Tag: Rick Mathes

TWO GATES

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 7:13 ” Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.

Yogi Berra (baseball player-philosopher) once gave this profound advice to his followers, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Duhhhh! I would rather suppose the fork in the road in this passage has a narrow gate with a turnstile and a wide road with the gate swung wide open and an illuminated graphic saying, “THIS WAY TO HEAVEN.”

When I’ve taken my family to Disneyland in Florida, I always walk against the large crowd taking the wide road. I do this because I have reasoned they all must be coming from something really good to see or do! Also, I get to see so many fresh faces, it makes my walk alone on the narrow way so much more engaging. I always find that those I bump into are willing to hear about my Jesus. Such as, “How is your walk with the Lord?” I opens wonderful conversations.

I do the same in real life. I am heading to the narrow gate so that I can leave the bells and whistles and all the toys an distractions the devil offers and walk through the turnstile to the life I was created to life in His image and likeness. The way to glory is open and so very inviting that I cannot resist the light I see at the end of this tunnel. We must get through it one at a time because each of us is held in equal value before our Father in heaven.

The broad way is where the crowds are going. Most are going that way because everybody else is: everybody except the few like me who walk against the flow. It’s hard to do that because you are continually bumping into others and sometimes tripping and falling. The weight of the wrong road can be difficult if not dangerous. Going against the majority can isolate you so that you are vulnerable to getting hurt and even trampled on by the world.

Jesus has promised He will not give us more that we can ber if we will fight the good fight, keep the faith and finish the course. Press ON, my brothers and sisters; Press ON!

 

TURN OR BURN

By Rick Mathes

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

The first sermon John the Baptist preached was to repent. Jesus did the same followed by Jesus, Peter and Paul until we in America became politically correct and sophisticated sometime in the late 1920’s. The repenting stopped and the rising tide of sinning became a national tsunami. What happened and why is the topic of historians. I am an eternal optimist and I totally believe the good news. I believe I know Jesus well enough to know that He will give our nation one more chance to report and then in a moment, His wrath will fall!

The converted will prevail with the truth. We believers have been renewed in body and spirit to a greater likeness of our original mold of Him. This generated a supernatural obedience that is contrary to our second nature to sin but still it prevails because the old is gone and the new is coming upon us like the dawn of early morning.

So the supernatural consequence of this is to be sober, thankful and gentle. The upshot of this new you is to walk in a courteous manner in all circumstances so as to display the justification that has exploded in your soul. The new you, the repentant you that has tuned from the devil to God has immersed in wisdom: Sophia. The “stinkin thinkin” takes a hike and you  begin making wise decisions that you never even thought you were capable of.

As a faithful servant, it becomes easier to be vigilant in your walk with Him. Your new boss is ready to slip into your skin and continue His work until the Father instructs Him to say, “It is done.”

I’m so glad “It is still going” so to speak, because I haven’t reached the point of holiness I desire and there are so many souls going to hell and maybe only a little time before it is done.

So I encourage you to seek good and holiness with all your strength. I know the only Holy One is Jesus but that doesn’t excuse us from reaching for His excellence instead of falling to our incompetence.

 

TULIP

By Rick Mathes

Romans 3:10 ” THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

The Gospel according to Jesus Christ is commonly called Calvinism. Those who disagree have not become spiritually mature enough to understand the meat of true Bible doctrine but our prayers for them may wean them away from baby food. So what summary of the real doctrine must we subscribe to that John Calvin blessed us with?

T: TOTAL DEPRAVITY

Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins because no other than Him and nothing but His sacrifice would appease the judgment of God and evoke His mercy for all the elect that were predestined t accept Him and His atonement.

U: UMERITED SALVATION

We cannot obey the law without violating some part of it. It is impossible to be without sin because we inherited Adam’s sinful nature. Nothing you can do will save you. No rituals, prayers or ordinances from the Pope of Rome or anyone other than Jesus only will save you for the flames of Hell.

L: LIMITED ATONEMENT

Jesus atoned for the sins of all who accept Him by God’s grace. He didn’t die for the sins of those who reject Him. He saved the children of the promise from any punishment for even the smallest sin. But those who turned their backs on Him will suffer the full weight of all their sins with continual dying in the lake of fire and the whirlpool of howling hell hounds.

