Standing Firm in 2020

I once had the luxury to see a light house standing solid in the midst of a storm. So strong was the storm that as the wind blew, and the waves smashed against the light house, I was convinced that the structure would falter and fall to the pressures of the storm. The combination of the rain and waves had convinced me that it was only a matter of time, the howling of the wind wrapped a sense of dread in the air that crept into my very bones. However, the light house still shown its light and stood in the presence of all that would bring it down. Hours went by and the storm continued to press. The following morning as the clouds parted and the sun came out, I saw the light house still standing. I had heard stories, I had seen photos, but to see it in person was an entirely different matter.

Today we find ourselves in a similar circumstance. We have read the stories of those who waited on the Lord, those who listened to the Lord all while being in a situation like the storm. Yet, to live through it is entirely different.  To see the rain pelt, and to feel the waves smash and hear the wind blow is something different.

November 2020, we have felt our own storm, and much like the light house we are seeing those who are established correctly vs those who would be washed away. Psalm 34:4-7 states,

“I sought the Lord and He answered me,
And rescued me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This wretched man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them."

Those who seek the Lord will be established during the storm. I have seen many Christians utterly give up from the rain, waves, and wind of 2020. Others I have seen become unhinged and join the storm to which we find ourselves in. Yet others I have seen stand firm in the Lord and have leaned on the Word of God. They sought the Lord and knew He would answer. They know Jesus will rescue. They look confidently for Jesus and found themselves transformed out of the storm into something that is beyond this world. From being a wretched, poor, and miserable person full of fear and pain, to someone who is given the joy of the Lord. Those who fully come to understand this find themselves knowing the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, they know He is close and will rescue them. David knew this as he wrote Psalm 34. We can see in verse 15 David wrote, “the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.” We see just two verses later that He will deliver us, “the righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Now I am not saying that we will have the outcome of 2020 as we would want, but what I am saying is we are being looked at by the outside world and they are seeing if we will falter during the storm.

For us today, we need more than ever to turn off the news and seek the Lord. This does not mean neglect our obligations, but we need to hand our fear, our doubt, and our trepidation over to the Lord. I have found Psalm 27:11-14 a great reminder on what we should be doing.

“Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my enemies,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent witness.
13 I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;”
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.”

So, remember that as the storm of 2020 is upon us, we can either stand firm in the Lord or we can falter and flee from the safety that is the light house. We can listen to worldly elements that would have us believe that fleeing would lead us to safety, but in reality we are running away from our only security and right into the storm that wants to blow us away.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

Today’s RE-POST FRIDAY discusses an issue that is growing rampant in today’s churches. Read Here!

Continue On

There is no doubt that this last week has just added to the craziness of this last year. For our United States readers, the still undecided outcome of the election with countless cases of fraud has left us feeling confused and possibly afraid about where this country is going. Even for our readers outside of the United States the election causes an amount of uncertainty since it affects the relationship of the nations. With all of this going on, I ask you now to join our brothers and sister around the world and pray. Pray for our countries and our leaders, pray for a smooth transition through the legalities of it all, and most importantly pray for the Lord’s will to be done. As we discussed last week, prayer is our biggest weapon and there are many pastors who are calling out for prayer during this time. It is through prayer that we can most easily see God at work, and I hope you pray, as I am, that the right outcome will come to pass.

The time that we are in reminds me of another time of uncertainty in the Bible.  I ask that you join me and look at Exodus 14, where Moses is leading the Jews out of Egypt. Behind them is Pharaoh and his armies, and in front of them is the Red Sea, the people were concerned that Moses had lead them here to die, “11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?” Exodus 14:11. They could see no way out of their current situation and figured that it would only end in death, either at the hand of Pharaoh or the sea. This is much like the situation we now face. Neither political party will truly admit that the other was the victor, one will always state that there was unfairness either through fraud or the idea that the election was stolen from them. Much like the Jews, we face an uncertainty at what the future holds.

Imagine then, how strange it would have been to be surrounded by danger and yet see Moses simply walk up to the Red Sea. Based on the fact that the Jews were asking Moses if he had led them out here to die, it is no wonder that many were probably thinking that he was crazy to think that they could pass through this situation. But Moses simply states, “13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.”” Exodus 14:13-14. Do not fear! What a strange idea to process in their current situation! However, Moses knew that the Lord would not bring them to this situation just to see them parish. He knew that God had a plan for their salvation and they simply needed to wait for His plan to unfold, which we see happens in the rest of the chapter.

There are three important aspects that need to be applied today. The first aspect to point out is that Moses walked up to the sea.  He did not fret, he did not hurry, he knew that the salvation from the Egyptians would come on God’s timing.  This is important to us today as many are calling one candidate the victor. Do not rush to believe what media outlets tell you, remember that the media does not decide who is elected and there are still states that have not been decided. Be like Moses and remain steady in your faith that God will prevail and His will, will be done. Do not fear the outcome of this election for we know that God is in control of all things. “34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34. Do not worry about what is to come, God is still in control and He is much bigger than anything that we face.  Cast your cares on Him and continue to pray.

The second aspect that I want to point out is more of a warning, “14 The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.”” Exodus 14:14. This verse is not stating that we remain silent in the case of a wrongfully elected person and what is worst is many of today’s pastors telling churches to remain out of politics all together. We need to be doing all we can to make sure the legality of the election is meet. How this verse should be applied to us today, is no matter the situation we find ourselves in, the Lord will continue to fight for those who belong to Him. He will not abandon us, so hold fast and see what He will do.

Finally, we need to continue to move forward. “15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.” Exodus 14:15. Our time here is short, and our mission has not changed. We need to continue to encourage one another and continue with the great commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, “18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” God is still with us, He was with the Jews at the Red Sea and He will continue to be with us. We need to continue to put faith in Him, to wear His armor, and encouraging others. That is the constant in this time. There are still many who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, it is why we need to keep the focus on Him and to not worry about the days that we are in.

I ask you dear readers, to be like Moses in these times. Be sure of God’s salvation that you continue with the mission at hand, encourage one another, pray for our nations, and continue to preach the Gospel. God is still with us and will be until He either calls us home or we are raptured to Him. And if the American Church joins our brothers and sisters around the world in persecution, as one candidate has already hinted at, know that the Jesus warned that those who followed Him would face tribulation, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” John 15:18-20. Do not be worried about hardships because of our faith, for we know what it will lead to. James the brother of Jesus Christ wrote, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4. As the days grow darker and the love of man fades from many, remember that no matter what happens Christ sits on the throne as the beginning and the end, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

An Eternal Lesson for Immediate Practical Use

My fellow believers in Jesus Christ! Today I write to you regarding one of the hardest lessons a Christian must learn in their walk with Jesus Christ. The art of having to wait on the Lord to answer. If you are anything like me, this was and is to this day one of the hardest lessons to adhere to. Nevertheless, it is vital for the Christian believer to know when God is telling us to wait. Now this does not mean we are to just sit and wait on an answer from God on whatever our issue is, but rather lean on Him while we wait. Leaning on Him cannot be better described than in Proverbs, “My son observe the commandments of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; Bind them continually on your heart;  tie them around you neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light.” Proverbs 6:20-23.

But what does it mean to wait on the Lord? Now you might be thinking to yourself, what does this have to do with the issues we find ourselves in today? I am here to tell you this is the exact lesson those of us in the United States are needing to learn. Patience means leaning on the Lord in a way that transcends earthly understanding! But having Patience does not mean we are not acting, Romans tells us, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12. We are to be continually in prayer, holding nothing back from the Lord, knowing that He is big enough to deal with any situation and loves us enough to deal with the smallest situation. He is the great “I AM” and unfortunately Christians have forgotten that about Christ.

Many in the U.S are very anxious because of what is happening in the political world. Instead of giving it to God, they have taken to biting their nails and worrying. Yet this is directly against what the Word of God tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6. I will briefly mention that there are some Christians who have taken the opinion that we are to stay silent on the affairs of men. To them I would remind them how the Bible is filled with stories where the followers of God are called to interject into the affairs of men. Those who allow innocent blood to be spilled due to their silence will one day have to answer to God for that. We are called to be Holy because He is Holy and Proverbs 6:17 is clear that God hates, “hands that shed innocent blood.”

However, today our discussion is on wanting to keep our eyes solely focused on Him during this time of waiting. While it is still unclear how the coming years will be, we can rest assure that our God is bigger than anything that can come against us. Again that doesn’t mean we are to sit and be anxious, but be in prayer. For prayer is the artillery piece of the believer and we as Christians are what the army calls “Forward Observers” our objective is to be in enemy territory and pray specifically for those who need to be saved, for those who need encouragement, for those who need to have their world shaken so they find Jesus Christ, and for those who are being elected in leadership roles. To know more on the power of prayer go to our previous post CLICK HERE! Now as Christians we need to make sure we pray for the Lord to work and act upon what He tells us to do. And remember Psalm 37:7-9, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.” We as believers need not fret over what is happening, ignore the worlds cries of victory and wait upon the Lord. For no matter what happens we can be rest assured there is a coming day when the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords will call His ambassadors home, and we will forever be with the Lord. This doesn’t mean those who practice evil are getting away with anything, for we must remember what King Solomon concluded in the book of Ecclesiastes, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. We are not out of this yet, so Pray, Pray, and Pray some more!

