A Must-Read

Coming Alive

You can be in the church world all your life and still not understand the Bible.  This is what happened to me.  I went to church from baby-hood, memorized Scriptures, attended Bible Camp every summer, youth rallies, youth night, church twice on Sunday and so on.  Yet, as a teenager, my life went all hay-wire and I got so involved in the things of the world and the satanic world of drugs and cults that I nearly literally died.  I didn’t really understand the Bible although I had memorized many of the verses and passages of Scripture in it.  How can this be? 

I really can’t blame the church or anyone else for the wrong choices I made as a teenager.  Something in my heart was attracted to sin and so I followed that path rather than follow Jesus.  And it wasn’t long before I regretted that decision.  So the time came when I wanted out of this hopeless lifestyle that started out as fun and I started to cry out to God to help me get back to Him.  He didn’t answer me right away, but waited.  And in the mean time I came to the very end of myself with no one but God to turn to. 

I ended up enrolling in a very good Bible-based Bible School and started having to read the Bible in order to pass my courses.  Gradually things started happening and I found my life changing even though I was resisting it.  Once you get into an engrained pattern of sin, it is very difficult to get out of it.  But the Bible, I was discovering, is packed with POWER for living.  But I wasn’t just sitting up in my dorm room reading the Bible after classes.  I was out and about, walking, going downtown, going for coffee and so on.  And while I went for my walks, another strange thing happened.  The Lord Jesus began speaking to my heart; I mean really speaking to me and telling me things about myself and my past that only He could know.  Then I would go back to my dorm and check out the Bible and would find the exact verses to verify what the Lord Jesus had been speaking to me about earlier.  So I was getting to know the God of the Bible as well as getting to know the Bible.  I could now begin to understand the Bible because I was beginning to get to know Jesus personally.  So I learned that God will always confirm His Word (when He speaks to you) with His Word.   

Now after a few months of being immersed in the Bible, and most of that was of my own interest and no longer because I had to in order to pass my courses, my life had completely changed from the inside out.  I’m sorry folks, but little vacations to the ocean and the spa will never transform you like Jesus and the Bible can.  You can read all the self-help books you want and attend self-help groups, but the changes will only be temporary.  I know because I’ve also done this.  And good works?  That won’t change you either and it certainly won’t get you into heaven.  And even a knowledge of the Bible won’t change you.  I have a friend who read through the Bible three times and none of it made sense until he accepted Jesus into his heart and life. (Would you like to accept Jesus into your heart and life?  Find out how by following this link: http://www.creativefocus.ca/TheWayofSalvation.html).

A Living Word 

So what it is about the Bible along with a personal relationship with Jesus that changes a life? 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12    

It is LIVING.  It is ACTIVE.  It is SHARP.  It PIERCES.  The Bible is living and active.  This is why when you proclaim it things start to happen.  I have had the Bible proclaimed over me for healing and have been healed many times.  I have proclaimed verses in the Bible to overcome sickness and fear and they have both left me.  When I have been tempted to stray outside Biblical boundaries, however innocently, the Word of God has given me discernment, dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, warning me that I am about to enter into an area of darkness and this will either invite demonic activity into my world or enslave me in the sins of the flesh or both.

When we pray according to God’s Word, it is activated and will create change: 

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,  so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it  Isaiah 55:10-11

Just think of it, God created everything by speaking to it … And God said … and it was so (see Genesis 1).  Speaking His Word makes things happen. 

Finally, another important verse about the Bible: 

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  Romans 12:2 NIV 

In yesterday’s blog we talked briefly about the world.  I believe the above verse refers to the world in terms of its anti-godly philosophies and anything that opposes God and His Word.  Wow, that covers a lot of things, doesn’t it?  Look at what they’ve done to our school system, not allowing us to even mention God.  And look at some of the moral issues, like legalized abortion and euthanasia, not to mention our justice system.  The divorce rate doesn’t even faze us any more.  We applaud couples that are “still” married.  The list goes on and on.  Only by immersing ourselves in God’s Word can we discern what is of the world (mainly anti-godly) and what is of God, so that we may know God’s good, pleasing and perfect will. 

As you can see, the discussion about the power of God and His Word and also the world (system) that is opposed to God is pretty much endless.  I spent over 20 years researching the “world system” from a Biblical perspective and had to narrow it down for my book Victory Over Backsliding, or it would have been a few hundred pages long.  Suffice it to say, once you start reading the Bible and seek God for relationship and understanding of His Word, your life will change. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day!

The World, The Cross, & The Battle

In yesterday’s blog, I shared a message that I believe the Lord laid on my heart to share.  Today I’d like to talk about that message.  Here is the message again: 

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a might army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world’s darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you. 

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle. 

