I Know Thy Works; So Repent!!!!!!

Every Church that the Lord was talking to in Revelation, Jesus told them that I know thy works.  More and more the churches of today and some ministries are getting so far off the path and they can’t even see it.  Everyone wants to be right about how they conduct the ministry and if anyone has an opinion of it; it generates strife.  First, let the church or ministry have order and next, do not use order to put people in bondage.  This message is not for everyone but it is for someone.  In other words I ain’t talking bout you unless I’m talking bout you! 

There are too many false apostles out here claiming to be upstanding men of God.  But if you just sit back and let The Lord reveal things to you, He will.  Remember this brothers and sisters, somebody is right and somebody is wrong.  Let’s go into the scriptures a little and find who these people are and why they do the things they do.  Paul says in Romans 16:17-18; I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not Our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.  First let us talk about the ones who serve their own bellies.  Those are people that say they are laboring for Christ and setting the church up accordingly but in reality everything is being done how they want it done.  They like to use the word “we” but most of the time it is always about “them”.  The simple are the people who are blind by default or they are kept in darkness on purpose.  What you can’t see, you don’t know.  And what you don’t know then you can’t condemn.  I urge all simple people to please start reading your bibles and pray to God for revelations.  This is imperative for your survival.  For example, if I have a brother; my real brother from the same parents; that serve with me in the ministry who is committing adultery; what should I do with him if I am an elder standing on the word of God?  Don’t worry about an answer I have it; I will sit him down and tell him he needs to repent.  If no repentance then he can kick rocks down the street, for all I care.  But most people are not operating on that frequency.  They are too emotionally tied to people.  To stand on the word of God you sometimes have to come up against people in your own household.  Until we as the body realize that a standard must be set we are going to be destroyed.  The enemy can come in and create havoc in an unorganized ministry.  And you can be organized without placing people in bondage.  Your lifestyle must line up with the word of God.  You can’t proclaim one thing, but live another.  We have liberty in Christ Jesus but we have to be careful when using our liberty.  Paul said in Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  Further down in Galatians 5:13 Paul continues with; brethren ye have been called unto liberty; only not use liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  In I Peter 2:16 he explains; as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 

That’s the problem with a lot of the Saints in the church or ministry; they are using their freedom (liberty) as a cloak for the sin in their lives; if not their lives, maybe someone in their home.  If not someone in their homes; maybe someone they call friend.  Brothers and sisters; be careful.  These people are good at what they do.  It will be hard for you to spot them if you are not in their inner circles.  In their eyes your sin is big and nasty but their sin is small and not worth mentioning.  The devil is a lie; all sin is wrong especially those who call themselves saints.  Let me break that down for you.  Her tattoos are no worse than his lusting after women, his lusting after women is no worse than her lying.  And her lying is no worse than you having rebellious children for those who may want to be an elder!  Get the point?  Everyone has to take personal accountability for getting their own lives in order. 

People stop wasting time examining your neighbor; do like the song says and get your own house in order!  I have partaken of both religious bondage and too much freedom.  Both are wrong according to the bible.  We need order and structure in church or ministry but do not need bondage.  We have liberty and freedom in Christ Jesus but not to live according to the flesh.  In the beginning I mentioned how Jesus said I know thy works to all the churches in Revelations.  He also told each of them to repent.  That is what we all need is to do is repent and get back to seeking God with all our hearts, minds, and souls.  May the Lord open your ears, hearts and minds for all understanding of His words.  

As Always

It.Is.Written!

Altered Vision II - The Church Doesn’t Belong to Man, but to Christ

What you’re about to read is the book introduction of the third epistle of John:  out of Nelson KJV

In third John the apostle encourages fellowship with Christian brothers.  Following his expression of love for Gaius, John assures him of his prayers for his health and voices his joy over Gaius’s persistent walk in truth and for the manner in which he shows hospitality and support for missionaries who have come to his church.

But not everyone in the church feels the same way.  Diotrephes’ heart is one hundred and eighty degrees removed from Gaius’s heart.  He is no longer living in love.  Pride has taken precedence in his life.  He has refused a letter John has written for the church, fearing that his authority might be superseded by that of the apostle.  He also has accused John of evil words and refused to accept missionaries.  He forbids others to do so and even expels them from the church if they disobey him.  John uses this negative example as an opportunity to encourage Gaius to continue his hospitality.  Demetrius has a good testimony and may even be one of those turned away by Diotrephes.  He is widely known for his good character and his loyalty to the truth.  Here he is well commended by John and stands as a positive example for Gaius.

