Judgment from the throne of God

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty all!.
God has seen. We cannot hide.
Capable of judgments call.
Sinners that's who we are.
Have you been forgiven and washed by the blood?

In the courtroom how will He find?
Have you been purchased, redeemed by His blood?
Have you divorced yourself from sin?
Did you let the Savior in?
How will God Judge you this very day?

 Will it be come in, or guilty be on your way.
"On your way" you say?
Yes my dear friend, to the most outer rim.
Oh what anguish, Oh, what pain.
So dark, so cold , there is no light.
This place of torment, His presence not.

God did what only he could do.
He gave His life for me and you.

Will you be guilty when Judgment falls?

The River of Life

Revelation 22:1-Then he showed me the river of the living water,sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne room of God and of the Lamb.


                               
                                    

 The waters are flowing from the throne of God.
    Powerful and swift.
       Moving rapidly towards the paths of men.
          Roaring and moving.
            Do we surrender or do we resist.
              Can't you hear it almost approaching
                Unstoppable flowing, gliding.
            Descending from heaven to earth.
        What must I do as judgment comes.
     God is looking from above.
   Searching and seeking the heart of men.
 Is there one who will be cleansed.
   Come and be submerge my friend.
       We are nearing our journey's end.
           If you resist your doom is sure.
             For you will suffer for your sins.
               Do not struggle, do not fight.
                 Simple do what is right.
Submit to God and you will see.
     The love of God  flows to set you free.
           
     

   The water came and touched my feet.
     Up the waters rose.
       Do not struggle, do not fight.
         

WORLD OF HATE

      The other night I went to my daughter's school play where I watched her perform in an retelling of an actual event that occurred in the year 1998. The story told of a murder of a young man, the town's response, and the nation's fascination with the events surrounding that case as the plot unfolded. The young man in this story was different from his peers and because of his uniqueness he was targeted, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and left to die, alone and isolated. As I watched with tears in my eyes, I was forced to mentally come to terms with what I was seeing and ask myself  "What kind of world was I really living in?" Like the townspeople in this story, denial was my first response. My go-to place. But the unrest in my spirit continued I began to think back to the headlines of the news stories of the past two weeks. "MOTHER KILLS HER TWO CHILDREN; FAILS AT SUICIDE ATTEMPT', "PRIEST RAPES ALTER BOY" and "KENYA MALL ATTACKED BY GUNMEN" the headlines are endless and are a cruel reflection of the reality of the world in which I live. The local news and world news is filled with, murder, rape, and stories of wars. Brother fighting against brother, child killing parent, adults preying on children, and countries fighting against countries. Some of the stories I have read have been so twisted that I have had to ask myself what is going on? It seems like what once was considered right is now wrong, and what was once considered wrong is now right. Our moral parameters have shifted.We are living in a world of degradation, fallen so far, filled with rage, hate and darkness. Everywhere we turn it seems like all we see is violence. Not only does it dominate the news but the theme of violence and death can be found in our recreational television shows, cartoons, and in our movies.  What has happened to the wonderful world of life that God created?

