As I have gotten closer to God and learned more about God and His truth, I couldn’t help but learn about myself and human nature at the same time. What I have realized is; everyone believes what they want to believe. Whether a person calls themselves a Christian or not, they will only believe what they want to believe. If a person wants to stay in the condition they are currently in and wants to justify their current condition, then they will only believe in ideas and theories that go along with their current condition. But if a person is not happy with their current condition and believes that there is hope and a remedy for change, it is then that they will search out and believe in something new.
People restrict their belief and faith in God for many reasons. The biggest restriction to believing in God’s truth is that people don’t want to change. Some other reasons people will not accept God’s truths are concerns over their loved ones. A person’s loved ones usually include sons, daughters, parents, other family members, and usually certain friends. For the ones that have passed away, people want to believe their loved ones are in heaven even though they were not totally committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. They realize that the ones passed on were not living a Christ like life, but they saw some good in them, so they want to believe that God is gracious enough to let them into heaven. They are believing a lie, but this lie comforts them so they refuse to believe in God’s truth which states the opposite. Parents want to believe that their children are going to heaven, even though their children are living for worldly things and selfish gratification. To believe this lie gives a parent comfort, but it is still not God’s truth. It is only believing and living God’s truth that will bring a person into God’s eternity. We also want to believe that our friends will go to heaven because we see some good in them. It is not the man with some good in him that will enter heaven; it is the man that has all the goodness of Christ in his heart that will enter heaven. A man that lives on the street and is starving for food will find some good in a garbage can, but God does not allow garbage in His heaven.
Recently I experienced a “Christian” man with these worldly beliefs. He has been going to a holiness church for many years and I know the pastor there does not preach the lie this man believes. How could this man sit in the church pews for so many years and believe the opposite of what the pastor there is preaching. It is because this man (like most people) only will hear and accept what he wants to believe. His ears and mind have been closed to God’s truth. I have knowledge of this man’s beliefs because of the following conversation this man and I had. He told me that his friends he has worked with for many years are not Christians, but in his opinion, they live mostly by Christian values. He said he saw some goodness in these friends and believes that they would not be rejected by God, but would be allowed to go into heaven when they die. This man is living a lie, but he believes what he wants to believe.
What do you want to believe? Do you want to believe that God is all powerful and can change you into a pure and blameless person, or do you want to believe that God will accept you as His son (as is) and that you will inherit eternal life with Him, even though you still desire some of the sinful trash in your life. I have found that you can almost always find some goodness in a person, but when a person’s soul gets on one side of the scales and Christ get on the other side of the scales, how do you think a person can measure up to Christ. The only way we can have the scales balance against Christ’s love is if we have Christ also in us.
With God’s love,
Mike
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Two God's
As I look back on my life and look at other people’s lives and beliefs, I see that there seems to be two gods. There is one God that represents the fullness of His Word and another god that is a lighter version of God, kind of like a “god light”. God light is a god for our day; he is not as burdensome, intrusive, or restrictive on our busy lifestyle as the full version of God. He is truly a more up to date god that we can adapt into our life and the world we live in. God light doesn’t have the weight of all the words of the bible, just a subset of God’s truth. With god light, people of god no longer have to carry all of God’s word around in their hearts, but only the ones that seem to work for them. This is a god that is small enough to fit in your pocket, on a key chain, or even on a cross that hangs around your neck. He is also a god that can be put down for awhile, you know, when you need to carry around other things instead. God light is a perfect fit for our modern age. Also, god light is politically correct. He doesn’t put down or condemn anyone that is gay, an adulterer, or anyone that is sexually active out of marriage. He doesn’t require us to love others either. We can keep taking care of “number one”. There is more flexibility in god light’s eyes because everyone is accepted and loved the way they are. After all god light created us with these sinful tendencies toward these things, so they must be OK with him. Since Christ paid for the sins of the whole world, then what ever we do is covered by the blood of the Lamb, right. So god light’s view on this is that we are all sinners and we will always be sinners. With this modern god, we no longer have the requirement that was required under the full version of God, which was to have all sin conquered in our life. Now people that follow god light only have to try not to sin, but when they keep on sinning against God, it’s OK, because after all, no one really needs to become perfect like Christ anymore. This is considered an outdated and unrealistic requirement for the age we live in.
Becoming perfect as God is perfect is not realistic thinking for most Christians today. God (the full version) requires a person to give up all of them self to become perfect, but this is just too much to ask. If people were to give up all of themselves, they would not be themselves anymore and then who would they become. People today want to keep their individuality, and make their own mark in history. Most people are happy with god light instead of the fullness of God in their lives. People don’t want an all powerful God. They aren’t looking for a God that has no limitations and that can conquer every sin in their life. To take every sinful thing away from them is too costly, so god light is a good compromise. God light is a limited god, he doesn’t try to take your sinful nature away from you, but he does try to comfort you from the consequences of the sin. So for most people, god light has become a perfect fit for our society. It is like god light is always there to help us along our journey in this world.
I have also noticed that there must be two heavens (two different eternal life places). There must be one heaven for the people that believe in the full version of God and then another heaven for the people that follow god light. You see, God requires everyone that enters His heaven to make themselves pure, blameless, and without sin by the power of His love, but god light will let anyone into his heaven that has been forgiven by the Lamb. With god light, it doesn’t matter if you still have a sinful nature and are still sinning, just that you know you are forgiven. God’s heaven is without any sinful thing, but god light’s heaven will be filled with sinful things since sinful souls are let into it.
I want to tell you, I have had experience with this “god light” when I was younger. The relationship between god light and I worked out for awhile. He was helping me get my desires met. He blessed me with money, so that I could buy most of the things I thought I needed. I gave my life to god light and was working and reaching out for every worldly pleasure he would give me, but something was still missing. I couldn’t seem to find true contentment. I wanted to have a deeper relationship with god light, but he seemed so allusive. God light didn’t seem to want a relationship with me; he just kept pulling me closer to him, but I never felt any closer, just more abandonment. So I started reading more of the words he had told me before. God light had told me some of God’s word, but only bits and pieces. After searching and studying God’s word, I realized it was not god light I needed, but the real true God, the full version God. I realize now that god light never told me the full word of God, because he knew I would find a true love relationship with God within God’s word. He knew I would turn from him to have the true love of God living inside me. For me, there is only one God that matters. I’m so glad I read and believed the full version of God’s word instead of just keeping with the lighter version.
Becoming perfect as God is perfect is not realistic thinking for most Christians today. God (the full version) requires a person to give up all of them self to become perfect, but this is just too much to ask. If people were to give up all of themselves, they would not be themselves anymore and then who would they become. People today want to keep their individuality, and make their own mark in history. Most people are happy with god light instead of the fullness of God in their lives. People don’t want an all powerful God. They aren’t looking for a God that has no limitations and that can conquer every sin in their life. To take every sinful thing away from them is too costly, so god light is a good compromise. God light is a limited god, he doesn’t try to take your sinful nature away from you, but he does try to comfort you from the consequences of the sin. So for most people, god light has become a perfect fit for our society. It is like god light is always there to help us along our journey in this world.
I have also noticed that there must be two heavens (two different eternal life places). There must be one heaven for the people that believe in the full version of God and then another heaven for the people that follow god light. You see, God requires everyone that enters His heaven to make themselves pure, blameless, and without sin by the power of His love, but god light will let anyone into his heaven that has been forgiven by the Lamb. With god light, it doesn’t matter if you still have a sinful nature and are still sinning, just that you know you are forgiven. God’s heaven is without any sinful thing, but god light’s heaven will be filled with sinful things since sinful souls are let into it.
I want to tell you, I have had experience with this “god light” when I was younger. The relationship between god light and I worked out for awhile. He was helping me get my desires met. He blessed me with money, so that I could buy most of the things I thought I needed. I gave my life to god light and was working and reaching out for every worldly pleasure he would give me, but something was still missing. I couldn’t seem to find true contentment. I wanted to have a deeper relationship with god light, but he seemed so allusive. God light didn’t seem to want a relationship with me; he just kept pulling me closer to him, but I never felt any closer, just more abandonment. So I started reading more of the words he had told me before. God light had told me some of God’s word, but only bits and pieces. After searching and studying God’s word, I realized it was not god light I needed, but the real true God, the full version God. I realize now that god light never told me the full word of God, because he knew I would find a true love relationship with God within God’s word. He knew I would turn from him to have the true love of God living inside me. For me, there is only one God that matters. I’m so glad I read and believed the full version of God’s word instead of just keeping with the lighter version.
Christ's Reign
I know God’s Kingdom and His Spiritual reign has already been here for more then a thousand years, but many don’t accept a Spiritual reign of Christ, they are looking forward to Christ physically reigning on earth. This is what the Jewish nation was waiting for when Christ came to them before, but they rejected Christ because it was not the Christ they were looking for. To this day they are still looking for Christ to come and reign physically on earth like King David did, but Christ’s physical kingdom would not be limited to a section of the world, but would be a reign over the whole world.
For this discussion I will pretend to believe that Christ’s physical Kingdom and reign is yet to come. Where there will be peace and joy around the world. A kingdom where everyone will love one another. Where there is no more selfishness, hurt, sorrow, and pain. Where everyone would be living by the light of God and fully submitting to the Lordship of Christ. Sounds good and I admit that this would be heavenly.
There is one big problem with most (not all) of the people that believe this, and that is they are unwilling to submit to the Lordship of Christ in their lives right now. Do they think that somehow their selfishness will just evaporate to nothing when He returns or even when they get a new spiritual imperishable body? Where the problem comes in, is that our selfishness is part of our soul, not our fleshly body. What we love makes up what and who we are. Whether we are selfish or unselfish is a big part of who we are. Our love for self or our love for God is our spiritual nature. It is not part of the fleshly body that dies. It lives on in our soul that passes on to eternity.
So for all the people that are looking forward to this utopia of God’s physical reign, where do they fit into this new beautiful physical kingdom of Christ? If any of them are unwilling to have Christ be the Lord of their life now, what makes them think that they would want Christ to be their Lord in this new physical kingdom? Let’s say that Christ forgives their sinful ways and has covered their sinful behavior by the cross and that living a pure and righteous life is not required to enter this new physical kingdom – then what. What happens when someone still has their selfishness and sinful nature in this new and sinless kingdom? Is Christ going to throw them into jail? What happens when some of the nations of the earth don’t want to follow and obey the Kingship of Christ? What will Christ do? Will He go to war and upset this pure peaceful heavenly environment? Will Christ just send them all to hell with a Word? Is this the perfect kingdom that people are expecting? As soon as Christ would accept anyone into His Kingdom that still has their selfish sinful nature, then it would be at that point that it would stop being a heavenly place. That one bad apple would ruin the whole bushel.
We need to see that there is no place in God’s Kingdom for selfishness. Selfishness doesn’t have any place in His Kingdom and since what we love (ourselves or God) is the very essence of who we are and is the very essence of the person we are, we have to understand that if we have not died to our selfishness, then we have no place in God’s Kingdom. This is true whether you believe in a spiritual kingdom or a future physical kingdom.
Since God’s Word says His Kingdom has come to earth and is in the hearts of men, then let us bring God back into this world by killing our selfishness and live by God’s love. Let us show the people of the world that God’s love reigns over evil. Let us show people that they can be in God’s Kingdom today.
For this discussion I will pretend to believe that Christ’s physical Kingdom and reign is yet to come. Where there will be peace and joy around the world. A kingdom where everyone will love one another. Where there is no more selfishness, hurt, sorrow, and pain. Where everyone would be living by the light of God and fully submitting to the Lordship of Christ. Sounds good and I admit that this would be heavenly.
There is one big problem with most (not all) of the people that believe this, and that is they are unwilling to submit to the Lordship of Christ in their lives right now. Do they think that somehow their selfishness will just evaporate to nothing when He returns or even when they get a new spiritual imperishable body? Where the problem comes in, is that our selfishness is part of our soul, not our fleshly body. What we love makes up what and who we are. Whether we are selfish or unselfish is a big part of who we are. Our love for self or our love for God is our spiritual nature. It is not part of the fleshly body that dies. It lives on in our soul that passes on to eternity.
So for all the people that are looking forward to this utopia of God’s physical reign, where do they fit into this new beautiful physical kingdom of Christ? If any of them are unwilling to have Christ be the Lord of their life now, what makes them think that they would want Christ to be their Lord in this new physical kingdom? Let’s say that Christ forgives their sinful ways and has covered their sinful behavior by the cross and that living a pure and righteous life is not required to enter this new physical kingdom – then what. What happens when someone still has their selfishness and sinful nature in this new and sinless kingdom? Is Christ going to throw them into jail? What happens when some of the nations of the earth don’t want to follow and obey the Kingship of Christ? What will Christ do? Will He go to war and upset this pure peaceful heavenly environment? Will Christ just send them all to hell with a Word? Is this the perfect kingdom that people are expecting? As soon as Christ would accept anyone into His Kingdom that still has their selfish sinful nature, then it would be at that point that it would stop being a heavenly place. That one bad apple would ruin the whole bushel.
We need to see that there is no place in God’s Kingdom for selfishness. Selfishness doesn’t have any place in His Kingdom and since what we love (ourselves or God) is the very essence of who we are and is the very essence of the person we are, we have to understand that if we have not died to our selfishness, then we have no place in God’s Kingdom. This is true whether you believe in a spiritual kingdom or a future physical kingdom.
Since God’s Word says His Kingdom has come to earth and is in the hearts of men, then let us bring God back into this world by killing our selfishness and live by God’s love. Let us show the people of the world that God’s love reigns over evil. Let us show people that they can be in God’s Kingdom today.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Fighting This War
As we see almost everything going in the wrong direction – the way of evil. As we see our country being taken over by socialist ideals. As we see millions of babies aborted each year. As we see a lot of our churches go the way of the world. As we see God, His Word and His morals being stripped from our nation. As we see everything being viewed as relative with no truth as a base. As they teach us that there are no consequences for sin – because they teach there is no sin. How do we fight this war?
The first thing we must understand is that this is a SPIRITUAL war. This is not republicans against democrats. This is not a political war. This is a spiritual war against Christianity (against Christ). This is a spiritual war against God. The big question is what part are we playing in this war? What side are we on? If everyone that called themselves a “Christian” was actually acting out true Christian beliefs, we would not be in this mess. The fact is “Christians” have stopped being Christians.
The best way to fight this war is realize that the church is very sick, “Christians” must repent and turn back to God’s ways. This is a war on what we believe. Are we going to go along with the lies that have infiltrated our lives or are we going to start believing again in God’s scriptures as the infallible truth that holds and preserves everything that is good. Without God’s truth and love in action nothing will get better, it will only get a lot worse.
Every person acts on what they believe. The ones spreading evil (selfishness and pride) are only acting on what they believe. The evil person really believes they are acting out what is right, for they are reasoning it out as good in their own mind. We cannot try to make an evil person do good when what they are currently doing what is right in their own mind. On the other side of the coin, a true Christian also acts on what they believe. An evil person cannot make a true Christian do evil when what they are currently doing is good and right in their own mind. A Christian knows what is good and protects that goodness for the sake of God and others.
