Have Peace in These Troubling Times

Have Peace in These Troubling Times 

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

See that you are not troubled. Lord God, You are my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore I will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. I will enter my chambers, and shut my door behind me; hide myself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, You, Lord, come out of Your place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. In the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. My life is hidden with Christ in You, Lord God. I will not be afraid of evil tidings; my heart is steadfast, trusting in You, Lord. Jesus has spoken to me, that in Him I may have peace. In the world I will have tribulation; but I will be of good cheer, for You have overcome the world. You are my peace and hope, Lord God, my Refuge and my Strength—and I praise You. MATTHEW 24:6; PSALM 46:1–3; ISAIAH 26:20–21; PSALM 57:1; COLOSSIANS 3:3; PSALM 112:7; JOHN 16:33. 

Dr. David Jeremiah Life-changing Moments with God 

This morning I was awakened from a nightmare.  Wasn't a gruesome one or anything but fear was definitely a part of the experience.  

Yesterday, talking with someone, I felt compelled to talk about the truth of God in that He didn't give us a Spirit of fear. 

So many are going back and forth in and out of fear about government corruption and controlling the people.  In a world where if you are buying or selling anything, have a record of purchasing anything, they already know how to control you. They already are tracking you.  Fearing the obvious isn't going to do anything to provide peace of mind.  You cannot look into any aspects of the world to find peace. 

Jesus is the one who promised to provide peace that passes all understanding.  You cannot spend even trillions of dollars to find it. You could even have a fictional Holodeck from Star Trek, having every single dream or fantasy come true, you would still soon realize the same thing that Scotty said in the episode "Relics".  He found that no matter how hard he tried, it wasn't real. That you can't live in the past either. Even make believe isn't going to get you anywhere. 

Fears can be very real.  My nightmare was very real to me.  It jumped me right out of a sound sleep.  The imagery was so much still in my mind that I couldn't return to sleep.  It wasn't real but it wasn't going away. 

Fearing this whole world situation isn't going to gain you or I anything.  (I have to be careful of how I word myself due to how Facebook sees things.)

You can think that your actions can curtail the perception of control of your actions by others, but in reality it's not really going to.   Is what we see the events of the book of Revelation? No. Not yet.  It's coming. 

As I shared with this person yesterday, Satan is not creative. He only retries what has worked before.  He keeps on trying to manipulate mankind to get what he is after, which is God's Throne.  The world is imminently influenced by Satan.  But he is severely restricted.  The Holy Spirit constrains him. Only permitting so much. Never allowing him to go outside the will of God the Father.  That Scripture is always fulfilled.  Satan too is constrained by Scripture.  When the Rapture occurs, for the most part the Holy Spirit will step aside. The wrath of God will be unleashed upon the Earth.  Satan will start deceiving mankind in ways unseen since before the Genesis flood. Lies will become the truth to those living in that 7 years. These experiments we see happening today with people will indeed be played out to become what many are fearing right now. 

But in Christ, we are told not to fear. He has overcome the world.  He soundly defeated Satan through His death, burial and resurrection. He always sees the entirety of history and knows how all this ends.  In Christ we should live for Jesus. Should not let what man COULD do drive us into isolation.  As Scripture also says what can man do to me?  For those who are saved, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Close your eyes here and open them again in the presence of Jesus. Nothing to fear in death. 

Fear is Satan's most viable weapon.  Fear of losing, fear of taking something or someone away. Fear of the truth, fear of finding out lies. Fear of being in need, fear of what to do with much. 

Greed, dishonesty, envy, all the others that he uses are as bad, but fear is Satan's most used weapon. Causing believers to not move or live as God intended. Causing believers to not pray, because we pray, he has to obey what Jesus decrees. Causing believers to not read their Bible. Causing them to be afraid to speak up when the Spirit prompts them.  Causing them to be afraid of praying out loud. 

In Christ we have nothing to fear.  We cannot add one fraction of a second to our lives by living in fear.  We have no say in when our time is up on this Earth.  We can shorten it by living in disobedience, but never lengthen it. 

