Looby Loo!

Remember the game we used to play as children called Looby Loo? Put your left foot in, take your left foot out, put your whole self in, take your whole self out, etc. I believe that many Christians play this game with their faith. These past few days I've been re-evaluating my walk and realized that it is so easy to have one foot in and one foot out at the same time. This world is so challenging right now that we have our hands full just trying to manage and get through our days.

You want to please those around you; your family, your boss, your friends, your co-workers, etc. The question we rarely ask ourselves is are we pleasing Yehoveh God? Are we putting the way people think about us above what He thinks about us.

Over and over the past few days Yehoveh has put His Word in front of me with the answer. He has put people in my path with the answer. The answer is that I have been more concerned with what others think of me than I have with being obedient to Him. I have thought about and worried what they might think of me, how they might treat me, if they would like me anymore or even walk away from me if I stood up for truth. Would I lose business? Would I lose a friendship? Would I lose a close family member? Would I get ridiculed, laughed at, ignored, hated, called names, rejected? Would they remove me as a friend from Facebook - sad, but true.

I had one foot in with Yehoveh and the other one firmly in the world. This morning He led me to the first three chapters in Revelation. He made me realize that living that way leads to destruction. Those three chapters are written to His believing church. They were not written to the unbelievers of the world or even seekers. He was admonishing His people to step up and do right by Him, not right by the world. He also let them know quite frankly that if they didn't, the consequences would be severe. Eternity without Him.

Gasp! Yes - contrary to the popular belief that is taught in today's churches, you can walk away from Him. You have free will and can choose your eternity. Messiah Yeshua spoke about this very issue in Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord! will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in Heaven wants. 22 On that Day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord! Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we expel demons in your name? Didn't we perform many miracles in your name? 23 Then I will tell them to their faces, I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!"

He was not talking to unbelievers. Unbelievers don't do these things. He was talking to people who were doing things in His Holy name. Believers.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed are the reader and hearers of the words of this prophecy, provided they obey the things written in it! For the time is near!

In the time of John the word hear did not just mean to hear something, it was an action word. It meant that you had to DO something to show that you heard and understood. If you trust Yeshua/Jesus then hear and obey! If you have a foot in the world NOW is the time to pull it out and firmly stand on the Rock of Salvation. It's all or nothing - you can't have it both ways.

Joshua 24: 14-15 Therefore fear Yehoveh, and serve Him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve Yehoveh! 15 If it seems bad to you to serve Yehoveh, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living?

As for me and my household, we will serve Yehoveh!

What in the world are they thinking?

As I drove into work this morning the news played a clip from the new Harry Potter movie that is all the rage and breaking box office records. I switched channels. When I opened my Facebook page this morning a post jumped out at me from a Christian who went to church then to see the HP movie, which they said was very good. A heaviness came down upon me so great that I cried out to Almighty Yehovah to please come back and come back soon as I didn't know how much more of this I could take. When Christians embrace a movie so steeped in the occult for entertainment, surely He isn't long in His return.

Is it that they just do not know how Yehovah God feels about this subject? Or do they know and they don't care? I am no biblical expert but I do spend time reading the Word daily and even I have read the passages about the occult and what God did to even His own people Israel because they dabbled in it. The most famous account is of King Saul speaking with a medium and what the repurcussions of that encounter brought to him.

Are we obeying our Savior King when we do exactly the opposite of what He commands us to do when it comes to witchcraft and the occult? Many will say "I love Jesus". But what good is that when you don't do as He says? That would be like my child saying I love my mom and dad but goes on to defy what we say. All words and no obedience. As James states in his letter, faith without works is dead. When we profess that we are followers of Messiah Yeshua but then fail to follow His commands we are having faith without works, which isn't really faith at all.

I've heard all of the excuses for seeing movies like HP. "I can handle it". "I know it's fiction:. "It's just a movie". "It's not really that bad". Etc. If Messiah Yeshua were going to the movie with you, would you take Him to HP? I highly doubt it.

