For Your Sake

Thursday, November 5, 2015, 1:45 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I Do Not Seal My Lips.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 15:10-21 (NASB).

The passage in Jeremiah 15 begins by God telling Jeremiah to send the people away from his presence and to let them go. The reasons why God said for them to leave his presence:

·       They rejected God Almighty

·       They keep on backsliding

·       They have not changed their ways

·       They persecute, reproach, and fight against God’s Word & His messengers

With God (and us) they Contend (vv. 10-14)

Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me

As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!

I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me,

Yet everyone curses me.

The Lord said, “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good;

Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you

In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

“Can anyone smash iron,

Iron from the north, or bronze?

“Your wealth and your treasures

I will give for booty without cost,

Even for all your sins

And within all your borders.

“Then I will cause your enemies to bring it

Into a land you do not know;

For a fire has been kindled in My anger,

It will burn upon you.”

When God called Jeremiah to his service, he was told that God had set him apart, from even before he was conceived in his mother’s womb, to be a prophet to the nations. He was to say to the people whatever God commanded him to say, and he was not to be afraid of the people, for God would be with him, and he would rescue him. He told Jeremiah that he had made him a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land. He also told him that the people would fight against him, but they would not overcome him, for the Lord was with him and would rescue him (See: Jer. 1).

Here Jeremiah is lamenting that he had even been born, for the people fought against him, and they opposed him continually. Then, he recalled a promise he had been given from the Lord of deliverance, and that his enemies would one day seek him out during a time of disaster and great distress, yet he was not yet seeing the fulfillment of this. This promise reminded me of a promise the Lord made to the church in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:9) that he would make their enemies (the false church) fall down at their feet and acknowledge that God had loved them. The Lord gave a similar promise to the children of Israel, i.e. to believers in Jesus Christ, that in the last days the nations would bow at their feet and would acknowledge that they were the people of Almighty God (See: Isaiah 60:14; Isaiah 49:23).

We read in Psalm 139 that all the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before one of them came to be, and that it is God who created us, and who knit us together in our mother’s wombs. We Christians, like Jeremiah, were chosen by God for his service even before we were born into this world. In fact, he “chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and we are to be the Lord’s witnesses throughout the earth, and to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded us.

Yet, like Jeremiah, God also promised us that we would be hated, persecuted, abandoned, falsely accused, mistreated, imprisoned, and betrayed even by those closest to us because of our testimonies for Jesus Christ and for his gospel, and because we stand strong on the Word of Truth, do not deny the name of Jesus, and because we do not compromise with the world (See: Rev. 12:17; 14:12). Paul said that we are destined for such trials (1 Thess. 3:3). Jesus said, though, that when they arrest us, that we should not worry about what to say, because he will give us the words to say, “For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matt. 10:19-20). In other words, as Christ’s followers, we are his messengers, too, and because we believe in Jesus and we stand on his word, we will also be treated in like manner as Jeremiah was treated by the people.

Yet, we are not to be afraid or back down out of fear of what people might do to us, or what they might say to us, for God is with us, and he will strengthen and help us, and he will give us the words to say. They cannot overcome us spiritually, for we are the Lord’s, but they will persecute us and may put us to death. Yet, God will judge them for how they treated him and us, his servants. As well, I believe scripture teaches that, in judgment, the church will be revived, and that many will flock to Jesus Christ in that day, and that when they repent of their sins, in repentance they will acknowledge that God has loved us and that he was with us, even if this happens after we have left this earth.

Remember Me (vv. 15-18)

You who know, O Lord,

Remember me, take notice of me,

And take vengeance for me on my persecutors.

Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;

Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.

Your words were found and I ate them,

And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;

For I have been called by Your name,

O Lord God of hosts.

I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,

Nor did I exult.

Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone,

For You filled me with indignation.

Why has my pain been perpetual

And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?

Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream

With water that is unreliable?

Jeremiah appealed to the Lord’s mercy based upon Jeremiah’s faithfulness to the Lord in believing in the Lord, in listening to him, in obeying him, in taking pleasure in his words, and in faithfully imparting the truths of God’s words to the people, despite being hated and persecuted in return. He asked the Lord to take notice of how he was suffering reproach for the sake of God, whose name he bore. He reminded the Lord of how he didn’t join in with the world in their sinful ways, but he walked in God’s holiness, set apart from the world, and set apart to God and to his service. Then, he asked God why his pain must be so grievous and seemingly incurable. He questioned the sovereignty of God over his life, and he wondered why he must suffer so, and that it seemed as though God had abandoned him.