So what do you believe? What part are you going to play in these war games? Are you going to be a person that is led by God’s Spirit and rely on God’s Word alone or are you walking the fence of good and evil? We are getting to a point in time when no one will be able to straddle the fence. Either you will want and choose evil or you will want only God’s goodness and love. This is what God’s intentions are. If you are a Christian, then you will need to live a Christ like life and be a bright shinning star to the world. If you want to hold on to your selfish ways then accept that you are not a Christian until you want to live by God’s love.
We have to stop being so politically correct. We cannot call a person a Christian if he/she is not striving to follow in Christ’s foot steps. We cannot call a person a Christian just to make them feel good or not hurt their feelings. If we do this we are only keeping the lies of the devil going and allowing that spiritual sick person to think they are not sick. A person has to realize they are sick before they want to get better.
One of the most damaging symptoms hurting the growth of the church is people that say they are Christians, but act like the world. No one wants to join a religion that is filled with hypocrites. People are looking for the real thing and we must be true Christians and show them that true light. This is how we fight this war. This is a spiritual war and it is time we fight in the Spirit (God’s Spirit). Are you ready to die to your spiritual selfishness and put on God’s Spirit? If yes, then you must repent and kill your selfishness so that God can fill you with His Spirit. There is no other way to become a true Christian. It is through our acting out our faith through our obedience that will bring God into our life. If we say we have faith, but are unwilling to act it out through our obedience, then we have no faith. If we cannot act on what we say we believe, then we really don’t believe what we say we believe. Let’s stop fooling ourselves and stop trying to fool everyone around us. Let us take a good look at our selves. Are we living and fighting this spiritual war for God’s glory or are we wimpy in our beliefs and still living for ourselves?
There is only one way to fight this war against evil, and that is showing and proclaiming God’s love and light to this sick world. It is not by making more laws to try to make evil people do good. It is by evil people turning good. This war is not fought with guns, ships, and planes, but by spiritual good overcoming spiritual evil. Our tools for war are prayer, faith, obedience, love, and then more love. We cannot afford to be hypocrites, for it is too costly to God, us, and the world.
There will be consequences for the evil the human race has already done, but through the ashes there will arise the faithful ones and the ones they bring along with them.
The first thing we must understand is that this is a SPIRITUAL war. This is not republicans against democrats. This is not a political war. This is a spiritual war against Christianity (against Christ). This is a spiritual war against God. The big question is what part are we playing in this war? What side are we on? If everyone that called themselves a “Christian” was actually acting out true Christian beliefs, we would not be in this mess. The fact is “Christians” have stopped being Christians.
The best way to fight this war is realize that the church is very sick, “Christians” must repent and turn back to God’s ways. This is a war on what we believe. Are we going to go along with the lies that have infiltrated our lives or are we going to start believing again in God’s scriptures as the infallible truth that holds and preserves everything that is good. Without God’s truth and love in action nothing will get better, it will only get a lot worse.
Every person acts on what they believe. The ones spreading evil (selfishness and pride) are only acting on what they believe. The evil person really believes they are acting out what is right, for they are reasoning it out as good in their own mind. We cannot try to make an evil person do good when what they are currently doing what is right in their own mind. On the other side of the coin, a true Christian also acts on what they believe. An evil person cannot make a true Christian do evil when what they are currently doing is good and right in their own mind. A Christian knows what is good and protects that goodness for the sake of God and others.
So what do you believe? What part are you going to play in these war games? Are you going to be a person that is led by God’s Spirit and rely on God’s Word alone or are you walking the fence of good and evil? We are getting to a point in time when no one will be able to straddle the fence. Either you will want and choose evil or you will want only God’s goodness and love. This is what God’s intentions are. If you are a Christian, then you will need to live a Christ like life and be a bright shinning star to the world. If you want to hold on to your selfish ways then accept that you are not a Christian until you want to live by God’s love.
We have to stop being so politically correct. We cannot call a person a Christian if he/she is not striving to follow in Christ’s foot steps. We cannot call a person a Christian just to make them feel good or not hurt their feelings. If we do this we are only keeping the lies of the devil going and allowing that spiritual sick person to think they are not sick. A person has to realize they are sick before they want to get better.
One of the most damaging symptoms hurting the growth of the church is people that say they are Christians, but act like the world. No one wants to join a religion that is filled with hypocrites. People are looking for the real thing and we must be true Christians and show them that true light. This is how we fight this war. This is a spiritual war and it is time we fight in the Spirit (God’s Spirit). Are you ready to die to your spiritual selfishness and put on God’s Spirit? If yes, then you must repent and kill your selfishness so that God can fill you with His Spirit. There is no other way to become a true Christian. It is through our acting out our faith through our obedience that will bring God into our life. If we say we have faith, but are unwilling to act it out through our obedience, then we have no faith. If we cannot act on what we say we believe, then we really don’t believe what we say we believe. Let’s stop fooling ourselves and stop trying to fool everyone around us. Let us take a good look at our selves. Are we living and fighting this spiritual war for God’s glory or are we wimpy in our beliefs and still living for ourselves?
There is only one way to fight this war against evil, and that is showing and proclaiming God’s love and light to this sick world. It is not by making more laws to try to make evil people do good. It is by evil people turning good. This war is not fought with guns, ships, and planes, but by spiritual good overcoming spiritual evil. Our tools for war are prayer, faith, obedience, love, and then more love. We cannot afford to be hypocrites, for it is too costly to God, us, and the world.
There will be consequences for the evil the human race has already done, but through the ashes there will arise the faithful ones and the ones they bring along with them.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Christ's Return - Part II
Before I get to the message on Christ’s Return, I want to let people know that I realize this message will be hard for most people to take in. Because of this, I would like to challenge everyone to be open to discarding the lies they have learned and believe only in God’s Word. I know the masses of people that believe these lies have human reasoning on their side, but we are called to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Prov 3:5)”. We cannot listen to our own reasoning, because our selfishness will always lead us into a trap of believing the devil’s lies. This fight against evil is not against any person, but it is a fight against the lies of the devil. Even though I know this message will probably be hard for people to believe, I believe that if people come to believe in God’s Word alone, then there will be some very positive results. This challenge is for God’s glory and will have a benefit to all who believe. I write this message in the hopes that God’s Truth will reign once more in our land. It is not the human’s version of the truth that sets people free, but it is God’s Truth alone that sets people free.
Now getting to the subject of this message, which is the Truth of Christ’s return. Many people (believers) are waiting for Christ’s return, but what return of Christ are they waiting for?
There is the return of Christ that has already happened after He ascended to His heavenly Father and upon His return He set up His Kingdom here on earth. Most people call this “the second coming of Christ”.
A person could also consider the return of Christ as being when Christ and His Kingdom overthrows the devil in the end, where Christ throws the devil, death, hell, and everybody not found in the book of life into the eternal lake of fire. We could call this return of Christ “the final return of Christ”.
I have learned that most believers are still waiting on “Christ’s second coming”. People call it Christ’s second coming because He came once already to be a sacrificial Lamb and died on the cross for all our sins. Most people and even most theologians are still waiting for Christ’s second coming, where Christ is to set up His Kingdom. This “second coming of Christ” is the subject I will concentrate on in this message. My goal in this message is to show by God’s Word that most believers have been deceived by the devil into believing lies about God’s Kingdom. Most people are waiting for Christ to return, but God’s Word says Christ’s second coming has already happened. Most people are waiting for God’s “physical” Kingdom to be brought to earth, although God’s Word says His “Spiritual” Kingdom has already come and is here now. Most believers have been deceived into looking for a physical kingdom of God, so this has brought them to believe that Christ and His Kingdom hasn’t come yet. This lie of the devil worked on most of the Jews in Jesus time, and now this same lie seems to be working in the devil’s favor again. Are we ever going to learn, God is Spirit and His eternal Kingdom is also Spirit.
God’s Word says when He would return. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself told us about the time He would return.
Matt 24:30-35 - At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Matt 24:30-35 has many spiritual happenings at the time Jesus Christ returns, but I don’t want to get side tracked by these spiritual meanings at this point. I would like to stay focused on the timing of the physical things that happen during this time when Jesus Christ returns. In Matt 24 we have God’s Word and it spoken directly from Jesus Christ. Jesus says He would return before that current generation of people passed away. We can’t ignore this. This is God’s Truth, but most have ignored this verse or just say they don’t know what Jesus really meant by this. Jesus Christ meant exactly what He said. If this was the only verse of God’s Word that indicated that Christ had already returned, then we would have to believe that Christ returned already based on this verse, because it is God’s Word and God’s Word cannot lie to us. But for the doubters out there, there is more scripture that backs up the truth that Christ has already returned.
John 21:20-23 - Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?
These verses indicate that the disciple John (the one whom Jesus loved) would not die before Jesus Christ returned. These verses back up the verses in Matt 24:29-30 that say Jesus Christ would return before the current generation passed away. These words were said by Jesus to His disciple Peter after Christ had already died on the cross and ascended to His heavenly Father. Even though Christ had returned to His disciples to teach and encourage them some more, this was not Christ’s second return, because Jesus told the disciples then that He would return again in the future. When Jesus told of a disciple not dying until He returned, how are we sure that Jesus was talking about one of His disciples (11 disciples at that time), it is because God’s Word says “disciple whom Jesus loved” and the words “This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?”. The supper discussed here is the Last Supper with His 12 disciples. So, by this we know that it was one of the disciples that were with Christ at the last supper and this one disciple would not die until after Christ returned.
Here is another verse of God’s Word to backup this Truth. Again this is Jesus Christ talking.
Matt 16:27-28 - For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
If we believe God’s Word to be infallible and true (which it is), then we must know and believe that Jesus Christ already returned as He said. It doesn’t matter whether we understand this Truth or whether we cannot accept this Truth; it is the Truth, because God and His Word never lie.
Now, you might say, how can this be true? How can almost everybody be wrong? Let us look at some more proof in God’s Word. Let us look back at Matt 24 verse 29.
Matt 24:29 - Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
Again this verse has spiritual happenings (not physical happenings). The actual sun doesn’t darken, the actual moon doesn’t stop giving its light, the actual stars don’t fall from the sky, and the actual heavenly bodies aren’t physically shaken. For this message we want to concentrate on what was said, the timings of things, and the consistency in God’s Word and not get side tracked by what these spiritual happenings really mean, even though it would be a great study to do at a later time. This verse (Matt 24:29) directly preceded Matt 24:30-35 (stated previously), where Jesus Christ said the generation that was currently living with Him would not pass away until He returned. We see a great similarity in Matt 24:29 (the above verse), which is saying what will come before and after Pentecost, which is found in Acts 2.
Acts 2:14-20 - Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel”:
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
Matt 24:29 Acts 2
the sun will be darkened ……………. wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
sun will be turned to darkness
the moon will not give its light ………. wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
the moon to blood
stars will fall from the sky ……………. wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
the heavenly bodies will be shaken … wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
What Jesus Christ prophesied in Matt 24:29 already happened, some of it at the cross and its aftermath (the distress) and some of it at Pentecost and some of it after Pentecost. Let us look closer at the scripture in Joel (the prophet) to see how this ties together. Remember Peter stood up at Pentecost and said: “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel”
Joel 2:28-31 - I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days (This all happened at Pentecost and after Pentecost). I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
What was said in Acts 2 by Peter at Pentecost and what was said by the prophet Joel matches exactly, except the scripture of Joel says that these events will happen “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” So what happened at and before Pentecost, marked the beginning of the coming of the Lord, or to say it another way, marked the “second coming of Christ”.
Now I know this goes against what most people have been taught and have come to believe. I am sure people must be saying; how can this be? Christ was to return and setup His Kingdom. Yes, that is exactly what Christ did when He returned. Christ did not return “physically” to setup a “physical” kingdom like most are looking for, He returned spiritually to setup His spiritual Kingdom. God’s goal was to extend His heavenly Kingdom down to earth. Our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ never wanted a physical kingdom. God is Spirit, so their Kingdom is also Spirit. The physical realm is for the flesh, not for the Spirit. The Spirit can use the physical realm, and it does, but God’s Kingdom does not need the physical realm, except for a place for souls to pick which spiritual kingdom they want to be a part of.
We can see that God’s Kingdom is not of the physical realm, but in the hearts of men. God resides in heavenly places and in the spirit of men, at least men and women that are born of God.
John 18:36 - Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
Luke 17:20-21 - Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Anyone that says and/or is waiting for Jesus Christ to return and setup His Kingdom is woefully misled. Anyone that is teaching believers to wait for Christ’s return and/or teaching believers to wait for God’s Kingdom to come is ignorant of God’s Word and Truth. Christ has already returned and setup His Kingdom. Anyone that has the true knowledge of God’s Word cannot claim to be waiting for Christ’s return and His Kingdom to come. Anyone that is teaching others that Christ second coming hasn’t occurred yet, is teaching a lie, even though they are most likely not doing this out of an evil intent, but out of lack of knowledge and a lack of knowing God.
I know this belief that Christ has already returned is not the belief of most believers, but it is God’s Truth. I know I am going against the crowd on what most believe, but the crowd is usually wrong. I pray everyone stops believing what the crowd believes and believes God’s Word instead. This is a message about God’s Kingdom, I pray you take it to heart and believe. Otherwise the evil one will snatch it away from you.
Matt 13:19 - When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
Many cannot believe God’s Kingdom is here, because they don’t see it. To all these people I say, I can understand your thoughts. God’s Kingdom has been hard to see in the last fifty or so years. Our selfishness and the rejecting of God and His Word has made this world into a pretty bad place, at least when we compare it to God’s Kingdom. Even though this world has a lot of evil, I want to assure everyone that God’s Kingdom is still here. Individuals can still enter it if they search for God and His pure righteousness in their lives through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Once a person enters God’s Kingdom, they will find it bright and shining as the Son. It is my hope that this world comes back to God’s true Word as what they believe and live by. Then the whole world would see His Kingdom shining and there would be no more doubt about God’s Kingdom.
When Jesus Christ told us the Lord’s Prayer and said: “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, Jesus Christ was not wanting us to pray His Kingdom come in a hundred or a thousand(s) years later, He intended His Kingdom to be on earth and His Kingdom’s will to be done on earth at the time when they spoke this prayer and now as we speak this prayer. His Kingdom came down to earth a long time ago and it is still here through every truly born again Christian.
The churches of our world need to stop waiting for God’s Kingdom to come and actually get into God’s Kingdom.
God’s servant,
Michael W Reid
Now getting to the subject of this message, which is the Truth of Christ’s return. Many people (believers) are waiting for Christ’s return, but what return of Christ are they waiting for?
There is the return of Christ that has already happened after He ascended to His heavenly Father and upon His return He set up His Kingdom here on earth. Most people call this “the second coming of Christ”.
A person could also consider the return of Christ as being when Christ and His Kingdom overthrows the devil in the end, where Christ throws the devil, death, hell, and everybody not found in the book of life into the eternal lake of fire. We could call this return of Christ “the final return of Christ”.
