Theft of a Nation

Sunday, October 30, 2011, 4:33 a.m. – The song, “Teach Me, Lord,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 1 Timothy 1:1-11:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

To Timothy my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers of the Law

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

THE DREAM: I also woke this morning from a dream – I was on my way to go someplace with another person, or we were in the process of getting ready to leave. There was a matter to solve of some missing curtains (or drapes). I questioned Heather to see if she had stolen the curtains.

A young man, via his mom, kept inquiring about me, as to my whereabouts, I think, which made me suspicious. “Why would he keep asking about me?” I asked his mother. So, when I found out that the curtains were missing, I questioned Heather, as she somehow translated as this young man. Evidently she kept asking about me. She, apparently, wanted to make sure I would not happen upon him/her, as I might catch him/her in the act. Heather confessed that she had stolen the drapes (or curtains). I asked her where she had placed them. Then, she told me where I could find them.

Then, this other person and I got on individual motorcycles and we “flew” to get to our destination on time, because we were running late. I realized we had not given out our cell phone numbers to the people at our destination, so they had no way of calling us to see where we were. I hoped they would wait for us. Then, we arrived. I looked at the time, and I realized that, if we ran into the building, we would just make it in time to go with the group of people wherever they were going. The dream ended with me jumping off my motorcycle and running into the building. END

I knew there was more to the dream, but I did not recall it until I got to the part of this passage where it said:

Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Then I recalled this part of the dream, yet I am not sure where this fits with the rest of the dream: We were in a building. There was a S.S. Class I was avoiding attending, which was situated north of the hall. Near the end of the class, a man named Mark, who in real life is a bailiff in a county courthouse, entered the classroom to share a testimony or to give some kind of a speech. Even though the door to the room was closed, I seemed to be able to see into the room, perhaps through a window, but I don’t know for sure. END

Definition of Bailiff: “Law: a court official whose tasks include supervising prisoners and keeping order in court during a trial; a legal officer who serves under a sheriff and is empowered to take possession of a debtor's property, forcibly if necessary, to serve writs, and to make arrests” (Encarta).

The name, Heather, has shown up in my dreams before. Quoting from the dream, “Prussianize,” dated October 13, 2010:

Continuing on with the subject of Heather, I saw that there were other names for this plant, depending upon the region where the plant was grown, and one of the names was Erica. That led me to this site about Erika, which is a marching song of the German military and is also used by the prussianized Chilean army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erika_(song).

So, I looked up Prussia and I learned this – “Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history. The last capital of the state of Prussia was Berlin.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussia

Prussianize means “to make Prussian in character or principle (as in authoritarian control or rigid discipline).” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prussianization. Chilean army - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Army

My Understanding: Curtains, in my dreams, are generally symbols for national flags, which in turn are symbols for the nations for which they stand. So, the stealing of curtains has to do with the stealing of nations, which the Lord has been showing me much. This is being done by the New World Order and its military force, which is “Heather,” i.e. this Prussianized military force of the New World Order, which is our international force – NATO, and/or its offspring, one of which is a private security police force similar to Hitler’s S.S. squad during WWII. So, when I see Sunday School Classes in my dreams, I know they generally stand for S.S. in the sense of Hitler’s S.S., only belonging to the N.W.O. today.

The Stolen Curtains

So, when I read a news story about prosecutions for crimes in Afghanistan and in Iraq at the hand of our own soldiers, this did not surprise me, especially since the news article was talking specifically on the subject of stolen goods and money. One marine supposedly stole a large amount of cash and hid it in a footlocker among American flags (curtains). Others, including an embassy employee, according to the article, supposedly hid their stashes in foreign bank accounts or in stuffed animals. I don’t know if these people are really guilty of these crimes, or not, but I do believe that the U.S. government (their co-conspirators in crime) is guilty of the crime of the stealing of nations, including our own, through bribery, money laundering, theft of the American tax payers’ money, misuse of funds, kickbacks, waste, abuse, poor management, the cost of these two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the cost of “rebuilding” these nations of Iraq and Afghanistan, $206 billion for support of coalition forces, and for the performance of security functions (the S.S.); through war, false flag operations, deceit, lies, murder, perjury, unnatural disasters, and through faking uprisings and protests against the governments in nations around the globe, etc. And, all this is for the purpose of the takeover of nations worldwide.

The article mentioned that suspects under prosecution are leading investigators to other suspects. Heather led me to the stolen curtains (flags/nations). They supposedly rat on their associates, turn in their co-conspirators, etc. I saw this immediately as me asking Heather if she stole the curtains, her admitting the theft, and me asking her to show me where she hid them. This first theft of cash mentioned was hidden among American flags (curtains). I also saw Heather as a growing network of informative sources in Iraq, and I saw the U.S. Department of Justice as possibly the S.S., not that they necessarily are the S.S., but the S.S. is what is truly intended here in place of the Dept. of Justice. What I do know is that the thief of these curtains (nations) is this N.W.O., which is a child (offspring) of the US government and its allies, and the N.W.O.’s military force is “Heather,” which is German-like and is like a rebirth of Hitler’s military and his private police security force. I couldn’t help but see that the main nation being “stolen” here now is the U.S., and that U.S. government personnel are being ratted out by their own co-conspirators (allies) involved in the crime of the stealing of these nations. In other words, these are inside jobs.

Theft of a Nation

In another news article on the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in Tennessee, a young woman asked a question concerning what she could do to change the greed on Wall Street and across corporate America. Her question reminded me of my question to the mother of the young man who kept inquiring as to my whereabouts, so that he could steal the curtains without me catching him. I asked her why he kept asking about me. I believe the Lord is paralleling the two together. In other words, the way these protestors can change the greed of Wall Street and corporate America is to steal our nation, which is what Occupy Wall Street is all about. Notice the similarities between these protests and those of the nations in Africa and Asia who have all had protests generated by the N.W.O. so that the N.W.O. could take over those nations. It is beginning in America, and the end result is going to be the stealing of America, too. Also, I asked this of the young man’s (Heather’s) mom, and the girl asked the A.P. The A.P. is the Global Order’s own private news service, I believe, so the girl was really asking the N.W.O. how to change the greed in America, and their answer is the theft of our nation, just like the N.W.O. has done in the other nations of the world.

The girl was a protestor. She asked the question. I asked the question, so that makes me a protestor. I am also a U.S. investigator, according to the previous article, in comparison with the dream. In the dream, the people at our destination did not have my phone number. In this article, a court magistrate did not answer an inquiry as to a phone number for him. In other words, there is no difference between the protesters, the court officials, the U.S. government, the investigators into crimes supposedly committed by employees of the U.S. government, the A.P. News and/or World leaders, who I also represent. This is all orchestrated for our benefit to make us believe a story they have created, just like the stories they created about Egypt, Libya, et al. These protests are the working of the N.W.O., of which our government and military (international forces/NATO) are a part, so this is an inside job to take apart our nation (the renovations prior to selling – stealing – the house).

The article went on to say that The State Department of Safety has been arresting the protesters. The article also mentioned that the Commissioner was flaunting his law-and-order qualifications, which then led me to think of Mark, the court bailiff in my dream.

The False Flag (See definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag)

And, that leads to yet another news article that is related to this dream. This one is about stranded airline passengers in Australia. Supposedly there has been an airline strike and the airline grounded its global fleet over an argument with the workers on strike. In the dream, I and another person were on our way someplace, but this situation with Heather stealing the curtains, i.e. with this Prussianized army of the N.W.O. stealing nations, kept us from taking off until that was settled and we knew where the stolen curtains were hidden. When the situation was resolved and Heather admitted stealing the curtains, then we were able to fly on our motorcycles (global fleet).

So, this strike in Australia is to be paralleled over to the stealing of the curtains (nations). That is the matter that had to be settled in the dream. The strikers would then be “Heather,” i.e. this Prussianized army of the N.W.O. The grounding of global flights is really related to this Prussianized army of the global order stealing the nations of the world, and it is the N.W.O. who grounded the flights. So, all of this is the working of the N.W.O. and is for the purpose of stealing nations, which in this case would appear to be Australia. Among the stranded passengers were 17 world leaders, so I saw myself here also as a world leader.

