Category: Religious

Being a Child of Gods

9/28/2014

Mat 18:2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

According to science, Joy and Anger create the same biochemically response in the human body,

which explains why some people are so addicted to anger. Anger is easier to attain since the human machine is so delicate compared to its surroundings it is in constant threat (fear) of being damaged or destroyed and anger is the fuel for retaliation to those threats.

One the other hand, it takes faith to dispel fear, which does in fact take work to attain since it means changing our perspective and not perceiving false or potential threats, or at lest seeing that we a capable of meeting that threat.

Jesus told us that we must be like little children to enter the Kingdom of God.

Unless a child has been abused, they have very little fear, they have faith that their parents will protect them from any real threats.

I think true Christian faith has this characteristic. I believe that we must get to the place where we rely on God to protect us and give us the ability to met any challenge to our safety, physically, mentally and spiritually. I confess I am not there yet. I still experience fear and anger on a regular basis, daily in fact, which is why I must continue inventorying my day and confessing my fear to God so he can assure me. And, if in fact I do get hurt, go to him so He can "kiss it and make it better".

This concept in itself makes me uncomfortable, it feels like de-evolving, going backwards, like becoming senile. Yet upon honest evaluation I realize I want this more than anything, I want to be able to trust God so much that nothing is ever perceived as a threat to my safety. And, why should anything be a threat to my safety? While here on earth, everything has been made for me to experience Joy and should anything actually become a threat and cause my life to end then I will be with my Father for all eternity. What is there to fear but fear itself?

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A Perspective on Golden Rule

9/21/2014

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Mat 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

It will never cease to amaze me that this simple rule is so hard to follow, but if you think about it, it really is not such a mystery.

Mat 19:19 ".... and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" is the clue to understanding why the Golden Rule is so hard to do, simply we do not love ourselves. We say we do but truthfully we don't.

Do you yell at yourself? Are you impatient with yourself? Do you get mad with yourself? I do. and that is how I treat others at times. Sometimes, the lack of self love hides behind elements of fear and pride. Pride says I am better than that, fear says maybe I am not. Self says I don't know. The problems in our lives stem from this kind of conflict with ourselves which is going on more often than we want to admit or indeed are aware of. These conflicts color our perspective of others and ourselves.

So how do we overcome such a miserable existence?

The beauty of being Christian and having God's written word is that there is not a single human problem that God has not identified and given a solution for. The Bible is the owners manual written by the creator for running the human machine.

The solution is Love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind (Matt 22:7). Get your eyes off of self, focus on God, His miracles, His Love ,His character, His strength, His wisdom. When we do this we see the value He places on us, and suddenly the pettiness of our inner and outer struggles seem insignificant. It humbles us and gives us a better perspective on life and other people.

If you follow the suggested inventory in "Ten Commandments a guide to Holiness", humility and an accurate self image begin to form, not because we are perfect, but because, Gods Law is. And now we can see how we fail to live up to His standard. That realization will bend our knees to the cross and seek His forgivness and in that forgivness we will be strengthened to do better. Then, being humble, the Holy Spirit can begin His work of molding us from the inside to BE better people.

Christians are not perfect, we fall short of God's Glory every day we are in our earthly shells, but we have the promise that someday we will be perfected and that we have the Holy Spirit within us that empowers us to do better than the day before, sometimes it seems those steps are mighty small but its the long run that counts.

The New book, "Yahweh The God Who Speaks and how to hear Him", is getting closer to completion and is about ready to go to press. You can get a sneak preview of it at : http://thegodwhospeaks.weebly.com/

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Judging a book by its cover

9/14/2014

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Joh 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

I have been thinking about this and similar passages all week since I am often accused by some who are close to me of being a hypocrite. Most of the time I am able to not let this criticism bother me because I know the work that God has done in me and how very much different I feel and react towards life in general. The criticisms are sometimes (and more often than I care to admit) legitimate.

I am on the outside all too often not very loving by the worlds standards so sometimes when I am being criticized the person doing it is right. But sometimes they are trying to manipulate my behavior to conform to their standard.

It was hard to make a righteous judgment especially before I knew the whole word of God and studied it for His character. Sometimes God doesn't seem very loving either, especially when He appears to be letting bad things happen to good people. He sees a bigger picture than I could ever see so I have no right to judge those situations.