As true saints, we have to make sure we’re leading people to Christ and not to ourselves.  There are many Babylonian church systems that have perfected in doing so.  This very thing has gone on for centuries; as you can see above because there’s nothing new under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 Conformity is a damnable thing when dealing with winning souls for God’s kingdom.  It’s a very thin line between leading someone to salvation and feeling the vanity of power to control someone’s beliefs.  In searching for and finding my own liberty I’ve come across people who weren’t teaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ, let alone living it.  We can go on and on about the disparities of one church from another but there’s no need.  Just know and understand; not all churches are created in Christ.  What gets into a man once he’s called that corrupts his way of thinking?  Living?  Many will say it’s hard to live a life of righteousness with so much temptation, but I beg to differ.  For it states plainly in James 1:13-14 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:  for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Having an altered vision is similar to what’s still in our flesh that keeps us enslaved to our sin, be it pride, vanity, love of power, self-righteousness, and/or greed.  So, to have someone in church leadership who isn’t completely conformed to Christ can stunt the growth of the ministry.  Another form of altered vision is the making of positions within the church that does not exist in the bible; such as the first lady and definitely the first gentleman.  1Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9 These scriptures clearly define the office of elders, bishops, and deacons.  So where did all of this extra stuff come from???  From people who would rather lift up themselves than lift up Jesus Christ!  Instead of giving a word to help people see the error of their ways and the opportunity to truly repent, most only give a word of prosperity and what feels good to them.  Then you have those who believe in some scriptures but not all.  2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21  We can’t pull from certain scriptures and make them fit the dynamics of our own filthy lives. 

We are living in a time where the lines have been drawn and a choice must be made.  You have to choose to believe AND stand on EVERY word of God.  Continuing to straddle the fence just won’t cut it in the eyes of God.  2 Peter 1:10   The blueprint for the church starts and ends with Jesus Christ but man has found a way to subvert the gospel and change the pathway.  We have to get back to the old pathway that Jesus Christ laid before us in order for the church to belong to him.  Brothers and sisters, let’s pray we correctly form the body of Christ which is the true church that will be raised up in these last days.

As Always,

It.Is.Written.        

Altered Vision

We look at others and try to examine them to figure them out.  Some people try to put everyone that doesn’t look or act like them into hell.  For example, you may see the stripper on the stage dancing; many automatically assume she is not going to make it or isn’t fit for salvation.  But you may see her days, weeks, months, even years later and she’s ministering to you and has grown in her spiritual walk.  This is why we as individuals need to keep our eyes or vision stayed on the Lord.  He knows the end of all our lives.  I know people have their perceptions of everyone else.  But you are making a grave mistake wasting too much time eyeing other people’s personal situations; you might just forget to get yourself together.  It is imperative to check ourselves daily to see if we are in line with the Lord.  II Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates.  

Why are peoples vision altered so terribly?  Because they have been brain washed for most of their lives.  Let me give you an example of high level brain washing or altered vision.  A few co-workers and I were talking about fishing one day at work.  I said, “Man, I just don’t have the time anymore.  The only day I could probably go is early Sunday morning before I go to service.”  He replied with, “Oh no!  Not on Sunday!  You can catch the devil on Sunday!”  I replied, “What! Are you serious?  The devil is not confined to just Sundays.”  He said, “I don’t care.  All the old folks say you are only supposed to go to church on Sunday, not fish.”  I told him, “Dude if the devil wants you to catch him you will, especially if you are fishing for him!  It doesn’t have to be just on a Sunday.”  Now you tell me, how can he believe the sayings of old wives tales, but if you tell him it is not okay to lust after other women, he will try to justify this by saying as long as he doesn’t touch them then there is nothing wrong?  Isn’t that fishing for the devil?  And lust happens twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. 

