Salty Tears, Bright Truth

​“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Matthew 5:13‭-‬16 NLT

We are to be the salt and the light. The LIGHT OF TRUTH that shines upon the poison of sin and produces conviction,  and the SALT that comes from our TEARS OF COMPASSION for our fellow man’s struggles. 

If we lose our compassion, our love for our fellow man,  regardless of his state,  station,  or circumstances – our words,  our actions, our everything is worthless – because it lacks love. Without the salt of compassion we are just loud, proud, self righteous gongs clanging against each other in the midst of a storm where others need peace. They will trample us underfoot as useless to them. 

If we compromise truth, or we find ourselves ashamed to stand firmly upon the whole truth – if we do not let the truth of our following in His footsteps shine forth into this dark world, if we refuse to preach as He did, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” because we fear the opinions of men more than we fear being unfaithful to our God who commands us “Go make disciples of all nations” – what God is that? Will we allow the comfort of pleasantries today to weigh on our minds more heavily than the questions of “why didn’t you warn me” as we find their blood on our hands?  

Leave out the salt and only bring light and you will find yourself very religious but very loveless. You might know the history lesson about Jesus and God, but your lamp is empty of the annointing oil that feeds the flame of love. You have lost that love and mercy towards others that you claim so boldly from God for yourself. Repent and remember love.

Leave out the light and only bring salt and you will find yourself sinking in the sand of tolerance and apathy towards sinfulness, and you will realize the very real need for sanctification and righteousness. You will be welcoming religious converts into a synagogue of Satan that denies the power of God to driver lives and overcome sin. You will find yourself surrounded by lasciviousness and wickedness rampant and quickly choking out the saints who dwell amongst your favorite demons. Repent and remember truth.

Walk in both salt and light, hand in hand with Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you have found that narrow path. Remain and abide. Do not turn back. Set your eyes upon your goal, and run your race to the finish. 
Peaceful and wise.
Go.

Worth Waking Up

​

I got home from the jail around midnight last night, and the moon was behind a cloud,  but it had the whole sky lit up like day. It even looked like rays were shining down at the edges of the cloud like you’ll see with the sun. (I should have taken a picture, but since I didn’t, I found this one online.)
It was so beautiful that I woke Mandee up and asked her to come out and look. Since she was already deep in sleep, and I was still coming down from an exciting night with the guys in the cell block, I’m not sure that she was as excited about it at the moment, but she got up and came outside to look,  and she couldn’t deny the beauty. 
Some things are worth waking up those we love so we can share with them, even if they think we’re crazy for doing it.
Yep, that’s exactly why I talk a lot about things that are beautiful that we can’t see or touch or take pictures of. The most valuable things in life can’t be held in bank accounts, garages, hands, or pockets. But it’s easy to forget about them, to overlook them if we aren’t reminded once in a while that there is something more beautiful that can be seen with the eye of our heart. Wake up, open your good eye, and I think that you’ll be able to see love and all kinds of blessings that you’ve forgotten – I think that you’ll even be able to see my Jesus in others if you look deep enough,  if you listen hard enough, if you forgive strong enough. 
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” – Romans 1:20 NLT

Which way?

Do we insist on going our own way, even when the Lord makes it clear to us what we should not touch,  what we should not taste, what we should not indulge in, what we should not say,  what we should not do?
Do we not believe? Do we not believe that He has good advice and instruction for our lives? 

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.” 

Ten days later the Lord gave his reply to Jeremiah. He said to them, “You sent me to the Lord , the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply: ‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you. Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,’ says the Lord . ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power. I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.’ 

“But if you refuse to obey the Lord your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here; instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’ then hear the Lord ’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there, the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there. That is the fate awaiting every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the disaster I will bring upon you there.’ 

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.’ 

“Listen, you remnant of Judah. The Lord has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today. For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!’ And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past. So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going.”

Jeremiah 42:5‭-‬7‭, ‬9‭-‬22 NLT

Home Blessings

We are building a house and they are pouring 10 ft high concrete walls around 3 sides of the basement. That’s over a 1000sqft of concrete that we can etch on each side (inside and outside). Since the outside will be backfilled with dirt, no one will ever see it, but we will know that it is there. I thought that some home blessing scriptures would be awesome for us as a family to write into the walls after they have gone up but before it is filled in.

Feel free to comment with any that you think would be nice to add.

