Tag: Bible

DON’T LOVE THE WORLD

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DON’T LOVE WORLD

By Rick Mathes

1 John 2:15-17 (NASB) 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Satan hasn’t changed his method of operation since the garden when he tempted Eve with her eyes, then tasting she was too proud to repent so she enticed Adam to join her in her sin. Eyes, flesh and pride are the horsemen of temptation. I can hear their hoof-beats and they are approaching you closer every day you commit your soul to Jesus.

When you were deep in sin, lost and tossed aside, you had a little moron devil snoozing in charge of you. But when you turn your eyes to Jesus, an army of howling hell-hounds got on your trail to tear you apart and devour your relationship with the King of kings. Can you smell the sulphur? Do you feel the flame licking at your heals? Can you understand that you are only held back by the slender thread of your faith?

In the wilderness Jesus was tempted to change stones into bread, jump off the temple building to prove He was the Son of God and challenged to worship Satan in exchange for all the kingdoms of the earth. How similar our temptations are to this moment!

Your eyes are the window to sin. The look isn’t the sin; the lingering of eyes is. Then when you have gazed long enough, your flesh grabs you, you have to taste and have some more. Then you become to prideful to change. “I can handle it this time” is the biggest lie from hell you will ever hear.

I have learned to love the Lord more than the sin. It’s that simple.

When I am in a convenience store on a hot day and see the beer on display, I look away and say “This one’s for you!” and walk away.

When I see a pretty girl and am tempted to mentally undress her, I look away and say, “This one’s for you!” and turn my eyes.

When I smell some marijuana floating though the air, I turn away and say, “This one’s for you” and keep on walking.

As long as you love the Lord 51% and the devil 49% you are well on your way to conquer the eyes, flesh and pride. You may not be the person you ought to be but thank you Jesus you are not the person you once were. Press on!

DON’T LEAVE

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DON’T LEAVE

By Rick Mathes

John 6:67  Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”

The church needs a team to visit those who leave the church and at least attempt to salvage their walk with the Lord. There are many wounded Christians who were in the crossfire of members and unbeliever alike, sword to sword. I was asked once, “If you were Satan, how would you destroy the Christian church? I replied, “Leave them alone. They are doing just fine without the devil’s help!” Seriously, why do so many people walk away?

I think the main reason is that they find the gospel offensive. Being covered by the blood or by His lacerated body we are healed? The toughest is the Trinity and God Jesus dying. I recommend that you read “Hard to Believe” by John MacArthur Jr.

Too many turn their back on the church because of the persecution they are getting from friends, family and fellow workers that make fun of their effort to change their ways. Also, church members can be so mean with their gossiping and backbiting. Some of my most friendly neighbors are unsaved!

My kid brother, among others, just laughs it off. His attitude is the same toward Jesus as it is to any religious leader or the tooth fairy, for that matter. He believes Christianity is just invented to have an answer to those questions and events that just don’t make sense.

Some blow off Christianity because of their evil companions. When I gave my life to Jesus I worried about losing my unsaved buddies. Well, they ran for the hills and I thank the Lord for that because they weren’t the friends I needed to strengthen my walk with the Lord. Good Christian members have filled the gap.

Others just cannot tear themselves away from the sensual enjoyment that the devil provides in every direction including the church. In some countries the prostitutes start out their night in church praying for a successful evening!

Let’s give some the benefit of the doubt and excuse them because the situation has changed. They may have a new job, change of homes, death, divorce or other tragedy that needs our prayers.

The two most oft repeated reasons why fellow Christians leave the church is from sheer laziness or a complaint of what they believe to be unsound doctrine. It all cases, it is painful to me that when I quit going to the traditional churches, no one who said they loved me did or cared to even call me. I have since become an ordained Baptist minister and have my own little chapel of believers that worship together with me.

 

DON’T KICK

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DON’T KICK

By Rick Mathes

 

Acts 26:14
“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

 Why do we fight hard against the process of holiness and sanctification? How much of a grip does sin really have on you and why do you allow it? The Lord wants so dearly to hug you and tell you He loves you. Yet we often refuse His invitation. How does He try so desperately to reach us? How can we receive His gently urging to be His?

The means the Lord uses is a tender and warm embrace. Can’t you just feel it? His soft touch can only come to you through the Word in essence in the Bible or in its form, in person through the Holy Spirit until His return. Just the Word, nothing more, is needed for you to do a turnabout on sin. Look to the cross and her His agonizing moans in the excruciating pain of our punishment for sin: yes our punishment. Let that sink in.