Re-read that opening prayer again from Dr. David Jeremiah.  Realize the truth that is in the words and make it YOUR prayer. 

Evidence of Who is Most Important to YOU

Evidence of Who is Most Important to YOU 

“You have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Exodus 5:21b 

It is possible for people to become so accustomed to their bondage that they resist efforts to free them. The Hebrews had been slaves in Egypt for four hundred years. Slavery meant that they were not free to do God's will or to go where they wanted. Moses had come to tell the Israelites how they could experience freedom, yet they were more concerned about the reaction of their taskmasters than they were about pleasing God. For them to be free would mean that the pharaoh they were serving would be angry! It would mean that the Egyptians they had served all their lives might attack them. Freedom from their slavery did not seem to be worth the hardships they would inevitably endure. When God sets out to free us, there will often be a price we will have to pay. Grief can be a terrible form of bondage, yet we can become comfortable with it. We can grow so comfortable with fear that we don’t know how to live without it. As destructive as our sinful habits and lifestyle might be, we may prefer living with the familiar, rather than being freed to experience the unknown. We may recognize the harmful influence of a friend but choose to reject God's will rather than offend our friend. As incredible as it seems, the Israelites were angry at Moses for disrupting the life of slavery to which they had grown accustomed. Have you been lulled into a comfortable relationship with your bondage? Do you fear change more than you fear God? Are you willing to allow God to do what is necessary in order to free you? - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

He asks some very pointed, very different, very direct questions today.  Are you prepared to really answer them? 

Read this: 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23 NASB

Is there evidence to convict you of your desires to serve Jesus Christ?  Is there proof that could be proclaimed that says anything to show your life is safe with God?  

Merely claiming to be saved without the proof is what today's people call 'identifying as'.  Matters not what you identify as if there's no truth based in the Spirit of God then my Dear Reader you are NOT saved. You can't go around convincing yourself and others that you are a Christian if you don't live it behind closed doors.  You cannot hold onto your lusts of the flesh, your strong willed pride, your desires to please yourself and yet claim to be a child of God. If indeed you are saved then you, my Friend are living in sin. 

You shouldn't judge! You may cry out at me.  First, as GOD directs, I write.  Your problem is with God, not me. Secondly you must feel a sense of guilt if the subject is too close to home.  Scripture says you cannot serve two masters. You can't embrace the world and God. Jesus says to be a friend of the world is to be against Him.  

You indeed are a slave to someone. Either Christ or your sin nature.  You who have not decided to receive Salvation must consider those questions Blackaby asks. 

Is familiarity with your sin keeping you from letting go of it? 

For believers are you keeping idols for yourself all the while proclaiming you are saved in Christ?  

One of the most horrific things that I ever witnessed in a Church service was the back-to-back worship of an idol with worshipping God.  The worship of a university in song, then to sing of wanting the heavens to open up to see Jesus.  

In a university city I see a lot of idolatry. Christian people who WILL wear the symbols of that university yet will NOT wear what might be referred to as 'witness wear' as I was told yesterday that it's called.  Much worse is to wear both. 

I had two men, who claimed that they were Christians tell me they would pray for me, because I refused to join in their idol worship of that university. Call it what it is people!  They would get far more enraged over the slighting of that university than someone saying something negative about God or the Bible.  THAT IS EVIDENCE of who you worship!

That is but 1 example. I used to collect science fiction memorabilia. Then I became convicted of that very thing of idol worship.  I used to wear branded clothing about those items and the same conviction came.  Who do you serve?

Scripture says my life is not my own, I was bought with a price.  The precious blood of Jesus Christ.  He took my place on calvary. He stepped in front of me when the sentence of guilty was proclaimed against me. He replaced me when it came time to be nailed to a cross and pay for my sin. He did all of that knowing that I could never repay. His love always has been that great!

You must decide who you want to be most important in your life. You or Jesus.  What fruit do you see? What do others see? Jesus called us to be fruit inspectors.  Jesus said you will, not you might, not maybe, you WILL know people by their fruits as whether or not they follow Christ. 

You must choose which Master you will serve. You must be sensitive to the Spirit of God when He tells you of what parts of your life must go in order to serve Jesus. You must be willing to go where He leads. 

