a glimpse of heaven's love

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.  He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.                                       One is Evil .  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is Good .  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"   The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." The Bible probably has various verses that back this up; but the one that comes to mind is Romans 8:6 which says, "For to be carnally mi...

G alations 4:4-9  says, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.   And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.     Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.   Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.   But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" As I said in my previous entry, " tragically, it has been my experience, that many Christians today are more prone to just go their own way, with no thought of what God desires of them."  Perhaps this particular blog entry is a continuation of that, or perhaps it is ...

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."  James 1:14  What is it that motivates you? What is your deepest desire? What is your own way? Tragically, it has been my experience, that many Christians today are more prone to just go their own way, with no thought of what God desires of them.  Those are not the target of my blog today.  More than likely, unless the Holy Spirit is at least beginning to change their heart, they will not have a desire to read on.  And chances are, they are not truly saved anyway.  A real Christian isn't just playing church, but has the Holy Spirit of God living within them, guiding and convicting them to do right.  They are not my target audience.  You, however, that are not being drawn by temptation, but by God's grace,  desire to change -- YOU are my target audience! As I said, if you are truly saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives within you, guid...

 " For all this they sinned still and believed not"  Psalm 78 This is a scary but unfortunate story of God's wrath against the disbelieving and disobedient. What is really scary and unfortunate is the fact that so many Christians today act just like the Israelites spoken of in this psalm.  Many of us are like that.  The bottom line:  we want our own way; it's SELF that is on the throne, not God, like He so deserves. I.  The Ridiculousness of such a State              A.  God Delivered Them              B.  God Led Them                        i.  by a cloud by day                       ii.  by fire by night ...

Let me turn your attention to our military for a moment.  (It doesn't have to be American, although I am especially partial!)…any military will do for my illustration.  What are some characteristics you can think of?  Feel free to leave your comments!  Here are some I thought of: looks sharp disciplined works hard defends a cause not focused on selfish desires  Now, there's no doubt a number of other characteristics that could be added to this; but this gives us a good start.  This is an excellent comparison for us, Christian!  There are so many countless people today who call themselves "Christians," and yet really have no desire to follow the Savior.  (perhaps I'll save that for another post!)  At any rate, God calls us to have all of those characteristics, and yet too many Christians today would rather just do their own thing.  What a shame!  I think our military today would call that going "AWOL," (meaning Abse...

Do you know what your biggest problem is?  [yours and mine!]  Our biggest problem is a heart that wants it's own way.  I've heard it said that pride is our number one problem… but I think selfish desires is the thing ruling our hearts.  You can picture it this way--either Christ is on the throne of your heart or self is.  Either you're serving God or you're serving self.  And that's true for every decision or choice you make throughout each day.       Galatians 2:20 says, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." "yet not I, but Christ"  If you're growing and maturing in Christ at all, you should have realized, "It's not about me…It's all about Christ!"  He is the reason for our living.  He is the reason for it all.  And we are to be...