Recovered In Christ

I’ve had many “friends” in my life who’ve been desperate for me to share my weaknesses and struggles with them – not to bear them with me or pray for me and help me (although it usually comes under the guise of that), but rather as a sick exercise in satisfying their own conscience. Somehow if they can get me to share with them some brokenness and serious fallibility it lets them off the hook in their own conscience, they can relax a little bit on the race and they enjoy a secret pleasure of seeing my crown “tarnished”. Although this guilty pleasure borrowed from Judas’ treasure chest is something that EMO’s will deny and take to the grave if possible.

This, of course, is a co-dependent’s sick attempt at intimacy. They confuse competition for camaraderie. Their feelings and self worth are so deeply tied up in their friends’ identity, that they cannot ever experience the true joy that real friendship avails. Self sacrifice does not exist in these friendships – even when they put themselves in a servile position…it is still self serving.

The truth is – the people I trust with my weaknesses and struggles are those who have no secret agenda to feed off of me. They are not waiting for an opportunity to sigh a big sigh of relief and say to themselves “ahh…see…she’s no better than the rest of us!!” They are the ones who would take extreme measures to catch me before I fell…they would love and protect me and put me before themselves whether I was an insane beggar or the Queen of Persia.

Who YOU are is not a reflection of your friends power or weakness – who you are though, is definitely what kind of friend you are to a person in power or in weakness.

We all make mistakes. We’ve all failed our friends – we’ve all fumbled the ball of loyalty – but do your mistakes mirror Peter’s or Judas’?

Ask God to reveal to you your heart.

“Lord, am I secretly gleeful when my friends stumble? Lord, do I listen with an attentive ear to my friends in the hopes of gaining information that will make me feel less threatened by them? Lord, am I so needy and desperate for power that I enjoy a subtle thrill when my friends get knocked down (even a little?), God, make me like Jonathan – give me the love he had for David for my own friends. I pray God, that you would create within me a clean heart, the kind of heart that rejoices with my friends and weeps with them…and endures with them. With them. With them.”

This is the kind of praying I began years ago, that took me out of the isolation that only a true EMO could understand, it took me out of a life of me against “them” to simply me living and walking “WITH” them. It has been balm to my soul. My prayer for you is that God would bless you with friendships that knit your souls together.

“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.” 1Samuel 18:1-5

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“Recovery” without Christ is equivalent to spraying Febreeze on a corpse…you may fool a couple of people like in those silly air freshener commercials who blindfold unsuspecting customers – masking some disgusting scenario with a pleasant smell….but to those not wearing a blindfold – the reality of the decay of your soul is undeniable.

How terribly tragic that it has been made ok for you to struggle along with your secret porn addiction…your compulsive dieting, your twisted fantasies and medicated reality…how utterly reprehensible that people have chosen to kowtow to your bullshit because they are afraid of being labeled ‘judgmental’…when the truth is, they just don’t give a shit about you enough to tell you the truth. They would rather be seen as the friendly Dali Lama than a fire breathing preacher in order to spare themselves the task of taking you to task! And let’s not forget the secret covenant they create with you….to look the other way…so that God forbid you would never call them out on the sick depravity they peddle for recovery.

Sorry girls and boys…cutting yourself, wallowing in depression, hopping from bed to bed, popping pills, munching on laxatives, and reducing the program of real recovery to a bunch of ritualized steps that take the edge off of your debauchery does not qualify as recovery. You are no more IN recovery than you are walking on Mars.

That’s the bad news! Here’s even worse news. You can find a way to stop acting out in all those behaviors…you can tear yourself away from your pretentious self-analysis and your self indulgent celebration of “progress not perfection”…you could clean up…and pull yourself together and stop all your “sinning”…and you will still be just as dead in spirit as those in total debauchery. Because there is no process or behavioral modification that will give you Life. Only He – who IS Life can give you that. And there is only ONE who Is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus Christ. From him comes true deliverance from sin and oppression.