I know He loves you more than you are capable of loving. So when He pulls in the reins on your prayer requests and answers, “Not yet,” don’t fight against Him. He knows what is best for you and that is often the exact opposite of what you want. Like the bridle on a horse our natural response is to bite down on the bit and do as we choose. Sometimes a wise horseman needs to pull back sharply to let the horse know who is boss.

Since we’ve been born again we have a new family in glory and through Christians here on planet earth. Heaven enjoins with earth and His will is done according to His purposes, It is a tender parental love that too many of us have not experienced. I even welcomed “tough love” as a teenager and I didn’t even get that. I praise the Lord that I have a “Daddy” now that will take a belt to my butt when I have it coming.

Usually, apart from extreme circumstances, He approaches us with a tender admonition when we drift too far. As friends, we can meet on even ground at the foot of the cross and get our life in order, eye to eye with Him. Just one look into the eyes of that battered and bruised face, bloody and grotesque, is enough to melt any hardened heart.

All that the Holy Spirit needs to do is to gently prompt us to stay to the script, keep our focus and put a step forward toward Him and away from the flesh within us that cries out for hell. It’s a no choice situation. We must surrender and not kick against the hand that loves us.

 

COREM DEO BEFORE GOD

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CORUM DEO – BEFORE GOD

By Rick Mathes

Hebrews 10:1 (NASB77) Heb 10:1 (NASB77)  For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.

Every instance in the Bible when someone came into the presence of God, their face hit the ground and they were horrified by how sinful they were in the face of God. It was a terrifying experience unlike the entertainment franchises with a cross on the roof we call churches. The majority of professing Christians are ignorant to what true worship really is: coming into the personal presence of God (in His face).

They are hindered by unbelief. Oh they may agree to the Westminster Confession of Fatih and have the right answers to the right questions but they stop short of believing that we must be Holy or we will never enter heaven. We form our own religion that suits our beliefs as far as we allow our heart to reach. Close but no cigar!

If this sounds like you, be honest: you have unconfessed sin that the Holy Spirit has been hounding you with. You have invented your own god who doesn’t really care about your minor sins. Your god is only interested in the big sins! How absurd. A Holy God demands nothing less than holiness.

Harboring what you believe to be a benign sin is a completely wrong attitude. It was sin that killed God’s only Son. All sin is lethal and you and I must be 100% sinless or we will never enter the glory-land. Well, you know well as I do that it is impossible. The only way to the Father is through the Son so face it. Anything you believe otherwise, no matter how small or insignificant you may thinkit is to be, if it is not wholly Jesus, it is wholly and fatally wrong: No sin period!

So if you keep placing your priorities around the edges, it won’t due. You are only fooling yourself unless you make your only goal in life the pursuit of holiness. Don’t hold anything back no matter how insignificant you may believe the sin to be.

You are advancing into the face of the enemy and Lucifer can be a formidable enemy. He only needs to would you with a small sin to cause a fatal blow. Stand boldly before God and don’t hold anything back. You’ve been warned!`

CORRUPTION

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CORRUPTION

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Corruptions on every front occur in the world and the church before our very eyes and we let them happen; everyone, whether in politics or in the pulpit is afraid to speak the truth because truth has been corrupted beyond recognition.

In either circle it begins by following humanist leaders. We call them liberals but the fact remains that they are conservatives with masks on. They are not just “Joe six-packs” in taverns or legislators in government; they are also graduates of seminaries.

They favor earthly, carnal, self-centered wisdom no matter how it’s packaged or marketed. I live in the real world but my heart is in the heavenlies. I see and you do too the nonsense that is offered as good-sense.

You can’t help but flounder in the flesh of relativism. It’s like throwing darts at a moving and changing target. There is no objective bull’s eye there is only bull s—t.

With an ever changing truth we give little or no thought for future judgment because what is there to judge? When there is no right there is no wrong and the lie becomes the truth. The Word of God warned us and the fulfillment is upon us. Why fear a judge of no laws or punishment. Muslims call it “kismet.”

The spiritual leaders flatter themselves by the attendance and wealth of their churches. All of hell has put its weight on their eyes to look outward instead of upward.

When you aren’t eye to eye with Jesus you are well on your way to sink to the depths of Satan’s evil abyss of fire. Faithfulness to Christ is measured by three words: repent, submit and obey If you will do these corruption wherever you feet are planted will flee.

Otherwise you are fragmenting the Body of Christ. You have corrupted to the point where you are not the solution, you are the problem. Guess what happens when you spit into the sky; it falls back on you.

