Thoughts ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZONPRTOFF dateof comment Look Inside Data Conditions:Order: 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13| Dateof Comment 05/05/2022 Have you noticed the breakdown in the morals in the United States. When they removed prayer in the schools in 1964 things started to decline to the point that abortion was legalized. This was the beginning of the breakdown talked about in Hosea: Hosea 4:6-7 New Living Translation 6 My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. God warned Hosea what would happen to us when we began to forget who God is and what he stands for. He also warned what would happen to pastors who have know idea who he is. God will reject you and shut your churches down. He is only interested in pastors who speak the truth. That also goes for us fathers. We need to speak truth to our children. No wonder we are starting to miss out on God's blessings. Teaching is important to God. Just look at some of these verses: Jeremiah 8:8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,” when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies? Jeremiah 8:9 These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all? Matthew 5:20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! Matthew 23:13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. Matthew 23:15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! This is something to think about when we bring someone to the Lord. We need to know who God is to be able to disciple them. 05/04/2022 There is no other verse in the Bible that can greatly change the destiny of a nation than this one: 2 Chronicles 7:14 (New Living Translation) Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. "my people who are called by my name" means the ungodly are not considered his people. It is those who are chosen by him. He is looking for us to do something to change the destiny of a nation. Notice the order these things are in. I believe it is the order of importance: 1. "humble themselves" means it is time become a servant and put aside our selfish desires. 2. Pray - Acknowledge to the Father that things are not right in the nation and ask him for help to change things. 3. Seek my face - Learn more about God and what he wants. 4. Sin - Acknowledge that there is sin in your life. Ask Jesus for forgiveness and honor him by living like he would. This is exactly what happened in 2020. God has heard the prayers of his people and is going to change this nation. It is already happening. The Supreme Court has overturned "Roe Vs Wade" on abortion. This is only the beginning. Do not fret if you were not one of those who prayed. Jesus still needs us to stand for him. This verse says it all: James 4:6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” It is now time for us to change a nation. 05/03/2022 God did send his son. He not only came for the forgiveness of sins but to assist us by his Holy Spirit. John 3:16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Now that he is in our midst, why don't we trust that is enough. He is with us to the end. So fear is from the enemy. Romans 12:12 (New Living Translation) Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying Pray for things that glorify God's Kingdom. Stay away from selfish desires when praying. 1 John 5:14-15 (New Living Translation) And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. This is a promise if what you are praying for glorifies God's Kingdom. A new pickup or house could glorify his Kingdom. A pickup could serve gangs and a home could be used to reach children. It can be fun and still glorify his Kingdom. Your heart will show if you have impure motives. 05/02/2022 What makes Paul different then most Christians? Like him, we pray for people and things. But what separates him from most of us is what prayer cannot do. How many of us pray and do nothing to show what we believe in. This is like praying against abortion and not supporting and encouraging people who do. We are afraid to rock the boat so we do nothing. What is even worse is when we pray against things God hates and vote for people who do the very things God hates. God loves his children and abortion is one of those things he hates the most. There are many candidates who hate abortion but are despised because of mean tweets. So the abortionist is elected to office to fight against God. Does this make sense? We need to know what God wants and to begin to fight for him. The next thing is to love people like Paul who was a great man of God. In his letters he encouraged people and the churches while glorifying Jesus Christ in the process, encouraging believers and revealing things that the believers needed to change. Everything he did was done in love for his audience. Philemon was a good example: Philemon 1:4-7 4 I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, 5 because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people. 6 And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God's people. Philemon was encouraged by Paul for the things he accomplished. The part "I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ" was that he needed share with others what Jesus Christ has done for him. A little constructive criticism here. But he finished up the verses with encouragement. Always end your talk with encouragement. Do you notice that he encouraged what he did for God's people first then ended with what he did by bringing him joy and comfort. As Christians we need to be bold like Paul; encouraging people and steering people on the proper path while doing it in love. But you better know what the Word of God says before you challenge the actions of people. 05/01/2022 Why is it that every religion people say they have faith in their gods. How do you know if your faith is real? A CSU professor once told me I know a lot about all religions because I RECEIVED my master's degrees in it. He said Jesus Christ was the only one I observed that was capable of transforming lives. I never have seen it happen in the other religions. That means Jesus is really alive. This verse says it all: Romans 1:20 (New Living Translation) For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Creation shows that there is a God. His word makes promises to us but it also talks about being tested. God wants to know if you are willing to stand with him by testing you. I have had moments myself where I was feeling God was about to let me down but he came through in plenty of time. The devil is always trying to deceive us about our Father letting us down. He even tried it on Jesus in the wilderness. We need to figure this out. Again his word is the answer to solve this problem and prayer. The Holy Spirit will also build your faith. It may be time to be born again in the Spirit. Hebrews 11:6 (New Living Translation) And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. "Let us seek him" is a faith builder in itself. 