Although he is by nature the very definition of why the Gospel is called the “Good News”…to many struggling with addiction and sin…and to many who think they are safe from that struggle – that is bad news! They think they have life already…a new life, a recovered life, a work in progress life. They are having a nice tea party on the Titanic and here comes the “Christian” being a party pooper!

But without Christ you are still a corpse – no matter how much Febreeze you pour on. And somewhere in the stillness of your soul you can know this and become ready to hear the REAL Good news. I don’t know who will receive it and who won’t, but I do know that there are some, who will. That is my business. That is my task, to speak to you as if you are Lazarus who the Christ is calling from the tomb and asking me to remove his bandages and loose him. I am here to take the grave clothes off of you.

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

(John 11:38-44)

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Be very careful of any books or people who speak of God in the first person..(‘Trust in me my child’…’I will be there through everything that is going on around you’….’have no fear my child for nothing can actually hurt you’…etc. etc.) as if they are channeling God! That is not how prophecy or revelation works. ONLY the Holy scriptures of the Bible have the authority to do that!

It may not seem like a big deal…it may even ‘seem’ in alignment with scripture, giving you a beautiful message. But its roots and origins are from the snake Himself. First, it’s extremely arrogant to speak on God’s behalf…not even the prophets ‘channeled’ God…they clearly distinguished when they were speaking versus “Thus Says The Lord”…and second…are we really going to accept someone’s literary claim that they are channeling God??? Can we remember the warning we have about adding to the word of God? “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19

Think this through guys…the original disciples and apostles themselves were never recorded speaking as a channel “My dear children, hi, this is God, so this is what I want to tell you…” they were recorded and confirmed as having the authority to receive and relay a vision or revelation as recorded in Revelation for example, so if the apostles didn’t just casually throw out a “channeling”  – why is some 21st century writer claiming God has written a book/devotional through them?

It’s dishonest, at best it’s a cheesy attempt at role playing God’s voice (how do you think God actually feels about that?) and at worst…it leads you to believe that God actually speaks to you from outside of you through a ‘medium’…rather than through the Holy Spirit working in and through your own spirit. It will also lead you into listening to evil spirits who know scripture a lot better than you, and who will customize their voice to win your trust.

“For the unbeliever the Holy Spirit has a ministry of leading them to the Son. He has been sent to convince unbelievers of sin, righteousness and judgment. Sin-To show they are sinful, having fallen short of God’s standard. Righteousness– To convict them of not having a righteousness of their own to be accepted by God, but in need of God’s righteousness that he freely gives through accepting the gospel. This righteousness is only found only in Christ. And judgment– in that there is more than meets the eye, that there is a time they will have to answer for how they lived their life. There is a hereafter,  there is more than just a physical life.

The first work of the spirit is to show one that they sin and are in need of a righteousness that they do not possess. As His work progresses eventually one will hear about Jesus Christ who forgives sin, the gospel so they can be saved.

He is to have a moral influence on our life and thus produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the executor of God’s nature. He is the source of the new birth and brings out the nature of Christ in the individual believer. He conforms us to the nature of Jesus, who is God as well as the ultimate human. He reveals the nature of God by transforming believers to be like him. His indwelling restores the image of God in man that became damaged by the fall, now we can reflect God’s moral qualities and characteristics as He intended. The Fruit of the spirit is only displayed when we walk in the spirit. All these qualities are reflective of Jesus Christ who was seen in the flesh.