I am reminded in Matt 7:2 that it is with what measure..... what standard..... that I judge with, is the very way I will be judged, this is true for all of us, even those judging me. Oh how my heart should ache for those judging me so harshly, but it doesn't, I get mad. My pride is affected, Oh what a fool. God did the work in me not me, I just became willing to allow Him to do it.

Would you ever consider buying a book by it's cover? I sometimes do, in fact most of the time I do and am rarely disappointed. If it's a good book a great deal of information about it's content will be displayed on the cover, but sometimes I am disappointed because the cover oversold the content. It is my goal to allow our Lord to keep editing my heart so that my cover will reflect the authors content.

He has a big job ahead of Him but then He is a Big God.

May God keep you and bless you.

Les

PS the new book is completed and being edited and reviewed I have created a web site for it at:
http://thegodwhospeaks.weebly.com/

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A Contract

9/7/2014

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Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

I can't even begin to number the times I have heard people blame God for bad things that have happened . Somehow people have gotten the idea that God is responsible for everything especially if it's bad. Not so. God made this planet then turned it over to us to manage and do with as we would. We, you and I are responsible.

Now how can we be responsible for hurricanes and the devastation they bring , or earthquakes that kill thousands. Obviously we are not, those are natural processes of this planet. Still the misery is not God's fault.

Same way when disaster strikes closer at home. A loved one dies in an accident, not God's fault. A baby dies at birth, Not God's fault, a divorce, not God's fault. The list is endless of the things we blame God for. We think that since he is this Loving Cosmic Father, all powerful, that we should never experience anything bad and if we do then it's His fault.

God has limited His power through two means, the first is free will, the second is the covenants he has given us.

Quit blaming God, it doesn't change a thing.

See if you had any part in the problem, if you did then ask His forgivness. If you didn't then, accept that it is a situation that is out of your hands and lean on God for both understanding and a Fathers comfort.

May God bless you and keep you

Les

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Testing Your Hearing

9/1/2014

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Hi all, been busy with work and finishing the rough draft of "Yahweh, The God Who Speaks and how to hear Him.", the book is currently in the review and editing process. I hope to have it ready for publication by the first of November this year. Here is an excerpt from the final chapter:

"I can not stress this enough. YOU MUST LEARN GODS CHARECTER BEFORE you begin to ask Him to open your ears.

"Had the man in Washington State who murdered his wife so he could be with a prophetess known Gods character, he would have known that the prophetess had spoke out of her own lust and not from God, he should have known better since he was an assistant pastor.

The woman who drowned her kids and claimed God told her to do it, didn't know God. No doubt, she heard a spirit but it wasn't God, and it wasn't Holy.

There are hundreds more cases like these two to help you see the awesome responsibility that comes with hearing God speak to you. It is a privilege, a responsibility and your birthright as a born again Christian 1.

And that is why until you learn His voice you must test your hearing.

Do not be confused, you will not be testing or tempting God to test the voice you hear when your ears are first opened, that would be sin 2.

Remember Gideon, one of the Judges of Israel?

He tested what he heard 3.

So here are some guidelines for testing your hearing:

1. Does what you heard violate Gods Laws? The Ten Commandments 4

2. Does what you heard help or hurt anyone?
If it could cause harm it wasn't God.

3. Have other Godly people, without being told about your experience, confirmed what you think you heard? There must be at least two independent witnesses to be from God 5.

4. Seek counsel from a trusted Godly person who knows you before acting on what you thought you heard 6.

5. And of course, does what you heard violate God's character 7.

Lucifer and his people are the chiefest of liars and they will use the scripture to tempt you to fail in hearing God, don't let them do it. Know the scripture read it often and never act hastily. Gods not in a hurry, remember He has all of eternity and so do you . Also, remember Abraham's example, it was several years from the time God told him to leave his father's home town before he did.

In my experience the only time God has ever asked me to do something quickly was when I had wronged someone and I was resisting doing the right thing, and believe me when that happens there is no question it is God.

That is another point I would like to bring up. Unless you are called to be a prophet, (something I know nothing about) conversation between you and God will be about your relationship with Him and how you relate to your world (like conversation you would have with a wise, loving father). If you do ask Him about other people you most likely will hear something like, "what's that to you, follow thou me 8".

