Religious Churches Praise The Lust Of The Eyes, And The Lust Of The Flesh

                                                 When The Door Slams

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, say the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."  I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty."  (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 NKJV)  

            At this point Satan is doing his deadliest work because what has just occurred went unnoticed, unseen, and produced no shock or alarm. It is not by the open confrontation of evil that Satan corrupts and disrupts the church, but by quite, unnoticed substitution. The holy things of God are being removed, the spiritual gives place to the natural, and the divine is eliminated because it is made secondary.

            A growing trend among Evangelical churches is to attract people through their events, clubs, shows, performances, sports, and any other convenient methods. But these activities appeal to the sinful appetites, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh. This alarming and scandalous and cries out for God's judgment. How radical the contrast between the activities of the modern, worldly church, with those of primitive church. The original methods and gatherings were wholly spiritual, calculated to strengthen and cultivate all the graces of the Spirit to preserve a deep experience of God. 

            The church was a training school for the spiritual life. They never lingered in things exclusively moral, aesthetic, and mental. They developed no taste or inclination which was not spiritual. They took it for granted that all who came to them really desired to flees from the wrath to come, and were sincerely sorrowful after full redemption. These carnal activities are regarded by many as the perfection of spiritual things. But in the end all that is distinctly spiritual is eliminated, and when this occurs anything that is deeply holy will not survive the death of things spiritual. Edification, a high priority of the church, is wholly forsaken, and vain amusements and things pleasing to the flesh take its place. The social forces not only suppress the spiritual forces, but effectually destroy them. What do church activities and meetings filled with worldliness and carnality have in common with true holiness and the fruit of the Holy Spirit? "How can two walk together unless they are agreed?' (Amos 3:3). "What communion has light with darkness . . . and what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (2 Cor. 6:14,16). "Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?" (James 3:11). 

            Think about this: Disguise it as we may, apologize for it as we do, we vainly boast of growth, but the truth is, we have lost that intense type of experience, that deep conviction of spiritual things which are evidences of the blessing and presence of the Holy Spirit. Many preachers and people have fallen so low in their experience that they don't hunger for spiritual channels of grace, but attend "churches" to gratify their non-spiritual tastes which are halfway between Christ and the world. Few of them might possess one grain of spiritual power, and can never be the means of communicating spiritual life.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.                Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness

                                                                    Never Rest Ministries           

The Holy Spirit Or The World

                                                When The Door Slams

Jesus answered, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [even] enter the kingdom of God. [Ezekiel 36:25-27] "That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.                                                                 (John 3:5-6 AMP)     

            The religious leaders, secular thinkers and philosophers used the phrase "let's save the world." All this sounds fine, and agrees with this material age, and becomes practical in operation, and impressive in results. But does this agree with the essential purpose of the church? Do we need any church to obtain these ends? Councilmen, police, and social workers can achieve these results. It requires no church, no Bible, no personal holiness, to secure these ends. The purposes of the church rise in praiseworthy above these childish dreams and fanciful philosophies.

            Our goal is to regenerate and sanctify the individual; to make him or (her) holy and prepare him for heaven by purifying and training him in the school of Christ. The church is like the net cast by fishermen into the sea. The purpose is not to change the sea, but to catch the fish. Let the waves roll in their natural way, but the net will catch the fish. To save the world and ignore the individual is not only unworkable, but damaging in every way. In the hopes of saving the world, as noble as it appears, it will be the undoing of the church. It will make the church worldly and unfit for her holy and praiseworthy mission. Christ said that gaining the world and saving the man are antagonistic ends. Christ taught Peter[Matt. 16:16-24] that his satanic suggestion would gain the world for the church, but would lose the soul. Everything seems helpful to the cause of God, when in reality it was death. 