For the one who believes in the gospel (1Cor.15:1-4) the Spirit is immediately given as the seal of ones justification or right standing in the New Covenant. They are cleared of all guilt before God and start with a new slate. Eph 1:13 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Mike Oppenheimer – (Let Us Reason Ministries)

“The safe path for believers at the close of the age is one of tenacious faith in the written Word as the sword of the Spirit, to cut the way through all the interferences and tactics of the forces of darkness, to the end.” – Jessie Penn-Lewis

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When I was a child, I used to wear my father’s coat when I role played as a super hero. My friends would be dressed up as bat man, or a fairy princess, while at home I used to create elaborate hiding places and forts in closets and under tables creating entire worlds that were my kingdoms to play in, the final, and most powerful touch would be the putting on of my father’s coat. To me, my father was infallible. An original Syrian bull who’d never met his match in intensity or honor. I used to lay awake at night listening to his stories about surviving growing up alone at age 7 in the poorest sections of Damascus, Syria. This was a man who’d put himself through school, immigrated to Canada and raised a family through the sheer power of his will and love for his family. This was a man who had once killed a scorpion with his bare hands while in the Syrian desert as an army soldier. This was a man who turned his back on his own yearning for his homeland, uprooting himself many times in order to protect 3 daughters and a wife from the effects of the chauvinism he found.  So while my friends were donning the comic book hero outfits…I was running around with my father’s coat on. His smell, his presence seemed to linger in it and I felt and behaved invincibly.

Through the years I have retired my Kingdom role play games (mostly!) and have long forgotten the memory of his coat. Except that the Lord brings it to my attention again and again in studying scripture and being pulled ever so deeply into the Lord’s mind and understanding. I have read many quotes and articles regarding the “armor” of God, that Paul wrote about in Ephesians – many are very good. Solid and helpful. But still, they’ve lacked the thrust of God’s intent and mind.

When most of us read about the “….putting on the armor of God…” we hear so many things like putting “God” on…imagining yourself covered in his righteousness and dressed for battle. Ready to rumble because you’re decked out in God’s qualities. Holding up your faith to protect yourself from the raining darts of attack on you. True – But that’s not all of it. We are putting on our father’s coat. It’s his armor. He is the one who wore this when he delivered the Israelites in Exodus, this is also his outfit that Isaiah talks about – from which Paul speaks! Compare the 2 passages below, one is from Isaiah, and the other is Paul’s reference to it in Ephesians.

In context, this passage is referring to God working salvation for Himself. He has found no one who has or could overcome the injustice in the world, God Himself comes down as a warrior-redeemer and executes justice against the enemies of Israel. That is where Paul’s “armor of God” comes from.

“Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment.”  Isaiah 59:15-18

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:10-20

But what is this armor that God Himself is wearing…both to make war with his enemies to destroy them and to deliver his people – us. His armor is Christ Himself. Christ is the “righteousness of God” Christ is “salvation”, Christ is the “Truth” that is fastened around us as a belt. Christ is all of it. We therefore PUT on Christ as our armor as God did and does. For the armor of God is His Son, Jesus Christ.

“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.  Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 13: 11-14

“Paul explains the decisive plan that God has enacted in the death and resurrection of Jesus, setting Christ as the head over all things, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:21). This has resulted in the creation of the Church, the Body of Jews and Gentiles united in Christ. Thus, the wisdom and glory of God’s plan set forth in Christ is now demonstrated through the Church to all the spiritual rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

God is in the business of reclaiming and redeeming the world for Himself from the spiritual world-rulers that have dominion in the present age. This follows – rather, fulfills – the pattern set forth in Israel’s Exodus and rescue from Exile. He is executing this plan in Christ and demonstrating it through the Church, the Body of Christ. In this sense, we – not merely as individuals, but as the Church – bear the armor of God. We are a “holy temple,” God’s presence in and for the world.” – Tim Ip

What is this gospel of peace? What is this peace? Absence of conflict? A good feeling? What is the original problem? Separation. Sin has separated us from God…what has God’s promise and plan always been? The good news is that God has reconciled us to him through Christ- RECONCILIATION is the original meaning of peace. Katallasso – the ancient Greek work to reconcile. *

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Isaiah 52:7

My father’s coat was meaningless in my childhood to all my friends. They could not benefit from it because they were not his children. Many people continue to try and use the “armor” of God as some kind of shield and cloak formula without understanding that the only way it can work to defend you is if you are his child. Is he your father? My father’s armor is Christ. Therefore my armor is Christ. I live in Him as He lives in me. For what purpose? To defend myself from accusations and attacks? To live a quiet and abundant life? What is the armor for? Why am I standing? For what? ….for one reason only. That I may open my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. The news that Jesus Christ has come to offer salvation to all who would hear and believe.

