Romans 1:25 "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen."
Posted by Cherry at 7:31 AM 0 comments
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Posted by Cherry at 6:11 AM 0 comments
How easy it is to fall into complacency, self-pity, fear, and doubt when struggling with money, illness, and other ailments common to humanity. In such temptations I ask myself, "Is God sovereign or is He not?" I force myself to the point - to make up my mind. If I allow myself to waiver, I reduce Him in my own mind to a "circumstantial" god, one to be praised when times are good and one to blame or accuse when times are bad. In such thinking I am viewing Him like one might view a genie in a bottle who has no choice but to grant me my demands or be thrown out with the bottle.
As harsh and ridiculous as this sounds, it is, sadly, much of today's modern "Christian" view and finds many "...moved by every wind of doctrine..." (Ephesians 4:14). This is also the kind of thinking that finds many caught up in movements. Lacking discernment, they are incapable of (or unwilling to) listening to speakers or music, watch movies, or read books without being swept away in the emotion of the moment. They are unable (or again perhaps unwilling) to "eat the meat and spit out the bones." There are many leaders who monopolize on this and do not encourage their followers to search a thing out and measure it by the Word of God. They prefer and thrive on blind followers.
As Christians, we are to seek wisdom and discernment in all things, trusting the Word of God to light our way. There are many great movements going on whose leaders do not desire people to follow them, but rather to seek the Word for guidance. Those leaders to beware of are those who clearly prefer that you listen to, read, and watch only what they produce and present it as equal to or surpassing the Scriptures. It is up to each individual to choose whom they will serve.
Posted by Cherry at 7:12 AM 1 comments
For two days, every time we let our dog out she would bark nonstop. I kept looking to see what she was seeing, but could not find the source of her obvious anxiety. Because she is not a dog that barks to hear the sound of her own voice, I am always on the alert when she does bark and my God-given “search engine” goes into high gear.
Posted by Cherry at 8:52 AM 0 comments
This morning was entirely conducive to reading my Bible, praying, and journaling. I am an early riser [very early!] and always feel cheated if I sleep past 5:00. I so rely on that time of quiet...but I wonder...
What if my life as a Christian were lived in the midst of real persecution; bombings, hunger, thirst, and filth due to lack of water? What if the only Bible I had access to was the Scripture submitted to memory? What if the only "quiet" time I had was found huddled in a dark corner where bombs and bullets had not yet found me? Would I praise Him? Would I seek His face? Would I trust and hope in Him?
This morning I looked out over a lush green meadow bathed in a soft, thirst-quenching fog with not so much as a whispering breeze to stir the blooms. I am grateful for what I have, but pray I would not rely on my physical surroundings to create in me a spirit of worship to my Heavenly Father.
Posted by Cherry at 6:19 AM 3 comments
I am among those who understand that Harold Camping is most definitely a false teacher/prophet. However, the mockery against God and His people that I have been reading this past few days stemming from this false prophecy has caused me to tremble for those who will not believe and mock those who do. As many are having a heyday over the repeated false prophecy, they have lumped God and His people in with Camping and other such clearly false prophets and are leaving themselves wide open to what they will suffer along with Camping and his followers. It was with much grief that I read of the despair of many of his followers. They chose to follow a man and clearly have not read the Scriptures for themselves. For if they had, they would have read Matthew 24:35-37, which in the KJV reads,
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
The sin of mankind is so great a burden that all are weary of life. We are encouraged throughout the Scriptures to keep faith and wait on the Lord. Sadly, many continue to seek false teachers, false prophets, and false gods in an attempt to satisfy that longing...anything and anyone but the One True God.
Although individuals who claim to know things that simply are not Scriptural invite mockery upon themselves, some mockers take such invitations as an opportunity to wallow in very dangerous mockery of what the Scriptures actually do say. As stated above, reading their cocky, foolish, mocking remarks causes me to tremble for what they will indeed face one day if they continue in such rejection of the Lord.
I am reminded of an incident that took place when I was about fourteen years old. I was on a school bus with my classmates. We were passing an elderly man walking on the sidewalk and several of the children rolled down their windows and started shouting insults and mockery at him. "Hey, old man, there's a hole in your pants!" they yelled. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out with the intention of joining in the jeering, but before I could open my mouth, the man turned and our eyes met. In that moment I was consumed with grief and repentance that such behavior against another even crossed my mind. I turned from the window, told the others to shut up and leave him alone, and sat down and cried. The mocking and jeering was now aimed at me, but I didn't care, as my thoughts were only of the elderly man and the unjustified attack on him.
Looking back on that scene, I am reminded of what foolishness mockery is. Mockers against the Lord sit in the same camp as those who follow and worship false gods, false prophets, and false teachers. Although I, too, laughed a bit over the whole end-of-the-world false prophecy, I do know that such a time will indeed come. It will come in the midst of our going to and fro and all of the activities therein. Those who scoff at this truth will be among the most surprised and devastated.
Posted by Cherry at 10:27 AM 0 comments
Forward
As time passes and the church continues to fall into greater disarray, it is my personal belief that much of this is due to the increasing liberal thinking that has infiltrated all denominations. Some churches are growing incredibly, some are stagnant, and some are diminishing; but we all seem to be suffering the same bent toward doing “what feels good to me” because “Jesus Loves me just the way I am.” We quickly and glibly quote the scriptures pertaining to Jesus having regularly spent time with tax collectors and sinners and Jesus’ Love for all, but give little time or thought to what the purpose of His heart was…and still is; the saving of souls. If we pack the house, but ignore the ways in which we are causing new Christians to fall, we had been better off allowing the congregation to dwindle down to nothing and the building to stay empty and fall into ruin.
Matthew 18:6-7 reads:
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!”
Posted by Cherry at 8:06 AM 1 comments
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