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY!

This RE-POST FRIDAY, we look at how God can take anyone and turn them into someone! CLICK HERE!

Prayer and the Armor of God

We have come to the conclusion on our study of the Armor of God, we have studied all the physical aspects of the armor but there is still one aspect that is often overlooked.  We have seen that the enemy has burning arrows used to bring us doubt and insecurity, but we believers also have a weapon that can be used to help ourselves and others. This can be found in Ephesians 6:18, “18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” As believers we have the unique ability to come before the God who made Heaven and Earth and make petitions before Him, this is why prayer is the artillery fire against the enemy. There is no matter to small that we could bring before Him. Prayer allows us to speak to God, to ask Him for His help in situations that are beyond us, how we praise God for what He has done in our lives, how we can ask Him to intervene in others lives, and how we can ask for guidance as we study His Word. 

So how should we pray? First we should pray earnestly and that is with a sincere and intense conviction. We need to take prayer seriously. As seen in Ephesians 6:18, there are many types of prayers and requests and this can be seen all throughout the Bible. Look at Hanna’s prayer for a child or Solomon’s prayer for discernment. The Bible is filled with different types of prayers, not all of them asking God for His guidance on an issue, if you go through the book of Psalms there are plenty of prayers that just praise God for His majesty.

Ephesians 6:18 also tells us that we need to be alert and continually praying for all of the Lord’s people. This means that we need to be aware of what is going on around us. If we know of someone who is going through a hard time, we should pray for them. If we see needs being met around us we need to praise God for it. And we absolutely need to be praying for the leaders in charge of our Nations. This is not the only reason for us to be alert to what is going on around us though. Look at Luke 22:39-46, “39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” In this passage Jesus rebukes the disciples for not being alert and praying. We need to be constantly in prayer with God so that we do not fall into temptation. When the aspect of prayer is ignored, we begin to lose our connection with the Father and lose the will to study His Word. This allows doubts to set in and we leave ourselves open to the flaming arrows of the enemy.

It is also important to note here that when Jesus was praying, He was praying for the Father’s will, not Jesus’s will, to be done. When we are praying we need to examine our motives. Often I hear people say that they have stopped praying because they felt that their prayers where not being heard, in reality they were trying to fit their will into the plans that God has. They were in short, giving God an ultimatum, a “Do this or...” This mentality is not the purpose of prayer and will not be answered. “3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:3. When we are praying we need to be sure that we are praying with the right attitude and motives. When Jesus was praying in the garden, He was asking that there be another way. He didn’t want to face having the Father turn away from Him, but ultimately Jesus was asking the will of the Father to be done. And if you noticed, by praying for the Father’s will to be done, Jesus was strengthened. We will also be strengthened through prayer as long as we are praying for the Father’s will to be done.

When praying, we also need to be thankful, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2. Prayer is not just a time to ask God for something, it is also a time to praise Him.  This could not just be for how He is working in our lives, the answered and unanswered prayers, but to praise Him for the work of Salvation. The book of Psalms if filled with prayers of being thankful. We are also called to “pray without ceasing,”1 Thessalonians 5:17. We need to always be praying, not just in the hard times but also in the good. Thank God for the joys and the struggles that you are going through. He is in charge of both, Lamentations 3:37-38, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth?”

As believers, we also have an exciting aspect when it comes to prayer.  We can come before the Lord without fear. “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all]comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7. Through prayer we receive God's peace because we know that He hears us and will answer according to His perfect will and not our imperfect will. We have already seen in past posts that when we worry and allow doubts to set in we become less effective in spreading the Gospel.  When we worry we are saying that God is not big enough to handle our issues, which is simply not true.  There is no issue to big or too small for God, we only need to come before Him earnestly, confidently, and with a humble heart. Many Christians today are not wanting to pray because this world is getting worse but we should not lose heart.  Continue to bring your petitions before God and see what He can do and stand firm in your faith. “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,” Luke 18:1.

As mentioned above, prayer is our artillery fire against the enemy. Prayer is the most offensive weapon that we have because we do not have to be close to someone, physically or relationship, to be praying for them. When believers are praying for someone and that person knows it, it gives them a sense that they are not alone in the situation they are in. We can also be praying for the nonbelievers that we know, and we should be praying for them that God will soften their hearts and bring them to Him. Remember, there is not one single person out there that God would want to see depart from Him forever.

Prayer is also the biggest asset that we have because we know that God hears us and will answer. “3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3. When we call on the Lord He will answer us, it may not always be in the way that we would desire but when we are through the situation we will see that God’s will is much better than our own.  We should also be praying for understanding, this will allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and guide us, to tell us the great and unsearchable things that we don’t understand right away in the Bible. For more information on how the Holy Spirit guides us in understanding the Bible please go back and read our post on the Sword of the Spirit.

So while we know that God does hear us, there is a catch to it. “7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 this verse shows us how we should be praying. We must abide in Him, we need to know Jesus’s salvation for Him to hear our prayers. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ into your life then you will have continuous access to the Father and His will through prayer.  This still does not mean that prayer is a “get anything you want” card, we must be praying for His will to be done and pray for His will to be made known to us. “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” Proverbs 15:29. We have seen through the Breastplate of Righteousness that we can be found righteous before the Lord when we accept Him, but for those who have not come to that moment of accepting Jesus Christ into their life they are far from the Lord. If you are not a believer then you do not have that connection with God, but if you wish to accept His free gift of salvation then He will hear you.  “5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5

What about the moments in life when you are unsure how to pray or what to pray about? When those times come, and they will, we need to lean on the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us what to pray about. “26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26 Do not let not knowing what to pray for or how to pray stop you from praying, when those moments happen speak to God and say that He knows the situation and knows what is on your heart and ask for His will to be done. When these moments of uncertainty on how to pray occur, we need to be praying that we do not fall into temptation and stay strong in the Spirit.  It is moments like these that we need to be digging deeper and spending more time in the Word. “41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”” Matthew 26:41

Since we know that God is all knowing, we can be assured that He knows what we are praying about before we ourselves know.  This fact is evident in Matthew 6:5-8, “5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” These verses gives us a great example on how not to pray. When we pray we should not be doing it to make a spectacle, it should be a time between you and the Heavenly Father. To many people use the act of prayer to try to show others how “good” or “religious” they are being, these people often times do not truly know the Heavenly Father and are like the Pharisee in Luke 18:10-14. “10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”” These people use prayer as a way to extort themselves and not petition to God. Matthew 6:5-8 also tells us not to babble when we pray.  Another way to phrase this is to not use repetitive words. Repetitive words, mantras, or focusing and repeating one word over and over is not Biblical and there are many in our churches who do this.

How awesome is the final but most overlooked part of the body of Armor. If more believers would recognize the power of Biblical prayer, we would see that our battle being not against flesh and blood would be turned upside down against the forces of the devil. We would see the gates of Hell not being able to stop us, we would be able to stand firm in Jesus Christ and proclaim the gospel without hesitation no matter the circumstances. Prayer helps strengthen our brothers and sisters no matter how far they physically are from us, calls in aid no matter how distant the support could be, and gives us clarification on our current orders no matter how chaotic the circumstances. Ask any soldier, and they will remind you that support does not have to be seen to be called for.

Seek the Truth and Encourage One Another,

Alex 

Christ is still on the Throne

Today I want to finish what we started in our Special Prophecy Update from Saturday. Currently the world is watching the U.S elections and attempting to figure out how will the world change in the coming months. For Christians in the United States this can be an unnerving time. Nevertheless, as this being the day before the November 3rd election, I thought it would be prevalent to bring it all back to what we should be focused on.

I must confess, I was prepared to write on something entirely different when I sat down to begin, however I have recently and frequently found being pressed on my heart to call you the readers and us here at Mill House Ministries to prayer. The impact of the next 24 hours will be monumental.

My aim is to speak frankly without skillful craft or any hint of trepidation, but rather a calming peace that the Lord has given me and one that I hope you may obtain as well. No matter what happens tomorrow, our aim as believers in Jesus Christ is to bless His name and continue with what we are supposed to do. Over the next 24 to 48 hours, as we find out who our next leader is and what will be the political structure of our leadership we need to keep our eyes focused on our true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 84,

How lovely are Your dwelling places,
Lord of armies!
2 My soul longed and even yearned for the courtyards of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 The bird also has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may put her young:
Your altars, Lord of armies,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You. Selah

5 Blessed is the person whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the roads to Zion!
6 Passing through the Valley of Baca they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
7 They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

8 Lord God of armies, hear my prayer;
Listen, God of Jacob! Selah
9 See our shield, God,
And look at the face of Your anointed.
10 For a day in Your courtyards is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than live in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
12 Lord of armies,
Blessed is the person who trusts in You!

What a blessing knowing that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cares for us. The great thing about November 3rd is the same person who is on the throne of Heaven on November 2nd will be the same person on the throne November 4th and through eternity. We are to do our part and vote, allow His will to work in the direction we are to go.