            The church is distinctly and preeminently a spiritual institution. It is created, energized, and directed by the Spirit of God. Her methods, activities, rituals, services, and officers have no beauty, no sufficiency, no power, except as they are vessels and channels of the Holy Spirit. It is His indwelling and inspiration that equips the inner man and secures its divine purpose. If the Holy Spirit is persistently grieved and quenched, the church will lose its power to bring divine life into the world. If the devil can blind the eyes and dull the minds of church members to the desperate need of the Holy Spirit's sanctifying power, he has effectively lulled the church to sleep.

            Think about this: Satan tries to accomplish this by marginalizing and retiring the means which God has ordained, and replaces them with natural talents and fleshly works that are useless without the Spirit's power. Christ announced a universal and immutable law when He said "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit" (John 3:6). The church may have a holy preacher, a man of prayer, who is filled with the Spirit. But if Satan can instigate his removal and replace him with a prayerless, popular, and eloquent man, the church may seemed to have gained, but it has substituted the spiritual for the natural, a change that has unconsciously weakened the church.

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                Never Rest Ministries                          

We Need Holy Spirit Power

                                                 When The Door Slams

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4 ESV). 

            The Holy Spirit is able to make the word as successful now as in the days of the apostles. He can bring in by hundreds and thousands, as easily as by ones and twos. The reason why we are not more prosperous is that we don't have the Holy Spirit with us in might and power as in the early times. If we had the Spirit sealing our ministry with power, it would signify very little about out talent. Men might be poor and uneducated; their words might be broken and ungrammatical; their words might have no polish or glorious thunder; but if the might of the Spirit attended them, the humblest evangelists would be more successful then the most leaned theologians or the most eloquent preachers.

            It is extraordinary grace, not talent, that wins the day. It is extraordinary spiritual power, not extraordinary mental power, that we need. Mental power may fill a chapel, but spiritual power fills the church; mental power may gather a congregation, but spiritual power will save souls. We need spiritual power. We know some religious leaders have nothing compared to their talent, but have no spiritual power; and when they speak they have not the Holy Spirit with them. But we know others--simple-hearted, worthy men, who speak and stand up to preach in their place and the Spirit of God clothes every word with power. Hearts are broken, souls are saved, and sinners are born again. O Spirit of the living God, we want You! You are the life, the soul, the source of your people's success. Without You they can do nothing; with You they can do everything. 

            There are two ways of directing the church, God's way and the devil's way. God 's way and man's way of running the church are worlds apart. Man's plans, methods, and solutions are Satan's devices. The cross is retired, the world comes in, self-denial is eliminated, and all seems bright, cheerful, and prosperous. But Satan's hand is on the steering wheel, men's schemes prevail, and the church fails to produce, under these devices of men, any spiritual fruit. 

            All God's plans have the mark of the cross on them and death to self and crucifixion to the world in them. But men's plans despise the offense of the cross. Man's plans have no self-effacing, self-denouncing, self-denying in them. But the devil brings as much of the world as he can into the church until all the holy, powerful, life-changing work of the Spirit is forgotten and retired. This satanic device is designed to distort the purpose of the church and to teach that the church's mission is not to save individuals, but to save society, culture, and the dignity and worth of man. This popular, seductive, deadly, and misleading the very foundation of Christ's church. It is a trend so strong that it will sweep away every ounce of spiritual life if we do not watch, pray, and speak out with the Holy Spirit power.

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness  

                                                    Never Rest Ministries 

                      

Having A Form Of Godliness But Denying Its Power.

                                                 When The Door Slams

But mark this: 

            There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV). 

            The church must be made to see and feel the horror of this delusion, this transfer of her strength from God to the world, this rejection of the Holy Spirit for the use of gimmicks, salesmanship, fund raising, slick professionals, and marketing--which amounts to laying down our spiritual weapons by carnally yielding to Satan's devices. The church leaders has increasingly disregarded its source of spiritual strength and set it aside for impressive, worldly ones. 

