To Begin

I am the worst one to begin this topic. That is why I chose to have it here ont his forum.

Each day God gives me messages. Be it through watching nature, reading the Bible, being on-line, a song...you name it, He uses it.

He has been feeding me lately this food. We ALL need to wake up to obedience in His laws. Too many of us feel too comfortable in our lives and are afraid to take that radical step of stepping into the unknown with Him. He wants us to take that step. To Leap into HIM. And only into HIM.

We feel we do this. We pray all day, we read the bible, we spread His messages, yet we are still hypocrites because we make up our own laws to follow. Not even realizing it half the time.

It is time for all Christians to search their souls and follow God's Laws, not our own. He loves us. He will chastise us to teach us to obey. He is our FATHER. We must honor and obey Him!

God Bless

Exodus 20: 2-17


2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

3 you shall have no other gods before me.

4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,

6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8 Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.

9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work.

10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

12 Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 You shall not murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

17 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Deuteronomy 5:6-21



6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

7 you shall have no other gods before me.

8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me,

10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

13 For six days you shall labour and do all your work.

14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.

15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

16 Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

17 You shall not murder.

18 Neither shall you commit adultery.

19 Neither shall you steal.

20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.

21 Neither shall you covet your neighbour’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

I though this might fit in here, along the same topic. We have to take up our cross daily, hourly, and by the minute. We have gotton lazy in our obedience and repentance.....and we all will have to answer one day.



Let’s look at Cain and Abel.

Cain was a farmer, Abel was a shepherd, Cain brought an offering of fruit of the ground before the Lord. Abel brought an offering of 1st born of flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his offering, but did not accept Cain and his offering.
(Gen. 4; 4-5) Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

We often hear in our church “God will accept you just as you are” That is just not true. God does accept us if we repent! Look at Ananias & Sapphira, it doesn’t fit; they’re dead.
(Acts 5; 1-11) But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”
She said, “Yes, for so much.”
Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

The Bible says we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices
(Romans 12; 1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Whenever a sacrifice is brought before God it represents our service to him.

As we look at Cain and Abels jobs, I think we can safely say Cain worked harder than Abel. Cain’s offering came by the sweat of his brow, by toiling against the very ground God had cursed.
(Gen. 3; 17-19) Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying,
‘You shall not eat of it’:
“ Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

So we must ask, why didn’t God accept Cain’s offer. The answer is found with his parents. Adam & Eve did not have physical covering or clothing; rather they were “crowned” with Glory (Psalms 8; 5) For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. They were not ruled by self consciousness. The thought of clothing didn’t cross their minds. (Gen. 2; 25) That changed the moment they disobeyed (Gen. 3; 7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. The key words are they knew.

Immediately after their disobedience they covered themselves with fig leaves, fruit of the ground. So you see Adam & Eve had taught Cain and Abel the acceptable offerings to God. So when Cain brought an offering of fruit of the ground, it was again unacceptable. He was serving God in his own way. He gravitated toward the curse that operates by way of reason and draws on logic of right and wrong, rather than from purity of childlike obedience as his brother Abel had done.

He had sacrificed but did not listen to or obey God. The highest form of worship is obedience (Gen. 4; 7) If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Let’s look at Saul; Samuel went to Saul with a command from the mouth of God. He warned Saul to carefully heed the instructions. “Go attack Amalek, destroy all they have, do not spare them. Kill both man, woman, infant and nursing child, ox, sheep, camel and donkey.
(1 Samuel 15; 3) Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

The command was direct and very specific. Let’s look at what Saul did. He attacked and killed every man, woman, infant and nursing child. Tens of thousands were killed. However, Saul spared the King of Amalek. He also spared the best of sheep, oxen and lambs and gave them to his people. He thought he had done good for the Lord.

The Lord had a different take on it. He told Samuel I regret setting Saul up as king for he has turned his back on me, not preformed my commandments. (1 Samuel 15; 11) “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. He had done 99% of what God commanded, this is disobedience. In fact almost complete, even 99% is not considered obedience rather, it is rebellion.

Do you remember the first time you sinned after salvation? Did it feel like a knife had passed through your heart? It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit and our heart smiting us.

But what happens when we justify what we did, thereby turning our backs on true repentance. First we are positioned to repeat the same act of disobedience. Second the veil of deception covers our hearts, thereby lessening the sense of conviction and replacing it with reasoning. So the next infraction we don’t feel the knife so keenly. Till the veil is so thick there is no conviction at all…..only justification.

The Lord will take us through a 3 step process in order to reach us in our disobedience. First, He always attempts to reach us through conviction. If the veil is too thick he will then, 2 send a messenger just as he sent Samuel to Saul. It could be a pastor, parent, boss, child or friend.
(James 5; 19-20) Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

If we still don’t listen God attempts to reach us through judgment
(1 Cor. 11; 31) For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

(Matt. 7; 20-23) Therefore by their fruits you will know them. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

(Luke 12; 45-4) But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

How does God judge or punish his people, it usually comes in the form of hardship, sickness or other type of affliction.

(Psalms 119; 67-75)
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
You are good, and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
The proud have forged a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.
Their heart is as fat as grease,
But I delight in Your law.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word.
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

(1Cor. 11; 30-31) For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Let me make this very clear. It is not GOD who brings these things on us. Rather, we step out from under his hand of protection in allowing the enemy to bring on us what obedience would have protected us from.

(Psalms 66; 12)
You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

Both people in and out of church will one day stand before God and be judged for their lawlessness
On that Day of Judgment when the truth is revealed some will wonder “how did I drift so far away from obedience to the ways of God”
The sad answer will be, they did not love and embrace the truth of being under his cover.

Ahhh, truth. This was great!!!

James 1:5-8 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.



