Appointed to eternal life...

If God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, Ezekiel 18:23, 18:32, 33:11; why are people still dying as wicked people? Do we dare say that it was their choice to remain wicked and therefore died the death of the wicked? Was God involved in such death?

Are we really, accurately saying that the wicked made a decision to die in their sins? Was God completely powerless over their wickedness and couldn't do anything to save them? What causes a wicked man to turn from his wicked ways and repent to find life in God?

Does man have the ability to chose whom he will serve? Or has it been appointed who will and who will not repent? Is God the author of life and death? Of good and evil? Does anything happen, calamity or blessing without God determining the event in advance? Does He create light and darkness, good and evil? And what's up with all the questions?

The bible has the answer to all those questions and they are mind boggling. That is the purpose; to boggle our minds; to exclaim: wow! How great is our God; He reigns!!

Let's see if we can make an argument in His favor, not that we need to, but just to reason, let's see if we can logically demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control of all things, and also in control of who comes to believe and who remains in their sin unto perdition.

I can never come to the bible and bring my misconceptions about what the truth should be; we as humans make assumptions based on what we perceive the truth to be; but do we really know the truth? When we as Christians believe that the bible is the word of God; do we believe everything it says? Everything God says?

Do we believe Genesis chapter one, two and three to be true? If we don't, then we can't really believe the rest of the book, can we? It is, in fact, a matter of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God; that is what He says, do we believe that we are able somehow to produce faith on our own? We shouldn't since faith is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9)

I think I should try to start from the beginning, yeah, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Ok, maybe not, it's going to make this too long, let's start with...in the beginning God....there is no other place to start; I have to start with God.

God is the source of all things; everything starts with Him. He is the creator of heaven and earth; He is the creator of man, of animals, of the oceans, the fish, the billions of billions of stars in the universe; of the trillions of quadrillions of atoms in all things; and if I believe that He is the creator, as Genesis chapter one says, then I have to believe that He made everything with a predetermined plan, and with a predetermined purpose; He didn't create the universe like a top to let it spin out of control. I used to love tops when I was a kid, I was good at it; anyway....

In Genesis one, it says that Elohim (Elohim is plural for God); created the heavens and the earth, so it was the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; who created everything. The Triune God created everything. In Acts 17:24 it says that God created everything, Theos; He is Lord, Kurios, of everything, in Hebrews 1:1-2 it says that God, Theos, created the worlds by His Son; so the Son created everything.

John chapter one says that the Word created everything, the Word (the Logos, the Speech, as Calvin puts it) was with God and the Word was God, and the Word is Jesus Christ; so Jesus Christ is God. So in the beginning Jesus created the heavens and the earth; He is the one who said, let there be light, and there was light; He is the one who said, it is good; He is the one who created everything perfect, and good. In Hebrews 11:3 it says that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.

Ok that's good; I'm done. Not really.

God created man perfect; He created the universe perfect, everything was perfect; and then sin entered into the universe. Sin entered into the universe but not by man, it was Satan who first rebelled against God and he was cast down to the earth; he was already in the earth as he deceived Eve to sin. What caused the universe to fall into decay and death was the sin of man; the point is that the second law of thermodynamics came into place by the introduction of sin.

We know by what the bible says, that death was non-existent before Adam and Eve sinned; they were supposed to have eternal life as they were, but death came as part of the penalty for sin. Physical death, mental and spiritual death; eternal separation from God Genesis 2:17.

This is important, not only because God included the history of sin in Genesis, but because it affected every human being that has come into existence, except Jesus of course; so that now as it has been since then, even babies die even if they have not done anything good or evil, they are born sinners subject to death. We were all born sinners destined to die, 1Cor. 15:22; in fact, the statistics are staggering: 100% of all people die. Even Jesus died once, not because of sin, but for sin; our sin was imputed to Him and His righteousness to us: 2Cor. 5:21.

We can blame it all on Adam and Eve, but the fact is that we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners; we enjoy sin, we love it in fact; and we do because it is fun, it is attractive and we enjoy it when we do it; that is, naturally, without having a new nature or a new heart we love to sin, it is appealing to the flesh. We have no excuse, Rom. 2:1.

We know that the natural mind cannot please God, it is opposed to the law of God and it cannot be subject to Him; the natural man is at enmity with God, Romans 8:5-8. We are enemies of God without Christ.

Not only that but all people have broken God's law: Rom. 8:23; 1Kings 8:46; Rom. 3:9-18; Ecc. 7:20.

Based on the above; we are under condemnation because of our nature, we are by nature children of wrath: Eph. 2:3, we love darkness: John 3:19; we are dead in trespasses and sins: Eph. 2:1; we are captives of Satan: 2Tim. 2:26; and we should be punished for our sin; all of us. God is not pleased with us as humans, in fact He is angry because of our trespasses and sins; and in His justice He has to pour out His wrath on somebody, someone has to pay the penalty of our lawlessness.

But God has a plan; and all these things are part of the plan; Rom. 8:28. When I consider scriptures like Romans 8:28-30, then I start thinking about grace. Part of the plan of God is to demonstrate the riches of His grace; to the praise of the glory of His grace, Paul says, Eph. 1:6.

So before I get sidetracked, I should say, again, that God finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked; there is no joy in that for Him; but that does not mean that some people will not die in their wickedness; in fact millions die without Christ all over the world; everyday.

Now by reason of logic; if God is all powerful, and nothing can stay His hand, Dan. 4:35; and for God nothing is impossible: Luke 1:37; and He does whatever He pleases: Psalm 115:3, do we think we can defy God's salvation and say no to His grace? In other words, can we think even for a minute that we can refuse His power, and the gospel, and there is nothing God can do about it? I don't think so.

God is powerful enough to overcome anyone's physical, mental and spiritual abilities, if they had any, and save them even if they don't want to; if I say that God cannot overcome man's sinfulness and "free will" and that we as humans can thwart His plans; it would reduce God to a semi-God, a God that the only thing He could do was to sit back and watch people go to hell because He could not do anything about it.

But the truth of the matter is that God can, and will, overcome anyone's resistance, and bring to salvation whomever He pleases. The problem is that we have a very distorted view of who God is, and of what the bible teaches about His plan of salvation; His sovereignty is exalted all over the bible, but we think we have more power than He does when we assert our self-determination and say that we can come to God on our terms and whenever we please; that way of thinking is offensive to His glory and His grace.

People don't like to hear it; but the fact is hat God chose from the beginning who would be saved; "oh no, you can't say that, that's Calvinism, that is a demonic doctrine; that makes preaching the gospel useless"; where are we? What kind of age is this? And what kind of bible are you reading?

First of all; let us see what the bible says; the bible is the supreme authority in our discussion, not my point of view, nor your point of view; nor all the philosophy and empty deceit whereby we are being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine; or all the human assumptions that we have been led to believe for the last hundreds of years. What matters is what the bible says; if we are not going to the Word of God for the truth, then it doesn't matter what we say, and it doesn't matter how well I make it fit my preconceptions.

Let start with Ephesians chapter one; (now remember that the words of the bible are without error in the original manuscripts; God inspired men through His Spirit to write His thoughts and communicate the truth to us 2Tim. 3:16); Eph. 1:4-6: just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

What Paul is saying here is that God chose us before Genesis one; when I read the word "chose" it is obvious that God had more than one option in His choice. It is obvious, also, that he is not talking about two people but about two groups of people; the ones He chose, and the ones He didn't choose; I don't see any other interpretation to the passage. But it goes beyond being two groups of people, the choosing is being performed to individuals, we can see that by the context; adoption as children.

