Snatch Them Out Of Fire

Jude 22-23

And have mercy on [and convince] some who are doubting; save others snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

What are we commanded to do here? Convincing the ones who are doubting and questioning, this is not hard to understand. 

How do we snatch some out of the fire? This seems to involve violence. 

Then on some to have mercy with fear--Zechariah's vision of Joshua the high priest depicted Joshua's sins as filthy garments. Is this hating the sin while loving the sinner? 

We need our thinking clarified on these things, to see with God's eyes to have His perception and gain His understanding of these verses. 

O my Father, how do I obey these commands? Please help me to perceive what You want me to do, and how to do it. 

Enlighten my understanding, Father, to accomplish Your will according to Your plan for me. 

Then You will receive all the credit, all the glory for all that You have accomplished, even in and through me. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Way Out Of Trouble

Ecclesiastes 8: 5-6

He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, when a man's trouble is heavy upon him. 

I had gotten myself into a financial trouble when I didn't follow one of God's principles to not co-sign on a loan (Proverbs 6:1-2). I had made an exception in this case (Proverbs 17:18), but then later, this financial burden started to weigh heavy on me (Proverbs 11:15). 

That's when I found these verses, and God told me what to do. His wisdom gave me the proper procedure to follow (Proverbs 6:3-5), and I waited on Him for His time to execute it. 

My "royal command" was to pay all the bills I owe, even those that were only assigned to me secondarily (Romans 13:8). So I called the debt-holder to negotiate the liquidation of this debt. We went back and forth for several months, and I even had a lawyer friend lend his authority on my behalf. 

Finally they agreed to accept my payment of a fraction of the total amount in full payment of the entire bill. I was certain to require of them the proper legal document to prove the full payment of the entire amount, so that they could never again come after either me or the primary signer for any portion of it. 

This relieved both of us in this matter, and we could both rest easy now that it is fully accomplished. 

God's Word is so good! He has told us how to handle every kind of thorny situation, in a right and polite and honest way. 

There really is "a proper time and procedure" for everything to work out for our "delight," our good. 

Thank You, Father, for giving me Your wisdom to know how to handle every kind of troublesome situation according to Your good ways. You have already seen my path, You know what mistakes I've made that result in problems, and You have taught me some of Your ways that I needed to use in this wisdom to solve these problems, in a righteous and honest and complete and final way. 

Father, You are my Source of everything I need, everything I will ever need! You have given us this Earth and provided in it all we need to live and prosper here on it. You have devised all the mechanisms of how everything works together, and You have even shown us how to extract ourselves from the sticky situations we find ourselves in. 

Father God, You are amazing! You are fantastic! You are monumentally Glorious! Your wisdom is clever and even humorous at times! You provide fun and laughter, even as You give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3). 

And You, Father, will receive all the credit, all the honor, all the glory for everything You have done. You will be praised for all Your good ways, and all the wonderful delights You lavish upon those You love, who follow Your ways! 

You alone are God, our Almighty King and Potentate; our Maker and Creator; and Every creature which is in Heaven, and on the Earth, and such as are in the Sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power, be unto Him that sits upon the Throne, the Lamb, forever and ever! (Revelation 5:13). Amen and amen!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Set On Fire Of Hell

James 3:2 

In many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 

But:

James 1:26 

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. 

Because:

James 3:6 

The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of Nature; and it is set on fire of Hell! 

This is a common problem among all of us. We use our tongues in ways that are good and bad, encouraging and condemning. We are so quick to use our tongues without even thinking first, on automatic. 

Our words pour out what is overflowing in our hearts, and what's in our hearts is put there by our attitudes, formed by our beliefs. Do we believe that our hearers have worth, that they deserve our respect? Sometimes our words deny that. 

Then we set on fire someone's self-worth or a situation, to destroy and decimate the good creation God made. How many of us see ourselves as worthless, because someone we respected told us so when we were children? 

How many situations spun out of control because of the hatred spewed forth? 

