Love rejoices in truth . . .

Posted: June 10, 2012 in Shared Thoughts
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Love rejoices in truth, that which can be articulated and precisely communicated and proven to be reality in the power of the Spirit. This love is a righteous love springs forth from God’s own nature, as He is love (though love is not God). God’s righteous love always abides in the parameter of His holiness which (His holiness) can in part be revealed to those who seek Him line upon line and precept upon precept.

Those who have indeed been pierced with conviction of their sins against His holiness and through brokenness and contrition have become benefactors of His mercies, have this love imparted to them because He first loved them and revealed to them their state of death and impoverishment of spirit. This imparted love springs forth out of earnest gratitude that God first loved them. Though in truth He judged them dead and impoverish, it was so He might allow His healing grace and mercy restore them if they would receive the truth of their state. It is through this love that God reasoned with the sinner that their sins though as scarlet, they could be made white as snow . . .

But there is a deceitful “love” that counterfeits God’s love which is primarily sensual, or dependent upon “feeling” for confirmation of existence. It tends to ignore any truth beyond the feeling or perception of immediate relevance. It is the love which the Beatles sang of “All we need is love,” while ignoring that which can be known and must be sought out of the wellspring of love, God Himself. I need not speak of the blindness of such folly as we know such wisdom took them down the road to “imagine” there was no religion . . .

Love is not the answer. At best it is only a witness to the answer, which is God’s grace, mercy and righteousness working in the heart of man, having fruit unto holiness and the end, everlasting life. To ever exalt love apart from God’s righteousness and holiness is to seduce the partakers of such love back into deceitfulness of sin . . . we shall not die as long as we love . . .

Without faith it is impossible to please God, but like love it too can be counterfeited. But true faith-(fulness) which pleases God works by righteous love, not just love. It rejoices in truth and hates lies, it doesn’t cover them up. The love that saves men is only that which they received from the God of Truth and Love when they received a love for the truth that they might be saved. This is love is the heartbeat of true faith which is never governed by feelings, but stands solely upon the truth of what God has spoken, even when emotions and feelings are witnessing against it. It is called conviction and faith; these please God and save men, causing them to fear God, hate sin, and to depart from every wicked work. Only then can true love be perfected so as not to be swayed by emotions because it abides in God’s truth and is governed by the God who imparted it through the revelation of His person and will in righteousness and holiness.

God has no greater love or joy than when His children love the truth.

Psalm 51:6 Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Live for Jesus Christ the King!

Get Your House in Order

Posted: May 30, 2012 in Shared Thoughts
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The following is a repost from http://www.watchmanscry.com. Brother Nathan Neal wrote this back in 09/27/09 and just reposted it with the following intro – 

Dearest Brethren,

As many of you know we are facing some great challenges in the coming future. The economy is teetering on the edge of a cliff. The drums of war are sounding. Fukushima Reactor 4 is being held together by the mercy of God. The threats of upheaval are pronounced and they are many. With all of these issues facing us, one can become overwhelmed with despair. But despair can only thrive in our hearts and minds if we overlook God. Beyond all of the fog of events, we must not forget that God is still on His throne. He is watching us. He also has His Mercy and Grace freely available to any of us that seek it. So in light of the present time, I felt led to share with you a very special sermon that the Holy Spirit gave me to preach several years ago. This message is applicable now more than ever. I pray that it will be a blessing to you all and also, please share it with others.

In Christ,

Nathan Leal
Watchman’s Cry

Get Your House in Order

Today’s message is about a Biblical character that is found in the Old Testament. This person worked for God and one day something happened to him!

……Something unexpected!

On this day, he had a visitation. God said something. It was a message.

Most likely, the day of this message began like any other day; He woke up in the morning.  He said, “Hello” to his family. He ate his breakfast. He got dressed and he went to work.

As he walked by his neighbors, he probably said, “Hello and good morning,” to them.

But this day was not a typical day because on this day he received a message that would change everything for him.

Who was this person? His name was Aaron. He was the brother of Moses and he was also the High Priest of Israel.

As the High Priest, his duty was to minister to God on behalf of the children of Israel who were dwelling in the wilderness.

This Biblical account is found in Numbers, chapter 20.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.”                                                          Numbers 20:23 – 24

The water of Meribah; this was the place where the children of Israel were in need of water. They complained to Moses that they had no water and as usual, they blamed him for it.

Moses took the matter to God. God instructed Moses to speak to a large rock at Meribah and water would then flow out of it.

Unfortunately, Moses was angry at the people for complaining and in his anger, he failed to speak to the rock. Instead, he struck it! And worse, he struck it twice!