I have learned that most believers are still waiting on “Christ’s second coming”. People call it Christ’s second coming because He came once already to be a sacrificial Lamb and died on the cross for all our sins. Most people and even most theologians are still waiting for Christ’s second coming, where Christ is to set up His Kingdom. This “second coming of Christ” is the subject I will concentrate on in this message. My goal in this message is to show by God’s Word that most believers have been deceived by the devil into believing lies about God’s Kingdom. Most people are waiting for Christ to return, but God’s Word says Christ’s second coming has already happened. Most people are waiting for God’s “physical” Kingdom to be brought to earth, although God’s Word says His “Spiritual” Kingdom has already come and is here now. Most believers have been deceived into looking for a physical kingdom of God, so this has brought them to believe that Christ and His Kingdom hasn’t come yet. This lie of the devil worked on most of the Jews in Jesus time, and now this same lie seems to be working in the devil’s favor again. Are we ever going to learn, God is Spirit and His eternal Kingdom is also Spirit.
God’s Word says when He would return. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself told us about the time He would return.
Matt 24:30-35 - At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Matt 24:30-35 has many spiritual happenings at the time Jesus Christ returns, but I don’t want to get side tracked by these spiritual meanings at this point. I would like to stay focused on the timing of the physical things that happen during this time when Jesus Christ returns. In Matt 24 we have God’s Word and it spoken directly from Jesus Christ. Jesus says He would return before that current generation of people passed away. We can’t ignore this. This is God’s Truth, but most have ignored this verse or just say they don’t know what Jesus really meant by this. Jesus Christ meant exactly what He said. If this was the only verse of God’s Word that indicated that Christ had already returned, then we would have to believe that Christ returned already based on this verse, because it is God’s Word and God’s Word cannot lie to us. But for the doubters out there, there is more scripture that backs up the truth that Christ has already returned.
John 21:20-23 - Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?
These verses indicate that the disciple John (the one whom Jesus loved) would not die before Jesus Christ returned. These verses back up the verses in Matt 24:29-30 that say Jesus Christ would return before the current generation passed away. These words were said by Jesus to His disciple Peter after Christ had already died on the cross and ascended to His heavenly Father. Even though Christ had returned to His disciples to teach and encourage them some more, this was not Christ’s second return, because Jesus told the disciples then that He would return again in the future. When Jesus told of a disciple not dying until He returned, how are we sure that Jesus was talking about one of His disciples (11 disciples at that time), it is because God’s Word says “disciple whom Jesus loved” and the words “This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?”. The supper discussed here is the Last Supper with His 12 disciples. So, by this we know that it was one of the disciples that were with Christ at the last supper and this one disciple would not die until after Christ returned.
Here is another verse of God’s Word to backup this Truth. Again this is Jesus Christ talking.
Matt 16:27-28 - For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
If we believe God’s Word to be infallible and true (which it is), then we must know and believe that Jesus Christ already returned as He said. It doesn’t matter whether we understand this Truth or whether we cannot accept this Truth; it is the Truth, because God and His Word never lie.
Now, you might say, how can this be true? How can almost everybody be wrong? Let us look at some more proof in God’s Word. Let us look back at Matt 24 verse 29.
Matt 24:29 - Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
Again this verse has spiritual happenings (not physical happenings). The actual sun doesn’t darken, the actual moon doesn’t stop giving its light, the actual stars don’t fall from the sky, and the actual heavenly bodies aren’t physically shaken. For this message we want to concentrate on what was said, the timings of things, and the consistency in God’s Word and not get side tracked by what these spiritual happenings really mean, even though it would be a great study to do at a later time. This verse (Matt 24:29) directly preceded Matt 24:30-35 (stated previously), where Jesus Christ said the generation that was currently living with Him would not pass away until He returned. We see a great similarity in Matt 24:29 (the above verse), which is saying what will come before and after Pentecost, which is found in Acts 2.
Acts 2:14-20 - Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel”:
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
Matt 24:29 Acts 2
the sun will be darkened ……………. wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
sun will be turned to darkness
the moon will not give its light ………. wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
the moon to blood
stars will fall from the sky ……………. wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
the heavenly bodies will be shaken … wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth
What Jesus Christ prophesied in Matt 24:29 already happened, some of it at the cross and its aftermath (the distress) and some of it at Pentecost and some of it after Pentecost. Let us look closer at the scripture in Joel (the prophet) to see how this ties together. Remember Peter stood up at Pentecost and said: “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel”
Joel 2:28-31 - I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days (This all happened at Pentecost and after Pentecost). I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
What was said in Acts 2 by Peter at Pentecost and what was said by the prophet Joel matches exactly, except the scripture of Joel says that these events will happen “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” So what happened at and before Pentecost, marked the beginning of the coming of the Lord, or to say it another way, marked the “second coming of Christ”.
Now I know this goes against what most people have been taught and have come to believe. I am sure people must be saying; how can this be? Christ was to return and setup His Kingdom. Yes, that is exactly what Christ did when He returned. Christ did not return “physically” to setup a “physical” kingdom like most are looking for, He returned spiritually to setup His spiritual Kingdom. God’s goal was to extend His heavenly Kingdom down to earth. Our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ never wanted a physical kingdom. God is Spirit, so their Kingdom is also Spirit. The physical realm is for the flesh, not for the Spirit. The Spirit can use the physical realm, and it does, but God’s Kingdom does not need the physical realm, except for a place for souls to pick which spiritual kingdom they want to be a part of.
We can see that God’s Kingdom is not of the physical realm, but in the hearts of men. God resides in heavenly places and in the spirit of men, at least men and women that are born of God.
John 18:36 - Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
Luke 17:20-21 - Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Anyone that says and/or is waiting for Jesus Christ to return and setup His Kingdom is woefully misled. Anyone that is teaching believers to wait for Christ’s return and/or teaching believers to wait for God’s Kingdom to come is ignorant of God’s Word and Truth. Christ has already returned and setup His Kingdom. Anyone that has the true knowledge of God’s Word cannot claim to be waiting for Christ’s return and His Kingdom to come. Anyone that is teaching others that Christ second coming hasn’t occurred yet, is teaching a lie, even though they are most likely not doing this out of an evil intent, but out of lack of knowledge and a lack of knowing God.
I know this belief that Christ has already returned is not the belief of most believers, but it is God’s Truth. I know I am going against the crowd on what most believe, but the crowd is usually wrong. I pray everyone stops believing what the crowd believes and believes God’s Word instead. This is a message about God’s Kingdom, I pray you take it to heart and believe. Otherwise the evil one will snatch it away from you.
Matt 13:19 - When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
Many cannot believe God’s Kingdom is here, because they don’t see it. To all these people I say, I can understand your thoughts. God’s Kingdom has been hard to see in the last fifty or so years. Our selfishness and the rejecting of God and His Word has made this world into a pretty bad place, at least when we compare it to God’s Kingdom. Even though this world has a lot of evil, I want to assure everyone that God’s Kingdom is still here. Individuals can still enter it if they search for God and His pure righteousness in their lives through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Once a person enters God’s Kingdom, they will find it bright and shining as the Son. It is my hope that this world comes back to God’s true Word as what they believe and live by. Then the whole world would see His Kingdom shining and there would be no more doubt about God’s Kingdom.
When Jesus Christ told us the Lord’s Prayer and said: “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, Jesus Christ was not wanting us to pray His Kingdom come in a hundred or a thousand(s) years later, He intended His Kingdom to be on earth and His Kingdom’s will to be done on earth at the time when they spoke this prayer and now as we speak this prayer. His Kingdom came down to earth a long time ago and it is still here through every truly born again Christian.
The churches of our world need to stop waiting for God’s Kingdom to come and actually get into God’s Kingdom.
God’s servant,
Michael W Reid
Christ's Return - Part I
With everything that is happening in our country and world today, there is more and more enthusiasm for “Christ’s return”. There are many churches proclaiming the rapture, where the righteous are taken up to God in an instant before God’s judgments fall upon all the unrighteous people on the earth. There are churches and organizations holding prayer vigils and they are praying for Christ’s return and His kingdom to finally come. While most “believers” are waiting and praying for Christ’s return – I am scared that His final return might soon be upon us. While I am not scared for my self, I am scared for almost everyone else. On the latest censes of the world as of Aug 2009, it was estimated that there were 6.781 billion people on this earth. How many of these billions of people are ready to meet their Maker and Judge?
I am not aware anywhere in God’s Word where God instructs us to pray for His return. God says to watch for the signs of His return, get ready, but should we really be praying for His return? Most “believers” are looking forward with enthusiasm to Christ’s return, but should we really be looking forward to Christ’s return? Do we really want to see or know about the condemnation of many of billions of people upon His final return? Do we realize the state that the world will be in when Christ returns to make a new heaven and earth? Jesus Christ Himself told us how it would be.
Matt 24:36-39 - No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood , people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
What Christ is saying in Matt 24:36-39 is that no one will know when Christ’s final return will be, only the heavenly Father. Christ will come back when the conditions of the world are like it was before the great flood of Noah. There will be all sorts of evil and almost everyone’s heart will be feeding on the evil to fulfill their own selfish desires. When Noah closed himself and his family inside the ark and it started to rain and flood the whole earth, what do you think Noah and his family felt like when they could here multitudes of people whaling and crying out for help? Noah and his family knew all life would be destroyed except for them. All those people outside the ark would forever be condemned to an eternal hell. If you were Noah, how would you of felt?
Luke 17:28-30 - It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
When the LORD and two angels came to Abraham and told him that they were going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their unrighteousness, did Abraham delight and look forward to the destruction of all those unrighteous people? No, Abraham pleaded with God over and over again until God agreed to not destroy those cities if He found even 10 righteous men there. When Abraham saw from a distance the fire come down from heaven and destroy the cities, how do you think he felt? Abraham didn’t know those people (except for Lot and his family), but he felt for his fellow man and for the many souls lost on that day.
Jesus Christ Himself said it would be like this when He returns. So how will it be when Christ returns? Evil will rule the lives of most men. For the most part, people will be fulfilling their selfish desires and ambitions. So if the stipulation for Christ’s return is that almost all people will have corrupted themselves and will be living a very unrighteous life, how many souls do you think there will be to rapture? The bottom line is that when Christ does finally return, it will be because God no longer sees a reason to keep a world going that is mostly unrighteous and evil. Like the days of the flood and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
How about we stop looking forward to and stop praying for Christ’s return (or waiting on our left behinds) and start living like Jesus Christ and showing His light and His love again to this world. Maybe if we start loving our neighbors with God’s love, they will see that love and want it for themselves also. Maybe if we repent and decide to live a righteous life for God, maybe God won’t end up only finding a few righteous people, but many righteous people instead. Maybe if God sees enough righteous people, God will decide to give us more of His grace and patience and decide not to return yet. Wouldn’t it be great if Christ decides to give this world more time to repent, so some of the billions of people might be saved. I don’t know about you, but I care about the lost souls that will be lost if Christ returns soon. I also want my children, grand children, and great grand children to have enough time to get to know God and come to love God with all their hearts, souls, and minds.
A lot of people believe they will be raptured up and won’t have to experience Jesus’ wrath. Don’t you find this a bit (or a lot) selfish? If we really loved our fellow man and we loved them as much as ourselves (as God commands us), then we would put ourselves in their place. If we loved them as ourselves, wouldn’t we be praying for God not to return just yet, but instead show more mercy and grace for the billions that will be lost forever? Are todays Christians mainly thinking about themselves and not the lost anymore?
Just some thought to show how far we’ve come,
Michael W Reid
I am not aware anywhere in God’s Word where God instructs us to pray for His return. God says to watch for the signs of His return, get ready, but should we really be praying for His return? Most “believers” are looking forward with enthusiasm to Christ’s return, but should we really be looking forward to Christ’s return? Do we really want to see or know about the condemnation of many of billions of people upon His final return? Do we realize the state that the world will be in when Christ returns to make a new heaven and earth? Jesus Christ Himself told us how it would be.
Matt 24:36-39 - No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood , people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
What Christ is saying in Matt 24:36-39 is that no one will know when Christ’s final return will be, only the heavenly Father. Christ will come back when the conditions of the world are like it was before the great flood of Noah. There will be all sorts of evil and almost everyone’s heart will be feeding on the evil to fulfill their own selfish desires. When Noah closed himself and his family inside the ark and it started to rain and flood the whole earth, what do you think Noah and his family felt like when they could here multitudes of people whaling and crying out for help? Noah and his family knew all life would be destroyed except for them. All those people outside the ark would forever be condemned to an eternal hell. If you were Noah, how would you of felt?
Luke 17:28-30 - It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
When the LORD and two angels came to Abraham and told him that they were going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their unrighteousness, did Abraham delight and look forward to the destruction of all those unrighteous people? No, Abraham pleaded with God over and over again until God agreed to not destroy those cities if He found even 10 righteous men there. When Abraham saw from a distance the fire come down from heaven and destroy the cities, how do you think he felt? Abraham didn’t know those people (except for Lot and his family), but he felt for his fellow man and for the many souls lost on that day.
Jesus Christ Himself said it would be like this when He returns. So how will it be when Christ returns? Evil will rule the lives of most men. For the most part, people will be fulfilling their selfish desires and ambitions. So if the stipulation for Christ’s return is that almost all people will have corrupted themselves and will be living a very unrighteous life, how many souls do you think there will be to rapture? The bottom line is that when Christ does finally return, it will be because God no longer sees a reason to keep a world going that is mostly unrighteous and evil. Like the days of the flood and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
How about we stop looking forward to and stop praying for Christ’s return (or waiting on our left behinds) and start living like Jesus Christ and showing His light and His love again to this world. Maybe if we start loving our neighbors with God’s love, they will see that love and want it for themselves also. Maybe if we repent and decide to live a righteous life for God, maybe God won’t end up only finding a few righteous people, but many righteous people instead. Maybe if God sees enough righteous people, God will decide to give us more of His grace and patience and decide not to return yet. Wouldn’t it be great if Christ decides to give this world more time to repent, so some of the billions of people might be saved. I don’t know about you, but I care about the lost souls that will be lost if Christ returns soon. I also want my children, grand children, and great grand children to have enough time to get to know God and come to love God with all their hearts, souls, and minds.
A lot of people believe they will be raptured up and won’t have to experience Jesus’ wrath. Don’t you find this a bit (or a lot) selfish? If we really loved our fellow man and we loved them as much as ourselves (as God commands us), then we would put ourselves in their place. If we loved them as ourselves, wouldn’t we be praying for God not to return just yet, but instead show more mercy and grace for the billions that will be lost forever? Are todays Christians mainly thinking about themselves and not the lost anymore?