Our words have great power, because God made us in His own image, and His Word is Creative. So our words can also be creative, or destructive. 

That's why we need to be very careful to pause and consider the words we are about to speak (or write, or type, or text). If the words that automatically erupt are not beneficial to the hearer, then we need to examine our own hearts to find out what it is we believe, and what our basic attitude is toward that person or situation. 

Are we seeing them through God's eyes? Are we valuing them as He has set their worth? Are we aligning our thinking processes with His thoughts for us? 

It's not easy. Like James said, if any of us can be perfect in our words, then we can live a perfect life. But that's not possible until we are Resurrected, and our corruptible puts on incorruption, and our mortal puts on immortality (I Corinthians 15:51-56). 

So we all need to work on this, continually. I know that I have been aware of this situation for many years, and I have been dealing with this problem every day that I interact with other people all this time. I can't say I've made much headway--I still find it difficult to pause to think in the heat of a passionate exchange. 

But that is what is needed for us to consistently build one another up, instead of tearing down. 

And we also need to build ourselves up, using God's Truth about us. If we have a diminished self-worth, then we need to re-program our thinking to align with how God thinks of us. He loves us and values us with the highest worth, and when we see ourselves as He sees us, in His mercy and grace, and how He originally designed us to be before Adam sinned; then we will love who He loves, ourselves, and we will love others with His love. 

It is said that, "hurt people will hurt people," but people who know their high value will also highly value other people. We all actually do "love others as we love ourselves." 

Jesus was giving us a "new commandment" when he told us to love others as He loves us! He loves us more than we can imagine; without limits or conditions--unconditionally. That's how He wants us to love one another! 

Even if they have hurt us. Even those who hate us. Even the people who have destroyed everything that was good, when they were supposed to support us, that we depended on and trusted. Those wounds really gouge deep. 

That's why we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. Every one of us has done that to our loving Father. And He has loved us anyway, sending His own, precious Son give up everything good to take our place in death, individually, so we can be cleansed of all the filth that stains us, and be forgiven. That's how we are to forgive those who have sinned against us, even grievously.

Then we will have a handle on controlling our tongues. We need to be vigilant and careful and watch ourselves continually, while we still live in our corruptible flesh. 

God has given us His Holy Spirit to live in our spirits, to teach us and strengthen us and protect us. Let us avail ourselves of His help, and turn to Him in the midst of temptation in our words. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

An Appalling And Horrible Thing

Jeremiah 7: 23-24

But this is what I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you. 
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward. 

Jeremiah 5: 30-31

An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it? 

This was the Nation Israel, and Jeremiah was lamenting how the people were suffering. He could see that God wanted to give them good, the bounty He placed in this Earth for their benefit. But the people didn't want God. They had a "better idea"!

So the Prophets, the ones who were to give the people God's instructions, gave them false "visions" that they made up themselves, to tell them what they wanted to hear. And the priests, who were to bring their offerings to God and mediate in their disputes, based their rules on their own understanding, instead of researching what God had said. 

These two constituted the government in Israel before they had a king. And were to counsel and guide the king in his rulings. 

But they were wrong. So they steered the people in the wrong direction, backward instead of forward. And the people lost the ability to prosper, lost the understanding of how God designed the Earth to function, and built their world on it defectively; so it didn't work. 

And the people were conquered and carried away to a far-away country as slaves. 

Today we need to observe their errors and consequences, and take to heart the cause-and-effect process they experienced. That should encourage us to search deep in Scripture for the basis of the bounty God put here for us. Learn from their mistakes, and determine to follow God in His ways, the ways He told us to interact with one another and with our environment. 

We need to understand the priorities God gives to all the elements of Creation, to count as more valuable what God values highly, and less valuable (but not worthless) the other parts. 

There is a system of authority that is intrinsic in all our World, and to recognize that hierarchy of authority and live according to it is what Jesus complimented the Centurion in Capernaum on as having "great faith" (Matthew 8:5-10). This soldier saw that Jesus had in the spiritual realm the same kind of authority that he had in the military: as under authority, and having authority over others. 