            The entire next generation of church goers is conditioned to believe that a statistical increase of people attending worship services, classes, making decisions, baptisms, programs, and activities are signs of spiritual blessing and success. We live in an age where everything is judged by outward results. 

            The body of Christ must be awakened to the fact that the strength of the church does not lie in outward appearances, empty boastings, or self-manipulated activities, but in the power of God, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD of hosts" (Zech. 4:6 NKJ). "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain" (Psa. 127:1 NKJV). How tragic it is today that countless church leaders say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing...," but God says, "You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked..."                     (Rev.3:15-19 NKJ) 

           Think about this: The devil does not make a frontal attack where his diabolical schemes are thrown into the open for all to see. No, he seeks greater advantage through deception where the most damage can be done. His methods of destruction are usually two-fold: First, the devil sows seeds of discontentment in the minds of worldly church members. They are unconverted religious people who have no heart for spiritual discipline and communion with God. These deluded souls won't be happy until they find a church that gratifies their "itching ears" for man-centered, popular Christianity that is devoid of the knowledge of Christ. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Tim. 4:3-5 NKJ). "Having a form Of Godliness but denying its power. And from such people, turn away!" (2 Tim. 3:5).       

            Church leaders, often gripped by amazing blindness, and falsely attached to what they believe to be the truth, remove from the gospel its offensive, painful, and self-denying features to which it owes it saving power and divine stamp. We have an illustration from the life of Peter that is instructive: Read (Matt. 16:21-24 NKJ).

            The strategy of the enemy is to distract pastors from spiritual ministry and prayer. When this is accomplished the church becomes popular, modern, and progressive. Christ is no longer present. The practice of crucifying self to the world is removed, and there is no more mention of judgment, sin, hell, and repentance. Nothing that savors of God is in it, but all that savors of man is there. The world is sought and gained in the devil's church, but their souls and heaven are all lost, lost to all eternity. 

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.  

                                                        Never Rest Ministries                                        

             

The Devil The Politician and The Church

                                                 When The Door Slams

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18 NKJV).   

            There are very few Christians in America who have an intelligent concept of citizenship or of the way that God would have us interrelate to the body of politic. So we have allowed alien ideologies to fill the vacuum in America, so much so that Christian values have virtually been crowded out. Clearly, America is struggling with its own moral identity, but at least we have the benefit of an ethical tradition. If it were not for the incredible reservoir of Christian beliefs and customs which we have inherited from the precepts of our founding fathers and the framers of the Constitution, I have no doubt that we would have lost our own moral vision years ago.

            The devil is too wise, too large in mental understanding, and too grandiose in ambition to confine his attacks to the individual. He seeks to direct the policy and religious leaders of nations. Intoxicated with much freedom, passion, and success, "he goes out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth" (Rev. 20:7-8). 

            He is skillful in deception and an expert in every deceptive art. An archangel in trickery, he often succeeds in seducing the nations that are most loyal to Christ, leading them into plans and policies which pervert all Christian principles. Similarly, the church, when seduced from her purity, degenerates into worldliness. 

            The "gates of Hades shall not prevail" against the church (Matt. 16:18). This promise of our Lord stands against every satanic device and assault that would take away from the church's ultimate victory in glory, but it doesn't always protect the church from the devil's strategy in spoiling her aims and goals. 

            The devil is a many-headed monster in plans, in wisdom, and in deception. His master plan and supreme effort is to get control of the church, not to destroy its organization, but to hinder and pervert its divine, spiritual purposes. He does this in the most deceitful way, seemingly innocent--no startling change, nothing to shock or alarm. Sometimes this deceptive change is introduced under the disguise of a greater zeal for growth of the organization. It is initiated by a person of influence or religious leader, but the advocate for such change is often totally ignorant of the subversive nature of this idea. 