The article said that Australian officials were frustrated over the suddenness of the grounding of the global fleet, and in the dream I was frustrated over this young man’s persistent inquiries as to my whereabouts, so there is, again, a direct parallel between the young man (the Prussianized army of the N.W.O.) inquiring as to my whereabouts and the suddenness of the grounding of this fleet and the stealing of nations. The Australian officials apparently, according to the article, asked for a court hearing. My friend Mark, in my dream, was giving testimony and he is a court official, yet he was giving testimony in the S.S. class.

As well, the passengers were struggling to get to their destinations and they were flying, and I and this other person were also grounded due to the stealing of the curtains (nations). When we found out where the curtains were hidden, we “flew” on our motorcycles (personal global planes, perhaps, since we were leaders of nations and we flew on individual “motorcycles”). Australia’s government supposedly sought a court order to force the planes back into the air. Mark was a bailiff of the court. One of a bailiff’s jobs is the arrest people or to serve writs, or to take the property of a “debtor”, by force, if necessary. This may sound confusing, and that is the point. In other words, all the players in this scenario are the N.W.O., and all of this is an act to make what is happening there appear one way, while what is really happening is something else entirely (a false flag operation).

The court heard testimony. Mark, a court official, gave testimony to the S.S. in my dream. This is supposed to be an emergency arbitration hearing called by the Australian government between the strikers and the airlines, yet the testimony in my dream was by a court official and was to the S.S. The article mentioned that the airlines were deliberately destabilizing the company, and there is no end in sight, which I saw in relation to the stealing of the curtains. This will also take an economic toll on the airlines and could disrupt the national Parliament, which could be the objective in the stealing of this nation. The aircraft will be grounded until the dispute is settled. In the dream, Heather confessed, she told me where to find the curtains, and I was up and flying again. Someone is quoted as suggesting that this action by the airlines was “holding a knife to the nation’s throat,” which I believe is the objective in the stealing of nations, so it is an “extreme measure.”

Without Power

I read yet another news article, this one about a storm that spread across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc. As I read through this story, I was struck by the analogy provided for us by this story as to the nature of this “stealing of the curtains,” i.e. this stealing of nations. The article spoke of the storm (the N.W.O. with their Prussianized army and S.S. squad) as having knocked out power (governments) to millions, brought down branches (of government) and power lines (lines of authority and rule). We should expect to be without power (our own government) for a prolonged period of time, and we should expect it to worsen (the tribulation and rule of the beast is coming eventually). The storm (N.W.O.) also caused the toppling (overthrow) of trees (kings) and a few power lines (kingdoms). This is really what all these news articles are about, and the U.S.A. is on the list, and they are presently at work in our nation and government right now doing this “toppling” and takeover of our nation and our form of government.

Some Have Wandered

This passage of scripture is a warning to us concerning leaders and teachers who teach false doctrines, in particular teachers of the law. I believe the Lord is using this passage of scripture to speak of those within our own government, courts and military who serve this N.W.O., and who proclaim to be teachers, leaders and followers of the law. So many of them have turned away from the truth and have turned to meaningless (fantasies; made-up stories; lies; deceit) talk. They promote controversies, i.e. they create these divisions, uprisings, protests, strikes, etc. as a means to an end, i.e. to the stealing of nations.

Instead of upholding the law, they have become lawbreakers, murderers, unholy, irreligious, rebels, slave traders, liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of Christ Jesus, our Lord. We need so much discernment in these evil times that can only come through seeking God’s holy face concerning who is on God’s side and who is not, and in fact, is serving Satan himself. We need to be wise about who we follow, who we trust, and who we vote for, and we need to put all of our hope and trust in Christ Jesus, not in man who cannot save us and who is bound to fail us. As well, we need to be living holy lives, pleasing unto God. We live in evil times. There is a great deception that is permeating our society. Pray that you will not be deceived, but that the Lord Jesus will open your eyes to the truth, and that you will obey the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially in these days in which we now live.

Teach Me, Lord / An Original Work / June 12, 2011

Teach me, Lord, to walk in Your ways,
And observe all You command.
May I ever hasten to You,
And desire to not offend.
Teach me how to follow Your steps,
Gently guiding me each day.
May I love and serve You always,
Loving others, this I pray.

Teach me, Lord, to listen to You
Speaking Your words to my heart.
May I never stray from Your truth,
And from Your law ne’er depart.
Teach me how to instruct others
In the way that we should go,
Leading them by my life witness,
So that Jesus they should know.

Teach me, Lord, to be a light in
This dark world of grief and sin.
May I always care for others;
Share their burdens; help to mend.
Teach me how to share with them that
Jesus came to set them free,
So that they could be forgiven;
Live with Christ eternally.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/teach-me-lord

Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiSrzoIXQyM

Resources:

Snow, wind, rain smack Northeast; cleanup begins
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OCTOBER_SNOW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-30-05-00-51

Reports: Prosecutions going up for war zone crime
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_REBUILDING_WAR_ZONES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-30-00-34-06

Fliers scramble as court hears Qantas suspension
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AUSTRALIA_QANTAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-30-04-38-03

Tenn. protesters defy curfew a 3rd time
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OCCUPY_NASHVILLE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-30-03-54-45

Our Salvation

Monday, October 31, 2011, 4:38 a.m. – The song, “Thank You, Lord,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 1 Timothy 1:12-20; 2:1-7:

The Lord’s Grace to Paul

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

My Understanding: Paul shared here his personal testimony of God’s saving grace in his life, yet, in principle, what he shared applies to all of us who have come to a saving knowledge of the truth, or to those who are yet to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Shown Mercy

Jesus Christ, God the Son, left his throne in heaven to come to the earth, and to take on human flesh. He became a man, as God intended, so that he could sympathize with our weaknesses, suffer as we suffer, be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and so he could die on a cross for our sins. He did this so we could be set free from sin. He did not die for us because of anything we had done to deserve his salvation. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. When he died, he took upon himself all our sins, so that our sins were crucified and buried with him. When he arose from the dead, our sins remained buried. Yet, he triumphed over death, hell, Satan and sin through his bodily resurrection to life.

Prior to Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, men were under the law, not under grace. They were still saved by faith, yet they did not have a permanent solution for their sins. A human priest had to offer sacrifices for their sins on God’s altar on a regular basis, yet even these offerings could not completely do away with sin. Yet, when Jesus died, he died for all sin and for all time – once for all. He became the permanent solution to man’s sin problem. Man was created to be in perfect fellowship with God, yet, when man sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, that sin separated man from God and man was cast out of the garden. So, we needed a Savior who could bridge that gap between us and God, could forgive (pardon) our sin, and could become our only mediator between us and God the Father. Jesus Christ was our perfect sacrificial lamb who died on the cross for our sins, and he is our only mediator now between us and God the Father. We no longer have to go to a physical temple to meet with God, for God’s holy temple dwells within the hearts of true believers.

The Bible says that we are saved by God’s grace and through faith, and that both the grace for our salvation and the faith to believe are gifts from God. We learn throughout the New Testament teachings on salvation that repentance (turning from our sins) and obedience to Christ (taking up our cross daily and following him) are necessary for our salvation, and are synonymous with faith. We cannot and should not separate repentance and obedience from faith in Christ Jesus, yet many try to do that. Jesus Christ died so that we could go free from sin, not that we should remain in our sin because someone lied to us and told us we did not have to turn from our sins in order to be saved. They tell another lie to convince the prospective believer, and that is that repentance and obedience to Christ equal works-based salvation, yet we learn here that God pours out his grace upon us, as well as he pours out his love and the faith for us to believe. We can only believe because the Father draws us to Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God convicts our hearts of sin, and because he reveals to our hearts the truth of God’s word, and of his gospel. We can only have a heart transformation via the working of the Holy Spirit within us in cleansing us from sin, purifying our hearts to make us holy, and in resurrecting us to new life in Jesus Christ. By grace we are saved!