Just some thought to show how far we’ve come,
Michael W Reid
Monday, August 31, 2009
Separation of Chuch and State
We have heard many times about the “Separation of Church and State” clause in our constitution. Even though this phrase doesn't exist in our constitution, people have come to believe in it. Most people have been deceived by the devil’s lies into thinking that this means the law keeps the church from interfering in our government affairs. Actually the opposite is true. It was put in our constitution to protect the church from any interference from the state or governments of our country. Why was this so important to put in? It was because the founders of our country knew that God’s kingdom laws were higher and superseded any laws that could be made by man. Our constitution was meant to protect God’s laws, His freedoms, and His ways even over our own man made laws.
So why do our church leaders and all of us that are supposed to belong to these churches let the laws of the state interfere with God’s laws, commandments, and freedoms. Why don’t we take advantage of God’s freedom to proclaim God’s truth over any other laws that are in conflict with the commandments of God? Why have the churches of our nation submitted to the laws of the land instead of the laws of God? It is because we have become cowards and greedy to keep the business of the church growing, instead of keeping God’s kingdom growing.
One of the big reasons for this is the misunderstanding of what the church really is. The church is not the business operations of the church. It is not the building believers gather at. It is not a certain denomination. It is not where we tithe to. It is not where we hear the Word of God spoken, but from whom God’s Word is spoken. It is not where we come to grow in the Word of God. So what is it then? The church is made up of true born again Christians that are currently in God’s kingdom and their main purpose is to bring God’s kingdom down to earth. God’s church is not something visible to the naked eye, because God’s church is totally spiritual. Anytime God’s church is present, then people will see the results of God’s kingdom in the good works performed through His witnesses. God’s church has been given the charge to make sure that God’s “Will” is done on earth as it is in heaven. It is not God’s will that His laws be obeyed only as long as we can do them by obeying the laws of the land. God’s church only obeys God’s commands (the laws of His kingdom); because God’s commands will always supersede man’s laws. The reason for this is, if any of man’s laws conflict with God’s laws, then they are evil and must be overruled and thrown out of any Christian’s way of life. Any evil law(s) that man may make might be allowed for a time in the non-Christian’s life or a whole nation that is lost, but they can never be allowed for anyone that is in His kingdom.
So who is it that makes up God’s kingdom? It is prophets, because everyone in God’s kingdom is a prophet to a certain extent, because they all proclaim God’s truth, which has been opened up to them by the Holy Spirit. There are also preachers, because everyone in God’s kingdom is a preacher to a certain extent, because they all preach the good news of Christ. There are pastors, because everyone in His kingdom is a pastor to a certain extent, because they all take on the responsibility for God’s flock. Everybody in God’s kingdom are also teachers, because they all teach of God’s kingdom and mentor others about God and how to be Christ like. Last, but not least, everybody in God’s kingdom loves God and others in everything they think and do.
If we are to be called God’s church, than nothing can stand in the way of bringing and doing His kingdom here on earth. There can be no man made laws that regulate God’s kingdom, so there is no man made laws that have dominion over God’s kingdom. If we are instructed by our government’s laws to go against God’s kingdom and accept something evil as good, then we are to break that law. If the state says we cannot preach politics and/or reveal what candidate(s) are evil or good, then we are to break those laws and suffer losing the tax exempt status and/or be willing to go to jail for proclaiming God’s truth. If man’s laws say we cannot speak against homosexual and gay behavior, because that is deemed hate speech, we are to speak out on it anyway and call it the evil that it is. If any church is not willing to do these things and go against the laws of man when God’s laws and ways are in conflict with man’s laws, then that church body is not part of God’s kingdom. Man’s laws don’t rule God’s kingdom, instead God’s kingdom must be the rule of man.
If there are laws that take the place of God and give any human being the right to take a life that God has created, just because it is not totally formed yet, born yet, or it is not deemed worthy of living anymore, then we must call that law evil and not abide by that law. We must not only not abide by this law; we must fight against the ruling powers making these laws. Anyone promoting laws like this, we must call them out for who they are and call them evil and of the devil. God is not politically correct. With God, either it is His way or it is deemed evil and of the devil.
If any person, company, or state institution is rejecting God, His Son, or His ways, we must try to lovingly correct them, but if they still reject God, then we must reject them until they repent and come back to God. We must love them, but we cannot accept those that are evil and let them infect the body of Christ. If we continue to support the evil of man, instead of fight the evil and promote God’s kingdom, then we are not of God’s church. As a nation, we have already let to many ungodly laws and beliefs of man infect our church organizations and now they affect what we preach, teach, and how we run “church business”. This has turned into a cancer that has crippled the effectiveness of God’s Word. So anyone proclaiming and making these evil laws, we must not support with any funds or resources God has entrusted to us, which is everything. This includes the governments of our land. This is where the rubber meets the road for most people, because doing something about this requires a lifestyle change. Are we going to keep paying taxes and support an evil empire of the devil that will grow and cause more souls to be lost, or are we going to find ways to support God’s kingdom instead. If you make to much money where it causes you to pay taxes that in turn create more evil, are you willing to work less and/or make less money so you pay little or no money in taxes and stop promoting these evil causes? Maybe you could work the same, but give a lot more of your earned money to good Christian organizations as a donation and pay less or no taxes that way. Maybe we could all work less, live on less money and give a lot more of our time to God’s work. You could decide to stop working for money and go into full time work for God’s glory and depend on God to supply all your needs. Maybe you need to find a different job, because you work for one of these evil companies or governments and then get a new job that will please God instead of supporting an evil entity. There are a lot of options and if you pray about it, I am sure God and you can be creative and figure something out. Some might say; but you don’t understand, I have too many payments and obligations to pay for, I can’t earn less than I do now. Then get rid of the obligations that hold you to this evil system. Sell your house and get a smaller house, or sell your car(s) and drive older model cars. You will probably have to dig into your savings and stocks or use the asset value of a home you need to sell, so you have money to supply for your needs. I know many of you had retirement plans for this money, but that has all changed now. Our retirement is not going to be from our money or things, because God is our retirement. You might have to forfeit your children’s college education for now so you don’t have to be locked into this evil system. The way it is currently going, a college education will not be worth much anyway. People with college educations aren’t even being hired into non-educated positions, because there are not enough jobs anymore, unless you want them to work in the devil’s system. If we are unwilling to do these things for God’s kingdom, because we are unwilling to let go of these things and/or our way of life, then this should convince you that you are not in God’s kingdom, but a person taking part and enjoying the devil’s kingdom.
Our education system has been corrupted to the core and can no longer be used to educate our children for a Godly life. Even though there are some Christians still trying to make a godly difference, the evil is overwhelming any of the goodness of God still left in the public education systems. The public education systems are one of the major tools of the devil to indoctrinate our children into his evil world. It is not just the evil that the governments are making the teachers teach, but also the evil environment of our children’s peers. In today’s system, if our children are in public school and want to have friends, then the children have no choice but to accept and take part in this evil environment. The evil extremists have succeeded in making what used to be something good and turning it into an evil training place of the devil. If we want our children to have any chance of joining the kingdom of God, then we must take them out of this evil environment and teach them about God, His ways, and the life basics at home. If our children are educated in the world’s ways and they acquire more knowledge, but lose their souls to the devil, then all is lost and we have then failed at our mission of bringing up our children in the ways of the Lord.
It is up to the real church of God, the people in God’s kingdom, to do God’s work here on earth. It is true that God’s church is probably just a remnant of what we thought it was, but even God’s first church started out with only 12 disciples. Over time we have lost a lot of the church that could have been realized, but it is also true that in time we can once again make the church glorious to God and overflowing with true spiritual growth.
This is to be a hard and long spiritual war against evil and we need to acknowledge that we must be the warriors for God. This will be the time in our life where we show our true colors. Which side are we really on? Are we going to be cowards and shrink back from what God is calling all of us to do, or are we going to put on the full armor of God and fight for His glory and righteousness? We need to be warriors for God’s kingdom alone. We need to realize that the life we thought we were going to have is no longer in our future, because of the effects of our nation’s sins, but we must fight for God’s glory and for the ones that come after us. Like at the birth of our nation, we now need to fight again for the values and morals that we were founded on, which is God’s love and His righteousness. If our children and grandchildren are going to have any possibilities of the freedoms to worship our Lord the way He requires to be worshiped, then we must fight for God’s righteousness now. For anyone that dedicates them selves to God and this spiritual war, they will have victory, because the victory will come from the Lord.
If any people in a church organization say they are a part of God’s kingdom, then they will need to act like heavenly kingdom disciples and reject any and all evil beliefs and ways. There are only two spiritual kingdoms and we all belong to only one of them. Our devotion to our kingdom and king will help us all see which one we belong to.
The time for cheering from the side lines are over, we need to all get into the war,
Michael W Reid
So why do our church leaders and all of us that are supposed to belong to these churches let the laws of the state interfere with God’s laws, commandments, and freedoms. Why don’t we take advantage of God’s freedom to proclaim God’s truth over any other laws that are in conflict with the commandments of God? Why have the churches of our nation submitted to the laws of the land instead of the laws of God? It is because we have become cowards and greedy to keep the business of the church growing, instead of keeping God’s kingdom growing.
One of the big reasons for this is the misunderstanding of what the church really is. The church is not the business operations of the church. It is not the building believers gather at. It is not a certain denomination. It is not where we tithe to. It is not where we hear the Word of God spoken, but from whom God’s Word is spoken. It is not where we come to grow in the Word of God. So what is it then? The church is made up of true born again Christians that are currently in God’s kingdom and their main purpose is to bring God’s kingdom down to earth. God’s church is not something visible to the naked eye, because God’s church is totally spiritual. Anytime God’s church is present, then people will see the results of God’s kingdom in the good works performed through His witnesses. God’s church has been given the charge to make sure that God’s “Will” is done on earth as it is in heaven. It is not God’s will that His laws be obeyed only as long as we can do them by obeying the laws of the land. God’s church only obeys God’s commands (the laws of His kingdom); because God’s commands will always supersede man’s laws. The reason for this is, if any of man’s laws conflict with God’s laws, then they are evil and must be overruled and thrown out of any Christian’s way of life. Any evil law(s) that man may make might be allowed for a time in the non-Christian’s life or a whole nation that is lost, but they can never be allowed for anyone that is in His kingdom.
So who is it that makes up God’s kingdom? It is prophets, because everyone in God’s kingdom is a prophet to a certain extent, because they all proclaim God’s truth, which has been opened up to them by the Holy Spirit. There are also preachers, because everyone in God’s kingdom is a preacher to a certain extent, because they all preach the good news of Christ. There are pastors, because everyone in His kingdom is a pastor to a certain extent, because they all take on the responsibility for God’s flock. Everybody in God’s kingdom are also teachers, because they all teach of God’s kingdom and mentor others about God and how to be Christ like. Last, but not least, everybody in God’s kingdom loves God and others in everything they think and do.
If we are to be called God’s church, than nothing can stand in the way of bringing and doing His kingdom here on earth. There can be no man made laws that regulate God’s kingdom, so there is no man made laws that have dominion over God’s kingdom. If we are instructed by our government’s laws to go against God’s kingdom and accept something evil as good, then we are to break that law. If the state says we cannot preach politics and/or reveal what candidate(s) are evil or good, then we are to break those laws and suffer losing the tax exempt status and/or be willing to go to jail for proclaiming God’s truth. If man’s laws say we cannot speak against homosexual and gay behavior, because that is deemed hate speech, we are to speak out on it anyway and call it the evil that it is. If any church is not willing to do these things and go against the laws of man when God’s laws and ways are in conflict with man’s laws, then that church body is not part of God’s kingdom. Man’s laws don’t rule God’s kingdom, instead God’s kingdom must be the rule of man.
If there are laws that take the place of God and give any human being the right to take a life that God has created, just because it is not totally formed yet, born yet, or it is not deemed worthy of living anymore, then we must call that law evil and not abide by that law. We must not only not abide by this law; we must fight against the ruling powers making these laws. Anyone promoting laws like this, we must call them out for who they are and call them evil and of the devil. God is not politically correct. With God, either it is His way or it is deemed evil and of the devil.
If any person, company, or state institution is rejecting God, His Son, or His ways, we must try to lovingly correct them, but if they still reject God, then we must reject them until they repent and come back to God. We must love them, but we cannot accept those that are evil and let them infect the body of Christ. If we continue to support the evil of man, instead of fight the evil and promote God’s kingdom, then we are not of God’s church. As a nation, we have already let to many ungodly laws and beliefs of man infect our church organizations and now they affect what we preach, teach, and how we run “church business”. This has turned into a cancer that has crippled the effectiveness of God’s Word. So anyone proclaiming and making these evil laws, we must not support with any funds or resources God has entrusted to us, which is everything. This includes the governments of our land. This is where the rubber meets the road for most people, because doing something about this requires a lifestyle change. Are we going to keep paying taxes and support an evil empire of the devil that will grow and cause more souls to be lost, or are we going to find ways to support God’s kingdom instead. If you make to much money where it causes you to pay taxes that in turn create more evil, are you willing to work less and/or make less money so you pay little or no money in taxes and stop promoting these evil causes? Maybe you could work the same, but give a lot more of your earned money to good Christian organizations as a donation and pay less or no taxes that way. Maybe we could all work less, live on less money and give a lot more of our time to God’s work. You could decide to stop working for money and go into full time work for God’s glory and depend on God to supply all your needs. Maybe you need to find a different job, because you work for one of these evil companies or governments and then get a new job that will please God instead of supporting an evil entity. There are a lot of options and if you pray about it, I am sure God and you can be creative and figure something out. Some might say; but you don’t understand, I have too many payments and obligations to pay for, I can’t earn less than I do now. Then get rid of the obligations that hold you to this evil system. Sell your house and get a smaller house, or sell your car(s) and drive older model cars. You will probably have to dig into your savings and stocks or use the asset value of a home you need to sell, so you have money to supply for your needs. I know many of you had retirement plans for this money, but that has all changed now. Our retirement is not going to be from our money or things, because God is our retirement. You might have to forfeit your children’s college education for now so you don’t have to be locked into this evil system. The way it is currently going, a college education will not be worth much anyway. People with college educations aren’t even being hired into non-educated positions, because there are not enough jobs anymore, unless you want them to work in the devil’s system. If we are unwilling to do these things for God’s kingdom, because we are unwilling to let go of these things and/or our way of life, then this should convince you that you are not in God’s kingdom, but a person taking part and enjoying the devil’s kingdom.
Our education system has been corrupted to the core and can no longer be used to educate our children for a Godly life. Even though there are some Christians still trying to make a godly difference, the evil is overwhelming any of the goodness of God still left in the public education systems. The public education systems are one of the major tools of the devil to indoctrinate our children into his evil world. It is not just the evil that the governments are making the teachers teach, but also the evil environment of our children’s peers. In today’s system, if our children are in public school and want to have friends, then the children have no choice but to accept and take part in this evil environment. The evil extremists have succeeded in making what used to be something good and turning it into an evil training place of the devil. If we want our children to have any chance of joining the kingdom of God, then we must take them out of this evil environment and teach them about God, His ways, and the life basics at home. If our children are educated in the world’s ways and they acquire more knowledge, but lose their souls to the devil, then all is lost and we have then failed at our mission of bringing up our children in the ways of the Lord.