When we are persecuted for our faith and testimonies for Jesus Christ, and for being the Lord’s servants and witnesses in sharing the truths of the gospel so that many may be saved, or so backsliding Christians might return to their Lord in repentance, it hurts. We are not unfeeling or hardened to being treated wrongfully, especially when such treatment comes through those who are supposed to love us. And, we will cry out to God in our pain, and we will seek him for answers, at times, praying for wisdom and discernment. Yet, at other times, the pain may be so overwhelming that we may also begin to question God’s sovereignty, or we may begin to fear what others might do to us, or feel as though we need to shut up, back down, or compromise in order to not face such treatment. We may, at times, even begin to feel abandoned by God, and wonder if he is even noticing our plight.

His Spokespeople (vv. 19-21)

Therefore, thus says the Lord,

“If you return, then I will restore you—

Before Me you will stand;

And if you extract the precious from the worthless,

You will become My spokesman.

They for their part may turn to you,

But as for you, you must not turn to them.

“Then I will make you to this people

A fortified wall of bronze;

And though they fight against you,

They will not prevail over you;

For I am with you to save you

And deliver you,” declares the Lord.

“So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,

And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

When we begin to complain about God’s justice, and to doubt his watchful care over us, and to question his sovereignty over our lives, he may answer us in like manner as what he responded to Jeremiah’s complaints. He will ask that we turn from this type of thinking and lack of faith, and then God will restore us, so that we may serve him. We have to believe that God is absolutely sovereign over every aspect of our lives, and that he has all things under his control, and he will work out all things for our good (for what is best for us). He will never leave us or forsake us. He has this all worked out. We don’t have to worry, and we should never back down or compromise out of fear of what man might do to us. God will take care of us. He may not rescue us from our circumstances, but he will see us through them to the end, and then he will take us safely home. So, we just need to pray for strength, wisdom, discernment, and for him to lead us in the right way to go, and then we need to rest in him, and trust him to do what is best. And, we have to keep fighting the good fight of faith until Jesus takes us home to be with him forever. Amen!

I Do Not Seal My Lips / An Original Work / January 13, 2014

Based off Psalms 37, 40

Do not fear when evil man

Has success in all their plans,

For like grass they’ll wither soon.

They’ll be cut off from the land.

Trust in the Lord and He’ll give you peace.

Find your delight in Him through all stress.

All of your ways commit unto Him.

All your desires from Him He’ll fulfill.

Wait for the Lord; keep His way.

Delight in His Word always.

He’ll be with you to the end;

Life eternal found in Him.

I waited patiently for my Lord.

He turned to me, and He heard my cry.

He set my feet on the Solid Rock.

He gave to me a firm place to stand.

Blessed are we, who trust the Lord,

Who do not turn to false gods.

Our desire’s to do God’s will.

His word is within our hearts.

I will proclaim salvation to man.

You put a new song now in my mouth.

I’ll not withhold your love and your grace.

I’ll speak forevermore of your truth.

https://vimeo.com/112330108

Your Servant

This song is a prayer to my Lord, expressing how much I love his daily presence with me as I go throughout my day walking in his footsteps, listening to him speak, and having him teach me how to live and work for him; expressing my heart’s desire to be his witness, to tell others of his love and grace, to serve him only as my Lord and master, and then to be an example of one who has truly been set free from the power of sin and death, and set free to walk humbly in obedience to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I truly identify with the words to this song. I want to serve my Lord only and not my own flesh. It does not mean I deprive myself of what he has given to us to enjoy, or that I don’t take enjoyment and pleasure in food, nature, art, a song, etc. I enjoy many things which are good things or that are A-moral, meaning they are neither good (healthful) or bad (sinful). Yet, I should not make my flesh my god or the things I enjoy my gods, but my Lord should be my only God, and he is the one I should obey and follow and desire above all else. My life should be complete in him, and I should be content with him alone.

Your Servant / An Original Work / September 21, 2011

Lord, I love to have You near me

As I go throughout my day,

Walking daily in Your footsteps,

As I humbly pray.

List’ning to You, hear You teaching

Me to live and work for You,

Lord, I pray You lead and guide me

Daily in Your truth.

Lord, I want to be Your witness,

Telling others of Your grace;

Telling how they can be set free

Of their sins today;

Share with them the love of Jesus,

He died on a cruel tree,

So that we’d be forgiven

For all eternity.

