For God and for Country!

For God and for Country! A phrase that I would hope most knew but perhaps the younger generation would be loosing it in their vocabulary. This is a good phrase, though I would add one thing...

For God, Family, and Country!  Our biblical priorities should be God first, family second (Immediate family first and then extended family) and then others. (Our country) 

If I asked most Christians, I am sure most of them would agree with me that this phrase is in the proper order. It's a prioritized statement so that if there is ever a decision to be made for God and against country or for country and against God... the choice is clear. For God then country.

Tell me then...in the picture above (and every where I see the Christian flag next to the American flag) why is it "For Country then God?"  I have seen many flags in this order in the past few days alone. Never have I seen the christian flag above the US flag...and if someone were to do that there would be outcry more than likely.

A flag, by definition, is a standard of something or someone. So the US flag is a standard of the USA. the Christian flag is a standard of Christ. (Messiah)  To raise the US flag above Christ's flag is to raise the standard of a country above that of the one and only God.

Just something to think about. Biblical priorities call us to go against the popular culture and popular culture tells us to go against God. 

Joshua 24:15

21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

¹⁵ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Food for thought with a healthy side of prayer and communion with our Creator. 

Promotion for Fellow Blogger

I would like to suggest to anyone who has enjoyed reading my blog posts to check out this blog.

http://leadingthepac.com/

I have met this man personally and know he has a sincere heart for God.  I have not viewed all the material on his blog and am sure (as any two humans will) there will be some things he believes I might differ from a little but I do know we think alike on most of what I consider to be the major issues of our time. He has spent much time gathering information for his blog on some of these issues so instead of trying to always come up with my own words I thought, Why not direct you to the resources that are already out there that will accomplish the same thing I would hope to accomplish with my posts.

As always view any material with a prayerful and Biblical perspective. :)  Enjoy!

The "Old" covenant...

What is the "Old" covenant?

In today's society we call the first section of our bible the "Old testament."  Inside the Old Testament is the "Old covenant."  Now I am not going to get in depth with all the different views out there on this, what I do want to do is this...

Challenge you to look into the scriptural validity of your own beliefs on the subject.  Only by questioning our own ideas can we grow. If we never question what we believe, never have to prove what we think is true... we will never change our views.  To grow, something has to change.

So lets look at some verses.

First, straight from the mouth of Messiah Himself.

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So Jesus himself  said that Moses and the Prophets spoke of His coming.

There is also John1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
     Later on in verse 14a John clarifies that the WORD is Jesus "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us"

Luke 18:31 "then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,    
                      and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be  
                      accomplished."

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and 
                   bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 

Deuteronomy 18:15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of 
                                 thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 


Now there are many other verses. Hopefully these will spur you on to investigate for yourself. A ten minute google search can find most of these. 

Jesus was preached through the old testament. The only scripture that Jesus and his disciples had was the old testament. This is what they all used to preach the gospel and salvation.

James is just one place where we are told that God is unchanging.  (James   1:17) 

The Torah, (instructions) of God were given from creation.  God rested on the seventh day of creation. (The sabbath, 4th commandment) 
     Cane and able sacrificed to God, a concept from the Torah. 
     Noah was told to take two of every animal and 7 of every clean animal. Clean and unclean was in the Torah, so obviously Noah knew what this meant. 
      If the people in Noah's time were exceedingly evil...what law were they being judged by? Obviously there was a law to hold up as the standard.
     Genesis 26:5 "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, 
                            my statutes, and my laws."  (Obviously God's laws were already in place)

Think of it this way.  God set the foundation in Creation, He built the house with His instructions...the house was full of windows but the windows were glossed over. There were many writings on the walls, but we didn't understand the language. As time went on there were shingles and boards that fell off the house... then Jesus came.

Jesus came, washed and polished  those windows and now we can see clearly!  He fixed the roof and patched the walls and left us parables to interpret the writing on the walls!  The ten commandments say don't commit adultery, Jesus said if you even look at a woman in lust you have already committed adultery with her in your heart. The Torah had a ten percent tithe, Jesus said give ALL that you have, give it to the poor, come and follow Him.

He came to raise the bar, not lower it.  

Psalm 19:7 tells us... "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."

How can you make something that is perfect better?  If Jesus changed the perfect law of God He would have made it un-perfect! 

