IN FEAR OF JEHOVAH GOD

"THERE IS NOTHING CONCEALED THAT WILL NOT BE REVEALED, NOR SECRET THAT WILL NOT BE KNOWN. THEREFORE WHATEVER YOU HAVE SAID IN THE DARKNESS WILL BE HEARD IN THE LIGHT, AND WHAT YOU HAVE WHISPERED BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WILL BE PROCLAIMED ON THE HOUSETOPS. I TELL YOU, MY FRIENDS, DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THOSE WHO KILL THE BODY BUT AFTER THAT CAN DO NO MORE. "I SHALL SHOW YOU WHOM TO FEAR. BE AFRAID OF THE ONE WHO AFTER KILLING HAS THE POWER TO CAST HIM INTO GEHENNA; YES, I TELL YOU, BE AFRAID OF THAT ONE. ARE NOT FIVE SPARROWS SOLD FOR TWO SMALL COINS? YET NOT ONE OF THEM HAS ESCAPED THE NOTICE OF THE FATHER. EVEN THE HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD HAVE ALL BE COUNTED. DO NOT BE AFRAID. YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS. I TELL YOU, EVERYONE WHO ACKNOWLEDGES ME BEFORE OTHERS, THE SON OF MAN WILL ACKNOWLEDGE BEFORE THE ANGELS OF GOD. BUT WHOEVER DENIES ME BEFORE OTHERS WILL BE DENIED BEFORE THE ANGELS OF GOD.” LUKE 12:1-9

TRIAL OF PERSECUTION

Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let no one among you be made to suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as an intriguer. But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name. For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, how will it end for those who fail to obey the gospel of God? “And if the righteous one is barely saved, where will the godless and the sinner appear?” As a result, those who suffer in accord with God's will, hand their soul over to a faithful Creator as they do good. 1Peter 4: 12-19

SAYINGS ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”

SAYING AGAINST GREED

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions.”

PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL

Then Jesus told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, “What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?” And he said, “This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” But God said to him, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

DEPENDENCE ON GOD

Jesus said to [his] disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. “Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your life-span? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest? Notice how the flowers grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass in the field that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will He not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? As for you, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not worry anymore. All the nations of the world seek for these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek God's kingdom, and these other things will be given you besides. Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will you heart be.

VIGILANT AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this; if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And Jesus replied, “Who, then is the faithful and charge of his servants to distribute [the] food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant who his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, “my master is delayed in coming, and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master's will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

JESUS: A CAUSE OF DIVISION

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see [a] cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain—and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot—and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

SETTLEMENT WITH AN OPPONENT

“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

A CALL TO REPENTANCE

At that time some who were present there told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Of those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” Luke 12:10-59; 13:1.

EXHORTATION TO PREPAREDNESS

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought [you] to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth to which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace. And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you, speaking of these things as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.

Therefore, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and to the day of eternity.

The above paragraphs from Luke in the Bible are very important because they explain the causes of persecution and how persecution relates to the end of time and how people will in the last of days fill their hearts with hatred and rage against God's people. Even though these same people fully understand their actions and choose to act on this destructive behavior, they are unaware of the full scope of destruction that is part and parcel with this behavior. In these last days, according to the Bible, we as a people will see all the destructive signs, but choose instead to continue our destructive path even though Jesus warned us against this very same thing. Consider the thought that if God's chosen people can suffer persecution and all kinds of mistreatment, insomuch the non-believer, when God executes his wrath upon the world. We must begin to humble ourselves before the Throne of God and be fully aware of God's greatness in the creation of the world, from the beginning of time, until now and serve Him in a way that is pleasing to Him. A humbleness that guarantees us a place in the Kingdom of God, New Jerusalem. Do not concern yourselves with the realities or cares of the world and do not get caught up in the material “things” of the world, mistakenly believing that this is the way God wants us to be. Move closer to God in the way you conduct your life and have a belief system that is unshakable by however you may find yourself.

WHO WAS MORE A KING?

Who Was More A King?
Saul was anointed by God to be king. He was more moral than David in that he didn't struggle in some of the areas that plagued David. His weakness wasn't outward; it was inward. Saul Looked like a king, whereas David looked like an underage juvenile delinquent who should have been home taking care of the flocks. But David wasn't in the palace; he was out there with the men, fighting the giants and bringing about change. Saul's armor shined in the noonday sun. David had no armor. He fought naked, free from the entanglements of trying to be impressive. He was not ashamed. Even his weapon looked substandard; it was just an old, ragged, shepherd's slingshot.

Although David's weapon was outwardly substandard, it was nevertheless lethal; it led to the destruction of the giant. We can never destroy our enemy with the superficial armor of a pious king. We don't need the superficial. We need the supernatural! David's naked, transparent demeanor was so translucent that he often seems extremely vulnerable. He seems almost naive at times. When he worships, he does it with holy abandonment. When he lusts, he does it to obsessive dimensions. You would almost think he was unfit, except that when he repents, there is something so powerful in his prayer that even his most adamant critic must admit his openness with God!

