Now what do we do?

   Wow! What a night! Trust was put in a leader that would take us from bondage to liberty and now our backs are against the wall. There appears to be no way out and the enemy is closing in on our rights and privileges as Americans. This is not a new story and certainly wont be the last story. You see, a few thousand years ago, Jehovah God began calling His children out of Egypt. And The Father, in doing so, didn't make it easy. After all the convincing, plagues and now the journey, the children of Israel were up against a wall literally and figuratively. If researchers are correct, and I believe they are, the people crossed the red sea at Nuweiba after traveling through a Wadi that is now called the Newaba-Taba Hwy.

They were faced with Pharaoh at their back and the Red Sea before them. And we know from the story in Exodus 14 that God intervened in a miraculous way. But before He did so, He instructed Moses to speak to the people, and this is the point I want to share today:
13And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 15And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go FORWARD:

We may not like what has transpired in this 2012 election season, but we as Christians have so much more to look forward to. First we need to humble ourselves and realize that the the world does not revolve around us or our wants and desires. Put aside the material hedonistic philosophies that are plaguing our world and move FORWARD!! The Father is about to do some marvelous things while allowing some severe hardships to cross our paths. Now is not the time to whine and cry for Egypt, but to move FORWAD!. Now is not the time to question what has happened, but to move FORWARD!. 

There is no "Hope and Change" outside of following God's commandments and ways. There is no "New World Order" for the Christian. There is only living righteously before the Lord. No matter what happens in the near future we must remember what Job said in chapter 1:21 ....Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Be strong and of great courage and move FORWARD!!!

Stand, by commitment!

  I have not written in a while. Sorry, I had to marry my first high school sweet heart. But alas, this plays a big part in what I plan to bring in this session of “Stand”.

  As I stated before, I have spent a large part of my life chasing my hearts desires. Ironically, Psalm 37 is my favorite chapter in the Bible. It speaks of trust, commitment, delight, rest and what comes from following this formula. I know it, I believe it and yet I have had difficulties following it.

  This world is filled with so many things that distract us and bring us little bits of happiness, but all this world has to offer pales in comparison to what the Father wants to bestow upon us. The little bits of joy and happiness are short lived and usually come with consequences that we can do without.

  I am reminded of sermons from the pastor of my youth. He would speak of hedonism (the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life). It is so easy to fall into this thinking when our hearts and minds are not set on Christ. Whether it is social, spiritual, psychological or physical, we as humans want to feel good. We wake each day and seek whatever it is that makes us feel better. A cup of coffee, a kiss, our favorite foods, exercise, books, TV or any number of things, the issue does not lie with any of these things, it is in what we are trying to fulfill, what we are “committing” ourselves to.

  I love a good steak and a salad, in my mind I believe I could be happy having such for every meal. However, I would grow tired, eventually of the same old thing for every meal, every day. I love physical contact, but seeking this outside of God’s plan can bring, and has brought, many consequences and pain to myself and those close to me.

  During our “courtship” time, my now wife Michelle ready The Resolution, she the one for women, I the one for men.  Shelly had seen the movie courageous but I had not at that time. But I believe the Spirit of the Lord was directing us to read the study the movie is based on. We also wholehearted committed ourselves to abstinence, not only from sex, but from kissing as well. You see, I had never kissed her.

  Michelle and I met at a Christian school where there was this “six inch rule”. Boys and girls were not allowed to touch each other in order to prevent us from “going too far”. It may seem old-fashioned, but if we practiced this more, we would have less “social issues” than we have.

  In following this commitment, we both have experienced something that neither of us thought would be possible. I can’t go into detail, but I will say it was well worth the commitment, resolve and the wait. And this has also confirmed what we learned in the Resolution and have read in Psalm 37.

 God wants to give us more than we can fathom just as any parent would. He just asks us to “commit” ourselves to Him. In doing so, He will give us our hearts desires. But before you get carried away, these desires will not have their roots in our humanistic, hedonistic side, but God will actually place the desires HE wants us to have, in our hearts. That’s right, by trusting in, resting on and committing to the Father, God will place His desires in our hearts and they will become our desires.

  It is plain and simple. Jesus  said “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Stand, by commitment to God!

Stand!!!!

Stand up!

