Psalm 101

I will sing of your love and justice;

to you, O Lord, I will sing praise.

I will be careful to lead a blameless life

When will you come to me?

I will walk in my house with a blameless

heart. I will set before my eyes

no vile thing.

The deeds of faithless men I hate;

they will not cling to me.

Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will have nothing to do with evil.

Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,

him will I put to silence;

whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,

him will I not endure.

My eyes will be on the faithful in

the land, that they may dwell with me;

he whose walk is blameless

will minister to me.

No one who practices deceit

will dwell in my house;

no one who speaks falsely

will stand in my presence.

Every morning I will put to silence

all the wicked in the land;

I will cut off every evildoer

from the city of the Lord.

Psalm 101

One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 101.

To me it's a reminder of what is truly important,

a promise to put God first above

everything. To live this one life we have

for his glory.

Faith without works?

We are at the point in the year

where alot of people lend a helping hand.

Wether it be food drives or giving coats/clothing

to those who need it or gifts for around the Christmas

season to children in need.

All of which is great to see, and really

we as "Christians" should always be there,

like the good "samaritan"...lending a helping hand

year round. Of course it's inevitable when someone

brings up doing "Gods Will" and helping out

your fellow man, the word "works" is brought up..

and of course, whenever someone starts talking

about doing "works"

people are quick to shout out "Legalism".

Granted there are a lot of people who

do works and think they are saved by them,

essentially they help others and do works

not because they want to help, but rather

because they want to feel better about themselves

and save there souls.

The fact that we all know, or should know,

is you can't be saved by the things you do,

we all were saved by the blood of Jesus Christ

and only through him are we/can we be

saved.

At the same time though, just because you "Know Jesus"

doesn't mean you are saved, we are suppose to be changed

when we come to "know Jesus"

we are suppose to live for HIM,

and put others above our own needs.

If you say you "Know Jesus"

and yet you continue to act like the world

and you don't show the love you are suppose to show,

then essentially you are just lying to yourself,

because you don't "Know" Him at all.

I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, if you claim to be a

"Christian" and to "Know Christ" don't say it...LIVE IT.

Trying to live more like Christ, and helping others

isn't about getting salvation, it's about proving

the truth and the spirit that lives in YOU.

Jesus said in Matthew 25

"Then the King will say to those on his right,

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father;

take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared

for you since the creation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and you invited me in,

I needed clothes and you clothed me,

I was sick and you looked after me,

I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him,

'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,

or thirsty and give you something to drink?

When did we see you a stranger and invite you in,

or needing clothes and clothe you?

When did we see you sick or in prison and go

to visit you?'

"The king will reply, 'I tell you the truth,

whatever you did for one of the least of these

brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Matthew 25:34-40

Jesus was talking about helping the poor and those

who need help, not doing it for your salvation/yourself..

but doing it for CHRIST. People seem to get it twisted

far to often, this generation of christians, (the majority that is)

are on one of two sides...

one side refuses to do any works and thinks they can continue

living however they want because they "know" Jesus,

and then there is the other-side that chooses

to try and live like pharisees and think

they can save themselves

by living by the law and doing works.

Both sides are technically wrong..

What good is it, my brothers, if a man

claims to have faith but has no deeds?

Can such faith save him?

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes

and daily food. If one of you says to him,

"Go, I wish you well: keep warm and

well fed,"

but does nothing about his physical needs,

what good is it? In the same way,

faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by

action, is dead.

but someone will say,

"You have faith; I have deeds."

Show me your faith without deeds,

and I will show you my faith by

what I do. You believe in one God.

Good! even the demons believe that- and shudder.

James 2:14-19

This is where people become confused

even marten Luther himself

was troubled by this passage in James.

Paul talked about Justification by FAITH

and James wasn't arguing that at all.

Yes we are saved by faith, we are saved because

we have full assurance in the heart that our

Lord and savior Jesus Christ laid down his life

for our sins, and we are freed from that bondage.

HOWEVER how are we judged?

by the fruit..right? If we are of Christ

then we should be living like it..correct?

we will produce good fruit..

one who has true faith in Christ wont produce BAD FRUIT!

Just like james was trying to explain...