It is up to the real church of God, the people in God’s kingdom, to do God’s work here on earth. It is true that God’s church is probably just a remnant of what we thought it was, but even God’s first church started out with only 12 disciples. Over time we have lost a lot of the church that could have been realized, but it is also true that in time we can once again make the church glorious to God and overflowing with true spiritual growth.
This is to be a hard and long spiritual war against evil and we need to acknowledge that we must be the warriors for God. This will be the time in our life where we show our true colors. Which side are we really on? Are we going to be cowards and shrink back from what God is calling all of us to do, or are we going to put on the full armor of God and fight for His glory and righteousness? We need to be warriors for God’s kingdom alone. We need to realize that the life we thought we were going to have is no longer in our future, because of the effects of our nation’s sins, but we must fight for God’s glory and for the ones that come after us. Like at the birth of our nation, we now need to fight again for the values and morals that we were founded on, which is God’s love and His righteousness. If our children and grandchildren are going to have any possibilities of the freedoms to worship our Lord the way He requires to be worshiped, then we must fight for God’s righteousness now. For anyone that dedicates them selves to God and this spiritual war, they will have victory, because the victory will come from the Lord.
If any people in a church organization say they are a part of God’s kingdom, then they will need to act like heavenly kingdom disciples and reject any and all evil beliefs and ways. There are only two spiritual kingdoms and we all belong to only one of them. Our devotion to our kingdom and king will help us all see which one we belong to.
The time for cheering from the side lines are over, we need to all get into the war,
Michael W Reid
Friday, August 21, 2009
Getting to the Truth
Hello my fellow citizens,
I have heard reports that about 70% to 80% of the people in the United States claim that they are Christian. How is that possible when the United States has become so evil as a whole. If this statistic was right, we would not be having all the problems we are currently having.
I think it is time to stop soft shoeing around the issue of who is a Christian and who isn’t. Even though the definition of a Christian has been blurred by man’s understanding, God’s definition of a true born again Christian is very clear in His Word. Below are some biblical verses and questions to help you determine if you are a believer and where you are in your walk with God. This is an evaluation for yourself and on yourself.
First Question:
Do you believe in God and that Jesus His Son died on the cross for all our sins, and that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and is now our holy spiritual High Priest?
If you answered YES to this question, then go to question 2.
If you don’t believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ, then you should stop here and delete this email.
Second Question:
Do you believe that the Bible (the King James Version from the original Greek and Hebrew) is God’s infallible Word of God and that His Word doesn’t contradict itself?
If you answered YES to this question, then go to question 3.
If you answered NO, then you are not a Christian and should not call yourself one. If anyone believes they are a Christian, but they don’t believe God’s Word is all true, then you have no real belief in God and also no basis to evaluate your beliefs and/or morals to live by. Like many others, you have beliefs, but they could be based on anything, and they probably are. You should stop here and delete this email.
Third Question:
Have you given every part of your life over to God?
Luke 14:26-27 - If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple . And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:33 - In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
Rom 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
James 4:4 - Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Have you already killed all your selfishness or are you working intensely to die to all your selfish sinful ways? Have you or are you currently striving intensely to put Jesus (God) as Lord over every aspect of your life? Are you unwilling to accept any unrighteousness in your life?
If you answered YES to all these questions above, then go to question 4.
If you answered NO to any of the questions above, then you are not a mature Christian or a true Son of God yet, because you haven’t let go of some of your evil ways. You evidently have some belief and faith in God, but not the full belief and faith required for maturity. You can be considered a baby Christian that still feeds on spiritual milk. If are not a new Christian and you have considered yourself a Christian for awhile now, then you should really take a closer look at your current beliefs. God accepts us in the condition we are at when we first came to Him, but God expects you to keep growing ever like Him.
Matt 12:50 - For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
Rev 21:7 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
If anyone doesn’t agree with any of these verses or think that you don’t have to give up all and be willing to kill all of your selfishness to be a mature Christian, then you probably don’t believe in God’s Word. If this is the case, stop here and go back to question 2.
Fourth Question:
Has God fully filled you with His Holy Spirit and His love where you no longer sin? Has God’s love fully taken over all your desires where you no longer desire sin, but only desire good and God’s righteousness?
1 John 3:9 - Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. NKJV
1 John 5:4 - For everyone born of God overcomes the world.
1 John 5:18 - We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. NKJV
2 Cor 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
1 John 5:3-4 - And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
Have you come to this point in your salvation, where you no longer sin? Are you now living in the power of God’s love alone? Have you been born of God?
If you answered YES to the above questions, then you are truly a born again Christian. God’s grace and your persistence for His righteousness have resulted in a true Christ like being. Congratulations on your overcoming, your son ship, and your inheritance into God’s kingdom. Please go on to the “We are the light” section below.
A person that has been born of God no longer sins against God’s will. Some people might have a problem believing this, but this is what God’s Word clearly says. If you have a problem believing these scriptures, then stop here and go back to question 2.
We Are The Light:
The few of us that have got this far, we must now understand that we have to be God’s main and brightest lights for Him. We must be bold for God’s glory and bold for the benefit of others that might eventually search or are searching for God’s righteousness. If there is going to be any hope for our country and/or world, we must not shrink back from our callings and use the mighty gifts that God has given us to do His work. God has released us from our internal spiritual war within ourselves to fight the battle out in the world for His glory. We are the ones that are now a slave to God’s righteousness and actually love being in bondage of doing His work. We have been given so much more of God’s Holy Spirit because we have been found worthy. Because God has given us much more, God also expects much more from us. We are called and have been freed to serve God and do His work alone. We are God’s elect to do His mighty works, with God’s grace let us be worthy of Him.
God’s blessings,
Michael W Reid
I have heard reports that about 70% to 80% of the people in the United States claim that they are Christian. How is that possible when the United States has become so evil as a whole. If this statistic was right, we would not be having all the problems we are currently having.
I think it is time to stop soft shoeing around the issue of who is a Christian and who isn’t. Even though the definition of a Christian has been blurred by man’s understanding, God’s definition of a true born again Christian is very clear in His Word. Below are some biblical verses and questions to help you determine if you are a believer and where you are in your walk with God. This is an evaluation for yourself and on yourself.
First Question:
Do you believe in God and that Jesus His Son died on the cross for all our sins, and that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and is now our holy spiritual High Priest?
If you answered YES to this question, then go to question 2.
If you don’t believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ, then you should stop here and delete this email.
Second Question:
Do you believe that the Bible (the King James Version from the original Greek and Hebrew) is God’s infallible Word of God and that His Word doesn’t contradict itself?
If you answered YES to this question, then go to question 3.
If you answered NO, then you are not a Christian and should not call yourself one. If anyone believes they are a Christian, but they don’t believe God’s Word is all true, then you have no real belief in God and also no basis to evaluate your beliefs and/or morals to live by. Like many others, you have beliefs, but they could be based on anything, and they probably are. You should stop here and delete this email.
Third Question:
Have you given every part of your life over to God?
Luke 14:26-27 - If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple . And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:33 - In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
Rom 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
James 4:4 - Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Have you already killed all your selfishness or are you working intensely to die to all your selfish sinful ways? Have you or are you currently striving intensely to put Jesus (God) as Lord over every aspect of your life? Are you unwilling to accept any unrighteousness in your life?
If you answered YES to all these questions above, then go to question 4.
If you answered NO to any of the questions above, then you are not a mature Christian or a true Son of God yet, because you haven’t let go of some of your evil ways. You evidently have some belief and faith in God, but not the full belief and faith required for maturity. You can be considered a baby Christian that still feeds on spiritual milk. If are not a new Christian and you have considered yourself a Christian for awhile now, then you should really take a closer look at your current beliefs. God accepts us in the condition we are at when we first came to Him, but God expects you to keep growing ever like Him.
Matt 12:50 - For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
Rev 21:7 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
If anyone doesn’t agree with any of these verses or think that you don’t have to give up all and be willing to kill all of your selfishness to be a mature Christian, then you probably don’t believe in God’s Word. If this is the case, stop here and go back to question 2.
Fourth Question:
Has God fully filled you with His Holy Spirit and His love where you no longer sin? Has God’s love fully taken over all your desires where you no longer desire sin, but only desire good and God’s righteousness?
1 John 3:9 - Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. NKJV
1 John 5:4 - For everyone born of God overcomes the world.
1 John 5:18 - We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. NKJV
2 Cor 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
1 John 5:3-4 - And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
Have you come to this point in your salvation, where you no longer sin? Are you now living in the power of God’s love alone? Have you been born of God?
If you answered YES to the above questions, then you are truly a born again Christian. God’s grace and your persistence for His righteousness have resulted in a true Christ like being. Congratulations on your overcoming, your son ship, and your inheritance into God’s kingdom. Please go on to the “We are the light” section below.
A person that has been born of God no longer sins against God’s will. Some people might have a problem believing this, but this is what God’s Word clearly says. If you have a problem believing these scriptures, then stop here and go back to question 2.
We Are The Light:
The few of us that have got this far, we must now understand that we have to be God’s main and brightest lights for Him. We must be bold for God’s glory and bold for the benefit of others that might eventually search or are searching for God’s righteousness. If there is going to be any hope for our country and/or world, we must not shrink back from our callings and use the mighty gifts that God has given us to do His work. God has released us from our internal spiritual war within ourselves to fight the battle out in the world for His glory. We are the ones that are now a slave to God’s righteousness and actually love being in bondage of doing His work. We have been given so much more of God’s Holy Spirit because we have been found worthy. Because God has given us much more, God also expects much more from us. We are called and have been freed to serve God and do His work alone. We are God’s elect to do His mighty works, with God’s grace let us be worthy of Him.
God’s blessings,
Michael W Reid
God to god
Hello fellow citizens,
Over the years we have seen our country go from a nation under God, to a nation of gods. We have evolved our country from a nation with a government serving God and His people to having a government being a collective of the people in order to serve ourselves. We have rejected God and made for ourselves a new god. Our government is now our country’s new god.
So why did we go from one God to another god? The reason for this is that everyone needs a god. We were all created to have a god. Through out history this is why you will see every nation, tribe, and people search out a god or gods of their choice. The reasons why everyone needs a god is the subject I would like to discuss. There are a few reasons why we all need and search out a god of our choice. The first reason is that people end up realizing that they are not in control of their environment and people around them. We all search out the comfort of a higher authority that is in control. The second reason comes out of the fact that most of us want this higher authority, which is in control, to bless us so that all our selfish desires and requirements will be met. The third reason is the one we see the least of. It is to search out God and His righteousness so we can have and then live by His righteousness. This last reason is why any true Christian will search out the true God, but our country has not decided to go the way of righteousness. Our country has chosen a god that will take control and will give them the freedom to live a life of sin and not have to suffer for the consequences of their sin, or so they believe. People think this new god of our nation’s choosing will provide the eventual utopia to fulfill their most selfish wants. They don’t realize that the lusts of our selfishness can never be quenched. There are still a few people that want righteousness, but since their numbers have become the minority, the majority of the unrighteous people’s voice has spoken. Whether you and I asked for this change, we are all included as the people of this nation. Even though we are a few, we make up a part of the whole. So when I talk about “us” or “we” as a nation, I am talking about our nation as a whole.
There is a realization that when people have to associate with other people, we will need to have some higher governing authority to make rules for everyone to live by. We have transformed our government into this higher authority. We used to have God as our higher authority, but His commandments were too restrictive, so now we have made our government the higher power to represent and rule the collective. As long as a person lives physically on this earth, they will need rules of a higher authority to live by, so people will be restricted in acting out the full extent of their selfishness, where they would cause to much negative consequences to others. We have realized that a higher authority other then ourselves needs to provide this balance, so each person’s evil desires is regulated. To live in a society, the society as a whole must live by the same rules and values or else chaos erupts. As long as there is selfishness, their must be laws and rules. If we lived by God’s love and not by selfishness, there would be no need for laws, rules, or enforcement of any laws and rules. The path our country has chosen to live by is the way of selfishness, so we will need a lot of laws and rules. We are wanting a world free of the consequences of our selfish sin, but as long as there is sin, their will have to be laws, rules, and consequences.
Our nation no longer accepts that God is the one that defines what is right and wrong, but man, because we have decided that right and wrong are relative when it comes to the time line, people’s acceptance, and circumstances. As our acceptance of sin and circumstances change, we needed a god that will change the rules as needed. We needed a government that would decide what was best for the people based on what the people wanted.
We used to have a constitution based on God’s morals, but now we have chosen to make our own rules. This is why we needed to change our government from the old Godly ways to a new way “we the people” agree on as a whole. We now have a government that is no longer restricted by God’s morals and commandments, but a government that much more matches the wishes of the people. You have heard our government leaders say “we are not a Christian nation, but a nation of many beliefs”. This is the path we have chosen.
We have also given our government the power to make sure everyone has the freedom of free speech as long as it doesn’t go against the ideals and the progressive movements of the day. If freedom of speech was not limited, which seems like an oxymoron statement, there would be to much hurt feelings and people taking actions into their own hands and possibly causing dissention between people with different beliefs. We have let our nation be infected with many ungodly beliefs, so now we have more laws and rules to live by. These new laws have been enacted to protect these other ungodly beliefs. This cancer has now taken over and protected itself from the beliefs of our real Christian heritage. Anyone that chooses to oppose this cancer and speak out about Jesus Christ and their Christian beliefs will now be heavily persecuted. The God of heaven says: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matt 10:32-33. So it is up to each one of us to determine if we will be acknowledged or disowned by the God of heaven. The God of heaven also says: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Rev 21:8. If a person says they believe in God and His Son, but is unwilling to fight for God’s truth and His righteousness, then they will be treated as an unbeliever. There is no middle of the road position you can take when it comes to believing in the God of heaven. If you are one of the unbelievers that want this new god of selfishness or you are too cowardly to stand up for God and His truth, then you will not be acknowledged by the God of heaven and you will be disowned as belonging to Him.
We have also given the responsibility to teach our children values and morals to our government. They are teaching our children the new ways and how to depend on our new god for all their needs. We have accepted that the old ways that the older generation grew up with were actually outdated and what they believed must have been a lie. The government has made sure to correct any history books about any facts that they don’t want our children to know, because some of the original writings might start them thinking the Godly way again. Our government is teaching our children to understand that they are finally being taught the truth and that children now know more than the parents.
With our new god, the nation can feel at ease and accept people no matter what their sexual preference is. With our old God, these unacceptable people had to stay in the closet with their secrets, but now almost everything is acceptable and they are free at last to feel normal. What used to be unacceptable is now the norm of the day. Previously, sex out of marriage was looked down upon, but now is encouraged by our society. Even marriage is considered old fashion and unnecessary by some. Instead of trying to keep pornography hidden and out of site of young eyes, our new god promotes this evil for the money making possibilities and is figuring out how to tax it. Our government no longer wants to stop sin, but wants to tax it. There are a few issues that our society still looks down on, like having sex with children, but I am confident that in time, this will be totally open and acceptable too. With this new god, the rules can change to suit the acceptance of the people.