“To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:19-20

“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.” Revelation 12:10-12

*There are two words for reconciliation in Greek.  One word “diallasso” means to reconcile two parties who are    mutually hostile toward one another.  The second word “katallasso” means to reconcile two parties where only one party is hostile toward the other. “Katallasso” is the word used for reconciliation to God. This means that it is man who is “hostile” towards God and has become rebellious by means of his inherent sin nature.  It means that mankind is the enemy of God and it is man who needs to be reconciled  to God.

Literally, “katallasso” means to change or to exchange (originally referring to money).  It came to mean a change from being one’s enemy to being one’s friend.  This is the meaning throughout the New Testament.  At salvation, the believer is reconciled to God.  This means that the believer is no longer God’s enemy but that peace has been made as a result of the person’s change of mind towards Christ (the true meaning of repentance).  (Romans 5:10) – Stan Simonton

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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Despite the many teachings to the contrary – do not let your mind be idle. Don’t confuse this with a quiet mind or a calm spirit. The demonic doctrine that has been woven into almost every spiritual practice known to us is so subtle, it has simply become accepted as the “way it is” as truth. The same as the poison that is mixed into food to kill off an ant colony. This demonic doctrine is the spiritualized “passivity”. “Let your mind go. Don’t judge any thoughts that come. Simply accept them. Resist nothing. We have ceased fighting anything or anyone. Acceptance is the answer. Become so mindful that only the present moment exists. etc. etc.”

Not understanding that these seemingly benevolent exercises to get you out of “ego” and into “spirit” are actually the work of a highly organized and intelligent demonic agenda to indoctrinate you and to weaken your mental faculties so that you will be defenseless when the possession that has slowly been taking place begins to accelerate and dominate you wholly.

If you are struggling to focus, commit, and get disciplined in your study of the Bible, know this: the greatest deliverance and spiritual warfare to overcome lack of focus and consistency is to keep reading the Bible. Yup – you heard me! Do not sign up for a retreat, do not buy a book on how to “focus” on the Bible. Do not seek out a deliverance “minister” to pray your harassment and distraction away. KEEP READING THE BIBLE. That is the cure. Fight to think. Fight to read. Even if you have to read 2 paragraphs at a time, while pacing in your room. Keep pushing to regain control of your mental faculties that God has given you.

Whatever it is that the Enemy is keeping you from – is what you have to fight to get to. If there is a lot of resistance and struggle to get quiet – fight to get quiet. If there is an inability to pray without losing your trail of thought – fight to pray. By fight I mean to insist. To struggle. To confront. To push through. To persevere in the face of great opposition and difficulty – even when it seems futile. Winning back an inch of ground of your mind is greater than any pontification on spiritual matters you could learn in another book or seminar.

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:14-17)

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Do you think that your “seeking” impresses God? You are like a woman who, in trying to get “closer” to her husband, looks to other men for advice on intimacy and then finds herself in bed with her “teachers” – and cannot understand why her husband is furious. She cannot see her adultery. Do you see yours? Ask yourself, why is it that you cannot retain the knowledge of the word of God. Ask yourself why evil spirits can distract and harass you as easily as the winds toss the waves about on the sea. Ask yourself why you are so relieved to confess how undisciplined you are to someone only when they have confessed it first.

Count up all the hours you have spent in the last week on the phone or writing messages or surfing the net looking for advice, looking for inspiration, searching for a process or a formula to get “disciplined”, to help you to “understand”. THEN, count up all the hours you have spent on your knees in prayer, count up all the hours you have fought through the resistance and distraction to read the word of God, page by page, chapter by chapter. Do you see the discrepancy? Count up all the hours you have spent eating air, compared to the crumbs of real food you eat – then write some more messages and posts about why you are starving!