You.  Our choices are not difficult, but our sin nature makes them painful.  We want a lot of what the world has to offer.  We want peace, money, health.  But at what cost?  The Children of Israel had all those things under Pharaoh, but it meant worship of Pharaoh. Their lives became difficult when they had learned they needed to turn back to worship God. God promised they would really find all those things and more if they would return to Him.  

The same applies to all who are saved and not saved yet.  We can't know or understand what the everything that God has in mind for us above what this world offers until we choose to go all-in with Him. 

Be real with yourself. What evidence do you really see?

A Successful Quitter

A Successful Quitter 

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. EPHESIANS 4:1 NIV 

One story in circulation claims that a mother and son were eager to attend a concert by renowned Polish pianist Ignacy Paderewski. When the house lights dimmed, the mother discovered that the child was missing. As the curtain rose, the mother noticed in horror that her little boy was sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a tense situation into a wonderfully creative experience. Whether this story is true or not, it is a perfect example of the relationship we have with our heavenly Father. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. But with the hand of the Master, our life’s work can be beautiful. Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen for the voice of the Master whispering in your ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are there, turning your feeble attempts into true masterpieces. Remember, God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called. - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening 

The title of today's post sort of comes from a sermon that I gave years ago.  

What we achieve in this life isn't going to be viewed as success in the eyes of the world.  We will look like we blundered. Like we were foolish. Like we just made a stupid decision.  When we aren't selfish or self-centered of course we will look like a failure in this world.  

We also probably end up working for companies that are very self-centered. Promoting their name and products as if they were the only valuable things on Earth.  Some go as far as to demand wholehearted devotion to their name.

Our only way, as believers in Christ Jesus, to be successful is to try our best at what we are given to do by Him.  To try and not give up, regardless of the scoreboard. Regardless of what inning. Regardless of how it looks. 

We are told in advance that the world isn't going to understand. That the world will consider what we believe as foolishness. 

Family and friends will mock us and even turn against us.  

Point in fact is what Jesus said. The darkness did not like the light. Those in sin don't want to be told what that means. 

We are given a work to do that's for us to do in Christ.  While we are in training, as we are being changed from the inside out, we are given work to do.  We are His workmanship. The Disciples were His workmanship. They were chosen by God the Father. You too. They were given assignments. So are you. Theirs was small at first then they moved onto bigger things. So ought you. The world had tried to silence them.  The world will try with you. God got them through all things. He will with you and I as long as we don't give up. 

I was seen as a failure by many who called themselves Christians at a Church that I used to attend because of the many jobs that I had been through.  

They never stepped closer to find out what God was doing in my life.  They never asked.  They assumed and moved on.  There's a parable of the good Samaritan. Of the Levite and the Priest who shunned a man who needed assistance. The Samaritan did what was right.  

In the end of my time, the first time around, at Honeywell, I suffered a nervous breakdown. I was that injured man. Those whom I went to Church with were the Levites and Priests. What God was doing in the ensuing years was to heal me. Heal my confidence, heal my heart. He knew that I wanted a further education but affording it wasn't a possibility. I indeed went from job to job. But I was learning. I know everything there is to know about wiring all the lights on an ambulance. I learned how to build fork lift charging stations. I learned how to do circuit board inspection from the microscope level on up. Learned how to build and test x-ray tables...and got paid to do it all.  A paid education. Now I am back at where I left. God is indeed building me up at the place that I was torn apart. He has kept His promise to never leave me or forsake me. The world didn't get it but then again they aren't going to.  My job in all those places isn't what you just read that I did. My job was to be the light of Christ in those places. 

We often miss what the mission is because we're looking for worldly results. 

We will look like we succeed or failed by what we see.  Not what God sees. 

If I listened to Satan years ago I wouldn't be here now.  If I listened to the people who groaned and sighed at my prayer requests for my job I would have believed myself to be a failure.  

The only one whom knows me is my Savior.  He knows what He is doing in my life and your life. He may make me look like a failure in the eyes of the world but never in His eyes. 