04/30/2022 Have you ever wondered why there's so much division in the church and amongst Christians. If you ever watch small kids interact with each other you will encounter childish behavior. As adults we usually mature out of this because we learn what is proper. In the same manner our spiritual lives remain like children because we do not spend enough time or any time at all in God's word to find out what God wants. Sometimes even the Word is not enough. We many times need to pray to God so his Spirit will reveal the full meaning of his Word. I myself have found excuses to do something else and have missed out on what he wants to show me. Ephesians 4:14 (New Living Translation) Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Two examples of fake truth are living together before you get married and allowing other gods to infiltrate our nation. Both of these the Bible speaks against. I dare anyone to prove this is not fake truth. Ephesians 4:15 (New Living Translation) Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Paul tell us how to speak the truth. His word tells us how to become more and more like Jesus Christ. Notice that Paul uses the words "more and more" which means we should be growing in Christ all the time. We should never become stagnant. 04/29/2022 In Job 19 up to this point Job has lost his wealth and human relationship: 14 My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me. Nobody even wants to see him: 15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger. And his family detests him: 17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family. But he still has faith In God and sees the coming of Jesus Christ. Job 19:25 (New International Version) I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And he is still looking towards God Kingdom through it all: 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! When it all falls apart are we going to abandon God or are we going to keep our eyes on him. Job was rich in the beginning then lost it all. But by sticking it out with God it was all restored. It is important that when things are looking down that we continue walking with our King. 04/28/2022 We all talk about making sacrifices to be able to accomplish things. But have we ever thought about the sacrifice Jesus made to accomplish things for us. Philippians 2:5-8 (New Living Translation) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Now this is what true sacrifice is about. We will never go to the depth of sacrifice he made for us. Isn't it time for us to honor that sacrifice. All he wants from us is a servants heart and to boldly preach the gospel about him. This is still no comparison to what he did. 04/27/2022 Luke 19:10 (New Living Translation) For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Solomon the wisest man to ever walked the earth had his moments where wisdom escaped him. He even received his wisdom from God. 2 Chronicles 1:10 Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?” There is a saying that stupid people do not realize they are stupid but the wise know there is always more to learn. That even comes to God's word. Some things are hidden to be Revealed at a later time. Ecclesiastes 7:23 23 I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, "I am determined to be wise." But it didn't work. 24 Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. 25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness. David knew his Lord could help with bringing wisdom closer. Psalm 19:7 7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. This verse says keep your eyes on the Lord. Solomon was right about wickedness making you stupid. It used to be you could look at a new born baby and could tell the sex. Now they can't tell any more. They need to consult a biologist. Look at what is madness; placing a mask on our kids who are impervious to the virus which easily passes through the mask. This is true madness and stupidity we are facing today. This the result of taking our eyes off the things of the true God. 04/26/2022 The one cool thing about Jesus is he can dialogue with our Father anytime. This is something the priests could not do. We can come to Jesus anytime and lay our issues at his feet. Anytime we can ask for the forgiveness of our sins and he will present us as a clean offering to God. Hebrews 7:25 (New Living Translation) Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. You do not have to break in a new high priest when they died. Since he conquered death we will always have him interceding for us. We need to honor him by reaching out and bringing people into the Kingdom of God by how we live and by our words. 04/25/2022 It is open doors for the rest of us when the Jews rejected Jesus. I am grateful that WE ARE HIS ALSO: Colossians 1:27-28 (New Living Translation) For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. "And this is the secret: Christ lives in you." is what it takes. That personal relationship of Jesus Living in us is what makes us effective witnesses. If you want to set the world on fire for Christ let him set you on fire first. 04/24/2022 Blue Mustang: Man there is a lot in Ecclesiastes 7:8-10. Here are my thoughts: Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 8 Finishing is better than starting. The reward of finishing can lift one Spirits in a job well done. Starting to many projects can be depressing. Philippians 3:14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful Patience is better than pride. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is patience but pride is not one of them. The Spirit knows best. 9 Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool. Only human anger can do this. This usually happens with rage and it can destroy your cool factor. Jesus proved righteous anger can honor God. He did it in the temple twice with the tables. James 1:19 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 10 Don't long for "the good old days." This is not wise. This one can hold us back from the things that God wants to do in our lives. If we are serving him properly we should be excited today because we serve the winning God. Think about it: Why would God be cool back then and now today he is a drag. That is not the God I serve. You are not serving God; well that may be your problem. Start serving him today and now will become the "good old days". Try to stop this one. Jesus is worthy and the true God is amazing. Everthing else serves the devil. The true God get the Glory and the Victory. Romans 14:11 (New Living Translation) For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” Just laid down for the night thank you so much for your prayers 72 Gang Members gave their hearts to Jesus Christ this weekend our King gets all the Glory and the Victory 04/22/2022 As an American I have no problem seeing God in creation. When I went to college, I had a cource in thermodynamics. The 2nd law is that everything goes from a higher order to a lower order. This means great amounts of energy have to be used to counter the 2nd law. This is why God is important to creation. He is the only one who has the energy to pull it off. Boy did he do a good job. Romans 1:20 (New Living Translation) For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. We are still needed. Some say their god created the earth. Its our job to tell them about the true God and Jesus. We should live and love like Christ to convince those who have rebelled against God what they are missing. 04/21/2022 John 3:16 is the most encouraging verse in the Bible because of Gods promise and the things Jesus accomplished as a man: 16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. Now this is what Jesus had to say in all of this: John 10:28-30 (New Living Translation) I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” Jesus confirms that He and the Father are in total agreement. But look how hard Jesus is fighting for us. The devil is going to have a battle to take us. This is true love having a high priest that even fights for us while presenting us as clean to the Father because he shed blood for us. If only we had friends like that. Of course, I need to be a friend like that to someone. My blood cannot forgive other people's sins but I can forgive those who sin against me and I can pray that God can bring change to their hearts and blessing into their lives. After all Jesus came to demonstrate how to live the godly life. It is all written about in God's word. 04/19/2022 Have you ever thought about what it's like to live in this time where Jesus Christ came to earth and conquered death for us. Those who lived prior to Jesus were missing out on the things we take for granted. Until Jesus rose from the dead, they only had the bondage of the law. A lot of animal sacrifices were needed to cover their sins. What Jesus did was amazing. He really simplified things along with giving ALL OF US access to the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 (New Living Translation) But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. Notice in this verse that we all belong to Adam to die and spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. But everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. That means spending eternity in heaven. But how do you know where you are going: Romans 10:9-10 (New International Version) If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. If this is true you are saved. But now it is time to serve Jesus Christ and exalt him to others. We want to Glorify the name of Jesus Christ. It may be a battle to take the gospel to others because you are agervating the devil when you are obedient to our King. You will be honored if you continue to stand for him. Matthew 10:32-34 New Living Translation 32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. 34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. Jesus Christ holds the ONLY key into the Kingdom of God. Everything else means spending eternity in the Lake of Fire. John 14:6 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Jesus will never give up on us and never sets us up to fail: John 3:16 New Living Translation 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 04/18/2022 Easter symbolizes what Jesus Christ did for us. It took time for him to get to this point. He had to grow up like all of us and every day was a test whether he would sin today or not. 30+ year is a long time to not mess up. He was also tested by Satan who lost that battle. He then served us to demonstrate to us how to live. Before he rose from the dead he had to defeat Satan again. This was done for us freely because he loved us and we cannot earn it. Romans 3:23-24 (New Living Translation) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Why do many Christians and churches stop here when it comes to grace. Our walk with Christ is much more than just grace. We need to move on to the next step. Galatians 2:20 (New Living Translation) My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Now Jesus needs to live inside of us. We should begin to mirror Jesus Christ to people around us. They should see something different about us 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (New Living Translation) Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. That is right. Jesus can actually control what we watch on the boob tube, crude humor, or dangerous traps. His Spirit can send those signals to make us want to walk away from those things that can deceive or destroy us. It is time to share why we cannot do those things anymore and to share Christs goodness with others. 1 Corinthians 1:18 (New Living Translation) The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. Living in the flesh separated from God does make the cross seem foolish. They do not understand what love is and the difficulty of keeping the law because it has no meaning to them. But only Jesus can fill that void in those who think that. God is getting ready to release his Glory and many people are beginning to hunger for God"s word. He is coming after the youth first. You can show those people what Jesus Christ is all about. The devil loves it when we are complacent. Lets be bold and bring people into the Kingdom of God. 04/16/2022 One thing that I have been noticing over the past couple of years is how much people are beginning not to respect authority. Things like defunding the police and people going out and burning everything down in sight is anarchy and the total lack of authority. God has said many things in the Scriptures about authority. Why did God put people in authority in the first place? Proverbs has the answer. Proverbs 29:2 