A World On Probation
A World On Probation.
In any prison system you will find a few things to be universally true. One of those things is all the prisoners have been convicted of a crime. Another truth is not all are guilty of that crime for which they are convicted but the majority of them are. You'll find those who are very deserving of their sentence and those who aren't as deserving. You will even find some completely innocent - at least of the crime for which they are in prison for. You'll find some who are evil through and through in their actions and given half a chance they'd do over everything exactly as they did before. You'll find others who are just biding their time and are planning on being much more careful in their criminal life later on should they get out. You'll also find those who are truly remorseful for what they've done and they swear they would never ever commit that crime again, never. One thing is certain many criminals serve their time and when they are released regardless of their remorse or lack thereof, they are put on probation. They are let out of prison and into society once more and told to behave because they're being watched. At anytime their probation officer can show up and demand certain things from them in order to prove they're behaving. They live under probation for a set period of time and it's basically set up so that the caretakers of society can watch them and determine if it was the right thing to do, releasing them from prison. They hope it's the right thing because making a mistake is very costly. Often you'll hear of some atrocity committed by some criminal who was let out on probation, some criminal that had they never been released would never have committed the second crime. Yet on the opposite side of things you have those who are released and go on to become upstanding members of the community. It's a gamble when the criminal is released because there is no guarantee on the outcome of their lives. A trust is placed in them to not return to a life of crime, and yet it's a trust that is easily broken and yet we don't end the system of probation even though the trust has been broken over and over and over and most would say the system is very broken. We continue the system of probation because we really need to hope that it works in most cases and we can't deprive people of that opportunity to show they've reformed, that they won't continue down a path of crime. If we kept every criminal in jail forever we might find he majority of the population would be in there, or at least such a vast part of it that we'd need a system other than us building prisons and tending to them.
In the beginning God created a perfect world. A twist of fate created the first criminal, the first abberation, the first sin. God is God knowing all there is to know. Knowing right from wrong, knowing good from evil.
To keep all evil from ruling God created creatures that could choose one or the other. Because a great evil exists in creating creatures without choice. There is a hollow emptiness that is void of true love when there is no choice. Take what we call love between a man and a woman, a husband and wife. When a marriage is prearranged and no choice given to either party it is entered out of duty and because the choice isn't there it is just one more aspect of life that holds very little emotional value- it is in reality another job in life. When a person is allowed to choose the one they marry there is joy involved that isn't there when the marriage isn't made out of choice.
Being allowed to choose the different paths we take in life is enriching in many ways. Being a slave without any choice in the path our lives take is what we call inhumane and we call it that because choice is so amazingly important a part of being the creatures that we are. Slavery is horrific and abolished by law around the world- of course that doesn't mean it doesn't exist because it does in astounding numbers. Taking away choice is an evil, allowing to choose is freedom. One is good, one is bad.
A God of love could never create an intelligent being and strip them of the freedom of choice without being evil. Our God of love created beings with choice knowing that the creatures created might choose to embrace evil. Because our God knew this was possible and because He knew that Good is triumphant over Evil, He not only created one very intelligence sort of creation, He created another.
When the first sort of creation became corrupted God knew that things would have to unfold to the point beyond any doubt that the corrupted things must be done away with if any of the creations were to survive and not be obliterated out of existence entirely. When the first creation corrupted the second creation it was even more important that this entire scene unfold so that the power of choice could remain intact while ridding all of creation of the evil that had been brought into it. Once the choice was made the good should rule over evil the choice had to extend to ALL of the created beings and when given a choice there comes a time of choosing. First there is a time of revelation- where all beings are allowed to witness the outcomes of their choices by understanding what exist before them right then.
Good verses Evil.
Choices to make.
You have that choice, I have that choice and we live in a world on probation with probation quickly winding down to a point where once probation is up the world will be made new with those who have decided to choose good over evil. When a criminal's probation is up it is up by one of a few ways- it's up because they've chosen to remain good and are free to live without probation hanging over them any longer, or it is up because they've been put back into prison because they've chosen not to remain acceptable to society, they've chosen not to remain good; or they've died which has taken away any choice at all. Those are three ways probation is over. When the world's probation is up there will be those who have chosen the path of goodness found only in the salvation and mercy, the rightousness of Jesus Christ; or there will be those who have chosen the path of evil found in Satan and the many disguises He uses to keep us from salvation in Christ. Also, when the world's probation is up there will be those who are dead and they will be either dead in Christ, or dead without Christ.
Make no mistake about the world's probation coming to a close. We've been given a very reliable testament to its closing. The timetable given to us is unfolding faster and faster as we were told it would. We don't know when the last bell will sound, but we are given plenty of warning bells before hand. The bells are ringing faster and faster now and soon the world's probation will be over, all choices made.
Revelation {22:20} He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. {22:21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever!
7/28/10
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men
This is a verse that really deserves a lot of consideration… a lot.
It doesn't say whatsoever you do SOMETIMES.
It doesn't say when you do a few things.
It doesn't say pick and choose things to do heartily - as to the Lord.
It says…
WHATSOEVER. That word is all encompassing, isn't it? It means no matter what you do. It means in all you do. We can't leave the Lord out of ANYTHING we do. We can't set the Lord aside for awhile and do things then pick Him back up. We can't treat the Lord like we treat people in our lives. We are seldom EVER with any one person at all times, yet we are to be with the Lord always in all we do. If we are going places and doing things where we have to keep the Lord out, we aren't fully accepting of Christ in our lives.
Yes, this verse talks about our actions towards others too. We are to do all we do as if we were doing it to the Lord NOT men. This is how we are to treat one another! Think about it! Seriously. If we were treating everyone as we would treat our Lord then we'd probably be treating them a lot differently wouldn't we? Everyone, every man…as the Lord. All our actions should be done with the thought in mind that Jesus would have us treat all others just as we'd treat Him. The next time we're fighting with someone we need to ask if we'd fight with our Lord this way. We are to do unto others as we'd want to be done to, we want to be treated with respect, with love, with kindness and if we want that we have to give that.
All our actions should be done as if the they were being done for the Lord.
We really, really need to pray for this to be true in our lives. We are so far from where we should be. It's so amazingly hard, yet the victory will be found in Christ and ONLY in Christ. We can't find the victory in ourselves, of our own selves.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior may we be transformed by Him into what He'd have us to be. May we be the people He wants us to be for Him, not because we deserve it but because He died to save us.
In His love!
Amen.
7/28/11
Vessels of Mercy
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O
house of Israel.
Jer 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy
it;
Jer 18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from
their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer
18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10 If it do evil in my sight,
that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I
would benefit them.
Good and evil.
Life exists upon these two points…for now.
None would dispute that our lives are filled with tragedies, filled
with pain, heartache, along with joys and happy moments. Life is also filled
with mediocrity, a lot of mediocrity. But that mediocrity is usually tinged
with a negativity, a passiveness, a relenting to being in a state that is
neither happy nor sad. I said usually because it's not always that way.
Sometimes there is a peace to be found in the middle, in the lengthy in-betweens
we find along the spectrum of being bookended by joy and pain.
When we think of life without any heartache and pain, without sadness
we do so with a longing for that sort of life. As we enjoy memories of good
times sometimes we do so with a hint of longing, of sadness that those joys are
gone never to be recaptured.
When man was first formed there was no sin in him, none. Man was not
created by God with sin. There wasn't even a pinprick of sin inside him.
We were made to live in a sinless existence- where there is no pain, no
heartache, no tragedy, nothing that brings sadness.
When sin entered everything changed.
We are born with an innocence that quickly erodes and the day comes
when we begin to make choices between right and wrong. No one can pinpoint that
day, it's different for all of us, but even as children we begin to make choices
and those choices eventually determine who we become and whether or not we've
chosen to live for God or for ourselves.
Our Creator is with us every step of the way, knowing where our hearts
are inclined. Our Savior will know our hearts and if we are His- if our hearts
belong to Him- because we choose Him over ourselves, over all that would keep us
from Him.
So when we read verses about our Potter and how the clay is molded- we
have to do so knowing it is US who are flawed and only the righteousness of our
Savior, only the mercy and grace of our Lord will save us. He is the perfect
vessel that is willing to use HIS righteousness for us.
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to
make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22 What if
God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that
he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he
had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
A potter molding clay makes many, many vessels. Does he set out to make
vessels that are flawed? No. Does it happen that vessels do end up being flawed?
Yes. Does this make the potter sad? Yes. The vessels end up in a state other
than desired and unlike those inanimate vessels a person who becomes flawed and
desires to remain flawed rather than choose the Savior who alone can repair
them, is left flawed, is left a vessel fit for wrath.
God endures with MUCH longsuffering.
And there will be vessels of mercy- prepared unto glory!
We need to be vessel of mercy, filled with the mercy of our
Savior!
All to HIS glory, all to HIS love!
IN HIM ALWAYS!
AMEN!
In any prison system you will find a few things to be universally true. One of those things is all the prisoners have been convicted of a crime. Another truth is not all are guilty of that crime for which they are convicted but the majority of them are. You'll find those who are very deserving of their sentence and those who aren't as deserving. You will even find some completely innocent - at least of the crime for which they are in prison for. You'll find some who are evil through and through in their actions and given half a chance they'd do over everything exactly as they did before. You'll find others who are just biding their time and are planning on being much more careful in their criminal life later on should they get out. You'll also find those who are truly remorseful for what they've done and they swear they would never ever commit that crime again, never. One thing is certain many criminals serve their time and when they are released regardless of their remorse or lack thereof, they are put on probation. They are let out of prison and into society once more and told to behave because they're being watched. At anytime their probation officer can show up and demand certain things from them in order to prove they're behaving. They live under probation for a set period of time and it's basically set up so that the caretakers of society can watch them and determine if it was the right thing to do, releasing them from prison. They hope it's the right thing because making a mistake is very costly. Often you'll hear of some atrocity committed by some criminal who was let out on probation, some criminal that had they never been released would never have committed the second crime. Yet on the opposite side of things you have those who are released and go on to become upstanding members of the community. It's a gamble when the criminal is released because there is no guarantee on the outcome of their lives. A trust is placed in them to not return to a life of crime, and yet it's a trust that is easily broken and yet we don't end the system of probation even though the trust has been broken over and over and over and most would say the system is very broken. We continue the system of probation because we really need to hope that it works in most cases and we can't deprive people of that opportunity to show they've reformed, that they won't continue down a path of crime. If we kept every criminal in jail forever we might find he majority of the population would be in there, or at least such a vast part of it that we'd need a system other than us building prisons and tending to them.
In the beginning God created a perfect world. A twist of fate created the first criminal, the first abberation, the first sin. God is God knowing all there is to know. Knowing right from wrong, knowing good from evil.
To keep all evil from ruling God created creatures that could choose one or the other. Because a great evil exists in creating creatures without choice. There is a hollow emptiness that is void of true love when there is no choice. Take what we call love between a man and a woman, a husband and wife. When a marriage is prearranged and no choice given to either party it is entered out of duty and because the choice isn't there it is just one more aspect of life that holds very little emotional value- it is in reality another job in life. When a person is allowed to choose the one they marry there is joy involved that isn't there when the marriage isn't made out of choice.
Being allowed to choose the different paths we take in life is enriching in many ways. Being a slave without any choice in the path our lives take is what we call inhumane and we call it that because choice is so amazingly important a part of being the creatures that we are. Slavery is horrific and abolished by law around the world- of course that doesn't mean it doesn't exist because it does in astounding numbers. Taking away choice is an evil, allowing to choose is freedom. One is good, one is bad.
A God of love could never create an intelligent being and strip them of the freedom of choice without being evil. Our God of love created beings with choice knowing that the creatures created might choose to embrace evil. Because our God knew this was possible and because He knew that Good is triumphant over Evil, He not only created one very intelligence sort of creation, He created another.
When the first sort of creation became corrupted God knew that things would have to unfold to the point beyond any doubt that the corrupted things must be done away with if any of the creations were to survive and not be obliterated out of existence entirely. When the first creation corrupted the second creation it was even more important that this entire scene unfold so that the power of choice could remain intact while ridding all of creation of the evil that had been brought into it. Once the choice was made the good should rule over evil the choice had to extend to ALL of the created beings and when given a choice there comes a time of choosing. First there is a time of revelation- where all beings are allowed to witness the outcomes of their choices by understanding what exist before them right then.
Good verses Evil.
Choices to make.
You have that choice, I have that choice and we live in a world on probation with probation quickly winding down to a point where once probation is up the world will be made new with those who have decided to choose good over evil. When a criminal's probation is up it is up by one of a few ways- it's up because they've chosen to remain good and are free to live without probation hanging over them any longer, or it is up because they've been put back into prison because they've chosen not to remain acceptable to society, they've chosen not to remain good; or they've died which has taken away any choice at all. Those are three ways probation is over. When the world's probation is up there will be those who have chosen the path of goodness found only in the salvation and mercy, the rightousness of Jesus Christ; or there will be those who have chosen the path of evil found in Satan and the many disguises He uses to keep us from salvation in Christ. Also, when the world's probation is up there will be those who are dead and they will be either dead in Christ, or dead without Christ.
Make no mistake about the world's probation coming to a close. We've been given a very reliable testament to its closing. The timetable given to us is unfolding faster and faster as we were told it would. We don't know when the last bell will sound, but we are given plenty of warning bells before hand. The bells are ringing faster and faster now and soon the world's probation will be over, all choices made.
Revelation {22:20} He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. {22:21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever!
7/28/10
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men
This is a verse that really deserves a lot of consideration… a lot.
It doesn't say whatsoever you do SOMETIMES.
It doesn't say when you do a few things.
It doesn't say pick and choose things to do heartily - as to the Lord.
It says…
WHATSOEVER. That word is all encompassing, isn't it? It means no matter what you do. It means in all you do. We can't leave the Lord out of ANYTHING we do. We can't set the Lord aside for awhile and do things then pick Him back up. We can't treat the Lord like we treat people in our lives. We are seldom EVER with any one person at all times, yet we are to be with the Lord always in all we do. If we are going places and doing things where we have to keep the Lord out, we aren't fully accepting of Christ in our lives.
Yes, this verse talks about our actions towards others too. We are to do all we do as if we were doing it to the Lord NOT men. This is how we are to treat one another! Think about it! Seriously. If we were treating everyone as we would treat our Lord then we'd probably be treating them a lot differently wouldn't we? Everyone, every man…as the Lord. All our actions should be done with the thought in mind that Jesus would have us treat all others just as we'd treat Him. The next time we're fighting with someone we need to ask if we'd fight with our Lord this way. We are to do unto others as we'd want to be done to, we want to be treated with respect, with love, with kindness and if we want that we have to give that.
All our actions should be done as if the they were being done for the Lord.
We really, really need to pray for this to be true in our lives. We are so far from where we should be. It's so amazingly hard, yet the victory will be found in Christ and ONLY in Christ. We can't find the victory in ourselves, of our own selves.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior may we be transformed by Him into what He'd have us to be. May we be the people He wants us to be for Him, not because we deserve it but because He died to save us.
In His love!
Amen.
7/28/11
Vessels of Mercy
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O
house of Israel.
Jer 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy
it;
Jer 18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from
their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer
18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10 If it do evil in my sight,
that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I
would benefit them.
Good and evil.
Life exists upon these two points…for now.
None would dispute that our lives are filled with tragedies, filled
with pain, heartache, along with joys and happy moments. Life is also filled
with mediocrity, a lot of mediocrity. But that mediocrity is usually tinged
with a negativity, a passiveness, a relenting to being in a state that is
neither happy nor sad. I said usually because it's not always that way.
Sometimes there is a peace to be found in the middle, in the lengthy in-betweens
we find along the spectrum of being bookended by joy and pain.
When we think of life without any heartache and pain, without sadness
we do so with a longing for that sort of life. As we enjoy memories of good
times sometimes we do so with a hint of longing, of sadness that those joys are
gone never to be recaptured.
When man was first formed there was no sin in him, none. Man was not
created by God with sin. There wasn't even a pinprick of sin inside him.
We were made to live in a sinless existence- where there is no pain, no
heartache, no tragedy, nothing that brings sadness.
When sin entered everything changed.
We are born with an innocence that quickly erodes and the day comes
when we begin to make choices between right and wrong. No one can pinpoint that
day, it's different for all of us, but even as children we begin to make choices
and those choices eventually determine who we become and whether or not we've
chosen to live for God or for ourselves.
Our Creator is with us every step of the way, knowing where our hearts
are inclined. Our Savior will know our hearts and if we are His- if our hearts
belong to Him- because we choose Him over ourselves, over all that would keep us
from Him.
So when we read verses about our Potter and how the clay is molded- we
have to do so knowing it is US who are flawed and only the righteousness of our
Savior, only the mercy and grace of our Lord will save us. He is the perfect
vessel that is willing to use HIS righteousness for us.
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to
make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22 What if
God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that
he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he
had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
A potter molding clay makes many, many vessels. Does he set out to make
vessels that are flawed? No. Does it happen that vessels do end up being flawed?
Yes. Does this make the potter sad? Yes. The vessels end up in a state other
than desired and unlike those inanimate vessels a person who becomes flawed and
desires to remain flawed rather than choose the Savior who alone can repair
them, is left flawed, is left a vessel fit for wrath.
God endures with MUCH longsuffering.
And there will be vessels of mercy- prepared unto glory!
We need to be vessel of mercy, filled with the mercy of our
Savior!
All to HIS glory, all to HIS love!
IN HIM ALWAYS!
AMEN!