The Reason

Paul said that the reason he was shown mercy was so that Christ Jesus might display within him Christ’s unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. And, Paul does serve as a wonderful example to us of God’s amazing grace to transform lives. Paul was zealous for God, but he lacked knowledge and acted in ignorance. He was a Pharisee and a religious man. He became a persecutor and a murderer of believers in Jesus Christ, because he thought he was serving God in this way. Yet, God, in his great mercy and kindness, visited him on the road to Damascus. Jesus Christ spoke to him and told him that, through his persecution of believers in Jesus Christ, he was persecuting Jesus himself. And, it was there on that road that Jesus Christ gave Paul his assignment for life. Christ Jesus appointed Paul to be his witness and servant – to open the eyes of the spiritually blind and to turn them from darkness to light; from the power of Satan to God, so they might receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God in heaven.

Paul, thus, was very thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ for all that he had done for him, first of all in saving him from his sins, and then in appointing him to God’s service, both of which are awesome examples of God’s wonderful grace to us who are so undeserving. I am not in full-time ministry because of my wonderfulness. God lifted me out of a pit of sin, too, for which I am so thankful. It does not take much for me to be reminded of where I once was, and how utterly sinful I was in my human flesh. Yet, God, in his mercy, delivered me. He set me free from this body of sin and death. He rescued me, because he delighted in me (see Ps. 18:19), and because he had a purpose for my life. The first and primary purpose was for me to be saved from sin and to live a holy life pleasing unto God. The second purpose was so that he could appoint me to his service, too. And, this is his purpose for all of us – to be saved from sin and to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. So, we are really no different from Paul.

Instructions

Paul gave instruction to Timothy in keeping with God’s calling upon Timothy’s life, and then he stated that, by following them, he might fight the good fight, and hold on to the faith and a good conscience. God created every one of us for a divine purpose, and it is the Lord’s will that God’s purpose for our lives should be fulfilled. We were first of all saved, if we have believed in Jesus, so that we could be free, not only from the ultimate penalty of sin, but we were set free from the control of sin over our daily lives, as well as we were set free to live holy lives unto God and to walk humbly before our Lord Jesus in daily obedience and surrender to his will for our lives. In addition to that, we were saved, sanctified and made holy unto God for his service. We are all called to be his witnesses and to share the gospel with the world in need of a Savior. Yet, not all of us are called to do this full-time. We are all part of Christ’s body, and we each have a part that our Lord wants us to fill, by his grace. The Holy Spirit has gifted each one of us with spiritual gifts, which we are to use for the building up of the body of Christ, so we might all come to mature faith in Christ.

So, as those who have been set free from sin via Jesus’ ransoming us with his blood, and via him purchasing us back to God and for our salvation, we should make it our goal to live lives holy and pleasing unto God in all things. We should no longer live in bondage to sin and to sin’s deceitfulness, but we should live as slaves of righteousness. And, we should find out what pleases the Lord, and learn what the Lord’s will is for each one of our lives. Then do what he has called us to do, in his strength, by his power, and through the working of the Holy Spirit within us, and out through us, for God’s glory, not for our own glory, nor in our own strength. In doing the will of God for our lives and in following the Lord Jesus’ instructions to us from his word, we can thus fight the good fight of faith and we can hold on to the faith and a good conscience. We will lose this battle if we are still being controlled by sin’s deceitfulness, and if we are still living according to the pattern of the world, and if we are following worldly, or our own evil desires of the flesh. If we are doing that, our faith will be shipwrecked, because we have rejected the truth we once claimed to have received.

God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, yet many are still believing and are following the lies, and many of those are professing believers in Jesus Christ, our Lord, too. That is why we need to have our spiritual eyes opened, and we need to turn from darkness (our sins) to light (faith and obedience to Christ and his gospel), and from the power of Satan to God, so that we might have forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life with God, beginning right now and lasting for eternity.

Thank You, Lord / An Original Work / May 19, 2011

Thank You, Lord, for saving me;
From my sins set free.
Crucified and risen Lord,
They hung on a tree.
They thought they had finished You.
You came back to life;
Triumphed over hell and sin;
You gave eternal life.

Thank You, Lord, for victory
Over all my sin,
So that I might live with You;
You cleansed me within;
Filled me with your love and pow’r;
Give me strength each day,
So that I might live for You,
To love You and obey.

Thank You, Lord, for your return.
Soon You will arrive
To receive Your bride to You;
Meet You in the sky.
You’ll wipe away all our tears;
Free us from our fears;
Crown our heads in victory.
We’ll praise You with our cheers!

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/thank-you-lord

Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuNbMIAx_kQ

The Secret Power of Lawlessness

Friday, October 28, 2011, 5:09 a.m. – The song, “Your Heart,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Thess. 2:

The Man of Lawlessness

1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Stand Firm

13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

THE DREAM: I also woke this morning from a dream – A group of us were at a restaurant. There were three of us at our table, which was a round table, I believe. We had to get up to go outside to move the car, though. The car appeared to be a S.U.V. My husband pushed the vehicle with his hands so that it rolled backwards, so we had to move it. We moved it and parked it to where it now blocked three other vehicles that belonged to either the owners or employees of the restaurant. One of their vehicles was a big truck (maybe a semi), and another looked like a race car (with writing on it). I don’t recall what the third vehicle looked like, other than I believe it was a mid-size car. I know that I made a mental note of how we had blocked these three vehicles on the right (east), when we could have parked in front (north) with the other customers.

We went back inside the restaurant and we sat down at our table. The third person with me and with my husband was a child. Our food was already on the table for us by this point. I believe a server or wait staff person was standing at our table, perhaps putting the final dishes on the table. Yet, then I felt as though we were at a larger table with more people. There were chocolate-covered pastries of some kind that were like doughnuts in texture, but were all connected together like a pan of rolls might be. There were two sets of these, only one set I felt was the “real thing,” whereas this set appeared to be a cheap copy of the other “real” pastries. I ate off of the “cheap copy” instead of the “real thing.”

Then, I went to the bathroom. A friend I knew from high school, who presently lives in Indiana, was in the bathroom, too. I know that I was looking at myself in the mirror. I had lost some weight. My hair was growing longer, too, but my teeth looked decayed or rotted, to where parts of each tooth seemed to be missing and each tooth was thinner, too. My friend commented on my weight loss that she noticed since the last time she had seen me. I think I was on my way into a stall then or had just stepped into the stall. END

My Understanding: First of all, this dream is an allegory, illustrating a practical application of this passage of scripture to our world today. Its purpose is to help me to see, and to share, how this scriptural teaching, on the “Secret Power of Lawlessness” that is “already at work” among us, is actually being played out in our world today. When the Lord gives me such a dream, he uses news stories, as well, to reveal to me, his servant, the truth behind the lies that are being told in the media. This scripture passage speaks of a “powerful delusion” and how people, even professing Christians, will believe the lie over the truth. So, it is my prayer today that the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve, will grant me understanding of what he is trying to show me here, and that I will, in turn, share what he shows me to the best of my understanding, realizing that he has given this gift to a clay vessel.

A group of us were at a restaurant. A restaurant is a public place where food (nourishment for energy and growth; something that stimulates the mind or soul - Encarta) is usually ordered, then served and eaten (consumed; devoured). There were three of us at a table. It appears to me from reading the news stories, which I will reference below, that I am representing the USA, including our government, that my husband is symbolizing our allies (NATO) and that the child with us is the one we have birthed together, i.e. commonly known as the New World Order, though it may go by many names. The round table generally serves as a symbol of this New World Order, as well, and it also serves as a place where this “food” is served and eaten, and where discussions, plans and decisions are made.

Deals at the Table

I will describe, further on down in this understanding of the dream, one of the items of food on this table, which was a deal being discussed that would involve making deals with known militants. Another deal on this table goes along with the weight loss part of this dream, which will also be discussed below. Basically, the U.S. agricultural department, in cutting costs, has decided to eliminate an annual report that the farmers use for making their future plans, so they know how much produce to grow or how many cattle to raise, et al. This is raising concerns with the farmers. A table is a place where you make future plans. The article went on to talk about the agency eliminating its July report on cattle but keeping a report of like-kind in January. This immediately brought to mind that there were two sets of pastries on the table and that one was the real thing and the other was a cheap copy, and that I (the U.S.) was partaking in the cheap copy.

