Finding Peace With God

What does it take to be at peace with the Lord?

I cannot think of any starting point other than surrendering our life to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We ask Him into our heart, we believe He died for our sins washed us clean and was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then what?  Then we live in obedience to His Word.  We do the things that please Him.

Okay, and what things please Him.  That answer must be found by sitting down with the Word and reading what He said to us.  We must learn the mind of our Lord and the only way we will do that is by spending time with Him in His Word.

If we love Him we will obey Him:

John 14:23 

... Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him

He equates love with obedience, a real shocker for those who preach a Babylonian gospel to this world.  Many teach that you can do whatever you want and still enter the narrow gate that leads to life but there is a reason only a few make it through:

Matt 7:13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Does it surprise people that we actually have to do what our Lord told us to do?

I can hear the objections already "yes brother D but are you saying that "works" will save us?  No, we are saved by grace through faith but let me ask you if you believe we can live a life of disobedience and enter the narrow gate?  Can we do whatever we want, a license to sin, and still think we can enter the narrow gate that leads to life?

"So tell me brother D, which sin is it I commit that will send us to hell either Jesus died for all of our sins or He didn't right?"  Another argument that will lead many to destruction.  Let us answer a question with a question, which sin is it that will get us cut off from the vine that is, cut us off from being in Christ?

John 15:1I am the TRUE vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: andevery [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through the wordwhich I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him,the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.

The Lord does not give us a specific number of sins or acts of disobedience that will get us "cast forth as a branch" and is withered and burned up but He warns us it is possible to be in the vine (in Christ) then cutoff from the vine (cutoff from being in Christ).  We must abide in Him and we must figure out what that means.

7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bearmuch fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in hislove. 11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.

Notice the repeated words "if" here.  IF you abide in me, IF you keep His commandments.  IF is a conditional word.  It means we have to "do" something.  The "we aren't saved by works" argument is a pathway to hell.  Would you call abiding in Him a "work?"  Would you call obeying His commandments a "work?"  Would we call having faith a "work?"

Hebrews 11:6 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

If we want to enter the narrow gate we should strive to please God.  It should be self evident but many are those who argue according to their Babylonian gospel that we can do whatever we want and enter the narrow gate.

The Lord must be our guide in all these things.  What does the whole counsel of God teach us?  We cannot pick and choose which scriptures apply to us.  People love the grace part of the gospel but throw the judgement and warnings into the trash can, is that wise?  WHY will few enter the narrow gate?  Why will the Lord tell many this:

21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thyname have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I neverknew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Who gets to enter the kingdom of heaven?  he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven

Is doing the will of the Father a "work?"  I hope you can see what a clever trap the enemy has set for those who argue day and night against the clear teaching of scripture.  We are saved by grace through faith and not through works but we must be very careful to define what a work really is.  Those who believe we can not do the will of the Father and enter the kingdom are in for a rude awakening.

Does this mean we have to be perfect to enter the kingdom?  No, but we strive for perfection in all things that we may please our master:

Matt 5:48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1 John 4:18 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Those of us who strive for perfection in Christ must be led by the Spirit into the truth.  How do we really know what pleases the Lord?  The Lord/the Spirit lets you know.

Romans 8:14 

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

The Lord certainly knows how to jerk my chain and get my attention.  He has told me that He will get my attention one way or another.  We can choose the hard way or the easy way but if we are His children He will get our attention.  I like to choose the easy way wherever possible.

Conclusion

All of this is a long-winded way of saying we need to accept Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior and do what pleases Him.  We can know what please Him by reading the Word and prayer.

Add to these ^^ things a health dose of perseverance and you have a recipe for success.  When you are impressed in your spirit by the Spirit of the Lord that you should do something or stop doing something then you need to obey.

Thats it.

grace and peace

Encouragement: A God Who Answers Prayer

I was asking the Lord yesterday, "Lord, what can I give people to encourage them?"  The answer?  We serve a God who answers prayer.  Here is where the floodgate opens of "but what about a,b,c,d,e,f etc etc?"  Without getting buried and sidetracked let me say this, the Lord has answered this brother's prayers and I am not special.  What has been done for me, can and will be done for you.  Also, sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait.

What happens in people's minds when the Lord waits for 2-3 years to answer your prayer?  How many people give up by day 3 and say "well, see!  The Lord doesn't answer!"  The Lord has made me wait, and wait, and wait some more.  Especially for the answers to requests for miracles.  That is not to say the Lord cannot or will not answer quickly.  I am just saying I have had to wait for most things.

What is people's reaction when the Lord says no?  Is that not an answer?  If people will only accept a yes from the Lord are they really being honest?

There are a zillion different scenarios we could talk about because every person is unique and has their own relationship with the Lord.  Sometimes in addition to yes, no and wait a person may have a sin problem that is not covered because they are not "in Christ" and thus not under the blood for the forgiveness of sin.  That is to say, they are testing the waters of Christianity maybe but are not Christians.  If you are "in Christ" the answers you should be looking for are yes, no or wait."

How do we know what the answer is?  A personal day to day relationship with Jesus Christ.  His Spirit tells us in our spirit if we should continue to hang onto our request.  This is not a scientific answer, its something that must be discerned in the spirit and no one person can do it for another.  The Lord wants a relationship that is unique and rich and loving with YOU, personally and He has never given this brother and answer for another.  That is for you and Him alone to figure out.