Don't always expect people to get it. It's not up to them to get it. Scripture says to seek out Godly men to consult. It is also very explicit to avoid the company of fools. 

You may be given a small task to do, my friend, do it with all your heart. Do it for all the right reasons.  Don't give up. Your part is important.  A good friend of mine was working on his God given assignment right up til his death.  He never believed in retirement in this world. I have known people who died while reading their Bible.  To be found doing is what Christ hoped for in His people. 

Small compromises are what began the fall of just about every single King in Israel and Judah.  What seemed a small compromise was the off ramp of the path God wanted. 

Stay the course. If it seems you failed and got knocked down. Get up. Brush yourself off.  Ask for forgiveness. Start walking again. Get back to your mission.  Jesus is still there.  

To Their Horror and Possibly Yours

To Their Horror and Possibly Yours 

I was reading in Luke today of the moments after Jesus was taken by the Chief Priests and soldiers.  

To read the words they said to him.

If these same people never came to Christ for salvation later, when they died, oh the horrors they now have been living with for centuries. 

Their actions and words against Jesus.  

Slapped Him.

Mocking Him.

Beating Him.

Whipping Him. 

In a sense it reminds me of various Kings who died in the Old Testament that did evil in the sight of God. Who died horrible deaths to awaken in Hades to even more of the pain that they left behind here on Earth.  One intentionally set his house on fire while he was still in it to avoid capture. That burning kept on after his death, according to the words of Jesus describing Hell.  

Hell is not some place to celebrate anything. It isn't some party center of the afterlife.  Nobody's drinking it up with endless beer, liquor or sexual fantasy. Nobody's laughing there. Everyone there, regardless of anger towards God or not knows exactly why they are there. In the pain and torment they endure.  

They rejected Jesus. They refused to acknowledge their need for a Savior. 

Hell is a very real place. 

The torment is very real. 

Deciding to come to Christ or to reject Him is in your hands. Nobody else's. 

People indeed will rage against believers in Christ Jesus until the Plan of God reaches its conclusion.  But they can never send any Christian to Hell.  All who die in Christ Jesus find themselves immediately in Heaven.  The death of a believer in Jesus is really a defeat for Satan. 

The horrors of this world are not even close to an endless torment of a soul that cannot know decay or destruction of the body.  Nobody in Hell has a body that ever will be torn apart or be destroyed again in any way.  The torment they endure is of the soul.  They have no peace, there is neither night or day there. The anguish is continually happening.  

Yet that too is not the worst to come. 

The worst to come is at the Final Judgment Seat of Christ.  They will indeed be resurrected and are given a new body. Then are cast into the Lake of Fire.  The pain and torment that they had been experiencing will get a whole lot worse. 

There's a very high price to pay for rejecting Jesus.  Before they are cast into the Lake of Fire every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  They WILL admit what is right and true.

This indeed is a heavy truth to read about.  You my Dear Reader must choose while it is yet today in your life.  You.  I can't choose for you.  There is no Purgatory to go to that someone here can influence God to move you into Heaven. That's a lie of Satan.  

Jesus came to seek and save you.

He loved you enough to go through the worst that Satan could physically do to Him, to die and raise again from the dead 3 days later. 

His love for you spans the Universe. He gave all of that up to make it possible for you to spend eternity with Him. 

You only have this time you have been given in this physical world to choose.  

Once it's over, it's over. 

Most people the world over knows what John 3:16 says. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. 

To perish is to be banished from God's presence for eternity paying yourself the penalty for your own sin. 

The wages of sin is death, as it reads in Romans. Death apart from God, by God's definition and direction since Cain killed Able, has been a place of tremendous torment in a place called Hell. 

Two died on crosses with Jesus.  One asked Jesus to remember him when He comes again. Jesus told him that he would be with Him in Paradise. The other never said a word.  Both were there. One was in Paradise and the other on the other side of it, in torment.  Seeing full well what he turned down.  Hades and Paradise used to be in the same place.  Paradise was where believers awaited Jesus to come and take with Him at His ascension to Heaven after being crucified. For 3 days Jesus was with all who were waiting for Him. Those who had died who had rejected Him during His earthly ministry now saw Him as He was.  Saw and knew too little too late that their fate was sealed.  Crying out as the rich man had done to Jesus to have mercy on them.  Crying to Jesus for help.  All being told by Jesus that they had their chance and what they chose is what they will live with. 