Lord, I want to serve You only,

As I bow on bended knee,

Making You my Lord and master,

And Your servant be.

Humbly walking in obedience,

Doing what You say to me,

Lord, may I be an example

Of one who’s set free.

https://vimeo.com/126318100

Best Kept Secrets

Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 10:44 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the songs “I Do Not Seal My Lips” and “Listen! Listen!” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 13:15-27 (NASB).

Listen and Give Heed (vv. 15-17)

Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,

For the Lord has spoken.

Give glory to the Lord your God,

Before He brings darkness

And before your feet stumble

On the dusky mountains,

And while you are hoping for light

He makes it into deep darkness,

And turns it into gloom.

But if you will not listen to it,

My soul will sob in secret for such pride;

And my eyes will bitterly weep

And flow down with tears,

Because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.

When our hearts are filled with pride and arrogance, we may resist instruction and godly counsel. We may even resent it, and may despise correction from the Lord. We may scorn and/or manipulate his word, thinking we have it handled, or we may convince ourselves that we are really “good” and are thus above the need to be told by God and his Word, and even (or most especially) by his servants and messengers, that there is something in our character, attitudes and/or behavior that needs to change. Pride, as well, may lead us into all sorts of sins of rebellion against God, and against those whom God has placed in our care, because we may think to ourselves that no one, not even God, is going to tell us what to do, because we may believe that we are the king or queen of our own lives and destiny. Or, we may imagine our own god who just pats us on the back and who tells us everything is ok, and who never gets on us about our sins, but who is ok with us continuing in sin.

The counsel (urging) here is for us to give glory (praise and honor) to God by repenting of our sins in all humility before him, by believing what he says, by listening to him speak his truths to our hearts, and by obeying what his word teaches us we must do. Then, we must walk humbly before him in the fear (awe, honor and respect) of the Lord, submitting to his will and purposes for our lives, and by surrendering our wills to his will.

If this is where you are presently, i.e. living in pride and resisting God, the counsel here for you is to repent of this before judgment comes from Almighty God. Repent of your sins while there is still time, before it is too late. You may be living a lie, convincing yourself that you are in relationship with God when you are not; hoping for heaven while headed to hell; living a fantasy created in your own imagination in order that you might continue in willful sin against God. Although you spend time reading the Bible and praying, and singing hymns of praise to God, and attending church fellowships, you show enormous contempt and disrespect to God by your willful and continued sins against him and against others. Your expressed religious sentiments toward God may be nothing more than disgusting and pathetic garbage. You are an actor, playing a role, i.e. someone who is living a double life, keeping your sins a secret, while giving off an image of living righteously for others to see.

Humble Yourselves (vv. 18-22)

Say to the king and the queen mother,

“Take a lowly seat,

For your beautiful crown

Has come down from your head.”

The cities of the Negev have been locked up,

And there is no one to open them;

All Judah has been carried into exile,

Wholly carried into exile.

“Lift up your eyes and see

Those coming from the north.

Where is the flock that was given you,

Your beautiful sheep?

“What will you say when He appoints over you—

And you yourself had taught them—

Former companions to be head over you?

Will not pangs take hold of you

Like a woman in childbirth?

“If you say in your heart,

‘Why have these things happened to me?’

Because of the magnitude of your iniquity

Your skirts have been removed

And your heels have been exposed.

God is judging, and he is going to judge his idolatrous and adulterous people. He is judging, and he is going to judge the people of this earth and the false shepherds of the people who are leading his people astray. And, he continually disciplines (corrects, punishes, scourges) his children, whom he loves, so that we may share in his holiness. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (See: Heb. 12:3-11).

In judgment he will humble us and will bring our pride low. All the things of this life in which we have taken pride will be gone. They will vanish like smoke. All that we have worked for in this life, for this earthly kingdom, will pass away, and will bring us no comfort or help. We will be destitute, and forsaken and abandoned by those we trusted, and stripped of all our treasures and worldly possessions and trophies. Many of us will lose homes, properties, friends, fortunes, 401Ks, retirement pensions, and the like, and we will all be in the same boat, i.e. not one of us will be above the other. And, this will come because of the sins of our nation, the unrepentant sins of God’s adulterous church, and so God can revive his church, purify our hearts, make us holy, and conform us to the image of Christ.

For Your Adulteries (vv. 23-27)

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin

Or the leopard his spots?

Then you also can do good

Who are accustomed to doing evil.

“Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw

To the desert wind.

“This is your lot, the portion measured to you

From Me,” declares the Lord,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in falsehood.

“So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,

That your shame may be seen.

“As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings,

The lewdness of your prostitution

On the hills in the field,

I have seen your abominations.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you remain unclean?”

When we are born into this world, we are born with sin natures, without hope, without God, and destined to spend eternity in the fires of hell in eternal torment. We, by nature, are sinners. We are incapable of changing that in our own flesh. We are slaves to sin, captive to do the will of the devil, and to satisfy our own sinful cravings. This is why Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to earth, and died on a cross for our sins, so that we could be set free from slavery to sin, and so we can become slaves (servants) of his righteousness. When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we die with Christ to sin, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and we are resurrected with Christ to new lives in him, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). All this is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we yield control of our lives over to God, and we submit to God’s will for our lives. By his grace we are saved, through faith, and not of ourselves, lest we should boast. It is the gift of God, by his great mercy (Eph. 2:8-10).

There are those who don’t yet believe in Jesus, some of whom refuse to believe in Jesus Christ, and who make no claims to faith in Christ/God whatsoever. There are also those who claim to know Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, but their confession of faith is shallow - some out of ignorance, because they believed a lie, and some out of willful deception. Their faith is not genuine, because it never really took root. It was surface only. And, so they just go through the motions and pretense of having a relationship with Jesus Christ, but no heart transformation ever took place. Then, there are those who had a heart transformation, were filled with the Spirit of God, and who walked with him in obedience for a time, but who have since fallen back into their sinful ways and are living in spiritual adultery and in a backslidden condition spiritually. Although they know God, they do not honor him as their Lord, but they are going their own stubborn way. They are living as though they have not been cleansed of their sins. Only God knows, though, who is genuine and who is not.

Some of these who are living in slavery to sin are so bound by sin’s deceitfulness that they sin in secret, so as not to be found out, and they will use people, and manipulate and take advantage of others in order to feed their addictions, whatever they may be. They will sell out members of their own families in order to satisfy their addictive cravings. They show enormous contempt for God and others, and will betray even their closest companions if it means feeding their addictions. Our government, I believe, takes advantage of such people, knowing that they will sell their own souls in order to have what they want, and thus the government can utilize such people to turn against family, friends, and neighbors, etc.

The government may pay them for their services or for information provided, which then is just used to feed their addictions and their pride. They may make a pretense of being Christians in order to gain access to Christians so that they can sell them out for a price, like Judas did to Jesus. Their professed faith in Christ is thus artificial and is used to spy on believers in order that they might hand them over to their enemies to be persecuted and killed for their faith and testimonies for Jesus Christ. These people are despicable, who fool many with the double lives they lead, yet God can save them, too, for Jesus died for all.

Listen! Listen! / An Original Work / December 20, 2011

Weep and wail o’er your sins, children.

God is calling out to you:

Be ye honest; tell the truth,

And it will set you free.

Harken to Him calling you to

Bow on bended knee today.

Don’t delay to let Him in,

And He’ll cleanse your hearts;

Pure within.

Sinners, won’t you listen to Him

Calling out to you today?

He died so that you would be free

Of your sins always.

Turn from your sin. Turn to Jesus.

Obey Him in ev’ry way.

He wants to set you free of

All your guilt,

For which He did pay.

Listen! Listen!

Don’t close your hearts

To His voice speaking to you.

He will give you all of His peace,

If your hearts be true.

He longs for you to come to Him

Humbly now and repentant.

Obey all of His commandments.

Live with Him eternally.

https://vimeo.com/125862580

In Harmony

This was the third song in a row the Lord gave to me on the subject of love for God and loving others. I pray I will learn from these messages in song (Scripture put to music) the lessons he wants me to learn on the subject of loving God and loving others.

In Harmony / An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-15

Love each other truly.

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil.

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor.

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction;

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil –

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

https://vimeo.com/112832903

For Like Grass

Monday, November 2, 2015, 7:10 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I Do Not Seal My Lips.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 12:9-17 (NASB).

A Speckled Bird (vv. 9-11)

“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the birds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the beasts of the field,

Bring them to devour!

“Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard,

They have trampled down My field;

They have made My pleasant field

A desolate wilderness.

“It has been made a desolation,

Desolate, it mourns before Me;

The whole land has been made desolate,

Because no man lays it to heart.