Not to mention what kind of example are they setting for those non-Christians who are watching them? When a Christian acts just like a non-Christian there really is no difference between them.

The apostacy is full upon the church these days.

Where have I been? And today's churches...

I haven't written since mid-January. I really haven't had much to say lately. Busy taking it all in I guess. Today I have some things on my heart. I'm sad. Very sad. At the state of our churches today.

Where did it all go? I'm talking about talking about the Kingdom of God and the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why don't churches talk about it anymore?

When you read the apostles in the bible that's pretty much all they talk about. They were so excited about Jesus coming back. After all they knew Him in person and they loved Him and they couldn't wait to see Him again. Even the early church fathers taught that Jesus could come back anytime and that we as Christians needed to be ready.

Seems we have lost that these days. Churches now talk about how to handle finances, how to have a good marriage, how to be a good parent, etc. There is little or no talk about getting ready to face the coming tribulation and how to hold out until the end. The end is when Jesus comes back. Maybe our church leaders don't really believe that it's going to happen and that's why they don't teach it? Maybe they are too wrapped up in getting more people in the seats to pay for their buildings? I don't know. I really don't.

I really don't understand it either. The bible says that pastors and teachers will be held to a higher accountability than the average person. Why? Because they are responsible in part, for their flocks. So you would think that they would feel an added burden to make sure their flock was totally prepared to go through tribulation.

So I can only conclude that either (a) pastors don't really believe the bible or (b) they really don't think these things are going to happen in our lifetime so it doesn't really matter right now.

I don't know what else to think. I believe God says what He means and He means what He says. When He says we must endure to the end I believe Him. When He says that if I read the book of Revelation I will be blessed I believe Him. I believe that by reading it, and the rest of His word, that I will be prepared to endure to the end. Whether that means making it all the way to Christs return at the end of tribulation or a martyrs death, I will endure for Christ. No matter what.

Are you ready?

Kathe

Just say this little prayer.....

Is it really that easy? Just say this little prayer, called the sinner's prayer, and you get your ticket into eternity with God. Is that really all it takes? And once you say that little prayer and you have your ticket, can you live your life pretty much how you please without worrying about losing it? That is what I hear from most preachers today. It's called the OSAS or Once Saved Always Saved doctrine. Basically once you say that prayer and accept Jesus as your Savior, you are always saved and nothing can take that away from you.

My husband and I are reading through Revelation right now, doing a little bible study on our own. As we were reading this past week we came across some verses which caused us to pause and talk about the OSAS doctrine.

Revelation 2:25 - 28 (25) Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. (26) He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; (27) and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; (28) and I will give him the morning star.

To be given all of these things a person needs to hold fast until Jesus comes. He needs to overcome and keep "MY" deeds. Since this is Jesus speaking, He is the "MY" here. He also says that this person who does these things will be given the morning star. If you look in the bible for references to the morning star (Revelation 22:16) you will find that the morning star is another name for Jesus Christ. So in order to have Christ, we must overcome and hold fast until He comes back for us. To me this says you need to do more than just say a simple prayer.

Revelation 3:5 states: He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

OK........so if Jesus says He will not erase a name that must mean that some names are going to be erased. And if a name is erased doesn't that mean that in order to be truly saved and spend eternity with Jesus that you have to do more than just say a simple prayer?

I am reading James right now. I read it through last week and realized that there is so much amazing information in it that I decided to read it again, and again. Then I decided that I'm going to read it every day for at least a month. Every time I read it I get something else from it.

Some things are jumping out at me. In James 2 he talks about Faith and Works. James 2:17 states, Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Will dead faith get you into eternity with the Father? I don't think so.

James goes on to talk about Abraham and how Abraham showed his great faith by his works when he believed God and did what he was told to do with his son Isaac. James 2:24 states, You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. It seems pretty clear to me that to just say a simple sinners prayer is just not enough. There has to be something else.

The book of James is full of wisdom on how to live life according to God's will so that your deeds will be an outward showing of your faith. Faith is not a religious act of going to church and praying at the dinner table. Faith is living your life for Christ, not yourself.

Kathe