People; our vision has been altered for way too long.  It’s sad a lot of us refuse to see for ourselves.  A lot of religious minded people don’t even attempt to open and read the bible.  And even when they do they only tend to find the scriptures they can pervert to try and justify the things they still do in their flesh.  They have been brainwashed by these church performers to come and be entertained by them.  If you are sitting under someone who doesn’t encourage you to have a personal relationship with Christ get away from there quickly!  We must individually know God and His word for ourselves.  You have to be taught correctly by church leadership in order for you to grow in Christ.  It’s a lot of evil things in this world that are sliding by and people aren’t even noticing them.  If your vision has been altered you will only see Obama, the first black President.  You will not be able to see that he supports abortion and homosexuality because he is a homosexual or that he’s signed bills that will give the government free reign over our so-called freedoms.  With your vision altered all you can see is the world going on forever with you and your family living happily in peace.  You will not be able to see the Kingdom of God established as soon as this present evil world ends.  

Another example of altered vision; I was at a local diner that I get lunch from time to time when the owner who is a seventh day Adventist asked if I was going to get me some easter eggs.  I told her, “Jesus dying on the cross and resurrecting has nothing to do with any easter eggs.”  She tried to explain, “Well that’s what they came up with and celebrate it makes their people happy.”  So I said, “Okay then Miss Lady go ahead and be happy, but I don’t have to participate in any pagan practices.”  I can’t twist her arm, but I can pray for God to clear up her vision.  Which also brings me to the debate of Holy days; if your vision is off you will try to confine the Most High God to one day.  You have some people that think church is only supposed to be on Sundays, you have others that think it’s supposed be held on Saturdays.  I believe God should be praised and worshipped every day. 

If God has showed up in your lives and manifested Himself to you, no one can take that from you.  People that have never experienced the Holy Ghost are always going to criticize those who have.  Now that you have been cleansed and set apart from the world, go stand in the gap and pray for others to be set free.  Don’t worry about the naysayers and pessimistic people, just witness.  It’s time to take off your rose colored lenses and see the world for what it truly is and begin to stand on God’s EVERY word, not just what sounds and feels good.  It’s time for us remove the fear of persecution.  If we are true believers in Jesus Christ then it must be understood we shall be persecuted for His sake.  John 15:20-21 To do so; we can’t allow our vision to remain altered by the world and the things in it.  Remember this, we can try to see things that are too far and miss seeing things that are near.

As always,

It.Is.Written.

The Devil is the number one Terrorist!

When I was a young man my dad taught me about the world we live in.  While we were fishing he would just say things that made real good sense.   He never used any scriptures from the bible, but the stuff he said always could be found in the bible.  One thing he mostly said to me was, “Son they use fear to control you; that’s how they control this world.”  Naturally as a child I looked at him and wondered what is the man talking about?  First of all; who are they?  And why do they want to control me and the world?  Of course he always answered with you will find out one day.  Come on man!  Let me know now!  I don’t have time to wait until I’m grown!  Now that I am older I realize exactly who they are.  They are actually the devil and his army of rebellious angels.  The devil operates through people to get his will accomplished.  He sends his demon army out to try to gain entrance into the people to control them.  If he gains control of them then they eventually have to do his dirty work.  The fear comes in to play after the control has set in.  If you have any emotional ties to anything or anyone you cannot fight against the enemy.  Remember the devil is a terrorist and it is hard to fight against terrorism.  Because a real terrorist does not value the same things you do.  Human life doesn’t mean a thing to them or (him).  He will use that to create fear in people.  I believe in these last days he will literally take peoples loved ones and cut their heads off right in front of them.  He will then ask if you still believe in Christ!  And of lot of people are going to turn against our lord and Savior.  Knowing and quoting a numerous scriptures is not going to save anyone.  Religious people performing all these religious duties will not get a free pass either.  It is your faith!  You have to have faith to know that you will die for not bowing down to the devil.  You have to have faith to endure when he slaughters someone before your very eyes in order for you to turn and worship him.  The only fear we should have is of The Most High God, because he can kill the body and soul!  I believe that which Jesus said about fearing God only.  Jesus Christ laid the blueprint out for us through his teachings and ultimately through the offering of his life.  The temptation of Christ is the formula Saints should follow.  In the first temptation the devil was testing his faith in God.  In the second temptation he was testing Jesus’ love of God.  And in the third temptation he tested Jesus’ fear of God.  Luke 4:1-12 So, my brothers and sisters we have to have faith in God, we have to love God with all of our heart, and we have to fear God and Him only.  I pray that everyone’s faith is increased in God.  I pray that everyone will love God with their whole heart.  I pray that everyone gives God His proper fear and honor that is due only unto Him.  Bless you all and keep the faith!  

As always,

It.Is.Written.