One True GOD

In this age of choices and the "salad bar of options" where everything is "whatever is good for you" and "anything goes" or "as long as you are sincere in what you believe", but no more absolutes for the sake that we might offend someone. The Bible, the Word of God stands unchanged, unwavering in it's absolute truth. There IS only ONE GOD, and only ONE WAY to be reconciled, or to be made right with God. That is by the way He MADE for US, through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. That through belief and trust in Him ALONE, by repentance, turning away from sin, and walking in His ways, with Worship and affection for Him alone! Don't be upset that Jesus is the ONLY way to God, be thankful that there IS a way!

John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In India there are + or - 33 million gods, goddess's, or idols that are worshiped. Millions of man created objects that are bowed down to and given attention and affection to. This may seen strange to us and it may be easy to point our fingers at them, but how much different are we than them?? I will be speaking to believers specifically now, followers of Christ that want to walk in the ways of God.

Ex 34: 14-17 Yes this is the OT, but do you think He changed in this?
"(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. 17 “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal."

As followers of Christ, we must be careful not to make idols out of objects or people. We can worship and make idols out of materialism, entertainment, our TV's, the gain of wealth, our careers, sports teams, or players, houses, cars, motorcycles, actors, musicians, fashion, even our children or spouses. Now before you think I am crazy or being legalistic or too serious about this, do a study on idolatry for yourself. There are many good resources on-line, I like the ESV Study Bible and here is there site. http://www.esvstudybible.org/search. Just type in idolatry in the search and enjoy! If you only believe what is in the NT applies now, just start reading all those verses. You can also put in, worship, or just, idols. www.biblegateway.com is another good resource.

Worship is what we give our time, affection, and money to. So I would challenge you, what occupies most of that for you?? Do you sit in front of the TV for hours daily? (this use to be a problem for me) Do you play video games for hours daily? (again, was a problem years ago) Do you spend hours on Face Book daily? Do you spend countless hours cleaning, tuning your vehicle, spending excess amounts of money on it? (was a problem) Do you spend most of your time reading novels that take you into a fantasy world? Do you care way too much about celebrities and what is going on in their lives? Do you care too much about a certain musician, would you spend large amounts of money just to meet them? Do you spend your time and money fixing up your house because it is not good enough, or needing to upgrade to keep up with the culture?

These are just some questions to get you thinking, if they are convicting then don't get mad at me, maybe that is the Holy Spirit trying to speak to you about it. I'm not saying I am perfect, I know I have my own weaknesses, but I am working on them and God has been showing me what needs to change.

God wants your affection and He is jealous for it. In the NIV, Ex 34:14 "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Ps 78:58 "For they provoked Him with their high places and aroused His jealousy with their graven images."

Our Hope needs to be in what can not be seen, Heb 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." , and to store up our treasures in heaven. The world NEEDS to see this from US. If we are following the same things they are, and putting our hope, affections, desires, time, into the same things they are, then why would they want God? They see us chasing the same things as they are, and looking for satisfaction in other things besides the ONE TRUE GOD.

I love this OT verse, Deut 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

I'm not trying to sound harsh or come off as judgmental because I have things I need to work on, but I want us to go deeper in God. To have our affections set on God and not on the things of this world, because they are empty and never satisfy. If you are a Christian, you should know this and not want to return from what you were saved out of. I want to speak the Truth in Love,

Your fellow follower of Jesus, challenging you to go deeper into the heart of our God,

Roger

Oh the Savior's love

It was a relaxing day (though not over yet) with reading (Bible and Hudson Taylor bio), doing a little around the house and lightening the load of possessions. It is a joy hard to explain, ridding yourself of things not used anymore and things that are not a necessity. To not be burdened by the abundance of earthly possessions is a joyful thing indeed! I thank the Lord for His constant work in my life and the preparation for whatever lies ahead. While pondering His Mighty Love and Awesome Grace, I wrote these words down. To the praise of His Glorious Grace!

To pen the words,
my soul longs to say;
To tell thee of our Savior's love,
how He walks with me each day.

Oh what a struggle it is,
these words can't explain;
the volumes that could be written,
and still not obtain!

Most worthy are you, O Lord,
though short do I fall;
To tell of your great Mercy,
Thou deserving most of All ! R.B.

I pray you also come to know the Lord God more deeply and intimately each day. For does His Word not say, Draw near to Me, and He will draw near to You?? Indeed it does!

Reminder of God's grace

I was at a prison this thurs and fri for my job. I have to go to a few of these a year and am always thankful that I get to leave. With this job I have to go into each building and am surrounded by the inmates. I do have an escort but no one is armed because they don't take chances that weapons could be taken and used on the officers. It can be a little nerve wrecking at times but I trusted the Lord would protect me.

What hits me though is the fact of all these people that live in this little world. A prison is like a small enclosed city and some will live their lives inside. As I walked around and saw the sadness and despair in people's eyes, I was hit with the reality of God's grace anew. (and to think of how much better conditions are and how much better people are treated in the U.S. prisons than that of other countries)

I am thankful for His grace in my life, for where I was born and grew up, for how He watched over me and helped me make decisions. I realize that what separates me from the people locked behind bars is often one bad decision. Sometimes it's the fact that most are just not caught and these people were. This won't be a long post, I just wanted to share how God makes his mercy and grace real to me.

If I would have made different choices and taken different actions at certain times or in certain situations, then I could be sitting behind bars also. Some may be innocent and in other countries lots of precious souls are locked up for faith in Jesus. God's heart is for all and He wants us to care about all.

Matt 25:36 "I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."

May you find His grace new and fresh in your life and be thankful for it.