When our priorities get skewed and twisted out of shape, this is what happens. 

When governments and church leaders forget that they are under God's authority, they set themselves up as the final authority, and rule and teach their own ideas, which come from their own understanding, and are therefore in error, coming from our sin-nature. 

They want to have authority over others without submitting to the Authority that is over them. 

This results in governments imposing tyrany over the masses of people, imposing on them many rules and regulations that only benefit the ones in power.

And churches that approve of what God condemns as harmful to us, and goes so far as to excommunicate members for disagreeing with their demonic demands, and even for mere personality issues. 

O Father, thank You for giving us our Maker's instructions: the system of loving You and one another as the foundation; and all the particulars of the rules and precepts laying out how we are to do that--how we can consider other as better than ourselves, and how to worship You alone, giving You the honor and glory You alone deserve. 

O Father, I pray for all those who are in authority over us, whether in our governments, our employment, our churches, or even our families. As Your children, teach us to honor all who have power over us, to obey and live our lives in humility and meekness. 

And guide and direct those who are over us to submit to You as Final Authority in their ministry of serving all of us. Whether as king, president, governor, police officer, pastor, mentor, boss, parent, or whatever other position we/they hold, help us to live our daily lives under Your rule, and under and over others that You have given us to benefit us so we can help one another. 

Father, even in this time period I am living in, I have seen how You bless a people when their leaders are godly, and how as the moral tone of a Nation declines away from Your standards, we lose the benefits we had, and suffer loss and dysfunction and troubles and sorrows. 

And when the moral slide continues, Father, all Your godly children find themselves under persecution, as is already in the World now, and is spreading. 

Help us, Father, to be effective witnesses to Your Truth that benefits the whole World; and strengthen us to withstand the persecution, at whatever level, we will encounter as we do so. 

Continue to work Your Plan that You revealed to us in the writings of Your prophets, as You direct and control everything that relates to it. Continue to use all the acts of Your people, as well as all the works of those who reject You, as You bring this World into accepting the lie of the devil to welcome the One World Government that will attack Your people Israel and bring our Great King to defeat them! 

Even so,come, Lord Jesus!

The Lord And The King

Proverbs 24: 21-22

My son, fear the Lord and the king; do not associate with those who are given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?

And in the New Testament:

Romans 13: 1ff

Let every person be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

When Solomon was mentoring his son, he told him to give honor to both the Lord and to whatever king was in power, and to not listen to people who want to overthrow a sitting government for something different. 

Not long ago a man who was advocating "Change" was elected into power, and he decreed so much evil that the people decided to go back to the tried-and-true. Then all the wicked people throughout the whole government who remained after the evil politician ceeded his position tried to remove the new leader, as he was undoing many of their ruinous plans and instituting more righteous programs. 

The battle is ongoing. 

When Paul wrote to the Romans, he was telling them that the corrupt and morally bankrupt government of his time was to be honored and obeyed, and taxes paid, and given respect. He did not nullify the principle of obeying God rather than man (Acts 5:29), but most governing, even by unrighteous leaders, is not against God's commands. So we must be very careful in discerning when we can righteously disobey some secular law. 

If a precept allows something that is unrighteous, we have the choice to not do whatever it is, and to share with others how detrimental it is, in a gentle and patient way. 

But if it is a command to do something that God's Word expressly forbids, then that is when we must "obey God rather than man." But we still must refuse in a firm, but gentle and patient manner. If we allow ourselves to become hard, harsh, or condemning, then we have fallen into a trap. 

We must build our characters into the character of Christ; producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus always displayed these qualities, even when He was reviling the evil religious leaders: we can read His harsh words, but we tend to not hear His tone of voice, which makes all the difference. 

So, obey God and the government, and don't listen to those who advocate change from either. Because both God and the government can and will bring calamity and ruin. 