Just in case that someone might argue to the contrary, here is the original word: G1586 eklegomai; (ek-leg'-om-ahee). Middle voice from G1537 and G3004 (in its primary sense); to select: - make choice, choose (out), chosen. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries.

The same word is used by Jesus when talking to the disciples: John 6:70 Have I not chosen you, and one of you is a devil? This reminds me that the twelve were chosen by Jesus and when you read the accounts in the different gospels, you can see how Jesus was looking for them, He was actually walking around looking for them because He knew who they were. He says the same thing in John 15:16, and John 15:19, and uses the same word, eklegomai. They were chosen before the foundation of the world; just like us.

There are more scriptures that talk about God's election of the believers, but I'm just going to mention one more: 2Thes. 2:13. You can read it yourself.

Romans 8:28-30 is one of my favorite sections of the bible: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Here, foreknowledge is virtually synonymous with election; but people refuse to believe it because of human self-determination; but the reality is that this fore-knowledge is not talking about a future action on our part; it doesn't refer to our future believing.

The way this is usually interpreted by our Arminian friends is like this: "God knew in advance who would believe and He predestined them"; but that cannot be, either from the context, or from the meaning of the words.

The key to correctly interpret and understand these verses is the context, and what the context means. Paul is very logical here, and as usual, he is being used by the Holy Spirit to convey to us the truth that salvation is completely of God and by God and for God; He is sovereign in taking us out of the darkness and translating us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. It was His idea, and it is all His work, so that no one can boast, not even in believing.

First of all, foreknowledge means the kind of knowledge that is intimate knowledge, an especial knowledge of God's people by Him: Amos 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

In Psalm 1:6 it says "The Lord knows the way of the wicked"; that same word "knows", "yada" is the same word for "chose" in Genesis 18:19 where God says about Abraham: "in him all the nations will be blessed, for I have known him"; same word that Amos used.

We can ask the question, "does God only know the way of the wicked?", Psalm 1:6; the answer is no, He knows everybody, but this knowing means basically ordaining. What God knows in advance, He ordains in advance; the same thing is meant when He talks about Abraham, His knowledge of Abraham is a deeper knowledge than just knowing who he is.

To make this more clear we have 1Peter 1:1-2, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God means according to His predetermined plan, it is based on His knowledge, His acknowledging, His intimate knowing and acquaintance with those who are elect based on His eternal decision to choose them.

But let's forget the meaning of foreknowledge a minute and think about what Romans 8:28-30 says; Paul says that those who love God have been called according to His purpose, and not only that, but also because He foreknew (chose) them, He predestined them to be conformed to the image of His Son, and those He predestined, those He also called, and those He called, He also Justified, and those He justified, He also glorified. That is the context, and we should let the context speak.

We know; again by what the bible teaches; that we are justified by faith in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross; we are justified means we are declared righteous, "as if we never sinned". Paul stresses the point in the book of Romans; in fact he begins chapter 5 by saying "therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" Rom. 5:1.

He goes on to say that Christ took our place and is by His blood that we are justified; and that we have escaped the wrath of God through Jesus, therefore having peace with God..

But then Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, that faith is a gift from God so that no one should boast about believing and about being saved from wrath by our own efforts or by anything we have done. Grace is the unmerited favor of God upon us sinners, and we have been saved by grace through faith; for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Jesus died for the ungodly, at a time when the ungodly remained ungodly; there was no righteousness that the ungodly (you and I) could claim to present to God to earn His favor unto justification, so He had to give us faith after He gave us life by the blood of Christ. According to Paul, faith is a gift, as well as salvation.

Based on that; if those whom God predestined, those He also called, and those whom God called, He also justified; He justified them by faith, by His grace, free, not based on anything we had done; how can anyone say that God predestined someone because He foreknew that person would believe?

If faith is given by God, then foreknowing that someone would believe preordains that person to believe. It has to be like that because believing was not up to us, we were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph.2:1).

The act of believing is performed by us, but the faith to believe was granted to us by God; that is what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9; so if we are justified by faith, we are justified by His grace, that means for free, not based on any action on our part; so those whom God called, He justified and those He justified He also glorified.

We can see then that foreknowledge of those whom He predestined, was based not on our actions, or on our believing but on His choosing; we cannot say that He foreknew we would believe and then He predestined us, because the believing is caused by God in the first place; and even if that was true, then we end up in the same place anyway: God determined in advance who would believe, called them, and justified them by faith, which is His gift. So all the process from beginning to the end, from foreknowledge to glorification is the sovereign work of God by grace, and excludes all actions on our part. Period.

Once again; all this is being deducted by just looking into the scriptures themselves; we are not even talking about what Luther and Calvin 500 years ago, and Augustine some 800 years ago taught. The fact is that the reformation of the Christian faith was a blunt declaration of what I'm trying to say, just expounded into doctrines that are still being taught in the Presbyterian, Baptist and reformed churches.

On the other side, my intention is not to argue with anyone; all I'm trying to do is press the point that God reigns in everything; He is sovereign; He is the King and He does whatever He pleases in the heavens and on the earth and no one can stay His hand.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
What does that mean? It means what it says, God made even the wicked for the day of doom; the same way that some people are predestined unto life, some are passed by in that election and left to pay for their own iniquities; that is what it means. They are the children of wrath. Ephesians 2:3.

You can try; the same way as many other people try; to refute these things and negate them in your mind because this sounds harsh; we don't like it that God being love can bypass some people and not destine them to life; but who are we to say anything? Will the thing formed say to Him who formed it: why have you made me like this? Rom. 9:20.

John 10:26-30 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one.

What is Jesus saying? Believing doesn't cause you to be a sheep; being a sheep causes you to believe; that is what He is saying; He makes it evident when He says: John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. We cannot come to Jesus on our own; you have to be drawn to Him by the Father; the Father is the one who chose you and predestined you, and gave you the faith, and justified you; in short He made you a sheep before the foundation of the world.

It is implied that some people are not made sheep; in fact it is not only implied by stated plainly by Jesus Himself: you are not of my sheep. "You are goats, and you don't love God, and all things will not work together for your good but for your doom; because you have not been predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, and you have not been called, justified or glorified".

Some people have been appointed; predestined; to eternal life, and those people will believe the gospel when presented to them, maybe not the first time, but they will, they cannot escape God's will for their lives; the same way that some people will not be able to escape condemnation and eternal fire, no matter how many times they hear the gospel, their heart will be hardened and they will not believe.

Act 13:46-48 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Dr. Luke, the beloved physician, was so in tune with this doctrine that he was precise enough to state that those who were appointed to eternal life believed; they did not believe and then were appointed to eternal life but the other way around; that is what Luke is saying; he could have stopped after saying that the gentiles heard this and glorified God; but makes sure that he says that those appointed to eternal life believed; that is the Holy Spirit making sure this is evident.

At any rate; I say it again, I'm not trying to argue with anyone or bring division; I'm just trying to exalt God's sovereignty in all things; that's all. Like I said before; you don't have to agree with me, or like what I say; but I think you will have to agree with God and His word even if you don't like it, it takes humility.

I personally think this doctrine is awesome; I think God is awesome; it really makes me think how great He is; how merciful and patient He has been with me; and it makes me think how depraved I am and how grateful I should be all the time for His goodness to me and my family. Personally, I can't wait to see Him face to face and enjoy His presence forever.

It was hot today

The heat is on; 99 degrees in Bonita, CA. Not as hot as some other places though, Las Vegas is probably about 110 right now, and Phoenix maybe even more. "It's dry heat, though"; what does that mean? Does it make any difference? Who cares, it's cooking. It's dry cooking.

