Tag: sin

DRY DUST

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DRY DUST

By Rick Mathes

Mark 4:4 and it came about that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

My heart aches for those who come to church for all the wrong reasons. They sometimes are coerced by Christians that love them. Curiosity or possibly clean entertainment or excitement draws them to us. There is a love of lonely people who really want to do well and they aimlessly go from church to church seeking what I call “Holy Ghost bumps.” They follow the fun people at the expense of seeking the true gospel according to Jesus.

In these seeker friendly churches, the sermon is a minor part of the activities and “whatever you want” is highlighted. Consequently all the “turn-ons” of clubbing are sanitized and exploded in concert to blow your mind and indeed it does. You wind up attending a counterfeit church that I call “Kentucky Fried Christianity.” A fast-food outlet with just enough salt to have you thirst; for more and come back next week. They have convinced themselves that if they can get you into the building your heart and checkbook will follow.

Well if you are like most serious thinking inquirers you look around in disgust at what you see, hear and experience.

I personally saw the Jim Baker helpers rent wheel-chairs and then have old people in the waiting line sit in them with the promise that they would be on television and all they had to do was get up on queue and walk at his healing service.

Anyone with half-a-brain can see the scandalous shameful scam they are trying to pull over on you. You can’t help but turn away disgusted with Christianity especially when their shows and falseness is exposed.

And if that isn’t enough for you to give up on Christianity, the famous TV evangelists are caught hiring prostitutes, embezzling or as the Roman Catholic priests are fond of exposed active homosexuality. How many will be sent to hell because of Satan with a mask on!

 

DEEP FAITH

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                                                                   DEEP FAITH          

By Rick Mathes

1 Timothy 3:9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

We are created by a creator much like a painting is created by a painter. Just think of what the painting would think of the painter. It would only understand that which was revealed in the painting such as brush strokes and colors. But there would be a wealth of understanding beyond the ability of the painting to comprehend much like we have the mysteries of our Creator God. Let me name just a few.

Why do the wicked prosper? For example, I did quite well making dishonest money and fleecing people before I was saved. I had two Cadillac cars, a 50 foot cruiser and partied around the world. When I came to Christ broken and empty handed I was perplexed how I would thank Him that I was never caught or convicted of a felony. On the other hand, partners and friends of mine all wound up dead, crazy or incarcerated.

You tell me: What is born again? If I ask 100 Christians I will get 100 different answers. We all can look at this beautiful gem sparkling and glowing from a different angle while describing the same gem or crown of jewels.

The Muslims call it “Kismet” which means “fate.” The Calvinists call it “predestination” and yet there is a world of difference between the two. So those who oppose both subscribed to the “free will” or “humanism” is indifference to the Word of God’s teachings of unconditional election. Free will or fates are fatalistic.

The Pharisees believed in a life after death and the Sadducees did not. The Jehovah’s Witnesses say there is nothing but soul sleep at death and the Mormons believe we will become gods and have our own plane. It gets worse! The Roman Catholics re-crucify Christ in their Mass for our atonement, then they go to a priest they call Father for him to forgive their sins which were atoned by Jesus as the Mass and then they die and go to the flames of Purgatory to purge them of their sins. Duhhh? But if you buy enough prayer candles and say lots of rosaries, those who died might get a 1,000 off their sentence in these temporary flames. Where is this in the Bible?

Lastly we misunderstand the incarnation or hypostasis of the God-Man we have given ouir lioves to. It is a mysterious union with Christ that Ws birthed by His resurrection as a reward for His suffering our sins on that cross. He died so that we may live and we must do the same. We must died to sin that we might live in Him. Amazing!

 

DEEDS OF DARKNESS

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DEEDS OF DARKNESS

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 5:11 (NASB77) 11  And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;

The darkest deed Satan ever had in his arsenal was to kill the Son of Man on the death stake. This victory overGod caused the fallen angels to rejoice that Lucifer was the prevailing king of the universe. How could He have gotten that low in His miserable existence.

For starters his only weapon is sin. Sin murdered our Savior in the worst manner ever conceived by man: crucifixion. Sinning results in death and that death results in an eternal dying in the flaming furnace reserved for those who have not stepped out of darkness into life.

The only action worse than sinning is teaching others to sin; you can do this by actual one on one lessons for sure. But many more learn by watching you allow others to sin without our intervention. When you do not rebuke and correct an active sinner, your absence of remedial correction endorses the sin and absolves the sinner. It’s a silent green light to go and likewise sin.

