on this earth. His purpose and plan was to rescue his creation, humanity, back from sin and an eternal death in the lake of fire. Humans were never, again I say never, supposed to go to the lake of fire to burn for all eternity. That place was prepared for the devil and his angels. As Jesus, fleshly and human, he probably wanted to bypass the cross. Of course no one really knows. But as God, Jesus was obedient to his own plans to die on the cross.
God Almighty stayed in his place of no return. He was the only one that could redeem mankind by becoming a man, the lamb of God, die on the cross to take away the sins of the world.
What will you do? Will you use your power of choice to escape from humanity's place of no return and enter into God's place of no return, in which it will give you eternal life in heaven. Or will you choose your own place of no return and one day find yourself in Hell's place of no return?
Feb 2,1998
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