This is nothing, it is like a freezing subzero day compared to hell. Hell is a real place; waiting to devour the non-believing ones; the rebellious, the idolaters, the scoffers, those who laugh at us right now because we proclaim the excellencies of knowing Christ.

"Ough, come on; don't be so negative, lighten up, we will all have a party; get real with your religious crap" Some people have actually told me that; to lighten up with the fire and brimstone message. "That is too old fashioned, that doesn't work, it's old school"; some others say, the shock is that people who say this are actually Christians. That's shocking.

So let me get this one straight; telling people hell is a real place and they are going there without Jesus is too old fashioned? What is so old fashioned about that? Is the gospel old fashioned? I guess for some Christians it is.

Everything I hear today is about God wanting to make you happy; He is the solution for your problems, He is your best friend, He is your business partner, He has only good things for you and He is going to change your life. While all these things might be true, God wants you to be happy, but only in Him; and one of the promises everyone seems to ignore, is that in this world we will have tribulation. I don't hear that without God, Jesus, we will burn in hell because of our sin. Not all circumstances will be favorable while we live in this world.

God is happy in and of Himself; He doesn't need anything, He is the all sufficient One, His name is I AM WHO I AM, He doesn't require anything to be blessed. God is eternally happy in His perfections, in the whole panorama of His excellencies and glory; He delights in His all sufficient power, and glory; and in His reflection in the person of His Son; and in the perfect fellowship flowing in His Holy Spirit.

God created us for His glory, in fact He created all things for His glory and for His pleasure:

Rev 4:9-11 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

See? He delights in the glory He receives from His creation; it is as if everything is reflecting His glory back to Him; and He delights in it. The saying of that old catechism is true: the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

John Piper says that a Christian hedonist is he who seeks to find joy in God, to be satisfied in Him; to enjoy Him. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him, he says; and that is exactly what makarios means, to be completely satisfied in God and not in favorable circumstances.

And to be completely satisfied in God means, among other things, that we have not been appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1Thes. 5:9. Why? Why would we be completely satisfied in God outside His wrath, for one thing? Why would an all sufficient God find pleasure in not sending us to hell?

Fist of all because He finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked: Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

We are all included in that statement: for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God, Romans 3:23; so He is saying turn ye from your evil ways; and how do we turn, and how can we turn? Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

It is not our goodness that leads us to repentance, it is not our will or our mind, (our will is in bondage); nor our heart (Jer. 17:9-10) that causes us to turn to God; repentance is a gift from God as well as faith (Eph.2:8-9); (2Ti 2:25-26) .........if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

If we were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1); were taken captive by the devil, were children of wrath (Eph.2:3), and were completely opposed to God to the extent of being His enemies (Rom. 8:7); if we were destined by nature to go to hell; is it not a logical consequence of knowing this that we would delight in God just for the sake of our living in peace with God?

But no delight can be found in Him unless we understand the full extent of our depravity, unless we know that we know that we know that we were lost, unless we understand the horrible pit that we have been pulled out from, unless the darkness we lived in becomes real in our minds, unless we completely come to grips with our dire situation; until hell becomes a real place in our understanding; and people are not going to realize that by hearing that God wants them to be happy only.

The reality of the matter is that the wonder of it all is not that people are going to hell, but that some are not going to hell; that is the wonder in my mind, and it is a wonder because we all deserve to go there; we all deserve justice, we are all "sinners in the hands of an angry God" as Jonathan Edwards said; and what makes it even more amazing is that some of us will not go there not based on anything we had done but according to His mercy (Tit. 3:3-8).

Yeah, it was hot today; but not as hot as it could be; at least for those who find delight in God.

The Meat

Col 2:6-8 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. NASB

The Most Excellent Way; a ministry which started in San Diego and that now has expanded to most of the USA, Europe, Russia, Mexico, and Latin America; is and has been, by the grace of God, part of my life for the past 15 years or so. Matthew 5, 6 and 7 as well as Col. 2:8 have been foundational instructions in that ministry.

We are very careful to insist; we are actually adamant, that we all observe these verses when we teach at our weekly meeting. Philosophy and empty deceit are a plague; a mutant virus of evil thinking that pervades the churches today. The traditions of men and the basic principles of this world are subtly preached form pulpits across the world today; so subtle are these doctrines that they appear to be godly when presented; people are swallowing the lie, they are being gospel inoculated. The church is being Osteen-ized.

No one has to agree with me in this, this is just my personal opinion, and so anybody is free to disagree with what I'm saying. But next time you go to church, pay attention to what is being said, and most of all pay attention to what is not being said; therein lies the subtlety.

Of course you might be thinking "what is this guy talking about?" Be patient, it will make sense sooner or later. And of course, I might be wrong since I'm wrong all the time; well, most of the time. And of course if Jacobus Arminius is your friend, then don't pay any attention to me or to what is not being said. And of course, I like saying 'and of course'.

Anyway; we are adamant about protecting the guys at the meetings by instilling in them a love for the word of God, everything we do and say turns around the inerrant and divinely inspired words of Christ as written by His prophets and apostles in the bible. Everything. It is fun.

Jim, my partner and I, have seen hundreds, probably even thousands of guys and gals come through the door of that meeting; in 15 years we have seen everything; we have witnessed the power of God in the transformation of lost and darkened souls into bright and shining stars of the Grace of God. We have seen people who were actually scary when we first met them, and now we look at them and they are completely different, they are new creatures. I think I should document some of those instances just to boast in the power of God and His word.

It's amazing. But it is also heart braking sometimes; we have seen people backslide heavily, even unto death. It is tragic; it breaks your heart, it actually hurts. But there is a common denominator in those who go back to darkness: they stop reading the word of God.

How can we make someone get into the word? We can't. That is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit; He is the one who puts the desire in the heart, He is the one who gently leads one to the water, the living water. But even the Spirit can't make someone get into the word; it takes our obedience to His leading, it takes effort on our part. It is a matter of obedience, that is the bottom line; and it has nothing to do with works.

We all tend to be disobedient to God's voice; it is a fact, and it is a fact because we still have this sinful body made of flesh; we still have to deal with our pride, with our laziness, with our procrastination, with the thoughts and the intents of the heart; and only one thing pierces even to that division: the sword of the Spirit.

Heb 4:12 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 pierces deep; but we don't want to get pierced because it hurts. It hurts the human side of our minds and the human side of our hearts; it cuts through the fog of the flesh and the thoughts, and it shows our pride, our insufficiency. It brings our self-exaltation, and our self-dependence, and our self-worship and self-reliance to the surface, where it can be scraped away by the mighty hand of God. It actually circumcises our heart and our mind. It's good.

The fact is that the simple act of opening the bible and reading it, is a supernatural act of God; that is the Spirit of God overcoming our resistance; for the true believer, this happens sooner or later; God always wins. Love conquers all things.

We instruct, we teach, we exhort, we rebuke, we admonish everyone, just like Paul said to the Colossians: Col 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

It is a given that we are not super saints; we have defects of character and we are in the same sanctification path as all other children of the King; some of us have been walking for a while, some of us are new at walking and are just taking baby steps; some of us walk with crutches and canes and we need patience and love for one another. We will get there though; slowly but surely.

But; for those of us who have been walking for a while it is necessary that, as the elderly brethren, we proclaim the truth in love. As a matter of practice we should go on beyond the basics: Heb 5:12-14 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. King James Version

The basics are good, we are not to leave these things behind as forgotten, but again: Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The problem strides on the basics not being fully expounded nor comprehended; when is the last time that you heard that the wages of sin is death? Or, hell is a real place and you are going there unless you repent from your sin?