This new god we have created is thought by some that it should eventually stop all stealing since the government will make everybody share everything they have with everyone else. If someone has too much, depending on what our government determines, they will take it from the rich and give it to the poor. Theoretically the poor will have no more reason to steal, because all their needs will be met by our new god.
People have been convinced that our new god can bring heaven down to earth. If everyone would just share everything with each other, then everyone would be happy and content, at least that is the goal of our government. This is not a new idea, some very Godly and Christian people in the first church times tried this. It was a big success for everyone that actually shared and loved everyone else in the group, but it didn’t turn out so good for two people, a husband and wife. This husband and wife sold their land and decided to keep part of the money for them selves. When it was brought to their attention by the elders of the group, God’s Spirit killed them on the spot. In the future, it will be interesting to see if our new god will take upon themselves the place of the real God and kill anyone when they don’t want to share? After all we have given our new god the right to say who lives and who dies. We have also given our god the right to judge who actually is a human being and who isn’t - by their own understanding. We have decided as a nation that there really isn’t a spiritual God, so we now need to handle these issues of the power over life and death to our own understanding. It will all come down to, what is the value of that life to society and how much productivity is left in that person’s life for the benefit of the collective.
Our old God said that “It shall be done on earth as it is in heaven”. I wonder if making people give to people they don’t want to give to will be like heaven. I wonder what this new heaven on earth will be without God’s love as the works behind the giving. Could we really have a heaven on earth without the God of heaven?
At the end of the day, when we die and we are no longer part of this so called “earthly heaven”, then everybody will find out if there really is a spiritual God. If the God of heaven actually ends up being real, will it be good enough to say that we were a law abiding citizen of this sinful world? Will Jesus accept us into His heaven after we have rejected His way, His truth, and His light? Jesus calls us to be courageous and to live for His glory. There are no cowards in heaven!
It is time to think hard on what you believe,
Michael W Reid
Over the years we have seen our country go from a nation under God, to a nation of gods. We have evolved our country from a nation with a government serving God and His people to having a government being a collective of the people in order to serve ourselves. We have rejected God and made for ourselves a new god. Our government is now our country’s new god.
So why did we go from one God to another god? The reason for this is that everyone needs a god. We were all created to have a god. Through out history this is why you will see every nation, tribe, and people search out a god or gods of their choice. The reasons why everyone needs a god is the subject I would like to discuss. There are a few reasons why we all need and search out a god of our choice. The first reason is that people end up realizing that they are not in control of their environment and people around them. We all search out the comfort of a higher authority that is in control. The second reason comes out of the fact that most of us want this higher authority, which is in control, to bless us so that all our selfish desires and requirements will be met. The third reason is the one we see the least of. It is to search out God and His righteousness so we can have and then live by His righteousness. This last reason is why any true Christian will search out the true God, but our country has not decided to go the way of righteousness. Our country has chosen a god that will take control and will give them the freedom to live a life of sin and not have to suffer for the consequences of their sin, or so they believe. People think this new god of our nation’s choosing will provide the eventual utopia to fulfill their most selfish wants. They don’t realize that the lusts of our selfishness can never be quenched. There are still a few people that want righteousness, but since their numbers have become the minority, the majority of the unrighteous people’s voice has spoken. Whether you and I asked for this change, we are all included as the people of this nation. Even though we are a few, we make up a part of the whole. So when I talk about “us” or “we” as a nation, I am talking about our nation as a whole.
There is a realization that when people have to associate with other people, we will need to have some higher governing authority to make rules for everyone to live by. We have transformed our government into this higher authority. We used to have God as our higher authority, but His commandments were too restrictive, so now we have made our government the higher power to represent and rule the collective. As long as a person lives physically on this earth, they will need rules of a higher authority to live by, so people will be restricted in acting out the full extent of their selfishness, where they would cause to much negative consequences to others. We have realized that a higher authority other then ourselves needs to provide this balance, so each person’s evil desires is regulated. To live in a society, the society as a whole must live by the same rules and values or else chaos erupts. As long as there is selfishness, their must be laws and rules. If we lived by God’s love and not by selfishness, there would be no need for laws, rules, or enforcement of any laws and rules. The path our country has chosen to live by is the way of selfishness, so we will need a lot of laws and rules. We are wanting a world free of the consequences of our selfish sin, but as long as there is sin, their will have to be laws, rules, and consequences.
Our nation no longer accepts that God is the one that defines what is right and wrong, but man, because we have decided that right and wrong are relative when it comes to the time line, people’s acceptance, and circumstances. As our acceptance of sin and circumstances change, we needed a god that will change the rules as needed. We needed a government that would decide what was best for the people based on what the people wanted.
We used to have a constitution based on God’s morals, but now we have chosen to make our own rules. This is why we needed to change our government from the old Godly ways to a new way “we the people” agree on as a whole. We now have a government that is no longer restricted by God’s morals and commandments, but a government that much more matches the wishes of the people. You have heard our government leaders say “we are not a Christian nation, but a nation of many beliefs”. This is the path we have chosen.
We have also given our government the power to make sure everyone has the freedom of free speech as long as it doesn’t go against the ideals and the progressive movements of the day. If freedom of speech was not limited, which seems like an oxymoron statement, there would be to much hurt feelings and people taking actions into their own hands and possibly causing dissention between people with different beliefs. We have let our nation be infected with many ungodly beliefs, so now we have more laws and rules to live by. These new laws have been enacted to protect these other ungodly beliefs. This cancer has now taken over and protected itself from the beliefs of our real Christian heritage. Anyone that chooses to oppose this cancer and speak out about Jesus Christ and their Christian beliefs will now be heavily persecuted. The God of heaven says: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matt 10:32-33. So it is up to each one of us to determine if we will be acknowledged or disowned by the God of heaven. The God of heaven also says: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Rev 21:8. If a person says they believe in God and His Son, but is unwilling to fight for God’s truth and His righteousness, then they will be treated as an unbeliever. There is no middle of the road position you can take when it comes to believing in the God of heaven. If you are one of the unbelievers that want this new god of selfishness or you are too cowardly to stand up for God and His truth, then you will not be acknowledged by the God of heaven and you will be disowned as belonging to Him.
We have also given the responsibility to teach our children values and morals to our government. They are teaching our children the new ways and how to depend on our new god for all their needs. We have accepted that the old ways that the older generation grew up with were actually outdated and what they believed must have been a lie. The government has made sure to correct any history books about any facts that they don’t want our children to know, because some of the original writings might start them thinking the Godly way again. Our government is teaching our children to understand that they are finally being taught the truth and that children now know more than the parents.
With our new god, the nation can feel at ease and accept people no matter what their sexual preference is. With our old God, these unacceptable people had to stay in the closet with their secrets, but now almost everything is acceptable and they are free at last to feel normal. What used to be unacceptable is now the norm of the day. Previously, sex out of marriage was looked down upon, but now is encouraged by our society. Even marriage is considered old fashion and unnecessary by some. Instead of trying to keep pornography hidden and out of site of young eyes, our new god promotes this evil for the money making possibilities and is figuring out how to tax it. Our government no longer wants to stop sin, but wants to tax it. There are a few issues that our society still looks down on, like having sex with children, but I am confident that in time, this will be totally open and acceptable too. With this new god, the rules can change to suit the acceptance of the people.
This new god we have created is thought by some that it should eventually stop all stealing since the government will make everybody share everything they have with everyone else. If someone has too much, depending on what our government determines, they will take it from the rich and give it to the poor. Theoretically the poor will have no more reason to steal, because all their needs will be met by our new god.
People have been convinced that our new god can bring heaven down to earth. If everyone would just share everything with each other, then everyone would be happy and content, at least that is the goal of our government. This is not a new idea, some very Godly and Christian people in the first church times tried this. It was a big success for everyone that actually shared and loved everyone else in the group, but it didn’t turn out so good for two people, a husband and wife. This husband and wife sold their land and decided to keep part of the money for them selves. When it was brought to their attention by the elders of the group, God’s Spirit killed them on the spot. In the future, it will be interesting to see if our new god will take upon themselves the place of the real God and kill anyone when they don’t want to share? After all we have given our new god the right to say who lives and who dies. We have also given our god the right to judge who actually is a human being and who isn’t - by their own understanding. We have decided as a nation that there really isn’t a spiritual God, so we now need to handle these issues of the power over life and death to our own understanding. It will all come down to, what is the value of that life to society and how much productivity is left in that person’s life for the benefit of the collective.
Our old God said that “It shall be done on earth as it is in heaven”. I wonder if making people give to people they don’t want to give to will be like heaven. I wonder what this new heaven on earth will be without God’s love as the works behind the giving. Could we really have a heaven on earth without the God of heaven?
At the end of the day, when we die and we are no longer part of this so called “earthly heaven”, then everybody will find out if there really is a spiritual God. If the God of heaven actually ends up being real, will it be good enough to say that we were a law abiding citizen of this sinful world? Will Jesus accept us into His heaven after we have rejected His way, His truth, and His light? Jesus calls us to be courageous and to live for His glory. There are no cowards in heaven!
It is time to think hard on what you believe,
Michael W Reid
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Deception #3
The other night, as I was sleeping, the Lord sent me a very short message in a dream. I could hear someone saying “the abomination in the holy place”. This was repeated around two to three times. At the very same time I was hearing this, I also knew the exact meaning of it – at least what the Lord wanted me to understand. The understanding the Lord gave me in this dream was – the holy place represents the Truth and the abomination are the lies that are now in the Truth’s place. I immediately woke up and thought how true this was for the current world we live in. The next morning I looked up the book of Daniel – for he prophesied about the abomination in the holy place.
Dan 11:31-32 - And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong. NKJV
This abomination in the holy place and the taking away of the daily sacrifices physically happened in the first church times – around 70 AD by Nero. But in our time this is happening spiritually instead of physically. We are all called by God to be living sacrifices for Him. We must all sacrifice our flesh daily by being obedient to His will – out of our total love for Him.
Through the ages we have replaced the holy truth with lies. We have turned His truth into an abomination to God by adding and subtracting from God’s Word. Now most believe that we can have eternal life as sons of God without sacrificing ourselves to God’s righteousness. There is now an understanding that we don’t have to be obedient – because obedience would be works, and we are not saved by our works - so most have stopped their salvation walk in their tracks and have not become living sacrifices for our Lord.
Deception #3
The devil has been very proficient in promoting this lie – that we don’t have to sacrifice and be obedient to God’s will. Most associate sacrifice and obedience with works and because we aren’t saved by works, they then are then not required to have works. Because of this, people have decided that they will take the easy route and have salvation without having to sacrifice their current easy life style. There will be no picking up their cross – because it’s not needed. Why have people believed this – because we want to believe it. Our human nature (selfish nature) has fallen into the devil’s traps again.
While it is true that we can’t earn our salvation by works, it is also true that if we don’t have works; our faith in God is dead.
James 2:17 - Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. NKJV
James 2:19-20 - You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? NKJV
If a man says he has faith in God and has no good works, then that man is a liar.
1 John 2:3-5 - We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. NIV
Anyone that loves God will then do His will by sacrificing himself and being obedient to God’s every commandment. We show that we love God by sacrificing ourselves and doing the works that God tells us to do. Also when God commands us to do something, it will be our love for Him that empowers us to do that which he commands of us to do.
James 2:21-22 - Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? NKJV
We aren’t saved by our works, but if we refuse to sacrifice ourselves and do the works that God commands of us, then Christ is not in us and our faith is empty. And if our faith is empty, then we cannot please God.
Heb 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. NIV
Anyone not living in faith of God will not receive the rewards that God wants to give to us, which is being His son and inheriting eternal life. We must have a heart that only wants to please God to receive the honor of becoming one of His sons. Let us look into God’s Word and how God is pleased with Jesus at His baptism, and because He is pleased with Jesus, God sends the Holy Spirit to Him.
Mark 1:10-11 - As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." NIV
Jesus went through this baptism because it was to show how we would be baptized with the Holy Spirit when we became pleasing to God. We must first become pleasing to God in order for God to want to call us His sons and then baptize us with His Holy Spirit. When we first come to Christ to start our salvation walk with Him, we come as we are, but through our salvation walk with Him, He sanctifies us into someone that He is willing to call His son – if we are willing to be obedient and sacrifice ourselves to His will and purpose. So works is not needed to start your salvation walk, but good works must be the byproduct of your faith to become a son of God.
We have to stop fooling ourselves and stop listening to the devil’s lies. No matter how much we want to believe that we are secure in our eternity – if we are still not being obedient and sinning against God – we are still not of God, but of the devil. No matter how much we want to believe that our loved ones are secure in their eternity – if they are still not being obedient to God’s commandments – then they are showing God and the world that they do not love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and are not pleasing to God. A person cannot be reborn into God’s kingdom unless they are first willing to act like a son of God. No matter how much we want to believe that our loved ones which have passed away before us and want to believe they are now in heaven – if they had not come to the point of sacrificing all of them selves to God by having a totally obedient heart before they died, then they are destined to be judged into an ever lasting lake of fire. Remember God’s warning with fear and trembling.
Matt 7:13-14 - Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. NIV
In this time that we live in, where our government and people are turning to socialist ideals, where everyone should have equal portions of the wealth – even if they have not worked for it, where common sense is almost dead - these same deceptive ideals and ways of thinking have permeated our churches as well. There is now a wide spread belief “that everyone that accepts Christ as Savior will go to heaven” – whether they have sacrificed them selves for God or not. Again listen to God’s warnings.
Gal 6:7-8 - A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. NIV
What we work towards is what we will reap. If our works are to please the Spirit (God), then we will reap what the Spirit has to offer, which is eternal life. But if we work to please our own human nature, then we will reap what our selfish spirit has to offer, which is death.
Salvation is the way, but not the destination. Salvation is the way to becoming a born again Christian. The destination is to grow in Christ (through our salvation) to the point where you are born into Christ’s likeness. Jesus is our salvation from sin and Jesus is also our destination (to become like Him). He is the alpha and the omega in our salvation. Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. Jesus gives us the way as a gift. Then we must grow in Him through His truth. If we grow into a person like Him – then we will be born into His Holy Spirit. If God’s grace has made you into a pure and blameless Christ like person, then praise the Lord. But if you are one of the millions that have been fooled by the devils lies – thinking you were born again from the beginning and now realize that you aren’t, then have hope because there is all the power of God’s grace available at your disposal to become born of God - if you are willing to sacrifice and die completely to yourself.
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
Dan 11:31-32 - And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong. NKJV
This abomination in the holy place and the taking away of the daily sacrifices physically happened in the first church times – around 70 AD by Nero. But in our time this is happening spiritually instead of physically. We are all called by God to be living sacrifices for Him. We must all sacrifice our flesh daily by being obedient to His will – out of our total love for Him.
Through the ages we have replaced the holy truth with lies. We have turned His truth into an abomination to God by adding and subtracting from God’s Word. Now most believe that we can have eternal life as sons of God without sacrificing ourselves to God’s righteousness. There is now an understanding that we don’t have to be obedient – because obedience would be works, and we are not saved by our works - so most have stopped their salvation walk in their tracks and have not become living sacrifices for our Lord.