A speckled bird is one which is dappled, spotted, stained, and ruined. This is a picture of the church here in America, for the most part. She is ruined, in part, because the vast majority of church congregations have partnered with an evil government, and promote government worship via the pledge (vow) of allegiance (fidelity) to the US government, via the honoring of our soldiers as heroes, via singing patriotic songs, via promoting faith and trust in the government and in the media, and via an agreement they made with the government not to speak out against any political leaders, i.e. to not expose these wolves in sheep’s clothing.

So, they have set up their own people to be prey for attack, because our own church leaders have handed us over to the enemy, and have not listened to many of our cries for help, i.e. they won’t listen to us and don’t believe us when we try to warn them about the government and its evil intentions, but they continue to promote government worship. In some ways, it is a lot like someone crying “rape” and no one listening, and no one caring, but just walking away, or even worse, it is like a family member encouraging the one who has been abused to go back and to be abused more. They don’t take this seriously! Thus, the church is culpable for the crimes against humanity committed by the US government and their global allies, and thus the church is stained with the blood of innocents.

Yet, there is another aspect of this speckled bird, and that is that it is a mixture of various religions, cultures, ideologies, doctrines, gods, and this sinful world, i.e. it is adulterous and idolatrous (not pure). The leaders of these congregations bought into lies in order to try to grow their businesses and/or to make a name for themselves. They compromised their faith, and diluted the gospel, in order to make nice with the world. Instead of the church being a place for edifying and encouraging believers in their walks of faith so that they can go out into the world with the true gospel of salvation, they have brought the world into the church, and have patterned much of what they do in their meetings around meeting the desires of the world, so that the world will come back. In the process, they had to get rid of those who still preach the gospel according to Jesus, so that they don’t offend people, and so that everyone feels comfortable, at home, and has a good time (has fun/is entertained).

Since the church is largely asleep, they have not heard or have not listened to the warnings. They have been put to sleep by TV, movies, the news media, their shepherds who tell them lies, their own sinful appetites, and their refusal to repent of their sins and to obey God. So much of today’s church here in America is really no different from the world. They watch all the same movies, are entertained by the same music and TV programming and games, and mostly talk about the same things the world talks about. Few are out there truly spreading the message of the gospel of our salvation and are calling people to repent of their sins and to turn to God or to turn back to God via faith in Jesus Christ. Because the church is asleep, the New World Order “Beast” is going after the people, instead, and is drawing them to itself, promising them hope, but it is all a lie.

Destroyers Have Come (vv. 12-13)

“On all the bare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For a sword of the Lord is devouring

From one end of the land even to the other;

There is no peace for anyone.

“They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns,

They have strained themselves to no profit.

But be ashamed of your harvest

Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

One of the ploys of this New World Order “Beast,” is to act as if it/they care about you, and that they are your friend, and that they are there to help you, but it is a ruse, and it is a trap. They are there to gain your trust so that you will confide in them, and then they desert you, and then all hell breaks loose. They are there to try to persuade you to their way of thinking, and to get you to take their “mark.” And, they will destroy all who refuse to take the mark (their way of thinking and doing things and believing). As well, they are here to take down all independent (sovereign) governments so that the beast can have complete rule and reign over all the people of this world. So, don’t trust their words. Don’t trust Obama and Pope Francis, because they are giving people a false hope, and they are teaching a false gospel which plans to do away with the gospel of Christ and his messengers in order that they might bring all people together as one, in unity, under the dictatorship of this New World Order. Don’t believe what the media tells you, because most of what they tell you is lies. Some of these news stories are total fabrications, or else they are carefully orchestrated events of the N.W.O., or are completely staged from beginning to end.

Yet, this “Beast” one-world government and one-world religion is God’s divine instrument of judgment against his idolatrous and adulterous people, and against the evil shepherds of the people who have led them astray and who have abused them, or who have not protected them against those who are abusing them, but have handed them over to those who would take advantage of them, because they just don’t care about the people, but only about themselves and their own earthly kingdoms. Yet, what will it profit them in the end? It will all burn up. What will it profit the church to have entertained the world and made the world comfortable in their meetings, or to have marketed the church just like a business, utilizing all kinds of marketing schemes, tricks and gimmicks? What will it profit the church to have acted “nice” with people so as not to offend them with the gospel, but to have not told them the truth about their sin, about hell and about their need to repent?

