wickedness

July 24, 2022

“The Tongue Is A Flame of Fire,…”

6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.  ​  – James 3:6 ​NLT

James 3:2-6 NLT

We all know the old saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Or as I learned in my childhood “words don’t bother me”.  Either way, it is wrong. With our tongues, we can speak words of life or words of death. Death might be a relationship or a lost opportunity. We can speak words of peace or words that stir up anger. We should always consider our thoughts carefully because those thoughts turn into words that can buildup, tear down or completely destroy. We can think of our thoughts as a text message we are about to send, once we hit the send button, there is no way to recall the message regardless of how much we regret the words. Our words can truly fan a small spark into a raging wildfire causing damages that may not be repaired. Regardless of how we feel about any  situation, it is our duty to speak words of peace and restoration. 

9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. ​ – Matt. 5:9 NLT​

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

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March 27, 2022

“This Is How God Loved the World:”

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16 NLT

John 3:16-21 NLT

Has anyone ever asked you, “What does it mean to be saved? Saved from what?” If you have been asked that question, were you able to answer it? When you were saved, from what were you saved? We were all born in sin, born into a world that is filled with the darkness of sin. Because of that, we are condemned to an eternity of punishment because Paul tells us in Romans 2:8, “But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.” Is this fair? Yes, because God has offered each of us the opportunity to be saved. God does not want anyone to go to hell and he doesn’t send us to hell. We earn our way to hell. (Romans 6:23–For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.) Each person has to accept God’s free gift of salvation. When we do that, we can and must walk in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hate the darkness, come to the Light so others can see Jesus in you.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

March 16, 2022

“No, It Is Because of the Wickedness…”

4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way — Deuteronomy 9:4 NLT

Deut.9:4-6 NLT

We are blessed to live in a beautiful country where we are free to travel from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast without having to stop at any border stations. We are also free to work, play, and worship without police or military interruption. We are free to accomplish most anything we have the ability and the desire to do. But, just as the children of Israel became full and fat in the land of Canaan and forgot Who it was that gave them the land, we are guilty of the same sin. We have done absolutely nothing to merit being born and raised in a country established on Judeo-Christian principles. God established this nation and has maintained it because we have been a nation “under God”. When we, as a nation, depart from those ways and turn to wickedness, God will discipline us just as surely as He disciplined the Jewish people when they disobeyed. We have been blessed because we have always blessed Israel. If that doesn’t remain true, we will be a cursed nation. God’s Word is true and He will not be mocked.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

May 30, 2021

“You Are A Stubborn People”

even-smaller-bug-light1

5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people. — Deut. 9:5-6 NLT

It is very easy for us to read the account of the journey from Egypt to Canaan and criticize the children of Israel for all their stubbornness and lack of faith.  God chose them, called them out of Egypt, provided for them and kept them safe by His own arm and great power.  Their response was to moan and groan about the things they didn’t have instead of being thankful for what God was doing for them. Had it not been for the prayers of Moses, God would have completely destroyed these people and started over with just the family of Moses. God reminds them that it is not because of any goodness in them that He has allowed them to come this far.  It is because of the wickedness of the people that live in Canaan and the oath He has sworn to Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  Let us look at our lives today.  How often do we, who live in the lap of luxury compared to ninety percent of the world, moan, groan and complain?  How often do we consider what we don’t have instead of being thankful for what we do have?  Let us honestly and truthfully consider our thoughts and how we spend our time and resources.  Are we not just as stubborn and rebellious as these people were?  If Jesus came to our house today, would He feel welcomed by what He sees or would He wonder if we even knew Him?  If Jesus walked with us everyday, is there anything in our lifestyle that we would change?  If the answer is “Yes”, then let’s not be stubborn, let’s change it today because Jesus is walking with us everywhere we go.

20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ​ — Matt. 28:20 NLT​

 “The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

February 1, 2020

“Do Not Love This World”

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ​ — 1 John 2:15 NLT

I john 2:15-19 NLT​

God is not in competition with anyone or anything in the world. He will not accept the position of the leader in the race, The only position He will accept is being the only One in the race. He is not in some game to be the first on our list, He wants to be the only One on our list. He wants us to love Him so much that there is nothing or no one that we would not give up for Him. After all, that is exactly what He did for us. He gave up His glory and His position in heaven and finally, His very life. Why should He accept anything less in return? The world and satan tempts us with things that please the lusts of the flesh, they tempt us with our desires for beautiful possessions that please the eyes and they tempt us with power and positions that cause pride in our lives. We cannot love both, either we love Jesus or we love mammon. The time for the return of the true Christ is closer now than ever. We see and will continue to see wickedness in the world and more wickedness in high, spiritual places. We see people that we have respected in positions of leadership who have failed and we must arrive at the same conclusion that John did. If they had truly been one of us, they would have remained with us, but their going showed they did not belong with us.