Mill House Ministries will be here to continue helping believers in our mission of Titus 2: 11-15, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds. 15 These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. No one is to disregard you.” No matter what happens we must continue to stand fast on our orders found in Matthew 28 with the Great Commission. We would implore you as fellow believers in Jesus Christ to vote according to what the Word of God has called us to be representatives of. We would then encourage you to pray and petition God for mercy and allow His will to be done this November 3rd.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

On the Radar (Special)

What is and is not the U.S Election in the Bible

As the title describes, today we at Mill House Ministries wanted to write something that has been on our heart regarding what is and is not the U.S election and how it accurately should be compared in the Bible. Over the years, but more importantly during this election, we have seen the body of Christ become divided on what should or should not happen regarding the U.S elections. Before I continue, I want to address the global audience that we at Mill House Ministries are thankful to have. While today’s post is directed primarily at the U.S presidential elections, it is in no way should be taken as only a U.S presidential elections. The fundamental principles discussed today should with careful prayer, Biblical wisdom, discernment, and understanding be applied to your own national politics. Nevertheless, we do not want to ignore the global impact at which the U.S election has on the world and thusly will be focusing primarily our attention on the upcoming November 3rd election.

Charles Dickens famous quote “It was the best of times it was the worst of times” could no more perfectly define the 2020 year. Millions around the world have been able to hear and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ because of the scenario that has developed in 2020. Where before a person would not pick up a Bible, they are now reading and eagerly looking for what God is saying. Yet we have also seen economic devastation with people’s savings drying up due to the failed polices of governors and unelected bureaucrats being in charge. This leads us to our topic today. The body of Christ has unfortunately become divided in sorts with acting upon and interpreting the U.S elections.

There is a very real danger of interpreting Bible prophecy as U.S Bible prophecy. This is an unfortunate outcome of the rampant Replacement Theology, which is the belief that the Church has replaced Israel. Interpreting the U.S into Bible prophecy is also the ill-fated child of Kingdom Now Theology, which in short is the belief we are to bring the Kingdom of God here on earth and then Jesus Christ will come into the Kingdom. Both heretical theological stances cannot be found in the Bible when the scripture is read in context, seriously, and holistically with the entirety of the inspired Word of God.

Today’s discussion is not going over the specifics of why these beliefs are wrong, but to further look at the consequences within the election on November 3rd. If you would ever like more information on these beliefs, please email us at Mill House Ministries.

Followers of Jesus Christ, who take up this view of interpreting the U.S into Bible prophecy as the center point fail to apply the importance of singular events that are happening verses the slow progressive push towards what the Bible is actually portraying. If President Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden win, God is in control, Proverbs 16:1 clearly states, “the plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”  We as Christians must understand He is going to do what He wants, but that does not mean we are to reject our responsibility. When you break up the verse you can see the action by man and the answer by God. We are to plan and have in our heart what God wants, He will answer the plan. Not only are we to vote but we are commanded to vote by what the Lord would want us to. If we are to have His commandments on our heart as found in Deuteronomy 6: 5-6, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.” We are to eagerly vote by what He has commanded. This has been discussed further in our previous posts A Series of Questions. However, these Christians who take the U.S and forcibly push it in the Bible, where it is not found, are fooling themselves by applying scenarios that do not exist. Neither of the Presidential candidates in 2020 are the Anti-Christ. Neither of the Presidential candidates are the False Prophet. The 7 Seal, Trumpets, and Bowl judgments as described in the Book of Revelation have not happened yet.

Secondly, we as Christians must interpret the season we are living in accurately. Are we close to the end of the Church Age? Yes! All scripture detailing the time of Jacob’s trouble or better known as the Tribulation are aggressively coming into better focus. Nevertheless, our orders have not changed since Matthew 28. We are to go out, make disciples, and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Yet no matter who wins on November 3rd we are to seek the Lord first. Many believers have claimed that our only hope is if a specific individual wins the election. My response is what a shame! For my hope is found in the Lord Jesus, He is my Blessed Hope. Should we use wisdom and prepare for the possible scenarios we are facing? YES! But we do not need to take out of context Biblical scenarios depicting a specific time for Israel as our own moments. I am sure the underground Churches around the world would agree that tribulation is here if you like it or not. Just because U.S. Christians are starting to feel the pressure state side does not mean we are in the day of the Lord. The Thessalonians thought this with a false letter, which is why Paul had to write and remind them that we, the Christians, are going to depart prior to this, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” What Paul is trying to say here is the Day of the Lord is not here until after the rapture (please see Dr. Andy Woods study on this chapter for greater clarity on why the Apostasy is actually the departure) and finally after the Anti-Christ is revealed.

No matter what happens, our duty as believers needs to be following what Jesus Christ has told us to do. We need to place upon ourselves the full armor of God and seek Him first and act. I believe King Lemuel’s mother gave some of the best voting advice for us to apply as believers who are fortunate enough to vote, “open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9. We are held to vote Biblically because we are held to vote according to what the Bible has declared is right.

Monday we will further this discussion in hopes of identifying and readying ourselves for what is to come.

RE-POST FRIDAY!

This RE-POST FRIDAY, we look at the second part of In Christ Alone as we wish to remind you that God has not abandoned us. Hold fast to Him above all else! Click HERE

The Sword of the Spirit

Last week we looked at the beginning of Ephesians 6:17 when we were discussing the Helmet of Salvation.  This week we have come to the last physical piece of the Armor of God which is the Sword of the Spirit. “17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17. When the Bible mentions the Spirit, it is describing the Third aspect of the Trinity and that is the Holy Spirit.  So right away we can see that the Sword of the Spirit has the nature of the Holy Spirit, which we know is the truth since it is the Word of God.  “17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17

Hebrews 4:12 describes the Word of God as a sword perfectly, “12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  The Word of God is alive, it works through us continually as we study it.  But just as a Roman sword, it can pierce through anything in its path.  The Holy Spirit and the Word of God can cut through the heart of even the most stubborn of people and change their lives.  I recently had a chance to meet with a group of women where we all had the opportunity to share our testimonies.  It was unbelievably powerful to hear these women who came from all different walks of life and were in different stages of life, and yet there was a commonality between all of us.  We all had been broken down by the world but were made whole in Christ.  To see how the Holy Spirit worked to bring all these women to know Him was something I wish for all of you to experience.  After now experiencing this, I encourage all of you to share your testimonies.  It is not only a way that can help encourage other believers when they are down but is also a great witnessing tool for nonbelievers to hear the difference that Christ made in your lives.  Never feel that your testimony is something to be ashamed of! “13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. The Word is at work in us and we need to be continually thankful to God because through His righteousness and His truth we have authority here on earth.  Also, we at Mill House Ministry love to hear testimonies if you ever wish to share please reach out to us on our contact page!

When a solider was preparing for battle, if he did not bring his sword he was setting himself up for failure.  Without their sword, a solider was not well-armed and ill prepared for battle.  This holds true for us as we face spiritual warfare.  If we do not have the Helmet of Salvation then we cannot wear the rest of the armor, this includes wielding the Sword of the Spirit since it is the Holy Spirit that guides us and teaches us. “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26

If we do not have an understanding of the Scriptures and why we believe what we do, i.e. God’s promises for us, then we cannot give an effective explanation to others. This lack of knowledge means that we open ourselves up to doubting what the Bible says in terms of salvation and God’s will.  As we have seen before, when we have doubts and do not have ways to rid ourselves of them through studying the Word and being in community with other believers, then we are not wearing the Armor of God.  We do not have the Shield of Faith or the Sword of the Spirit.  If we have knowledge of the Word, our faith is strengthened and we can then push back against the “Did God really say” ideas as well as strengthen those around us and be used by God to share the gospel. Through an understanding of the Word, we can help spread the Gospel.  And the best way to gain an understanding of the Word is to study it and allow the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to teach you.  As you study the Word, you will find yourself in situations where you can call up Scripture to answer a question that you or someone else has.  The Holy Spirit will bring Scripture up from you memory in order to help you with a situation.

Look back on Acts 8:26-40, “26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. 33 “In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.” 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.”

What an astounding moment of seeing the Sword of the Spirit properly wielded by a believer. Phillip is able to explain the Scripture to the eunuch which caused him to believe in Christ and become baptized.  Another example is in Acts 2, where Peter is able to explain to a crowd of thousands that the men are not drunk but rather filled with the Spirit. He testifies to the listeners that the man they crucified was the Messiah, but He was raised again.  This caused many to believe in Christ. Through the knowledge of the Scripture and having the Holy Spirit teach and guide the people that caused this miracle. When we have knowledge of the Scripture, we are able to put it to use and help guide those around us.