Foolish, silly children, who refuse to learn without the rod of crisis beating down your backs. How LONG will you force God to deal with you as rebellious children rather than the Royal Priesthood He bled out his Son to make you?

How long will you continue to love your sin – that you parade around in humor and self – deprecating fondness that you mistake for BROKENNESS and repentance.

The problem is, your “priests” who receive your confessions and your “inventories” are as double minded and back stabbing to the Lord as you are. They love to see you in your sins, it feeds them. Does it not feed you somehow to hear the sins of others confessed to you? Do think that God doesn’t see that?

You stumble day and night, your priests and your prophets stumble with you. You are being destroyed for lack of knowledge – because you REJECT his knowledge, because you have traded in the glorious God who has ALL power and ALL knowledge – for an idol. An image of him in your mind. You claim to know Him and love Him…yet you are like a healthy, able bodied yet lazy teenager finally learning how to crawl. You are actually proud of your crawling. When you should be ashamed.

THE LORD has healed you, and called you into his family and broken the chains that had you shackled to your wheelchair, and you thank him how? By your atrophied muscles that you drag around in your crawling?? By lassoing some man or woman who is in right standing with God – to be your guide dog, because you are too rebellious and rotten to see that you are the one forcing your blindfold on yourself. Because you don’t want to admit the truth – that you don’t really Love the Lord, and cannot stand the shame of the simple truth.

SHAME on you. Shame on your adulteress hearts. Look to see what God saved you from. Look and see how he rescues you, over and over again, despite how little loyalty you have to him. Despite the fact that you NEVER run to Him first, you run to your court jesters, to your friends, to some new “podcast” or new preacher – but you never run to the Lord first.

My prayer for you is that you would be as disturbed by your sins as the Holy Spirit is – that you claim is living in you. I pray that you will wake up.

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.

There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.

“But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.

You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.

So I will destroy your mother—
my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
“Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.

The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.

They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.

And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.

“They will eat but not have enough;
they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,
because they have deserted the Lord
to give themselves to prostitution;
old wine and new wine
take away their understanding.
My people consult a wooden idol,
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.
They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—
a people without understanding will come to ruin!

“Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.

“Do not go to Gilgal;
do not go up to Beth AvenAnd do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.”

God’s judgments against the sins of the people. (1-5) and of the priests. (6-11) Idolatry is reproved, and Judah is admonished. (12-19)

Commentary on Hosea 4:1-5

Hosea reproves for immorality, as well as idolatry. There was no truth, mercy, or knowledge of God in the land: it was full of murders, 2 Kings 21:16. Therefore calamities were near, which would desolate the country. Our sins, as separate persons, as a family, as a neighborhood, as a nation, cause the Lord to have a controversy with us; let us submit and humble ourselves before Him, that he may not go on to destroy.

Commentary on Hosea 4:6-11

Both priests and people rejected knowledge; God will justly reject them. They forgot the law of God, neither desired nor endeavored to retain it in mind, and to transmit the remembrance to their posterity; therefore God will justly forget them and their children. If we dishonor God with that which is our honor, it will, sooner or later, be turned into shame to us. Instead of warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the sacrifices, which showed what an offence sin was to God, since it needed an atonement, the priests encouraged the people to sin, since atonement might be made at so small an expense. It is very wicked to be pleased with the sins of others, because they may turn to our advantage. What is unlawfully gained, cannot be comfortably used. The people and the priests hardened one another in sin; therefore justly shall they share in the punishment. Sharers in sin must expect to share in ruin. Any lust harbored in the heart, in time will eat out all its strength and vigor. That is the reason why many professors grow so heavy, so dull, so dead in the way of religion. They have a liking for some secret lust, which takes away their hearts.