 So... as always, do some research, look into it, and find out the truth! 

Thanksgiving and Praise

I would like to dedicate tonight to give praise and thanksgiving to my God.  When I was a child I read of miracles and with a child like faith I implemented it.
     We had goldfish in a stock tank... I would always try to catch them with my hands as they swam around but to no avail. My efforts were always met with a splash of cool water and an empty hand. One day I thought of the miracles in the bible and told God... "If you can do Miracles please let me catch one of these fish and I will follow you for the rest of my life!"

Now this seems like a foolish thing to say... a silly request...a childish thing to do. A child I was... probably 5 or so if memory serves. 
     After saying this I aimed for a small goldfish, thrust my hand int he water, and came up with a slippery wriggling fish! To an adult this may seem like happenstance but to me it seemed like proof. Now I have gone astray more than my fair share of times since then, but I have always come back to God.

As time went on I grew into a man...and my views changed. A house that I didn't have to pay for because it was already in the family, with nearly everything in it already furnished from the people who left it there before...a free washer and dryer and $75 dollar refrigerator... these things were wonderful blessings to me...but never did I consider them miracles.  

Now I think...why not?  Who am I to belittle these blessings? Isn't anything God does that is not able to be explained a miracle? 

Miracle: 

noun

1.

an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.

2.

such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.

3.

a wonder; marvel.

4.

a wonderful or surpassing example of some quality:

 

I would say I could use some of those definitions if not all to say these things were miracles.  For a family of 6 who lived on as little as $4000 a year in our past to have an empty house just sitting around being used for storage that hasn't had anyone living in it for 10+ years, that just happens to have almost everything you need to furnish it aside from appliances (and even a few of them) and for that house that had no upkeep to still be in a liveable condition after all those years... how is that explainable? 

James tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. All that stuff was a good gift...

How about being told divinely who you are to marry?

Making money stretch further than it should have?

Providing a job the day after I decided to look for a new one because the one I was working did not allow me to follow all God's laws for a believer?

I could go on...but I think you get my point.

Lets remember that just because it's not a miracle that shakes the world doesn't mean it's not a miracle. If it's good it's from God. Lets all remember to give HIM thanksgiving and praise for the miracles He does in our lives and not belittle the mighty hand of our LORD.

Luke 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

 

Mathew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

 

 

Surely these scriptures can be applied to our faithfulness in giving God credit and praise for what He does in our lives as well.

 

Hope this encourages you to view your everyday life in a God centered mindset that you may examine yourself and see how much more glory you can give to God if you try!

Meditation...a tool or Taboo?

In our culture today the word Meditation has been dressed with colors from almost every religion known to man. The new age movement and many occult circles use high amounts of meditation and thus it has become a taboo in some Christian circles.
     The Bible, however, has at least 40+ verses about meditation. So the question becomes what IS meditation.

Much of the occult meditation tells you to "empty your mind."  They want your mind unguarded, open, and they want you to allow anything in that wants to enter.
     Is this what the Bible talks about when it speaks of meditation? 

When verses tell you to meditate on the word of God night and day... that is hardly emptying your mind.  Biblical meditation is filling your mind and focusing your mind with a biblical principle, with God and His laws.

When Christians fail to properly fill a role (such as meditating on the word of God) Satan will offer a counterfeit.
     Meditate simply means to ponder, consider, or think about. The enemy has us all running around ragged like chickens with our heads cut off... always busy, always with something to do... we have little time to contemplate the ways of God.  In addition to this, after such a busy involved stretch of time the idea of "emptying our mind" sounds rather inviting. The danger is, if we empty our minds and lower our defenses... allow anything in that wants to come in... that gives Satan and his demons an open door.
     If we fill our mind with scripture Satan and his demons can NOT enter. When Messiah is inside us, evil can not take root. (unless we give a foothold)

So, while meditation is very dangerous if taken out of context, biblical meditation (contemplation on scriptures and the ways of God) can actually make our lives much easier and grow us closer to the Lord.
    So my challenge to all reading this would be...

SLOW DOWN!  Take some time for God. Take time to talk, take time to listen (very important) take time to contemplate scriptures. You need your quiet time with God, and He enjoys that time and will bless you through it.