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, The only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou seakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou has broken may rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Breathe in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness. Psalm 51:1-14

What a sharp contrast there is between David & King Saul, whose stately demeanor & pompous gait didn't stop him from being an incredible deceiver. Even when he was face-to-face with Samuel the prophet, Saul lied at a time he should have repented! The problem with Saul & people like him is that they are interested in their image than they are concerned about being immaculate in their hearts.

While Saul stood arrayed in his kingly attire, boasting of his conquest over an enemy king and lying about his real struggles, the heathen king whom Saul had been commended to kill was still alive. The sheep that he had been ordered to destroy were still bleating in the valley. God did not destroy Saul for not killing what he should have killed; that wasn't the biggest problem. God can work with weakness; in fact His strength is made perfect in our human weakness--2 Corinthians 12:9 The central problem was that Saul's deceitfulness had become a breach too wide to bridge. David might have been weak, and struggled with moral issues, but at least he was naked before God!

Saul represents that part of all of us that must be overthrown. It is the leadership of Saul in us that must be renounced if we are to go beyond the superficial and fulfill our destiny in the supernatural. God knows who we are. He can deliver us from ourselves, but we must be honest enough to say, This is all You have to work with, God. What can You do with what I have presented? Misrepresentation will not be tolerated! There must be an open confession that enables God's grace to be allocated to your need.

Be Honest
Now hear this, you who would allow the spirit of Saul to reign in your life: The house of Saul represents those fleshy areas that we war against. These are areas that hide in religious clothes but do not worship God in honesty--not perfection, just honesty. Saul was perhaps "more moral" than David, but David was by far "more honest." Consequently, the house of Saul grew weaker & weaker and the house of David grew stronger and stronger!

There is a gradual & perpetual transference of authority as we walk with God. we move from the Saul-like rule of superficial religion to a Davidic anointing based on honesty & transparency. Like a chick pecking through its shell, we press through our concerns and over other people's opinions, and break into the light to know God in a more definitive way!

"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you"--Galatians 4:19. Only God knows the process it will take for the Christ who saved you to be formed in you. He is taking each of us to that place where the child begins to bear a greater resemblance to his Father. Be assured that this only occurs at the end of travailing prayer and openness of heart, as we confess and forsake every trace of Saul's rule in our lives.

THERE IS A TRUE GOD

One way to determine whether there is a God is to apply this well-established principle: WHAT IS MADE REQUIRES A MAKER. The more complex the thing made, the more capable the maker must be. For example, look around your home. Tables, chairs, desks, beds, pots, pans, plates and other eating utensils all required a maker, as do walls, floors & ceilings. Yet those things are comparatively simple to make. Since simple things require a maker, is it not logical that complex things require an even more intelligent maker? A watch requires a watchmaker. What of our infinitely more complex solar system, with the Sun & its planets revolving around it with split-second precision century after century? What of the awesome galaxy we live in, called the Milky way, with its more than billions of stars? Have you ever stopped at night to look at the Milky Way? Were you impressed? Then think of the incredibly vast universe that contains untold billions of galaxies like our Milky Way! Too, the heavenly bodies are so reliable in their moments century after century that they have been compared to precision timepieces.

If a watch, which is relatively simple, implies the existence of a watchmaker, surely the infinitely more complex & awesome universe implies the existence of a designer and maker. That's why the Bible invites us to 'raise our eyes high up & see,' and then it asks: "Who has created these things?" The answer: "It is the One [God] who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing." (Isaiah 40:26) Thus, the universe owes its existence to an invisible, controlling, intelligent power--God.

The more scientists study the earth, the more they realize that it is uniquely designed for human habitation. It is just the right distance from the sun to get the proper amount of sun, with just the right angle of tilt, making seasons possible in many parts of the earth. The earth also rotates on its own axis every 24 hours, providing regular periods of light & darkness. It has an atmosphere with just the right mixture of gases so we can breathe & be protected from damaging radiation from space. It also has the vital water & soil needed to grow food. Without all those factors, and others, working together, life would be impossible. Was all of this an accident? These conditions could not have hardly arisen at random. They involved purposeful design by a Superb Designer.

If you went into a fine house and found that it was generously stocked with food, that it had an excellent heating & cooling system, and that it had good plumbing to supply water, what would you conclude? That it all just came about by itself? No, you would surely conclude that an intelligent person designed and made it with great care. The earth was also designed & made with great care in order to provide what its inhabitants need, and it is much more complex and well-supplied than any house. Also, consider the great number of things that add delight to living. Look at the vast variety of beautifully colored flowers with their pleasant scents that humans enjoy. Then there is the great variety of foods so delicious to our taste. There are forests, mountains, lakes & other creations pleasant to look at. Too, what of beautiful sunsets that enhance our enjoyment of life? And in the animal realm, are we not delighted by the playful antics & lovable nature of puppies, kittens & other young animals? So the earth provides many delightful surprises not absolutely needed to sustain life. These show that the earth was designed with loving care, with humans in mind, so that we would not just exist but would enjoy life.