My friend please don't choose to reject Him.  Please don't choose to ignore the importance of knowing that you are saved in Christ Jesus or not. Please don't consider it foolish.  Millions of people per hour are waking up in Hell.  Satan himself won't go to Hell because he knows that place is a judgment from God. Satan has no throne there.  

Please think about it.  Please consider your ways.  If you reject Jesus in this life those horrors await you. What you enjoyed in this life will be but a vapor compared to the pain and sorrow that awaits you. 

Admit you are in need of a Savior. 

Admit that you need your sins forgiven by Jesus. 

Ask Him to save you and to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord and you too shall be saved. 

In This World We WILL Have Trouble

In This World We WILL Have Trouble 

“In this world you will have trouble.” John 16:33 

Believer, are you asking the reason for this? Look up to your heavenly Father, and see Him in all His purity and holiness. Do you know that you are to be like Him one day? Will you be conformed to His image easily? Won’t it require much refining in the furnace of affliction to purify you? Will it be an easy thing to get rid of your corruptions and make you perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48)? Next, Christian, turn your eye downward. Do you know what enemies you have beneath your feet? You were once a servant of Satan, and no king will willingly lose his subjects. Do you think Satan will leave you alone? No, he will be always after you, because “he prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). Therefore, Christian, expect trouble when you look below. Then look around yourself. Where are you? You are in an enemy’s country, as a stranger and a sojourner. The world is not your friend. If it is, you are not God’s friend—for the person who is a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4). Be assured that you will find adversaries everywhere. When you lie down to sleep, imagine that you are resting on a battlefield; when you walk, suspect an ambush behind every tree. As mosquitoes are said to bite strangers more than natives, so will the trials of earth be sharpest to you. Finally, look into your own heart and observe what is there: sin and self are still within. Even if you had no devil to tempt you, no enemies to fight you, and no world to trap you, you would still find in yourself enough evil to cause distress, since “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Expect trouble then, but don’t be depressed by it—God is with you to help and strengthen you. He has said He will be with us in trouble, to deliver and honor us (Psalm 91:15). - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening 

To be in trouble isn't difficult to achieve. 

I often don't have to work at it to find myself there.  I recently found myself in trouble for doing the right thing at work.  The jury is still out on it but I was in trouble nonetheless. 

I don't even need to be with people to be in trouble.  Some of my worst times of being in trouble are when I am alone.  My sin nature doesn't leave me alone.  As Scripture says of the heart, it's desperately wicked who can understand it?  Even we can't be trusted with ourselves. 

It takes grabbing ahold of what Jesus promises in order to get through a day. The moment we think we are ok today with what we have planned...we are in trouble. Peter was in line to be decimated by Satan. That night that he denied that he knew Jesus was going to be a whole lot worse than what we read.  Jesus knew what Satan wanted to do. As it was with Job, so it was with Peter. Satan was told how far he was allowed to go, not an inch farther.  Jesus, facing separation from His Father, was praying for Peter.  His concerns were of His Disciples and all who would come to Him after all this was completed. 

We have a sin nature that will assuredly, if left unchecked, bring out the worst in us.

We cannot trust ourselves. Our zeal for Christ can get us into trouble. It did Peter. I can look back on my life and see how it got me in trouble. 

Denial is perhaps one of Satan's greatest weapons.  Denial of the value of human life is perhaps the greatest.  Devalued, slavery still exists today. Devalued, babies are murdered in their mother's body. An animal or sea going creature has more rights to live than a human being. 

Denial of the consequences of sin is a close second.  He gets Christians to believe in grades of sin.  That one isn't as bad as another. That it's ok if you do this as long as you don't do that. He gets Christians to look no different than the rest of the world and the result is people not seeing any reason to come to Christ. 