     The first murder recorded in the Bible is found in the book of Genesis chapter four, a brother kills his brother, just a few chapters after the beginning of the book. Is this how God created man? Let's go to the beginning of the story and see what has occurred.  In chapter one we see the creation story in all of it's splendor, glory, hope, and life ; the heavens, the earth, and man. It is perfect and God is pleased. Chapter two tells us that God gave man dominion over his creation to subdue it, be fruitful and multiply. God was connected with man, we see his presence nurturing, providing and teaching his creation. Chapter three gives us the account of man's rebellion and willful disobedience against God. Man was given a choice, he decided that he knew and understood matters better than God his creator and this is the point where things changed. Man swapped the right way of thinking and doing things for the wrong way. Sin and darkness entered his character and this world.  This single act of man's defiance caused a separation between himself and God. It is like someone saying to you "Just leave me alone!, I hate you!, I don't need you!, I can do it myself!" So you leave, heart broken, you know the path of severance and isolation they have chosen to travel will only lead to defeat, despair, and ultimate destruction. God gave man the freedom of choice and now many, many generations later we see how that choice has served us. The undeniable evidences is manifest through the wickedness of our minds, hardness of our hearts, and cruelty in our actions. Thus reflected in the pitiful condition of our world. Humanity has try to eliminate Father God from their existence.
   You may ask "How do we fix this?" I am sorry to say, we can't fix it. We cannot undo what has already been done. We do not have the power or the ability to reverse the consequences of our sinful nature. However, I am happy to say our hope is found in God and in his persistent, unshakable love he has for us his creations. Through God's unfathomable love he provided a means by which our  relationship to him can be restored. He offers us himself. Imagine that "the entity" that we rejection reaches out to us. The God of creation humbled himself by taking on human form and becoming "like" his creation, so that we could identify and relate to him. God in the flesh lived among us, he loved on us,  healed us, fed us, taught us his ways, showed us he is life. He gives us hope.  This God-man, named Jesus Christ lived his earthly life without sin, in perfect harmony with the Spirit and will of God. His example of love and life was flawless. Still humanity rejects him, the echo of man's rebellious voice is heard again: "Leave us alone!, We hate you!, We don't need you! We can do it ourselves! Man exercised his freedom of choice once again and killed God the man. Hangs him on a cross.
   Jesus Christ could have stopped it, after all he is God, but he didn't. He shed his blood to wash away our sins, he willing gave us his life so that we once again could be in right relationship with God the Father, our creator. He took all of our degradation, hate, rage, darkness and sin on himself. He sufferer God's judgement and wrath on our behalf. He took wrong and made it right. You may ask yourself why would he do this? The answer is simple, it is because God loves us, he always has and he always will.

                                                   UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
   

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools   Romans 1:21-22(NIV)

The Decree

                                          

He delivered me, he delivered me            
from my enemies.
He delivered me, he delivered me                              
from my every foe.

The Lord of Lords, and King of Kings
Ruler of every thing.
With his mighty hand he saved me from them all.

He delivered me, he delivered me
from my sin and shame.
He delivered me, he delivered me
and lifted all my pain.

They all had come around me
seeking to destroy.
But the Lord strong in battle
brought them all down low.

He delivered me, God delivered me
from my fear and guilt.
He delivered me, he delivered me
and set my spirit free.

He is called the Holy One of Israel,
who came to save us all.
Born in a manger, died upon the cross,
rose the third day, victorious, mighty and strong.

He delivered me, he delivered me
always in his hand.
He delivered me, he delivered me
I will praise him all life long.

The Eternal Father, Son, and Spirit,
who gives us his all.
Purchased us by his precious blood,
redeemed and rescued by his love.

Revelation 19:16 (NIV)

16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
                 Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Something wicked come this way

Today when I woke up, I jumped out of bed thinking that today would be like every other day.  I would be my chipper self, appreciating the day and all that God has created.  But when my feet hit the floor I felt as if I had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Not only that but in the wrong universe and in a different body with someone else's mind. I'm telling you, I was not feeling like myself. As the day progressed, I felt like there was this dark cloud of evil perched just outside of my conscious mind waiting to come in and take over. So I stopped what I was doing and asked God what was going on. I needed to define and understand what was happening within my spirit, soul, and body. I asked for God to help me process what I was experiencing. I thought about all the events that were unfolding within my life, some of them unpleasant and out of my realm of control. The Holy Spirit began to work within me, and He impressed upon me that I need to take the time and evaluate myself.  So I started by asking God to identify and show to me what emotions were stirring deep within me. What was revealed to me was anger, hurt, deep disappointment, frustration, fear, and anxiousness. As these emotions surfaced and emerged my first reaction was to hide them from God.  After all, they were negative emotions. I felt shame because in my mind as a Christian, those emotions belonged to the unbeliever, not the believer. As a follower of Christ, were we suppose to be above that, someone who has overcome in the strength of Jesus Christ. As the Spirit of God dealt with me, he showed me how damaging it is to cover these areas in my life. That when I am injured and remain so without proper healing from God, there would be long term ungodly effects occurring repeatedly in my life. That these unhealed wounds would allow the Devil an opening in which he can comes and set up strongholds within my spirit. These strongholds would set out to destroy my inner man.  This process of disclosure was a very uncomfortable experience to me. My standard mode of operation is to minimize things that have harmed me and put the experience and feelings quickly behind me, but God wanted me to sit there in this uncomfortable place, expose myself to him, and handle it the way he desired. To be covered by his grace and cleansed and healed through the power of his love. God in his  loving way is teaching me that unhealed wounds create cracks and holes in the armor he has given me. God gives us armor for our protection and defense against the Devil and sin. These holes, if left alone or unhealed are openings into my spirit, soul and body. I am learning that the Devil, my enemy, is looking for any opening where he can come in, create and secure a stronghold in any areas of my life where I allow him. Once this stronghold is formed it is used so that he can manifest his corruption in my spirit and body and destroy my soul. The Devil will take our weakness and pain and use them against us. These areas of spiritual strongholds are then an advantage point for him, a place of strength, a means by which he destroys our lives and our effectiveness in the kingdom of God. Let me see if I can make this picture clearer in your mind..
     All of us have experienced some event that has really hurt us to the core. It can be a single event such as  a trauma or accident. It can be unkind and unloving words spoken to us in anger, or lies told to us that damage our self esteem. It can be a personal failure, loss of a job, death of a child or family member.  It can be a short term or long term occurrence. Having a failed relationship. Spousal rejection, Failure of a parent to cover, protect, love and support us. Living in an abusive environment or being the victim of verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse.  Hatred of self, or negative thoughts about who we are as an individual. It is a memory that still brings great pain or deep shame when it is recalled.  It often causes us to feel rejected and unworthy. These types of things happen to us all to frequently and we are not at fault.  But the reality is that they cannot be ignored there is to much at risk. When we deny the truth the only thing that is left is a lie. An untruth. The Bible tell us that the Devil is the author and father of lies, so this give him unspoken permission to set up shop in your heart and mind, to rule and operate from an inside vantage point in our lives. Do not be fooled, the Devil is real and he is not a friend of man. If given the opportunity he will make you his slave. He will bind you with the chains of fear, rejection and hopelessness. He will oppose and block your relationship to God our loving father. He will keep you from reaching your full potential. The Devil will destroy all your dreams and have you believing his lies are true. The Bible says that he rebelled against God and God has judged him and found him guilty. His punishment is that he will be cast into Hell, a place created for him not man. He will be eternally separated from God.  The fact is the Devil's desire is to take you with him. With all this said, Our Father God has made available to us a way out through his limitless love. God is our creator, he is a friend to man. He gave us a means whereby we can be healed.
   Medically we know that when an  injury occurs to our skin that breach allows germs and bacteria an entry point into our bodies. If that wound is left untreated it can lead to an infection. If that infection gains the better of us and goes without treatment, it could in turn could threaten our very lives. It is the same with our spirit. Proper cleaning and healing must take place. God tells us to turn to him, to expose our injuries to him so he can cleanse us and heal us. Show him your broken heart and spirits, don't be afraid he will not reject you or turn away in disgust.  He is already aware of all our problems, he has seen us each and every time when we have been hurt. God wants us to turn to him so he can  heal us. God is a gentle spirit, he will not force himself upon us, all we need to do is ask for cleansing and healing and he will provide.   God's love for us, yes you and me, is greater and stronger than anything we can experience, because it is founded on his character and not ours. God gave us his one and only Son, his Son Jesus shed his holy blood and gave us his life, so that our sins could be forgiven and we could be restored and brought back into right relationship with God. There is nothing that can separate us from His divine love. He has given us his all.
     God our father and creator wants to pour his love into any situation that you are facing. He has seen all the sins of mankind and he still loves us. There is nothing you can do, nor is there any great travesty that has been done to you that could make God stop loving you.  Please don't hide from God. He is waiting for you to come to him so that he can pour his love into those areas of hurt and pain. Just ask, God wants to heal you and set you free so that you can live the life he has given you. A life that is free, and not in bondage to effects of sin.

Psalm 4:1 "Answer me when I call, God, who vindicate me. You freed me from all of my affliction; be gracious to me and hear my prayer." 
Psalm 6:2-4 "Be gracious to me, Lord for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for me bones are shaking; my whole being is shaken with terror. And you, Lord-how long? Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of your faithful love."