1Joh_10:27

2Luk_4:12

3Jdg 6:36 - 40

4Exo 20

5Deu_19:15 Jesus refereed to this scripture often in His appeal to the Jews, for example Joh_5:36

6Pro_12:15

7Joh 14:8

8Joh 21:22"

May God bless you and keep you.
Les

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A Crown for a King

8/3/2014

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Psa 11:4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

I just finished watching "Robin Hood" with Russel Crow. A fine movie, excellent acting, realistic costumes and a well told story.

As with most things in my life God has used this story to remined and teach me somthing about Him and His story

This telling of Robin Hood is a bit different than most. Robin returns to England on the heel of King Richard's death and impersonates Sir Loxley when in fact he is but a lowly archer. He becomes a hero by defeating the French as they invade England and then is declared a criminal by the New King, King John, because Robin had dared to unite the nobles to defeat the French by getting King John to promise freedom from tyranny by law to all Englishmen.

Jesus was a common country carpenter. He brought a message of freedom. He was declared an outlaw by those with whom freedom threatened their tyranny and He was hung for his message upon a cross.

But God the Father was watching from His Holy Temple and He Declared Jesus innocent and raised Him from the grave and sat Him on the Throne of David forever.

Jesus accepted a crown of thorns in humiliation and humility to receive a Crown and a Kingdom that will never perish. His message is still the same; freedom and equality for all men from the tyranny of sin.

Sin is a tyrant, it doesn't seem like it at first, it promises freedom from feelings of inadequacy or fear. Sin promises things it cannot deliver like power, and happiness, but like all tyrants it demands a tax in return, it steals true happiness and freedom. Sin takes from us our very best.

If you want to be truly free, free inside and truly happy and confident then there is only one solution; become a subject of the True King. Repent of your sins, Confess Jesus as Lord of your life, be baptised and accept the Holy Spirit.

Life will not be easy as a new subject in this Kingdom, but as you grow to know Your King He will become your friend, you're helper, you're confidant and you will share in His riches , you will become free and happy.

May God Bless you and Keep you

Les

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"The Devil made me do it!"

7/27/2014

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Gen_8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

I have not written here for a few weeks because life has just gotten in the way, it happens.

I decided on the passage from Genesis 8:21 to head up this article because of an experience I had this week which I am sure is from God.

So often, Christians have been guilty of focusing on Lucifer to the point that I have wondered if we have changed and begun to worship Satan instead of God. Silly statements like the "Devil made me do it", or "I was tempted by the Devil" just show a true misunderstanding of who the Devil is and what Jesus did for us.

I don't mean to say that there isn't a Devil, there is, and he is real, what I do mean to say is that the devil and his minions can not make you do anything, nor will they be able to tempt you if the temptation is not available in your heart.

So, you might say to me "then you think Jesus had sin in his heart since the devil did tempt him" and I would say "definitely NOT". Jesus's temptation was different, Lucifer was trying to destroy God, overthrown His Crown and God allowed it. Jesus won, just like He did on the cross and in the grave, He smashed the head of Satan even though Satan bruised His heel, Jesus won and the battle is over. Lucifer is defeated, period.

That being said, there are still countless battles going on, those battles are for the individuals heart.

The passage in Genesis is given after the flood and is the opening statement from God that we now call the Covenant of Noah. That statement is telling; it tells us about man's nature and the nature of sin. Sin originates in our hearts, period.

The book of Job teaches us that a man can be afflicted with a great deal of misfortune and can even get angry with God but still know he has not, nor will sin. Job was a truly upright man, a man of God, a man whose heart was set on God and pleasing Him. God honored Job for his steadfast devotion, a devotion to God.

I know this writing is a bit disjointed there is so much I want to say but don't have the time or room to say it here and now so I will close this by telling you what got me thinking along this line.

For most of a week I had suffered terrible nightmares, the kind that you can feel, taste and sense all that is happening in the dream. After the second night I had prayed that God protect my mind from Satan's influence, that prayer seemed unanswered as that night, nightmares returned. I didn't understand but knew God was trying to teach me something. Two more nights of the same prayer and the same result. Then I was talking to God about this situation and the above verse was brought to memory,..... now I understood I was praying for protection from the wrong thing, these nightmares were origionationing out of my own heart. That night they stopped and I have been free of them for three nights now.