            Think about this: Satan's scheme in seeking to weaken and distract the church from its spiritual vitality and purpose is to establish a false estimate of strength. If he can raise false perception of church power, if he can create the illusion of strength in non-spiritual activities, if he can push the material and social issues to the front, if he can present the church's efforts, numbers and resources to appear impressive, imposing, influential, and commanding attention, he has accomplished his purpose.                                     

            Renewal: Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us."                                                                   (Psalm 2:1-3 NKJV)

Ask the Holy Spirit to Search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness

                                                            Never Rest Ministries

                                                                                                   

The Whole Field Of Battle Deception And Delusion

                                                When The Door Slams

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.                (2 Peter 2:1-3 NKJV)

            It is imperative that in the matters of religion we should not be mistaken or deceived, but should have the most correct, exact, and vivid impressions and opinions; because religion deals with such momentous subjects as God, the soul, and eternity. And if in these life-giving interests we are deceived, and our understanding and actions in response are wrong, the consequences will be weeping and eternally fatal. There is no other way of acceptance with God, no other refuge from the wrath to come; nor can we offer acceptable worship and service to the Most High, if our understanding of His character be false. For, remember, God cannot be deceived. 

            Think about this: The Bible says, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). The Christian believer, by having the Holy Spirit within him, has power over all demons. When Jesus Christ sent His disciples out on their mission, He gave them authority and power over all demons, and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1).

            As a dragon the devil is full of cunning and ferocity. If he cannot achieve his purpose at once by power, he waits his time. He deludes, he deceives; in fact, he is the deceiver of the whole world. What a power of deception must reside in him, when under his influence a third of the stars of heaven fell, and myriads of men in all ages have worshipped demons and idols today! He was a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies.    

            After thousands of years of constant practice in deception he is much too cunning for us. If we think that we can match him by craft we are damn fools, for he knows vastly more than the wisest of human. To this cunning he adds great speed, so that he is quick to attack at any moment, darting down upon us like a hawk upon a poor chicken. He is not every-where present; but it is hard to say where he is not. He cannot be omnipresent; but yet, by that majestic craft of his, he so manages his armies of fallen ones that, just like a great general, he oversees the whole field of battle, and seems present at every point.

            No door can shut him out; no height of piety can rise beyond his reach. He meets us in all our weaknesses, and attack us from every point of the world. He comes upon us unawares, and gives us wounds which are not easily healed. But yet, powerful as this infernal spirit certainly must be, his power is defeated when we decide never to be at peace with him.

            Renewal: Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world (1 Peter 5:6-9 NKJV).        

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness                             

                                                       Never Rest Ministries

What Is The Object of Your Faith

                                                 When The Door Slams 

Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory.                                        (Romans 5:1-2 NCV)

            This remind me of a story about a man some years ago who was rolling a wheelbarrow back and forth across Niagara River on a tightrope. Thousands of people were shouting him on. He put a two-hundred-pound sack of dirt in the wheelbarrow and rolled it over, and then he rolled it back. Then he turned to the crowd and said, "How many of believe I can roll a man across? Everybody shouted! One man in the front was very excited about his professed belief. The man pointed to this excited professor and said, You're next!" You couldn't see the man for dust! He actually didn't believed it, he thought he believed it--but he was not willing to get in the wheelbarrow

           Just so with Christ. There are many people who say they believe on Him, who say they will follow Him. You know the story. They never have gotten into the wheelbarrow. They actually never have committed and surrendered themselves wholly, one hundred percent to Christ. 

            Think about this: There are many people who ask, "Well, how much faith does it take?" Jesus said only the faith as of "a grain of mustard seed." 

            Others ask, "What kind of faith?" It is not a matter of any special kind of faith. There is only one kind of faith really. It is the object of the faith that counts. What is the object of your faith? The object of your faith must be Christ. Not faith in ritual, not faith in sacrifices, not faith in morals, not faith in yourself--not faith in anything but Christ. 