Because of this disobedience, God became angry with Moses. (The reason for God’s anger is an entire other sermon, but in summary, the rock represented Our Savior Jesus and His death on the cross. It was not to be struck twice.)

This brings us to where we are in this account.

As we just read, God delivered a message to Moses;

“…Aaron shall be gathered unto his people…”

As Moses received this message, can you picture Aaron’s reaction? Aaron may have been standing next to Moses or nearby, when he got the news of his life.

I can imagine his thoughts after he heard those words, “Uh… gathered? What does that mean?”

God explained more…

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Steps of Ascension towards Jerusalem

Posted: April 14, 2012 in Shared Thoughts
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Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Ps 133:1-3)

The above psalm is the fourteenth psalm of fifteen which have been grouped together and are known as the “Songs of Degrees” or “Steps of Ascension.” The assemblage of these fifteen psalms have drawn considerable reasoning from commentators over the centuries, though none have been able to determine just when they were originally so group together, especially because they are not all penned by the same human author. Nonetheless, a prayerful reading and mediation of them will leave a humble seeker pierced to their heart of both their divine inspiration and order.

It is a very common consensus among many commentators that these psalms were sung in their respective order by the male Jewish pilgrims as they progressed along their three annual journeys back to Jerusalem for Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Festival of Weeks) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Therefore, before I delve into the importance of the Songs of Degrees and ultimately Psalm 133, I would first like to succinctly touch on the significance of those High Holy Days and why God required these cyclical pilgrimages back to Jerusalem.

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Elenin was a true sign! The Rapture is at hand! The destruction of America is imminent as war in the Middle East explodes!

Posted: April 12, 2012 in End Times, Prophecy
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It is amazing the how much attention is garnished by those predicting the Rapture and pointing to the all the calamities happening in the world as signs of the end. There is an insatiable appetite out there with people wanting to know what is going on and where. Some people’s whole lives are absolutely consumed with watching and keeping up with global events.

Dictators are falling while Islam is gaining influence and power all across the world, even President Obama welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood into the white house under the guise of peace and establishment of foreign policy while Islamic radicals burn the American and Israeli flags chanting “Death to America, the Great Satan” while promising to drive all Jews into the sea to cause them to cease from being a people.

We have volcanoes becoming active, recent earthquake and solar flares, CME’s and solar storms eroding our atmosphere, putting tension on our planet stressing the tectonic places. There have been unexplained noises in the heavens and under the earth that have been makes news. The weather is erratic, drought in one region – floods in another. Firestorms and freak arctic storms and tornadoes spreading destruction across the Land. Today a freak spring storm actually dumped two to four feet of hail in the Texas Panhandle this afternoon.

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Unity, it is like the precious ointment . . .

Posted: April 11, 2012 in Devotionals, Shared Thoughts
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(Sorry for the posting confusion over this post.) 

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Psalm 133:1-3)

I am currently writing a series of articles now about unity which I hope to complete in the next couple of days. The subject is one that has been on my heart for a long time, years . . .  and to be honest, I am greatly sadden by the fact that biblical unity is something I have rarely experienced as a Christian. Certainly not to the degree it is displayed in Psalm above; which is actually the core text for the final article I am writing. Since it is one of the “Songs of Degrees” in Psalms, I will also post on just what that means and why the journey to Jerusalem was required of all male Jews three times a year.

But just think about it, unity as a precious ointment? On the head, bread and garment of the high priest? Certainly you can see the magnificent significance. Yet at best I have only encountered what seem to be brief moments of such unity before it was spoiled either by the rise religious egos or successfully battered spiritually with demonic assaults of false accusations and suspicions. I know there are many who may feel they’ve experience unity, but I would ask simply if it met the test of the verse 2 above, was it truthfully a godly unity (I pray so), or was it just another comfortable carnal/religious compromise saturated with warm humanistic love that was nonetheless failing to wholly embrace the offense of the cross to their flesh?

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A History of Passover vs. Easter

Posted: April 7, 2012 in Shared Thoughts
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 As far as I am aware, the KJV is the only translation which has “Easter” mentioned in Acts 12:4. The Greek word “Pascha” which was translated “Easter” is used a total of 27 times in the New Testament, 26 times being properly translated “Passover.” Why in Acts it wasn’t so translated by the KJV translators in Acts one can only speculate, but reasonable logic would attribute it to residual influence of Catholicism. The following is a simple article I re-posted touching briefly on the history of Passover versus Easter from Bereans Online.