In a news article about Obama giving criminals second chances, the article mentioned certain policies having come out of “Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force,” signifying a revitalized emphasis on “criminal justice issues” during the fourth quarter of Obama’s presidency. The main issues I know that he and the New World Order are dealing with right now is in criminalizing and punishing Christians. The fourth quarter immediately brought to mind the time of Jesus’ death, which began the 4^th quarter of the Jewish day.

I believe that to be the true meaning here, i.e. that we are in that time when Christians are being persecuted and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ across the globe, and this is because the church largely has become apostate, has deserted the true gospel of salvation, and has gone after other gods instead. She has not heeded God’s many warnings, and has refused to repent and to return to her Lord in surrender and obedience. So, God has removed his hand of protection, and has handed her over to her enemies.

Bring Them Back (vv. 14-17)

Thus says the Lord concerning all My wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

God means this judgment on his idolatrous and adulterous church to bring them to their knees in humility and repentance, so that they will honor God as their only God. This judgment means that many will be uprooted from their homes and from their possessions, and may be forced into fleeing, or may be sent to concentration (FEMA) camps, or may be immediately put to death. Those they think they can maybe persuade to their way of thinking they may try to reprogram their minds to the way of the “Beast,” but those who stand on God’s Word, who obey Christ, and who continue to share the gospel of salvation, will serve as a threat to this “Beast” totalitarian regime, so we must be dealt with.

Yet, I believe scripture promises us that through this judgment that the church (the elect of God) will be revived, renewed and restored to fellowship with God, and that the gospel will go forth from the revived church, and that many throughout the world will come to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives.

I Do Not Seal My Lips / An Original Work / January 13, 2014

Based off Psalms 37, 40

Do not fear when evil man

Has success in all their plans,

For like grass they’ll wither soon.

They’ll be cut off from the land.

Trust in the Lord and He’ll give you peace.

Find your delight in Him through all stress.

All of your ways commit unto Him.

All your desires from Him He’ll fulfill.

Wait for the Lord; keep His way.

Delight in His Word always.

He’ll be with you to the end;

Life eternal found in Him.

I waited patiently for my Lord.

He turned to me, and He heard my cry.

He set my feet on the Solid Rock.

He gave to me a firm place to stand.

Blessed are we, who trust the Lord,

Who do not turn to false gods.

Our desire’s to do God’s will.

His word is within our hearts.

I will proclaim salvation to man.

You put a new song now in my mouth.

I’ll not withhold your love and your grace.

I’ll speak forevermore of your truth.

https://vimeo.com/112330108

Blessed Are You

We are blessed (favored; cared for; provided for; protected; and/or gifted) of God when we are poor (humble) in spirit, when we hunger and thirst after righteousness, when we have sorrow and anguish in our hearts over lost sinners or wandering Christians, and when we are hated and rejected because of our faith in and our testimony for Jesus Christ. We are to rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Yet, we must be careful to love those who hate us by praying for them, by doing good (what is beneficial) for them, and by saying kind things about them. We should always treat others the way in which we want to be treated. And, it is of no credit to us if we love only those who love us. We must show the love and mercy of Christ even to those who despise and mistreat us.

Blessed Are You / An Original Work / August 29, 2012

Based off Luke 6:20-49 NIV 1984

“Blessed are you;

Blessed are you who are poor

For God’s kingdom is yours.

Blessed are you;

Blessed are you who are hungry,

You’ll be satisfied.

Blessed are you;

Blessed are you who weep now,

For you will laugh with joy.

Blessed are you;

Blessed are you when men hate

And reject you because of Christ.”

“Rejoice in that;

Rejoice in that day and

Leap for joy; great your reward.

But I tell you;

But I tell you to love those

Who hate you; do them good.

Pray for those who;

Pray for those who treat you wrong

And say kind things of them.

Do to others;

Do to others as you would have

Them do; have them do to you.”

“If you love those;

If you love those who love you,

What praise is there for you?

Because Christ is;

Because Christ is kind,

Be merciful, just like He is.

Forgive others;

Forgive others their offense

Against you; be ye kind.

Hear My words and;

Hear My words and put them

Into practice, then you’ll be fulfilled.”

https://vimeo.com/115046573

Do Not Believe Them

Sunday, November 1, 2015, 6:56 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Awaken the Dawn.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 12 (Select vv. NASB).

