Vengence is God's

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:18 NIV

Vengence belongs to God, and God alone! Why?! History provides us with the reasons why it is something humanity should leave, and must leave with God. The person wronged almost always gets consumed with the hurt the event caused them and they go overboard with vengence. We cannot prescribe the correct amount of consequence towards the offender, and thus we now become the aggressor. And so the vicious cycle of "one-upmanship" begins, and the cycle continues.

This cycle is what fuels the battle of the Hatfields vs the McCoys, and other conflicts like the fight over the Gaza Strip. Let it be people! Don't get consumed with vengence, as it will lead directly to separation from God and possibly death to your soul. Christ's second of his commandments was to love your neighbor as yourself would yourself.  As you can see in this Scripture verse, the message was the same    millennia prior.

We are to trust in God that an offender will be punished, if it be His will. Don't become consumed with vengence. Be engulfed with the Holy Spirit of God! If we suffer a wrong, count it as being worthy like the Apostles did in Acts.  Have faith in Jehovah and His will. Pray for the offender to realize their wrong (s), and repent. It is hard, and sometimes situationally impossible for us to walk away. This is the example of Christ, following it will afford you a crown in Heaven, and not perpetuate violence in this lifetime.  Amen

Seeking shelter in Christ

[ Psalm 91 ] Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1 NIV

Psalm 27:4 says "
4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple."

Let this be your ultimate goal, to dwell in the presence of the Lord Forever. Live life as Christ demanded and the reward is eternal life with Him and Jehovah Nisi. Come as you are and wholeheartedly seek Jesus. He will neither shun nor close the door on you. No matter what you have done or are currently doing, He loves you. Seek Him that we may inquire in His temple together for eternity. Give your entire life, the good, bad, ugly, sinful, and the unmentionable things to Him and he will make you whole.

To dwell in the shadows of God, means we are in His presence. To be there we must believe and live in Christ. Stop looking for the wirld to fix us and lets let rhe Holy Trinity do their thing in our lives. Seek and yee shall find, Amen!

The true cost of the world

Luke 9
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus made the path clear for us to follow if we want to see him in glory.  Sadly, many of humankind choose the wide road to destruction  versus the narrow road to salvation and inexpensive the end, reunification with the Holy Trinity in Heaven. Sometimes this decision in favor of the wide road is made out of potential  ease and convenience of life. Others choose this path out of greed, malicious beliefs, misguided understandings of Christ, and a host of other things. But one thing is certain,  the wide road will cost you your soul.

Jesus poses a great question, "25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?"  He was tempted after His water and Spiritual baptisms in the Wilderness. Satan offered Him the world if He would foresee His heavenly throne and bow before him. This means that Christ would be selling His soul to "gain the world". This was a bait and switch ploy derived from greed, vanity, selfishness and hatred from the devil of Jehovah.

We fall for this frequently. Conforming to society's beliefs is not the way to YahWeh. Wealth and self-preservation along with self-indulgence plus many other tactics, are ploys of evil origins to derail us for Christ. To live in Christ means to live with Him first in life, not self. When we chase the after the world, we let go of God's hand to do so.

We need to open our eyes and see that the cost of this wretched and raggedy and hateful world is our soul. The devil is angry that he was rightfully cast out of Heaven and like the old adage he wants company in his miserable state. STOP FALLING FOR IT! Start discerning things through the filter of God: His sight, wisdom, knowledge, purity of heart, and love. The devil is selling lies like hotcakes and we are falling for it with anvils tied to our necks straight to hell.  Cut that tie and rise up to Christ on wings like eagles.