Had I been using the inventory nightly I might have caught on more quickly. It is easy to rest on our spiritual butts when God has been blessing us richly, but, if God is in our hearts He won't let that situation last for long, He will discipline.

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

May God Bless you and keep you

Les

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Monkey Traps

6/1/2014

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Today, the Pastor of our local church spoke on the subject of "Monkey Traps". It is one of my favorite subjects because I am so much like these poor monkeys who find their freedom lost because they just can't let go.

The story is told that back in the days when exporting Spider Monkeys to the US was still legal, that Indians would trap these little monkeys by taking a gourd, cutting a small hole, just big enough for the monkeys slender hand, then fastening the gourd with a chain to a stake in the ground. The trapper would then put a tidbit of the monkeys favorite food inside the gourd. When the monkeys came by they would try to get the bait out of the gourd by reaching in and grabbing it. This type of trap was successful because no matter what, the monkey would not let go of the tidbit, however with the bait in it's hand it couldn't get it's hand out of the gourd, trapped by it's own greed.

This story has been told so many times that I doubt even my take on it is different or unique.

It is the rare Human Being that can at the moment of salvation let go of all the monkey traps in their lives, we call these traps sins. It's easy to let go of the Big Ones like drunkenness, drug addiction, sex addiction, immorality, lying, etc. etc.. By the time we come to the Lord these sins have usual caused us or others close to us great harm. But what about the "smaller sins" the little tidbits that, the ones we seem to "get by" with.

What do I mean? I mean those things like pride, unforgiveness, selfishness, resentment, covetousness, fear and many other sins that primarily take place in our heart and mind.

Pride is probably the worse of those, I don't mean those warm fuzzy feelings you get when someone says to you "well done" , thats legitimate pride. No, I am talking about that kind of pride that causes self-justification or self righteousness, the kind that Jesus slammed the Pharisees and Sadducees for. That kind of pride is so hard to root out of our personal life because it hides under veneers of good doing.

Christians are especially easily trapped by this "monkey trap", anytime you hear a pastor or teacher say something like "were not like the church down the street" or "we are right they are wrong" you are hearing statements of sinful pride. Anytime a Christian attacks another human being for their sin they are suffering an attack of sinful pride, they are blind to their own pride, their own sin, they are assuming Gods job and condemning other people. You can not help people when you are condemning them instead of loving them. Jesus judged the Jewish leaders and teachers, He was God incarnate, we are not.

Unforgiveness is a real "monkey trap". It leads us into many other sin's. If you do not forgive another you are trapped in your feelings of anger and distrust and those feelings will spill into other areas of our lives harming yourself and sometimes others.

So what's the solution?

Why, let go of course.

Let go of," I'm right you're wrong", let go of judgements, let go of fear. Let go and let God. Our God is Big enough to handle it all, but first you have to know you are in sin, that's where taking a regular inventory like the one I suggested in "Ten Commandments A Guide To Holiness", can help.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

May God Keep you and bless you richly.

Les

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What Is SIN?

5/20/2014

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The photograph in today's blog was taken just this past weekend by a family member in San Fransisco, Ca. Also, I had had a very unfortunate conversation with several freinds regarding homosexuality. I say unfortunate because one of those freinds was a fellow believer who was in fact sinning as much as those who practice homosexuality. These experiences have gotten me thinking about the ministry of Jesus and how we should in fact strive to follow Him and His example. It also brought me back to a very basic question; just what is Sin?

"In the beggining...", we find sin was nothing more than mans disobeying his creator, his Father. As time progressed that one sin led to more "types" of disobedience, murder, sexual sins, stealing, contempt for parents, lying, and desiring with passion the possesions of others. This "sin" hurt the Father so much it was decided to bring an end to all of creation here on earth with the exception of one family. That family was the family of Noah

After the flood God realized that the family he had saved still poessed the root of sin in their hearts. Soon the Father and His Love was once again forgotten and disobedience was the rule of the day. Then came Abraham.