When we watch the news we see the world go from one unrest to the next.  We were still watching the disasters of Japan wanting to keep abreast of latest developments when the news channel switched to the civil war in Libya.  I have seen many disasters on the news throughout my lifetime and lived through them all, especially the ones that were closer to home.  But we always seemed to get over it and then life went back to normal and we could enjoy peace and prosperity once again.  But the recent Japan disaster was really a global one largely due to the nuclear disaster and how it affects not only lives and quality of life, but also commercial exports such as vehicles and high-tech technology.  And now with the civil war in Libya, our gas prices have risen.  What will be the next thing that happens?  Is the world ever going to go back to normal? 

So amidst the incredible turmoil in the world today, the Church, a mighty force on its own with Almighty God as her KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS is called to RISE UP, TAKE UP OUR CROSS, and ENTER A BATTLE.  What does this look like?  What does this mean?  I believe that to rise up means that we can no longer sit back in church and just soak up the sermon.  We must take action.  How do we do this?  Before we enter any battle, we must take up our cross.  I’d like to reference this with the following: 

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"  Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.  What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  Matthew 16:21 -26 NIV 

Notice how the passage begins with Jesus prophetic message of His own suffering, death and resurrection.  Then it follows with Jesus rebuking Peter for being a stumbling block to the things of God.  Here Jesus is saying we must consider the “things of God” and not the things of men.  In Matthew 4:8-10 Satan had tempted Jesus with the splendour of the world’s kingdoms and said that if He would bow down and worship him, Satan would give it all to Him.  Later in I John2:15-17, we are instructed, “Do not love the world or anything in the world …” So to take up our cross is to focus not on the world or things of the world, but on the eternal and revealed purposes of God according to His Word.  You cannot enter a battle carrying all the baggage of the world, only carry the cross, a great symbol of all that we stand for in Christ (some references to the cross are I Cor. 1:17-18, Gal. 2:20, Gal. 6:4,6:14, Col 2:14-15).  

Now, about the battle we are entering.  Many times in Scripture it mentions the battle we are in.  The moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior, we are in a great spiritual battle.  Who are we fighting against?

 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Cor. 10:4-5  

We are fighting against Satan and his minions, demons.  Satan does battle in the area of our THOUGHT LIFE.  This is where he whispered to Peter in the above passage regarding Jesus death and resurrection:  "Never, Lord! …This shall never happen to you!"  Peter did not have “in mind” the things of God.  And this brings me to what I believe the current battle is that was in the message from yesterday’s blog. 

Yesterday, these verses kept coming to my mind: 

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  2 Timothy 4:3 -4 NIV 

I’ve been following a popular blog of someone who denies the existence of hell as a place of eternal punishment.  What I find most disconcerting is that many of the people responding to this blog appear to be Christians and yet they are agreeing with him.  Does no one read and study the Bible anymore?  Why aren’t more Bible-believing churches and Christian universities teaching directly from the Scriptures?  No wonder people are confused and can hardly take the “salad” of the Bible let alone the “meat and potatoes.”  Yes, there are many doctrines that take years, even a lifetime to try and understand and some things, like God’s unconditional love for us and yet there is hell for all unbelievers, we may never understand.   I think it all goes back to what we’ve been talking about – the mind and the things of this world.   Eve was first tempted with what?  KNOWLEDGE – she wanted more knowledge.  When we want knowledge more than to simply take God at His Word and obey it, we have made knowledge into a personal idol.  And the result of idolatry is always confusion and eventually judgement.  Remember that after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God cursed us all and every human and living thing would die as a result of it (and then promised a Redeemer, Jesus, to deliver us from dying in our sins).  The Children of Israel were judged in the wilderness journey for building a golden idol while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God (read Exodus 32).  I have devoted almost a lifetime of researching these things and I can promise you I have never found anything positive resulting from idolatry.  So we need to focus our thoughts on the Word of God which is our ultimate weapon.  Are we filled up on the Word of God in preparation for battle?  Or can we be easily turned away like Peter and rely on our own idea of the way we think things should be? 

Watch for more blogs to come about the opening message. Thanks for reading and may God Bless You abundantly and lead you into all His Truth. 

The Time is Very Very Short

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."  Matthew 9:37-38

This morning I had many things on my mind.  As an artist and a writer, I work at several different things at once and I go from one inspirational project to another.  So this morning I was thinking about my new e-commerce website where I will display and sell my artworks.  How to best reach my customers?  What is the best method for shipping -- Canada Post or UPS?  Then my thoughts drifted to making art wall hangings and how I would arrange one of my summer scenes.  I looked around my living room -- too much stuff for my liking.  So then I started to think about which pieces of furniture to get rid of.  Do I donate them or sell them?   Finally, I read my Bible, Psalm 91.  I try to read this particular passage every day, although some days I miss.  After this, the Lord spoke to me, "The time is very very short. I have a message for the Church."  All my previous "busy" thoughts stopped and I knew I must be quiet and listen.  Here is the message I was given:

Just when you think the world is at peace, I will call you to rise up, take up your cross and enter a battle.  Bring nothing with you, for I have prepared a mighty army that will fight on your behalf.  You are now living in the world's darkest hour and just before I raise My hand in judgement.  I will smite the nations that do not honor Me.  But you will be spared if you embrace My Truth as your most sacred armament.  Avoid the entanglements of the world, for it will soon pass away.  Watch, and be ready, for then I will come for you.