Deception #3
The devil has been very proficient in promoting this lie – that we don’t have to sacrifice and be obedient to God’s will. Most associate sacrifice and obedience with works and because we aren’t saved by works, they then are then not required to have works. Because of this, people have decided that they will take the easy route and have salvation without having to sacrifice their current easy life style. There will be no picking up their cross – because it’s not needed. Why have people believed this – because we want to believe it. Our human nature (selfish nature) has fallen into the devil’s traps again.
While it is true that we can’t earn our salvation by works, it is also true that if we don’t have works; our faith in God is dead.
James 2:17 - Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. NKJV
James 2:19-20 - You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? NKJV
If a man says he has faith in God and has no good works, then that man is a liar.
1 John 2:3-5 - We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. NIV
Anyone that loves God will then do His will by sacrificing himself and being obedient to God’s every commandment. We show that we love God by sacrificing ourselves and doing the works that God tells us to do. Also when God commands us to do something, it will be our love for Him that empowers us to do that which he commands of us to do.
James 2:21-22 - Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? NKJV
We aren’t saved by our works, but if we refuse to sacrifice ourselves and do the works that God commands of us, then Christ is not in us and our faith is empty. And if our faith is empty, then we cannot please God.
Heb 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. NIV
Anyone not living in faith of God will not receive the rewards that God wants to give to us, which is being His son and inheriting eternal life. We must have a heart that only wants to please God to receive the honor of becoming one of His sons. Let us look into God’s Word and how God is pleased with Jesus at His baptism, and because He is pleased with Jesus, God sends the Holy Spirit to Him.
Mark 1:10-11 - As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." NIV
Jesus went through this baptism because it was to show how we would be baptized with the Holy Spirit when we became pleasing to God. We must first become pleasing to God in order for God to want to call us His sons and then baptize us with His Holy Spirit. When we first come to Christ to start our salvation walk with Him, we come as we are, but through our salvation walk with Him, He sanctifies us into someone that He is willing to call His son – if we are willing to be obedient and sacrifice ourselves to His will and purpose. So works is not needed to start your salvation walk, but good works must be the byproduct of your faith to become a son of God.
We have to stop fooling ourselves and stop listening to the devil’s lies. No matter how much we want to believe that we are secure in our eternity – if we are still not being obedient and sinning against God – we are still not of God, but of the devil. No matter how much we want to believe that our loved ones are secure in their eternity – if they are still not being obedient to God’s commandments – then they are showing God and the world that they do not love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and are not pleasing to God. A person cannot be reborn into God’s kingdom unless they are first willing to act like a son of God. No matter how much we want to believe that our loved ones which have passed away before us and want to believe they are now in heaven – if they had not come to the point of sacrificing all of them selves to God by having a totally obedient heart before they died, then they are destined to be judged into an ever lasting lake of fire. Remember God’s warning with fear and trembling.
Matt 7:13-14 - Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. NIV
In this time that we live in, where our government and people are turning to socialist ideals, where everyone should have equal portions of the wealth – even if they have not worked for it, where common sense is almost dead - these same deceptive ideals and ways of thinking have permeated our churches as well. There is now a wide spread belief “that everyone that accepts Christ as Savior will go to heaven” – whether they have sacrificed them selves for God or not. Again listen to God’s warnings.
Gal 6:7-8 - A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. NIV
What we work towards is what we will reap. If our works are to please the Spirit (God), then we will reap what the Spirit has to offer, which is eternal life. But if we work to please our own human nature, then we will reap what our selfish spirit has to offer, which is death.
Salvation is the way, but not the destination. Salvation is the way to becoming a born again Christian. The destination is to grow in Christ (through our salvation) to the point where you are born into Christ’s likeness. Jesus is our salvation from sin and Jesus is also our destination (to become like Him). He is the alpha and the omega in our salvation. Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. Jesus gives us the way as a gift. Then we must grow in Him through His truth. If we grow into a person like Him – then we will be born into His Holy Spirit. If God’s grace has made you into a pure and blameless Christ like person, then praise the Lord. But if you are one of the millions that have been fooled by the devils lies – thinking you were born again from the beginning and now realize that you aren’t, then have hope because there is all the power of God’s grace available at your disposal to become born of God - if you are willing to sacrifice and die completely to yourself.
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Deception #2
Now it is time to bring to light the main deception that churches are believing and proclaiming. This lie is the main deception of the devil that has entered into our churches, because there are many other deceptions that have been created and proclaimed to keep supporting this main deception. This one lie of the devil has become the root from which a lot of other deceptions spring forth.
This one lie of the devil has become so devastating because it has become the foundational truth that most people believe in for their faith. So as I set forth to show this false truth as a lie – I know I will be shaking and/or destroying the very sandy foundations that most of our churches have belief in. It is not my intention to hurt people and make them angry, but this is what is called tough love. God doesn’t want any to perish, so He is sending me to proclaim His real truth - so that the real truth will take the place of the false truth and truly set people free.
This main deception has to do with when and how we are born again. We have been taught that everyone must be born again to have eternal life – which is correct. Where the deceptions come into play is the devil convincing us that we are born again upon our salvation (upon our first coming to Christ). No where in God’s Word does it link being saved with being born again at the same time. This is a lie and an assumption of our own selfish human reasoning to tie these two events together. Although these two events can happen at the same time if the person’s heart has been conditioned and made ready, for almost all the people in our day, they have to hard of a heart to be born again upon their moment of salvation. We see many examples in the first church times where people were born again upon their salvation, but these people were already trying to live a Godly life because of their faith and love in God. What we accept and live in now is much different then the first church times. Society has lost their love for God and we love ourselves instead. We also don’t fear God like the people in the first church times. And today our culture accepts and even promotes out of wedlock sexual activity, but back in the times of the first church people, they were stoned to death for these sins. What they understood as sins back then, the world now accepts and promotes. In the time we live in, we all collect a lot of sinful baggage that we have to get rid of before God will accept us to be born again (born of God).
The condition of being born again is outlined in the following verse:
(This is not salvation – salvation is free, but being born of God has a cost - our love)
John 14:15-17 - If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.
We are not born again by receiving Christ at the altar. We can only be born of His Spirit after God sees that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God is the one that sees our true heart – not any pastor, not any other person, and we can’t even see the true condition of our own heart (we are bias) – only God can. It is only God that chooses to make us born again when He sees us as worthy to receive His Spirit. What makes us worthy is our totally committed love for Him.
1 John 3:24 - Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Everyone that has been born again (born of God) will know it. Our spirit will testify to us by knowing we are totally a new creation, by God’s Holy Spirit being merged with our spirit. When we have been born again, we have become one with God’s Spirit. It is impossible for a person not to notice this change when they are born again. They know at that time that all the sinful nature and selfish desires are gone and only the desire to love God and others remain.
1 John 5:3-4 - This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
When a person has been born of God, all they have is love for God and others. The love for self (selfishness) is gone. A person that has been born of God and loves God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength cannot willfully sin against God, because the Spirit is guiding their every thought and action. Of course, God will never take the choice away from us to sin against Him – even after being born again, but if we do we will be committing that unpardonable sin.
We have to stop proclaiming this devastating lie. Preachers and teachers of the church, stop telling people they are born again and a son of God when they come to Christ – we cannot make that assumption of what God has or hasn’t done. Preachers and teachers stop proclaiming to the congregations that they are born again when in essence most of them are not really born again. It is not the preachers or teachers job to proclaim someone born of God. God says we will know them by their fruits. If a person has all good fruit then it is a strong possibility that they are born again, but if a person still has some bad fruit (sin) – then we know they are still of the devil and not of God’s Spirit yet.
1 John 3:8 - He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
Proclaiming someone born again when they are still being controlled by the devil is devastating to God’s glory, devastating to Christianity, and devastating to that person you are proclaiming born again when they are not yet born again. This is why this lie works so well for the devil. The devil has gotten us to believe that we can be a born again Christian and still live a sinful life. The devil has gotten us to believe that we can still live in sin and have eternal life in heaven with God – God would never allow any sinful thing in heaven – no matter how much He loves His creation.
Why this lie is so devastating to the person being called a born again Christian, when they are not yet born again, is because they stop trying to be Christ like and become perfect in God’s love. If a person is running a race and they have believed they have crossed the finish line, will they not stop racing. This is what has happened. People have stopped growing and stopped being sanctified because they don’t think they need to go any further. They think they have reached the finish line (being born again), when in real truth they had just started the race and the finish line is still a long ways off.
Salvation is the way, but not the destination. Salvation is the way to becoming a born again Christian. The destination is to grow in Christ (through our salvation) to the point where you are born into Christ’s likeness. Jesus is our salvation from sin and Jesus is also our destination (to become like Him). He is the alpha and the omega in our salvation. Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. Jesus gives us the way as a gift. Then we must grow in Him through His truth. If we grow into a person like Him – then we will be born into His Holy Spirit. If God’s grace has made you into a pure and blameless Christ like person, then praise the Lord. But if you are one of the millions that have been fooled by the devils lies – thinking you were born again from the beginning and now realize that you aren’t, there is all the power of God’s grace available at your disposal to become born of God - if you are willing to die completely to yourself.
For more information on the born again process – click to read the message below on my web site.
http://webpages.charter.net/reidmike/Archives/BornAgainVersesEntireSanctification.htm
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
This one lie of the devil has become so devastating because it has become the foundational truth that most people believe in for their faith. So as I set forth to show this false truth as a lie – I know I will be shaking and/or destroying the very sandy foundations that most of our churches have belief in. It is not my intention to hurt people and make them angry, but this is what is called tough love. God doesn’t want any to perish, so He is sending me to proclaim His real truth - so that the real truth will take the place of the false truth and truly set people free.
This main deception has to do with when and how we are born again. We have been taught that everyone must be born again to have eternal life – which is correct. Where the deceptions come into play is the devil convincing us that we are born again upon our salvation (upon our first coming to Christ). No where in God’s Word does it link being saved with being born again at the same time. This is a lie and an assumption of our own selfish human reasoning to tie these two events together. Although these two events can happen at the same time if the person’s heart has been conditioned and made ready, for almost all the people in our day, they have to hard of a heart to be born again upon their moment of salvation. We see many examples in the first church times where people were born again upon their salvation, but these people were already trying to live a Godly life because of their faith and love in God. What we accept and live in now is much different then the first church times. Society has lost their love for God and we love ourselves instead. We also don’t fear God like the people in the first church times. And today our culture accepts and even promotes out of wedlock sexual activity, but back in the times of the first church people, they were stoned to death for these sins. What they understood as sins back then, the world now accepts and promotes. In the time we live in, we all collect a lot of sinful baggage that we have to get rid of before God will accept us to be born again (born of God).
The condition of being born again is outlined in the following verse:
(This is not salvation – salvation is free, but being born of God has a cost - our love)
John 14:15-17 - If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.
We are not born again by receiving Christ at the altar. We can only be born of His Spirit after God sees that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God is the one that sees our true heart – not any pastor, not any other person, and we can’t even see the true condition of our own heart (we are bias) – only God can. It is only God that chooses to make us born again when He sees us as worthy to receive His Spirit. What makes us worthy is our totally committed love for Him.
1 John 3:24 - Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Everyone that has been born again (born of God) will know it. Our spirit will testify to us by knowing we are totally a new creation, by God’s Holy Spirit being merged with our spirit. When we have been born again, we have become one with God’s Spirit. It is impossible for a person not to notice this change when they are born again. They know at that time that all the sinful nature and selfish desires are gone and only the desire to love God and others remain.
1 John 5:3-4 - This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
When a person has been born of God, all they have is love for God and others. The love for self (selfishness) is gone. A person that has been born of God and loves God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength cannot willfully sin against God, because the Spirit is guiding their every thought and action. Of course, God will never take the choice away from us to sin against Him – even after being born again, but if we do we will be committing that unpardonable sin.
We have to stop proclaiming this devastating lie. Preachers and teachers of the church, stop telling people they are born again and a son of God when they come to Christ – we cannot make that assumption of what God has or hasn’t done. Preachers and teachers stop proclaiming to the congregations that they are born again when in essence most of them are not really born again. It is not the preachers or teachers job to proclaim someone born of God. God says we will know them by their fruits. If a person has all good fruit then it is a strong possibility that they are born again, but if a person still has some bad fruit (sin) – then we know they are still of the devil and not of God’s Spirit yet.
1 John 3:8 - He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
Proclaiming someone born again when they are still being controlled by the devil is devastating to God’s glory, devastating to Christianity, and devastating to that person you are proclaiming born again when they are not yet born again. This is why this lie works so well for the devil. The devil has gotten us to believe that we can be a born again Christian and still live a sinful life. The devil has gotten us to believe that we can still live in sin and have eternal life in heaven with God – God would never allow any sinful thing in heaven – no matter how much He loves His creation.
Why this lie is so devastating to the person being called a born again Christian, when they are not yet born again, is because they stop trying to be Christ like and become perfect in God’s love. If a person is running a race and they have believed they have crossed the finish line, will they not stop racing. This is what has happened. People have stopped growing and stopped being sanctified because they don’t think they need to go any further. They think they have reached the finish line (being born again), when in real truth they had just started the race and the finish line is still a long ways off.
Salvation is the way, but not the destination. Salvation is the way to becoming a born again Christian. The destination is to grow in Christ (through our salvation) to the point where you are born into Christ’s likeness. Jesus is our salvation from sin and Jesus is also our destination (to become like Him). He is the alpha and the omega in our salvation. Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. Jesus gives us the way as a gift. Then we must grow in Him through His truth. If we grow into a person like Him – then we will be born into His Holy Spirit. If God’s grace has made you into a pure and blameless Christ like person, then praise the Lord. But if you are one of the millions that have been fooled by the devils lies – thinking you were born again from the beginning and now realize that you aren’t, there is all the power of God’s grace available at your disposal to become born of God - if you are willing to die completely to yourself.
For more information on the born again process – click to read the message below on my web site.
http://webpages.charter.net/reidmike/Archives/BornAgainVersesEntireSanctification.htm
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
Deception #1
As I mentioned in my previous message: There is only one truth that works when it comes to aligning with all of God’s scripture. There are many denominations with many different versions of the truth and they can very greatly, but there are not a thousand different versions of God’s truth – only one truth. In my study of the different doctrines of the denominations I have studied, I have found that none of them are proclaiming this one real truth of God’s Word, even though some doctrines are a lot closer then others.
Deception #1
The first deception that God has laid on my heart to cover has to do with becoming a son of God and when do we become a son of God. Most church leaders teach us that when we come to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins by repenting, confessing, and accepting Jesus as our Savior – we are then at that time called a son of God. So is this true? It is true that God desires all of us to become sons of Him, but is this something we become automatically by confessing our sins and confessing Jesus as the Christ – or are there actual qualifications by God to become a son of God. By the way, whether you are male or female, we are all called to become spiritual sons of God.