Roger

Feeling inadequate

This image is from a recent article on the last Operation Christmas Child program from Samaritan's Purse. This was taken in Kenya. Look at their smiles, look behind them at where they live.

I wasn't planning on writing anything tonight, but as I was reading through some ministry updates from different organizations, I wanted to express how I am feeling. The title I chose for this post sums it up. As tears filled my eyes reading about all the poverty and the devastation in many countries lately, it saddens my heart.

I don't know what to do with these feelings, I want to help, to do more, more than just give money. I know it takes funds to provide the necessary help being provided, but I don't feel it is enough for me. I like to help physically but I'm not feeling a specific direction to go.

Sometimes I feel like all I do is "wait", and the encouragement I get is to "wait". The books I read talk about how we need to "wait" and so many verses I find in the Bible say to "wait on the Lord". Well, I hope my time of waiting is almost over, but is waiting ever over?

In Haiti, the rainy season will be coming soon and there is a worry about the spread of disease because of the bodies still buried under the ruble. The make shift shelters they have are not adequate. One organization is making sturdy shelters that are 12'x12' and have a steel roof. They have the roof slanted to catch rain water, then it goes into a storage tank, then through a sand filter. It costs around $1,000 for a shelter with bunk beds and the water storage, the sand filter is $100 more...... Lord help us be your hands and feet.

Am I just going to be a sender? Do I have to be in a job I don't like to make money to support others? Time, I guess time will tell. If anyone reads this, pray for me. I will try to patiently wait till whatever is next.

Roger

Finished series

...On radical faith by David Platt. It has made me think and look at what I have been taught. I knew God wanted us to be generous and give cheerfully, but these verses really make you look at what we are called to. I am doing some changes and will be selling some things, and looking at living even more simply.

I have traded in my "smartphone" today for a basic messaging phone and dropped my data plan and will be saving $20 month on that. For $20 a month you can partner with a Child Survival Program in India. Compassion has many others to choose from at different costs. The information for this one is here.

I will be doing other things but I am not going to share much if anything else, because I don't want it to come off as bragging, even though most will think this kind of living is dumb and not worth it.

I like this quote that David said, something like, I don't think anyone will be standing before God someday and He will say, "I think you gave too much to the poor and didn't spend enough on yourself." Hmmm probably quite true. We seem to always be looking out for ourselves, yes? One motto is : Look out for number one. I guess this is true if your number one is God.

Not trying to EARN salvation, just responding to the love, grace, and forgiveness I have been GIVEN, that was BOUGHT at a PRICE, when JESUS DIED for ME.


Growing closer to Him, Roger

If we are blessed, then what?

I always seem to hear the phrase, "God has blessed America so much", or "We are so blessed in America". If this is true, and God has actually given us wealth and possessions, then why do you think that is?

If this quote is correct by David Platt, it is pretty astonishing, in 2009 America spent $10 billion on church buildings and total structures owned by churches in America come to $250 billion + . I can't even imagine what the stats would be for how much christians spent last year on unnecessary items or upgrades to what they already had. Would our giving outweigh our spending? I doubt it. What does this show the unbelieving world?

Jesus said in Matt 6:21, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Where are we showing the world that our heart, treasure is?

I need to be reminded of this because it is hard not to get caught up in wanting more stuff. We are even called "consumers" , that doesn't even sound good. I know this is a heart issue and it NEEDS to be dealt with. God forgive us and me, how long before His patience runs out for us? When will he shake the nations, or has this already begun? To shake off false gods, false dependence, half hearted worship, and direct disobedience to his Word.

Ps 82:5, They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Matt 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Heb 12:27-28, This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

2 Chron 7:14, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Oh Jesus, how we need our land healed and sins forgiven, and we don't even think we do! Have mercy on us..... again! !

If God has blessed us with wealth and possessions, it certainly IS NOT for us to build ourselves a (treasure on earth) comfortable lifestyle, secure financial future, secure retirement plan, and an easy life. That doesn't look like loving our neighbor as our-self, only the loving our-self part.

David Platt also says this, God gives wealth and possessions to build a people who take His glory to the nations.

Now I'm not saying we don't do this at all, because obviously we do. There are many good organizations that are built on serving those in need and going to the nations with the Gospel and urgent need, Faith with Works. I'm just saying as a whole the American evangelical church is not living this way. The way Jesus asks us to live. How are YOU doing?

I'm asking myself these same questions.

Lord, do you want me to go serve in a less fortunate nation? To live out James 1:27, you know my heart, Just show me the way.

Roger

The Cost of following Christ

You don't hear much about the Cost of following Christ these days. What you will hear is, come to Jesus so He can save you, forgive your sins, heal you, prosper you, give you a better, more comfortable, easier life. While some things are biblical of what He will do for you, I think He is asking what will you DO or give up for Him?

I am going to be looking at some of the verses that Jesus taught about being worthy of being His disciple, and what that may mean for me today.

The first one is in Matthew 19:21-23. Now is this a teaching for those who are held in bondage to money and possessions or for everyone? If everyone that is wealthy is commanded to sell all that they have and give to the poor, didn't all of the wealthy now become poor? Is this what Jesus wants?

I will be seeking the Lord on these verses and seeing what they mean for ME, so I'm not saying what they should mean for you. If you want, you can look them up and do the same, but that is up to you. I am just going to write out my part of the journey.

Matthew 9:37-38, Then Jesus said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Ok Lord, so are you calling me to be a laborer? I thought you were calling me to Romania but I felt you said no. I'm still seeking Lord, where would I best be used?

Blessings, R.B.