I: IRESSISTIBLE GRACE

When Jesus chose you to be His, from that moment on, you were His. You can resist and wiggle like a worm on a hook but He is going to reel you in. You are like metal drawn to a magnet. You might zig and zag in this life but you will keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the course. God guarantees it!

P: PERSEVERVANCE OF THE SAINTS

Because of all the above, you will give up but you will press on no matter what it takes or how hard it gets. Every time you make another difficult step in His direction you have increased your rank in heave. You will make it to the finish line because your “Daddy” (Abba) is King of the universe and when you walk by the demons better tremble. Such is the Gospel of the Bible.

TRUTH

By Rick Mathes

John 18:38 Pilate •said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and •said to them, ” I find no guilt in Him.

The earliest thoughts of my troubled childhood included two questions; what is truth and why? Those questions have dogged me these three score and ten plus I have been perplexed about them. Let me elaborate on my own question: How can Jesus be a concept? He said He was the truth. He didn’t say He knew the truth or that He had the truth. He said He was the truth: a man is a concept.

The Word is truth and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us is my only answer.

Truth is the Triune Godhead of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit because they are in one with the essence of the Word of God and in form in Jesus: God incarnate. This is the best my mind can conceive.

Scriptures are God-breathed and God cannot lie thus only truth can come from His lips or His pen and He let the Apostles to record as wind moves a sail God’s Word is just that!

A plantation owner asked a Christian slave worker, “Do you really believe that Jonah was swallowed by a whale?”  “Yes I do” she replied. “How do you know that is true?” he asked. “I’ll ask Jonah when I get to heaven.” He pressed her and asked, “What if he’s not there?” She smiled and answered, “Then you ask him.”

God’s Word is the gospel and the gospel is what many refer to as Calvinism; John Calvin capsulated the doctrinal truths of the Word that were reminded by with the acronym TULIP which is the subject of another writing by me. Just rest assured that God’s law is just, was satisfied in the writings of the prophets and fulfilled with the sacrifice of His Son on the death stake of Calvary.

The commandments of the Word are all fulfilled and accomplished in the Lord’s love for us and the truth we live with and worship. God’s covenant seals the truth in the comfort of His Son and th Logos walks in Rhema: the Word and dynamite

He post-modern church smells of formaldehyde. It reeks of a decaying cadaver because it has forsaken the truth for the lie. Satan has a mask on and he very well might occupy the pulpit in your house of worship. The lie has become the truth!

TRUSTWORTHY

By Rick Mathes

Titus 1:9 (NASB77) ⁹   holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

Trust and obey for there is no other way. Fear is the key to hell’s gate and anxiety is manufactured fear. The only antidote is trust. This is a key element in character which is to be trustworthy or worthy of your trust. A stuntman pushed a pig in a wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls and back on a tightrope to an applauding spectator. “Do you trust me to carry a man across and do the same?” “Absolutely, without a doubt” the man replied. “Then get in!” he exclaimed. It’s no different with the Lord. Do you accept Him as Savior and trust His as your Lord? Then get in!

When ou do the first thing you will benefit from is your strong desire to have strict integrity in business. I never believed I could do business honestly until I became a Christian; a real shocking experience for me.

Close on the heels of integrity and trust worthiness is a constant courtesy of behavior. You became a new creation ever so closer to the image and likeness of your Creator.

Your eyes will open to the unselfish love around you. I couldn’t believe how nice people became when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I was reminded that they had been nice all along but theold me just couldn’t or wouldn’t see it.

Everyone who loved the Lord became quick to forgive me for all the injuries I had been the cause of. I didn’t take but a moment for those whom I had offended to put it aside and give me an honest fresh start.

My biggest surprise was my having practice under trial. Satan just couldn’t get under my dkin anymore. I just let the trials roll over my back like water on a duck’s back. I decided that He wasn’t worth it.