The Sword of the Spirit is not only something that can draw the individual to Him, the Sword of the Spirit is both an offensive and defensive weapon.  As an offensive weapon the Word gives us reassurance that God’s Word is true when we are confronted by the ideals of this world.  As we saw in Hebrews 4:12, the Sword can divide soul from spirit, joints from marrow, and can judge the heart of the individual.  However, the Word of God is not just a weapon that divides the individual from this world, it is also our greatest defense against the attacks from the enemy.  Matthew 4:1-11 is a great example of how we can use the Word of God as a defensive weapon.  “4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” Matthew 4:1-11

Without knowing the Word of God, we fall prey to Satan’s attacks on our mind, it opens the door for thoughts of “Has God really said?” We then begin to rely on our feelings, which can be swayed, rather than the solid and indisputable facts that are found in the Word of God.  We need to make sure that we stand firm with what the Word of God says so that when we hear something that goes against what God desires, we can use the Word to defend against it.

However, it is important to make sure that you are using the Word correctly.  This is done first by making sure we read the Word of God in context. Do not read your own biases into what the Word says.  You must know the who, what, were, and why of what is being written.  There are verses in the Bible that are designed for Jews and there are verses that are directed for the Church.  Do not mistake promises that were made to the Jews as promises that are made to the Church, this is called Replacement Theology which is heresy.  The Gentiles, myself included, were grafted into the promise of salvation. For more information on how Gentiles are the wild branch, please read Romans 11:11-31.

We must be very careful not to take scripture out of context. For example, there is one verse that I often see quoted and even on T-shirts.  “13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13. Too often people use this verse to try to make God fit into what they want and what they would will. They believe that if they desire something, then God will make it so because it is what they want.  This is not the case for this verse, you can do all things through what His will for you is. We cannot put our own biases on the Word and even add to what the Word says, if we do this then we are moving farther away from actually knowing who God is.  “16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:16 when we try to make the Word of God fit what we wish for it to say, then we are only adding to our own destruction.

Be careful not to assume that someone is quoting the Word correctly as well, you need to bring everything back to the Word of God.  Be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, “11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”  Whenever you hear anyone say or write anything and claims it comes from the Bible, take it back to Scripture.  Read a few verses above and below the quoted verse to see if it holds to what the Bible says. Scripture will answer Scripture.

Second, we can use the Sword of the Spirit correctly by being in the Word daily.  As mentioned above, the Holy Spirit is a helper who will teach us and help us to understand the Word of God.  But in order for us to be able to listen, we must daily present ourselves to the Teacher.  As we study more of God’s Word, we will see that God will reveal Himself to us through the scriptures.  We won’t always understand a passage immediately, in fact I find this happens to me a lot.  I will be reading a passage and it just doesn’t make sense.  When that moment happens, we need to pray and ask God to reveal it to us and as we do, the Holy Spirit will reveal more of God’s character and His plan for us through His Word.  “10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,” 1 Corinthians 2:10-15 The more we spend time in the Word, the more we see the characteristics of God and can grow closer to Him.  The Bible is one big love letter written for every human being, and the only way can get to know Him is through studying His Word.

Seek the Truth and Encourage One Another,

Alex

A Series of Questions (II)

Unlike last week, today’s post is written directly at pointing out the need for us to answer our fundamental question quickly and accurately. Last week we discussed how the all-important question that each person must answer is “Who is Jesus Christ to you?” Who Jesus Christ is to us is the most eternally important question we will be made to answer. It is not an assumption, but it is something that you must answer on earth. Nevertheless, our second most important question is “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” This question will dictate your outlook on life and in making decisions. I should state that in no way does this determine you to be a “pessimist or an optimist.” To know more about this question, go back to last weeks post. We now transition to our third most important question that we will ever be asked as believers in Christ.

“What did you do?”

What a powerful question that has implications for good and bad. Depending on the scenario, this question could be answered in triumph or in dismay. For the believer, our Lord and Savior will one day ask us this question. I need to underline the importance that this is not for our salvation, for we can do nothing to earn or lose our salvation once we are saved. However, the rewards in heaven will be dictated by what we do here on earth. This is called the Bema Seat Judgment. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” We see that God will judge us based on our works, on what we did while on earth. As believers, it is our aim to please the Lord with our actions. This judgement is further described in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”  Our actions will be judged one day, God will ask us “What did you do?”

God’s plan is further laid out regarding this question with calling us His ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” This is important to understand, we are to be representatives of God on earth. What a scary revelation this was when I finally figured this out. Personally, I have failed and will continue to fail at be an adequate representative for my beloved Savior Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, I persevere and strive to be the best humble servant that I can be, and so should you! 1 Corinthians 4:1 Paul states, “let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Now if we are to be ambassadors for Christ, to be His servants and stewards to the mysteries of God, we must take precautions to understand just what that means.

When I was working on my Masters in Political Science, one of the unique things I got to do was study the craft of being an ambassador. In short, if you are an ambassador you live in a foreign nation while representing the nation from which you are from. You answer for your nation, you enact on policy from your nation in the present nation you are in, and you answer questions that outsiders might have regarding your nation. However, there are two roles that the ambassador has to which many fail to see. Their first and primary role is to orchestrate policy in the foreign nation which reflects where they are coming from. For example, the Ambassador from Canada who lives in Washington D.C does their best to bring about policy in the United States that is in line with Canadian policy and desire. Secondly, the Ambassadors role is to help citizens of their home nation who are in the foreign nation and help foreigners who might be attempting to become citizens of the ambassador’s nation to do so. You might look at the responsibilities and see where we are going with this. As Christians, we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. You might have seen that an ambassador is not about bringing the nation they represent to the foreign nation, but rather to bring their policies. This is one of the simplest but resoundingly solid arguments against Kingdom Now Theology. Ambassadors do not invade, they represent. Understanding that we, the Church, are ambassadors for Christ is also another resounding reason why we must depart prior to Jacobs Trouble (The Tribulation). Ambassadors are called home prior to war breaking out. The Rapture will be our call home. When we come home, we will be asked the resounding question of “What did you do?”

• Did we adequately know what the King wanted us to do?

• Were we good ambassadors? Did we represent our King correctly? Did we promote the policies of which our Lord and Savior has asked us to do?

• Did we help those who wanted to join the Kingdom and become a citizen of God do so?

Each of us must be able to answer these questions when we are asked, “What did you do?” Now you might be wondering for yourself, what does this have to do with the majority of what we have been discussing in this series so far. If we are to represent Jesus Christ, we must understand what He wants and has directed us to pursue. When we are given the chance to vote, we must vote according to what the Lord has commanded. As Christians and as good ambassadors, we need to be eager to implement the policies of our King and Lord Jesus Christ in whatever country, nation, state, province, region, county, city, etc. We need to vote, and we need to be active in orchestrating God’s policy here. For believers who say we should not, they are neglecting the calling that God has ordained us in this age to do. I will quickly point out that recently so called church leadership and some well known Bible teachers have come out and stated that we are to stand for God but give what is Caesar to Caesar and God what is God’s. By using this to keep Christians quite is to blatantly take this scripture out of context.

I have left probably one of the most unique roles of the ambassador for this final part. Ambassadors are to be the bridge from the public relations side and the covert operations side. Ambassadors at times have had to implement their nations policy in their host nation through public relations but also in supporting covert operations. As Ambassadors of Christ, we follow what the Lord has commanded us to follow. If this means that in order for us to follow our King, we must break the host nation’s policy, then we should do so with spiritual wisdom and careful calculation in order to represent our King Jesus Christ accurately. A great example of believers who did just that are the heroic French underground believers during WWII who helped saved their Jewish neighbors from the Nazi’s. What a shame we have leaders and teachers in the churches who have stated that what these believers did to save these innocent people is wrong.

As believers in Christ, we will have to answer, “What did you do?” This means, did we represent our King in every way we could even when our friends and family are angry with us for doing so? Did we represent our King even when it means open hostility towards us? I am not calling you to vote for a political party, nor am I calling you to vote for a political person, but rather vote according to the Bible. Even if one option is not perfect, we are to choose it over the other if it means we are staying closer to what the Bible says for us to pursue. As ambassadors of Christ, we need to be eager to be able to say when asked, “What did you do?” we can say, “Lord, I studied your Word so that I would know what policies my host nation needed to address to have them align with your policies, I voted and did what I could to help align my host nation’s policy with your policy. I helped foreigners become citizens of your Kingdom, I helped to teach them your policies, I stayed true to your policy and to you even when my host nation became hostile towards me.” Let us be good ambassadors of Christ.

As we end this two-part series, I want to remind you that we need to be able to answer these questions correctly. “Who is Jesus Christ to you?” should be answered, “My Savior, My Lord who I have recognized and accepted His free gift of eternal life, that I have attempted to follow and allowed His grace and mercy to have me and His Holy Spirit to make me into a new creation.”

The second most important question in your life is, “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” And this question should be answered with “I know from scripture that man is naturally evil and thusly, we need Jesus Christ. All policy and human interaction must be based on man’s inability with God’s abilities in their rightful places.”

Finally, “What did you do?” should be answered with “Lord I did everything possible with what you gave me to make you proud and inline with what you, through your Holy Word, asked me to do.”  

We here at Mill House Ministries call all readers to review these questions and seek the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have questions specifically regarding these questions or any others reach out to us and we would be happy to help assist.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY!

Today’s RE-POST FRIDAY, we offer some words of encouragement to the reader in these uncertain times. Click HERE!