Akin to teaching others to sin is tempting them to sin. Nothing tempts more than a successful sinner flaunting the treasure of his evil deeds. Just seeing a fallen man basking in the glory of his plunder provokes others to go and do likewise.

A hidden deed of darkness is when you know someone is up to no good and everyone else doe also and you don’t rebuke or correct the sinner, especially if they are professing believers. This lack of correction, this apathy toward the evil deed is perceived as an endorsement. Not doing something is something indeed. It’s joining you to the sin because you wouldn’t take acts against them.

So your sinful examples of hurting people, places, damaging things and burning bridges behind you has a  debt to pay and you will be the beneficiary of its consequences: a cross to carry. This consenting to sin is literally giving Jesus the finger! This includes tolerating the sin. How many lives have you destroyed because of your personal example?

Will you then put on the armor, lift up the sword and defent sin or pledge your life and fortune to the service of the King of Kings? The God of light not darkness: stop, stand still, turn around and come back to Jesus your Lord. Welcome home!

DEEDS OF DAWN

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DEEDS OF DAWN

By Rick Mathes

Romans 13:12 (NASB77) 12   The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

The darkness of days is rapidly being overcome by the dawning of our Lord’s glory and His coming kingdom. The long wait is almost over and the wait is certainly worth it. Our King is returning and the deeds of darkness will soon be exposed in the light of His searching righteousness.

All of our deeds are like weeds that can

Grow into flowers or grow into weeds.

The works of darkness can always be seen in the night because that’s where evil lives and grows. Mutant beings that have morphed into the gargoyle image and likeness of Lucifer and his fallen angels. Nothing pleases the former “morning star” more than for you to go about his damaging works and calling him your lord: certain hell!

All you’re present and former lusts rise up for battle and then comes the dawn and their flight to our Lord’s glory. His will is Divine in His elect and the gates of hell cannot prevail. The devil will drag your memory back to the sewer of every sordid affair you ever had and remind you of all the ugly details and sickening consequences.

Lying and anger are the right and left hand punches the devil uses to drive away godly saints that want to turn your hands from fist to hands up in worship. If only you will surrender to truth the peace of God will follow you all the days of your life. The deeds of evil fade away as the dawn and it’s light breaks over the horizon of salvation.

As the sun rises, the light of the Son blots it out! Such is the Glory of the risen King. All filthiness flees and the darkness cannot overcome the Shekinah Glory of His resurrection. The remnant of  the night yielding to the day is the grey of malice.

You might not want to admit it but from time to time you secretly approve bad things happening to people you are not fond of. All this means is that you are not seeing them with our Lord’s eyes. If you were, you would grieve their fallen condition and not applaud their misfortune. Stay fast and continue from night to day and the bring morning star of Jesus will shine on in your life.

 

 

DECEIT

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DECEIT

By Rick Mathes

Acts 13:10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

The devil keeps his prey in sight and on friendly terms until the time is right to strike and make him a child of Satan. Jesus said, “I AM the way, the truth and the life.” Satan is the wrong way, a father of lies and an executioner of your soul. When you sin you are declaring, “Satan is my Lord.” Let that sink in a minute.

The sewer of truth is deceit and we all have a place for it in our hearts that we are not willing to give up. It’s this resistance to repentance that hinders knowledge. Didn’t the Word warn, “My people perish for lack of knowledge?” The lies you choose to nurture keeps you from God. Oh how He wants to hold you in His arms and love you but the slime of deceit, dripping from your soul makes God gag.

It’s buying the lies Satan throws at us that leads to pride. We have success with a little lie; get more things so we escalate our lies and deceit to get a bigger slice of the world’s toys and trinkets. We become like a decorated Christmas tree blinking and beautiful. But when the decorations are put away we notice that the tree is dead. It was all a false façade with no living substance to sustain it.

Everything contrary to truth is a fraud. When Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Jesus didn’t waste is breath explaining it to him because all Pilate was doing was concealing that hate that throbbed through his heart. Most inquirers are only conceiving evil plans and distracting truth by semi-truth twisting or circular reasoning. It’s all relative they claim because they don’t want the light to shine on their darkness.

Lies and deceit can only encourage sin. They have no other motive but to slash that whip on the Lord’s back one more time. The dirty-duo grinds that crown of thorns into His head again and again. They thrust the sword of death into His heart again and again all because you have polluted your souls with unconfessed sin.