  If you know me on a personal level, you know that I served in the military and later served in the ministry. I am very proud to say I served this country and not so much about my service to God. You see, I have made some major errors in my life that have affected my walk with God and the Godly walk of others. Thank the Lord for forgiveness! Without it, I would still be in a terrible mess. I spent several years living after my own heart and not after the heart of Christ. In doing so, I allowed the devil to walk through my life and the lives of those close to me.

  Now that I am back on track, I see the consequences of my actions. I see how I was so far away from God, even though I thought I was on track. I was following after my own heart. However, I am not alone. There are many in the body of Christ who are following after their hearts desires.  Within the church there has been a great falling away from the foundations that the Father would have us base our lives on. Our country has turned its back on sound principles and values. We are on a fast track to socialism and those of us who call ourselves patriotic Christians are more of the problem than the solution. Over the next few blogs I will spell out in depth how to turn around our families, churches and nation. Here are some basics to start with.

  If we want to ever see our families, our churches and our nation return to the values that made us who we are, then it is time to make a stand! How do we make a stand? First, we kneel, 2 Chron 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Give up our selfish, devilish desires, humble ourselves and repent!

  Next, we need to prepare ourselves.

2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

   We do this by following this formula:

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  When we arm ourselves as described above, we can grow stronger.

  When I was in the military, I noticed that the more weapons and gear we had, the braver we became. This is true in our Christian based lives. The more we equip ourselves, the stronger and braver we become. Let’s take a look at some of King David’s men.

1 Chron 11:11 Here is the record of David’s mightiest warriors: The first was Jashobeam the…..leader of the Three—the mightiest warriors among David’s men. He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. 12 Next...Eleazar son of Dodai,...13 He was with David in the battle against the Philistines at Pas-dammim. The battle took place in a field full of barley, and the Israelite army fled. 14 But Eleazar and David held their ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines…..

  David and Eleazar made a stand, even when all their friends fled and ran from the difficult battle. Jashobeam was courageous and fought off 300 with just a spear. (Hand to hand combat obviously. That means “in your face” battle)

  God asks us to stand up and be strong when all seems impossible. To do our part, “be strong and very courageous”, and let Him fight ahead of us. We can’t see God’s mighty work if we don’t get into the battle.

  I have heard it said that “God doesn’t ask much of us”. I disagree. God asks ALL from us. Not part way, not on our time, not tomorrow. He wants ALL of each one of us, everything, right now!

Eze 22:30 And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Love, tolerance and socialism

Love, tolerance and socialism

In today’s society and propagated in all aspects the media, we are finding a push towards an equality that rivals the views Stalin, Lenin and Marx.  Everywhere I look I see a degradation of values, an infiltration of hedonism and a total disrespect of our elderly. And that’s just in my own mirror.  All joking aside, I was raised to love, trained to defend, reminded to be thankful for and encouraged to pray over daily; this great nation my forefathers shed blood over.

Currently, our political temperature is that of tolerance. I am supposed to accept every point of view even if I disagree because everyone has the same rights that I have. If these other rights conflict with mine, that’s ok as long as my views don’t conflict with theirs. I have to love everyone else’s views and try to incorporate them into my life. If I don’t accept these other views, then I am labeled a hater and I am encroaching on their civil liberties.  My tolerance is to be encapsulated in love because “That’s what Jesus would do”. Everything I work for is supposed to be shared with the “less fortunate” people and I am not to complain on how they use it. “We are all created equal and deserve to have the same advantages as everyone else.”  

I strongly disagree! This is not the Spirit of Christ but instead the spirit of an anti-Christ.

It has been rumored for years that former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev stated before a visit to America:

“We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism, until they suddenly awake to find they have communism.”

What is currently happening in our nation not a new concept and or strategy. It is a concept that can be traced back to Adam and Eve, as we see in Genesis 3.

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

God the Father was trying to teach man early on that not everything belongs to man to have. And that there is a reason for this. That reason is that it is not good for us.

We as humans have an insatiable hunger for what we can’t have, an overpowering jealousy of others’ possessions and an adulterated desire to get it “all”, no matter what. And the more level the playing field, the better we think we will all be. This kind of thinking produces a socialistic outlook. And this outlook has impregnated our country, our school, our homes and our lives. We are no longer drifting away from sound biblical doctrine, hard core patriotism and Godly values; friends, we are running from them. We are padding our lives with "tolerance" and "love" and forgetting to "eschew evil" as Job did. If we don't stop this obsession that is plaguing our lives, grab a knee and pray for forgiveness, healing and leadership of the Holy Spirit; this country will fall.