After I received this message, all of my previous thoughts seemed so insignificant.  My flesh wants the comforts of this world, and to think only about pleasantries and trivial things like what color to re-paint my bedroom and what will I have for lunch.  But my spirit is strong, a trained warrior, ready to do battle in an unseen spiritual world that is more real than anything we can see or feel.  We are asked to be brave in these last days and stand up for the Truth.  Are we counting the cost and taking up our cross? 

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  Rev. 3:11

Thank you for reading and God Bless You.  May you have a victorious day!

Are we Ready?

A Comforting Thought


Lately, there's been a lot of talk about the "last days" and that we are presently living in them.  If we know anything about Bible prophecy, truly we see things lining up in preparation for Jesus soon return.  But it bothers me that the Church, (Bible-professing believers) seem to be more caught up with the end-time events of our times than the actual return of Jesus, or the Rapture.  And so many people are afraid.  The Rapture is supposed to be something we are looking for with joyful anticipation.  It says so in I Thess. 4:13-18:

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Notice verse 18, the word “comfort.”  In my own experience, the moment Jesus revealed His love for me, I knew that His love for me was real and that it would never change.  He took away my fears, and He taught me about His love.  Before, I used to be afraid of God and His wrath.  I believed I could lose my salvation, and that I had to somehow live a life that would please Him.  Part of this fearful works-oriented theology included the belief that I must be constantly made worthy to please Jesus so He would accept me.  So it only made sense to me to believe that I would have to suffer through the end times seven year tribulation period so that through suffering I could be even more worthy of Him and He would be pleased with me.  So as long as I held onto a doctrine of the fear of God and of His wrath, I could never feel the comfort and have the assurance of His love for me.  I lived a life of fear. 

As I delved into the Book of John, Romans, Galatians and the New Testament in general, I discovered the God of the Bible as an incredible forgiving and loving God.  Jesus’ work on the cross was complete.  All I had to do was accept Him and His incredible free gift of salvation.  He loves me as I am, with all my mistakes and imperfections.  Along with the comfort of knowing I could NOT lose my salvation, came the knowledge that I have not been appointed to wrath. 

1 Th 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

 

He’s done this before.  He saved Noah and his family before sending the world-wide flood that destroyed everything.  He spared Lot and his family before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.  And so I believe He will spare the Church before sending judgement on the world during the seven year tribulation as outlined in the Book of Revelation.  Rather than be afraid, we need to get excited!  Yes, many things are happening right now in our world to cause us to believe that things are coming to an end, but I believe these catastrophes are a major wake-up call to shake us up to do our job.   Just as we are feeling weary, we must rise up and focus on doing our part to advance the Kingdom of God to His honor and glory!  

Redeem the Time

As a teenager, I had a couple of vivid dreams about the Rapture. I'll never forget them because they still burn in my heart.  In the first dream I was at a fair and it was at night. People were busy going on rides, playing games, and buying their snack foods. They were completely oblivious to the fact that Jesus was returning that very night. I was taught that you must tell them about Jesus and His awesome free gift of salvation (see John 3:16) before it is too late for them and they die and pass into a Godless eternity. So at this fair, I was given only five minutes to warn people and I remember how frustrating this was because I didn't even really know where to begin. The sense of panic and regret that I had done nothing up until now overcame me and I froze, unable to speak. My time was soon up and I looked up into the sky which had now started to open up, and then I woke up.


In the second dream, I was standing on a platform, more like a large dock on a lake. Many people were there also waiting for the Lord's return (the Rapture). A tall middle-aged man came up to me and said, "Why didn't you tell me?" I'll never forget the look of anguish on his face and how tongue-tied I felt not having a single excuse and nothing to say in reply. Then it was too late to say anything and Jesus was about to return.
 

In both of these dreams, I was left with the sense of time, that time and timing are crucial when it comes to understanding the Rapture. Although we do not know the exact day or hour (see Mark 13:32), it is enough to know that the rapture is a real forthcoming event and that it WILL HAPPEN. And it is crucial to do everything we can first and foremost to spread the Good News of the Gospel to those that are lost without Christ.


The Church must be getting ready TODAY and LOOKING FORWARD with great hope and anticipation to the Rapture and the reunion with Jesus in the air. So rather than look more for the signs of the end of the age, we are to look for His soon return and be always ready to meet Him. Don't get me wrong -- we are to be wise concerning the world around us as it relates to prophecy and Scripture, but our focus is always Jesus and what He wants us to do for Him before His imminent return for us.  And, we must be warning people that TODAY is the day of salvation and that no matter what is happening in the world as we see prophetic events unfolding, the most important thing is to be personally ready to meet Jesus and obey whatever calling He has placed on our life.


In another blog I’d like to discuss the importance of not confusing the Rapture to the Second Coming of Christ. 

God Bless You and thanks for reading.