The Bathroom

At the end of the dream I was in a bathroom in this restaurant. I was looking at myself in the mirror and was noticing my weight loss, as well as a friend from high school also recognized my weight loss. A mirror is “something that accurately reproduces, describes, or represents something else” (Encarta). I read a news article about Obama having lost millions of dollars in donor support. Obama represents the American people (the USA). So, the “weight loss” has to do with the USA having lost millions of dollars. As well, the weight loss has to do with losing the support of those who once supported us from the outside, so it is the USA who is actually losing this outside support, possibly from its allies.

In reading several other news articles, I also saw the “weight loss” as symbolizing loss of the number of demonstrators in New York, the dangerous nature of rescue operations in the aftermath of the quake in Turkey, problems with the victims of the quake getting aid distributed to them, the US agricultural department cutting annual reports and making budget cuts that could affect the outlook for farmers, Congress and the White House trimming federal spending, tough decisions that impact people’s lives, cutting Greece’s debt, banks accepting 50% loss on Greek bonds, and substantial tests that confront the continent. In other words, this is speaking about trying times for all of us on the planet.

My teeth looked as though they had rotted and were missing some parts to each one of them. The article stated that Obama was missing contributors and that he also missed support, so the missing parts of my teeth, which made my teeth look thinner, has to do with the USA losing financial support from its contributors (its allies), I believe. If something has teeth, it could be violent, cutting, nasty, or it could have to do with power, even the power to destroy. If someone shows his teeth, it can have to do with a threat to someone else. Teeth can also have to do with military force and weapons. I believe the Lord is showing the utter rottenness of the “teeth” of the US government’s power and military force, and how, because of the utter decay, it is losing parts and is thinning out, as well as it is losing financial support from its allies. God is going to judge America for its “rotten teeth.”

Long Hair

Also, my (Obama/US gov/military/power) hair on my head was growing longer. Hair on a woman’s head is a symbol of the authority over her head, i.e. her husband. So, the authority that is over the head of the USA, including over Obama, our government and our military, is growing in length and power. Then, the article stated that the Obama campaign’s part, perhaps some of the parts of the teeth now missing from the USA, had a mixture of new donors and those who had donated previously, and that this was proof of a growing organization. I believe the “growing organization” is the New World Order, or whatever name you want to give it, but it is this global order that is consuming the world’s governments and resources, and will eventually culminate into the Beast of Revelation who will rule the earth for a period of 3.5 years (whether a literal 3.5 years, I do not know with absolute certainty). I keep getting this picture, thus, of the USA losing its power and strength globally as the Super Power as this new global order gains strength and power.

The Block

In the dream, we left the restaurant temporarily in order to move a S.U.V. My husband pushed it backwards with his hands and then he (or we) parked it in front of three other vehicles to the east so that they were completely blocked and could not get out. In the news article about the Wall Street protest, it stated something about moving the protest indoors as the only viable choice. This immediately brought to mind this moving of this S.U.V. to block these other vehicles (means to accomplish something; organizations; or a medium for communication), and then us going inside. As well, there was an entire news article dedicated to the subject of Herman Cain’s top aide, Mark Block. The name “Block” stood out to me, as we used a vehicle to “block” these other vehicles. So, I looked at his character, as described in this story.

The story stated that he had a “checkered past.” It used the term “rebellious” to describe the manner in which he smoked a cigarette in an internet political ad. The articles stated that Block was a tea party leader who has had a track record for suspicious campaign work. He was described as a nonconformist who isn’t fearful about rearranging boundaries, which made me think immediately about the S.U.V. being used to block these other three vehicles. Block was quoted as making a statement about our country heading to hell. And, his nameplate on his desk reads, the “Mark”. In this article, it states that Block was implicated in a voter suppression plot called “caging.” He was also accused of covering up the employment of someone supposedly hired by Cain. Supposedly Block said that the person in question was working as an outside consultant and not as a paid staffer. This also brought to mind this situation in which we went “outside” (as consultants?) to move this vehicle in order to block the vehicles of the paid staff in this restaurant so that they could not leave.

In yet another news article, this one about a militant deal in Pakistan, we read that U.S. officials (that would be me) are influencing Pakistan toward bringing Afghan militants to the “negotiating table.” Here I saw this table as the one I sat at with my husband and child in this restaurant. So, the “final dishes” that were being put on this “table” when we sat down to eat appear to be these Afghan militants, one in particular named “Ishaq,” who was just released from jail. As well, I saw this release from jail as the hands of my husband being used to release this vehicle that was to be used to block these other vehicles.

In other words, we are responsible for releasing from jail people known to be terrorists so that we can use them for our purposes to block other nations, groups or other powers from being able to operate and to accomplish their own goals and objectives. And, the hands that moved this vehicle to release it appear to be those of a judge in a court of law. These “terrorists” are described as being able to drum up support and they are described as a valuable political weight. This reminded me of Obama trying to drum up support, but how he was losing support, and how he was losing weight, so he was losing this political weight, only it was the image of him in the mirror that I was seeing, so I believe this is the USA, who he represents, who are the ones losing political clout and the support of other nations.

Ok, then the article spoke of this militant group and its offspring (child) being in an alliance with al-Qaida. The Lord has shown me many, many times that al-Qaida works, or has worked for the U.S. government as our “outside consultants,” yet what I noticed here most significantly was the parallel between this threesome of this terrorist network, its child and the alliance, with me, my husband and child. “The Alliance” is often a term used in the global world to describe us and our allies working together, so I believe this parallels over to me, my husband and child in this restaurant, i.e. to the U.S., our allies and the New World Order being in alliance together. We are the world-wide terrorists. We are not the saviors of the world.

Lastly, there was a news article about a debt deal in Europe. I saw the debt deal to cut Greece’s debt as along the lines of my “weight loss” in the dream. I also saw this prevention to keep other countries from following the same path as this blocking of these other vehicles so that they no longer could operate under their own power. And, I saw this realization of this, as I looked at myself in the mirror, right before I went into the toilet stall, as preceding a feeling or a situation of despair (down the toilet). The article states that there were questions presented with regard to the lack of specifics in the plan (another one on the table). I believe this parallels over to my thoughts with regard to us blocking these three vehicles and wondering how they were going to get out and why we didn’t just park with the other customers. So, this debt deal is paralleled over to this blocking of vehicles.

New Powers

On those same lines, the article mentioned specific concern about how the financial intervention’s “new powers” will work. Immediately I saw these “new powers” at work in blocking these other vehicles and I saw the concern as directly related to how the other vehicles were going to get out if we had them blocked in. Then, the article mentioned two vehicles – the EFSF and the EMU – which I sensed that either one could be the S.U.V. that is being used to “block” in this specific instance (deal). The article mentioned a hope that using the EFSF (vehicle) would guarantee against losses, which I immediately saw as the use of the S.U.V. to block these vehicles so they could not escape and they could not operate in their own power. The article continued along these lines when it mentioned a containment (blocking) of Italian (the race car, perhaps) bond yields that would increase the opportunity that the EMU (the N.W.O. – me, my husband and the child) could move ahead.

The article continued with yet another illustration of the “cheap copy” of pastries, I believe, when it mentioned how the markets seemed to be beginning to realize (recognize – like recognizing my weight loss) some of the disbelief in the reality of the market situation. In the dream, I stated that this “cheap copy” of the set of pastries “appeared” (or seemed) to be a cheap copy, and I was partaking in the fake copy. I don’t know all the implications of that other than I do believe the news we receive here in the USA is mostly, if not all lies, so we consume lies as though they are truth on a daily basis, and this passage of scripture is talking much about a great deception and how people will believe the lies over the truth.

That is why I believe the Lord gives me these dreams, i.e. to expose the lies being told by our government-controlled media so that we will stop believing the lies and we will seek the truth, for truly “the secret power of lawlessness” is already at work and one day this “man of lawlessness” will be revealed and we will all come under the rule of the beast talked about in the book of Revelation. So, we need to be seekers of truth so that we don’t fall victim to deception. If we believe everything we see and hear coming from the media, from politicians, our government, or even from our pulpits here in America, we are prime for being deceived. We need to pray for much wisdom!