He deceived Eve, then Adam.  Two of the most perfect humans in all of history. We aren't even in their ballpark as far as intellectual ability.  Christians today are being divided as well as the divide between believers and unbelievers.  There's people calling themselves Christians who are so lukewarm that they and the world are one.  It is they of whom it is written that Jesus tells to depart from Him for He never knew them.  So much compromise has happened that they have dismissed what God called sin as sin.  

When the Rapture takes place billions of people who have been so deceived will still be here when the dust settles.  

This is why it is so crucial to be in prayer as Jesus was often in prayer. It's why so much is happening to attack the true Church for standing up for what God does say.  It's why in the home father's are against sons, mother's against daughter's.  Why the family unit is being mercilessly destroyed. To the point where children aren't safe to grow up with the gender that God gave them. Satan uses people to twist the thinking of children to get them to agree to mutilate their own bodies. 

No there's no end to what Satan will want to try to do. There's limits on what he is allowed, but no limits on his desire to do what things only even HIS Creator can do.

Satan is a created being.  He is nothing at all on the same level as God. At the cross he became a defeated being.  So why all the delays in Christ returning?  

You. Me. The people not born yet who would come to Christ who haven't been able to choose.  Regardless of science fiction shows and movies. There actually is a finite gene pool. There's a God established limit to how many Humans will ever be born. Inside of that limit is every single person's reason for accepting or rejecting Christ as Savior.  

The worst choosers will be during the Tribulation and the Thousand Year reign of Christ.  Those that will live through a Thousand years of peace on earth and good will towards men yet at the end join willingly with Satan to try to attack Jesus Christ. 

In our here and now we will face troubles. We will face problems. We who are indeed in Christ have Christ as our source of peace and rest in a world that only thinks it can provide that. We have a relationship with Jesus that they are missing. Those in the growing false Church aren't even aware that no such relationship exists. They are made to feel good when they gather, are not told of sin and it's consequences. Are not told of the wages of sin are death. Are not told to turn away from sexual immorality. Are not told anything that would save them. 

In Christ we can and will be safe.  The world will not understand.  The Bible says they can't.  The natural man does not understand the things of God they are foriegn to them. 

We must be in prayer to get through what is today.  Jesus kept teaching of being in today. It has enough trouble of its own.  We cannot succeed in today without Christ going before us in battle. Psalm 23..He leads...

Pray for yourself to be who Jesus wants you to be today.  Don't follow after others who take you away from that in your life. 

Pray that you obey when the time comes to do so. 

Pray for others to see through the lies, the deception of Satan before its too late. 

Prayer is THE weapon Satan cannot fight against when we use it. 

Successfully Failing

Successfully Failing 

Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. 2 TIMOTHY 4:11

One of the most unusual sets of circumstances in the New Testament is that surrounding Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas took young Mark with them on a missionary trip, but he returned home before the end of the trip for reasons not revealed in Scripture. Whatever Mark’s reasons, Paul apparently thought they were unjustified since he refused to take Mark along on a subsequent trip (Acts 15:38). Did Mark fail at being a missionary? Judging from Paul’s response, it would appear he did. While the New King James Version says Mark “departed” from Paul and Barnabas, the word probably is closer to “deserted”—a more negative connotation. It’s probably reasonable to conclude that Mark did fail at being a missionary. But did that make him a permanent failure? Apparently not, for the same apostle Paul who was so disappointed in Mark counted him a valuable coworker in ministry later in his life. This is a perfect example of how to succeed at failing: fall, get up, and continue on. The next time you fail, make sure it is a temporary experience, not a permanent label. Don’t get “failing” and “failure” confused. Failing is nothing more than the back door to success. - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening 

Many know the story of a confronted Thomas Edison concerning his self-admission of it taking over 2,000 tries to create the lightbulb. A remark was made of it being 2,000 failures. To him it was just 2,000 ways NOT to make a lightbulb. 

I, personally, find great difficulty in celebrating successes in my life.  It's not that it's pride so much as it is the subsequent humbling moment that eventually comes later.  My success is only determined by what I believe God grants me. It's me who takes on the celebration too far or too much.  

If I could succeed at more things, in the world's eyes, I would be a better person!  