Helmet of Salvation

We have slowly been working our way through the Armor of God, in fact there are only two physical aspects of the armor left.  As we have seen, each aspect of the armor all ties together.  Without one, you cannot have any of the others.  However, the piece of armor that we are discussing today is one that I feel is probably the most important because without it, the rest of the armor cannot be worn.  Today we will be discussing the first half of Ephesians 6:17, “17 And take the helmet of salvation,”

Even without a mental image of what a Roman soldier’s helmet looked like, we know that a helmet is designed to protect the head, nose, eyes, and neck.  The Helmet of Salvation offers the wearer protection from a mental attack from the enemy because the helmet allows us to protect our thoughts and gives us an assurance of who we belong to. Just like the rest of the Armor of God, the Helmet of Salvation is not based on our salvation but on God’s actions to save us.  We have not earned our salvation and we cannot work towards it.  It is much like the Shield of Faith; we have to rely on God.  As we saw last week, God has a desire to save everyone, but not everyone will accept Him.  This means that there will be many who believe that they are good enough and will get to Heaven based on their own merit, but since Christ did not know them as one of His own they will be told to depart from Him.  Jesus actually describes this principle in Matthew 7:21-23, “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Here we see that there are many who believed themselves to be “righteous” and did many things in the name of the Lord, things that to everyone else appear to be good but they never knew the free gift of salvation that Jesus Christ offers.  In a certain sense, they are whitewashed tombs.  They look good on the outside for everyone to see but on the inside, they are dead and rotting.  Jesus Christ Himself says of these people that because they never knew Him, never accepted His salvation, they were practicing lawlessness.

Jesus then states that for those who have accepted His salvation based on His actions on the cross, and not the individual’s actions which can never measure up to being enough, they will be protected from death.  “24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24.  As we have stated many times already, it does not matter how good of a person you are, unless you have accepted Jesus’s salvation you will be eternally separated from God.  “36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” John 3:36.

We do not want to cause anyone to be one of those found in Matthew 7:21-23, who did all these things in the name of Jesus Christ but were told to depart because they never knew Him.  So if the idea that even if you are the best example of what a good person is and you are still not good enough for God offends you, then I ask you to do a self-evaluation and see if there was ever a moment in time where you asked God into your life and made a 180 degree turn from who you were before.  We do not wish any of our readers to go down the way of eternal death, and so we will not tickle your ears like so many out there who say that there are multiple ways to heaven.  The Bible is clear, there is only one way to heaven, “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 and the path to eternal death is large, “13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14. God is not an unfair God, He wishes for everyone to be saved, 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”.  But you must make that decision to accept that you are a sinner, accept that Jesus died for your sins, rose again, and is currently alive and sitting at the right hand of God.  Only once you do this can you wear His salvation and with it, the rest of the Armor of God.

For those who have already accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Helmet of Salvation comes with a benefit.  The Helmet of Salvation offers up an assurance of our salvation.  “9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10.  Once we put on the Helmet of Salvation by believing in our hearts that Jesus died for us and rose again, as well as confess it with your mouth you are saved.  As we have seen with the Shield of Faith, we know that God is faithful, and we can hold Him to His promises. “25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” 1 John 2:25-26.

I want to make it clear, just because we are called to put on the Armor of God daily, does not mean that we can lose our salvation. Since the imagery of putting on a helmet also implies that we can take the helmet off it is tempting to believe that we can lose our salvation.  In no way is this true!  Once we have accepted the free gift of salvation from Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross and His resurrection, nothing can remove us from Him.  Jesus even states this fact in John 10:28, “28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”  No one can even mean our own foolish decisions!

God in His wisdom knew that there was nothing that we could do that could allow humankind to be found righteous in His eyes.  So He placed salvation on through Himself, Isaiah 59:17-19: “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. 18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. 19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.”  These verses show that God was displeased that there was no one righteous, no justice, and no one to intervene so he put righteousness and salvation on Himself to save the world.  These verses show just how powerful our God is! The helmet is the speaking piece of who we belong to and His power and glory. It is the assurance of Jesus Christ.

No amount of messing up can cause you to lose your salvation if you have truly believed in your heart that Jesus died for the sins of the world.  Those who are saved can never be separated from His love, in fact I believe that when we believers come face to face with Jesus we will not be boasting about our own actions that we did in His name, but instead be in awe of the magnitude of what He did and how little we deserve it. “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39. 

God is the only one who can provide any justification for sinful man, and once we put our faith in Him no amount of distress, tribulation, danger, or even death can separate us from Him.  2 Timothy 2:11-13 states, 11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” God has stated that if we accept Him, we are saved, and even if we mess up, He remains faithful to that promise because He is incapable of going against Himself.  Jesus Christ emphasizes this in John 6:37, “37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Salvation can only come from the Lord, I have said it before, and I will continue to say it.  If you are reading this and are among those who have recognized your need for a Savior, He will not abandon you. “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.” Acts 2:27. The Father did not abandon His Son, His Holy One, to an eternity of being separated from Him and He will not abandon you if you chose to accept Him. This message of needing a Savior does not make sense to everyone, I know it did not for me until I was ready to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18. If you are one of those who have found the narrow gate, you see that Jesus’s death and resurrection shows the power of our God.  This security in God holding to His promise to save those who accept Him is our hope and security in Christ.

Now while we cannot lose our salvation, if we are doubting or are discouraged about God, if our shield of faith is weak, then we are not effectively wearing our Helmet of Salvation.  Salvation is not removed, but it is almost like you are putting the helmet on back words and are then surprised when you cannot see.  The spiritual battlefield begins in the mind, 2 Corinthians 10:5 says “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” We need to take every thought captive and see if it is found in God’s truth. How can we be on the offensive for Christ if we are continuedly battling a mental game? As discussed last week, the fiery arrows of the devil can also be thought of as placed thoughts. He cannot poses a Christian for we are already filled with the Holy Spirit, but he can oppress us, which is to keep us so busy and downtrodden with thoughts contradicting the Word of God we become useless. If we are continually worried about if we are saved or not, then we are less likely to share the Gospel with others because we fear that our words will be ineffective.  This mental attack makes us a much less effective of a warrior for Christ.  It is why Romans 12:1-2 tells us not to conform to the ways of this world, but to renew our mind.  When we do this then we can see His good and perfect will.  “12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Finally, I want to leave you all with one last verse.  “8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8. We are in a day of spiritual warfare, we need to be aware of whose armor we are putting on.  Are we wearing the armor of this world, a world that is filled with corruption and ruled by Satan? Or are we wearing the Armor of God that gives us the tools to combat this world?

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,               

Alex

A Series of Questions (I)

It is no surprise that the most important question we will ever be asked is, “Who is Jesus Christ to you?” This question will have eternal applications. This question has so much weight to it, that we should never quickly skip it by and address other important life questions. Nevertheless, today my goal is to start on a three-part series discussing three questions that all people need to answer outside of the all-important “Who is Jesus Christ to you?” This first week I want to address “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?”

I must confess, in my younger years I took this question for granted and just naturally assumed it was dependent on the individual in question. For one person they were naturally good and for someone else they were evil. This question would become gradually more complicated with challenges in school regarding absolute answers to questions. Who was to say that “naturally good” and “naturally evil” was even correctly being defined within the question? Nevertheless, as I grew up it was even more complicated with the actions of some being considered good with evil intentions and some actions evil with good intentions. History has proven to us that sometimes evil men can produce good results, while good men can at times produce evil results. However, today we need to settle this question.

“Is man naturally good or naturally evil?”

There is no short answer. Many today, especially in the Western world, demand a quick answer to life’s challenges, to have immediate gratification. Unfortunately, this is not possible when we must evaluate the reality of the situation. So, I would ask this question again, “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” This question must be answered for three specific reasons.

1.     It will guide our understanding of how we interact with the world on an individual basis.

2.     It will guide our understanding on how the world interacts with us.

3.     It will guide our understanding on how we need to interact with the world at large.

For those who have ever taken a philosophy class, you might know that a question of this magnitude cannot be simply answered but is actually answered by a series of questions. These questions I have already stated in my introduction. The first is, does this question hold to each person the same way? We know Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” giving us the answer that all individuals are and should be weighed with the same measurements. People can disagree with this measuring line all they want; however, it still does not change the very fact that our measurements are solely based on what God counts as good and evil. To reject His measurement will be as successful as stating you reject gravity and jump off a cliff and expect gravity to allow you to pass simply because you reject it. We know that Jesus Christ died for everyone, no matter what they had done, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Thus clarifying that our question of “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” can be applied to all men, no matter the changing factors of the individual’s life. The answer of “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” will answer for all men no matter what.

Our next question to address with answering “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” comes into play with the idea of good or evil. What is good and what is evil? Who gets to decide? For this we must understand what I like to call, The Law of Limitation.

The Law of Limitation: A person, object, or anything else to which is limited in any way cannot be considered deity. All things that were not and now are, who have been created, are in fact bound to this law.