In the last analysis your heart hardens I was shocked to learn I had four hardened arteries. Within two days I was on the operating table and my physical life was extended. But a hardened heart has no cure but to repent, submit and obey Him. Otherwise you are going to burn baby burn!

 

CONQUERERS

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CONQUERERS

By Rick Mathes

Romans 8:37 (NASB77) 37  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

C.H. Spurgeon: Jesus is the representative man for His people. The head has triumphed and the members share in the victory. While a man’s head is above the water you cannot drown his body.

All the hope of ministry lies in the

Spirit of God operating on the spirits of men.

Jess disciples in His absence. The Holy Spirit then is all the Christ we need until His return. We pay so little attention to the Spirit of God that maybe now, in this devotional, we can give credit where credit is due.

Can you even imagine they removed the head of a trained monkey and attached it to a headless body of another monkey and it retained all its knowledge and training! A surgeon removed the heart from a patient and put it into a pan and then returned and put the silent heart into the man again and it began to throb with life. Where is life if all our body parts can be replaced? In Christ!

This inner vitality from Him makes us “able not to sin.” We have put out the flames of hell and have been resurrected from the dead. There was a time we walked around looking for a place to be buried but we were cowards to take our life. Now we cherish the Lord because His is the way, the truth and the life. We can defeat the most evil demons of hell and not even fear Lucifer himself because we win!

Sin cannot have dominance over us any more than darkness can put out light. All of hell, all sin, all demons and Lucifer himself is nothing more than an itch on God’s nose! So why are you surrendering to the losers?

Finally, we have a Commander-in-Chief that leads us to certain victory. We join Him as family, His family and full heirs to His estate. It is this eternal Glory in His Kingdom that we pledge our life, liberty and fortunes.

It all begins at the beginning: we are more than conquerors because we put on the full armor of God and fight our battles on our knees in prayer. Imagine that! We have His ear, His full attention anytime we need Him. What more assurance do we need that the battle is ours?

 

CONFESS AND REPENT

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 CONFESS REPENT

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 3:2 ” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Many will confess but very few truly repent and it is very important that you do so. Every time you wantonly sin Satan writes that sin on the caulk-board in heaven and every time you repent, the Holy Spirit erases the sin out of sight. Sanctification’s objective is to keep the blackboard clean but just confession won’t do it.

  • Confession sin is worrying about the punishment that is the consequence of sin.
  • Repentance is worrying about the sin whose consequence is punishment.
  • Conversion is a change of action after you have had a true change of mind.
  1. The first sermon John the Baptist preached was “Repent!”
  2. The first sermon Jesus preached was “Repent!”
  3. The first sermon Peter preached was “Repent!”
  4. The first sermon Paul preached was “Repent!”

Are you getting the message?

Repentance is simply a turning toward Jesus. I never quit drinking. It quit me. When you are looking upon Him, the devil has no entry level. I love Jesus more than the sin and you should too.

When you turn to God you have put your back to Father Lucifer. The devil does not like your disrespect of the “Angel of light.” You have declared war on hell and I can guarantee all of his fallen angels are going to break loose on you like a swarm of angry hornets. You can expect violence and deceit unimagined from the most unlikely people!

Reverend Lucifer is too slick to make him obvious. He would rather turn your heart back to him from the pulpit of your favorite churches. If your minister doesn’t preach repent, submit and obey you have been sitting under the evil one. You have become a Satanist because you won’t turn from the sin the Holy Spirit has been convicting you of.

You refuse to turn from sin to the Savior and cause the very angels of heaven weep for you as the Good Shepherd laments one lost lamb.

The fruit of true salvation is good works. You were created in the image and likeness of Jesus and all he did while he was on planet earth and served those who were His. Repent and do likewise so that all will know that you have had a conversion experience and are now walking you talk!

COMMUNION

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COMMUNION

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

Sharing the bread and wine in remembrance of Him is the privilege of the believer. Non-believers or those seeped in willful and unrepentant sin are not welcome at the table. No, we aren’t actually eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Ask the Apostles who were there if they did. No, it’s just a symbol on the outside of what has happened on the inside. We become one with Him when we are born again. It is at this point of communion that we reaffirm that we are not ours anymore. We surrender all as we remember Him and His sacrifice for us: a very special commemoration.

In sharing the elements as fellow Christians in good standing, we confess our sins and our allegiance to the King. When the Body of Christ comes together in corporate worship we declare to the world our unity regardless of denominations. Our doctrinal differences or distinctives melt into thin air as the Holy Spirit blesses all that confess Jesus as Lord equally.