When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan. Proverbs 29:16 When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes, but the godly will live to see their downfall. Do you notice that when godly people are in authority how everyone is blessed. But when evil people are in authority, people suffer. Now you know why it is important to vote and to be opposed to evil in your government. I do not care what they say, Christians need to be involved in politics to make sure that we have godly representatives. Separation of church and state is not even in the Constitution. When the Constitution was written it was designed to keep government out of the church and that is it. There is nothing in it about the church influencing our government. I would like somebody to prove this one to me that it's not true. It cannot be done. The first thing God wants you to do is respect authority. Remember God's authority is over man's authority. If man's authority conflicts with God's authority, it is to be ignored or fought against. Our churches should have never been shut down. God requires that we come together as a body and lay hands on one another. Psalms 91 is all you need to against ANY disease. That preacher up in Canada went to his prison because he was standing up for God's authority over mans. He was in the right and God will honor him for that. Romans 13:1-7 Respect for Authority Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. I like the last part of this verse where it talks about the fear of authority. If we are breaking the laws people in authority are there to make sure that the laws are enforced. I have noticed that if I don't speed or break the law I never have problems with police officers coming after me. The secret is to obey the law. Romans 13:6-7 (New Living Translation) Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. Because God put people in authority over us, they do need to be paid. We need to have respect and honor for them also. Just remember God is in authority over us. If we are having problems with man's authority we will definitely have issues with God's authority. You cannot have one without the other. Even Jesus dealt with God's authority. John 12:49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. Jesus is second in command. He has authority in heaven and earth. Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Nothing is better then someone who is in authority who has a servant's heart. Jesus has all these qualities and that makes him totally awesome. Godly people will protect you and improve your life. You know what really pleases God is when we pray over those who are in authority. We should be praying that God gives them godly wisdom and protection from evil if they are representing God. Evil men need to be removed from authority but don't do it in a way that it dishonors God. 04/15/2022 Easter message It is nearly Good Friday the start of the fulfilment of a lot of scriptures. I am sure that the disciples have read or read with Jesus the book of Isaiah but I wonder if they ever understood what it means especially this part: Isaiah 53:5-6 (New Living Translation) But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Jesus took all twelve of his disciples to have a meeting to explain everything again to them. I wonder how dense we are at understanding the things God is trying to Reveal to us. A lot has to do with listening and the comprehension of the word. God has ways of revealing things from his word. Ask him to give you wisdom to open its power. Matthew 20: 17-19 (New Living Translation) As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Jesus knew what Isaiah meant probably when he was twelve. To live that long knowing how you were going to end in life must have been challenging. I am grateful that God has not shared with me when or how I am going out of this Earth. This shows what kind of love Jesus had for us. In the end he would have liked to have a way to get out of what was about to happen: Matthew 26:39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” The thought of becoming sin and being beaten. Then to be hung on a cross to die is not on anyone's bucket list. To make matters even worse was he knew everyone was going to abandon him leaving him all alone. The Father said, "You must finish this." was all he needed to continue on. You and I have greatly benefited from Jesus completing his mission and releasing the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 New Living Translation 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 04/14/2022 The last couple of years I have been amazed on how many are being deceived. We are willing to go against scriptures and close the churches. No one does any research and they believe whatever people tell them. David has a solution: Psalm 119:11 11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Or have we been avoiding his word and not praying for wisdom. Paul knows about those who have no desire to serve God. Romans 16:18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. The devil is not on our side. He is a master of the grey area. Our weakness in his Word and our refusal to ask for wisdom opens us up to deception. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. It is not easy to not be deceived. It takes work. Philip was with Jesus and had no idea who he was. John 14:9 Jesus answered, “For a long time I have been with you all; yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Why, then, do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 04/13/2022 Why is when someone does something that turns into a catastrophe that it will be tried by another person getting the same results. One reason God has the old testament is to show us the stupid things that people did and the results of doing it. Isreal had a facination with fake gods that lead them away from the true God. This ALWAYS resulted in a hostile take over by other nations. This never happened when the leaders followed God's heart. America is serving too many fake gods today and we need to come back to the real God. By serving him our nation will become powerful again. Ecclesiastes 1:9 9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, "Here is something new!" But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don't remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. We need to enforce history lessons of making the same mistakes over and over. Wisdom is the only thing that can prevent this from reoccurring James 1:5 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