To be able to orchestrate what is good and what is evil, you must be capable of being outside of it in order to deliberate and substantiate the delicacies of such measurement. Thus, only one person can be declared as capable of knowing what is good and what is evil, simply put God Jesus Christ in the flesh. Anyone else who might claim such power is fooling themselves. Many in fact have attempted to declare that they could create such measurements of good and evil, they pride themselves in human enlightenment. This type of thinking can better be identified as Humanism. In their own words they claim, “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good.”[1] Unfortunately, they fail at answering this question as much as they fail at answering our primary question of “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?”

What they fail to recognize is the Law of Limitation. Man has attempted to break free of such a law going back to Adam and Eve in the garden wanting to break free from their limitation of knowledge. They wanted to know what was good and evil and thusly, creating the circumstances to which has led to the arena we now face ourselves in. If this Law of Limitation is the case, and only one person has the correct measurements, we are held to only abiding by what they have measured and defined. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. We see God has joyously measured and defined what we are to call good and evil. Proverbs 2:1-12 states,

“My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
3 For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,”

We see that we can in fact define what is good and what is evil, how we are to act and how we are to not act. Any idea of relativism can be cast aside as total obscurity when discussing absolutes which influence the entirety of man. We have already come to the conclusion that our answer is answering for all men while our idea of good and evil is answered for all men by the only person who is outside of all limitation, to which that answer is God. Our final question to help orchestrate answering our main question, “Is man naturally good or naturally evil?” Simply put, good men do evil things and evil men do good things. In the Bible the book of Job identifies a method of philosophy that many fail to recognize as being a Biblical practice. Many call Aristotle as being the first to largely coin the practice of using natural observation to identify truths found in the world. However, in the book of Job we find the practice being well used. Job 40:15-21 states,

“Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
16 “Behold now, his strength in his loins
And his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 “He bends his tail like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 “His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs are like bars of iron.

19 “He is the first of the ways of God;
Let his maker bring near his sword.
20 “Surely the mountains bring him food,
And all the beasts of the field play there.
21 “Under the lotus plants he lies down,
In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
22 “The lotus plants cover him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
23 “If a river rages, he is not alarmed;
He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.

This practice is also confirmed in the New Testament with Jesus calling attention to the trees, birds, and flowers as a statement to man to not worry. Thusly, we can examine in history and see that many things that were meant for something else, came out entirely different. In Genesis we can see that Joseph’s brothers meant evil and God meant their scheming for good. While if we fast forward to WWII, we can see a horrible war allowed the rescuing of millions of innocent lives and the creation of the Jewish nation, Israel, as prophesied in Isaiah 66:8, “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.”  

Based on this, we can assume that men can bring about good events and evil events based on what God allows. His allowance is based solely on how He has defined within His purview. Only now can we finally be able to answer our first question.

“Is man naturally good or naturally evil?”

As Christians, we need to understand the answer to this question has implications to our very actions and circumstances to where we are now. If we can see that this question can be verified as being applicable to all men, in totality of good vs evil and the intricacies of the intentions of men, we finally can come to grips with our question. To this point this answer would not fully have ripened unless we understood the conditions this this question had to be answered. Our answer can be found in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” We second this answer from Jesus Christ’s own words in the book of Matthew, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Matthew 15:9.

You might be asking yourself, why does this matter? If man is inherently evil, we need to understand we are in even more need of a God than we might have previously thought. Secondly, in our human interactions we must take into consideration the laws, governance, and leadership we put into place based on such knowledge. Governance cannot be assumed as having the answers to keeping man in perfect check, for what is governance rather than a gathering of inherently evil men. With November 3rd coming in the United States, but also with other believers across the world in their own nations, we must consider how we construct our government and legal structure to properly reflect man naturally being evil. If considered correctly, our only choice is the pursuit of smaller governance and the limitation of men being able to act against one another in the form of government oversight.

We must be willing to see the results of man and not the worlds defined intentions as the measurements of who we elect. Here at Mill House Ministries, we will not endorse any candidate for office. However, we will fervently endorse the principles found in the Holy Word of God. As Christians, we need to not take elections lightly and identify that we are living at a time like no other at which nations all around the globe find themselves at a crossroads. One way leads to limited government and principles established in the Bible, the other more government established in errancy that man is inherently good.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1] American Humanist Association, Definition of Humanism Page.

RE-POST FRIDAY!

Today’s RE-POST FRIDAY is a great look back on why we need to lean on the Lord above all else. As we see many things that are discouraging, we know that God is in control! Click HERE

Shield of Faith

In the last three weeks we have been going over the Armor of God, we have seen that the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Belt of Truth, and the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace are all aspects that the individual person needs to physically put on themselves with the assistance of Jesus Christ.  They are all things that are designed to help one move and to protect the user.  This week we will look at the Shield of Faith.  “16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16. What is unique about this piece of the Armor of God is that it is the first piece that is not attached to us directly, we have to physically pick up the Shield and hold it in our hand.

What is faith though?  Hebrews 11:1 describes it as “ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”, so if faith is conviction of things that are not seen then how can we use the Shield of Faith?  First, we can use the Shield by understanding that the faith mentioned is not faith in our own works, but of the works of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God’s Son who not only died for us but is now alive and reigning for us. We are not saved by anything that we can do, and God did this for a reason.  We must “walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7 - “5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 2:5. If there was any way that we could get to heaven on our own works then we are implying that we do not need God, we would be placing ourselves above Him or even saying that His actions are not enough.  This is making God much less powerful than He is and it is a great trickery of the enemy to suggest that we can get to heaven based on our own merit.  It is for this reason that Ephesians 2:8-9 states that “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  We cannot add anything to the free gift that God has given to the whole world.  We must act on faith that God has provided the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins.

Jesus Himself says that we cannot be saved by our actions but by faith in Him alone.  “24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:24, or again in John 6:40 “40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.””  We see that we must look to Jesus and have childlike faith that we will be saved.  Anyone who has spent much time around children will see that they always see things in the simplest ways.  They don’t add extra things to something.  If something is green it is because it is green, they don’t see that it took a mixture of blue and yellow. Often times us adults like to make things much more difficult than it needs to be, and that is the same when it comes to the matter of salvation.  We want to believe that we must do something else to deserve God’s love and saving grace when all we need to do is look and see that God wants all to be saved so He sent His only Son for all of humankind.  He loves us that much! There is nothing more that we can add to be deserving of this sacrifice, so we must act on faith that when we accept the sacrifice we are found righteous before God.  “6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6.  We have to deliberately choose to have faith.  In his book, The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel states that “Faith comes when we have enough evidence to make an informed decision.”  The best way to make an informed decision is to spend time with God.

Now that we see the Shield of Faith is not faith in our own works but Jesus’s, we can see that the Shield is how we are identified by other believers.  When it comes to the Shield of Faith, our actions show others who we belong to.  Matthew 7:16 states, “16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”.  Our faith is something that we act out and through our actions we are recognized, not only by other believers but also the world, as someone who belongs to Christ.  I am sure we can all think of someone who claims to be a Christian but their actions go against everything that the Bible states, I was one before I came to know Christ and I have been around many who were as well.  It is through the action of deliberately choosing to have faith in God that we can be recognized by others who belong to Christ. “14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” James 2:14-26

These verses are not saying that our works save us, they are stating that our faith is identified through our works.  When you go back to Genesis 17:1-5 you see that Abraham, at the time Abram, had been told by God that he would be the father of many nations, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”. How could Abram be the father of nations if he was asked by God to sacrifice his son?  Abram did not know how this would come to pass but had faith in God completing the promises that He made. Abram’s faith allowed him to go willingly to complete the work that He had been given by God.  When he was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac, he knew that God would still hold to the covenant that was made.  Further on, you see that Abram was told to not sacrifice his son, and another sacrifice was provided for them. Abram was already seen in the eyes of God as being righteous due to his faith, but Abram in following God was able to walk out his faith.  

Not only does the shield allow us to be recognized by other believers, but it is also the first offensive weapon that we are given in the Armor of God.  The shield can be used as an offensive weapon by pushing back against the enemy.  Jesus Himself used the Shield of Faith in connection with the Sword of the Spirit when he was confronted by the devil in Matthew 4:1-11.  “4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.”   Jesus was able to retaliate against the devil because He knew the truth that is found in the Scriptures.  If you have a strong faith and someone tries to shake it, you can push back with the faith in the truth of God.

But how do you make your faith strong enough that you are able to push back?  Well, that is the next unique aspect of the Shield of Faith.  Historically, shields were used to protect not just yourself, but to lock to the solider next to you to create a barrier.  This is why it is so important to be around other believers, especially now in times of world-wide lock down that is preventing the church from meeting.  We as believers, must be getting together so that we can help protect each other from the lies that are presented from the world.  When we spend time in the Word we see the truth that is found in the Word, the more knowledge of the truth that we have the better we can help others grow in the Lord.  Proverbs 27:17 states, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”  This is why we must be meeting with other believers.  Historically, shields were made of leather and would often get holes in them that needed to be repaired.  We can repair our shield and make it stronger when we are not only spending time with other believers, answering questions and getting our own questions answered, but most importantly our shield gets stronger when we spend time with Him and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us.  If you are ever in a place where your faith is shaken, I encourage you to spend time in the Word daily, and get involved in a Bible study.  When you know the truth you can patch up your shield and make it stronger.