A big surprise with being trustworthy is a peace that surpasses understanding in Christ. I guess it’s just a calm assurance from Him that if only you willpace your trust in Him, He will be worthy of it as you will of His. What a wonderful character trait trust can be to you.

 

TOO HEAVY

By Rick Mathes

Galatians 6:2 (NASB77) ²   Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

He’s not heavy, he’s my brother. Remember that song? There’s a lot of truth in that line. It’s amazing what strength you can get from love and compassion. You are always hearing about feats of strength from those who love others such as a slight teenager daughter lifting a car that fell from the blocks on her daddy. Love can move mountains and it will cause some to die protecting those they love like a mama bear protecting her cubs.

As the years roll on we slowly learns to couple our love with patience. This is especially true for parents raising teenagers that know it all. It sure is comical that when they age into their 30’s they realize that their parents were pretty sharp afterwards: they really did know what they were talking about!

Who would not reach out a helping hand to a drowning man? Or call an ambulance to the scene of an accident? We were built in His image and likeness and that includes sympathy for those who are down an out or those that are reaching out for Him. Our hearts automatically go out to those in need. That’s why Jesus commanded us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, comfort the sick and visit those in prison. He said, “Whatever you do for one of these brethren of mine, even the least, you have done it to Me.” Wow!

Then let us be of immediate assistance to the weakest link in the chain because that is where the most damaging break is first to occur.

Put your hand in the hand of the man from and enjoy the most wonderful communion of spirit and soul you will ever enjoy. With our private prayers we embrace the very heart of our Savior and ours beats with His. Prayer puts us in one with the one who carried all our punishment to hell and killed death so that we may carry our family into glory for Him.

The cross isn’t too heavy, it’s empty. Praise the Lord!

TIME OF NEED

By Rick Mathes

Hebrews 4:16 (NASB77) Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus is always there when we need Him most. He never lets us down and we can always depend on the grace needed to overcome the evil one. The most necessary time is when faced with an enticing sin. It’s the sinful that fan the flames of hell and can only be extinguished by the Living Waters of the Word.

The Word is the strongest when we are the weakest. It is then the power of god raises its fist to plummet the serpent of the abyss. Those tempted find their relief on every line of every word preserved by the ginger of the Almighty. It is then that His grace swells up into a mighty conqueror and defeats Satan’s most powerful temptations. The Lord and His Words always prevail!

Our main occupation should be to recognize the enemy and the conscience is the radar of first defense. Once established, our faith and obedience kick in and vanquish the devil’s weapons with prayer that the Holy Spirit is quick to respond to.

A special weapon in our “born again” arsenal is boldness. Our Father is King of this universe and even the fallen angels and their leader Lucifer owe their very existence to the will of God: they are created beings. In the righteousness of Jesus, everything above, below and in creation only exist at His pleasure. Satan is nothing bur a speck of needles dust should He choose to annihilate it.

The solution to any problem I can dream up is to attack the evil forces of hell with the shield of faith and let the sword, or the Word do its thing. We are more than conquerors in Him and nothing  Satan can throw against us can prevail.

What a glorious God we worship! He will never let us down if we just use the Word of God. We can read it, pray it but especially live it. Nothing will top us from entering glory and enjoying the reward of faithful warriors, forever in His presence!

THROUGH HIM

By Rick MATHES

Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

When Jesus left earth to return to His celestial city He commissioned His partner the Holy Spirit to fill the gap until He came back It is most profitable to reflect from time to time on what support we receive to be more Christ-like.

Our best friend Holy Spirit gives us the “elan vital” or the vital life in Jesus. Without Him life is in black and white without color. W miss so much when we don’t filter this beautiful life through His eyes. Believer’s hav a joy extraordinaire in Him that gets us through the potholes and speed bumps and pot holes on our narrow road to glory: all green lights.

A proof of our salvation healing is our conscience. It’s the Holy Ghost that convicts us of sin not Satan. The devil would never nag us to do our spiritual housecleaning. We become able not to sin when the Spirit is upon us.

The ultimate healing of raising the dead is the exclusive specialty of the Holy Spirit. He connects us to the Great Physician that declared He would lay His life down and the after three days would pick it back up again. He did it, I believe it and that settles it.