            Affirmation: So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  ( Matthew 17:20-21 NKJV).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness

                                                    Never Rest Ministries             

                             

This World Is Filled With Self-Absorbed, Frightened, Weak-Mind Politician

                                        When The Door Slams

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.                         (1 peter 2:9-10 NIV)  

            Western society has been obsessed with the search for self. We have turned the age-old philosophical question about the meaning and purpose of life into a modern growth industry. Each fab with an intense following until something new comes along. 

            Popular literature ride the wave with best-selling titles that guarantee success with everything from making money to firming flabby thighs. This not-so-magnificent obsession to "find ourselves" has spawned a whole set of counterfeit values; we worship fame, success, materialism, and celebrity. We want to "live for success" as we "look out for number one," and we don't mind "winning through intimidation." 

            However, this "self" conscious world is wretched; beyond hope. Each new promise leads only to a frustrating paradox... A few decades of seemingly limitless wealthy people have succeeded only in sucking our culture dry, leaving it spiritually empty and economically weakened. Our world is filled with self-absorbed, frightened and hollow people.

            In the middle of these debilitating paradoxes of modern life, men and women search for some shred of meaning, some understanding of self. But the obsessive search leads only to the narcissistic destruction of what is so aggressively sought.

            Think about this: Whom do we blame? Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin (James 1:14-15). Is Satan always to blame when things go wrong in our lives? or are we sometimes responsible? On the one hand, the Bible makes it clear that Satan is real, and that he is ultimately behind all the evil that goes on in the world. Before he rebelled against God (long before the human race was created), the world was perfect; sin and evil didn't exist. But now we live in a fallen, twisted, sin-infested world--and Satan is the reason.

            But on the other hand, Satan is not all-powerful, nor does he directly cause every bad thing that happens to us. Sometimes we don't know the cause--but often we alone are responsible, because we have turned our backs on God and deliberately followed our own sinful desires instead of His will. When we do, we pay the consequences; as the Bible warn, "God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7).  

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                        Never Rest Ministries                                 

This Is An Incredible Temptation To Be Like God

                                                 When The Door Slams

But The Lord said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.                                                                                         (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV)       

            When we read the New Testament we see spiritual power. Never one time does Jesus promise it will be easy for His followers. As He called men to follow Him, Jesus did not talk about the golden streets and gates of pearl in the next life. Instead, Jesus talked about self-denial, about taking up a cross--not a pretty little gold cross that might be worn as an ornament, but a rough, blood-stained, death-dealing cross.    

            Though Christ did not promise protection from the hardships of life, He did promise His presence. Jesus said to His disciples, "Go and make followers of all people in the world"; also Jesus said, "I will be with you always." Instead of protection, He promises the power to face up to life and take it.

            Power is clearly expressed in everything our culture take seriously. Whether the power is technological, social, political, military, financial, administrative, religious, or personal, it is assumed to be the key, one way or another, to achievement, fulfillment, human destiny. Even when power's has the ability to corrupt and destroy is acknowledged, the acceptable remedy is power that can control power--which only compounds and complicates the condition.

            This is no new phenomenon peculiar to the twentieth century. Throughout history, the ways of change have been the ways of power, violent or nonviolent. Kingdom have risen and fallen, national boundaries have been altered or obliterated, races expanded or extinguished, cultures and societies built up or destroyed...by power. It is a fact as old as humanity itself. What an incredible temptation: to be like God, to enjoy God-power--man making himself God. 

            Think about this: The unique Christian insight comes at the point of definition and understanding of power. The world pictures force, brute strength, money, muscle, tanks, bombs, tyranny, and take advantage of--the list goes on and on. The Christian pictures the      cross. In the "foolishness" of the symbol of power the Christian senses a radically different kind of power. It is a new way of being "capable." A picture of this different definition would be Jesus standing in front of Plate. Pilate represents all the power of the great empire of Rome. Jesus appears to be one lonely, solitary, impotent man. It is clear through the eye of faith, however, that the real power is incarnate in This solitary figure.    