For parents, our faith also protects our children.  When we are studying the Word and teaching it to our children, we protect them from the troubles of the world.  Imagine you and your spouse are holding shields and your child/children are behind you, it’s a powerful image. This is how it is when you and your spouse are both in the Word. Your faith is not making them righteous in God’s eyes, but you are creating a barrier between the world and your child/children. They see you act out your faith and with the knowledge of God that you give them, they can begin to see the lies presented by the world. They cannot be getting the information from Sunday school alone. Talk to them about what you are studying, have sermons playing, and let them see you walk out your faith. It is why Deuteronomy 11:18-19 states, “18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

I want to draw your attention back to the beginning scripture of this post, “ 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”.  We have spent a lot of time looking at what the Shield of Faith is and how it can be used, now I want to briefly identify what the flaming arrows are.  Historically, arrows could be dipped into tar and lit on fire, if struck by one the wound from the arrow was the least of the issues since the person’s clothing would be lit on fire.  This was a very effective way of causing a lot of damage.  Today our enemy is still using flaming arrows, it is anything that causes us to not grow in the Spirit and takes us away from the truth.  When we do not take up the Shield of Faith, we are not only leaving ourselves unprotected but also those around us.  As we have already seen, the Shield is a spiritual offensive and defensive instrument given to us by God. Think about it this way, if there is a pastor who is not in his Bible daily, he is not allowing the Spirit to lead him and therefore can be infecting his church with false information.   Parents, if you are not in the Word daily, you are not protecting your children.  We must choose daily to pick up the Shield of Faith. This shield however can only be used in correct relation of the believer having the peace that God is with them and is in control, the truth of who God is wrapped around them, and Jesus Christ’s righteousness endowed on us. Each piece is interconnected and therefore the whole armor of God is needed.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,               

Alex

Here am I

“As I was walking through the wilderness of this world, I came to a place where there was a cave. I laid down in that place to sleep and as I slept I had a dream in which I saw a man dressed in rags standing in a certain place and facing away from his own house. He had a Book in his hand and a great burden on his back. As I looked, I saw him open the Book and read out of it, and as he read he wept and trembled. Unable to contain himself any longer, he broke out with a sorrowful cry, saying, ‘what shall I do?’”

John Bunyan first seeing Pilgrim

Today, I wanted to open up to you the reader from a writer’s perspective and reveal a little about the process it took for me to write! I am opening up to tell you this not for my own gratification, but at the hopes it will help those who are at similar points in their life in trusting God and following His calling for them.

If you would have told me just a few years ago that I would be writing to an audience of thousands for Christ, I would have laughed and called you crazy! But here I am. Until recently, I never wrote anything outside of school reports. To the outside world my desires seemed elsewhere, my personal strengths were in human interaction and connection. Most would never have known my burning desire to write! Yet, living under the belief that I was not educated enough, my understanding of grammar being too simplistic, and my arguments to rudimentary for anything to be considered worthy, I stayed silent. I worked on reading great works and doing whatever I could to tell my friends, family, and anyone willing to listen what I was reading and learning about my amazing God.

As I grew older, the attraction of writing became stronger; but out of fear I stayed silent. All ideas of fear, ridicule, and judgement weighed me down to the point I would dare not imagine picking up the pen and write for Christ. I always thought to myself, “God has men of scholar, men of study, men who have words worthy of paper, not you Jl.” Even worst, I was worried that what I had to say would be incorrect and I would lead people astray, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” James 3:1. I devoted my time to the study of the Word of God. Four to five hours a day was not enough, God orchestrated the very scenario needed for me to spend hours upon hours a day studying His Word and studying from men devoting their lives to Him. Looking back, I can clearly see that He had placed the desire and was now preparing me for what He had wanted. I started seeing the developments of the situations prophesied in the Bible being set up. Yet, I saw Christian after Christian giving up or being swept away by the Laodicea church ideology. I saw my generation failing to follow the previous generation and take ownership of our relationship with Christ, they were failing to stand on His Words and actions. God was still drawing me to what He was calling me for.

Thankfully, there came a day that the calling was too much to tolerate. I asked God to take the desire away, I wanted to be a Christian helping believers personally, using the gifts God had given me to help edify the church and spur them along towards Christ. I wanted to be done with the notion of writing and wanted to be serving in the immediate. For those who have read, The Haggai Project: Reorienting the Church back to its first love, you will know what transformation I went through, I had finally decided to give up and allow God to be the “I AM” in my life and lead where He wanted to lead me.

Seeing the world growing darker and the dwindling of Christian men wanting to stand up for the Word of God, I broke out in distress! I saw the need but was unwilling to move, unwilling to step out of my comfort. It was not until I was in my own personal study that I came across a passage of the Bible that hit me like a ton of bricks. Ezekiel 33 “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’” Ezekiel 33:1-6.  I knew God was talking to me. I had seen the lateness of the hour within human history, the closing period of the Church Age, and knew I needed to do something. It was as if God was asking, “Who will go? Who will take up the calling and warn those who are willing to listen?” Suddenly I remembered, Isaiah “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’” Isaiah 6:8a. Before I knew what was coming out of my mouth I heard coming from my very own lips, “Here am I. Send me!” Quoting the direct response that Isaiah gave, I simply did not care anymore what people would think of me, but rather only what He would think. Now in no way was I or am I equating myself to Isaiah’s level or even in comparison, but rather like Isaiah I was willing to be used in whatever way God wanted to. Whatever way He wanted me to tell people the Gospel and to encourage the saints to stay the course as 1 Peter 1:13 states, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  I was willing to help. I was willing to run the race He had chosen for me.

My first fear immediately came quickly to challenge my intentions, “God has men of scholar, men of study, men who have words worthy of paper, not you Jl.” Yet, I quickly remembered that the very men I was afraid people might think I thought myself as or being called to act the same, men such as John Bunyan, A.W Tozer, C.S Lewis, Elmer L. Towns, Dr. Moody, and others were actually just like me. They were broken men willing to lay aside their fears and inadequate capabilities to allow Christ to use them in whatever way He wanted to use them. Any fear of my writing style, technique, or grammatical comprehension were immediately thrown aside with the perfect truth of God, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27. If God was willing to use me, than I would do whatever He wanted me to do, and if that was to write I would write!

Looking back now I see the resounding craftsmanship of God working in my life, orchestrating the needed time and effort for me to understand what He wanted me to do. What a unique journey this has been and one I will continue to pursue until God tells me no more.

On this amazing journey that God has brought me on, I want to share three lessons I have realized. First, my desire to please God must be my only aim, my biggest critics have been people in the Church refusing to adhere to the strict Word of God as our only compass. My response to them is, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 and “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. We must stick to only the Word of God as our final authority on any matter. The simplest dot or mark must be adhered to with the grandest and most profound quotes in the Word of God. They are equal in weight and majesty lest they be in there at all.

Second, that the people I had not aimed to help, God had aimed to help. God, seeing the big picture, knew when and what I needed to write to help those who needed it at that moment. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.  There is a scene in Acts that has always reminded me that there are moments that my intentions or plans in my writing might not be what God has planned, and I need to be ready to adhere to what He is calling. “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.” Acts 8:26-40.

Thirdly, I am a broken man and when I am at my weakest, Christ is at His strongest in my life. Each weekly post, each time I am asked about my written work, I find myself totally and completely in the need for Christ to be there to help me. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2nd Corinthians 12:9. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26.

I want to conclude with this, if you believe God is calling you to something, take it back to the Word of God. If you believe God is calling you to something, take it in prayer. If you believe God is calling you to something, DO IT! There can be no other greater calling in your life than to say these four simple words to God! “Here am I send me!” Finally, on a personal note about myself to you the reader, if you ever wonder or ever ponder about my actions through my writing or my life, I hope everything I think, say, and breath points you directly back to Jesus Christ. For I can do nothing outside of what Christ wants me to do, and yet, in Christ whom shall I fear? I am to please Him and Him alone! Take everything back to the Word of God and examine it for yourself! Nevertheless, please keep me in your prayers as Christ leads me on this grand adventure that He has for not only myself but for you!

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

Today we want to look back and see what does it mean to have Noble Character! This is a great read to open up a discussion with parents and their children! CLICK HERE!

Breastplate of Righteousness

  As we continue our study in the Armor of God, we come to the Breastplate of Righteousness, “ 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,” Ephesians 6:14.  It is no coincidence that the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness are in the same verse.  We cannot have one without the other. If we do not know God’s truth as described in our previous post, then we cannot know what it means to be righteous and therefore, cannot act in a righteous manner. 

To be righteous means to live with integrity, holiness, and have purity of life.  One great example of this is Job, Job was a man who “was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” Job 1:1.  God Himself even stated that there was no one else on Earth who was like Job, “8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”” Job 1:8. The idea of being blameless, or righteousness, is not in the sense that we would immediately think of.  Job is not saying that he is without sin, for every man, woman, and child have sin “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. Job is aware that he is a sinful man, but Job can be described as righteous because he was committed to honoring God with his life, no matter the issues that might occur.  If you continue to read the Book of Job, you will see that he was put through many obstacles , but he never once turned from the desire to honor God and at the end Job’s sacrifices are rewarded double the amount as where he was in the beginning of the book.