A Return to Orthodoxy

A History of Passover vs. Easter

“He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God,  that you may keep your tradition.’” Mark 7:9

In the modern evangelical church, there are three days of special significance– Christmas, Easter, and the weekly Sunday “worship day”. Many Christians do not know how these days came to be of special significance – they simply assume that they have always been – and that celebrating Christmas, Easter, and Sunday “worship” are orthodox1.  Most Christians do not know that these days were not celebrated by the early church and there is no biblical basis for them – but instead they were established later in church history by the Catholic Church. Even the Roman Catholic Church does not claim these days as biblical – but rather that the Church had the authority to establish them2.

There is nothing wrong with keeping traditions in and of themselves. The danger comes when we declare our traditions as “God-given” – or even replace God-given commands with man-made traditions. So as not to be found following the “traditions of men” which oppose God’s Word, we need to reexamine what is indeed orthodox and biblical regarding what is commonly called “Easter”.

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It’s Easter again, what exactly happened at the tomb?

Posted: April 2, 2012 in Shared Thoughts
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Trips to the Tomb

I have posted this before, but since it is Easter this coming Sunday I figured it would be a good repost for those who may have missed it. I hope it blesses you.

For centuries there has been much confusion when people try to reason the different accounts of Jesus’ resurrection as recorded by the apostles. The fact that they all seem to have a different story to tell does not help. Perhaps, a good way to consider their seemingly different reports is to view them like transparent overlays, similar to the one’s we have seen in books showing the skeleton, then the nerves and blood vessels, organs, muscular and finally the skin and hair.

The Gospels, similarly, are each reporting different events which had taken place around a major singular occurrence, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact is that these different events are recorded in God’s word and are therefore true. Perhaps the answer to the confusion is to consider that there were multiple trips made to the tomb.

The best way to determine the possible order of these trips to the tomb is to consider the different details that have been given about the time of day and light of the sun. Was the sun going down or coming up? These questions are actually quite easy to answer. However, we must remember that the Sabbath, like all the other biblical days, began and ended with sundown, see Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 and Lev. 23:32.

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Faith, as a grain of mustard seed.

Posted: March 27, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Wake Up!
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Ps 23:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Part of the restoration process is the tearing down phase where God works to be sure we have a good foundation from which to rebuild. For that reason in my last few articles I reviewed a variety of topics in Luke which Jesus addressed before the Pharisees and His disciples, each having great significance. I have now come to the end of my recent scholastic yoyage and journalism to this place in scripture where Jesus tells us ‘If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamine tree, Be plucked up by the root, and be  planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

Lord, grant us such faith.

In addition to the topics I’ve recently examined, there are equally significant others that Jesus’ shared deserving of a brief review. Such as when He asked lawyers and Pharisees which one of them would not rescue their ox or donkey if it had fallen into a ditch, even if it was on the Sabbath? Even though they couldn’t defend their own actions, they couldn’t avoid the hypocritical judgment that stirred in their hearts against Jesus when He then healed a man on the Sabbath before them.

While at the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread with them, Luke tells us that all these lawyers and Pharisees “watched” Him, meaning they insidiously and scrupulously observed Jesus looking for fault with Him. With purer judgment than theirs, Jesus openly acknowledged how all they all had taken seats of honor straightway when they came, risking shame and humiliation by possibly having their place taken from them for another more deserving. When invited to affairs such as a wedding Jesus explained, it was more prudent to take the lower place whereby they might receive respect from the host with honor as he publicly calls them up to better positions.

Luke 14:11 “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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Let them hear Moses and the Prophets . . .

Posted: March 18, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Wake Up!
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In the last article I had written about the unfaithful steward who wasted his master’s goods, I discussed the attitudes of the Pharisees that were there listening. Amazingly, instead of agreeing with Jesus that the steward’s behavior was sinful, they instead began to deride Jesus to publicly mock Him. The more I ponder their attitude towards Christ the more I am amazed at how just how hard an arrogant and religious heart can be. Not only were they failing miserably at being faithful stewards of the oracles of God which they openly boasted to be the keepers and teachers of, they failed miserably in their living by them.

Jesus said the Pharisees were “those who justified yourselves before men,” but warned them that God knows the hearts of all men. But what was it though that they had been “justifying” themselves about? These were the prominent religious leaders of the day . . . up until the Light of the world appeared unto men exposing them for what they really were. They were covetous not only of worldly things, but also of the praise and admiration of men. No wonder Jesus spoke such sharp condemning words to them that what they “highly esteemed” was an abomination in the sight of God.