In God's eyes, those kinds of successes wouldn't be beneficial to His plans for mankind.  There's reasons that are deeper than we see as to why failure is before us.

But we can change the world! 

Exactly.  But remember Scripture must be fulfilled.   Anything that happens to change the world must be filtered through Scripture. 

I have had designs, in my head, for decades on ideas that would indeed change the world. I am not permitted, by God, to create them.  I believe, with all my being, that I would be successful.  God says no, it's a no.  

As I mentioned earlier, failure is often the first thing that I am aware of.  I don't have a memory like most.  There's times of my life when I have been envious of how some remember things.  

It's taken decades to let go of enough of me to be in a ministry that doesn't have me at the center.  This blog has its tools that goes back decades in my life, even though the fruits of it has only been seen for a few short years.  I could easily say that for 40 years that I failed as a writer, or it could be said that for 40 years I have been in training. 

We as Christians can be seen as often weak or single minded.  To the world that amounts to failure and throughout history has caused many a world leader to want to wipe us off the map.  Israel's plight isn't so much failure as who it is who claims them.  They are God's chosen people. He claimed them.  Christian people are Christ-followers.  They, according to the New Testament are the Bride of Christ.  This, in the eyes of the enemy of God, puts us too in his crosshairs as his enemy.  He lives to make believers miserable and to make believers think they are failures. 

To live for Jesus is quite different than living for yourself.  It's not failing at all when we don't meet the standards of the world.  It's meeting what we are to meet in Christ that makes us successful. 

Some have also heard it said that pride comes before a fall.  Much truth in that as well.   Scripture is replete with examples of prideful people and leaders who thought more highly of themselves than they ought to have thought.  Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, by all and every right deserving to have everything including all serve Him.  Yet, in Scripture He says He didn't come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.  That doesn't imply at all that He failed as a King or Lord.  He said that those who wanted to be the greatest should become a servant. 

Never accept the world's definition of success.  You do and indeed you will accept the world's definition of failure. 

Jesus didn't fail at the cross. The world said "We win!" when He died and was buried.  Satan celebrated and said "I win!!", at seeing Jesus in the grave.  Three days later Jesus arose from the dead.  Whole, healthy and healed. What you also don't see but is further proof that Satan doesn't live in Hell, is anything about him being there when Jesus showed up to gloat or celebrate. 

I certainly would like nothing more than to be rid of the daily battles that come with life.  We who are alive in Christ are here at this point in time as part if God's plans.  Not for our personal benefit but to reach others for Christ.  We are to be His light in all this darkness to draw people to Jesus.  

Not to be among the world's must prosperous necessarily.  Not to be the most of anything that the world holds in high regard.  God is hope to all who are still breathing.  Including all whom we CAN decide to hate, despise or shun in this world. There are indeed millions per day waking up in Hell. There are also millions waking up in Heaven.  Hope for all is while they are still breathing in this world. 

We must choose what to think about success and failure.  Jesus said we would face trials and tribulations.  We would face temptation. Don't let the world's definitions cloud your judgment.  

Follow along...Peter and Silas thrown in jail.  Ah! I win again! Satan exclaims. Throwing in their faces that their beliefs were what put them there, hanging on a wall.  You failed! He cries.  What happened? They started singing hymns.  The jailer can't figure it out. They kept singing. There's no way they could be happy at a time like this!  The singing was getting to him. He had to know the reason! He had to know why!  They explained it to him. There time in jail was hailed as a colossal failure to the Jewish leaders.  The jailer took them down at the risk of becoming an inmate himself.  The end result was he and his household were saved. Failure to the world, success to Jesus. 

Do not expect the world to understand your choices to obey God.  For much of the last 20 years many never saw me as successful in the working world.  I was where I was because of where God wanted me.  I enjoy a return to one of those places of employment today. Yet should Jesus say it's time, I would gladly move on again.  The world would say such thinking is nonsense. Would say that I failed again!  I was taken place to place, job wise, to be healed and to learn.  The world sees failure, I see where Jesus made me a success.  

Know what constitutes success in God's eyes.  Live that and you will never be a failure. 

Where is Your Peace?

Where is Your Peace?