Commentary on Hosea 4:12-19

The people consulted images, and not the Divine word. This would lead to disorder and sin. Thus men prepare scourges for themselves, and vice is spread through a people. Let not Judah come near the idolatrous worship of Israel. For Israel was devoted to idols, and must now be let alone. When sinners cast off the easy yoke of Christ, they go on in sin till the Lord saith, Let them alone. Then they receive no more warnings, feel no more convictions: Satan takes full possession of them, and they ripen for destruction. It is a sad and sore judgment for any man to be let alone in sin. Those who are not disturbed in their sin, will be destroyed for their sin. May we be kept from this awful state; for the wrath of God, like a strong tempest, will soon hurry impenitent sinners into ruin.

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The moral culture is so insane around here it feels like we are living out  Kurt Vonnegut’s story Harrison Bergeron!! In an attempt for “peace and unity”, a spiritual “equality” has been born…rather than being equal before God…we have desired to be equal before each other. Trying to make man in our own image. When I first read the story in my grade 9 law class, the absurdity of how the people in the story tried to make everyone “equal” was fascinating to me! Gouging out people’s face so they’d be equal to the ugly or handicapping the strong in order to appease the weak…incredible reading material but far from what I ever thought could be reality!

But it’s precisely what we have created in our “fellowships”, churches and “spiritual” culture.

In order to not feel inferior, people have made sin a way of life! They have made sexual immorality, abortion, homosexuality, dismemberment of body parts because they hate the gender they were born with, celebrating broken homes, rebellion and a hatred of God’s biblical morality SEEM equal and normal to everyone else! To the point that if you do not accept this and in fact repent of it, and desire to be taken to higher ground, you are accused of being “superior”, you are told in fact that in order to be truly “spiritual” you have to accept it all….in God’s eyes we’re all equal right? But which God are we talking about?

If you could only see what you are cursing yourself and your children with! It is equivalent to taking a knife and carving into your children’s faces in order to teach them how to be “equal” with the deformed.

Wait for the day that you will be ostracized, condemned and charged with hate crimes if you dare to even suggest this is not “equality”!!

Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah 2013 style!

I’m telling you the truth! There is another way. There is THE WAY. The One who can rescue you from sin and bless your family, with a beauty that can never be deformed.

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.  But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

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“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

God, please give us a revelation of your nearness today. For all of us who are seeking you and calling on you, in truth – I pray that you would reveal your nearness to us! Let not one second escape from me today without my whole being shouting for joy of how wonderful you really are. I love you. Amen.

“I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

The LORD is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.

All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;

To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The LORD sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.

You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.

The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.

The LORD keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
And everyone will bless His holy name forever and ever.” Psalm 145

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The most powerful weapon of defense against the onslaught of the Devil, is forgiveness. But no one has the power to forgive or to be forgiven without the Son. No one has the power to live out that forgiveness without the Son. Forgiveness is Life. Eternal Life. You can’t have one without the other. You can’t understand one without the other. Do you know how to walk in life in a way that causes the most self assured non believer to begin doubting himself in your presence. Do you know how to overturn every demonic assignment in your vicinity to the point of making demons tremble at the sound of your name? Do you know what power really is? Do you want to be like Christ? Really?

You see, nothing and no one could move Jesus from His position of power. No one controlled him – no matter what they did. Despite all that happened TO Him, none of it happened outside of what he permitted. He was not a puppet of anyone’s opinion of Him…good or bad. He was the CAUSE of everything he demonstrated. He needed nothing and no one outside of Himself to be all that He was and is. Do you want that? Do you want to be such a badass that not even your persecutors…your haters…your murderers or even your greatest fans can cause you to react in any way other than in praising God and forgiving them? Do you want that? Do you want to be so open hearted that you love everyone around you more than your own life – and yet not a single one of them can control or deter you in any way from the Father’s Will?

If you’re waiting for a 5 step formula on how to “activate” this power within you, or a certain passage in scripture to memorize in order to access this forgiveness, you’re on the wrong page. You can’t start with forgiving others. You have to start at ground zero. Where you are. Do you know God’s forgiveness? Seriously…do you know it? Have you tasted it…has it permeated your being…do you walk around in life like a man who has been pardoned the moment before his execution?