People need to hear this kind of thing, it needs to be preached, it's part of the basics: 1Ti 1:5-11 But the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned, from which some, having swerved, have turned aside to foolish talking, desiring to be teachers of the law, neither understanding what they say nor that which they affirm.
But we know that the law is good if a man uses it lawfully, knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous one, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

And what about this? 1Co 6:9-11 Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you. But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul repeats himself in Galatians 5:19-21; these things form part of a long list of items that we need to repent from. To me this can turn into a debate in my mind; I say I am not murderer, but do I create dissension? I am not a heretic, but do I have outbursts of wrath, or do I envy? I am not a fornicator or an adulterer, but do I watch porno and lust after women? I'm not a homosexual, but do I covet, or lie? Do you see my point? Read the sermon on the mount, Jesus said it better than me.

The penalties for braking the law, and anything contrary to sound doctrine; according to Paul in the verses above (1Tim. 1:5-11); is not inheriting the kingdom of God; in other words, the sentence of the law is hell. That is part of "the glorious gospel of the blessed God".

Those are the basics; right? You tell me if I'm wrong, but those are the essentials in my mind. Of course there is more, but I'm making a point.

Now what about the meatier aspects of the gospel? The solid food that we are supposed to be chewing by now? Notice that the writer of Hebrews talks about the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and the principles of the oracles of God as being milk; and those who partake only of milk are unskilled in the word of righteousness, as babes, little kids with no teeth; completely dependent on their moms.

But solid food, the meat; belongs to those who are mature, of full age he says; and then he explains who they are: those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. This is very interesting to me.

We're almost there, be patient.

"By reason of use" there refers to habit, practice, practice of what? Practice of the word of God. And their senses are not the physical senses but the discernment organs; the mind and the heart. What this means to me is that those who have made it a habit of reading, hearing, studying, memorizing and meditating on the word of God; are making it a habit, a form of life, a lifestyle; a practice in general. This is because once you do those things, reading, hearing, etc. you become a doer of the word by consequence; and doing the word gives you discernment.

Discernment not only in the world and in life, but also when we read the scriptures and in how to apply them to our life; the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

If you are like me, and have a little bit of OCD, or a lot; we become obsessed by the things that bring us pleasure. I like motorcycles and so I read about motorcycles, ride a motorcycle, and have friends that ride motorcycles. When I'm with those who ride, I talk about motorcycles, and think about motorcycles; and at the same time I can't help but to filter everything through the lens of scripture.

Same case scenario with the word of God; I like it even better than motorcycles; and I try to do all those things that will allow me to know Jesus better by practicing what His word says; but how am I to practice what I have never read?

The cool thing about this is that God is the one who is doing the work in me, and by using what I have read and studied, and by circumstances that He places me in, I have been able to discover some of that meat that I'm supposed to be chewing; and it tastes very good, it is so good that becomes addicting; I blame that on the OCD.

Then on the other side, I can't talk to a baby about fillet Mignon; he doesn't care about fillet; or t-bones or about any other kind of meat, because he can't eat it; the baby wants his bottle and I really don't want milk with my meat.

I know, it's late and I'm getting sidetracked; but getting back to my initial point; the gospel is the full counsel of God; all the teachings and doctrines about the creator and redeemer of mankind, of the human race. No, I'm not talking about every single human being, I'm taking about the race. See what I mean?

Okay; time to say ciao baby, but let me just close this post by making the point that I wanted to make since the beginning and couldn't because I'm compulsive.

It is critical that when I read the bible, first of all, I pray for discernment; then I pray for help to understand it; pray for revelation from God; I need His help, I need the power of the Holy Spirit to understand what I'm about to read, or study. It is also critical that I pay attention to the words; that I use good hermeneutical practices, like context, audience, time and place, who is talking, etc.

Then I need to never lose the sight of the big picture; the whole book is about God's redemptive work accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ; the redemption of the church and the universe through the sacrifice of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.

With or without OCD; certain things will jump out of the pages of scripture sooner or later; for example one of them is that we, the believers, have been chosen by God; we have been predestined to be children of God by God Himself. Ephesians 1:3-4.

Yes, no one can deny that the bible teaches predestination; some of the things the bible teaches are a mystery to me, and they will remain as such until I die; but others are just so very clear, there is no use in arguing that they are not being taught by the word of God. You might not like it, I might not like it but who cares, it is there and no one can deny it who has made the word of God his delight.

Being born again or the doctrine of regeneration, or the new birth, is another doctrine that has been completely mistaught; today churches all over the place talk about being born of the Spirit as something that is totally up to the individual; when in fact is not, you can slowly read John chapter 3 where Jesus talks to Nicodemus about this, and what is clear by His words is that no one can be born again by his or her own efforts; but the church still presents this miracle as something that can be attained by raising one's hand, saying a prayer and walking down an isle.

At the same time that the bible teaches predestination, it teaches election; and it teaches limited atonement; and all the other doctrines that the Calvinistic system of theology teaches. These doctrines are in fact the doctrines of grace and of the total, complete, exalted and undeniable sovereignty of Almighty God.

That is the meat.

Count your blessings

Someone once told me, count your blessings; and I thought, yeah, I need to count my blessings, but I never did. How do you count your blessings anyway? Do you make a list starting with number one? Do you use letters, like in blessing A, blessing B, etc? What do they mean?

I guess I could start by making a list, checking it twice, I've been a good boy; oops wrong list. But yeah, I could make a list. Or maybe a few lists and then combine them into a large list, I say large because it would be a very large list, a list of lists.

I can always start with the physical list; then do the emotional list and then the spiritual list; and then the combination of all three would be the whole list of blessings; the all inclusive blessings list.

It could look something like this: 1. I have a body. 2. My body has 2 legs. 3. My body has two arms. 4. I have five fingers. 5. I have five toes. 6. my body has two ears and they work. 7. My head has two eyes and they work. 8. My body has a mouth and it works; I should keep it shut most of the time though. 9. My nose smells, my butt smells, sorry that's a different part of my body. 10. My taste buds work, sometimes they don't since things taste like crap. 11. My head has a brain that kind of works. Still. 11. My mouth has half of all my teeth, thank you very much, I can still chew. 12. My stomach and digestive system still works, regardless of the constipation. Thanks mouth. 13. My back is still there, even if it hurts, I can still bend over to put my shoes on. 14. My heart still pumps blood; at higher pressure than normal, but that has nothing to do with it. 15. I can still breathe, so my lungs still work ok. 16. My skin is still elastic, though it's getting thinner. 17. I still have hair, most of it gray, so two colors it's cool. 18. My joints still work, even with cracks and pops. 19. I can still feel things with my hands, my fingers still work to play the guitar and type. 20. I love pizza. Ok, that has nothing to do with my body but hey I like pizza, it is a blessing. etc, etc.

I know, that's really not a real list because it is a paragraph but the numbers are there, ok? So yes, it is a list. Not an extensive list, but a list nonetheless. By the way, sorry for the seemingly crude language, I apologize. See point n below.

What about the emotional blessings list? It could look something like this: a. I feel loved. b. I am happy. c. I don't have to worry. d. I feel protected. e. I am in God's hands. f. I feel secure. g. I feel accepted by God. h. I think I like me. i. I think I like you. j. I tell the truth. k. I am honest, I lie sometimes. l. I'm not a drunk. m. I like people. n. I'm a nice guy. o. You are a nice guy. p. I like women, and that is good, see point j. q. Women like me, and that is good too, see point k. r. I love my kids. s. My kids love me. t. My grand kids love me. u. My friends like me. v. My neighbors like me. w. I like me, again. x. I am a nice guy, again. y. And Darn it. z. People like me.

