Tag: Spiritual

³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both LORD and Christ. ~ Acts 2:36

Peter said, “You crucified Jesus!” He didn’t deliberately soften his words or his message in order to spare their feelings. He didn’t ease them into it to give them something to relate to or make them feel good. He didn’t water down the Gospel. No.

He let that “arrow of truth” fly and let it pierce whomever it hit, and that’s why they were cut to the heart, which caused them to yell in panic, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). You know how many were saved at that event? Three thousand souls.

Why do we, as Christians, try to continuously reinvent the wheel? Why do we feel we need to change the Word of God for the sake of not comfort? Any church that sinners (those actively living and indulging in sin) feel comfortable in and never feel any form of conviction isn’t housing the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit should move the hearts of the people through the words of the pastor.

We should be seeing growth in our Christians. Repentance in our sinners. Conviction in our heathens. There should be signs that the Holy Spirit is dwelling and meeting with us.

The church is to do more than just welcome people in. Yes, people should feel welcome to come to any church. Yes, they should be greeted with love. But the message should come from God and pierce their hearts.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do More Than Welcome.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. ~ Matthew 5:6

Have you ever been hungry? I mean, really, really hungry. It starts with a subtle, nagging sensation in your stomach—like an empty, hollow ache or a faint gnawing. It’s your body whispering, “I need fuel.”

Beyond the physical— hunger can tug at your mind. You might find yourself daydreaming about food, with the sight or smell of it becoming almost irresistible.

Cravings set in, hitting hard, as images of a nice, warm slice of pizza dance just outside your mental periphery, or whatever your choice of comfort food is.

We call it having “Food Horrors.”

Then, when you mix hunger with that primal, urgent sensation that screams, “Water…! I need water!”

The experience intensifies exponentially.

Thirst may start with a dry, sticky feeling in your mouth and throat, like your tongue is clinging to the roof of your mouth.

Your lips feel parched and cracked. Swallowing can become uncomfortable, almost scratchy. As the thirst intensifies, a slight headache, tiredness, and trouble concentrating set in as your body signals, “I’m dehydrating here.”

Now, think about all that I just described, and apply it spiritually. That is what Jesus is talking about. … those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Have you ever hungered and thirsted for righteousness like that? Where your soul, your whole being, cries out for more of Jesus?

“LORD, I will die, without You!” You want to be righteous before Him. You want to walk holy before Him. You want to please Him in every way.

If you haven’t felt what I’ve just described, spiritually, then you haven’t hungered and thirsted for righteousness. Everything within you yearns to walk righteously before your God. The mere thought of failing in any one part will make you sick to your stomach.

That is what we are striving for. To hunger and thirst for righteousness. How do we get there? By starting with reading and studying your Bible, spending time with God in prayer and worship, and putting your flesh into subjection through fasting. So, don’t wait to start seeking the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Start Today.

Ezekiel 9:3-11 NIV
[3] Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side [4] and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” [5] As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. [6] Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. [7] Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. [8] While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” [9] He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ [10] So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.” [11] Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”

In Ezekiel 9:4, God marked those who grieved over sin, sparing them from judgment. But those who defiled the temple and indulged in their sin weren’t spared. In fact they were slaughtered without mercy.

God told Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy’ (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9:15). In other words, God doesn’t have mercy on every single mercy because not every single person asks for mercy. Instead, many only seek to indulge in their flesh. They refuse to repent, so mercy and grace is withheld from them.

Just as the LORD had a day of judgment for those in Israel and Judah, so will there be a coming day of judgment for the entire world. A day that can only be escaped by those who seek the mercy of the LORD and deny their flesh. But for a world that has rejected His goodness and His grace and has trampled underfoot the blood of His One and Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, there will be no mercy. For God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.

Therefore, spread His Word. Share the Gospel with anyone willing to listen, for who knows if the seed you plant may one day grow into a tree of life—rooted in salvation through Christ. And most importantly, pray for your own salvation and work it out with fear and trembling, lest you miss the mercy of God as well.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Out His Mercy.

⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:4-5

Last year a group of fifth-grade students in Arizona were arrested for “allegedly” plotting to murder a fellow student and make the incident appear as a suicide. This group of 10–11-year-old girls were planning to murder a fellow student because he cheated on one of the girls in the group. Let that sink in for a second. When I was 10 and 11 years old, I didn’t think about stabbing anyone because they were mean to me or did something that upset me. This isn’t normal 10- and 11-year-old behavior. So, what’s going on?

I believe it boils down to one answer, we’ve removed God from our schools and homes. We’ve removed the source of morality and our conscience. We’ve removed the source of good. What have we replaced God with? Instant gratification. Overindulgence. Secular humanism. An evermoving standard of morality.

When we remove the very source of good from our lives, the little bit of good that we are born with is strained from us and we are more susceptible to evil. Jesus warns us that we cannot bear good fruit apart from Him. Why? Because He is the source of good.

If we want to see a change in our country. A change in our people. A change in our children, we have to invite Christ back into our country. Back into our society. Back into our lives because without Christ we have no morality. We’re hopeless.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Turn Back To Christ.

²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ~ Galatians 5:24

I recently saw a video of a well known gospel artist explaining that he wasn’t a perfect man. That he wasn’t God, even though he loves God. That he wasn’t Jesus, even though he follows Jesus, so when he gets upset, he’s gonna cuss. When he gets angry, he’s gonna throw hands (throw a punch) because he isn’t perfect and the overly religious people judge him for it. All I could think was, how sad of a statement is this.

Now, this isn’t a new Christian. This isn’t a baby Christian. This is a Gospel artist that has been making Gospel music for over 3 decades. This is a man that is supposed to be leading the others into the presence of God with his music yet doesn’t have any self-control. I think what made me the saddest about this, is that this is the very temperature of the Church. The Church today doesn’t want to be corrected. They don’t want to have to correct or crucify their flesh. Why? Because it’s hard and they don’t want hard.

We are called to a higher standard than the world. We aren’t called to give into every emotion. Yes, we will trip up. Yes, we will have slips. Yes, we will make mistakes but we strive for perfection, we don’t hide behind excuses.

If we would simply get back to spending time with the LORD and less time in the world and the things of the world, our flesh wouldn’t be so difficult to overcome. Our spirit man would be much stronger. We would be able to follow Jesus. Jesus said if we love Him, we would keep His commands. Jesus said we would know the Church by the fruit. What fruit? The fruit of the Spirit. Jesus even went as far as to say that if we don’t bear the fruit of the Spirit, we would be cut off and thrown into Hell.

Just because we are not Jesus, doesn’t mean that we are not called to a higher standard because we represent Jesus to the world. It’s no longer us who live but Christ who lives through us. Therefore, let us stop making excuses and start making moves forward towards the perfect we are called to.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strive For Perfection Every Day.