How can you get to that place and stay there? It’s actually very very very simple…so simple that most people never really get it. You must be a person of prayer. And Jesus Christ is the one who teaches us how to pray. Is your life a life of prayer? Are you a person of prayer? Or are you so lost – that even as you read this you’re shaking your head thinking “what kind of prayer?”

I’m not talking about form, or a set of prayers, or how long you pray, or how often. I’m talking about continuous and ceaseless unbroken communion with the lover of your soul!

Understand that there IS NO WAY to be like Christ without Him. Reread that and think about it for a moment. The problem is that some of you thought that maybe I was going to offer a formula or suggestion on how to be more self assured like Jesus – relying only on the power within yourself. But there is NO power within yourself that can exist without union with the Lord. That is what Christianity is. Your union with the risen Lord. You cannot have anything that Christ had without having the man Himself.

Witnessing being born again with the very real spirit of the Lord and His Father coming to live in you, that changes you – the SAVIOR Himself is now closer to you than your own heartbeat…forgiveness becomes real. Salvation becomes real. Eternal Life becomes real. Grace overwhelms you. What can mortal man possibly do to you??

Pour your heart out to God…bow your head and confess all of your hidden thoughts and motives…sing songs to Him…praise Him….talk to Him about the flowers you saw this morning and how the breeze caught your attention…reveal to Him the hidden things in your heart – speak back to Him the hidden things He reveals to you.

If you do this…I mean really do this, really get into a real prayerful relationship with the Lord…He will supernaturally reveal to you and seal in your spirit the truth of who He is and what He has done for you…that…THAT is what will naturally lead to the kind of confidence, assurance and conviction it takes to easily forgive all others. You will naturally bear the fruit. If and when you start to slip, the very real and true voice of the Lord will warn you…you will become extremely sensitive to sin in your life. The enemy’s darts will have nowhere to land…the snake will have no opening by which to enter…you will start to put away childish things and stand as a man or a woman in the STRENGTH of the Lord. He will not let your foot slip.

“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” …One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” Acts 19:13-16

“Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:28-29)

“Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!” (Matthew 26:41)

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will” (Romans 8:26-27)

“This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your Name,
Your Kingdom come,
Your Will be done on earth as it is on heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever.
Amen.”     – Jesus (Matthew 6:9-13) (Luke 11:1-4)                            

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If you would seek God’s opinion of who you are and no one else’s – you would never again need to ask the question. Ever! Many people have asked me over the years where my confidence comes from, in hopes of discovering my “secret formula” for some kind of self-esteem boost, or in the hopes of reassuring themselves that I’m just delusional in their attempt to avoid the discomfort of being challenged! In so many cases, even the most devout Christians who come into “agreement” with me – are still trying to figure out how to own the authority that I have. Is it belief? Is it faith? Is it grandiose narcissism? 🙂

The truth is – ALL my life I have listened to the voices in the world, and to the voices in control of the world, not realizing what was at play… not thinking anything of it! From my earliest memories I have been surrounded by the most vicious and brutal opinions of me that I’ve ever heard of. My nickname since I was 4 or 5 years old was ugly. whore. stupid. garbage…..given to me by the people closest to me. Try to imagine hearing that every single day. Feeling it. Owning it. Being it! As my bones and flesh and hair grew..so did the power of those opinions about me….the ones given to me and the ones I formed independently. We could pause here and chat about nature vs nurture? Did I become a monster because of the evil that surrounded me? Would I have become the depraved sociopath I became regardless of who’s opinion was fed to me?

The truth is – I was destined to be fused as a villain and a victim from the moment I was born…there is no separation…on through the years of my life…I can’t tell you how many different opinions about me I have heard….to some I have been a saint, there are people right now in my community of believers who would take a bullet for me…who adore me to pieces…and there are others who loathe me…who actually threaten to physically harm me…who think I am a monster. What is the point of me telling you this?