In context, the people of God were living in spiritual adultery and idolatry, and in disobedience to God. They were closing their ears and their hearts to God’s commands, and they were going their own way. They followed the stubbornness of their own hearts. They returned to sinning against God, and they refused to listen to God’s words. They followed after other gods to serve them. Even in the temple of God, they were working wicked schemes with many, and they engaged in wickedness. They provoked God to anger by their idolatry. Some also plotted to end Jeremiah’s life so as to cut off his messages. The people who were seeking Jeremiah’s life were saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will die by our hands.” Yet, God said he would punish them in his timing (Jer. 11).

I believe that this type of situation exists again today, i.e. that this speaks to the spiritual condition of much of today’s church, particularly here in America. Wolves in sheep’s clothing have come into the church from very high up positions all the way down to the pastors of local churches. And, they have deceived the people into believing lies. They taught them that, in order to “reach” the people of the world, they had to become like the world. They had to entertain the world in worldly ways, and to not share the gospel, at least not the gospel according to Jesus, because it might offend people and scare them off. So, they diluted the gospel message to make it more appealing to the masses, and less offensive, so that the world would be comfortable in their meetings and would want to come back.

The Bible began to take a back seat to movies and books written by mere humans, many of whom were teaching a false gospel, and some of whom also taught mysticism as the way to finding your true self and your purpose in life. Many of these false shepherds are teaching and encouraging Middle Eastern religious practices, too. The church is now marketed just like any other business, with all of its scheming, tricks and gimmicks, in order to draw in the masses, and with a focus on the wants of the consumer rather than on the commands of God. The target audience for these worldly churches now became the unbelieving people of this sinful world, but not to win them to Christ, but to make them feel good about the “church,” and to make them feel good about themselves, even in their sin, and to teach them a false grace gospel which does not require turning from sin or obeying Christ and his commands, but promises heaven no matter what they do with Jesus or how they treat God.

Then, pastors began to go to church growth seminars and to take training from those higher up in the religious food chain whose lies spread like gangrene across denominations. Soon individual congregations were no longer individual, but they were all clones of the same model that was being taught them. They all began to look and sound alike. And, a notable similarity among them was that they were being taught to stress unity, but not unity with Christ, but unity with human teachings and goals, and to single out those with “strong convictions” and to tag them as “disunifiers” for holding to the truths of the gospel of Christ, and for not joining in with the lies. Pastors were taught ways to discourage these with strong convictions from becoming part of their local fellowships, and, from the pulpit and in private, they told them to conform or to “go someplace else.”

Now, the church and their partner in crime, i.e. the US government, here in America, which is part of the New World Order, and the church and government globally have taken it up a notch or two. Now they are talking about ways to do away with “extremists,” i.e. those who hold to the truths of the gospel, and about how to get rid of all that divides us as the people of the world so that we, as the people of the world, can all come together as one, in unity, no matter what religion or what lifestyle we might be living. Obama and the Pope have been strong voices for this false grace gospel, which joins all religions together as one. Yet, there is a much more sinister side to all of this, and that is that, not only are they are going after those they deem “extremists,” which primarily targets all those who hold to the gospel of Jesus, and who will not conform to this one-world religion, but ultimately the goal is to end our lives, I believe. It is what the Bible teaches (See: Revelation 12-14).

Even Your Brothers (Jeremiah 12:5-8)

“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

“For even your brothers and the household of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you,

Even they have cried aloud after you.

Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”

“I have forsaken My house,

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have given the beloved of My soul

Into the hand of her enemies.

“My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has roared against Me;

Therefore I have come to hate her.

Jeremiah had asked God why the wicked prosper, and why the faithless live at ease. He was questioning God’s justice. He said to God, of the wicked, “You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.” He was speaking of his fellow Israelites who were behaving wickedly against God, some of whom were plotting to take Jeremiah’s life. So, Jeremiah called on God to judge the wicked. Yet, God’s response to him was that if Jeremiah could not endure the persecution he was presently suffering, then how would he survive when things got much worse? Then, God did not comfort him with reassuring words promising him that things would get better. He told him the truth about his situation. People from his own family betrayed him. They had raised a loud cry against him. Jeremiah was not to trust them, even though they may have spoken well of him to his face.

You know, God still speaks to us today, not just through the Bible, but through his Spirit, and he speaks in very practical ways and concerning the things we are experiencing in our world and in our lives. In other words, he makes the Word of God practical and applicable to our lives and our world. And, I believe he wants to show us that these types of things are happening in our world today, i.e. that brother is betraying brother to death, and that there are people in this world who are plotting to take our lives just because we believe in Jesus Christ as the only way to God and to heaven, and because we hold to the testimony of Jesus and to his gospel which teaches death to sin and living to righteousness.