            Renewal: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.                                                            (Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV)

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.   

                                                     Never Rest Ministries                     

 

                           

                        

Hypocrites Look Good On The Outside But On The Inside Are Full Of Dead Men's Bones

                                                 When The Door Slams

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.    (Matthew 23:27-28 NIV)    

            Evil is real, and at one time or another most of us have wondered why God doesn't just reach down and stop it. Sometimes He does-but not always, and the Bible says evil is a mystery that we won't fully understand until we get to Heaven. In the meantime, God calls us to trust Him and have confidence in His love, no matter the circumstances. 

            Maybe someone you love has cancer, or just lost a job, or is dealing with a prodigal child, or....the list of the ways that evil intersects our daily life goes on and on. Bitterness and anger can result, but don't let those emotions drive a wedge between you and the Lord God. That gains you nothing, and in the long run will only destroy you. Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind 1 Peter 2:1.

            Unfortunately, sometimes those of us who call themselves Christians are the worst public notice for our faith. We keep sinning even after we name Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and we often appear to others as insincere and hypocritical. And all too often we are.     

            Some of Jesus' strongest words were reserved for hypocrites-for people who claimed to believe in God, yet were insincere and only used their religion to try to impress others. Jesus called those people "whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones. But you are a chosen people ...that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light 1 Peter2:9. 

            Think about this: I have found that people who say, "You can't trust what the Bible says" often have never actually read it for themselves. Instead, they are only using this as an excuse to avoid the LORD. 

            The real issue for them isn't the trustworthiness of the Bible but their determination to keep God away. Deep down inside, they sense that if they took God seriously and gave their life to Christ Jesus, they would have to change their way of living-and they don't want to do that. Just pray for them. You can't change their heart and mind-but God can. Ask Him to awaken their need for Christ Jesus.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                        Never Rest Ministries                                

There Is Usually A "Trail Of Bodies" In The Wake Of The Driven Person

                                        When The Door Slams

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? but he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."             (James 4:4-6 NIV) 

            Driven people often possess limited or undeveloped people skills. They are not noted for getting along well with others. They were not born without the capacity to get along with others, but projects are more important to them than people. Because their eyes are upon goals and objectives, they rarely take note of the people about them, unless they can be used for the fulfillment of one of the goals. And if others are not found to be useful, then they may be seen as obstacles or competitors when it comes to getting something done.  

            There is usually a "trail of bodies" in the wake of the driven person. Where once others praised him for his seemingly great leadership, there soon appears a steady increase in frustration and hostility, as they see that the driven person cares little about the health and growth of human beings. 

            It becomes apparent that there is a non-negotiable agenda, and it is supreme above all other things. Colleagues and subordinates in the orbit of the driven person slowly drop away, one after another, exhausted, exploited, and disillusioned. Of this person we are most likely to say, "He is miserable to work with. 

            Think about this: Therein lies the unexpected.... In almost every great organization, religious and secular, people of this sort can be found in key positions. Even through they carry with them the seeds of relational disaster, and to mourn for their sins is a natural outflow of poverty of the power of the Holy Spirit....But that's not always the case. Many deny their weakness. Many know they are wrong, yet pretend they are right. As a result, they never taste the sorrow of repentance from the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Affirmation: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV)  

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for his forgiveness.   

                                                        Never Rest Ministries                     

A Foolish Person Deceived Himself With Lies That Leads To Anger And Distrust

                                                When The Door Slams

Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.                        (John 8:43-47 NIV) 

            A compulsive liar finds it impossible to tell the truth. God speaks clearly of the evil, the wickedness of falsely accusing another of giving untrue testimony, of lying or twisting and exaggerating so-called "facts" into misrepresenting the truth. We live in a day, during this last period of the twentieth century, of a wave of increased pressures to fabricated or deceive. In fact, falsifying the truth for gain has become a profession of its own!