If a man claims to have faith, but doesn't show it

he is nothing! If I came across a child on the side of the road

who was beatin within an inch of his life,

and I just looked down upon him and said

"God be with you" but I didn't look to help him..

how can you look at me and call me a "Christian"

how can you say I was living as Christ would?

I'd be full of shit if I claimed myself to be of Christ

and did nothing for the child.

If I have faith, and true faith in God,

i am made into a new creation,

not living for myself,

but living for the truth inside me.

We don't prove our faith by what we say...

we don't prove christ is living in us by saying

"I'm a christian" we prove it in the things we do,

in the actions we choose to take.

We don't choose to live like Christ and do "Deeds"

for our salvation, because that comes free,

we do it because the spirit and love we've accepted

into our lives changes our very being into

a new creation.

We are called to show the love that was shown to us.

†..Humility..†

The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom,

and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 15:33

Where is the fear of the Lord?

Where is the humility?

Everyone seems to walk around, and act

like they are deserving of something.

Even the people who shout and scream "I know Christ!"

I mean, you can say that all you want...

but that doesn't mean you deserve anything,

that doesn't mean you shouldn't still fear the Lord.

Christ took the burden of all our sins, correct?

died for all our sins, correct?

Does that mean we should have no humility?

No shame? Does that mean we deserved it?

Do you know what essentially we all deserve?

Need I keep repeating myself? Hell, thats

what I deserve, and thats what you deserve.

Just because I know Christ doesn't mean

I deserve everlasting life.

To know Christ is to know he died for our sins,

but we must know why he died for our sins, correct?

We must strive to live better, we must be changed

we must come before him in humility and live

our lives to glorify him.

The word of the day.."Humility"

what does "humility" mean?

a lack of false pride,

a humble feeling

Humble meaning:

cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

marked by meekness or modesty;

not arrogant or prideful.

Young men, in the same way be

submissive to those who are older.

All of you, clothe your selves with

humility toward one another,

because,

"God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble."

Humble yourselves, therefore,

under God's mighty hand, that he may

lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on him because

he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:5-7

Want to humble yourself real quick?

stop comparing yourself, your "christian walk"

with others.. I.E:

"Well, at least I didn't do this or that"

"At least I'm not struggling with drugs"

"At least I'm not struggling with alcohol"

ect ect ect...

Compare yourself with the bible,

with the word of God, are you..yourself..living

according to the word? That should humble you real quick,

unless you are totally oblivious.

The fact is we are constantly battling

or at least should be battling our

fleshly desires. We must strive

to be better then we were yesterday,

constantly fighting to live more like Christ,

it is a battle we ultimately will win though!

not we ourselves, but through Jesus Christ!

because he freed us from the chains of slavery.

Paul himself said in Romans 7:15:

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do not do, but what

I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do,

I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no loner

I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is,in my sinfule nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good,

but I cannot carry it out. For what I do

is not the good I want to do; no, the evil

I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is

no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: when I want to do good,

evil is right there with me. For in my inner being

I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work

in the members of my body, waging war against the

law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law

of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me from this body of death?

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.-

Paul wasn't perfect and he struggled just as we struggle,

but did Paul ever say:

"I struggle...I can't stop sinning, so screw it I accepted jesus,

everything is ok...so come here sinful world and let me indulge

myself, because I'm saved and I can do what I want"

For some reason people seem to think that is

what Paul and the bible says and that is completely false.

Paul said he struggled..he said he didn't want to be a sinner

and he fought with himself to keep himself as pure as he could

but in the end he realized he was nothing more then a "wretched man"

Because the truth once again is..

WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES

only one person can save us and thats Jesus Christ,

and we just keep chugging along doing the best we can

each day living for HIM and living his law,

not because the law itself can safe us...

but because his death for our sins

will not go in vain.

What was my point in all this? why bring up Paul?

lets go back to the word of the day...

Paul lived his life in humility,

he wasn't proud of himself because he "knew Christ".

He was ashamed he wasn't more like him..

he was ashamed of his sin even though it was forgiven.

What is it we all have in common?

Brothers and sisters in Christ for sure...

but what should bring us together is our common bound,

and that is we are all sinners. Through Christ we have been

freed from the chains of sin...so the stain of our wicked ways

could be removed from His sight.

Who can say, "I have kept my heart

pure; I am clean and without sin"?

Proverbs 20:9

answer- Nobody..