Rom 8:13-14 - For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
When we first come to Christ, we are all saved from the power of our sinful nature, we no longer have to sin, we now have the power of God’s grace to conquer all sin in our life. But the big question is – will we decide to use this power over sin and die to our own sinful nature. If we choose to kill every sinful thing in us, we will then live. If we do this and are fully led by the Spirit of God, then we are the sons of God. Almost all people when they first come to Christ don’t qualify to be the son of God. God accepts us where we are at upon our first coming to Him, but He will not be content to let us stay there. He will change us into the likeness of His Son if we let Him.
Rev 21:7-8 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
It is very clear in the verse above, that it is only the ones that overcome their sinful nature that God will call His sons. It is also very clear that God will not call His sons - the people that haven’t overcome their sin and they will suffer the second death. So again unless a person has overcome all their sins at the time of them being saved – they are not yet a son of God.
Titus 3:7 - so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
We only become heirs of eternal life by becoming God’s son. But notice the word “might”. Even after being justified, inheriting eternal life is not a sure thing. We only receive an inheritance if we are God’s son.
Salvation is the way, but not the destination. Salvation is the way to becoming a son of God. The destination is becoming a son of God (being Christ like). Jesus is our salvation from sin and Jesus is also our destination (to become like Him). He is the alpha and the omega in our salvation. Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. Jesus gives us the way as a gift. Then we must grow in Him through His truth. If we grow into a person like Him – then we will be His son. If God’s grace has made you into a pure and blameless Christ like person, then praise the Lord. But if you are one of the millions that have been fooled by the devils lies – thinking you were a son of God from the beginning and now realize that you aren’t, there is all the power of God’s grace available at your disposal to become His son if you are willing to die completely to yourself.
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
Deception #1
The first deception that God has laid on my heart to cover has to do with becoming a son of God and when do we become a son of God. Most church leaders teach us that when we come to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins by repenting, confessing, and accepting Jesus as our Savior – we are then at that time called a son of God. So is this true? It is true that God desires all of us to become sons of Him, but is this something we become automatically by confessing our sins and confessing Jesus as the Christ – or are there actual qualifications by God to become a son of God. By the way, whether you are male or female, we are all called to become spiritual sons of God.
Rom 8:13-14 - For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
When we first come to Christ, we are all saved from the power of our sinful nature, we no longer have to sin, we now have the power of God’s grace to conquer all sin in our life. But the big question is – will we decide to use this power over sin and die to our own sinful nature. If we choose to kill every sinful thing in us, we will then live. If we do this and are fully led by the Spirit of God, then we are the sons of God. Almost all people when they first come to Christ don’t qualify to be the son of God. God accepts us where we are at upon our first coming to Him, but He will not be content to let us stay there. He will change us into the likeness of His Son if we let Him.
Rev 21:7-8 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
It is very clear in the verse above, that it is only the ones that overcome their sinful nature that God will call His sons. It is also very clear that God will not call His sons - the people that haven’t overcome their sin and they will suffer the second death. So again unless a person has overcome all their sins at the time of them being saved – they are not yet a son of God.
Titus 3:7 - so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
We only become heirs of eternal life by becoming God’s son. But notice the word “might”. Even after being justified, inheriting eternal life is not a sure thing. We only receive an inheritance if we are God’s son.
Salvation is the way, but not the destination. Salvation is the way to becoming a son of God. The destination is becoming a son of God (being Christ like). Jesus is our salvation from sin and Jesus is also our destination (to become like Him). He is the alpha and the omega in our salvation. Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. Jesus gives us the way as a gift. Then we must grow in Him through His truth. If we grow into a person like Him – then we will be His son. If God’s grace has made you into a pure and blameless Christ like person, then praise the Lord. But if you are one of the millions that have been fooled by the devils lies – thinking you were a son of God from the beginning and now realize that you aren’t, there is all the power of God’s grace available at your disposal to become His son if you are willing to die completely to yourself.
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
A Prophet's Note
Eph 4:11-16 - And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
In today’s world of human understanding and reasoning, we accept people with some Godly gifts, but not people with gifts from God that go against our own human reasoning, understanding, and logic. How many people today would accept an apostle or a prophet of God? People will gladly accept any apostle or prophet if they proclaim what we already believe as truth. But what if God has sent these apostles or prophets to His people to bring back the truth and get rid of all the deceptions that are laced within the beliefs that people believe as truth? In this age, are people only willing to believe what they want to believe and only willing to hear what they want to hear? God calls to come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God so we can become the perfect man – where we measure up to the fullness of Christ. How can we become Christ like when we currently believe in the deceptions of the devil? The current gospels taught in most churches today are made up of half truths and half lies. Let us turn from these lies and find the real truth again.
How the truth has been changed since the first churches (during the Apostles time) is by our selfishness listening to the devil and changing the definitions of the terms in Word of God. We have grouped all these terms together where in God’s Spiritual reality they all have different meanings. Today all the following words mean almost the same thing to our churches today: saved, born again, life in Christ, born of God, son of God, Christ like, justified, sanctified, having eternal life, disciple, salvation, inheriting eternal life, relationship with Christ, in Christ, etc… Why do we believe that all these terms have close to the same meaning – because we want to believe it. The selfish human nature wants it all and it wants it all from the start. We don’t want to think that we have to be holy like God. We don’t want to think we have to give up all our sinful ways. We want have our cake and be able to eat it too.
Well I want to tell you – I have been sent by God and have been given the gift of the truth (the one and only truth of God) – and the truth that most of the churches are proclaiming is not the truth. That is why the church is in such a hypocritical state. Our churches for the most part belong to the devil and what they are proclaiming is some of the real truth mixed with deception. It only takes one or two words to change the truth into a lie. We have made so many assumptions in our understandings of God’s Word and this has led us to where we are now.
So now that I have told you that I have been sent by God to bring back the truth – it is up to each person that reads this letter to decide. Are you prompted to get more into the Word to find the real truth or are you going to reject what I am saying and stay comfortable with your own human logic and understanding. God’s ways are not our ways. There is no free lunch when it comes to inheriting eternal life. Salvation is free, but becoming a son of God so you can inherit eternal life will cost you everything in this life.
The Jewish leaders that lived when Jesus Christ walked this earth thought they had it all figured out too. Instead of accepting the real truth, they crucified the real truth to a cross. Are you going to find the real truth or will you crucify it?
God’s servant and yours,
Mike Reid
In today’s world of human understanding and reasoning, we accept people with some Godly gifts, but not people with gifts from God that go against our own human reasoning, understanding, and logic. How many people today would accept an apostle or a prophet of God? People will gladly accept any apostle or prophet if they proclaim what we already believe as truth. But what if God has sent these apostles or prophets to His people to bring back the truth and get rid of all the deceptions that are laced within the beliefs that people believe as truth? In this age, are people only willing to believe what they want to believe and only willing to hear what they want to hear? God calls to come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God so we can become the perfect man – where we measure up to the fullness of Christ. How can we become Christ like when we currently believe in the deceptions of the devil? The current gospels taught in most churches today are made up of half truths and half lies. Let us turn from these lies and find the real truth again.
How the truth has been changed since the first churches (during the Apostles time) is by our selfishness listening to the devil and changing the definitions of the terms in Word of God. We have grouped all these terms together where in God’s Spiritual reality they all have different meanings. Today all the following words mean almost the same thing to our churches today: saved, born again, life in Christ, born of God, son of God, Christ like, justified, sanctified, having eternal life, disciple, salvation, inheriting eternal life, relationship with Christ, in Christ, etc… Why do we believe that all these terms have close to the same meaning – because we want to believe it. The selfish human nature wants it all and it wants it all from the start. We don’t want to think that we have to be holy like God. We don’t want to think we have to give up all our sinful ways. We want have our cake and be able to eat it too.
Well I want to tell you – I have been sent by God and have been given the gift of the truth (the one and only truth of God) – and the truth that most of the churches are proclaiming is not the truth. That is why the church is in such a hypocritical state. Our churches for the most part belong to the devil and what they are proclaiming is some of the real truth mixed with deception. It only takes one or two words to change the truth into a lie. We have made so many assumptions in our understandings of God’s Word and this has led us to where we are now.
So now that I have told you that I have been sent by God to bring back the truth – it is up to each person that reads this letter to decide. Are you prompted to get more into the Word to find the real truth or are you going to reject what I am saying and stay comfortable with your own human logic and understanding. God’s ways are not our ways. There is no free lunch when it comes to inheriting eternal life. Salvation is free, but becoming a son of God so you can inherit eternal life will cost you everything in this life.
The Jewish leaders that lived when Jesus Christ walked this earth thought they had it all figured out too. Instead of accepting the real truth, they crucified the real truth to a cross. Are you going to find the real truth or will you crucify it?
God’s servant and yours,
Mike Reid
Friday, May 1, 2009
What must I do to inherit eternal life?
As I have listened to many people from many different Christian denominations, I have become very concerned, because of what all these people believe when it comes to inheriting eternal life. So I thought we should go back to the basics and see what the Holy Word has to say on this issue. Let us first see what Jesus Christ says about it.
Luke 10:25-28 - On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
This is the only requirement to have eternal life with God – that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” you will do automatically when you do the first commandment. This first commandment is not a condition we can obtain just by saying the words with our mouth. It is shown by our actions that come directly from our heart’s deepest desires. Let us take another look when Jesus tests the heart condition of a certain rich man.
Matt 19:16-23 - Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the above verses, Jesus was testing where this man’s heart really was, and the rich man failed the test. The rich man would not let everything go and love Jesus with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and then follow Him. If this rich man would have been obedient and done the things Jesus said, then this rich man would have been perfect and rich in the Spirit.
Now someone might say that: “But I was told that I had eternal life because I was saved at the altar years ago”. The final result of salvation does result in eternal life – if a person is willing to let God’s Spirit make them into a perfect son/daughter of God. Coming to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins does put us into a saving relationship with Christ – where we no longer have to sin, but it is still our choice to continue on sinning or not. It is only through this saving relationship that we can choose to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The bottom line on this issue is: the more we grow in love with God, the more we repent of our sin and do His will instead of our own. Every action that we do in word or in deed will represent who we really love.
I think we need to clarify the term “saved” a little more. Being in a “saved” state with God means we have entered into a relationship with God in order that we might become a son of God. It does not necessarily mean we are a son of God yet.
Gal 4:4-5 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Titus 3:5-7 - He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
The word “might” in the above verses has to be emphasized because when put in context with the rest of the Bible, we understand that out of all the people saved and justified by His grace – it is only the ones that commit all their love to God that will inherit eternal life.
Again, being in a “saved state” means we are in a relationship with God and have the power to overcome any and all sin by the power of His Grace. Within this salvation walk with Him is where the spiritual war happens for our souls. We still have our selfish nature fighting with God’s nature. What nature wins the war depends on which nature we feed. If we constantly feed God’s nature by growing in love with Him and repenting from our sins, than God’s Spirit and Grace will eventually win the war by starving out our selfish nature. But if we feed our selfish nature, then we starve out God’s nature in us and keep our dead spirit we were born with.
As long as we are still sinning – which means we know God’s will and we willfully go against it by going through with the selfish thought or deed – we are still considered by God to be owned by the devil.
1 John 3:7-8 - Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
Although it is true that we do not inherit eternal life depending on our works (good or bad), our heart is judged by God by our works. Works are a gauge of where our heart is. So God judges us by our heart which is gauged by our works. Works (good or bad) show God and others the desires of our heart and in turn shows God who we really love. If we are living righteously in every area of our life, then it shows God and others who we really love and who owns us. If we are still sinning in any area of our life, then it shows God and others that the devil still owns our soul even if we have already entered into the “saved” state with God.
This spiritual war for your soul continues on within this “saved” state until you have come into a total loving condition of loving only God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength. When you have totally killed the selfishness in you by the power of God’s Grace by only loving God and His righteousness – then He will call you His son and because you are now considered His son, you will inherit His eternal life because you are His son.
Anyone that truly believes in Jesus Christ will also totally love Him. To believe in God you must know Him and to know Him you must love Him.
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
Luke 10:25-28 - On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
This is the only requirement to have eternal life with God – that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” you will do automatically when you do the first commandment. This first commandment is not a condition we can obtain just by saying the words with our mouth. It is shown by our actions that come directly from our heart’s deepest desires. Let us take another look when Jesus tests the heart condition of a certain rich man.
Matt 19:16-23 - Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the above verses, Jesus was testing where this man’s heart really was, and the rich man failed the test. The rich man would not let everything go and love Jesus with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and then follow Him. If this rich man would have been obedient and done the things Jesus said, then this rich man would have been perfect and rich in the Spirit.
Now someone might say that: “But I was told that I had eternal life because I was saved at the altar years ago”. The final result of salvation does result in eternal life – if a person is willing to let God’s Spirit make them into a perfect son/daughter of God. Coming to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins does put us into a saving relationship with Christ – where we no longer have to sin, but it is still our choice to continue on sinning or not. It is only through this saving relationship that we can choose to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The bottom line on this issue is: the more we grow in love with God, the more we repent of our sin and do His will instead of our own. Every action that we do in word or in deed will represent who we really love.
I think we need to clarify the term “saved” a little more. Being in a “saved” state with God means we have entered into a relationship with God in order that we might become a son of God. It does not necessarily mean we are a son of God yet.
Gal 4:4-5 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Titus 3:5-7 - He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
The word “might” in the above verses has to be emphasized because when put in context with the rest of the Bible, we understand that out of all the people saved and justified by His grace – it is only the ones that commit all their love to God that will inherit eternal life.
Again, being in a “saved state” means we are in a relationship with God and have the power to overcome any and all sin by the power of His Grace. Within this salvation walk with Him is where the spiritual war happens for our souls. We still have our selfish nature fighting with God’s nature. What nature wins the war depends on which nature we feed. If we constantly feed God’s nature by growing in love with Him and repenting from our sins, than God’s Spirit and Grace will eventually win the war by starving out our selfish nature. But if we feed our selfish nature, then we starve out God’s nature in us and keep our dead spirit we were born with.
As long as we are still sinning – which means we know God’s will and we willfully go against it by going through with the selfish thought or deed – we are still considered by God to be owned by the devil.
1 John 3:7-8 - Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
Although it is true that we do not inherit eternal life depending on our works (good or bad), our heart is judged by God by our works. Works are a gauge of where our heart is. So God judges us by our heart which is gauged by our works. Works (good or bad) show God and others the desires of our heart and in turn shows God who we really love. If we are living righteously in every area of our life, then it shows God and others who we really love and who owns us. If we are still sinning in any area of our life, then it shows God and others that the devil still owns our soul even if we have already entered into the “saved” state with God.
This spiritual war for your soul continues on within this “saved” state until you have come into a total loving condition of loving only God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength. When you have totally killed the selfishness in you by the power of God’s Grace by only loving God and His righteousness – then He will call you His son and because you are now considered His son, you will inherit His eternal life because you are His son.
Anyone that truly believes in Jesus Christ will also totally love Him. To believe in God you must know Him and to know Him you must love Him.
God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid
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