Therefore, the reasonable conclusion is to acknowledge the Giver of all these things, as did the Bible writer who said of Jehovah God: "You yourself have made the heavens & the earth. For what purpose? He gives the answer by describing God as "The Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing who formed it even to be inhabited."--Isaiah 37:16; 45:18.

What about living things? Do they not require a maker? For example, consider a few of the amazing features of a living cell. Even the smallest cell, (bacterial) is a microminitaturized factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery, far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world. Regarding the genetic code in each cell, the capacity of DNA to store information vastly exceeds that of any other known system; it is so efficient that all the information needed to specify an organism as complex as man, weighs less than a few thousand millionths of a gram.

A scientist says : "In terms of complexity, an individual cell is nothing when compared with a system like the brain. The human brain consists of about ten thousand million nerve cells. Each nerve cell puts out somewhere in the region of between ten thousand and one hundred thousand connecting fibers by which it makes contact with other nerve cells in the brain. Altogether the total number of connections in the human brain approaches a thousand million million." "Even if only one hundredth of the connections in the brain were specifically organized, this would still represent a system containing a much greater number of specific connections than in the entire communications network on Earth." This scientist then asks: "Could any sort of purely random process ever have assembled such systems?" Obviously the answer has to be no. The brain must have had a caring Designer and Maker. The human brain makes even the most advanced computers look primitive. All in all, we believe all this had an intelligent beginning, that Someone made it happen. It also had to be Someone who cared.

Consider the unique blood system that transports nutrients & oxygen and protects against infection. A single drop of blood contains more than 250 million separate blood cells. The body contains perhaps 25 trillion of them. Replacements are made at a rate of 3 million new cells every second.

There are many other marvels in the human body. One is the eye, so superbly designed that no camera can duplicate it. Robert Jastrow, an astronomer sums it up wonderfully: "The eye appears to have been designed. No designer of telescopes could have done better." Popular Photography says: "Human eyes see a far greater range of detail than film does. They see in three dimensions, at a tremendously wide angle, without distortion, in continuous motion...Comparing the camera to the human eye isn't a fair analogy. the human eye is more like an incredibly advanced supercomputer with artificial intelligence, information processing abilities, speeds, and modes of operation that are far beyond any man-made device, computer or camera.

The Supreme Builder
The Bible states: "Every house is built by someone, of course: but God built everything that exists." (Hebrews 3:4, the Jerusalem Bible) Since any house, however simple, must have a builder, then the far more complex universe, along with the vast varieties of life on earth, must also have had a builder. And since we acknowledge the existence of humans who invented devices such as airplanes, televisions, and computers, should we not also acknowledge the existence of the One who gave humans the brain to make such thing? The Bible does, calling him "the true God, Jehovah...the Creator of the heavens and the Grand One stretching them out; the One laying out the earth and its produce, the One giving breath to the people on it." (Isaiah 42:5) "You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory & the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created."--Revelation 4:11. Yes, we can know that there is a 'God by the things He has made. "for [God's] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward because they are perceived by the things [God] made."--Romans 1:20.

THE FACT THAT SOMETHING MADE IS MISUSED DOES NOT MEAN IT HAD NO MAKER. An airplane can be used for peaceful purposed, as an airliner. But it can also be used for destruction, as a bomber. Its being used in a death-dealing way does not mean it had no maker.

God Informs Us About His Purposes
A loving God does indeed reveal his purposes to sincere ones who search for Him. He does provide inquiring humans with answers to questions such as why he has permitted suffering. The Bible states: "If you search for [God], He will let Himself be found by you. "There exists a God in the heavens who is a Revealer of secrets." The Sovereign Lord Jehovah will not do a thing unless he has revealed his confidential matter to his servants the prophets."--Chronicles 28:9; Daniel 2:28; Amos 3:7

This is a small reminder that God exists and created everything on this earth. I consider myself a humble & obedient servant of God. I try to live my life as a reflection of God, while following the principles and teachings of God as interpreted through His Son Jesus Christ. But, I am a sinner and in being a sinner I'm not without fault, as we all are. I don't consider myself spiritually any better than the next person, but throughout my life I have tried to live in a spiritual way to the best of my ability, even though I am a sinner. I'm not trying to preach to anyone, since that's not really my style, but when you are called by God to interject things on people, it may seem that way. I'm not concerned with how anyone views me or how anyone feels about me since the only person I'll stand in judgement of is the One who created me & everyone & everything else, The Holy Father, God. There is a lot more that I will put up on here in the very near future that may help people, (and that's my reason for putting this up anyway) and I intend to put up more awe inspiring religious things and would pray that everyone in earshot or eye shot will read and reflect on. Gods loves us and only asks us to come to Him. In closing, fear God and throw yourselves down and beg for mercy, because that is the only way you will ever see His face and not be DESTROYED!