Satan better tremble when we walk by because the strength of the Triune Godhead is in our prayers. The power of sin wilts at the name of Jesus. Just His name causes every being in heaven and hell to fall to their knees. Yes, those in hell respect Him more than we do! He leads in victory over sin with His love for us on the Cross.

Through Him we inherit all the riches of glory that our Lord has laid up for us who have been faithfully about His business on this beautiful blue pear, hung on nothing in outer space we call earth.

Because He rose from the dead we have confidence that in that last day we will be caught up in gloirfy with Him. It is the final healing. There will be a day when all the caskets of believers will bust open in new life, a hope finally realized.

God inhabits our praise as well as prayers. When we lift our holy hands to either, it is a pleasant fragrance. We are helped to pray by the helper: how quaint.

 

THREE BIG WORDS

By Rick Mathes

John 1:1 (NASB77) ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the beginning was the Logos or as we Christians like to say, “The Word.” It is the embodiment of the Creator God in essence that became form in the person of Jesus Christ. It was the Father’s passion or pathos that permitted His Son to suffer the tortures of Hell that through your “born again” experience you might demonstrate the life or ethos that is pleasing to God.

Your mind is Satan’s entry level of temptation, passion for sin your addiction to the dark side and debauchery the evidence of your lost or rather second nature.

It was in our first nature that Adam walked in the Shekinah Glory of the LORD without any sinful fleshly encumbrances. He fellowshipped as a friend of the Father’s perfectly holy until he ate the fruit of the forbidden tree of life. So when we become new in Him we have a partnership with the Holy Spirit to purge ourselves of sin and no longer have sinning be second nature. We have the fullness of the Spirit and our hand on the “dimmer switch.”

Turning up the repentance increases the light and denies the darkness any foot-hold in our God breathed soul: the image and likeness of Elohim. Obedience to Christ is the powerhouse that drives the word, passion and lifestyle into the unfolding revelation of the Word in essence (Bible) and in form (Jesus).

Once we pass over our covenant of salvation, (agreement to the contract) to Him we die to self and He lives in us. He is the hand and we are the glove. Our mind, heart and then soul surrender totally to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our hearts and then soul surrender totally to His lordship. Our hearts beat with His and our minds think His thoughts and we go about the work of the Father and don’t even know it.

The hinge of the Gate is repentance and once swung open, the invitation to follow Him cannot be resisted. The Logos, Pathos and Ethos are as they were in the imagination of our Creator before time and the Spirit the flows between us is quickened as the last soul approaches the throne of grace.

Maranatha!

THIS WAY PLEASE

By Rick Mathes

John 16:13 (NASB77) ¹³  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

He leads us by still waters because we (apart from Jesus) don’t know what they are or even where they are. We wee living in the chaos and insanity of taking the wrong paths, making bad decisions and hanging out with the devil’s buddies before He took us out into pleasant path: the narrow road.

We left the bad decision makers in the dust when we learned it is better to be a small fish in a large pond. We can only learn to lose from losers and more of what doesn’t work, doesn’t work. A good decision maker is one who makes his decisions from the Word of God. If Jesus would make that choice, we’ve found the truth.

It’s His wise counsel that the Holy Spirit will leads us to. Jesus commissioned the Holy Spirit to bring all He said to our remembrance. Who would you rather sit under but Jesus? If you have a pastor that follows the Master, take good care of him. He is an endangered species.

If nothing else, listen to the Holy Spirit directions in your should. He will shisper nd give you a gut feeling that you are putting yourself  into a sinful situation. Then He will talk to you man to man and to remind you of the horrible consequences of previous bad decisions you have made like this one. If you still won’t turn to Christ he will shout at you and let Satan really doa number on you like 10 more years in prison.

While you are in the midst of uncertainties you can be sure of an objective direction or path to follow if you aggressively seek out the counsel of the Holy Spirit. Satan will put many attractive paths before you withal the temptations you have a weak spo for and each oen wil say, “This way to heaven.” Unless you put on the armor, pick up the sword, the Word of God and listen for directions from irreversible life of putrid decadence.

The Holy Spirit will lead you into the truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” So better believe it!