Our being in one accord is clearly communicated to all who will look. The talk is real when the walk confirms it and that is certainly the case as we all remember Him for who He is and who we should be in Him. Our actions speak louder than words. St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel and use words when necessary.”

As we commune as one in Him, the Holy Spirit seals us until Jesus returns and breaks the seal. He, only He, the Lamb of God is qualified to break the seal so that the Groom may be united with the Bride (The Church).

This amounts then, in its totality as a consecration of us for Him. Roman Catholic priests have their thumb and two fingers consecrated, declared without sin, so as to touch the host (Body of Christ) they believe is truly His flesh. I suggest that a true biblical communion results in the Holy Spirit consecrating not just our fingers but our whole being so that we will be pure and holy in His sight.

COMMANDS

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COMMANDS

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 7:19 (NASB77) 19   Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

God so loved the world that He didn’t send a committee! He sent His only beloved Son, and when Jesus speaks, we listen and respond, “Yes Sir!” Our Lord isn’t into arm-wrestling with us over His will in our lives. We are to simply believe and obey Him. Even a slight hint a what will please our King is an imperative command, more than that, a demand we must hasten to obey.

What is lacking is both the church and the state is fear of God. If you are an unbeliever, fear of eternal dying in the flames of hell should deter you from ignoring His every wish. And fear of offending Him or hurting your feelings shold be a constant reminder to us to fear His displeasure. There is no need for a believer to fear God’s wrath: praise the Lord! But if you deny Him He will forsake you and Satan will have His way with you forever.

When the faith is set out before you and His biblical commands are clear, you walk in all His ways not yours. Once experienced however, His way becomes your preferred way because it is paved in peace, happiness, and the security that His will in heaven is being effected through you on earth. As His golden vessel or clay potty, you have obeyed Him.

What else can follow then but your love for Him, heart and soul? Bless the Lord, Oh my soul with all that is within me! Feelings and facts fall into place as He would have them because you believe and obey His wishes to the last drop of blood He shared for you. Really, all is in harmony when heaven and earth are tuned to the same key and you orchestrate as called and chosen.

Nothing is held back as you advance in rank and responsibility. The war is on and the evil one’s days are shortened as the time grows near so nothing less than complete obedience will do.

It’s so simple but keeping His commandments is the hardest thing you will ever be asked by the Lord to do. It’s impossible to obey His commandments to the letter of the law but it was accomplished in Him and it’s His righteousness that is placed on us and that’s why we can’t help but shout from the roof-tops, “My Daddy is the Commander-in-Chief of the universe!”

Believe and obey, there’s no other way…..

 

COME OUT

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COME OUT

By Rick Mathes

John 11:40 (NASB77) 40 Jesus •said to her, ” Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

He said, “I AM the resurrection. Do you believe this?” It’s an important question to ask your-self and answer honestly. Your faith and future depend on what you really, down deep believe. You can’t fake or con your way past the devil. Both Satan and Jesus know the true answer.

So you need to take an honest appraisal of yourself if you want to step away from death and move toward life everlasting, so ask yourself:

Are you a questioning believer? It is good to be the “devil’s advocate” that is, to challenge the Word of God to see what the truth really is. I went into the Bible to prove to my wife once and for all that Jesus did not raise form the dead anymore that Lazarus did at His word. Well He did and I believe but learning that truth has not stopped me 30 years later from questioning the Word and mining it for proofs.

Are you an anxious seeker? Anxiety is manufactured fear. Ninety percent of what you fear isn’t going to happen and the other ten percent is unavoidable It is good to fear the Lord, that is to fear offending Him but if you are a believer, you never need to fear His wrath.

Are you a suffering believer? He took the cross for you. What can man do to you to separate you from the love of God? Nothing! How deep is your love? You don’t really appreciate His mercy when you are on top of the world. Did you ever notice that you are closest to Christ when your knees are closest to the ground in prayer?

Step out of your grave of death and don’t be a discouraged worker for the Lord. We are only under assault by the demons for a season. All the Lord asks of us is to keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the race. Don’t give up, maybe for the first time.

And lastly, you might be a dying Christian. Well praise the Lord you are close to meeting your Maker! Take heart. What greater thrill could there be but to sing, “Nearer my God to Thee” and really mean it. Come out and confess you believe today, there may not be a tomorrow.