COMFORTER

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COMFORTER

By Rick Mathes

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Islam teaches that Jesus sent Mohammed to be our counselor and teacher not the Holy Spirit. Talk about scripture twisting, they also claim that Abraham was to sacrifice Ishmael not Isaac. How out-there can one get. Yet, most people you ask haven’t a clue what or who the Holy Spirit is and what His involvement is in our lives to this moment! I won’t even begin to suggest to you that I am the final word on this issue but I have made a few observations the teachings of the Bible that makes the Holy Spirit a critical component of my life in Him.

The Paraclete is definable to the extent that we understand Him to be equal to the Father and Son. Now I have read many books and articles trying to explain that the three independent personalities are one person and none of them make any sense! But just because I don’t understand it doesn’t mean God doesn’t know it. I just accept the Trinity by faith in the Word that says it is so. I like the analogy that the Father is the sun, the Son is  the illumination and the Holy Spirit is the warmth between them. Or how about one times one times one equals One?

What can I say with certainty is that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. He brings the warmth of the Son into your heart and being. He embraces us with the confidence that everything is going to be ok. It’s a real blessed assurance not a counterfeit that the devil cooked up. You can’t touch the flames without pain and where there is smoke, there is fire. But when the dove lights on your head, the peace that surpasses understanding washes your soul and enlightens your heart with an appreciated confidence that strengthens your resolve to press on.

The Comforter provides comfort to the comforted!

This is a real life experience with the Holy Spirit that is felt, actuated and confirmed by the Word of God and the lives of the spirits submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. The unbelieving doctor said, “Can you see, smell, taste, hear, taste or feel the Holy Spirit?” The Christian answered, “I can feel Him.” “That makes it 4 against and one for. As a doctor of medical science, I won’t accept that as fact.” The Christian countered, “Can you see, smell, hear, taste or feel pain?” The Doctor admitted he could feel pain. The Christian countered, “Then it’s a fact the Holy Spirit is as real to me as pain is to you. I pray you believe and the pain will pass!”

COME TO ME

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COME TO ME

By Rick Mathes

John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ” If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

Jesus Christ is God, is alive and is coming back. Now this is reason enough for me to come to Him when I am a quart low. He and He alone have the Living Water in His essence, the Word and in His form, His person. So all I need to do is study His Word, pray and meditate and I will be refreshed and preserved to another day.

There is no other name in heaven, earth or below to call on. All others smolder and smell from the flames of the abyss: demons with masks on. Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life. Now I must admit to you that I still struggle with a concept being a person. I will discuss this issue in another devotional. This much I do know, there is no other Savior but Jesus Christ.

When I go to His Word, the Holy Spirit makes the verses come alive. I can almost feel a heartbeat just laying my hands on the Gospels. His Word becomes even more powerful when I read His actual words. Did you know that if you just read the “red parts” (His quoted words) it will only take you three hours?

The main thing you find is wisdom that surpasses Plato and Aristotle. In fact philosophers are fools who ask other fools foolish questions and get foolish answers that they pass on to other fools! Logos is wisdom, Sophia.

The Rhema is the power of the Word that only a believer can understand. It’s when the Word leaps off the pages and does a broadside on your mind and heart. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to take His place until His return. When was the last time you “shot up” the Holy Ghost and mainline all He is?

The Father is the lover, the Son is the loved and the Holy Spirit is that love between them. When you find the Son, you have the fullness of the Godhead. This will endow in you a symphony of our Triune God and all the heart-break we caused Him during our journey to the cross.

The Comforter surely is as He assures us that everything is going to be all right. There is a sense of relief in knowing that we have received a full-pardon When then reality of this really sinks in,you have found Him!

CHURCH

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CHURCH

By Rick Mathes

The corporate church is the Body of Christ which is composed of all its elect. We don’t “go to church” we “are church.” The ground I’m standing on is church property because I am the visible temple of the Holy Spirit: He lives through me.

We come together to worship because like metal to magnet we cannot do otherwise. Our spiritual comfort zone is to be in “one accord” worshipping and enjoying our Lord in His glory.

So far we are in agreement with the Roman Catholics. Where we depart is when it becomes a “Mass” that features a ritualistic re-crucifixion of our Savior: another unnecessary atonement, one done on a weekly basis: over and over and over as the slaughtering of lambs in the Old Testament.

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. He died once to free us form the punishment of sins, the power of present sinfulness and the presence of future sinful consequences. This was done once never to be repeated ever again. There has never been any need for a sacrifice since His and there never will be. The Roman Catholic Mass is blasphemy!

This “mass” of atonement for our sins in another gospel and is a direct reflection of ancient temple offerings. The need for these useless rituals is forever dispelled in the Book of Hebrews. There is not even a hint of the mass being held by a priest anywhere in the New Testament or any history of Christianity until it was invented by Rome in the fourth century.