            Selfish anger is the negative emotion we feel when a person or situation has failed and deceived our trust, blocked our goals, or fallen short of our expectations. It is what we feel when we have placed out trust, wants, and desires in someone else's. Then we become frustrated if those around us don't react the way we want them to and we don't get our way.

            Distrust, ridicule, abuse, fault finding, and so on are destructive forces. From one perspective they all stem from a critical, harmful negative spirit. As such, they are all tied together, but personally I have come to the conclusion that the number one cause of distrust in adults and children is the absence of unconditional parental love. This unconditional love from the parent almost always precedes self-acceptance...

            Think about this: The LORD does not say that hell-fire was prepared for human beings. For although all are sinners and guilty of eternal death, God nevertheless wanted to prevent this misery by giving His Son into death for us. And thereafter He revealed His good Word to us, so that we know what we are to do if we want to serve God and live to please Him. So our heavenly Father would very much like for us to be save and, therefore, has ordained for us, not eternal fire but heaven and eternal life.

            But we go despising the forgiveness of sins through Christ as a trifling treasure.... Moreover, we also take no delight in doing what God tells us to do in order to serve Him. Since, then, we degenerate to the very level of the devil and observe his will more than the Word of our Lord God, it must follow that we are obliged to share this judgment. We prepare this doom for ourselves.

            Petition: Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do -- living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.                                                                             (1 Peter 3:1-4 NIV).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness 

                                                            Never Rest Ministries

                                            

The Bible Makes A Big Thing Out Of Visions

                                                 When The Door Slams

Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the laws [of God]. [1 Sam 3:1; Amos 8:11, 12] A servant will not be corrected by words alone; For though he understands, he will not respond [nor pay attention]. Do you see a [conceited] man who speaks quickly [offering his opinions or answering without thinking]? There is more hope for a [thickheaded] fool than for him.                                                                                        (Proverbs 29:18-20 AMP) 

            It is this lack of vision that is responsible for the diminished energy in people. lethargy has become an epidemic. Listlessness is a pervasive condition. Everywhere we go, we encounter people who ought to change the familiar bedtime prayer of children from "If I should die before I am woke," to "If I am woke before I die." 

            What is the purpose of life, anyway? Only to eat, drink, work, play, and make love? Or do you have a brain designed to dream dreams? Is your mind created to be an architect, drawing plans? Can you imagine beautiful accomplishments? 

            Think about this: The human being is the only creature in the universe that has the capacity for exercising creative imagination! The divine quality of dreaming what you want to be, where you want to go, what you would love to do,...goals you would like to reach-all of this makes you...the most unique creature in all creation! You really are "made in the image " of the Creator-God! So you are fulfilling you destiny as a child of God in human flesh when you start dreaming the beautiful dreams God Himself is inspiring in your mind. 

            Great companies, careers, projects, relationships, children, health, and inner growth don't happen by chance. Neither do they rain down from heaven or spring forth into reality from the depths of a dark abyss. No! Everything we regard as successful, or success-reinforcing, comes first from a vision, an idea...a dream...a "seed notion" that arises from the heart and mind of a human being. Visions are what energize and drive us. Dreams lift us out of the doldrums and give a quickness to our walk. with God's help, you can determine your own dreams and visions. 

            Adoration: Do you not know? have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint (Isaiah 40: 28-31 AMP)              

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                        Never Rest Ministries

TRIBULATION: "My God WHY"

                                                 When The Door Slams

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed these things to me. But the angels said to me, "Do not worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers the prophets, and all those who obey the words in this book Worship God!" Then the angel told me, "Do not keep secret the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near for all this to happen. Let whoever is doing evil continue to do evil. Let whoever is unclean continue to be unclean. Let whoever is doing right continue to do right. Let whoever is holy continue to be holy." Listen! I am coming soon! and I will repay each one of you for what you have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega," the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.                                                                                                     (Revelation 22:8-13 NCV) 