The late pastor Dr. Peter Marshal stated it correctly: "if we don't stand for something, we will fall for anything". Its time to make a stand for Truth!

Exodus 32:26 "....who is on the Lord's side.........."

Micah 6:8 … the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

The Faith of Megan

This week has been a sad one. Little Megan went home to be with Jesus after her family was involved in a tragic accident. Now I don’t know this young lady outside of knowing her family and watching her get baptized this last Christmas morning. What I have been told is that she asked Jesus into her heart after watching a preacher on TV. He gave the invitation and she asked her savior to save her. Some may say this is ridiculous for a child at such a young age and would dismiss it. But Megan from that point on desired to live in heaven with Jesus. I also know that on 25 Dec 2011, that little spirit touched the heart of a man who was sitting on the front row. I cried that day. I have never cried at a baptism. But you see, I saw faith that day. I saw a young lady exhibiting faith.

So what is faith? Faith according to Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. NLT  It states in James 2:21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. NLT

Faith is more than believing. It is more than trusting. Faith pure and simple is the conviction of truth that leads to obedience. You can believe all day long that something is, or that it will be. But if you sit around and do not pursue the truth, obey the truth; you have a dead faith if any at all.

Megan’s faith was alive! She had faith that Jesus saved her. She wanted to make Him happy. She desired to be with her Jesus. And I truly believe that the Holy Spirit was trying to share something with me on Christmas morning. “By faith, Megan accepted a more beautiful sacrifice then those around her. By faith, she followed her Savior in believers’ baptism after accepting Him. By faith, she walked a path pleasing to God and it was counted unto her as righteousness.” I know that’s not a verse in scripture, but it sure ought to be.

Adoption

Eph 1:5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

A little about me first.

I am a soon to be re-married 45 year old man. I have 4 grown children and 2 grand daughters. I was adopted at 22 months old and then after my mother divorced and remarried, my dad adopted me.  I started going to church while my dad was stationed at Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX. My neighbor friend invited me to ride the Sunday School bus with him. Before then, the only memories I have of church was when I was very little going to a charismatic church one night, and a few times to a church where they had a food fellowship after the morning service.

After a few weeks of attending church, my friend’s father invited my mom and dad to come to a Sunday evening service. Now dad was not religious by any means. He did have a Catholic background, but would throw people out of the yard that came knocking on his door bearing anything related to church.

It was on this night that he accepted Jesus as his Savior and was baptized. I saw him baptized and wanted this as well. I don’t recall how soon after this happened, but dad invited the Associate pastor over one afternoon to lead me to Christ. I was 10 and remember going through the Romans road and saying a prayer. However, my true salvation did not come till I went off to college.

There is so much to add in here, but I must get on with my story.

Being adopted, I feel I have a little clearer understanding on what God has done for us. You see, my first parents gave me away. My second parents CHOSE me. I was given a new opportunity that would have never occurred had “nature took its course”.

I will admit that in my teenage years, I would have liked to have undone the adoption process.  The reality of things didn’t always mesh with where I wanted my reality to be. I felt my freedom hindered by someone who couldn’t ever understand me, “get me” or have that special connection that only comes with sharing a common blood.

The truth of the matter is that with this “choosing”, I have been given a special place in my father’s family. I do have an older sister and brother that are from my dad’s first marriage. (His first wife passed away not long after my brother was born.) I also have an adopted younger sister. But Dawn, my younger sister, and I have a closer relationship with our dad than do our siblings. And I have been given the first born right of heir. My dad, I do not believe, loves either Dawn or I any more or less than his first two children. However, we have been given rights to our father by his choosing us. We can come boldly into his presence because we are called Durands. We can ask anything of him, because he is our father. When he adopted us, he gave us rights to his name, blood and love. He chose to do this. (Although I am sure I have given him plenty of reasons over the years to want to recant).

Our heavenly Father has done the same for us. He has written an adoption decree in the blood of His own Son. And has made us joint heirs with Christ. We have been given special access to the Father because of this adoption. And just as I was asked by the judge if I wanted Lucky Francis Durand to be my father here on earth, the Holy Spirit asked me if I wanted my Creator to be my heavenly Father.

Both chose me. Both love me and want the best for my life. Both will encourage me, lift me and have given me access to their kingdoms.

Isaiah 55:3, Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.