O my Father, I look toward Your righteous Kingdom, in which Your will will be done on this Earth, just as it now is done in Your Heaven. Right now, in this Age, Your will is being done in our hearts and our lives, as Jesus said that the Kingdom is within us. 

But I long for the Day when our King will appear and execute judgment on this old Earth, setting up His Throne to rule, for a thousand years, then throughout all Eternity! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Throne Of Destruction

Psalm 94: 16, 20

Who will stand up for Me against evildoers? Who will take his stand for Me against those who do wickedness? 
Can a throne of destruction be allied with You, one which devises mischief by decree?

A "throne of destruction" is a government that "devises mischief by decree," it makes laws that promote unrighteousness and evil. 

Like the ancient rulers who decreed human sacrifices to idols, and illicit sexual acts in worship of demons. 

Or the official persecution of Jesus-followers. 

Or the permitting of the destruction of the most innocent, and the forbidding of counsellors to counsel anyone who wants to get rid of unrighteous physical urges, or to make legal what used to be "controlled" because it alters the brain, or decrees that Christian businesspeople must promote ungodly lifestyles. 

These are a few instances of the "mischief" which is "devised" "by decree." 

Every generation has its share of "spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12), and these are not just spiritual places, but worldly political places; governments. No earthly government is immune to these spiritual forces, but are particularly vulnerable to their influence. 

That is why "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." 

How can we stand up against these "evildoers"? What stand can we take against "those who do wickedness"? 

To start with, we need to remember that our fight is not with people. The people involved in these devisings have been deceived, and are victims of the devil. They are still very dangerous, but the power behind them is the source we need to focus on. 

That's why Paul told the Ephesians to put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (see Ephesians 6:10-18). 

In a democratic government, your spiritual duty is to vote. In a republican government, your spiritual duty is to ensure that your representative is representing your views in their governing; or even run for office yourself. 

In a kingdom or dictatorship, your duty is to pray for your leaders, and promote righteousness in your own circle of influence. 

We all are to pray for our leaders, both governmental and spiritual (I Timothy 2:1-3, 8). 

And we are all to be living according to the Righteousness of Christ, showing the World around us God's goodness and compassion and kindness; encouraging those in our circles of influence; promoting the Kingdom of God in all that we think, do, and say in the societies in which we live. 

We cannot do this in our own human strength; we must rely on God's Holy Spirit Who resides inside our bodies in our spirits. He will give us the strength and power and ability to stand against all this wickedness and evil, and hold us up to stand after we've done everything we can do. 

It won't be easy, but with our hand in His, we can weather every attack against us with victory. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Pure Or Defiled?

Titus 1: 15-16

To the pure all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestible and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.

Those who know and follow the Lord can recognize what is holy and pure, and can see the good in everything God made. That's what they are to focus on. 

Those who refuse to choose God are refusing what is good and pure, so they only see what is worldly; what is defiled, twisted, or just plain wrong. 

Because we are all born into the Human family with damaged DNA, we all have a fallen nature, which Scripture calls "sinful flesh." This is what causes us to make poor decisions that transgress God's rules for us. 

Then, those who persist in defying God deliberately harden their hearts like Pharaoh did when Moses confronted him. Just like him, they will reach a point that God will give them over: Pharaoh to a hardened heart that led to the destruction of his whole Nation; people today to depravity and detestible things (see Romans 1:18-32). 

So this is all about our focus. Whatever we're looking closely at fills our vision and everything else fades into the background, whether our focus is on what is pure or what is defiled. 

O my Father, please continue to teach me Your ways. Help me keep my focus on Your goodness that You pour into every day. Help me to see You in everything I see, and everyone I interact with. 

Help me to always be positive, and not let the negative get the upper hand. Keep my words encouraging, especially with those I don't agree with, those who don't know You yet. 

Show me how to communicate with every kind of personality and belief in a way that is not accusing or condemning, but encouraging and drawing to Yourself, Father. 

Show me how to show Your Love to those in my circle of acquaintance who have so far been rejecting Your gracious and merciful offer of Salvation. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!