 

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Death doesn’t fear Death, Just Life

​The enemy has no fear of good and positive messages being spoken – 
no fear of good intentions being shared amongst a group of people – 
no fear of emotions getting stirred up into a furious uproar – 
no fear of religious celebration and rejoicing –
as long as there remains no conviction and dedication afterwards –
as long as there is no real accountability to self or brother or God –
as long as no one actually steps out of the comfort of the “business as usual” of the boat,

into the “absolute unknown” of the storm – 
as long as there remains no action that exercises our faith somewhere there is a guarantee of no glory, no honor, no reward, and no praise for ourselves.
“How foolish a man would have to be to actually move in that circumstance,  right?”, the enemy whispers in their ears. 
“What would you have to gain from such a foolish and unwise endeavor?”, the enemy taunts. 
“It’s clear that is simply a plan that will never work.”, the enemy justifies. 
“But it doesn’t matter if it works, it just matters that I’m faithful to the Word of God, and what He has called us to do. The glory, honor, reward,  and praise isn’t mine to covet, but it’s mine to offer the only one worthy of receiving it.”, the servant replies, as the enemy shrinks back.
Yes,  this is what the enemy does fear – those who do not deceive themselves – those who do not shrink back from the calling – those who love and obey the Lord – those who have faith that abides,  that remains,  that lives.

Hebrews 10:39
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

But it feels so good…

I get it, you like your sin. You’re comfortable with it. It’s like that little blanket that you just don’t want to let go of.
It may even make you mad that I would call something so precious and valuable to you “a sin”.

It may offend you that I would be so “judgemental” to speak out against sexual immorality, impurity, fits of anger,  gossip, lying, stealing, drinking, drugs, homosexuality, abortion, pornography, selfish ambition, worldliness, jealousy, envy, hatred, swingling, manipulating, and taking advantage of others.
It may make you mad that I would talk about these things as if they were dirty and you shouldn’t be touching them,  participating in them, choosing them instead of “God’s way”.

You may say things like,  “Well that isn’t very loving or accepting!” Or “You can’t judge me!”

But you see,  I realize that those things (sin) are not you. They may be something that you have participated in. They may even be things that you love and don’t really want to let go of (if we could hear the truth of your heart’s desires).

Or they may even be things that you have grown tired of but you don’t know how to escape,  so you feel insulted when someone reminds you of the mess you find yourself trapped in because you’ve given up on any hope that you could ever lay it down. You might have even decided to “just learn to enjoy it and forget about the consequences” because you’ve tried and couldn’t break free.

See, I realize that you are separate,  different from the trap, the disease,  the poison that you have allowed to grab ahold of your life. And if you don’t believe that you’re poisoned, if you’re still under the spell of your chosen poison, if you’re still asleep in blissful ignorance,  I understand too. I’m not here to drag you unwillingly from the trap. I realize you have little reason to believe the likes of me over that voice that bends your will and leads you to feed your desires once again.
Some will even say,  “You will never lure any proselytes into our religion to fill our offering plates by speaking out against sin!” And I hope they are right,  because I don’t plan to manipulate others into being twice the child of hell as those false teachers who are making merchandise of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those men serve a different master, and they have killed the true prophets time and time again. They serve their own bellies and they have no interest in you being truly free as long as they can talk you into following them and not God.

No, I do not condemn you for your sins,  because I have been caught in those traps myself.
And I’m not here to hand you a membership card and an offering envelope, I’m here to tell you about a different life, a new life, with a new purpose and mission.

I’m here to tell you that it is much, much better than that other life,  and that I know this difference first hand. Yes, I’m actually bringing good news that many are not yet ready to hear and accept.

But watering down the truth isn’t what my team does. I call sin sin – good good – bad bad – and lies lies. I offer it in love even though many will receive it as hate.
There is another team that will pick and choose,  that will add and subtract, that will twist the truth so that it comfortably fits their own will and purposes. They are happy with you getting ahold of a piece of the truth as long as it isn’t the whole truth – because they are liars and they serve that old liar.

You see, I know the power of the One Way, the One Truth, the One Life. His name is Jesus Christ,  and He has a new life for you. He truly does want to free you from that poison. I’m not talking about a powerless life following in the traditions of some religious denomination – I’m talking about the kind of relatons hip with a living God that overflows your cup with the annointing of His Spirit and His nature,  and leads you in the good works that He has planned for your life.
Many are asleep.

Many are dead in their sins.

He draws those who are His, and He only bids me to be faithful in sharing the truth and loving and serving. I am not here to kill you or steal your pleasures. I’m only here to tell you the good news. Freedom can be yours.

If you hear the truth in this message,  if you know that you need to repent of your sins and turn to the Lord today, call out to Him in prayer,  confess your sins, believe Him and His Word, and decide today that you will serve Him. Know the freedom that is yours to be had. Make your decision to follow Him and remain steadfast,  relying on Him as your strength,  seeking Him first and foremost in everything you do. Recognize sin and evil as the enemy that traps and kills many,  and learn to share the Truth through the testimony of your life – that the Blood of the Lamb is sufficient to save,  and that the Holy Spirit is sufficient in power, love, and self control to see the enemy defeated in your life.

Hear

“You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.” – Psalms 97:10 NKJV

A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.
Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:12‭-‬19 NKJV

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13‭-‬14 NKJV

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord , in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.
For You, O Lord , will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Psalms 5:4‭-‬12 NKJV

Slave?