            If you have visited a hospital for crippled, mentally challenged or, abnormal children, there little bodies twisted, grotesque, sometimes hideous; if you have visited a home for the aged and beheld those pitiful vegetable state, kept alive sometimes by machines that prolong death and not life, shapeless lumps of flesh unable to live or die; if you have walked in cemeteries where they lie the bodies of countless soldiers, who died, some of them in vain; if you have looked on the victims of hurricane, flood and fire or the corpses of innocent men and women murdered by maniacs, if you have watched the haunting faces of alcoholics, drug addicts, the despair of terminal illness; if you have held the hand of a dying dear one where physicians and prayer alike have failed to save...If you have faced the ironic enigmas that add up to nothing in your arithmetic, if dreams have been blasted and hopes destroyed by the heartless law of cause and effect with no answer from heavens, your heart may cry out with the biggest word in your vocabulary, "My God, WHY?"  

            Think about this: We need not bombard heaven with all our "Whys" because God has answered all our agony and distress in one all-inclusive "Why." We can never fathom the depths of that "Why," but we can rest in the certainty that in it we found the meaning of all our troubles and the fulfillment of every shattered dream. It is the cry of Jesus Christ on the cross, "My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?"

            When that "Why" was uttered the greatest thing that ever happened in all history was taking place. It is beyond our understanding for if our poor minds could explain it, there wouldn't be much to it. And if we could understand it we wouldn't need faith. But there it is, the WHY of all WHYS that gathers up all the others and answers them forever.  

            Renewal: My struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, I will put on the full armor of God, so that I may be able to resist in the day evil, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12-13)

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness  

                                                            Never Rest Ministries             

            

                   

Are You Going To Die One Time Or Two Times

                                                 When The Door Slams

How long, LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is; For what futility have You created all the children of men? What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?                                                                                                     (Psalm 89:46-48 NKJV)

            We do not know what lies ahead, just over the hill. Terrible things are happening in our world...and we are afraid. But deep beneath our fear of life lies, carefully hidden, the real reason for our fear these days. It is something we try to ignore. In the joy of life it seems so remote. The truth is we are afraid of death.

            The Christian should have no fear of death...But, on the contrary, faith should give him a touch of enthusiastic anticipation and a tingle of adventure as he looks forward to the experience that shall surely reward his hope and exceed his most glorious expectations.

            It is easy to think of others having to keep this appointment with death, but difficult to remember that we, too, must keep this same appointment. When we visit a dying friend, we are conscious of a certain solemnity that gathers about such persons. Death is appointed for all, and the questions of its occurrence is merely a matter of time. Other appointments in life we can neglect or break, but there is an appointment that no man can ignore, no man can brake. 

            Think about this: It is only when we do know [Jesus] that we are not afraid, for there is nothing to fear. Only when one is no longer afraid to die is one no longer afraid at all...If you are afraid of death, then you are afraid of life. If physical death were the only consequence of a life live apart from God, we would not have so much to fear, but the Bible warns that there is the second death, which is the eternal separation from God. 

            Renewal: In every way we are trouble, but we are not crushed by our troubles. We are frustrated, but we don't give up. We are persecuted, but we are not abandoned. We are captured, but we are not killed. We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our bodies. While we are alive, we are constantly handed over to death for Jesus sake so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our mortal nature. Death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. The following is written, "I believe; therefore, I spoke." We have that same spirit of faith. We also believe; therefore, we also speak. We know that the one who brought the LORD Jesus back to life will also bring us back to life through Jesus. He will present us to God together with himself. (2 Corinthians 4:8-14)

            However, there is a bright side. As the Bible pronounces hell for the sinner, it also promises heaven for the saint. A saint has been described as a sinner who has been forgiven. The subject of heaven is much easier to accept than the subject of hell. And yet the Bible teaches both.  

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                        Never Rest Ministries