A typical gathering of the Saints was usually held outdoors by a river, stream or lake or in the home of some wealthy Christian. It was a simple service that included prayer and singing. They would all take oaths of the 10 commandments and someone would bring a Word from the Lord. They would have a communal breaking of bread, drinking of wine in memory of the Lord and when applicable conclude with baptism of newly born-again children of he promise,.

The marks of the true Church are:

The true preaching of the Word

The right administration of the Word

The faithful exercise of discipline

After the so-called conversion of Emperor Constantine (310AD), Christianity was declared the state religion and multitudes of pagans were admitted to the Church by baptism alone without conversion. They brought with them pagan rites, statures, ceremonies and practices which eventually found themselves incorporated into the Roman Catholic mass which is practiced to this very day.

Over 50% of this mass is of mythology and heathenism. And most of the balance is an invention of the strangest kind. Oh, how the saints that have passed must cringe as they watch the pompous display of worldly idolatry and self-gratification being displayed by men with questionable gender-orientation, parading around in gowns of mourning or celebration depending on the invention of the cause. The genuflect, bow and kiss of holy relics before a crucifix of worship as the saints look on from their statues in approval is straight from the altar of Satan.

“Oh mother of God we worship you” is the theme to the Matrix of glory. The fourth of their declared Godhead; and the faithful actually believe this! Amazing.

ALL OR NOTHING

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ALL OR NOTHING

By Rick Mathes

Luke 9:23 (NASB77) 23 And He was saying to them all, ” If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Salvation is not free. It costs everything. We must exchange all we are for all His is. It is a total displacement of who we were for who His is. That’s Christianity, being Christ-like. Not religion.

If you sense in your heart a yearning for Jesus to be Lord, praise Him because you have been especially chosen to be His. No one comes to Him except the Father gives to Him. You are elect and like metal to a magnet, you can’t avoid coming to Him. You are not able to turn back for long for the urge to be His is too great to resist

If you confess Jesus as your Lord, you must submit to His Lordship in everything. This includes those times and places when no one is watching. Well, He’s all present so there isn’t anything you can get by Him. He sees it all. You are His slave and He owns you totally. So like boing water through coffee grounds you process your every move through Him.

We know the cross He carried for us but we usually don’t accept the cross we need to carry for Him. We have been charged with sinning and sentenced to die to self so that we might live to serve Him. It all begins at the foot of the cross when we collapse under the weight of our sinful life and repent of our sins at the feet of the Master.

We must be wholly His to be holy. You can’t be part saved either. You are or you aren’t. When you do, submission to His will naturally follows and He becomes the Hand and we become the glove. He goes about the Father’s business in our skin.

Michael Angelo was asked how he knew that David was I that discarded block of marble. He replied that he just kept chipping on that marble that which wasn’t him. So it is with us as our Lord chips away at our sins so that we might repent, say “Ouch!” and slowly return to our first nature which was to walk in the presence of God. It’s our second nature to sin but all that changes when you are brought to that moment of truth by the Holy Spirit where it is all or nothing.

 

CHRISTIANS

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CHRISTIANS

By Rick Mathes

Acts 11:26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Little did they know when the Church of Antioch first call the followers of the Way, Christians what they had started. There is no more highly honored near in any dictionary of any nation. We are followers of Christ and disciples of His Way. What a privilege: that He died for me!

But how can you identify a Christian? Are there any characteristics that separated ttthem from the rest?

I don’t know about you but when I’m with Christians I sense a sincere kindness I really can’t find anywhere else. Being kind and compassionate were the hallmark traits of that rag-tab early community of believers. They showed such patience with each other’s short-comings and growing pains. It was a true willingness of everyone’s part to be of one accord.

They had one God, one faith, one baptism and one desire to love each other with His agape love. It produced and unprecedented happiness that set them apart and was the envy of unbelievers. The early church didn’t explode in their mission outreach only, they imploded with worship. Unbelievers were beating the doors down to get some. Such was the condition of America has abandoned.

Charity is not the entitlement of government; it is the outpouring of Christian ministry. It is their eagerness that first established hospitals, orphanages and senior living accommodations. They did so with a humble loyalty to the principle of the gospel. St. Francis of Assisi said it so well, and I paraphrase, “All I want to do is go about the Lord’s business and not know it.”

It takes a courageous warrior for the Lord to defend His name in this sewer of unbelief, apostasy and apathy. We must return to the cross and ask for forgiveness, receive it and then become forgivers. This is all supernatural and in respect for His forgiveness from that bloody death stake on Calvary.

Do you have the strength and resolve to admit, submit, commit and transmit the gospel from the top of the mountain? Then be of service to the Commander-in-Chief and defend that Name of names, Jesus. Proudly declare to all who will hear that you are a Christian!