We need to make something very clear, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, we are not declaring our actions as to be living in a righteous life but rather we are signifying we are wearing Jesus Christ’s righteousness. For we can only wear the Armor of God if we are saved and born-again. Thus we are a new creation and can relate to what Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Additionally, we can relate to what Paul says in Romans, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. As a believer that peace is manifested through the truth that we, as believers, have Jesus Christ’s righteousness adorned and are His ambassadors on earth. So if we have His righteousness we are commanded to live holy lives because He is holy, “for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16.

We must live in a righteous manner, our actions should represent the righteousness that has been bestowed on us as a free gift in Jesus Christ. Now when we live a righteous life, we are desiring to put God above anything else which allows us to live a life that is honoring God.  We cannot lose our salvation thus we cannot lose Jesus’ righteousness, yet we cannot represent him in a pleasing manner and even ignore the trappings of armor given to us for our protection. When we forget the Breastplate of Righteousness, we open ourselves up to an attack on our very heart.  The breastplate was designed to protect the soldier’s heart and vital organs. In Christ, with His righteousness, we see that He is the one protecting us. His actions on the cross have caused those who call upon Him to be saved, justified, and adorned with His righteousness.

Yet that does not mean we cannot slip up and fail to properly show our breastplate. When we fail to have properly adorned the breastplate of righteousness then we leave our heart unprotected, and it is here that the enemy begins to plant ideas that are not Biblical.  More often than not, these ideas seem harmless for example it could be something as simple as a little white lie or maybe not informing the cashier that they did not scan an item in your cart.  On the surface these don’t seem like anything that would cause a person to stumble in honoring God, but when you look at the root of the problem you see that it leads to idolatry and other sins.  We have already seen in Genesis 3 that the enemy is crafty, after all the serpent only said “Did God really say?” and allowed Eve to walk into the snare that he was laying (Genesis 3:1-6).

When wondering if you are living a righteous life, I ask that you look at what you are doing when no one is watching.  The focus should not just be on your actions through, it also needs to be on your thoughts.  Are you spending time watching or listening to things that allow you to grow in the Spirit? Or are you watching and listening to things that have questionable morals?  How you spend your time when no one is watching is a great comparison to see if you are living a righteous life.  We are called in 2 Timothy 2:22 to “22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”  When we were nonbelievers, our minds and actions stemmed from our unrighteous behavior, but when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are called to put away those desires and to pursue righteousness.  The only true righteousness in this world is Jesus Christ and as we grow in the Spirit we know more of the Belt of Truth and become more like Christ.  It is ironic how in the verse mentioned above that peace follows righteousness, for it is only after we know the truth that we can live righteously and therefore have peace.  “In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” Proverbs 12:28.

However, a righteous life is more than just a behavior modification, it is a change in the heart.  To live righteously is to live according to how God wants us to, not how the world tells us too.  We cannot produce righteousness on our own, we need God to produce it in us.  “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” Isaiah 64:6. Any so called “righteous” action that we attempt to do on our own without Christ, amounts to nothing because we do not know the truth.  We can gain righteousness when we turn from our sinful ways and pursue God.  When we desire to be more like Him, spend more time in His Word, and to know Him more we are wearing the Breastplate of Righteousness.  “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” Psalm 23:3. Finally, the breastplate was used by many in a conflict to represent which side they were on to make sure they did not have friendly casualties. In like manner, if we are saved and have the breastplate of righteousness on, we will be identified by other believers not just through our own actions, but also by the world as being a follower of Christ. The very meaning behind our name “Christian” means to be “little Christ”, to be a representation of Christ. In days like these our Breastplate needs to be ever more evident in the world we live in.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,               

Alex

A Spiritual Triage

“We were being told it would be a whole new world, a new start, a reset to the system, we were fooled!”

Author Unknown

My goal of this post was to veer away from a deeper subject like we have been covering in the “Before the Humble Arrival,” and open up to you, the reader, about the difficulties from an author’s perspective. However, during my prep time and research, I found myself convinced God was leading me down a different path. This path was to open up to you about a matter to which I see coming and Christian’s must be aware of.

In the first two chapters of the Bible, everything is right, everything is made perfect. There is no sin, there is no wrong, there is only exactly right. Yet, when we get to chapter three of Genesis, we see that our perfect story takes a horrible turn for the worst. The Serpent, which is identified as Satan in Revelation 20:2, “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” has come and tricked man into believing a lie in order to create something better. In verse 4 of Genesis 3 we see, “The serpent said to the woman, ‘you surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Fortunately, this lie continues to be the oldest and most used lie against man today, it is easily identifiable. Unfortunately, this lie continues to be the oldest and most useful lie used against man to this day.

You might be wondering, where I am going with this, but I ask for your patience. When I was being trained in life saving skills and triage identification of the injured, I learned that when triaging you would have to identify as quickly as possible the level of injuries and in which order you would have to address them. Your decisions could cause life and death even when answered correctly. It was a sobering training; one I thankfully have only had to seldomly use. Nevertheless, I find myself today being tasked to identify the injuries to which the modern-day Christian has. For those who are alive in Christ, who have been reborn and now live in Jesus, I am starting to see a growing injury which I believe is the most critical injury for us to address in our spiritual triage process.

The Christian today has no discernment! This is our greatest injury that needs our attention!

We believe anything and will say anything foolishly, without thinking of the ramifications. We walk as fools aimlessly following any false shepherd who might be tickling the ears. In proverbs chapter 7 we read of a fool who is captured by an adulteress women, “For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the naïve, and discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense passing through the street near her corner and he takes the way to her house.” Proverbs 7:6-8. This allegorical scenario is not too far from the depiction we see many Christians in today. Currently the body of Christ is being caught up and captured by persuasive talk instead of turning to the Word of God, they lack so much discernment that they follow people who follow the doctrine of demons.

Peter warns the believer of such a scenario in 2 Peter, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” 2 Peter 2:1-3. There is no excuse for us to not have discernment, for God gives freely to those who are in need of His helping hand. This is highlighted with an entire book of the Bible being devoted to the teaching of wisdom and discernment. God instructs the believer to seek after God’s teachings in Proverbs 2:1-15.

“My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
3 For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will guard you,

Understanding will watch over you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who delight in doing evil
And rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;”

Yet, as we at Mill House Ministries review what Bible topics to discuss, to review, and to dive in deeper, I cannot help but notice the resounding injury found within the born-again believer across the world. As Christians on this side of the grave we are still with sin, yet we should have our aim as Titus 2:13 and 1 Peter 1:13 both tell us to do. We are to keep our focus solely on the Lord. We are not to look to the left or the right, but to have our aim entirely on the Lord. This can seem simple until you realize the catastrophic calling it is for us to keep solely on the Lord. We are to be “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’” 1 Peter 1:14.

As Christians we need to recognize that not every person who appears and/or states that they are there to help, are actually helping or even part of God’s family. 1 John states, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1.

Our decisions in this life must be characterized in the Word of God. If “We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” 2 Corinthians 5:20a, we need to act the part! The next coming months will be some of the most radically different that the world has ever seen. This world declares we are in need of a change, people call for a new system, a new way of life, one prominent leader claimed there were “darkening clouds coming” and our way of life would need to be rebuilt on a fertility of brotherhood. As Christians, we must be cautious of the times we live in! For Satan’s ancient lie has not changed, what he said to Eve has not changed, “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Having Godly discernment allows the believer to identify the schemes of the devil and his minions. When someone tells us there is new revelation or a new truth for us to consider, we should be careful not to immediately accept what is being stated, but examine it to the Word of God. If the world attempts to rush you into supporting a group, we should slow down and be careful in understanding what they stand for. If you tend to open your mouth without thinking, you might want to step back and think before speaking or giving your advice. If you are in a leadership role, you should be careful to understand the ramifications of what you state. Yet, no matter how careful you are, there will come a time when a problem, scenario, or issue will develop and we will need to have everything that God is willing to provide for us in that time of need. These challenges are present, 2020 can be defined as a problem and those who know Bible Prophecy are able to see that it is only going to get worst. Once these challenges present themselves and are identified, we can apply God’s Word accordingly and act upon the situation we find ourselves in. 2020 should be known as the year Christians woke up and started to use God’s discernment, instead of being foolishly tricked and injured spiritually.

If a spiritual triage assessment were to happen today it would be apparent that many believers are being duped by the same trickery of the devil as Adam and Eve were. In this current time of 2020, we need to be asking God for discernment to know the season we live in and how to identify and act accordingly to the situation we find ourselves in. If believers only asked for this, we would see that the gates of Hell cannot prevail against us, we would see folly that is laid before us and understand that the trap can be simply outmaneuvered by God’s Word. I end on this note, if we have discernment why do we not have more Christians standing up against the radical ideology that is captivating so many born-again believers? Why do we listen to those who listen to spirits instead of God? Why do we practice the worship of gods when we have the living God living inside of us? I will conclude from the author of Hebrews who said, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL