What if we've got it all wrong? 4

One major thing the Lord kept showing me was that Jesus taught that we're to have a real faith, in a real God and that there was a cost to pay in this life time. We WILL have troubles here. It wasn't a faith where when you were in trouble or going through a hard time, you just "claimed a promise" and God rushed to save you from it. Instead it was a faith that went far beyond day to day life, and filled you with joy just because Jesus loved you, you were saved and had Jesus with you all the time, even during those troubles. He wouldn't always save you from them, but He would walk with you through them and use them to grow you up to be even more like Him.

Those first Christians died for their faith. They were filled with His joy, yes, and they had a very close relationship with Him and they knew His Word, and they knew that their lives no longer belonged to them. They belonged to Christ to do with as He would - even to spend them as martyrs if He chose. And that was OK, because they knew that He had a good reason for it and would use their death to bring glory to Himself and store up treasure in Heaven for them, and they knew most of all that Heaven was their real Home, not here. Because they knew God was real and that He kept His promises, they could give up their lives without any second thoughts, and considered it a great honor if He chose to sacrifice their lives for His Kingdom. After all, didn't He tell us to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice? So, that's what they did. Can you imagine Christians today being able to do that? Not most of them. They're not really convinced that God and everything He promises us is really real.

Because we're not convinced He's real, we therefore aren't convinced His Word is real and that He means exactly what He says and will do it.

He impressed on me that holiness was not a suggestion for us, but rather a command. He has saved us to be His priests and commands us to live a life of holiness and love; to be just like Him. If you recall, that's exactly what He told Israel when He saved them from Egypt, took them as His own and gave them His Word. And yet, they failed. We often put them down for failing and not seeing "the obvious", and yet, don't we do the very same things?

He doesn't want us to take a lighthearted approach to the sin in our lives. He doesn't want us to call sin something it's not, like declaring it's an "illness" and therefore not our fault. Nor are we supposed to figure it doesn't really matter all that much if we sin since we can get forgiven any time.

Instead He wants us to remember what that forgiveness cost Him for every single one of our sins, because the more we do, the more we will hate sin as He does and the more we will insist on living life here His way instead of our own. (1 Peter 1:15–19; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 Peter 2:5; Matthew 5:48; 1 John 3:6; Romans 6:16–23;)

He kept reminding me that I hadn't only been set free from the penalty of sin, but also from it's power. It has no power at all over us anymore! Because He is with us and the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, then sin can no longer make us do anything! We don't have to succumb to our sin nature any longer. We can choose to accept that, or ignore it and go on sinning. But if we accept it, we can indeed be holy like He is; like He commands us to be. We have to remember that He never commands us to do anything that He doesn't also empower us to be able to do.

No, I'm not saying we can live a perfectly sinless life like He did, but I am saying that we could do 1000% better then we are if we really accept that and believe it and then use the self control and discipline He gives us to live a holy life.

He showed me over and over that it's not our job to worry about the evil in this world. Nor is it up to us to fix it. That's God's job. Instead, as we're shown our inheritance from the Lord is peace. We don't even have to worry about how or if God will use us because again, that's God's job, not ours. We're dead in Christ, or at least we're supposed to be, and dead people don't worry; they don't fear; they're not concerned with their rights or if other people like them, lie to them, hurt them, or anything like that. They're concerns and thoughts are with the One they love and the One who lives through them.

The more He showed me about being "dead" to this life and alive in Him, the more sense it all made. He showed this to me through the letters in Revelation and then studying Romans 6-8 and Ephesians 5:1–10. Those verses in Ephesians surprised me because of how they end. After listing some sin, that many of us would think were "little" sins, like using vulgar or coarse language, swearing, etc, it says: Ephesians 5:5–6 —For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. *Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. * I know in the past I just kind of glossed over those words, figuring as usual, "it's ok, I'm saved so I have a get out of jail free card". But that's not what the Lord wants. Yet this and many other scriptures like it, make it quite clear that anyone who persistently lives in sin, will not share in God's Kingdom. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus told us what the requirements were to be in His Kingdom. So we really need to take sin as seriously as God does. We need to hate it, especially when we see it in ourselves.
He always kept going back to how much He loves us, how much He wants the suffering here to end; how much He longs to have us with Him; and how He longs for us to listen to Him and be obedient children.

Besides His love for us, He also kept bringing me back to John 17:20–23 and other passages, including those in the letters in Revelation, showing me how important it was that we love each other and be one with each other. I'm sure you all recall too how He constantly told us that was the most important commandment after loving God.

What it seems to boil down to is to know God is real and that He's not far away, but is right here with us, all the time and He loves us and longs for us to be obedient to Him so we can have that close, intimate relationship with Him, and through that relationship we will have the same kind of relationship with others too. It's all about love really, and the battle is within our wills. Who will we obey? Our Lord who loves us, or Satan, the world or our flesh? Every decision we make, every thought, is either in obedience to Him or to sin. Just as He says here, or decision determines our character:

Revelation 22:11–17 —Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” *“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. *I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. *“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. *Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. *“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” *The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. *

It's time to take the Lord and His Word seriously. It's time to put away the things of this world, and concentrate on our relationship with Him, on knowing His Word well so we can show ourselves approved, and concentrate on living the way He has shown us to live - putting others before ourselves, loving the unlovable, those who've hurt us, betrayed us, lied to us, failed us, embarrassed us, regardless of whether or not they're saved; regardless of whether or not they deserve it. Because that's how He loves us. He saved us even though we didn't and don't deserve it. He blesses us and doesn't treat us as our sins deserve because He loves us, no matter how we treat Him or for how long or how often we fail Him. Now He expects us to do the same for others - to cover their sin with love and forgive even the unforgivable. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

What if we've got it all wrong? 3

As I said, the Lord turned my attention to the letters to the churches in Revelation.  The difference between when I studied them this time and my studies of them in the past though was my focus.  Before I always looked at them mainly as both the weak and strong points of other eras, other churches, and other people and perhaps of things to beware of. This time though the Lord encouraged me to read each letter as though it was written to me.  And not just superficially, but to really reflect on each one with Him and to always keep in mind that they were written to me by the One who loves me more then life itself and longs to see me. So this is what I've done.  I can't tell you all He showed me as we did this, but I hope that just hearing about it that it will encourage each of you to study them this way with Him too. I can assure you that if you the experience will be amazing for you too.  It helped me having already studied them before and knowing a lot of the historical background.  That may sound weird, but it actually helps to relate it to our time.  That's one of the things I'll try to show you next though. So please know that what I share with you is only like a "preview" of what the Lord will show you if you do a study like this with Him yourself.

Most of us tend to think of the ancient world as being kind of barbaric, uncivilized, but it really wasn't.  In many ways it was just as "civilized" as we are now.  But, back then, people everywhere (except Israel) worshiped many gods instead of just one.  Of course there were those who didn't really worship any at all too, just like today, and then there were those who wanted to be worshiped.  (again, like today)  The difference is that back then, since they had Kings and dictators etc, they could force the citizens to worship them if they were powerful enough, and the Caesar's were. They didn't say the people had to worship "only them", but rather that they could worship who or what they wanted to as long as they also worshiped them. They made big state holidays over it every few months and would have parades and festivals and everything.  They'd even give money to the poor so the poor would have enough money to buy an animal to sacrifice.  The good thing about that for the poor was that once the animal was sacrificed, it was given back to them to eat.  For many of them, that was the only meat they'd eat all year long since they were too poor to buy their own.  (someone must have had a very good public relations man, because as you can imagine this made them quite popular!)  If you really think about it though, this isn't all that different from what goes on in our time too.

Enter the Christians then who refused to worship the Caesar along with their God, just like the Jews before them. Now, consider, if you were poor, as most were, you would be risking your life in more ways then one if you converted to Christianity as you then wouldn't get any meat. How would you feel too if your family was poor and one of your adult children fell in love with a poor Christian and was converting?  Or if they had children - your grandchildren would then be starving even more and in mortal danger.  So Christians weren't liked very much because of this.

The world during that time had huge libraries, just as we do, although their "books" looked different.  Still, philosophy, and even what we'd call psychology, as well as medicine, and politics were just as important to them as they are to us.  And they were quite advanced too. They too believed in education and either sent their children to a school, hired tutors or taught them themselves. They had magnificent buildings, some much more magnificent then ours today, theaters, music, etc.  They were quite civilized even if they did have slaves. They weren't bigoted or anything...anyone could be a slave, you just had to someone other then a Roman citizen.  They were even open minded and liberal like we are, only as time went on they became even more so.  Prostitution, while not considered something a gentleman or lady would do, was considered quite normal, as was homosexuality, abortion, etc. So again, it was very much like today in that regard too. As were their politicians...the lives of their politicians compared to ours now are pretty much identical really. 

So the only "big" difference was the fact that the majority of the people worshiped more then one "god".  (or is that really all that different from today after all?)  This is what it was like at Ephesus then too.  It was a major seaport too, although it no longer is.

OK, now that we know that the people of this time are not much different then we are, let's look at the letter.  Every word of it's important but I'm going to underline the part that really got to me.

Revelation 2:2–6 —I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. *You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. *Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. *Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. *But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. *

My thought was not only "have I in fact forsaken my first love?" but also, how could I have done so?  How could they have done so?  Look at all He praised them for!  They obviously knew their scriptures and practiced what they preached, for that's what helps you become discerning, and they were praised for being discerning.  In fact, it sounds like they're still doing so, so how could they have forsaken their first love??? 

What I got out of it as I studied was that it got to be automatic for them. Almost like running on auto pilot. They got to where they were so busy discerning, so busy arguing doctrine and debating it, so busy making sure they weren't involved in any of the false teachings that were being spread around, so busy simply persevering under the daily pressures of being persecuted because they followed Christ, that without realizing it they went from loving Him and doing all this because of their love for Him, to just doing it.  They'd forgotten their personal relationship with Him as it all became routine. 

It was a lot like what would eventually happen to the city as I guess they didn't heed the Lord's warning...or maybe it was their children who didn't.  But eventually doing all their "good works" replaced their relationship - their love - for the Lord.  That's kind of what happened to the city.  Since no one cleaned out the harbor, over time, it eventually filled up with good soil.  But the harbor, the seaport became useless and was eventually deserted.  Their lampstand was removed.

I have to admit, this really hit me very hard and the Lord and I have talked about it and will probably continue to talk about it quite a bit longer, as I most certainly do not want to lose my first love!  And I could see how very easy it would be for that to happen too.  Although I admit that I didn't at first.  At first I cried out against it, asking how I could possibly lose it by doing what He told us to do!  By spending all the time I did in His word!  But then, so did they. The Lord gently reminded me that I'd been asking Him for the last couple of months to help me improve my prayer life, invigorate it again.  I remembered telling Hm that I knew something wasn't right, but just couldn't put my finger on it.  Well, now He was answering me.  (actually He had been all along, this was just the "clincher") 

Once I admitted it was possible, the Lord reminded me that He told them and us what to do to make things right. "Go back and do the things you did at first".  That was easy when I thought of it.  When I was first saved I was so filled with Love for Him, that I would praise Him constantly, it came naturally whenever I'd be studying or praying, or just thinking about Him or His Word, or even talking to someone else about it. I can remember driving to or from work and having to pull over to the side of the road because i wouldn't be able to see anymore for the tears of joy and love that came as I was talking to Him.  As you can imagine, that's what I've been trying to focus on a lot more now.

There's much I could say about the things He praised them (us) for too, but it would take forever and I really am hoping that this will just be an encouragement for you to each study the letters with Him yourself.  There's no way I can go through each letter with you...well, I could but I doubt anyone would want to read so much   and besides talking to the Lord about them is better then hearing about it second hand anyway. So tomorrow I'll just try and give you all some of the rest of the main things He's been pointing out to me about this and wrap it all up for you.

What if we've got it all wrong? 2

So, I asked myself and the Lord, what I needed to focus on to make myself ready for Him. One of the main things He focused on was love... both His love and mine. He showed me that I often looked on His love very shallowly and hadn't spent much time really thinking about it and what it meant and how His love for us really has a bearing on just about every question we tend to ask Him. He took me on a journey through His life here and especially His last 24 hours here and how that showed us His love for us. We tend to think of love as a sentimental feeling, but it's really a choice; a decision and commitment.

I'm not sure I can show anyone else what He showed me, but I do know that He can show you if you study the those last 24 hours in the gospels. I will share one of the things that really impressed me though. Remember when He was praying in the garden and how he began to sweat blood? (Luke 22:40–46) (Matt. 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42) I always wondered why that happened, and while I learned the "why" a few years ago, I guess it's something that I just didn't think about a lot afterward. It was just so deep, so emotional, that it was difficult to spend time thinking about it, I guess. Well, that's one place the Lord took me.

Our Lord was so upset that night, that no human could comfort Him, so the Lord sent an angel to comfort and strengthen Him. (Luke 22:41–43), But even that didn't help. (Luke 22:44) That's when He fell to the ground (Matthew 26:36; Mark 14:35) and asked the Father to let this cup pass from Him. We can read His prayer in Matthew 26:39 and Mark 14:36, and Mark 14:37 tells us that He prayed like this for an hour. It wasn't just a short little prayer. He was pouring out His anguish to the Father. It was now that we're told that His sweat was like great drops of blood in Luke 22:44. In the gospels we're told what His condition was. It's described as grieved, alarmed, very troubled, and deeply distressed. I know when I first read He felt this way, my first response was to think, well then He really does know how we feel at times. But none of us have ever felt this extreme distress. Let me share something from one of my commentaries about this:

[QUOTE]Medical science has attested a very few isolated cases of people sweating blood (a phenomenon called hemato hydrosis) and in every instance the person was in extreme mental and emotional anguish; in each case the individual died in a matter of hours. It seems that Christ also suffered this extreme mental and emotional agony, but He alone survived it. Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record [/QUOTE]

I checked this out online and found that while there have been a few cases reported where the people survived, it's always called "very rare" and in all of these cases, the people were only sweating blood from a small area of their body, not from their entire body like Jesus did. They also confirmed that extreme stress was always present in those people's lives.

We know that Jesus is God and He knew what was going to happen to Him. I honestly can't even imagine it though. It's not like one of us, who has sinned all through our lives was going to have all the sins of the world put on us... although that admittedly would be pretty horrible to think about. But instead, Jesus, who had never sinned- this totally pure man who had never been touched by the stain of sin, never felt it's awful grip, was going to have every sin placed on Him. Just reflecting on this aspect of what He knew He'd be going though for us is too much for me to imagine. Add to that the incredible physical suffering He had to know He'd also go through and I already cannot understand how anyone could love me enough to do that! Yet even that wasn't all of it!

In Matthew 26:38 we're told He was experiencing an anguish of the soul. Being God, Jesus knew better then anyone what the sentence of sin was- eternal separation from the Father. This is another part that's impossible for us to understand, but we can try. Jesus had been One with the Father and the Holy Spirit since before the beginning of time. There was never a second that He wasn't One with them and their love. Yet now on top of everything else, He was facing being separated from them, and perhaps even forever! I'd say that was a pretty good reason to ask the Father to let this cup pass from Him and to be so upset, don't you?

And yet, He didn't run; He didn't hide; He didn't call down legions of Angels to rescue Him, and He could have! He did NOT have to go through all this! He faced all that (Matthew 27:46) for me. For you. Because He loves us so very much. I can't even write about it without sobbing. I can't imagine loving anyone that much, can you? Yes, I think I might give my life for one of my children or grandchildren - but then even doing that, I wouldn't be going through a tenth of what the Lord went through for us!

Even all of that isn't all though. During all this time, and during the time when the Lord was actually going through with this, who was He most concerned for? For His disciples, even though He knew, KNEW, that they'd desert Him! He still asked the guards to let them go and just take Him. He even showed love for those arresting Him when He healed that mans ear, and even for Judas when He betrayed Him! His heart ached for them! On the cross, instead of focusing on His own suffering, He took the time to be sure that the thief would be saved. He could have ignored Him, but He didn't. He made sure His earthly mother was cared for too, thinking of her, while enduring such enormous physical, emotional and spiritual suffering! And you know who else He thought of? Me! You! After all, that's why He was there. It was our sins that put Him there, and it was our sins that kept Him there till the bitter end, so we could be with Him forever.

After showing me more about His love and how He showed us the way to truly love, and how different that is from the worlds idea of love, He took me to Revelation and the 7 letters to the churches.  I hope I haven't bored you all to death, but trying to understand His love for us and just how much He actually did for us, is important to the rest.

For just a second let's remember what the first 2 things He showed me were.. First, that very few people are really saved. Like in Matthew 7:13–14 where He tells us that few find the narrow road that leads to life. He showed me how He always told everyone the whole gospel, that there was a cost to be paid by us and that we should count it before we decide we want to follow Him. He never made it sound like He was offering people an easy life here and eternity in heaven afterwards -though to talk to many people today, that's what most seem to think. Instead He said we're to die to ourselves.

Then He had me focus on His love for us and all He did for us. I know I didn't go into it, but He also showed me all He's continued to do for us as well, such as blessing us with every spiritual blessing, not just some of them, and so on. And as I said before, how different it was from the worlds idea of love. Part of sharing His love with me, He shared too how much He longs for us- each of us. That's another thing we rarely hear about or think about, but He does. He longs to have an intimate relationship with us, to spend time with us, to have us know Him, know His heart, to seek His face and not just His hand; He longs to protect us, help us, guide us, show us His love, and yet like Israel when He was here, we often simply don't allow it. And He longs for the day when He will be with us again, and present us Holy and perfect, for then we will be ready for the wedding.

Our next trip was through the letters to the churches in Revelation. I'm sure you all remember them, but let me post a link to part of the first one so you can read it: Revelation 2:2–6.
Probably the most important thing to remember about these letters is that they're being written to Christians, not to the unsaved.

And then I'll come back tomorrow and talk about it.

What if we've got it all wrong?

What if we've got it all wrong?

What if we've got it all wrong? We've talked endlessly about the rapture, tribulation, millennium, the antichrist, etc, but what if we've entirely missed the whole point? The Lord's been teaching me a lot lately, and He keeps impressing on me the same things over and over again -from one end of the bible to the other.

I'm used to how He often uses things other people say, or things I'll hear on TV or read in whichever fiction book I'm reading at the time to further illustrate and really impress on me what He's teaching me. But lately, it's been really crazy. Those things used to happen frequently, but certainly not constantly...but now they are! Every time I turn around He's again pointing out what He showed me in His Word that very morning! This past month has been like He's had me in some sort of intensive training for something. In fact, it's been a little scary because of that.

At first I thought what He was showing me was just for me because it was so very intense. But after asking some precious brothers and sisters to pray for me and praying myself, I've determined He does want me to share it with you guys. So I will. I'm starting it here in this forum because it does concern the rapture and everything that will be happening and it concerns us. But it will be impossible to tell all of it all at once. So I'll simply have to add more to it as I can .

We've talked before about how many people who call themselves "Christians" are really saved. Over the years, my "estimate" (if you want to call it that) has gone down considerably, and has gone down even more just recently.

When you think about it, Jesus has told us that in actuality very few people are really saved out of the whole population. Many are just "pretenders" or fakers, often fooling themselves as well as others. Then on top of that, He said that it's just about impossible for a rich person to be saved, and in fact would be impossible without God. Today one of the most pervasive false teachings is the prosperity gospel. Everyone wants to not just have some money, but they want to get rich. Sadly, every step they take, even when they don't actually get rich, leads them further from the Lord, because we can't serve two masters.

Even without the prosperity teachings though, most Christians today are not much different from those who aren't saved. We aren't "hated by the world" because we're no different from them. I've felt for a long time that was a good way to determine just how closely I was walking with Christ. If the world loved me, I obviously must not be walking very close to Him.

Even when Jesus was here in the flesh, the vast majority of people rejected Him. Out of the whole population of Israel and the surrounding Gentile towns, only a handful of people were truly saved.

Jesus has told us that before He returns again it would be like the days of Noah and Lot. He was speaking of His second coming then, not of the rapture, but still if it's that bad at his second coming, then it's got to be getting that way when the rapture happens, don't you think? And we've all pretty much agreed that it's certainly beginning to look like that now.

Think about the days of Noah though concerning salvation...only 8 people out of the entire world population were saved. And in Lot's time only his small family was saved. In Rahab's time, only she and her family were saved. Over and over we're shown that it's always a small remnant that are truly saved.

Yet, when we look at statistics showing how many people claim to be Christians, you'd think a good half the world at the very least are saved. I really don't think so though. I don't think it's even half of that or even a quarter of that anymore.

The scarier part of that is that most people are frightened to death to "judge" someone and talk to them about the gospel if the person professes to be saved. Even when someone says they doubt their salvation, we tend to reassure them instead of simply telling them we can't know for sure, but we can tell them how they can know, and then proceed to tell them the gospel.

That brings up the next part that's scary. Usually the whole gospel isn't presented to people anymore. Instead, only the "good part" is told to them. But that's not what Jesus did. He told people everything, the whole deal. Which is why so many left. He told them they'd have to deny themselves; give up their right to live their life the way they wanted to, and instead live it for Him. He told them they'd have to obey Him and be in Him and His Word and remain in it daily. (Matthew 16:24–27; Matthew 25:29–30; John 12:24-25; John 15:7; John 15:10; John 14:15; John 14:21; 1 John 2:5–6; Revelation 22:14; etc) Today though the church tends to leave out the part about obedience and those who do talk about it, get attacked half the time for supposedly being legalistic. But Jesus didn't mince any words. He said it straight out:

John 15:10 —If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

Therefore, even many people who really are saved don't realize there's another part to their salvation.... a part they're supposed to participate it. In 1 John 3:6–10 we're told yet again that those who are really saved don't keep on sinning. Instead they grow in their faith. Do they sin at all? Of course they do, but they don't continue to sin because as soon as they realize they've sinned, they confess it and repent of it, not doing it again. In Matthew 5:48, and 1 Peter 1:15-16, we're told to be "perfect" and to be "holy" like Jesus. We're also given the reason for that:

1 Peter 2:5 —you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. * and Revelation 1:6 —and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. *

But most Christians today sure don't act like God's Holy Priests do they? (including me) Look too at what Jesus said to John about these days before the rapture:

Revelation 22:10–11 —Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. *Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” *

Doesn't that sound a lot like today??? People are getting either more vile or more holy. Look what He says about it in Malachi:

Malachi 3:17–18 —“They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. *And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

Sounds pretty much like what we're seeing now doesn't it? But let's see what He says next in Revelation:

Revelation 22:12–14 —“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. *I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. *“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. *

But now let's look a bit into the future so we can see more bout those robes. This is after the rapture and the Bema Judgment, but before the second coming. These are words the Lord has put in my mind and kept there this past month, as though they were blazing in fire:

Revelation 19:7–8 —Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. *Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) *

I've had to ask myself If I've made myself ready for my Lord. Let me tell you, the past few weeks haven't been very comfortable, that's for sure!

This is the beginning of what the Lord's been showing me. All this time my "end times focus" has been on how evil people were getting, and how bad things were getting, and how I wished the rapture would happen, but I never really thought about if I was really ready. Oh, I've thought about how wonderful heaven would be, how I wanted to store up treasure in heaven, and all that, but somehow I bypassed that in between part about really making myself - my heart - ready for Him. If you look back at those last 4 scriptures I posted, it looks like this could be a prerequisite for the rapture, or another way of saying it, another "sign" of His soon coming - when the bride has made herself ready.

He's had much more to show me about this, so if anyone's interested, I'll try to share more of it tomorrow.

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Guarding Your Mind & Emotions & Putting On God's Armor 3

The last piece of armor is the Sword of the Spirit which I'm pretty sure we all know is the Word of God. God's Word is a double edged sword in our hands (Hebrews 4:12) meaning it's both offensive and defensive. It is not only a very powerful weapon, but without it, we can't possibly win any battles. Jesus Himself used this weapon when Satan attacked him right after he was baptized. He is our model, showing us how to wage war with God's Word. Notice He didn't "bind" Satan or "cast" Satan away somewhere during that attack or any other. He simply fought Him using every piece of armor He tells us about here to protect Himself and the Sword of the Spirit to defend Himself with.

You know, we should tremble when we realize just how powerful God's Word is. After all, it was with His Word that He created us, that He created this world and everything in it. It is His Word that saves us, cleanses us and heals us. It's His Word that renews our minds and makes us more like Him. In 2 Peter 3:7 we're told it's by His Word that the present earth is being reserved for fire. In Revelation 2:16 we're warned that it is with His Word that He will discipline all Christians who are compromising with sin. This isn't speaking of the future, it's speaking of how the Lord currently disciplines those in the body of Christ who are disobedient to His word. Then in Revelation 19:15 He tells us that it's through His Word that He will battle and destroy all who have risen against Him at Armageddon. Let me quote that whole passage for you, for we should understand that THIS is the power of His Word, the Word we hold in our hands and study, and the Word that we often ignore.

Revelation 19:11–21 —I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. *His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. *He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. *The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. *Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. *On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords. *And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, *so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” *Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. *But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. *The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. *

Doesn't that give you goosebumps? The Word of God can create and destroy. it gives life and takes it. Thankfully, because of His great love for us, we're saved and don't have to ever worry about being under His wrath, for He has saved us from that. That doesn't mean however that we have nothing to be concerned about. We can still displease Him by being disobedient, and I wouldn't think that anyone in their right mind would want to to do that, not after all He's done for us. Why, if we realize the power of His Word, do we not eagerly pick it up and consume it?

His Word is powerful, but it won't do us any good at all if we don't know it; and if we know it, but don't do it, it still won't do us any good. Obviously too, we can't know it, if we haven't read and studied it. Every time we read God’s Word, it becomes more firmly planted in our minds and hearts, and that's how it protects us from attacks of the enemy. We need to speak the Word, pray the Word, live the Word, and let it live in us. That way it becomes an effective part of our armor and we'll have become sword masters with the Word of God, and have strong, well made belts of Truth, breastplates of righteousness, and helmet of salvation, etc. I'm sure that now you can see how all the pieces of armor are reflected in and joined to each other, and how each piece becomes stronger and stronger as we grow in the knowledge of our Lord and His Word.

 

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Re: Guarding Your Mind & Emotions & Putting On God's Armor 2

Next comes the Shield of faith. That's pretty self explanatory...our shield is our faith and God's Word tells us in 1 John 5:4 that everyone born of God overcomes the world, and the victory that overcomes the world is our faith. Interestingly in Revelation 3:5 we're told that he who overcomes which is all who are saved, will be dressed in white. Then in Revelation 19:7-8 we learn that the Bride of Christ is all those born again into the body of Christ which is the Church, and that they've all been given white to wear. Verse 8 tells us that the white stands for their righteous acts. (are you seeing the breastplate of righteousness?) See, all the pieces of armor fit together. One can't be worn without the other as it wouldn't fit correctly.

Back to our faith though...many times our first thought is "oh no! my faith isn't strong enough!" When we think that though, we're allowing one of the enemies flaming arrows to get us. The Lord would never send us into war without the proper equipment and without enough faith to actually win that war. He's not setting us up to fail, He's setting us up to win! We have to trust Him. If we truly feel our faith isn't strong enough, there's only one way to change that, and that's through studying His Word daily, for that's how our faith increases. The better we get to know the Lord and His Word, the stronger both our love and faith grow. Keep in mind too that God isn't asking us to have faith in ourselves, but rather to have faith in Him. When we say our faith isn't strong enough, it's because we're somehow thinking we ourselves aren't strong enough. We see ourselves as weak. We've forgotten what the Lord says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - His strength, His power, is made perfect in our weakness! Instead of being afraid which is from the enemy, we should be rejoicing as Paul did in verse 10 when he said, for when I am weak, then I am strong! He realized that his weakness wasn't a fault, it was wonderful because by admitting that he was weak and unable to defend himself, then God was able to be strong through him. In fact the weaker he was, the stronger God appeared not only to him but to everyone, since everyone who knew him knew how weak he was! So it brings God great glory! So never fear that your faith is too weak, for the Lord Himself will pour out His love and faith on us. (1 Timothy 1:14)

The next piece of armor is the helmet of salvation. We need to know what it is and then, how to put it on. First the helmet covers our head, our minds. Remember the Lord has told us many times that our hearts and minds are very important and that we're to always guard them. The Helmet of Salvation links with the rest of the armor in that it too is concerned with the assurance of our salvation and all that we received from the Lord when we were saved. Unfortunately, because of lack of study, many don't realize what all they received and so don't use it. It's like when someone gives you a gift, and inside the card that came with the gift is an explanation that inside the gift are a number of other gifts for you. But since you didn't read the card, you're not aware of that and so don't look for the other gifts.

My grandchildren unknowingly actually acted this out for me on one of their birthdays. I'd given my granddaughter a purse that she could decorate and it came with the markers etc. But I'd also gotten her a journal with the same pattern that could also be decorated and some extra markers. I packed those inside the purse for her. She wasn't used to my ways as I don't see her as often as I see my other grandchildren. She was thrilled with the purse and immediately was getting ready to color it, but the other children were yelling at her to look inside it. She obviously didn't understand why they wanted her to, but she finally did as they kept insisting. That's when she found the rest of the gifts.

That's what many, if not most Christians do with our gift of salvation. We're thrilled with it, but we don't look any further to see if there's anything else. Since we don't look (in His Word) we can't and don't use those other gifts and then we wonder why we don't have an abundant life like He promised us. We blame God of course and some even give up their faith entirely, never knowing what could have been theirs. All they had to do was open God's Word and study it daily and they would have discovered those gifts, and they're fantastic ones that we shouldn't do without!

Just as my granddaughter couldn't use the gifts till she found them, so we can't put on the helmet of salvation until we've discovered the gifts the Lord included with our salvation.

Once we discover them it will give us a new perspective of ourselves. This perspective first includes the security of our position in Christ, that we are saved and always will be. That our salvation is eternally secure and guaranteed. Many don't even have that security which is the foundation for this and much of the armor. Next, with our salvation, we are made new, and God wants us to know in what ways we're made new. With our salvation, God also gives us the gift of cleansing our consciences; taking away all the guilt and shame of our sin. He has no desire for us to walk around with that burden anymore. He took that on Himself so we wouldn't have to.

Satan just loves to attack both these areas of our minds though. He constantly will attack people by telling them they're not worthy of being saved, they were never really saved, or that their most recent sin proves they're not saved or that they lost their salvation when they sinned again or some other such nonsense. He loves to cause us to feel guilty for our sins long after we've confessed them and repented of them. He wants us to feel ashamed, guilty and fearful. He's constantly beating us up about our sins, rubbing our noses in them (or trying to) and doing his best to make us feel guilty and ashamed or ourselves. He loves to bring up painful things that have happened in our past, things that have hurt us physically, emotionally,and/or mentally, or things that made us angry. As long as he can succeed at that, he has nothing to worry about because he's just rendered us totally useless to the Lord.

Satan doesn't want us to find and understand these gifts because he knows that when and as we do, our minds are renewed and we can then put on the helmet of salvation knowing it will protect our minds from his attacks. We were actually given this helmet at our salvation, but as with all the other pieces of armor, we have to choose to wear it each day. It's really another way of saying that we must choose to abide in Christ daily. Abide is another word for: walk, live, or remain in Christ. It's a constant and a continual "doing". A constant choice and it's not even just every day. It can be every moment even. Every time we make a decision -will we tell the truth to that friend, or will we lie; will we continue to think, feel and therefore live the same way we did before we were saved or will we study His Word daily and do what it says, allowing it to change us to be more like Christ?

I'll do the last piece in my last post next.

 

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Guarding Your Mind & Emotions & Putting On God's Armor

After reading my devotional today, I wanted to expand on it.

It amazes me how God's Word can be read on so many different levels, and how you can get so much out of one single verse, and how every single verse in the bible is connected to every other one too. That's what amazes me the most. When I think I've finally found one that can't be connected to some other teaching, the Lord always shows me differently. That's difference between His Word and any other book we could read.

These last few years He's been showing me how His Word teaches us, grows us up to spiritual maturity, guides us through our every day life, strengthens us, encourages us, and totally replaces all the world's and Satan's programming that's been in our minds and hearts.That's how His Word "renews our minds". Furthermore, by doing that, the Lord's Word then protects us from the enemy by guarding our hearts and minds.

Over and over the Lord has shown me how dangerous and downright foolish it is for His children not to be in His Word daily like He commands us to, so that we can know His Word and apply it to our lives. It's also brought home to me yet again how His commandments are always for our good, and not just to ruin our fun or make more work for us. Lately the Lord's been showing me this about the armor He gives us to defeat the enemy with.

The armor I'm talking about is the armor spoken of in Ephesians 6. Let's take a look at it together and you'll see what I mean.

First He tells us that we need the belt of Truth, but what is that? It's God's Truth, which is of course found in His Word. We need to know His Truth, know His Word, so we won't be deceived by the enemy. Of course just knowing it isn't enough, we have to "put it on" which means we have to apply His Truth to our lives - we have to live it. For example, when His Word says we're not to lie, then we simply do not lie. We do not tell big lies, little lies or any kind of lie, for we know from God's Word that Satan is the author of lies. When His Word says we're not to worry, then we don't worry, we take control of our emotions instead of letting them control us, just as His Word teaches us to do by taking our thoughts and emotions captive and replacing them with His Truth. Again, we obviously must know His Truth, His Word, in order to be able to replace the lies our thoughts and emotions are telling us. If we know His Word, we'll also know that it's through our thoughts and emotions that most of Satan's attacks come. That's why it's so important to have on the belt of Truth.

Next we're to have the breastplate of righteousness. What is that though? The breastplate is to cover our hearts, and we know that our hearts are covered by Jesus, and that's what God sees when He looks at us. He sees the righteousness of Christ, not our sins. That's done when we're saved though, and this says we're to "put it on", so how do we do that? Again this is done by applying God's Word to our lives. Every day we must choose to live God's way instead of our own way. Sometimes we must choose that every hour or even every moment, but the choice is ours. We can't be protected if we deliberately choose to walk outside God's Will or His Ways.

The bad news for many people is that if they are not in His Word daily as we're commanded to be, then they're already walking outside His Will. It's one thing for us to be doing His Will and studyiing His Word daily and not have learned about something yet, and quite another if we're not studying His Word daily and don't know it. Those who are studying and just haven't gotten that far yet, aren't outside His Will, and will be protected, but those who aren't, won't be protected, for they are outside His Will. God is a God of love, but not the mushy so called tolerant love the world teaches. He wants what's best for us and He will discipline us and even punish us if we continue to be disobedient.

So the breastplate of righteousness is put on by choosing to live according to God's will, in His Ways every day. The good news is that we don't have to do this in our strength, in fact, we can't do it in our own strength, but instead must rely on the Lord. The part that's ours is to choose to live His Way, and apply His Word, then He will do the rest.

Next are the shoes of the gospel of peace, but how in the world to we put those on and what are they? Notice that the person is standing, in fact, standing firmly, not walking in these shoes. this isn't about spreading the good news. It's about having peace with God through the gospel. It's about having the confidence of knowing for sure that we are saved, and the only way we can do that is again, if we really know God's Word. The gospel says that through Jesus we have peace with God because we're no longer His enemy, now we are His children because we have been saved. Knowing that our salvation is guaranteed by God, we have no fear for there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear for fear has to do with punishment - and we know that we are forever safe from God's Wrath, for we've been saved through the blood of Jesus, now forever to be His beloved child.

The peace God gives us through the confidence of our salvation, when we're living in Him by knowing and applying His Word to our lives, is a peace so great that God says it will literally guard our hearts and minds - the two areas most vulnerable to Satan's attacks. This peace which originates from the gospel, our security in Christ, affects every area of our lives, since every are is affected by our hearts and minds.
The enemy wants to steal our peace and keep us frustrated, angry, fearful, anxious, bitter, hurt, and filled with shame and guilt, so he will do all he can to prevent us from knowing God’s Word and having His peace to keep us strong, confident and standing firm.

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GUARDING YOUR MIND AND EMOTIONS

“Stand firm therefore … having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph. 6:14).

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True righteousness begins with a right relationship with God.

A Roman soldier would often engage his enemy in hand-to-hand combat. At such times, the weapon of choice was the short sword, with which he sought to penetrate his opponent’s vital organs. For his own protection he wore a molded metal breastplate that extended from the base of his neck to the top of his thighs. It helped deflect any attacks aimed at his heart and abdomen.
The Roman breastplate has great symbolism in Paul’s analogy because to the Jewish people the heart represented man’s mind and thinking processes; the intestinal area or bowels represented the seat of feelings and emotions. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (KJV). Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jesus added, “From within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21).

During spiritual warfare, Satan’s primary attacks target your thinking and emotions. If he can condition you to think and feel contrary to God’s Word, he has won a significant victory. That’s why he attempts to fill your mind with lies, immorality, false doctrine, and half-truths. He tries to blur the line between righteousness and sin by surrounding you with evil influences that increase your tolerance for sin. He clothes offensive sin in the blinding garment of entertainment. He puts it to music and masks it in humor to confuse you and deaden your spiritual senses. Satan wants to corrupt your emotions and draw you into sinful desires.

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness begins with a right relationship with God, who is the source of true righteousness. From that relationship flows the commitment to cultivate righteousness in your own life by learning and applying His Word. Therein lies the protection you need to safeguard your mind and emotions from Satanic deceptions.

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Suggestions for Prayer: Focus on strengthening your relationship with God today. Commune with Him in prayer. Meditate on His Word. Seek His grace in responding thoughtfully and righteously to the temptations you face.

For Further Study: Read Proverbs 10, noting Solomon’s description of righteous people.


Proverbs 10:1–32 (NIV)
Proverbs of Solomon
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son grief to his mother.
2 Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,
but righteousness delivers from death.
3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
4 Lazy hands make a man poor,
but diligent hands bring wealth.
5 He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
6 Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
7 The memory of the righteous will be a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
8 The wise in heart accept commands,
but a chattering fool comes to ruin.
9 The man of integrity walks securely,
but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
10 He who winks maliciously causes grief,
and a chattering fool comes to ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
12 Hatred stirs up dissension,
but love covers over all wrongs.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,
but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.
14 Wise men store up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
15 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,
but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
16 The wages of the righteous bring them life,
but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.
17 He who heeds discipline shows the way to life,
but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
18 He who conceals his hatred has lying lips,
and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
19 When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,
but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
21 The lips of the righteous nourish many,
but fools die for lack of judgment.
22 The blessing of the Lord brings wealth,
and he adds no trouble to it.
23 A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct,
but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.
24 What the wicked dreads will overtake him;
what the righteous desire will be granted.
25 When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,
but the righteous stand firm forever.
26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so is a sluggard to those who send him.
27 The fear of the Lord adds length to life,
but the years of the wicked are cut short.
28 The prospect of the righteous is joy,
but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.
29 The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous,
but it is the ruin of those who do evil.
30 The righteous will never be uprooted,
but the wicked will not remain in the land.
31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
but a perverse tongue will be cut out.
32 The lips of the righteous know what is fitting,
but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1993). Drawing Near—Daily Readings for a Deeper Faith

See also:

Taking Thoughts Captive

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Cleaning house and the Lord

Some time ago I was asked about doing a bible study about cleaning our houses and I thought, why not? I've always tried to clean my house for the Lord based scripture and thought I could share that with the rest of you. When I was a little girl, it was my job to set the table for dinner and I would always set an extra place for Jesus just in case He came. (It drove my mother nuts! ) That's where it really started for me though. From there I determined to keep my room clean, just in case the Lord should show up "for real".

When I was saved as an adult and began studying His Word, I discovered that I wasn't being really silly by doing those things after all. When the Lord was teaching the Jew's about how to worship Him, and giving them His laws, He also taught them quite a lot about cleanliness and how important it was. Part of what He was trying to teach them was that everything they did and said should be done with Him in mind, which is why He gave them so many rules about cleanliness. They had to think about Him no matter what they were doing at home, at work, or at play or they would wind up "unclean" and unable to worship Him. When you think about it, it's very much like what we're told in Colossians 3:17 —And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. *

The Lord wants to be part of everything in our lives, not just part of the supposed "religious portions" of our lives. He doesn't want what we do for Him to be somehow separate from the rest of our lives. For instance, He wants to be part of it every time we bake a casserole, not just when we're baking one to give to someone in need.