Seeing the answer to prayer will require faith, and patience and sore testing.  Do you really believe?  Will your faith stand the test of time.  Time does test all of us.  Is this a pleasant experience?  Not in my experience.  I have experienced trial and tribulations of soul and spirit as I waited for my answers.  I did also experience periodic strengthening and encouragement from the Lord to not give up.

To give you an idea of the kind of God we serve, some things I asked for I stopped praying for and years later they showed up.  The key in those cases was I never doubted that the Lord would answer I just could not keep praying for that particular thing because maybe I thought it was not important enough or whatever to continue in prayer for every day.  Then, the Lord gave it to me anyway.  Remember, I did not doubt, I just did not continue asking for it.

I am going to wrap this one up, but I want to restate what the Lord gave me to give to you:  pray and do not give up if its for something that really matters to you.  Do not look to mankind for answers on these things, you need to hear from God directly.  You need a Word or a touch from the Lord, only that will satisfy your soul.

When you approach the throne of grace, bring the Lord something to work with like 1.  your faith and 2. His Word.  Bring Him your faith and His Word, two things that are irresistible to our God.  What has the Lord already said that you can bring back to Him for fulfillment?

1 Thess 5:16Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

This ^^ right here is one of the most powerful sentences in the Bible in this brother's opinion.  Rejoice when?   Only when things are going well for you? No.  Only when you are getting instant answers?  No, ALWAYS.  Pray when?  Continually.  Give thanks when?  In ALL circumstances.

Is this ^^ easy?  No.  Is this powerful?  You can literally move mountains with this one sentence.  If people would just do this, their world would transform.  Sometimes you will have to force yourself to rejoice and pray and give thanks and you will be doing it while it feels like your guts are turning inside out from the situation you find yourself in. << Your feelings are betraying you while your faith makes a stand.

For this purpose I was created and write to you today.  I have often asked the Lord what I should be doing with my life.  I am not really good at anything but the Lord has blessed all the work of my hands.  Not because I am special but because He is faithful.  What I should be doing with my life is explaining to you that I have been there, with my guts turning over inside of me over the wrenching circumstance in my life.  I have been there fighting back the waves of fear and doubt.  I have been there near tears crying out to God " Lord if you don't help me this will be the end of me!!!"

I have been there, and here I am now on the other side of many miracles and answers to prayer to encourage you to stand firm in the faith and not give up.  I open my arms and give you a virtual hug right now and whisper in your ear "rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances..."

grace and peace be upon you and yours.

Hope

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 13:13  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Set your hope fully on what the Lord will do for you moment by moment and day by day.  As the days grow dark, the light in us shines brighter.  Have you forgotten that we are the light of the world?

Matthew 5:14 

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

We are here to radiate light in this world.  How do we do this?  Let me use a question to answer a question:  If you knew some hypothetical person who was full of faith, hope and love to the point of overflowing, would you consider them a light?  Yes, you would because a person like that literally lights up the room they walk into.  People notice it but rarely do they speak about it.  We know people like this but they are few.  They walk into a room and it lights up.  We are to be these people.

Again, how do we do this?  It begins with our mind and heart.  You decide to put your hope fully in the Lord, you decide to be joyful, you decide to love.  I will hope and love today.  I will focus my mind on what the Lord has already done for me.  I will set my hope fully on His moment to moment provision and companionship in my life.  I will look for it and search for it until I see it, moment by moment and day by day.

Our God is a God of miracles, and provision, and power, and love, and mercy, and hope, and peace, and the list goes on and on.  He can be trusted today, He is faithful.  This nobody is a living witness to the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord, not because I am anything but so I can testify to you that our God lives and is very very active right now and He can be trusted.

If we do not have our God's assistance then all is lost.  At all costs, we must have His provision and power, His answers to our prayers in our lives.  Set your heart fully on what it is you seek.  Keep your eyes on the Lord, and do not give up.  Ask, seek, knock and continue to ask, seek, and knock until you get your answer.  I have had to wait years sometime to get my answer but it always comes through, always.

What happens to a tiny light in a room that grows darker.  Each moment as the darkness grows, so does the brilliance and radiance of the tiny light because the darkness accentuates and brings into sharp focus every photon of light in that room.  We are those tiny lights and the world is the dark room.

This brother would encourage you today to ask, seek and knock and do not give up.  If it kills you in the effort you can NEVER GIVE UP.....

Matthew 7:7 

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

grace and peace

We Have His Promises

We need to brace ourselves for what may lie ahead through the end of this year and beyond.  Warnings are everywhere that something catastrophic may happen.  Also, we do not know exactly when the escape from all will take place (Luke 21:36).  Could it be this year, during the Feast of Trumpets?  Only the Lord knows.  If the Lord tarries, we have His promises that are worth more than gold.  Consider the promises made below:

Psalm 37:18
The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

These are real promises that the Lord fully intends to deliver on.  If He wrote it, He meant it.  In the days, weeks and months ahead we may need to rely on His promises more than ever.  The Lord truly is our only source of supply and provision in this world.

Three things we must always remember to take to the Lord when we approach Him:  1.  Our thanks and praise, 2.  our faith and 3. His promises.  This trifecta can and will move mountains in our lives.  This writer has seen it happen over and over again.  Keep the faith, please remember me and my family in your prayers as I remember you and yours in mine.

grace and peace