Father, I pray that humanity comes to believe in you. For you are the truth, the way, and the life our souls naturally seek to reunite with desperately. Please Lord give us this filter and teach us how to use it to sever the tie to a sinful death. Lord teach us how to stand for righteousness for your namesake. Touch us with the gift of this filter that we may teach others how to use this gift and ultimately do Your Will. The world will surely pass away. It is a gift not worth one cent of its price, out souls. Thank you Father for life, Your presence, love, joy, peace, grace, and mercy. The are everlasting gifts the devil can't match in his bogus offer. Please help us to do your will to preached and teach to cut the umbilical chord to our sinful lives, that way will join you on glory . Forgive us of our wrongs and show us how to forgive others. Lead us, guide us, teach us, and protect us. In Christ's name...Amen

A reason to dance

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Philippians 3:20 NIV

Who has pure joy in their life that we have tickets punched for Heaven? I can't wait to dance around the city of God and praise Him all day Long!  No matter what happens to me here, that is my joy! Knowing my soul will reunite with Christ because of His sacrifice, wow. All I can say is thank you and AMEN!!!

He loves me....

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:13 NIV

Though we are evil, wow that is a tough pill to swallow. What this is referring to is the sinful nature of the human heart, mind, flesh. What this verse is saying is that despite our nature, along with past, present, and future sins, our faith and deeds that are good, will be rewarded by God. All we have to do is ask. 

To ask, is to pray. Pray earnestly and fervently to God for His grace and tender mercies upon us and our needs.  This does not mean we will always get what we want, but our supplications will be heard and answered. Not getting the answer we want doest equate to God ignoring us.

So pray frequently and pour your heart out. Despite our sinful ways, He will pour out blessings upon us, if we ask.  Despite our inner evil, He loves us. We, the prodigal, our Father in Heaven wants us to turn from sin and run home to Him. He will meet us and greet us, and never let us go.

Father I pray that You prick the hearts of the people who may read this to cause a change in us all. A change that will force us to rid ourselves of the evil and sin that plagues us, and run away from it until we find you. Lord, guide our every step, thought, and action that we may not stumble along the way. And should we falter, let us get back up and keep running to Jesus.

Amen

Living for Tomorrow

James 4:13-16

Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

Is tomorrow guaranteed to anyone living today? We often live life like we know tomorrow we will see. Mark 13:31-33 (NIV) says, "31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert[a]! You do not know when that time will come.

We don't know what God's time line is for us or the world. Stop living each day as if the next is ours to do whatever with. Live today and everyday you are blessed to take a breath above ground to the fullest for God. Live like tomorrow may never be mine, because it isn't. Carpe diem, seize the day, today. All we have is today. Let it being a testimony to the goodness and mercy and love of God. Amen!

To Bear and Forgive

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:13 NIV

This is difficult for many of us to.  Normal logic begs the question, "Why should I take on another's burdens with them if I have my own to bear? Why should I for give those who hold grudges against me?"   

We'll, to help a fellow human being in their time of strife is what we are called to. Plus, when we help our fellow citizens, albeit hard sometimes, we are exemplifying Christ. We are mirroring what Christ does for us daily. We are glorifying God.  Help with a joyful and sincere heart, and the deed(s) will be returned to you.

To forgive, is to let go of the grievances others have brought upon you. We get wrapped up in the "eye for an eye" mindset and drag ourselves, unwittingly mind you, away from God.  We won't forget the wrong, but to forgive means you don't count it against them any longer. We let the past die.  It dies with the sins Jehovah and Christ forgive us for with our daily dose of Grace and Mercy.

To hold grudges and not forgive keeps you far from God and the blessings He wants to bestow upon you are withheld because we are not ready for them.  In this state of selfishness, let's call it for what it is, God WILL NOT DWELL THERE!!!! Grudges hold you back and ultimately kill you in every way possible, sometimes to death. Let the go and live in/for Christ, that we may all reunite in Heaven. Amen!

Why Christ left Heaven....

so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:28 NIV

Christ did not come to condemn the world...but to convict the sinful nature humanity has openly embraced. His ultimate sacrifice is the gateway to a new life in this world and life eternal with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Heaven. It's time to let the sinful nature within us die and pass away like the days of old the are long forgotten. Luke 9:23-24 says "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me! For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it." Death to sinfulness in this life must become the former "you" in order to pick the cross, the "new you" and follow Him. Let us edify each other to do just that, and then let it spread like wildfire! Amen