Fear God

Psalm 27:1-2

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

In light of the mayhem that is filling the airways with gloom and doom is enough to cause some to become fearful as if there is no way out of this hateful situation. Let me be clear God is in control and He is the only one to fear and that is with a fear of reverence.

We are being bombarded with hateful and evil doers as if they are in control and what's wrong is right, but we who know the truth know that right is right and will always be right. Take note to the words of David when he said " When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." Why, because God is in control and He will protect His people. "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler (Psalm 91:4). Yes we may be weeping now (night) but joy is coming; therefore, stand firm and proud; be encouraged and take the fight to Satan. He has no win. He is a defeated foe and he knows that. This is why things are done under the cover of darkness, but wrong comes to light.

When we reverence God by putting Him first there is nothing to fear; then we can shout victory, victory is mine. Tell Satan he has to flee.

Fear no man; only God.

Comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

http://willie-writing.blogspot.com.

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

Living In Union With Christ

John 15:4-5

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Our scripture texts explain how one is to live in union with Christ; by abiding in Christ as He is the vine and all believers are the branches. The two must remain connected as the branch cannot survive on its now.

Abiding in Christ the person is establishing an intimate relationship with the Lord, which is what the Lord desires. A tree branch will remain alive as long as it remains connected to the vine, but that connection is severed, then the branch dies. This principal is true for the believer and Christ. This is because Christ is our supply line and without Christ supplying all our needs we too will wither and die.

We remain connected to Christ through His Word by daily scripture reading, meditating on the Word and then daily prayer. Those who are bearing fruit sometimes get pruned to bear more fruit, which is doing even greater things for the Lord.

Are we connected to our supply line? Can the world identify us as godly fruit because of the fruit we are bearing?

Living in union with Christ the world will know what fruit we are.

Comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

http://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

Enduring Unto The End

Matthew 10:22

And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

The setting for this text is Christ talking to His disciples informing them that as the gospel go forth they will be hated and have to suffer for His name sake, but never give up because: (a) He would be there with them through His Spirit, and (b) just as He suffered we as believers must suffer also.

Our suffering brings into focus the conversation Paul had with his listeners, when he told them that it was profitable for him to die because he would be in the Lord's presence.  Paul also warned all believers that this Christian journey is a race that in order to win we must endure unto the end. This is because the race isn't given to the swift, but to those who endures. Consider a marathon race where runners must endure many miles to constant running and the race isn't complete until the runner crosses the finish line.

That said, when this Christian race is over believers will be in heaven with the Lord where there are many rewards waiting for us.

Enduring this Christian journey one must be spiritually fit by eating spiritual food daily, which consists of daily Bible reading and meditating on the Word, daily prayer and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian journey is a long-term investment in salvation-our eternal lives.

Comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

http://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

                                       

The God In Me.

Preaching To A Stiff Neck People

Ezekiel 2: 3-4

Then He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day."I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, 'Thus saith the Lord."

Throughout Biblical history we have seen the stubbornness of the nation of Israel and how the Lord God would constantly send prophet after prophet to preach to them, but they refused to hear the preacher. This scenario is prevalent in today's society, but like the prophets in the Old and the apostles in the New Testament we are to continue saying what thus saith the Lord.

Ezekiel 3:5 answers  an implied question as God said, whether they hear or whether they refused, they will know that there has been a prophet in their midst (partial paraphrased). That said, we a preachers and teachers are to water the ground; proclaim the word, and let God give the increase because in God's own time He will cause the people to hear and adhere to His Word. Every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that yes Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:11).

Reflect on Pharaoh and his stubbornness and refused to let the nation of Israel go, but when God finished sending plagues Pharaoh's heart soften. God can and will soften any heart.

When preaching to a stiff neck people just preach God has the tools to cultivate and soften their hearts.

We welcome your comments.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net.

http://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com