Abraham was God's hope for restoring all of mankind to the kind of paradise He had originally designed us for. Some call that paradise Nirvana, some call it heaven, others call it the Kingdom of God. The price of admission; obedience to His Laws.

God in His great Love saw that man of his own free will could never meet that price. He then decided to change the price of admission. No longer would God hold the leaders of the people responsible for the people's disobedience, individual responsibility would become the rule. No longer would He create a single political nation as a shinning example for all of mankind to follow. He HIMSELF would bear the punishment for His creations failures, their sin.

So He made Himself go through the process of becoming a man, living as a man, and dying as a criminal even though He never had a single thought or desire to commit a crime against God or man. He, God paid our price of admission into His Kingdom.

Sin is simply disobedience to the rules of God's Kingdom.

All kingdoms must have rules; laws. God's Kingdom is no exception. Those rules were spelled out in the form of the Ten Commandments.

Laws spell out what is acceptable behavior for the individual so that the Kingdom as a whole can function and provide safety and security for those individuals. God's laws with the 10th commandment went a step further and described an attitude;"you shall not covet". In other words, I don't want you to act this way nor do I want you to think or feel this way.

Paul, in his letter to the Roman church, said he as a Jew had no problem with the first 9 Commandments of the Law but the tenth, that was a whole different ball game. What he meant was under the old covenant, even as pious as Paul was, He could not qualify to enter God's Kingdom.

Jesus s life, death and reserection changed all of that.

Now we have new laws; believe in Jesus as God's Messiah, repent from your former rebelion, be baptized in Jesus and recive the Holly Spirit. Then Love God with all your heart and soul, and your neighbor as yourself, wich is the essence of the Ten commandments. If you follow these rules then you will enter into God's Kingdom not just in death but in the here and now.

God's new covenant with man was promised in Jeremiah 31, fulfiled through Jesus and restated twice in the letter to the Hebrews.

If you wish to know more about the role of the Ten Commandments in the believers life please buy the books I have written and are available here.

I am asking you to buy them because I need your help. I have been off work several times in the past 45 days, first for a major surgery for my wife (10 days) and now eye surgery for myself (9 days and counting. Please, if you can, buy my books and read them they will help you in your walk with our Lord.

You may buy them at a discount through the home page of this website or here and on Amazon.

May the God of Abraham Isaac, Jacob and Our Lord Jesus richly bless and keep you. Amen

Thank you
Les

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Spring Musings

5/4/2014

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Missed writing a post last week cause I was busy with Spring chores. Mowing, planting, weeding etc. all the stuff that comes with the renewal of spring.

Don't really have any one particular scripture or subject to write on today as I havn't finished my research on baptism which is what I had planned on writing about in this post. Have you ever thought about why John's baptism was so eagerly accepted, was it something new, like a fad? The answer may surprise you, it did me.

I have had some very interesting discussions with a dear friend lately and the Lord has used it as an opportunity to teach me more about Christian Love. It is really wonderful to see how when we quit arguing about words and start looking for the similarity in meaning and heart how differences melt away. It's no wonder Paul instructed Timothy with these words in 2nd Tim.:
2Ti 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
2Ti 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Ah, Spring my favorite time of year, not too hot, not too cold, flowers and sweet scents everywhere. I think the New World will be much like spring all the time (without the hay fever) . I can only hope .

And, that's something else the Lord has been teaching me, I had for the longest time refused to set my mind on the hope of heaven, why? Mostly because I was so scared that I would become one of those that the phrase, "he's so heavenly minded, he's no earthly good", would be applied to But, this trip through the New Testament has shown me that it is that very hope, when it becomes real, is a very powerful motivating factor in being of service to my fellow creatures and continue the working out of my salvation (Php 2:12 & 13).

I had download the audio of "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and have been listening to it while driving down the road. Wow, wow , I really do love so much of what that man had to say, I hope I can be half as much of service to the cause of Christ in my writings as that man has.

Well this is just going to have to be a short post, I have a lot more to share but have an early am delivery to make so need to hit the sack.

May the Love of Christ and the Hope of His Glory richly bless you.

Les

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Being a Child of Gods

A Perspective on Golden Rule

Judging a book by its cover

A Contract

Testing Your Hearing

A Crown for a King

"The Devil made me do it!"

Monkey Traps

What Is SIN?

Spring Musings

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