If you are an America Christian who is faring well and yet yearn for, or look for the praise and approval of men, then I strongly urge you to listen to Jesus words against these religious men  –

Luke 6:24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

 In the Gospel of John it was recorded how many of the chief rulers actually believed on Jesus, but only two of which are mentioned in scripture and eventually came forward and stood for Jesus, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea. However, many of them would not openly confess Jesus because they feared the Jews, i.e., the Pharisees –

John 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:  43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

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What’s In A Greeting?: The Epistles of Paul

Posted: March 14, 2012 in Deity of Jesus Christ, Shared Thoughts, Study!
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(The following article was written by Brother Nathan Albright, a very meticulous writer whose writings have captured my attention for some time now. He covers a wide spectrum of topics from the casual update concerning “What’s happening in the life of Nathan,” to very thorough topical studies to a continue flow of book reviews. His blog is Edge Induced Cohesion.)

What’s In A Greeting?: The Epistles of Paul

Posted on February 23, 2012

What information is conveyed in a greeting? Greetings are usually fairly short, but even though short and often conventional, there are important bits of information that filter through simply because of what those conventions are. Let us examine, for example, the extant letters of Paul, to see what conventions he used and what information he conveyed. We know of the greetings for thirteen letters of his [1]. Let us compare the letters in roughly chronological order and then see what sort of connections we can draw from them.

The Greetings Of Paul

Let us turn to the thirteen books of Paul and look at their greetings in a roughly chronological order. We will look at Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 1 Timothy, Titus, and 2 Timothy. The greetings for these thirteen books are as follows:

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Christianity is not passive

Posted: March 4, 2012 in Coffee House, Wake Up!
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While finishing up my next article I wanted to submit this exhortation I gave one night at the Coffee House.

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We are instructed by the scriptures to be vigilant in our faith, to strive to enter the strait gate, fight the good fight, run the race, be good soldiers, finishers of the faith.

The unfaithful steward who wasted his master’s goods . . .

Posted: March 2, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Wake Up!
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In Luke chapter 16 Jesus tells His disciples about a certain rich man who had a steward who had wasted his goods. The setting for this discourse is that He was speaking to His disciples, but not only to them, for Luke also says in verse 14 that “the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided Him.” Now Luke doesn’t share what exactly the Pharisees were saying, but the Greek word translated “deride” was only used twice in the NT, with the second place being in Luke as well when Jesus was on the cross.-

Lu 23:35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

In both places it is noteworthy that such was the response towards Jesus. There wasn’t any dignified attempt to reason or refute Jesus; it was an eruption out of the abundance of their hearts of iniquity as they spoke, a blatant display of arrogance by corrupt religious leaders against the greatest Rabbi of eternity. Their outburst of unashamed scoffing and ridicule was meant to convey their total rejection of Him. What makes this even more shameful is they were doing it in a vain attempt to justify their own selves. I am sad to say I have witnessed this type of behavior with the same motive among those professing to be Christian, leaders included.

Lu 16:15 And He said unto them, “You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

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The rights of man…

Posted: February 29, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Wake Up!
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We hear it all the time, “I have my rights!” or “You need to stand up for your rights.” Or perhaps that most famous proclamation about men’s rights in the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Time and space would be exhausted  here if one were to try to list all the legal rhetoric out there expounding on “rights” in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and all the various definitions in Bouvier’s,  Black’s or Dean’s law dictionaries. It should be evident to every American that the idea of men’s rights (especially since the civil rights movement) is nowadays held to be an undisputable fact. But I would boldly say that the concept of “rights” is one that is rarely properly understood, even by Christians.

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faith, faithfulness and forgiveness

Posted: February 27, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Wake Up!
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It has been several months that I felt the Lord has been speaking to me about faith, faithfulness and forgiveness. Throughout it all I have found myself wanting to write about what He has been showing me regarding having “faith as a grain of a mustard seed” where Jesus tells His disciples, “you might say unto this sycamine tree, ‘Be you plucked up by the root, and planted in the sea,’ and it should obey you.” I have sought various opportunities of late to write so concerning faith and a few other things that I might leave my own children a record of what I feel the Lord has revealed to me pertaining to the promises and conditions of the Kingdom of God of which Jesus testified “every man presses into it.” However, I have felt restrained by His Spirit prior till now that it wasn’t time to write. Why, I am not really sure, the Lord knows though. Perhaps so will I when I am finished.

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The Goodness and Severity of God . . . Do you believe?

Posted: February 23, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Uncategorized, Wake Up!
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Understanding how God’s grace saves us.

Why we need faith, why we must hear and believe God’s word to us . . .


Ro 11:18 Do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.
22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.

Test yourselves to see if you are truly in the faith.
Examine yourselves!
Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you
–unless indeed you fail the test?
(2Co 13:5)
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