So how does one stop being double minded? I challenge all of you who read this to put forth something you know you are disobedient in, before God. Something that you feel double minded in. (worldly vs. Godly) I challenge you to put aside your waves in the first area you bring before our Lord. It is not easy. The challenge will be great. And with success of your first, you can move to the 2nd.


I suggest to write a list of obvious sins. Obvious disobedience. ex.

1.) Stop swearing

2.) Stop gossiping.

3.) Stop lying

etc. You get the point

(Let's start on the what appears simple sins)

Bring them to our Lord in boldness and humility. Boldness because you want nothing more than to be obedient. In humility because you know you are deserving of chastisement from your disobedience.

Our God is loving yes, but He will chastise us for our disobedience because He loves us. I know I have felt His wrath enough times to know when I am being prideful or arrogant or self pitying. I also know that when I am in full compliance to God's will, even if it is against my family's, or my own, or anyone else's, the blessings He provides. (Not only financial, materialistic and such, but spiritual....the spiritual blessings far out weigh anything this world has to offer.)


If you have problems with this...try to remember the first time you took your relationship with God seriously. Where were you? What state of mind were you in? When you felt Him and had miracles in your life, were you thanking HIM constantly? How did you feel God was present? Now, look at your life now? Is it the same? OR is something lacking? Are you wayward or are you stable?

Search. Ask God to reveal the truth to you. He will! You may be called to suffer as well to fix this sinful state you are in. You may be called to suffer greatly.

So I will ask you this. Are you willing to suffer in chastisement now to fix what is wrong and disobedient NOW or wait until it may be possibly too late.

It is up to you, however, I suggest to all of us who truly love the Lord our God, that we all look deep inside of ourselves. Very deep. To the parts that we daily rebuke in ourselves yet never change. These are our lists. How many times will we swear and say..."God, please forgive me!" Before He says....ENOUGH~ CHANGE YOUR WAYS! PERIOD! AND DEAL WITH IT TOO!

Our actions speak how our obedience and love of our Lord is. I will be the first to admit, I love God with ALL of my heart and soul and fail DAILY, HOURLY. Watching who I am, I would say I am beyond help and definitely wayward. I am a perfectionist in many things and frustrated because they are not done to my definition of well done. Yet I can not seem to perfect obedience, nor come close.

How many others feel as this?

I begin this challenge and want each of you to keep a private journal from beginning to end for one week.

Jot down your request before God
then each time you mess up, put a line. (You know...the verticle lines that when you hit 5, you slash)
When you STOP yourself from doing that sin....I want you to jot down a smilie or a heart or a cross....something that means something positive for you!

Seperate the page with a line down the middle.

Good on the left mistakes on the right.

Each time you mistake, I want you to ask the Lord for Mercy upon You. Let those words be on your tongue constantly. The more those words are on your tongue and in your conscience, the easier it will be to focus on God's ways and not yours.

Jot a description of how you are at the beginning. After 7 days, jot how you feel and if you feel your disobedience in that area has changed...for the better or worse.

Satan will do everything he can to make sure you don't do this. He wants you to fail. Battle him, and battle tough! Once he sees you are serious, he will flee.

I pray that this will help all of us who do this to gain obedience in these areas so we may gain wisdom and knowledge in the harder and more serious areas of our lives.

I pray all of us here will stand before our Lord one day stating, "Through YOU , Lord, I was made clean! Thank You!!!!!"

Labor to find out the true sweetness, and to taste the bitterness of the deceitful sweetness of all creatures: for this is a rule in reason, a man's affections, like streams, must run some way; and it is a rule in theology, stop the affections from running to the creature, and in a sincere heart it will run unto Christ, (Hos. ii. 6, 7,) if it be from all creatures. Now, then, the affection is turned from the creature, when it finds the bitterness of the deceiving sweetness of it; and, secondly, finds out the real sweetness of it; for make it as a rule, when a man's heart can not love Christ, (unless it be when it is benumbed,) it is because he has somewhat else to joy his heart now, let the creature yield you no more joy, and Christ has your love; indeed, you may and must joy in the real sweetness of it, and this will increase, and not diminish your love.

As your walk with him continues in friendship, friendship with him, the cares of this world will die off. He will be the one and the only that you will ever want or ever need. I love my Jesus, he is my best friend through it all. Even when I'm bad he loves me and that makes me want to love him even more.

In Jesus most Wonderful Name,

Lee

Yes, when we are bad, or angry, or frustrated, or swearing up a storm because we are so disgusted with what surrounds us, He is looking upon us. Maybe shaking His head when we have our temper fits, but still hugging us, because He looks past our humanity and into our hearts! His love is the greatest gift anyone can ever receive.

In Christ,
Lee

"Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, always, now and forever".

The aim of all Christian living -- praying, studying,
working and resting is to bring us before the awesome and
renewing reality of the kingdom of God. Although God's
kingdom may be described by many words (God's will, rule,
power, lordship, majesty, glory and grace), put simply it is
God's personal holy presence. To live in the reality of
God's kingdom is to live in the presence of God -- with a
sense of wonder, joy and thanksgiving in all circumstances
and for all things.

Said, to die is gain

To be sinless through the blood and be in his presence is unspeakable joy full of Glory, Alleluiah* Seeing that Jesus died for us we should live for him, leaving the old man behind and going on to the reward which is in Christ Jesus, Amen

Lee

I'm about to due my duty by taking my journey to the Er at the hospital

In Christ,
Lee

The ER...what happened???

Oh...I am a bit silly....I jumped to a conclusion...forgive me....

Everythiing went well, it was a doctors appoitment for me and another blessing for a patient. I'll fill you in when I return from anther appoitment coming up shortly.

In Christ,
Lee