The scripture says that this “man of lawlessness,” whether a single man or an entity, I do not know, will set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. God’s temple is the church and God’s temple is in the hearts of individual believers in Jesus Christ, so this is talking about a deceiver and a lawless person setting himself up within the church in the position of God. Right now that fits only one entity – the U.S. government, which has set itself up inside the church via 5013c non-profit incorporation status by the institutional church.

Through this partnership with the U.S. government, the church is under their authority which supersedes the authority of Jesus Christ, because the government restricts what pastors can say from the pulpit, which means they override what God says. Many of today’s churches “worship” the U.S. government via leading their people to pledge allegiance (devotion; loyalty; commitment; faithfulness; fidelity) to the U.S. flag and to the republic (democratic form of government) for which it stands. God is the only one who should have our heart’s (hand over heart) allegiance, yet where is that taught in the church much these days? The institutional church of today could be well leading us to follow the U.S. government in blind obedience, which leads to the worship of the beast, and we don’t even know it, because we are conditioned to believe everything we hear and to not check it out before Almighty God to see if it is really the truth. Check out what I say, too.

This passage also speaks about “counterfeit miracles,” and the dream spoke of pastries that were in two groups – “the real thing” and the “cheap copy” (the lie). We need to pray earnestly to God to make sure we are not “eating” – partaking; consuming – the “cheap copy” (the counterfeit; the lie) instead of the truth. Oh, how I wish America would wake up from her sleep! That is my prayer!! We are to be lovers of the truth, yet because so many refuse to love the truth and prefer to believe the lie, in their ignorance, God sends them (us) a powerful delusion to that they (we) will believe the lie. Oh, how I pray that all who read this will take this to heart and will realize that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is calling out to his church, and he is trying to wake us up and to reveal his truth to us, if we are willing. He is calling us to turn from our sin and to walk humbly before him in obedience and to make him our only Lord and master. Will you hear him calling?

Your Heart / An Original Work / October 24, 2011

Tenderly He speaks, softly so.
Gently He calls - His will to know.
Won’t you invite Him in your heart?
Humbly accept Him now.
Bow before Him with contrite heart.
May you obey His will.
Seek Him with all your heart and soul,
And your heart, His Spirit fill.

Jesus died to free you from sin,
Giving you new life to begin,
Walking with Him ev’ry hour,
Obeying His commands.
Won’t you trust Him to be your Lord?
His grace you can’t afford.
Freely He gives you peace within,
When you turn from all your sin.

Live for Him ev’ry passing day.
Meet with Him; read His word and pray.
Serve Him in the way He leads you,
Doing all that He says.
Do unto others as you would
Have them do unto you.
Love them with Jesus love within you.
Your hearts to God be true.

Song lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/your-heart

Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc7tEOtSOLM


Resources:

Obama lost many donors from '08 presidential race
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMAS_MISSING_DONORS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-03-20-22

Wall Street protesters prepare for harsh weather
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OCCUPY_WINTER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-03-03-15

Top Cain aide has checkered past
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CAIN_CAMPAIGN_MANAGER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-03-28-50

Turkey survivor emerges from quake rubble
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_TURKEY_QUAKE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-06-08-05

In Pakistan, a militant deal sours
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_PAKISTAN_MILITANT_BAD_DEAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-03-30-41

Feds tighten belt by cutting agriculture reports
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FOOD_AND_FARM_USDA_CUTBACKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-03-55-40

Rally fed by European debt deal begins to slow
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-06-23-41

What's in our Hearts?

Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 9:47 p.m. – I woke out of a sound sleep after only having slept about 30 minutes. I had a tickle in my throat that caused me to cough. I did not want to disturb my husband’s sleep, so I got up. As soon as I came out into the living room, the song, “Your Heart,” began playing in my mind, so I sat down to hear from the Lord. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” And, then I read 1 Thessalonians 2:17 -5:28 (NIV 1984). Due to the length of this passage, I will quote some and will summarize the rest, along with sharing my understanding of the passage.

Hope, Joy and Crown

When I was growing up as a kid, I was not particularly athletic. I could ride a bike and could roller skate fairly well, but I did not do well with team sports of any kind. I still don’t. When teams were chosen, thus, not only was I the last one chosen, but I was often the recipient of, “Do we have to take her?” So, the concept of winning trophies (crowns) was not something with which I was too familiar, though I did win a singing contest once or twice. I just was not good at games and sports and rarely did I win at anything. So, when I would read about receiving crowns in heaven, it was a foreign concept to me, and one I could not grasp. “What are these crowns?” I often wondered. They were meaningless to me. My “crown” was to be with Jesus, for he is truly my hope, joy and crown!

Yet, Paul speaks of crowns here in a context with which I can understand, and I can grasp the meaning, and I now can fully appreciate the concept of such crowns. Paul and his companions were physically separated, for a short period of time, from the Thessalonian believers in Christ. Yet, the Christians were not removed from the apostles’ thoughts. They longed to be with them and to fellowship with and to encourage them in the Lord, but Satan stopped them. Time and time again Paul tried to go see them, but was unsuccessful, so he and Silas stayed on in Athens and they sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage the believers in their faith, so that they would not be discouraged and disheartened by the opposition they were facing to their faith, and by the subsequent persecutions.

Paul, in writing to the believers in Thessalonica, in expressing to them his intense longing to come to them, and concerning his being hindered from doing so by Satan, expressed to them what they meant, in heart, to him and the other apostles. He said, “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed you are our glory and joy” (1 Thess. 2:17-19 NIV 1984).

As I prayed about this and thought through what this means, I realized what Paul was saying. He was saying that the goal (the reward) of their obedience and service to Christ was to see other people come to faith in the Lord Jesus and then to see the new believers grow in their understanding of Christ, his word, and in how to live for the Lord and to walk with him in obedience, too. Again, this is like a parent with children. The goal (or reward) of parenthood is to produce offspring who will know who they are and why they are here (their purpose for existence) and who will, in turn, become loving, caring, mature, responsible and productive adults who will have an impact on this world in loving others and in serving our Lord Jesus Christ. This is certainly God’s goal for us in birthing us, and so that is why it is our joy, hope and crown to reproduce, through our witness for Christ, and our sharing of God’s love and his gospel, fruit-bearing disciples of Jesus Christ who will follow the Lord Jesus in loving others with God’s love, in serving the Lord, and in following his example. And, that brings us much joy. It is certainly our hope that this will take place, and it is our reward for our service to the Lord, and to others, to see them at peace with our Lord.

Timothy’s Encouraging Report

“But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

“Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (I Thessalonians 3:6-13 NIV 1984).

Blameless and Holy

One of the responsibilities of the apostles was to give instructions in holy living to the church. So, the church was given instructions by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the teaching of the apostles. The overall purpose of the instructions was to teach the believers how to “live in order to please God,” which they were already doing. Paul then encouraged and urged them in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. And, then he gave them the specific instructions given by the Lord to the church. They were to be sanctified, i.e. to be made holy; to be freed from the control of sin; and to be purified, cleansed and renewed in heart and mind by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within them. They were to avoid (circumvent; outwit; thwart; keep away from; stop doing – Encarta) sexual immorality. And, they were to learn how to control their own bodies in such a way that is holy and honorable to God, not in passionate lust like the worldly and ungodly. And, “In this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him,” said Paul (from the Lord). So, why is that so many believers in Christ Jesus today are still struggling with sexual sin and are not free? Jesus came to set us free! We don’t have to be controlled by sin any longer!! All of us must make the conscious choice of our will to stop sinning against God.

“The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit” (I Thess. 4:6b-8).

When we consciously and willfully choose to keep sinning against God after we have received the knowledge of the truth within us, we are rejecting God, and we are making a mockery of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on the cross for our sins. He died so that we could be free from the control of sin and could be free to be slaves of righteousness, by the power of God’s grace and his Holy Spirit at work within us in making us holy. So, if you have been giving yourselves over to sexual sin and you think the grace of God covers that, think again. We are not to use our freedom in Christ to indulge in the sinful nature. Or, did we forget that we have been cleansed of our sins? When we received Christ as Lord and Savior, we died to the old way of life, and we were resurrected to new life in Christ Jesus. So, we are to live holy and blameless lives in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit of God within us, we are to live lives pleasing unto God, and we are to avoid all sin, including sexual sin.

