Treasure In Clay Jars

(Exodus 23:24 NLT)   You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.   God will not tolerate those opposed to him. He is God, creator of all things. He simply does not have to. Our decision is do we want to walk with Him or oppose Him?  The scripture above refers to an Old Testament directive of God to the Jews (His people) to destroy those nations and the people of those nations around them who God knew would never worship and serve Him. He is God. He knows who will or won't ever worship Him. If you haven't yet turned to God in worship. Do it today. Don't delay. Don't harden your heart because perhaps He might seem intolerant. He is actually VERY tolerant to those who love Him. He is very tolerant to those who don't fully know Him yet. He asked His Son our savior Jesus Christ to die in our place so that we can live forever wi...

You may have seen this before...but if you haven't, just enjoy. Look at what true worship to Jesus does to people!

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth 
and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 
Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. (Isaiah 29:13 NIV) This scripture from the "ancient" book of Isaiah was written at that time about "God's people" - the Jews. Though they professed love and obedience to God, this scripture clearly says otherwise! Oh they obviously went through with the outward appearance of religion. "…honor me with their lips", but the Lord knows who are his (2 Timothy 2:19 NIV). Before us religious people of today read this and shake our heads at those hypocritical Jews of yesteryear, we should pause and examine our own behavior. It is not uncommon for Protestants (a label that likely would be applied to me) to turn up our noses at say the Catholics or other religions whose expression of worship appear to be built largely on "merely human rules they have be...

(Philippians 2:5-11 NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Read in full context .

I have not written a post in a while; a combination of being busy but also a clear lack of motivation to do so, but this morning I felt compelled to share this video link below. I first heard this song on a CD that a sister in Christ shared with me several years ago. I must admit I am not what you would call an avid listener of Christian music, but there are many songs of worship that truly touch your heart for Christ. For me, this is largely driven by the words of worship in the lyrics, as well as an intangible emotional connection that you (as the listener) share with the singer as they pour out their heart in worship to a God that is so Holy, so incredibly Overpowering yet so loving as to single you out individually (before the beginning of time) for inclusion into His eternal kingdom. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus....

I was listening to the radio this morning when the song “One Love” from Bob Marley came on. It is a wonderful song with a great message of love. However there is a line in the song that got me to thinking…the line goes something like this: “give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel alright...” Now it’s rare that you hear a major mainstream artist like Marley incorporating praise to the Lord in their lyrics. In fact, I am certain if any established artist of today were to dare to incorporate praise “to the Lord” in their songs a) it would not be heard liberally in the media and b) that artist would probably be vilified for offending others. But alas, Bob Marley lived in a time where “the Lord” when uttered in the mainstream of public consciousness was not considered akin to a curse word. Good for him; in a way thankfully for Marley, he died before the foolishness of today's media culture truly began. The song also got me to thinking about the phrase “the Lord”. It is no...

I was speaking to a friend recently about the sacrifice made by our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us back to God our Father. It was a heavy conversation where we were both focusing on the depth of our own individual sins in relation to the price that Jesus had to pay to wipe our stains away so that we can live permanently with a Holy and Perfect God. I believe that the punishment that Jesus had to bear was that which was (or is) coming to each and everyone human being who has ever lived, for the sins that they each individually has or will commit. It’s hard to conceive rationally, or even put into words, but the level of punishment, the pain, the horror, the terror, the anguish etc. that my Lord Jesus Christ took is the exact equivalent of what I would have received if God were to have punished me for my life; then He took the same level of punishment for you; then He took the same level of punishment for your brother; then that for your sister; then that for your mother; then that for y...

I happened to be at Sea World in Orlando today and was able to catch the killer whale show titled "Believe". It was a terrific show with wonderful divers sharing the big pool with the magnificent and talented Orca Whales. As I watched the show, it was an awesome opportunity to marvel at God’s creative magic, as I visually took in the wondrous evidence of His creative powers! Seated at the very top row of the stadium, I was able to take in not only the whales and performers, but the entire packed crowd in the stadium as well. As I canvassed the scene, my thoughts drifted to the reality that the one true God of the Bible created every living thing that my eyes could survey. The beauty and majesty of these huge and beautiful black and white creatures; the earnestness and enthusiasm of the people watching the show, the talent and passion of the divers and performers who were swimming and co-mingling with the whales. Even the tiny little birds that perched at the edges of the w...

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom ; So says the Bible in the first chapter of the Wisdom Book of Proverbs. As with many things in the Bible, it is simplistically stated, in other words, placed on the easily reached ledge of human understanding so that the “common man” may reach it and understand. But there too is the rub: from the beginning of time right through to the current day, the societal elites would rather move the wisdom ledge up a few notches so that they become the gatekeepers of “knowledge and wisdom”. Into this battle steps the endearing simplicity of God’s scripture. God is saying, “Fear Me”. Fear Me as an ant should fear a giant human being as they co-exist in the nature of life. Not because the human being has any natural predisposition to destroy the ant but because he has the capacity to do so. It is the Fear of the Lord that spurs Christians to live in awe of Him. God is an awesome being. Just stop for a minute and consider the natural world. You know,...

I happen to be driving home this evening around 8pm and was enjoying myself listening to a song I really like (“Sunrise” by Simply Red). As I was driving along, I came around a slight bend in the road, and was overcome by the view. There straight before me in the twilight of the evening was this awesome scene of thunderstorm clouds in between clearing in the sky and just behind all this was the most beautiful sunset that cast a Godly glow on the whole scene. What an awesome God we serve! A God that by His words created the incredible beauty of this natural scene…the sun, the clouds, the sky and even the talent of singer Mick Hucknall of Simply Red the words of who’s song was (for me) a perfect background to this awesome scene. Ok it was a sunset, but I didn’t care. God’s scripture is full of so much truth: Now no one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean. Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. The Almi...

I was reading an article recently on the subject of holiness based on a recent survey by the George Barna Research Group, and a conclusion of the survey was that only about 3 in 10 American Christians viewed holiness as a necessary part of their Christian walk. Holiness is a matter embraced by the Christian Church, but it is not one that many Americans adopt as a focal point of their faith development. This is partially because barely one-third of Americans (35%) contend that God expects you to become holy. A larger share of the born again public believes God has called them to holiness (46%) but that portion remains a minority of the born again population. – The Barna Group, Ltd, 2006 Many it appears, question the possibility that they could be holy. As a result, holiness was not a reasonable goal for which to strive. To be certain, much of this Christian worldview on the un-attainability of personal holiness stems from the image of church and church leaders that have been proffered ...