Ok I went a little crazy there, but it could look like that, I guess. So emotionally I'm pretty blessed. Of course the spiritual blessings list is pretty long; I could just list Ephesians 1:3-4 and that would do the trick.

I did make a list one day and I read it in front of the church; I still have it somewhere but I couldn't find it to put it here. I should make a list everyday of the blessings I have and then put it on the refrigerator with a magnet; kind of...like a shopping list, yeah, a list of blessings for the day.

But now when I really think about it, God has a list of blessings He has blessed me with; I could not even imagine a list like that in all the years of my life; check it out:

List from Ephesians 1:

1. Chosen before the foundation of the world.
2. I shall be holy and without blame before Him.
3. Predestined to be a child of God by adoption.
4. Made a son by Jesus Christ.
5. Accepted in the Beloved.
6. I have redemption through His blood.
7. I have forgiveness of sins.
8. I have the riches of His grace.
9. His grace abounds toward me in all wisdom.
10. He made His mystery known to me.
11. I have been gathered to Him.
12. I have an inheritance.
13. Predestined according to His purpose.
14. I should be to the praise of His glory.
15. I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.
16. His power is at work in me.
17. I will inherit the riches of His glory.
18. I'm part of His body.
19. My spiritual eyes have been opened.
20. I have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Etc.

That is just a list of the obvious ones, you can still expound that list into many others things, like not being under His wrath; having a mansion prepared for us, no more tears or pain, a new heaven and a new earth, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. I can spend a couple of hours just making such list, without checking it twice.

Make a list, count your blessings. I say.

Fear Not, Part 2

I know for sure that at least 2 people are reading this; I don't really know about the rest but for those two, I dedicate this post. If you are one of those two friends, one of you is my best friend, so please feel privileged.

Ok, that's a foolish thing to say because I know more than two people are reading this, but hey I have to make this interesting; if you are going to spend the next ten minutes of your valuable life making an incursion into my brain, the least thing I can do is give you something worth your time; or your brain.

My brain is usually in a state of gone-ness; I'm out there somewhere in the vast spaces of my universe; which is about the size of my garage; and usually I don't have many interesting things to say; but do not fear, today is your lucky day: I have a very interesting thing to say today, read on.

God loves you.

Isn't that interesting?

Ha, you might say; what a joke. But it is not a joke; He really loves you. Now, I would like to ask you to put down your preconceived notions about who God is; put down all your religious thoughts; ignore all the things you have learned at church; knock yourself off the pride horse and think very carefully on that statement: God loves me.

That is the most exquisite thought you and I can ever think; it might not seem like a big deal but you need to ponder it. You need to meditate on what that means; you and I really need to sit down for a minute and really meditate on that single fact, because it is a fact, God loves me. He loves you.

We are so used to think that God loves us because we learned that at church, we sang Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so, and so forth; and it is true, the bible says that God loves you. We are weak but He is strong.....

But it is more than a song; let's think for a minute who God is. If we don't really get this; if we really don't understand who He is, we won't get the clear thought of His love; His love will seem distorted, it will be like looking at His love through a foggy glass; or polarized lenses.

We know we can't really know God in all His fullness because that is one of His attributes, that is one of the things that make God, well, God. But He has chosen to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus Christ; so if we want to know who God is, we need to look into who Jesus is; and that leads me to the first point I want to make.

God is awesome in power; God says something and it happens; in fact He doesn't even have to speak, He just thinks a thought and it becomes a reality in all realms. All the words we speak are thoughts in the first place, and the same way God thinks and then He speaks; saying that is not making God like us, but us like Him, He created us in His image; but the point is that God is so awesomely powerful that He is able to create worlds by speaking (Hebrews 1:3). He loves you.

Now think about this; and of course what I am saying here is for those of you who are already believers; God is now, even as we speak, exerting His power in us who believe. This He is doing by the faith He gave us (Eph. 2:8-10) in the first place; but this is not any kind of God power; is not the kind of power He used when He created the universe, or that He used to part the Red Sea, or the kind of power He used to stop the sun for Joshua, no; the power He is exerting in you is the same power He used when He raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Ephesians 1:19-20. Now, that is an amazing, absolute powerful power. In His resurrection, He loves you.

God is absolutely, one hundred percent, totally, and infinitely Holy; in Him there is no shadow of turning, says James; God lives in unapproachable light. God is so Holy, with capital H; that even the angels in heaven dare not to look straight at Him (Isaiah 6:2). God loves you.

God created these creatures called seraphs, I think the plural is seraphim, but He created these angelic beings with the sole purpose of worshiping God in heaven, in His presence; and the way they worship Him is by crying to each other: "Holy, Holy, Holy, is YAHWEH of Hosts, the earth if full of His glory" Isaiah 6:3.

The holiness of God is so important, and is so glorious, and so beyond our comprehension that the only time in the bible that we hear Holy repeated three times is when God is being worshiped; when the bible repeats things twice, we need to pay attention; and when the bible repeats something three times, we really need to pay attention; we need to give it our utmost reverence and concentration; and that is the case with the Holiness of God. God loves you.

God is so Holy, that looking at Him in our present state would literally evaporate us from His presence; that is why Moses could not actually see God (Exodus 33:20) and live; but we can see Jesus and live; and in fact the only way to see God is to see Jesus, 2Corinthians 4:6; Jesus Himself stated that "whoever has seen Me has seen the Father" John 6:46. Jesus is God, and He loves you.

Isaiah had an identity crisis when He saw the glory of God in his vision; such was the shock of God's holiness and glory that he said "I am undone"; we don't really get the full impact of what those words mean; the original word entails transient destruction, a complete failing of the personality; that is what happens when we fully understand the extent of the Holiness of God, we become as non-existent, undone. Even when undone, God loves you.

What makes the more impact on me, and you, is that we are not holy at all; that is why God's holiness is so awesome, because we cannot understand it, His level of purity in emotions, motives, actions, all His perfections, stem out from His totally awesome Holiness; Holiness is His delight. The more we understand how wicked and depraved we are, the more we will understand His holiness, that is a fact. You are depraved but He loves you.

We think the white sands of Cancun are bright in the sunshine; we need to wear sun glasses just to go outside in a sunny day; but who can look directly into the sun and not go blind? When we fix our eyes on our righteousness, it is as if we were looking into a starless night compared to the brightness of God's holiness; and His glory. We are dark and He loves us.

This is a long read but I could not help add it to my dissertation; the following words in brackets, [ ]; are from one man of God who lived five hundred years ago; he could not have put what I'm thinking in better words:

[" On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity.

Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not to the Lord also - He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself.

And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly white.

Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when applied to the sun.

Thus too, it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods.

But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence.

So far are those qualities in us, which seem most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity.

3. Hence that dread and amazement with which as Scripture uniformly relates, holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God.

When we see those who previously stood firm and secure so quaking with terror, that the fear of death takes hold of them, nay, they are, in a manner, swallowed up and annihilated, the inference to be drawn is that men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.

Frequent examples of this consternation occur both in the Book of Judges and the Prophetical Writings; so much so, that it was a common expression among the people of God, “We shall die, for we have seen the Lord.”

Hence the Book of Job, also, in humbling men under a conviction of their folly, feebleness, and pollution, always derives its chief argument from descriptions of the Divine wisdom, virtue, and purity. Nor without cause: for we see Abraham the readier to acknowledge himself but dust and ashes the nearer he approaches to behold the glory of the Lord, and Elijah unable to wait with unveiled face for His approach; so dreadful is the sight.