Another thing I learned was that if we wanted something we then needed to take good care of what we already had. I'd been told that if we didn't take care of what the Lord had already given us, why would we then expect Him to give us something more- like a bigger house or nicer car, etc? I was also reminded that the Lord expects us to be grateful for what we already have and because of our gratitude we should take good care of it. That's true in every area of our lives but for me, I applied it especially to my home.

If I didn't take care of the home the Lord had given me, then to me that was showing Him that I didn't appreciate it enough to do so and I certainly didn't want Him to think that!

I remember when I was living in the apartment the Lord had gotten me before we were able to buy our house. I'd prayed for His help to find a home for myself and the children and this was the one He'd brought me to. It was just plain horrible as far as I was concerned. To me it was like living in a slum and I hated it, but it was all I could afford. I was relieved and grateful to have found it though because otherwise we wouldn't have had any place to live. It took me quite awhile to go from hating that apartment to truly appreciating it, but I kept working on myself until I did. I really was grateful that we weren't out on the street so that was where I started. From day one I began cleaning that apartment (it was filthy) until it shone. Once it was clean it didn't look quite so bad. Next, little bit by little bit, I did whatever I could to make it more comfortable for us and make it look nicer, both inside and outside. We didn't have a driveway, all the cars just parked right in front of the building with a street running behind the parking spaces. But at least once a week I was outside sweeping those parking spaces to make it look neater and to keep the dust down inside the house. The neighbors thought I was nuts, but I didn't care. I did it for the Lord to show Him I appreciated what He'd given me. The water was unusable for drinking or bathing, but I managed to buy a water filtering system as that was really a necessity. The lord had His hand in that because the company had never allowed anyone to buy it on credit and just pay a certain amount a month...they never did till they met me anyway. I know that was the Lord's doing though. I painted inside with the help of my children (I'm not good at that but did the best I could). Little by little over the years, with the Lord's help, I turned that nasty apartment into a home.

We'd been living there for 8 years when I finally asked the Lord for a new home and He brought us to the house we have now. it was a dream come true! But all that time in the apartment, I'd kept it clean and took good care of it for Him. Now I do the same in the house He's given us as a way to say thank you to Him

There's yet another reason to keep our homes clean though. It's called self control and/or self discipline. When you study the bible, from Genesis to Revelation, the Lord talks about being self disciplined and using self control. In fact, self control is even one of the fruits of the spirit. There were many times and still are, when I don't want to clean my house, but I know that by doing so I'm exercising my muscles of self control and self discipline which the Lord requires of us. In 2 Timothy 1:7 —For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. * we see that when we're saved, God gives us the ability to have self discipline. (depending on the translation you use, that word can be translated either as self discipline or self control and means having an orderly life.) That's a very important characteristic for us to develop for the Lord. (It must be important or He wouldn't give it to us or include it as a fruit of the spirit, right? Like any gift though, it must be used in order for it to grow and be strong. Luckily for us, we have many opportunities every day to exercise this gift. 1 Corinthians 14:40 tells us that everything should be done in an orderly way...meaning using self discipline/self control. In fact, we're warned in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and other places to keep away from those who don't have self discipline, and are not leading orderly lives. It seems that the Lord wants us to practice self discipline and control in all areas of our lives as this is something that's spoken of in many places throughout the bible. Since we all have homes that need cleaning, that gives us all a very easy way to improve our self control and self discipline. I've always felt it was important to do that since we're told to exercise self discipline at all times.

But I have to admit, for me, I still like cleaning my house in case the Lord should pop in physically to visit...and I remind myself daily that He is here in the house He gave me every day, and I most certainly want to make sure He's comfortable and that He sees I'm taking good care of it for Him. Doing it for that reason seems to make what many consider an onerous chore into something done for love, so it's not so onerous anymore.

That brings me to one other idea I had along ago... the first Christians, like us, really believed, they knew Jesus would be returning soon and that it could be at literally any moment. They were literally looking over their shoulders to see if it might be Him they'd just heard or caught a glimpse of. That's how I try to live too... as if He could pop in at any moment. I don't want Him to find me being lazy or not taking care of what He's given me, or not doing the work He's given me to do. And more then that, I want Him to find me doing it with an attitude of thankfulness.

I'll tell you as secret too. It's something I didn't even realize until my boss pointed it out to me a number of times. It was part of my job to clean the house where my patient lived and she discovered that whenever I was cleaning, I'd be either singing or humming a praise song. I was terribly embarrassed when she pointed it out and actually tried to stop because I have a terrible voice when it comes to singing but no matter how I tried, as soon as I'd forget, I'd be singing again! I still do it. I don't know when or why I started doing it, it just seems to be part of how I clean. But I have to admit that I do like doing that when I'm cleaning...it makes it much more enjoyable.

Sometimes people use the story of Mary and Martha to excuse them from keeping their house clean, but that's not at all what Jesus was saying. Martha had her priorites mixed up, true, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep our homes clean. If she's been prepared for a possible visit like this, then she wouldn't have had to be overworked and anxious would she? So if she'd shown more self discipline before His visit, things might have gone quite differently for her. Jesus was also trying to tell her another thing the Bible teaches, that there's a time and a place for everything. (do you see the "order" in that?) and that she wasn't seeing what was important for that particular time and place. If her home had been clean and the meal prepared as much as possible in advance, with everything that could be taken care of already done, then she too could have sat at His feet and learned from Him instead of trying to listen as she worked to get things done. Being prepared is something else the Lord teaches us.

I guess the last thing I tend to think about as far as keeping my house clean is that we're all ambassadors of Christ and as His ambassador what other people see when they see me or my house, is going to reflect on how they view Him. I want to make sure that their opinion of Him isn't bad because I don't keep my house clean and therefore give a bad impression.

There's probably much more that could be said about this, but for me these are the things that come to mind right away about it. Let me leave you with this scripture which is all about what we do in our homes and how we live. It too is talking about being self controlled and living an orderly life, so that others won't malign God's Word.

Titus 2:3–5 —Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. *Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, *to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. *

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