These people are all part of the New World Order “Beast.” This N.W.O. is like a revival of Hitler’s regime, only on a global scale, or it is like a revival of the Roman or the Persian Empires, i.e. it is this 4^th beast prophesied about in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, and in Revelation 13 in the New Testament. This N.W.O. is like Alexander the Great, who was a great conqueror of nations. His/Its army is a Prussianized and a privatized, secretive “quasi-military” police force designed for the sole purpose of overthrowing governments, including our own form of government, and for conquering the saints of God. This is a dictatorship, an autocratic regime that is engulfing the nations of the world one piece at a time. And, I believe they have already conquered many nations, and have already taken their seat of authority in those nations, including, I believe, in Canada and the USA, and now in Syria, too.

I believe this secretive army is not just comprised of soldiers who carry guns, though, but I believe this includes private citizens, and members of our own families, and people with whom we “fellowship” together in gatherings of the church, and our neighbors, and people we work with, etc. Big Brother has recruited them to spy on people they know in order to get information about them that they can pass back to the government, which then can be used against us, whether the information is totally fabricated or having elements of truth to it, but with a twist, it won’t matter, because they will lie and cut us to the heart, maybe because they have some vendetta against us, or they feel we have crossed them in some way, or simply because they just don’t like the message we preach. But, they will pretend to like us to gain our confidence, and then they will stab us in the back. So, we need to be on our guard, and we need to not easily trust anyone, because anyone could be one of these spies working for the “Beast,” and he or she will serve as our Judas.

In other words, this New World Order “Beast” - “The Great” - has gotten “down and dirty,” “marked by or given to fierce often unscrupulous competition” (M-W). We really can’t trust anyone. Nothing is private anymore. The government has access to our computers if we have connected to the Cloud. They can access all our files, all our emails, chats, phone conversations, texts, etc. And, they now use spies to give them even more information. They can spy on us through our TVs and our computers, and they can listen in on our phone conversations. We tell them where we are all the time if we have cell phones or an up-to-date car, or if we use a computer or any kind of GPS. They have antennas on our street lights and cameras at our traffic intersections. Big Brother is always watching us, and when they decide to come in for the kill, they will. The Bible says so. It is just a matter of when.

We can’t trust the news media, for most of them are arms of the “Beast.” Facebook and Google are part of this “Beast,” as well, I believe, so when anyone writes anything on the internet or on Facebook or Google it gets reported. They are keeping files on each one of us, and I believe they are putting us into categories. They are not only spying on us, though, but I believe they have many networks of influence in trying to convince the people of this world to submit to and to conform to the “beast.” They are in direct competition against the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is why they must silence us.

I believe we are going to see much censorship of Christians who preach the gospel of Jesus in days to come, and/or else there is going to be a campaign launched against us to try to attack us and to try to discredit us and the gospel in order to shut us up. But, we are not to fear these attacks. In other words, I believe persecution against Christians is soon to escalate. Christians who preach the gospel will become the enemy which must be snuffed out, like our government claims they are doing against ISIS in order to protect us. Now they will be protecting people against Christians. This campaign against us will be relentless in order to take us out wherever we are, whether through censorship, or public attacks against our character, or death, or all of these. We are the enemy in their eyes, and they will go to great lengths to see that we can no longer influence people to believe in Jesus Christ.

Yet, God is allowing all this to take place. He is completely sovereign over all of this. He has handed his church over to their enemies so that he might revive his church and restore her to fellowship with him, and so that “we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (See: Heb. 12:3-11).

Awaken the Dawn / An Original Work / January 15, 2013

Based off Psalm 57 (NIV 1984)

O my God, have mercy on me!

In the Lord, my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of Your wings, Lord,

I find shelter till the storms pass.

I cry out to my God Most High.

He fulfills His purpose for me.

He sent His Son to die for me,

So I could be saved.

I am in the midst of lions;

Men whose teeth are spears and arrows;

Whose tongues are sharp; words accusing.

They spread a net, my feet to catch.

They dug a pit, in hopes I’d fall.

O God, be exalted o’er all.

Let Your glory shine to all men,

So they may be saved.

Steadfast is my heart, O my God;

I will sing of all Your wonders.

Awake, my soul! Sing praise to God!

Early I will rise and praise Him!

I’ll praise God among the nations;

I will sing among the peoples.

God’s love reaches to the heavens,

So we may be saved.

https://vimeo.com/115213982