A Thief in the Night

Paul said that the Lord would punish men (and women) for all such sins, as he had already told them and warned them. This punishment will take place when Jesus Christ returns to judge the earth and to receive his bride to himself, whom he will reward for her faithfulness (see 2 Thessalonians 1). The warnings continue here:

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing (I Thess. 5:1-11 NIV 1984).

Peace and Safety

One day our Lord is going to return. For those of us who are in Christ Jesus and who are waiting for his return, his coming will not take us by surprise, because we will have been anxiously awaiting his return. Yet, for those who walk in darkness, who are spiritually asleep, the Lord’s return will be like a thief breaking into their house at night. They will be surprised, because they were living to please themselves and did not believe that God would judge them. Destruction will come on them suddenly and they will not escape. Oh, how my heart breaks that so many people are living in a false sense of “peace and safety” and they do not honor God, stand in awe of God, and they do not possess the fearful respect of God to keep them from willful and continuous sin. I am in anguish of heart over so many who are outside of Christ and yet also over so many who claim to know Christ, and yet are still living to please themselves over and above pleasing God, whom they are supposed to serve.

Paul, thus, reminds the believers in Jesus Christ that they are not in that darkness so that they should be surprised when our Lord returns. Since we no longer belong to the darkness, we should not be like those who do. We should be alert and self-controlled. We should put off the deeds of darkness, and we should put on faith (repentance and obedience) as protection against the forces of evil that would come against our hearts. We should also put on our salvation as our fortification for our minds against the attacks of the evil one. We were not appointed to suffer wrath with the ungodly, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives should be evidence that this is true in us in all practical living.

Jesus died to set us free from sin so that we could live with him forever! We need to encourage each other with these words. We are not to be yoked together with the world and with the ungodly in partnership with them in their sins, whether through actual friendships, business partnerships, or through agreement of any kind with the sins of others, which may be our willingness to be entertained by the sins of others, or to be unwilling to risk rejection in order to speak the truth in love with a brother or sister about his or her sins. We must come out from conformity to the world and partnership with the ungodly, and we are to be separate and to not touch (partake; handle; embrace) any uncleanness, so that the Lord will receive us (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). May we take this teaching to heart today.

Your Heart / An Original Work / October 24, 2011

Tenderly He speaks, softly so.
Gently He calls - His will to know.
Won’t you invite Him in your heart?
Humbly accept Him now.
Bow before Him with contrite heart.
May you obey His will.
Seek Him with all your heart and soul,
And your heart, His Spirit fill.

Jesus died to free you from sin,
Giving you new life to begin,
Walking with Him ev’ry hour,
Obeying His commands.
Won’t you trust Him to be your Lord?
His grace you can’t afford.
Freely He gives you peace within,
When you turn from all your sin.

Live for Him ev’ry passing day.
Meet with Him; read His word and pray.
Serve Him in the way He leads you,
Doing all that He says.
Do unto others as you would
Have them do unto you.
Love them with Jesus love within you.
Your hearts to God be true.

Song lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/your-heart

Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc7tEOtSOLM

The Nature of a Servant

Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 6:15 a.m. – The song, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty / Heber / Dykes

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in power, in love and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I Thessalonians 2, but before I read it, while I was still in prayer, the Lord brought to mind Philippians 2, so I asked the Lord to help me to put this into practice in my life:

• Make myself of no reputation
• Take on the nature of a servant
• Humble myself (not prideful)
• Be obedient to Christ
- even to death to self, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, my Lord

Lord, show me my heart. Change me, and make me holy unto you for your service, I pray in Jesus’ precious and holy name – the name that is above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (see Phil. 2:10-11).

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12:

Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

My Understanding: Yesterday I read 1 Thessalonians 1. I learned in reading that chapter that Paul was, in giving words of encouragement to the church of the Thessalonians, sharing with us a role model for what the true church of Jesus Christ should look like and act like. Today I am seeing another role model depicted in this second chapter, and that is the model of a servant of Jesus Christ. So, this chapter, I believe, pictures for us the nature of a true servant of Jesus Christ and the characteristic traits of that servant of the Lord. Yet, the Lord began this passage with a reminder, first of all, of the greatest servant of all, Jesus Christ, and the model he set for us, as is recorded in Philippians 2. Paul and his companions followed that model, which is why they were able to serve, too, as a model for us.

Make Myself Nothing (of no reputation)

Paul and his companions were often targets of strong criticism, false accusations, strong opposition, persecution, beatings, imprisonments, insults, and cruel and unjust treatment. And, Paul frequently addressed those false accusations from his strong opponents, not to lift himself up or to glorify himself and his own righteousness, but for the sake of the truth of the gospel message, for which he had been called of God as a herald and as a witness. He knew God’s calling upon his life and he knew that his opponents were out to destroy him, contradict him, discredit him and do anything they could to stop the spread of the gospel message. Yet, Paul and his companions were not deterred by this strong opposition. They continued to preach the word of God despite suffering greatly and being the object of insults and false accusations against them. They did so because they were not trying to build reputations for themselves, but truly their goal and mission was to please God in all that they did and to share the truth of the gospel so that people could be saved from sin.

Humble Myself (Not Prideful)

So, their visit was not a failure, because the truth of the gospel was not hindered, and they did not give way to the persecution against them, though man may have seen them as failures, because man sees from a different perspective than God. Yet, the apostles did not stand strong for the gospel in their own strength or out of some kind of personal determination of their own wills and/or a fleshly stubborn resistance against anyone who opposed them. No, they were able to stand strong in the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ at work in them and through them for his glory and praise. And, they were able to do this in spite of all that was being said against them, because they had learned to make themselves of no reputation, i.e. their goal in life was not for the praise and approval of man, but their goal was that God would approve them and their work would be for his praise and honor. So, they didn’t use manipulation and man’s methods of attracting the world with the world to get people inside “church” doors or to “believe” in Jesus Christ. They just told the truth.

Take on the Nature of a Servant

I love the images here of mother and father. I am a mother of four and a grandmother to ten wonderful grandchildren, one of which I have had in my care the past two days, which has made this really fresh in my mind, especially since he is a one year old and still so innocent and trusting. Paul compared his and his companions’ treatment of the church as that of parents of young children. They were gentle among the believers. Their appeal was through gentle persuasion, not through trickery or harshness. They demonstrated great love for the believers by giving their very lives for them, often without receiving any physical reward in return. They gave of their time, energies, resources, and reputations to serve the believers and to share with them the truth of the gospel so that they could be saved and so they could grow in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They encouraged, comforted and urged the believers in Jesus to live holy lives for Jesus Christ and for his kingdom work. And, they often worked night and day in order to not be a financial burden to the believers in Christ. That is why they could say with confidence and assurance of heart that their motives were pure, they didn’t use manipulation tactics, and they were not greedy.

Be Obedient to Christ, even to Death

Not only did they preach Christ for no physical reward on the earth and out of pure motives of heart, but their lives served as examples of Christ’s righteousness and holiness at work within their hearts, too. God himself, as well as the believers in Thessalonica, served as witnesses as to how holy, righteous and blameless they were among those who believed. I find it no coincidence here that the Lord began my day and this writing with the song, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” because it is the Lord God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who is holy and it is his holiness and righteousness at work within and out through us that makes us holy. So, all the praise, honor and glory belong to God. Great things He has done!!

And, I also find it no mistake that the Lord pointed me to the servant example of Jesus as recorded in Philippians 2 prior to me reading today’s passage, because truly it is because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross in dying for our sins that we are able to have Christ’s righteousness and holiness within us, working in us and out through us for the glory of God. The apostles, thus, merely appropriated God’s holy character to their own lives when they made the conscious decisions they made each and every day to reject sin and sin’s deceitfulness and to walk in humble obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, they serve as examples to us of the kind of holy living that God wants from all his children (his servants).

Refiner’s Fire / Doerksen, Brian

…Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

Song on video

Thank You, Lord / An Original Work / May 19, 2011

Thank You, Lord, for saving me;
From my sins set free.
Crucified and risen Lord,
They hung on a tree.
They thought they had finished You.
You came back to life;
Triumphed over hell and sin;
You gave eternal life.