And what can man do, man who is but rottenness and a worm, when even the Cherubim themselves must veil their faces in very terror? To this, undoubtedly, the Prophet Isaiah refers, when he says (Isaiah 24:23), “The moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign;” i. e., when he shall exhibit his refulgence, and give a nearer view of it, the brightest objects will, in comparison, be covered with darkness.

But though the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves are bound together by a mutual tie, due arrangement requires that we treat of the former in the first place, and then descend to the latter."]

End of brackets. God loves you.

Those are the words of John Calvin; written five hundred years ago, still ringing true this day; and did you notice? "The inference to be drawn is that men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God". God loves you in His majesty.

What about the omniscience of God? God knows everything there is to know. He knows the past, present and future of all the days of your life; He knows all things from eternity to eternity; He knows all the thoughts of billions of people in the world at the same time; He knows all the sparrows, and ducks, that fall from the sky; refer to my previous post "Fear Not". God loves you.

What is even more impressive, and in view of His holiness and power; is that He knows how depraved we are; in fact He only knows how wicked we are. If He were to show us the full extent of the depravity of our hearts, all in one shot, it would kill us. Even then, He loves you.

And what about His omnipresence? And His wisdom; and His eternalness? And what about God's sovereignty? And His faithfulness? And His truthfulness; and all the attributes that I'm not going to get into because I am not qualified to even think about them?

And what about His promises? Has He ever left you in the gutter? Have you and your children been left with no food for days? Have you slept in a dumpster lately? Ok, let's not go that far, did you take a hot shower today? or last night? Is your refrigerator empty? Is your electricity shut down yet? Are you in the dark?

No, really; stop and think; Has He failed to make your heart pump blood through your vile body yet? Are you still breathing? Don't get bitter, God loves you my friend. Praise Him, worship Him, get out of yourself and bend the knee; confess that He is Lord, He loves you.

Meditate upon His love tonight. Why would we get irritated that He is conforming us to the image of His son? Because we don't like it? I think we better start liking it and stop our nagging; He reigns and He does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth, who can stay His hand?

He will never leave you nor forsake you; God loves you, so fear not.

Fear not

Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Or than many ducks.

It was a Kodak moment; it had just rained hard over the mountains and the lake. The clouds were completely gone, I could not see a single one in the sky; they flew away towards the desert while the sun started its final descent into the other side of the earth. My heart cried out for the living God; my flesh and my mind starved for His righteousness; thirsty for His holiness.

Then He sent this duck my way; a solitary duck cruising in the glass like surface of lake Morena, it was the only thing that moved on that lake that afternoon, and it was sent from Yahweh to show me that He cares for ducks.

He cares for sparrows, and ducks; He cares for me and my insignificant existence. God cares, and He wants me to know that. He sends ducks to prove it; He sends humming birds to prove it; He makes the earth spin to prove it. He sent Jesus to die in my place to prove it.

I'm not trying to be irreverent, I'm saying that there is an infinite number of ways in which He proves His love for me, there is a great mountain of evidence of His care and love, and the summit of it is Jesus dying on that piece of tree.

I should write the words of Jesus on the mirror; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered"; the same way that all the cells in my body are all numbered, the same way that the stars in the sky are all numbered; the number of burritos I will eat in my life is numbered, and the grains of sand on the beaches of the planet are all numbered, that is a lot of grains of sand but they are nothing compared to the number of the stars in the universe; yet He knows them all by name, because of His great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26.

Not a single grain of sand is missing from the beach; not a single duck is missing from the lakes of the world; they are all there, as they are supposed to be; they exist by design, they have been foreseen and foreknown to be there, even before they were created. The same way as we were chosen before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

I happen to be one of those humans that worries everyday; and when I see the provision of God, and after the day is spent; I can only find peace and relief in the faithfulness of my God. It is an everyday struggle against this heart that is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; and it is an every day triumph when I come to His presence to find comfort in His word.

It has been determined before hand by God; and in the most holy and wise counsel of His will; that all the trials that I now face should be to the praise and glory of His grace; this affects not only my present circumstances but also those of my family and all those people who are related to me by God's design.

Not seeing life like this detracts God from His glory, and it's an affront to His sovereignty and goodness; not seeing my life as completely dependent on His purposes and His providence leaves me an ungrateful, vain and depraved sinner; oblivious to His mercy in Christ.

Not that I am not a vain and depraved sinner, but an ungrateful one I don't want to be; and so I submit to His designs and try to leave worry at the feet of Jesus; at the end of the day, right before I fall asleep, during the last moment of consciousness, I surrender and let go; and He has never failed me, not even once, I open my eyes the next morning to find myself in His arms of love. It is of YAHWEH'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lam. 3:23-24.

We all tend to worry, we worry as an indication of our fallen-ness; of our inability to surrender our minds to the care of God; we worry because we fear not achieving or gaining something, or because we fear losing something; that is the bottom line, fear. But how many times do we hear Jesus say "do not fear, I AM"? Many times, He is constantly reminding His disciples to not fear, to not worry; to trust in Him, to believe in Him. Fear not my child, fear not.

Ninety five percent of the things we worry about will never happen; the other five percent cannot be changed by worrying; and even then the fear has been removed from them, like the fear of death. Death sounds even attractive sometimes because it means seeing God face to face.

To "the very hairs in your head are all numbered" in the mirror, I shall add the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

And of Yahweh Himself: Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Fear not, I AM.

All things for good

Every day I feel like I am giving birth to myself in the morning; I have no idea what a woman goes through while giving birth, but I assume is very similar to what I feel when I wake up, just intensified to the n-th factor. I am not complaining though. I admire women for that and for many other reasons.

God is sovereign; He reigns in all the universe, and over every atom that forms anything. Nothing escapes His attention; not a single quark in creation is free from His dominion and everything moves according to His eternal plan, and according to the purpose of His will.

God has a purpose for everything that exists, and for every situation in which His creatures are involved. For those humans like me, who are confronted with constant opposition from the world and the flesh; and from principalities and powers and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, every thing works together for our own good. Rom. 8:28.

The promises of God, like the one in Romans 8:28; are a massive rock on which I can build my whole life. I have to. I have to trust and believe that it is true; that I have been called according to His purpose; and I love God without a shadow of a doubt.

When I think about living life without Jesus, it frightens me; how did I ever go through life without knowing Him for 31 years? I know the answer to that; I lived just like every one else who doesn't know Him does (is that the right way to phrase that?). I have problems. I had problems not only with language, but with dealing with myself and with life in general.

I was a fool by all standards; first of all because I did not believe in the God I believe now; I believed in a god with a small g; a god who slept and was tired often; a god who took constant vacations, a god that did not answer any of my prayers and who was kind of deaf to start with; my god was a very small god, with a very small g. A micro g. He was a micro god; maybe an atomic god, the size of an atom.

The God that I believe in now is a very big God, He is too big to even try to measure, He is Big with a big B, and He is God with a big G; He is the kind of God, the only one in fact (Isaiah 45:5-7), who can make promises like that of Romans 8:28; read it again and think it real slowly; it has eternal significance.

Since God is awesomely in control of all things and everything that comes to pass, in my life and in yours too; He is the only one who can make an eternal promise like that; because it is eternal; my good is an eternal good; and all things are working eternally for my good, and the only reason I love God is because He loves me with an everlasting love; Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD (YHWH) hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

See? He is the one who has drawn me; He made me come to Him; John 6:44-45 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

It is obvious, no one can come to Jesus except the Father draws him and teaches him that Jesus is the way to salvation; it is therefore an error to say: "I came to Jesus"; no, I didn't come to Jesus, I was drawn to Him by the Father.