Slave to many or slave to one?

The humble servant only has one Master.

But the ambitious man has as many masters
as there are persons who might expand his fortunes,
as there are desires that would extend his appetites,
as there are pleasures that would temporarily provide for his comfort.

A man who is slave to the desires of his flesh,
Will find himself caught in the trap of many masters,
many vices – immoral, sinful, depraved and sinful acts.

The good man, even though a slave to God’s will,
is free indeed to live an abundant life.

But the wicked, the rebellious, the proud man,
though he reigns in his own mind,
is ensnared within the unrelenting grip of his vices,
that slowly tear at him as they draw him down to death.

We each choose our master –
And if we proudly believe that we have mastered our own lives,
We might just be bound up within the deepest slavery of all.

But there is a master who is kind and merciful,
Who seeks to teach mercy, love and forgiveness,
That leads to a life of
profitable obedience,
healing restoration,
and faithful grattitude.

Choose Jesus.

He alone is the way.

Turn away from wickedness.
Turn away from lies.
Turn away from your attempts to earn your way.

Realize that He has paid the way with a price that you could never afford.

Come to Him willing to be called Servant,
And find yourself called Follower, Friend, Son,
Free.
Free indeed.

 

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” – Romans 6:16(NKJV)

A Divine Jealousy

​While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord ’s anger to blaze against his people. The Lord issued the following command to Moses: “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.” So Moses ordered Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.” Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle.  When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but not before 24,000 people had died. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me. ”

Numbers 25:1‭-‬13 NLT

http://bible.com/116/num.25.1-13.NLT
One man, who had a divine jealousy for God’s will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven,  saved a whole people and brought peace through his obedience. His righteous amber towards evil and wickedness,  and his obedience left this man and woman, forever called out by name in the Word of God as transgressors.

This action was not taken by Phineas in anger towards these two, but in bold obedience to God. It was not a judgement that Phineas executed against their hearts – the commandmen came from God and out of love for His God, he obeyed without wavering. This was not heartless or cruel,  it was the justice of God made visible to the world.
Regardless of some modern perversions of the Word of God, Jesus didn’t just “come for sinners” – He “came for sinners to bring them to repentance”. In fact Jesus tells us that His call will “raise those who did good to salvation and those who did evil to judgement”.  His name is not a free pass to continue in wickedness. This grace once planted in us, now alive and abiding is the power to tread on the head of temptation, and for our lives to be a living testimony of the power of the blood of the Lamb to supply an annointing of power, love, and self control. 
Do you put your full trust in what the Word of God speaks into your daily life?
Or do you put your trust in what some king surrounded by his followers has convinced you that it says? Or in what lies the world has to sell you?
Or are there more pressing matters in your day than consulting a God that you cannot hear,  a book that you cannot understand,  and a religion that looks to you like hatred,  judgement,  and hypocrisy?
At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the Lord , and he handed them over to you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.” Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison and put him in stocks. At that time Asa also began to oppress some of his people.

2 Chronicles 16:7‭-‬10 NLT
Fully trusting is our opportunity to see victory reign in our lives,  to know that righteous jealousy for the Lord, to know that justified hatred towards sin and death,  and to know the love of being your brother’s keeper. And why does it matter that we warn our brother and sister of the coming judgement (besides the example that Christ gave us,  preaching “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”)?
It is that righteous jealousy that Paul felt for the Corinthians when he said:
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you  as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

II Corinthians 11:2‭-‬4 NKJV
Yes, Christ taught repentance,  and that the wicked would go to destruction and the redeemed would know eternal life and life abundant. And that life abundant is witnessed and demonstrated in the lives of the Apostles and martyrs who are jealous enough towards their God to face persecution,  trial, and suffering in this world. He did not say,  “Build up a great amusement for my people that will stir their emotions and promise them more in this life.” No, He told us to lay down our lives,  to deny ourselves, to love others, and to be bold in the truth. His example was to turn over the tables of the money changers.  Oh, that He would turn over the tables of so many that make merchandise of the gospel! That merchandise saying “We follow Paul” or “We follow Mark” or “We follow XXX church/preacher” would be replaced with materials sharing the name of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. But the name above all names takes a backseat in places that worship and exalt themselves – and this merchandise cries out and testifies against us,  Lord! This half hearted trust in you,  Lord, leaves so many powerless – either not acknowledging the power that exists to set them free – or refusing to enter in themselves and barring the way for others. 
Belief,  faith,  or the lack of it is manifest in our lives. 
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Matthew 7:16‭-‬21 NKJV
And it matters:
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:19‭-‬21 NKJV
Choose belief, whole hearted belief, unashamed belief, unwavering faith that abides, that remains:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16‭-‬17 NKJV
Find your divine jealousy for the Lord, world changer.