Thank You, Lord, for victory
Over all my sin,
So that I might live with You;
You cleansed me within;
Filled me with your love and pow’r;
Give me strength each day,
So that I might live for You,
To love You and obey.

Thank You, Lord, for your return.
Soon You will arrive
To receive Your bride to You;
Meet You in the sky.
You’ll wipe away all our tears;
Free us from our fears;
Crown our heads in victory.
We’ll praise You with our cheers!

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music

Song on video

A Role Model

Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 5:34 a.m. – The song, “Your Life,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 1 Thessalonians 1 (NIV 1984):

Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith

We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

My Understanding: In this first chapter of the book of 1 Thessalonians, Paul offered many encouraging words to the church there. Among them, he said that they had become “a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Not only that, but because of their testimony for Christ, “The Lord’s message” had rung out, not only in these two places, but their faith had “become known everywhere.” So, their lives and witness for Jesus Christ served, not only as a model to the church fellowships of their day, but to us, as well.

Paul began this letter to the church of the Thessalonians by thanking God for them. And, he had good reason to thank the Lord for them because of their life and witness for Jesus Christ, and for the gospel; for the role model they provided to all God’s church everywhere, and because of their love for Christ’s church, his body. He said that he and the other apostles continually remembered in prayer before God their work (labor) produced by faith and prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith, Hope and Love

Their “work” was produced (generated) by their “faith,” not by works of the flesh. We know that true faith involves turning from sin and turning to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, allowing God’s Holy Spirit to do the work of spiritual transformation in our hearts as we appropriate to our lives what Jesus Christ did for us when he died on the cross for our sins. This kind of faith produces works of righteousness that are of the Spirit of God and that are in keeping with repentance - works that come from a heart of obedience to God’s will for our lives and what he desires of us, i.e. what he wants us to do, not from what we choose to do for God from our own minds and hearts, thinking that God will be pleased with us. In contrast to works done in the flesh, then, are these works of faith. These are the kinds of works to which James referred when he stated that our faith, absent of the kind of deeds that are done in the humility that comes from wisdom, is a dead faith and is a useless faith.

Their “labor” was prompted by “love,” i.e. by God’s love for them, and by his love that was alive within them, stimulating and prodding them to love others via acts of kindness, love and mercy. Human love can lead us to show kindness to others, as well, yet human love is based in us, i.e. in our human flesh, and thus it can fail and will fail, and is dependent upon how we feel. As well, human love can be greatly hindered by the actions of others toward us. Divine love is based in our God and in his love, which is perfect (pure) love. When we exercise this kind of divine love in our labors, first of all we will be led of the Spirit of God, we will have the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us in leading and guiding us, and this kind of love will not be dependent upon how we feel or upon how others treat us, because we will love others with God’s love, and we will trust the Holy Spirit within us to give us all that we need to do his work.

Their “endurance” was inspired by their “hope” in our Lord Jesus Christ. This kind of hope is not the kind that is merely wishful thinking. This hope is based in a solid belief in Jesus Christ and in all of God’s many promises to us. Based upon this hope, we are assured of eternal life in heaven with God for all who truly believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Based upon this hope, we have the promise of our Lord’s soon return to get us, his bride, to be with him forever. One day all our tears will be wiped from our eyes, for there will be no more pain and no more sorrow, for the old order of things will have passed away and everything will have become new. Based on this hope we also have the assurance of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ for our sins. This is true hope! This hope promises us deliverance from bondage to sin, and it promises us that we will not have to pay the ultimate penalty for our sins, though it does not promise that God will not discipline us. He disciplines those he loves. And, because of this hope we can endure whatever this life throws at us, because it is Christ in us, the hope of glory, who gives us the strength.

Evidence of Faith

Paul continued with his encouraging words to the church when he stated clearly and with confidence that the church of the Thessalonians were loved by God and that God had chosen them. The evidence of their relationship with Jesus Christ was that they had received the gospel message, not merely as simply words spoken by men, but as the words of God spoken through the power of the Holy Spirit working within their hearts to convict their hearts of sin. And, the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit had penetrated their hearts with deep conviction of sin and of their need of a Savior, namely Jesus Christ, was evidenced in the fact that they followed the example of the apostles and they became disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ in following his example and in obeying his commands. True faith involves repentance and obedience to Christ. We cannot have true faith in Christ apart from repentance and obedience. The word of God bears this out over and over again.

Another evidence of their commitment to follow Jesus Christ was that they chose to follow the Lord Jesus in spite of severe suffering. In the USA, we the church, as a whole, have experienced this kind of decision-making to follow our Lord, with the full knowledge of what it will cost us, so little compared to those in the rest of the world. And, I believe that is why we, as the church, have become so lazy and apathetic about this kind of true commitment to Jesus. Many people over history in numerous countries and cultures throughout the world have known that when they chose to believe in Jesus Christ that it would mean being rejected by family members, being thrown out of families, in fact, being persecuted severely and even killed for their faith and their testimony for Jesus Christ.

When we come to Christ under those circumstances, we don’t have time to play games with God, or to be casual about our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is all or none. Who would risk being killed for their faith if they did not take God and their commitment to Jesus Christ seriously? So, even though they knew the cost, they welcomed the message with joy that was given to them by the Holy Spirit of God – the message of their salvation.

Yet another evidence of their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ was that they had turned to God from their idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for Jesus Christ to return for his bride. Their idols were probably actual false gods that they made with their hands and that they literally bowed to. So, they gave up those idols to follow Jesus. Today our idols come in different forms, but they are still idols. An idol for us is anything that robs our hearts of our pure devotion to Jesus Christ and our commitment to follow him wherever he leads us, and robs us of our commitment to obey him in all things. The Bible says that where our “treasure” is, there our hearts will be also. And, the Bible also says that what comes out of our mouths comes from what is in our hearts. Besides our normal obligations to our jobs, families, etc., what consumes most of our thinking and conversations with people? What takes up most of our time, energies and attention? What gets us up early and keeps us up late? What do we live for? Hope for? Get the most excited about?

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are to give up our “idols,” too, which can be sin habits, as well as people, jobs, recreation, education, friendships, status, reputation, etc. Jesus died so we would go free from sin, including freedom from our idols (idolatry is a sin). Jesus rescued us from the penalty of sin (eternal punishment in hell). And God the Father raised his Son from the dead so that through his resurrection in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, we can be set free from the control and power of sin over our daily lives.

The church was also commended for waiting for their Lord’s return. This may not seem like a big deal, as it appears that we are all waiting. But, waiting involved so much more than merely the knowledge that one day we will go to heaven to be with our Lord. When I think of this kind of waiting, I think of my daughter-in-law who is married to my son who is in the army. He has been sent off to three deployments – one to Iraq and two to Afghanistan. When he was gone, his wife thought about him, she wrote him, they talked on the phone when they could, and they planned for their future together and for when he would get back. She told him how much she missed him, loved him, and how she longed for his return. And, when she knew the time of his return was near, she made preparations for his return. She watched the time and counted the days, and she anxiously awaited the moment when he would get off the plane and would be back in her arms. At least, that is my observation. So, this kind of waiting involves developing our intimate relationship with Jesus Christ while he is gone, in anticipation of his return, and it involves making the necessary spiritual preparations in our own lives, so that we are a bride made ready for her husband.

And, this is why Paul thanked God for them and why they had become a model to all believers, and this is also why the gospel message spread everywhere, because their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was the real thing, and it was proven genuine by how they lived.

Your Life / An Original Work / October 22, 2011

Based off of Colossians 3:1-17

Set your hearts and minds
On things up above
Where Christ sits with God;
Not on earthly things.
For you died and your life
Is now hidd’n with Christ.
When Christ, who is your life, is seen,
You will be with Him.

Your sins, put to death.
Don’t walk in these ways.
Don’t lie to yourselves
Or to others, too.
Since you have taken off
Your old sinful past;
Put on the new self in Jesus,
Get rid of such things.

Therefore, holy ones,
Put on gentleness;
Kindness; patience, too;
Be compassionate.
Bear with one another;
Forgive others, too.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
O’er all, put on love.

Let the peace of Christ
Rule in your hearts now.
You were called to peace.
Be ye so thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell
In you richly now
As you teach and instruct others;
Sing songs unto Christ.