That word there "draw" is the Greek word "ἑλκύω", "ἕλκω" helkuo, ̄ helkō. Pronounced: hel-koo'-o, hel'-ko (G1670 in Strong's dictionary) Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): - draw. Compare G1667.

And here is the Webster definition: Draw, v.t. pret. drew; pp. drawn. [L. It is only a dialectical spelling of drag, which see.]
1. To pull along; to haul; to cause to move forward by force applied in advance of the thing moved or at the fore-end, as by a rope or chain. It differs from drag only in this, that drag is more generally applied to things moved along the ground by sliding, or moved with greater toil or difficulty, and draw is applied to all bodies moved by force in advance, whatever may be the degree of force. Draw is the more general or generic term, and drag, more specific. We say, the horses draw a coach or wagon, but they drag it through mire; yet draw is properly used in both cases.

My point? The same point that Jesus was making: you and I can't come to Jesus unless the Father drags us to Him; why does He have to actually drag us? Because we were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1); and we were enemies of God by nature (Rom 8:7), and we were opposed to anything and everything He represents; He had to drag us through and out of the mire; that was the only way we could ever come to Him, period.

Why is it so hard to accept? Why do people have such a hard time accepting that God is sovereign and He is the one doing ALL the work in saving us? Why do I have to hear the constant argument "I made a decision; I made a choice"? It is simple, because man is so full of pride that thinking that his "free will" is not free, causes him to have an anxiety attack; he goes spastic at the least mention of the idea that his sovereignty might have been violated by an all loving God. Even if God violated my "free will" I wouldn't have a problem with it, would you?

If I don't have a problem with Romans 8:28; but I have a problem with the Father of Glory dragging me to Jesus, then I am a walking contradiction; then Romans 8:29-30 can be highlighted with my Sharpie, black.

The will of man is in bondage, it is not free; the will of man is enslaved to sin by nature and since birth; all I have to do is watch my grand kids play to know that; foolishness is bound up in their little hearts, and they are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17:9. The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, Genesis 8:21.

Martin Luther puts it this way: "When it is granted and established that "free-will", having once lost its liberty, is compulsively bound to the service of sin, and cannot will anything good; I from these words, can understand nothing else than that "free-will" is an empty term, whose reality is lost. And a lost liberty, according to my grammar, is no liberty at all" (The Bondage Of The Will).

"Man has free will only in the sense that he is not under any outside compulsion which interferes with his freedom of choice or his just accountability. In his fallen state he only has what we may call "freedom of slavery"; he is in bondage to sin and spontaneously follows Satan. He has no ability or incentive to follow God. Now, we ask; is this a thing worthy of the name "free"? And the answer is no; not free will but self-will would more appropriately describe his condition since the fall". Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine Of Predestination. Copyright 1932.

What does this have to do with my waking up in pain every morning? It has everything to do with pain, and with discomfort, and with anxiety, and depression, and uncertainty; and with tears, and obsolescence, and futility; it erases all of them; it destroys their temporal grip on my soul and my aching body; it restores me to sanity.

And not only that but reminds me that God is at work in me to will and to perform of His good pleasure; it reminds me that I am being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation; it reminds me that if God gave me the promise that everything works together for my good, is because I have been saved and called with a holy calling, not according to my works of righteousness but according to His purpose and grace, given to me in Christ Jesus before time began.

It completely assures me that I know whom I have believed; and I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day; it reminds me that He has not given me a spirit of fear but of love and power and of a sound mind; it constantly reminds me that there is day coming when this will be a reality: Isa 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

And it reminds me that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

I will be thinking about this tomorrow morning, if I wake up.

Musick

I like all kinds of music; well, almost all kinds of music; I really don't like Mexican country, or folk, gee, I don't even know what to call it, but I don't like it. I definitely don't like rap;to me that is like hieroglyphics with a beat; but some people love it. Ok, that is ok with me, I don't like it. Then there is country music, some of it I don't dislike, it is tolerable to my ears, some of it I really don't care for, and some of it is really disgusting.

There is jazz also; there is cool jazz, radio jazz; and there is rock, and heavy metal, or just metal, some of it I like, some I just can't stand; so I don't listen to it. Some of it makes me tweak in my brain; it brings me bad memories, and awakens some sections of my flesh that I'd rather keep dormant, dead. Some of it I think is happy music, some of it is depressing music. Some of it is violent music.

Then there is blues; I really like blues; not just delta blues; but also jazz-blues fusion, like John Mayall. I don't hear anything like that being played in the radio any more; then there is funk, James Brown style of funk; I can also mention soul music, and of course gospel music. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, Santana and all that, I like it, sometimes, depending on the mood.

A little more sophisticated is classical music, I like classical music, but not all of it; for example I really like Chopin; and I can really get into Antonio Vivaldi; so happy, full of joy; of course all the greats of a couple of centuries ago are awesome, Beethoven, Warner, Liszt, Mozart, Puccini, you know what I mean....some, the great majority were Christian musicians and composers, some of them were not, but that was the norm.

I don't listen to the radio anymore; it seems like the T.V.; there is not very much worth listening to, or watching on the tube. Maybe it's me, I'm getting old; I'm too conservative, too old fashioned for today's generation. Too pre-modern. Maybe I'm losing the joy of living in the iPhone era, I don't know.

Then there are some musicians that even though they are not Christians, or at least I don't think they are; I can really listen to, I can listen all day to Keith Jarret, or George Winston; or Miles Davis; I usually like instrumental music; and if it has lyrics, they must say something edifying to me; worship music is in the top of that class but I don't really listen to a lot of it.

There are some cool musicians out there, virtuous musicians. I really like guitar players because I play just a little bit of guitar, and I can understand how hard it can be to play the right way. Andres Segovia is one of my all time favorites; I grew up listening to him and some others like David Moreno. My grand mother was from Spain and she really liked Flamenco guitar, most of my uncles played, and so between bull fights and Spanish guitar, I learned to have a taste for the artful.

The point is that when I like something, I like it OCD style; and I tend to play the same thing for days at a time, until my brain says: come down, that's enough. This kind of thing happens when I listen to someone who is very very good at what he or she plays; and usually it is because they are so excellent at doing it, and they also enjoy doing it, that for some reason pleases my egotistical self.

Some of those musicians are people like Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai; I can listen to these guys all day and never get tired, I really don't think there is anybody quite like Steve Vai; his guitar playing is way beyond skill, it is almost supernatural. One thing is for sure, music has the ability to influence the way we think; it is just like everything else in the world; we can get conformed, or we can get transformed.

I have made an experiment; I forced myself to listen to some music I thought I didn't like, classical, and I ended up liking it; what happened is that I forced myself to really listen to it; the way it flowed from the beginning; the way the notes went all over the place, it was interesting. Locatelli, concerto grosso in C minor; trip out on that. I like it now.

I have no idea why I started thinking and talking about music, I guess my point is that music is really a gift from God; heaven is actually filled with music; worship is going on all day and all night, all the time, constantly; forever: Rev 4:8-11 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

They rest not day and night....forever....they worship God constantly.

I know this does not compare to the scene in heaven, but here is Vai's "whispering a prayer"....cool stuff...

The Temple

How significant is the Temple to you? Well, I have to say that it is very significant; we know from the bible that the temple has to be in place in Jerusalem in order for the antichrist to be revealed. That is what makes it significant, but it even goes farther than that, the temple and all its instruments of worship point to Jesus Christ.

A few months ago, the Temple Institute posted a video clip of their latest accomplishment: the moving of the Menorah towards the future site of the temple, through the streets of Jerusalem; the people form the Temple Institute have already in place most of the utensils for the sacrifices, as well as the priestly garments; all designed and made according to the instructions given to Moses by God Himself. The cool thing is that you can actually see the garments and read the book of Exodus to expand your understanding of it all.