Deadly vines

Slowly, silently, skillfully these killers move in, and before you realize what is happening it is almost to late.  Your strength is gone and your will is subdued. You've been taken out of the game by a subtle opponent. Even now you can remember how it started. How innocent it all seemed.  Small and obscure, not demanding; having the ability to survive on the remnants it was given. Then it started growing, requesting,and demanding more. More time, more attention, more energy, more resources. and being feed its every desires. As it grew, it weaved around into every available space and crevice. With its enormous strength it compressed and fractured you. It's appetite grew along with its size. Difficult to conceal. Merging with all aspects of life. Developing its own identity it now wants a name. It seeks all your attention. Some how the dynamics have changed. It is large and full of life- your life- and you are small and frail.Your survival is now dependent on the scraps it gives you. You were once magnificent, tall like a great oak tree. But now life is ebbing from your soul. Empty. You discover that you have been cut off from the source of your strength. You call to this baleful vine for help, but none is found. You are alone, life has been choked out by a deadly vine of sin. Looking up at it,you yearn for the power and strength it seems to be endowed with.You fear you cannot stand alone. After all, you created it with your idolatrous ways. It has now become a part of you, the essence of you. Why doesn't it answer? After all, you feed it. Why doesn't it give back? It was given all your attention. You worshiped it. Can it not hear your cries or feel your agony? What have you created ? What have you done? Weariness begins to take over and you no longer struggle. Sin was allowed to grow and grow into a deadly vine of idolatry.
   Jeremiah, an old testament prophet we can read about in the Holy Bible, tells about a people group who were chosen by God to be his light in this dark and sinful world. But over the course of time they forgot about God, his faithfulness,his everlasting love, his provisions, his protection, his promises, and his justice. They turned their backs on his words and his commands. They turn their back on God! They scoffed at him and worshiped other gods. They became corrupt.

Jeremiah 2:9-"I planted you, a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, foreign vine?"

As in the days of Jeremiah God is sending out a plea....

Jeremiah 4:1-"...if you return to Me, if you remove your detestable idols from my presence and do not weaver, if you swear. As the LORD lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by HIM and will pride themselves in Him."

Deposits Only

    
We have all come to a point in life were we have reached the bottom of our own resources, whether in finances, the end of a career path, emotional distress, physical and spiritual sickness, or any number of curses that befall mankind. Sometime we are standing, lying down, huddled in a corner, or even or our knees when the realization hit us that we are in desperate need of assistance: we are at the end of ourselves and have nothing left to give, our strength has been depleted, we are running on empty and our senses tell us that we are in danger. Many people share this unpleasant experience. For some the duration  lasts only a matter of minutes and for others days, years, or even decades. This dark place in our lives is not where we desire to spend our time or energy, but we are helpless to move forward on our own, hopelessly locked in a nightmare of despair. Now just imagine waking up one morning filled with dread, unable to face the events of the day. On autopilot, you have your coffee, get dressed and, as you are heading for the door, the doorbell rings. You say to yourself  "What now! If it is another problem, I'll just die. I cannot take another thing."  You open the door and a person is standing there with a certified letter in his hand.  He ask you your name, confirms your identity and hands you an envelope. You accept the letter and close the door as fear overtakes you. Your hands start to shake and your stomach churns. You look at the letter and debate within your self whether or not you should open the letter now or put it aside for later. After all, it probably only contains more bad news. Several minutes pass and you gather your courage and open the letter that is now in your hand. As you read, the tears pool in your eyes and you begin to cry. You are overwhelmed, your knees are weak and you sink to the floor. Dazed and bewildered you continue to read. The letter is not what you expected,  relief  floods your soul. Open-mouthed you read it again and then clutch the letter close to you chest. You cannot believe someone is aware of your situation and they actually cares about you and loves you. Help has arrived, a deposit has just been made into your life. The news contained in this letter will change the events of your life. Someone has empathized with your pain and has given of himself a gift that meets your immediate needs. Your resources and strength has been restored, there is now a new hope for tomorrow. The little things that you do each day can either be a deposit or debit. Your actions and small acts of kindness can change the day of people around you. Being a positive light to those around you, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, could be a life changer or saver for others. Now, your deposits into others are not the only important thing that changes the balance of a person's days. God made the greatest deposit into the checking account of your life through his son, Jesus Christ. His plan to save your soul has already been added to the account of your life. All that needs to be done is for you to cash the check. Once you accept his plan and gift, your whole life will change. You carry around this golden ticket, a bill that can be used anywhere,anytime,and anyplace. Through the use and telling of the name of the Lord Jesus, lives can be restored and days renewed. So start today ask God to show you today someone who is in need of a little kindness, seek out a way in which  you can deposit hope, strength, or aid into someone else life. You never know it could be just what they need to continue their journey in life.

^" Heal the sick, raise the dead to life, heal people who have leprosy,^[a] and force out demons. You received without paying, now give without being paid." (CVE)

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 Dedicated to my good friend Sue B.  

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