Spoken: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17 NIV 1984).

Song lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/your-life

Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3rBIcdt7uI

Your Heart

Your Heart / An Original Work / October 24, 2011

Tenderly He speaks, softly so.
Gently He calls - His will to know.
Won’t you invite Him in your heart?
Humbly accept Him now.
Bow before Him with contrite heart.
May you obey His will.
Seek Him with all your heart and soul,
And your heart, His Spirit fill.

Jesus died to free you from sin,
Giving you new life to begin,
Walking with Him ev’ry hour,
Obeying His commands.
Won’t you trust Him to be your Lord?
His grace you can’t afford.
Freely He gives you peace within,
When you turn from all your sin.

Live for Him ev’ry passing day.
Meet with Him; read His word and pray.
Serve Him in the way He leads you,
Doing all that He says.
Do unto others as you would
Have them do unto you.
Love them with Jesus love within you.
Your hearts to God be true.

Song lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music

Song on video

Sweet and Salty

Monday, October 24, 2011, 8:31 a.m. – The tune of an old and familiar hymn was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning, but none of the words were coming to mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Colossians 4:2-6, 12, and 18 (NIV 1984):

Further Instructions

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

My Understanding: As I prayerfully read over this passage of scripture, I immediately saw that it could be divided into several sections or topics – Prayer, Wisdom, Opportunities, and our Conversations. These were Paul’s concluding instructions to the church in Colosse.

Prayer

We are instructed here to devote ourselves to prayer. To devote ourselves to something means “to commit yourself to, or allot or use something for, a particular activity, aim, or purpose” (Encarta). It means to pledge, surrender, promise, and make a covenant (agreement) with God. Prayer should never be casual or seen as something we do for five minutes a day to just fulfill an obligation to God. Prayer is to be continuous (see I Thess. 5:17; Heb. 13:15). It is to be ongoing. This does not mean we are saying words constantly, but rather that we are in continuous communication with our Lord in attitude, heart and mind to where he can prompt us to pray for someone or something at any moment of the day. And, this is developed through our daily times with him in his word and in prayer, and through repentance, so that our communications with God are not obstructed by sin, and then in obedience to his commands. The more we hear him and the more we obey him, the more of himself he will reveal to us.

In our prayers, we should be watchful and thankful. Watchful is a word in the Bible often used in reference to being on the lookout for anything that might distract us from pure devotion to our Lord, being consciously aware of our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities to sin, so that we are not caught unaware by the devil’s traps, and being consciously attentive to God’s voice, to his warnings, to his instructions, and to his calls to us to change our hearts and minds. We should never close our hearts and minds to God’s voice speaking within us just because we don’t want to hear something. As well, we are to be thankful. In other words, we are not to come to God in prayer in grumbling, arguing with him, making demands, looking out for our selfish wants to be filled, etc. We should come to him with a heart attitude of thankfulness for all that he has provided for us, and even for the tough times, because those are for our good, too. And, we should thank him in advance, in faith, for how he is going to answer our prayers that are prayed in the will of God for our lives.

We are to pray for others. Some of the ways in which we should pray for others is: 1) Pray for those who are sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, that God will open doors for the gospel message to be shared; 2) Pray for those sharing the gospel message to proclaim the message clearly and fearlessly, so that they do not shrink back from declaring the truth of the gospel, nor do they water down the message to make it more palatable to the listener; 3) Wrestle in prayer for other believers against the forces of evil coming against them, so that they may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured in their faith, purpose and witness for Jesus Christ; and 4) Remember in prayer those who are in “chains” for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which can include persecution, rejection, abandonment, slander against them, physical suffering, physical imprisonment and the fear of being killed. Also, remember in prayer those who are in “chains” to sin and who need to experience the grace of God in their lives in delivering them from bondage to sin and in setting them free.

Wisdom

Here we are instructed to “be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.” I believe this goes to our witness for Jesus Christ. Those outside of Christ are watching our lives. They are looking to see if our walk matches our talk. They are looking to see if we live the things we preach. We are the only Jesus that many people will see. He lives within us and we are his body; his temple. His light and love should be shining out through us so that others can see the truth of who God is, what he is about, why Jesus died for our sins, and what it means to truly be in Christ, as well as our lives should be revealing his characteristic traits of love, mercy, grace, kindness, gentleness, patience, and truth, etc.

Opportunities

Coupled with this wisdom is that we should make the most of every opportunity to show God’s love, grace, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, compassion and his truth to others. God has other people in our lives for a purpose. He often presents us with opportunities to show his love to others. We need to be sensitive to hear his voice, to know what opportunities he is presenting to us, and to be willing to do what he leads us to do, no matter how difficult that may be sometimes. We must be willing to surrender our rights, time, heart, and emotion in order to be used of God as his hands and feet in the lives of those with whom he has opened doors for ministry. Sometimes we miss these windows of opportunity because we are selfish, we are busy with our own stuff, or we are just not sensitive to needs or to God’s voice. So, we need to be willing, available, and open to what God has for us.

Conversations

In verse six, we learn that we are to let our conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer everyone. There are many varied interpretations of what this means. I do so want to understand it for myself so that my conversations with people are what God wants them to be. So I pray for understanding.

God’s grace to us began with his divine character and attributes, and with his love. He loved us so much that he gave his one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we could be free from sin. We did nothing in and of ourselves to deserve or to earn this. While we were still dead in our sins, Jesus Christ died for us. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, and involved in this is mercy, which is not getting what we do deserve. Jesus Christ forgave our sins when he put them to death on the cross and when he arose from the dead in triumph over Satan, hell, death and sin. We receive this forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord (master) and Savior (from sin).

So, when we show God’s grace to others in our conversations with them, we should, first of all, listen to others attentively, showing respect and consideration for what they are saying, and we should pray for the correct response to them within our own hearts, minds and speech. We should have other people’s best interest in our hearts and minds. We should have genuine care and concern for others’ legitimate needs, and pray concerning how best we might meet those needs. We should answer kindly and with gentleness, even if the other people are not speaking in like kind. And, we should be willing to forgive any and all offenses by the other people toward us. Our goal should always be one of genuine love, with a commitment to obey our Lord and to demonstrate his love, mercy and kindness.

This grace is to be seasoned with salt. To season something means to add flavoring. To add flavor to something, in particular food, means to give the food “an identifiable or distinctive taste;” and/or “to give a unique individual characteristic to it” (Encarta Dictionary). Salt is used for seasoning and preservation of food. Sometimes salt is used as a healing agent. From a spiritual perspective, since salt is used as a preservative to slow decay, salt is thus an element we add in our conversations with people to help preserve their lives from corruption and destruction; and from the evils of our society. “Salty” words should be pure (virtuous), wholesome and can be penetrating to the heart, as they should have God’s unique individual characteristic within them, i.e. they should reveal his character. Salt creates a thirst, so the goal of our conversations with people (in speech or in writing) should be to create within them a thirst for God and for his word. Too much salt can ruin food, and too much salt can also ruin the effectiveness of our conversations. In the same respect, no salt or little salt can make spiritual food bland and tasteless, rendering it ineffective in penetrating to the heart and in preserving lives from sin’s deceitfulness.

Pressing On

In Philippians 3, Paul recognized that he was not perfect, i.e. he had not already arrived in fully obtaining all the things he taught and knew we all must live and strive toward. He realized that he would not be fully made perfect until he reached heaven. Yet, he pressed on toward this goal of applying to his life the reality of what Jesus Christ did for him when he died on the cross for our sins so that we could go free from sin. In doing so, he made a conscious choice of the will to forget the sins of his past that had already been dealt with at the cross, and he did not allow them to defeat him in the present. We can’t change our pasts but we can change our futures. I, as well, realize I have not reached perfection in any of these areas, and yet I choose to repent when the Lord points out areas of sin in my life, and I choose to move forward, and to reapply what he did on the cross for me in how I live my daily life. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” (Phil. 3:10 NIV 1984). So, I pray that the Lord Jesus makes me daily aware of these things and fully conscious of him so that I may surrender to him in full obedience to his will for my life. This is my prayer:

Refiner’s Fire / Doerksen, Brian

…Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P0s3OBBsN4