The Institute also has a system to track the Levites via DNA, which is very interesting also; these people are serious about what they are doing, I think we also need to take them seriously; or at least I should.

Anyway, if you would like to visit the Temple Site, click on this link: http://templeinstitute.org/; or click on the post title.

At any rate; I think that the temple is a fascinating structure; the way it was designed and built is amazing; it actually says in Exodus that Moses was shown a model of it by God; YHWH instructs Moses to build it according to the pattern that He showed him. This makes me think that the original temple is in heaven and that Moses was looking at it when God was speaking to him, I'm probably wrong, but maybe I'm not...

I'm in pain....I will talk about the tabernacle some other day; that is also a trip.

Are ratings accurate?

I thought this was interesting, I found that this blog, makarios, has a rating of "great": 8.3 according to Blogged; a website that ranks blogs all over the net. It occupies number 15 in the list of Christian Protestant blogs out there. I wonder if this is accurate. Maybe I am reading the list in the wrong way, but the rating is there 8.3, great.

I do wonder. There are a lot more blogs out there that deserve the same or better rating, some of them I read daily and I like them a lot better than mine, but who am I to say? Maybe people are thinking more like me and they like what they read, I don't know, maybe some people don't think at all like me and they like what they read...

One thing I know is that God is the absolute truth, He is the absolute king of the universe, and all things work together for the good of those who love Him, and who are called according to His purpose. So does it really matter what ranking this blog has? It doesn't.

There are a lot more things to preoccupy my mind than ratings; as how do I rate in Jesus' list? I know the answer to that one: depraved sinner, saved by grace. That's my rating.

Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each of esteem others better than themselves; I've got that one memorized, it is in the recesses of my mind somewhere, and still I forget about it most of the time.

But isn't that the way we are? We think, most of the time, that we are the center of the universe, in reality our universes are very very small, they are made of the mirror and the the pleasures of this world. 90% of the time we think of ourselves, that is reality, that is the reason we have a facebook page; we must share our tiny universes, we want to be significant in the universes of others.

But don't pay any attention to me, we are all dying and we want to be noticed. Yeah, that puts everybody in the same class of citizens; depraved sinners, some are saved and some are not, have you noticed? Why is that?

Yes, I say it again, some are chosen and some are not; but it is not I who says it, it is God who says it and therefore it must be true. Some people say and believe that all people will be saved, that God doesn't want anyone to perish, and that the whole world is supposed to be saved, God wants everyone to go to heaven. Even though everyone has the same rating: depraved sinner, fallen short of the glory of God, dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath, by nature, by birth, condemned already to perish.

I didn't make it up, God said it, I am just repeating what He said. Everyone is destined to die and burn in hell from the moment of birth, we are born sinners and there is nothing we can do about it, the wonder of it all is that God has decided to save some of us, that is the wonder. Even more wonderful is the fact that He chose some even before the foundation of the world. That is what He says: Eph 1:3-4.

I got into a fuzz with someone who doesn't believe this; predestination. I was just trying to teach others about the wonderful grace of God; and it offended someone, he got offended because in his mind we need to perform for God; we need to have lists, do and don't lists; lists of goals, lists of chores, performance lists; and I say no, we don't need lists, God already gave us one with ten items on it and we can't do it, we need grace. But some are still trying to keep the list going, poor souls.

Predestination; it is a hard pill to swallow, it is big and it doesn't taste good, it looks ugly too; but hey, it is good medicine; it gets rid of pride and it stimulates humility and holiness; and most of all, it glorifies God in all His splendor of goodness, wisdom, holiness and justice. This is no placebo pill, once you swallow it it will do what it was designed to do: eliminate your arrogance; and magnify His glory.

I didn't say it, it wasn't my idea and I don't like it more that anyone else; but it is the reality, it is written and it is the way it is. Scripture proof? Ok, how much do you want? It is all over the bible, you just have to pay attention when you read it.

Our problem is the mirror, and the ratings, we are over rated.

Blessed

I had dinner with two of my friends yesterday afternoon; there they are on the fence; not really, I'm kidding, but I did; I did have dinner with two of my friends and what a good time I had. Just some cool time of fellowship. Amazing.

Today I had lunch with another friend, and that was even better since she is a she; a lot prettier than my two friends from yesterday; and tonight I had a meeting with another 30 or so friends to celebrate that one of them has 20 years clean and sober; that was amazing.

God is very, very , very good to me; I still don't understand why, I don't deserve it but He is exceedingly good to me.

Then I have this treasure in life which is my daughters; and I don't really deserve them at all but I have them, then top it all off with my grand kids. That is very amazing.

We humans have been deceived into believing that satisfaction is found in the amount of things we possess; we spend years chasing the illusion of things, and at the end we remain empty. There is no satisfaction in things but in people.

Then even people can become an illusion, some think that relationships with people are the only thing that will satisfy; relationships with wives or sons or daughters, or friends; but we know that there is only one relationship that completely satisfies: the one with Jesus Christ.

People will always fall short of the glory of God, and thus people will always disappoint unless we fix our sight on Jesus. By doing that we will never be disappointed with anyone; it doesn't matter anymore what people say or do to us because we stand altogether at the level ground before the cross; there, in that place, there are no higher or lower levels, no podiums, no steps to climb; the ground is perfectly flat, no one is higher, no one is lower; we remain at the same level with every one else, looking up to the cross; absolutely insufficient, fallen, sinking, crying out with Peter: save me!

What makes us differ from others? What do we have that we have not received? Now if we did indeed receive it; why do we boast as if we did not receive it? 1 Cor. 4:7

But we have become fools for Christ's sake, says Paul; and fools we are indeed if we grumble and complain about what others do and say. Why am I talking about this? I don't know but I remain a blessed man knowing that God is the one at work in me to will and to perform of His good pleasure.

What shall we say to these things then? If God is for us, who can be against us? And yes, we remain more than conquerors through Him who loved us; and more than conquerors we are; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith; which we have but not as if we did not receive it. No boasting is allowed; but we boast in the Lord.

So today I boast in the Lord for my daughters, my grand children, and for my friends and my family; what a great boast that is!

And then that is really nothing compared to the excellency of knowing God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. I have this treasure in a clay vessel, that the excellence of the power might be of God and not of me; I am hard pressed on every side, but not completely crushed; I am perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; beaten down but not destroyed; always dying in this painful body that the life of Christ may be manifested. 2 Cor. 4:7-10

By the grace of God I am what I am.

I'm blessed.

from Between Two Worlds.... CS Lewis

I've got this video from another blog called Between Two Worlds; the link is at the bottom of the page. I watched the whole thing, I couldn't stop watching it once I started. If you like CS Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, etc. I think you will like this.

If you haven't read any of Lewis' books; I think you should. He was a brilliant thinker, and he had a great imagination.

The man in the movie is not CS Lewis but an English actor named David Payne; he has a very strong English accent but I could understand at least 95% of his words; also I think he is a very good actor, at one point in time I thought I was really watching Lewis.

The performance is funny, but also very moving towards the end; if you like poetry and literature, this video, I think, is a must watch. It's inspiring; I wish I could speak like that.

It is long, 1.5 hours, but I think it is worth the time. It is one of those things that once found, you must share with others because of the implications of the words pronounced. Life is certainly fleeting; and relationships are certainly the most important thing we possess, starting with the one with our Creator.

If you are reading this on Facebook, maybe this link will work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96uT-BvRi-k


Enjoy.