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . peace. 

To be spiritually minded, Lord God, is life and peace. You have called me to peace. Your Son leaves peace with me, His peace He gives to me; not as the world gives does He give to me. So I let not my heart be troubled, neither do I let it be afraid. You, the God of hope, fill me with all joy and peace in believing, that I may abound in hope by the power of Your Holy Spirit. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that You are able to keep what I have committed to You until that Day. You will keep me in perfect peace, when my mind is stayed on You, because I trust in You. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. I will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. I listen to You and dwell safely, and am secure, without fear of evil. Great peace have I who love Your law. Thank You for the gift of Your peace and for the security and hope I find in You. 

GALATIANS 5:22; ROMANS 8:6; 1 CORINTHIANS 7:15; JOHN 14:27; ROMANS 15:13; 2 TIMOTHY 1:12; ISAIAH 26:3; ISAIAH 32:17–18; PROVERBS 1:33; PSALM 119:165 Dr. David Jeremiah Life-changing Moments with God 

We look everywhere, outwardly, from our souls for something to bring peace to our soul. 

We look for vacation spots, retreats related to or not related to a Church function.  We look to work done well as a form of peace. 

Everywhere but where Jesus said to look. 

Many seek peace in physical makeovers. 

Many in buying things to try to satisfy something they can't describe. 

Many face turmoil or stress and anxiety and are desperate for something to bring relief. 

All too many fail to see it where Jesus says to find it.

I know that I have.  I have been distraught over loved ones enduring things that I couldn't physically do a thing about. Have cried out to God about.  Seemingly finding silence.  Slowly, peace would come, but only after a time of really being real with myself and Jesus.  Being real means trusting Him with everything including the very life of the one that is the source of my lack of peace. 

We can easily become shell shocked over suddenly finding ourselves in distress.  I easily remember the first time that I was changing the oil on my Wife's new-to-her car.  So proud of all my arrangements with supplies and equipment.  Got it all done up. Turned the key and oil was spraying everywhere. There was nothing but shattered peace mixed with that oil.   In all my preparation I neglected to see if the o-ring from the old oil filter had come off.  I was extremely distraught over my apparent mistake until God showed me what it was. My mind had spiraled into a world of woe that I somehow had messed up her new car. 

In another case, many years ago, it had to do with what was to be a routine breast exam.  They found something in my Wife.  Options were talked about and a Plan was hatched.  I still remember the day she went into surgery and how I felt being forced to wait until she came out.  

In another it was when we faced our miscarriage. Finding peace in all these things was difficult. 

You may be facing something that to you is beyond what you think you can bear. 

In Christ it's a very big misconception that you won't be given more than you think you can handle.  Of course you will.  If you could handle it you would never rely on Christ for your needs. 

Prayer was a part of all three of those examples that I shared.  You who are in Christ will always face things that show you, not Jesus, that you are in need of what only He can provide.  

Peace that Jesus brings is going to be unique to your needs and you must believe that He will indeed bring it to you.  Once you've been given it, THEN,  you will be better equipped to help others that you WILL come across who are seeking it as well.  We aren't just saved in Christ only for Salvation, we are representing Christ to others. We are to take Christ and show others what we found in Him. 

You are well within your right to beg Jesus to keep His promise of His peace.  We need to also be real enough with ourselves to address what He will show us about ourselves.  To get peace means obedience.  They go hand in hand.  

Jesus loves unconditionally. He may appear silent but He's never left your side. He sometimes speaks when the moment calls for it. But never should you think that you have been left alone.  It quite possibly could be the most nerve wracking experience of your life.  Jesus does a LOT of Spiritual surgeries in our lives.  I still remember several excruciating times when He did some with me. 

Remind yourself of the things that are in what Dr. Jeremiah said today.  Remind yourself that Jesus DOES love you.  Remember to trust Him implicitly.  Even with the very life of what is causing your distress and pain.  They too are in His hands just as you are.  In Prayer He can go where you cannot, to the very...well...heart of the matter. 

Pray without ceasing wasn't a suggestion. 

Let go of what burdens you at the cross and seek others to pray with you.  

Peace will come.