Surrender Your Heart to God

¹³ “If you would prepare your heart,
And stretch out your hands toward Him;

¹⁴ If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,
And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

¹⁵ Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;
Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;

¹⁶ Because you would forget your misery,
And remember it as waters that have passed away,

¹⁷ And your life would be brighter than noonday.
Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.

¹⁸ And you would be secure, because there is hope;
Yes, you would dig around you, and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹ You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid;
Yes, many would court your favor.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they shall not escape,
And their hope—loss of life!” (Job 11:13-20, New King James Version)

The Servant As a Giver

"Philosophers are people who talk about something they don't understand and make you think it's your fault." Charles Swindoll's Greek teacher

Lots of philosophies are floating around, and most of them are more confusing than they are helpful. Interestingly, those that are clear enough to be understood usually end up focusing full attention on the individual. Consider a few of them:

Greece said, "Be wise, know yourself!"
Rome said, "Be strong, discipline yourself!"
Religion says, "Be good, conform yourself!"
Epicureanism says, "Be sensuous, enjoy yourself!"
Education says, "Be resourceful, expand yourself!"
Psychology says, "Be confident, assert yourself!"
Materialism says, "Be satisfied, please yourself!"
Pride says, "Be superior, promote yourself!"
Asceticism says, "Be lowly, suppress yourself!"
Humanism says, "Be capable, believe in yourself!"
Legalism says, " Be pious, limit yourself!"
Philanthropy says, "Be generous, release yourself!"

Isn't there a better way?

Yourself, yourself, yourself. We're up to here with self! Do something either for yourself or with yourself. How very different from Jesus' model and message! No "philosophy" to turn our eyes inward, He offers rather a fresh and much-needed invitation to our "me-first" generation. There is a better way. Jesus says, "Be a servant, give to others!" Now that's a philosophy that anybody can understand. And, without question, it is attainable. Just listen:

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4

Inspirational Christian Library, The Treasured Writings of Charles Swindoll; Page 27-28 (Chapter 3 - The Servant As a Giver).

Today's Puritan Audio Devotional:

Grace Gems for SEPTEMBER 2004


The carnal man's trinity!

("Soul Idolatry" David Clarkson, 1621-1686)

"You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy
person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
For a such a person is really an idolater who worships
the things of this world." Ephesians 5:5

"For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:16

Pleasures, and riches, and honors are the carnal
man's trinity. These are the three great idols of
worldly men, to which they prostrate their souls!

Idolatry is to give that honor and worship to 'the creature',
which is due to the Creator alone. When this worship is
communicated to other things, whatever they are, we
thereby make them idols, and commit idolatry. When the
mind is most taken up with an object, and the heart and
affections most set upon it, this is "soul worship"—and
this worship is due to God alone.

Now this worship due to God alone, is given . . .
by the savage heathen to their stick and stones;
by the papist to their angels, saints, and images;
by carnal men to their lusts.

There are two kinds of idolatry:
1. Open, external idolatry—when men, out of a religious
respect, bow to, or prostrate themselves before anything
besides the true God. This is the idolatry of the heathen,
and in part, the idolatry of papists.

2. Secret and soul idolatry—when the mind is set
on anything more than God; when anything is . . .
more valued than God,
more desired than God,
more sought than God,
more loved than God.

Hence, secret idolaters shall have no inheritance in
the Kingdom of God. Soul idolatry will exclude men
from heaven, as much as open idolatry!

He who serves his lusts is as incapable of entering
heaven, as he who worships idols of wood or stone!

"Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry!"
1 Corinthians 10:14

The Way God Accept People

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
Romans 3:21-31 NKJV

Evolution - A Cartoon Presentation

I know I am bringing a lot of evolution material. The reason is that the youth at church are asking why schools are shoving the subject of evolution through their throats. I believe that evolution is not science at all, because science tests and shows empirical evidence. In the other hand evolution (not science) tries to push the impossible to reality, like by chance we have 2 hands and 2 feet that all of the sudden are useful for our daily life and a brain that makes them work with the muscles and all the other the complex components of the body. Everything so organized, all working in harmony, how can that be not designed and created. You got to be kidding me. Quiz: Can an explosion all of the sudden turn to a house, a car, or anything useful? You will call me nuts and ignorant!

Con - "with" + Science - "knowledge" = With Knowledge

"Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)" -Romans 2:15/ (Conscience) Con - "with"; Science - "knowledge" - So them, with the Law written in our hearts and our conscience bearing witness, it can be said that we are sinning "with knowledge" that it is against God's Law. -LivingWaters.com

You can choose to believe that we are not sinners, but you cannot avoid reality.

If you are flying in an airplane 20,000 ft from ground you can choose not to believe in gravity, but you cannot avoid the reality of gravity. You cannot see it, taste it or touch it, it's invisible, but it's there. Sin is the same way, is invisible, but when we sin (gravity) our conscious (with knowledge of consequences) helps us to understand the danger of falling without a parachute. Jesus is our parachute. If we have to jump from 20,000 ft gravity will pull us to the ground, but if we have a parachute (Jesus) it will smoothly brings us safe to the ground ( Eternal life).

If you repent and trust in Jesus Christ sin will still be there, but you will be saved from that deadly fall which is Hell. If you do not believe in Hell then you can re-read the sentence about "cannot avoid reality". Remember, man discovered atoms' existence by doing research, if you want to discover the invisible you need to use your God given eyes, brain and heart to make that research work in your favor. We are at the 6th dispensation, a period of grace, your last chance to repent and trust in the savior. After that "The end..." -1 Corinthians 15:24-26.

The Begining of Sin

"Every sin starts with a lie. First, we listen to the lie. Second, we dwell on the lie. Third, we believe the lie. Finally, we act on the lie. Are you somewhere on this path? If so, the good news is that every lie can be countered by God’s Word. Listen to the truth of His Word today. Dwell on the truth, believe it, and... act on it."
From today’s “Seeking Him with Nancy Leigh DeMoss”