I know you think you see it coming…how I’m going to launch into telling you some Bible quotes about my identity in Christ…and how I’m forgiven…and how I am redeemed and how I’ve really convinced myself that I’m forgiven and that all those opinions about me whether true or false don’t really matter because I only listen to God’s opinion.

I could tell you that! It’s all true! But I don’t think it will really help you – see, I’m worried about the person who is reading this, who really is like the boy whistling in the dark pretending not to be afraid of the shadows he sees around him…I’m worried for you, because I know that so many of you…DEEP DEEP down don’t really believe you’re anything other than what the world has told you that you are. Even those of you who love to come into fellowship with us and quote extensively to us about how God does not see your sin anymore, he only sees Jesus in you…or how you believe you are redeemed….I don’t believe you. Despite how many affirmations you memorize and how many excuses you make for yourself that it’s ok not to be perfect…and how many pictures of rainbows with quotes about being worthy you post…I don’t believe that you believe you are who God says you are.

It’s in your eyes. It’s how you carry yourself. It’s how you act. It’s oozing out of you! It’s like a grown man wearing a young boy’s outfit…you wouldn’t be fooled that he’s a kid just because of the clothes he’s wearing….I can see it in you, you are old and weary and truly believe and behave that you are worthless…I want nothing more than for you to TRULY see yourself the way that I see myself…through the eyes of the only guy’s opinion that counts – Jesus.

The truth is, that is never ever going to happen, so long as you continue to try and talk yourself into “standing on the word of God”…there is no way around it, you have got to get real with God. Will you do a dare? I dare you to ask God to reveal to you all your self-deception. Do it. Ask Him! Ask Him to reveal to you who you really are!!!!

The truth is, of all the nasty, horrible opinions of me that are floating around out there…there is no opinion of me that is worse than the truth about me.

That is who God revealed to me. The totally depraved, hopeless person that I AM in and of myself. Period. And what He did to redeem me through His Son Jesus Christ is my identity. I was literally born again in spirit through Jesus Christ. Born again. Every single iota of my spiritual DNA has been created new in Jesus Christ. THAT is who I am. I have learned, like a newborn baby to depend on God’s voice to be my milk, my protection, my dad. He is the voice I know. I have grown up in a new house, with a new family, in a new body, with a new mind in a new place, with God as THE ONLY voice that I will listen to. I know my father’s voice. It doesn’t matter how well clothed you are in scripture…I can tell who’s voice is in you.

So please, think about this, if I was willing to turn my back on the opinion of the people closest to me, and learned to wean myself off of needing their approval and acceptance….if I was willing to forsake the love of this world….do you really think that I am going to stop now? Stop coming…stop pushing? Stop standing? Stop pressing into the enemy’s territory? No. Very simply. No. It is one of the greatest weapons that God has ever given me. The quiet and unafraid “No”.

Every voice that comes into my life that has tried to destroy me, I can simply and yet irrevocably say No!

Every attempt to turn me against the broken people of this world through accusations, slander and malice towards me….I say No!

Every assignment, every dart and every which way the Enemy has tried to seduce me into turning against God….I say No!

Tell God the truth. Ask Him in all honesty to reveal to you what you are most afraid of having confirmed about you – ask him! Say YES to Christ’s offer to take on to His Cross that Sin that you keep dancing around – and I promise – you will calmly and powerfully look EVERY single storm that comes into your life and simply tell it…No.

“Buffeted, knocked down but never knocked out, cast down but never in despair, persecuted but never forsaken, because – praise the Lord! – you have found the answer to what it takes to stand in the ministry you have received: a clear view of Jesus, in contemplation; in reflection of His glory in the midst of the battle; and then being made like unto Him as day by day your heart is lifted up to the Lord Jesus as He imparts to your life the sweetness and loveliness of His character.”
– Alan Redpath

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

Colossians 2:13-14

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