So where is your humility?

F.A.I.T.H

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he

sows.

Galatians 6:7

Every time I think about that, I wonder what is he waiting for?

I know God won't be mocked, just read your bibles,

and you will see what happens to those who mock God.

When I read the old Testament and the Israelites

who constantly turn their backs on God,

when I remember things like Sodom and Gomorrah,

I find myself thinking a couple of things.

One; How are we as a country as a world

much different then Sodom and Gomorrah.

Two; almost everything about our society

is a slap in the face of God, so can it be

much longer before punishment is brought down?

In reality this has been building for quite some time..

slowly but surely God and his morals are being pushed

aside... It just seems we are doing it at a more rapid pace

now adays. I mean why are we in this downward spiral?

what happened? When did Gods love not become enough?

When did his love lack amazement? Seriously..

has nobody thought how insane it is not to be amazed

even shocked... that God loves us?

that the creator of the universe and everything in it

loves us? wants a relationship with us?

I mean what are we really?..has it somehow

become institutionalized in us that we deserve his love?

We have no authority, no special qualities...

We were created by his hands, not ours...

So how can we ever think we deserve anything from him?

Yes I know, we have free- will,

I mean God doesn't want a bunch of puppets running around,

He created us and gave us the ability to acknowledge him or not to.

I'm just going on a rant here, because it just seems completely

insane in my eyes how far we have fallen.

How can we not, and when I say we, you better believe

I'm including myself, How can we not be amazed

at every second of every hour with

GODS LOVE.

Yet look at the world around us

everything is about the individual.

It's not about God, if anything

it's about being/doing the complete opposite

of what God would want.

His love just doesn't seem

to mean anything to us anymore...

I guess instead of relying on Him,

trusting in Him, and having Full Assurance In The Heart

in Him..

I guess instead of that, it's better to

just focus on ourselves and what we want.

It seems we traded in FAITH for FEAR

You see instead of KNOWING God will supply our needs...

instead of KNOWING God will never forsake us

instead of KNOWING everything happens for a reason

Instead of KNOWING FAITH can move mountains

We've become a world of selfishness and greed,

looking out for ourselves and we choose to believe,

we DON'T KNOW what will happen

we DON'T KNOW if God is real

we DON'T KNOW if this is all there is

we are a nation obsessed with

fear. Sure we don't know what

will happen, and sure we don't know why

this or that thing happened...

but if we have faith in God, and we know

all things happen for a reason, and

we know he will never forsake us...

essentially we know the outcome.

We know that God has a plan,

and everything works out for the best, so there is

no room for fear. If we give everything to the Lord our

God and just say

"He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes"

1 Samuel 3:18

If we just trust in him, then what is there to worry about?

there is no what if this happens...

what if that happens...

it's all apart

of Gods plan. Who, after all, are we to judge

what is right and what is wrong?

It's easy to run around like a chicken with its head cut off,

to worry and stress over things.

The fact is the world wants you to be in fear,

the world wants to fill you with so much fear

that you ignore Gods voice, that you ignore him completely.

The media is always going to hype you full of fear...

worry about the economy...

worry about war...

worry about safety

worry about disease and sickness

worry about what stupid things

this idiotic president or that idiotic

president is doing.

Once again, don't get it twisted..I'm not saying don't be informed,

I'm not saying be oblivious to what is going on,

I'm just saying don't let it blind you,

don't let it affect what is really important

and thats your walk with God.

Don't buy into FEAR...

Buy into FAITH

have Full Assurance In The Heart

that God has a plan, and that

everything happens for a reason.....

This country/world may indeed be going down the toilet

and I'm not going to argue that.

I just have faith that God will protect

his people if indeed a fall-out does come soon,

and if(when) it does, can you honestly say we don't deserve it?

God will not be mocked...

God will not be thrown aside

and you can only ignore his

laws and morals for so long

before judgement is brought down.

You move...so far

from who you really are

you smile... and say

you're free

while my name

is turned to obscene..

morals and laws

turned upside down

how long before

you turn this all around?

I'm speaking

you're not listening now..

Close your eyes

it's not gunna be so long...

Close your eyes

It's not gunna be so long..

my vengeance, my fury

there is no need to worry

I'm returning

to bring salvation

to those who are waiting for me