Hebrews 3:12-14 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 02-01-2020

August 26, 2019

“He Gave His One and Only Son’

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16 NLT

John 3:16-21 NLT

Has anyone ever asked you, “What does it mean to be saved? Saved from what?” If you have been asked that question, were you able to answer it? When you were saved, from what were you saved? We were all born in sin, born into a world that is filled with the darkness of sin. Because of that, we are condemned to an eternity of punishment because Paul tells us in Romans 2:8, “But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.” Is this fair? Yes, because God has offered each of us the opportunity to be saved. God does not want anyone to go to hell and he doesn’t send us to hell. We earn our way to hell. (Romans 6:23–For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.) Each person has to accept God’s free gift of salvation. When we do that, we can and must walk in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hate the darkness, come to the Light so others can see Jesus in you.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 08-26-2019

August 24, 2019

“He Is Faithful and Just”

9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.– 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:5-10 NLT

Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, God’s Spirit comes to abide within us. He will lead us in the path God has chosen for each of us,if we are willing to follow. But, we are not going to become sinless over night and we shall never become perfect in this world. There will always be a struggle between our flesh and our Spirit. Nevertheless, our salvation is secure. Does this mean we won’t fail? No, of course not. If we could do this on our own then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. God knew even before He redeemed us that we would fail, He is not surprised by anything we do, because He is omniscient. But, because He loves us so much, He is waiting with open arms for us to repent and return to Him. He is always faithful and just to forgive us when we ask. He cleanses us and restores us over and over and over again. We are His children and He cares deeply for each of us.

John 12:35-36 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 08-24-2019

August 14, 2019

“God Has Done This”

4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way— Deuteronomy 9:4 NLT

Deut.9:4-6 NLT

We are blessed to live in a beautiful country where we are free to travel from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast without having to stop at any border stations. We are also free to work, play, and worship without police or military interruption. We are free to accomplish most anything we have the ability and the desire to do. But, just as the children of Israel became full and fat in the land of Canaan and forgot Who it was that gave them the land, we are guilty of the same sin. We have done absolutely nothing to merit being born and raised in a country established on Judeo-Christian principles. God established this nation and has maintained it because we have been a nation “under God”. When we, as a nation, depart from those ways and turn to wickedness, God will discipline us just as surely as He disciplined the Jewish people when they disobeyed. We have been blessed because we have always blessed Israel. If that doesn’t remain true, we will be a cursed nation. God’s Word is true and He will not be mocked.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 08-14-2019

November 1, 2018

Never Alone

even-smaller-bug-light1

5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people. — Deut. 9:5, 6 NLT

It is very easy for us to read the account of the journey from Egypt to Canaan and criticize the children of Israel for all their stubbornness and lack of faith.  God chose them, called them out of Egypt, provided for them and kept them safe by His own arm and great power.  Their response was to moan and groan about the things they didn’t have instead of being thankful for what God was doing for them. Had it not have been for the prayers of Moses, God would have completely destroyed these people and started over with just the family of Moses. God reminds them that it is not because of any goodness in them that He has allowed them to come this far.  It is because of the wickedness of the people that live in Canaan and the oath He has sworn to Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  Let us look at our lives today.  How often do we, who live in the lap of luxury compared to ninety percent of the world, moan, groan and complain?  How often do we consider what we don’t have instead of being thankful for what we do have?  Let us honestly and truthfully consider our thoughts and how we spend our time and resources.  Are we not just as stubborn and rebellious as these people were?  If Jesus came to our house today, would He feel welcomed by what He sees or would He wonder if we even knew Him?  If Jesus walked with us everyday, is there anything in our lifestyle that we would change?  If the answer is “Yes”, then let’s not be stubborn, let’s change it today because Jesus is walking with us everywhere we go.

20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ​ — Matt. 28:20 NLT​

 

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 11-01-2018

July 6, 2017

“Lord of All or Not Lord At All”

even-smaller-bug-light115 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ​ — 1 John 2:15 NLT

God is not in competition with anyone or anything in the world. He will not accept the position of the leader in the race, The only position He will accept is being the only One in the race. He is not in some game to be the first on our list, He wants to be the only One on our list. He wants us to love Him so much that there is nothing or no one that we would not give up for Him. After all, that is exactly what He did for us. He gave up His glory and His position in heaven and finally, His very life. Why should He accept anything less in return? The world and satan tempts us with things that please the lusts of the flesh, they tempt us with our desires for beautiful possessions that please the eyes and they tempt us with power and positions that cause pride in our lives. We cannot love both, either we love Jesus or we love mammon. The time for the return of the true Christ is closer now than ever. We see and will continue to see wickedness in the world and more wickedness in high, spiritual places. We see people that we have respected in positions of leadership who have failed and we must arrive at the same conclusion that John did. If they had truly been one of us, they would have remained with us, but their going showed they did not belong with us.

 

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 07-06-2017