A sign of our times: 9/10/17
Walking with God
Lust, revisited: theunfetteredpreacher
For years, I believed Lust, was just about sex. It isn’t.
Lust isn’t just something that young boys and old men battle. It is a battle all, male and females fight.
Lust is covetousness. It is:
The apple is good to make one wise, to be like God.
The guy across the street got a new car… (I need one).
Why did he get the promotion? I ‘m better, smarter, work harder, and more deserving than him.
Lust is a big problem for Pastors also.
I have heard, from Pastors…
All they do is music and drama, I heard they allow drinking, they don’t preach the true Gospel, like I do.
They teach a false Gospel, they itch the ears of the people.
That’s why so many attend there.
GROW UP… THEIR CHURCHES GROW, BECAUSE THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS THERE.
Yes, you preach what you understand is the Gospel, and it is. Only there is no power.
The Gospel is confirmed by signs,wonders and miracles.
Some miracles are crowds being saved… like Billy Graham’s ministry. Maybe the 600 member church down the street, is seeing this.
Some miracles are Healings, signs and wonders like Katherin Kuhlman, RW Shamboch, Oral Roberts, Benny Hinn.
Do you notice anyone missing? Yeah, me and you.
I lust, yes I covet, a pulpit, a platform, a ministry that sees people saved, healed, comforted….
I do not reject those who are successful, I long to learn… to grow.
That is my desire. Is it God’s desire? I guess not, He hasn’t opened any doors of utterance.
I have prayed. He tells me the Blog is my platform.
I wonder if it helps anyone to grow closer to Christ?
Does anyone really read and understand?
I believe the big ministries are anointed of God and have many followers, not because they are fakes, but because they have fasted, prayed, studied, and groaned in prayer.
Until they have touched the hem of His garment. They have learned to come boldly to the throne of Grace.
They know how to pray and walk in the will of God. Are they perfect? lol, not even close.
They know how to repent and keep pushing closer to Christ.
They have found Grace and Mercy in their time of need.
They needed the presence of God in their lives more than their next breath.
When that is true for me….. and you, we will see. God confirming His Word.
Mark 16:17-18 (KJV)
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Mark 16:20
“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”
Do we really believe?
2 Timothy 3:16
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
Do not throw the Word out. The change must be in us. Amen
To be satisfied: theunfetteredpreacher
Throughout the Bible we find the Lord, warning His people, about finding satisfaction in their sin.
Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Micah, Amos, Ezekiel all tell us we will not be satisfied.
“Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”
“the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing”
“yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; “
“they shall not satisfy their souls, ”
“yet couldest not be satisfied.”
“yet thou wast not satisfied therewith.”
“Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied”
“they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.”
If you have read these scriptures, the last one shows the way to satisfaction.
Return to the Lord. So simple, yet hard for we hard headed, sinners to do.
We would rather cause God to line up with our thoughts, desires and ways, then buckle down, and follow Him.
(After all, He made us this way… Freewill, covetousness, lust, pride). So is it His fault?
In Revelation He tells us we overcome, “by the blood of the Lamb, and the Word of our Testimony.”
If we would just turn to Him, He is calling all of us to be with Him, know Him, walk with Him.
Psalm 65:4
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
Isaiah 58:11
And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, …
Joel 2:19
Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith:
Joel 2:26
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God,
The promise of God
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
When we learn to trust, rely on, have faith, that His word is true.
That is the day, we will find, we are satisfied. Amen
I can’t get no-oo, satisfaction: theunfetteredpreacher
I can’t get no-oo, satisfaction, and I try, and I try, and I try, and I try…. I CAN’T GET NO, …..
The Rolling Stones, we all sang along…
We never found Satisfaction. We are still seeking, hoping, and wondering, if it can be found.
So many of us, are not satisfied, even today.
We don’t have enough, money, a big enough TV, a nice enough car, or a big enough house, pool, pet, ect…
We all want more. (Please sir, may I have more?) [Oliver].
Whether rich or poor. We are never satisfied.
The Disciples, (when told to feed the 4,000), said: How can we satisfy so many?
The Bible warns us “the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8)
“The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life.” (1 John 2:16)
These are the things of this world, they are the cause, of all sin. We need to look beyond this world.
So many, because of Harvey and this weekend, Irma. Have or will lose everything.
Yet, others I know and love, in the last few weeks, have lost a piece of their hearts, their own flesh and blood.
Unrelated, to the Natural or National Disasters.
I cannot imagine the pain and frustration of any of these loses.
It rains on the just, as it rains on the wicked.
The just have a great advantage. The availability of the Mercy and Grace of God.
The pain is still real, the grief, the lack of understanding, of the whys and wherefores.
The tearing apart of our hearts.
Yet, comfort can be found.
Psalm 116:3-7 (KJV)
“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.”
There will be rest and peace, after the mourning, the pain will subside, hope will return, “weeping may endure through the night, but joy commeth in the morning. ”
The Lord will comfort and keep you through the darkest hours. The light of day shall awaken you, to His love and grace.
Lord, I pray for those who have lost, all but hope, the last few weeks.
Only You, Lord, are able to comfort and restore, that which they have lost.
Whether it is in this physical world or in the spiritual.
You alone, Oh Lord, are our hope and future. Help us, as we call on Your Name.
Let those who trust on You, fear not, and only believe. Amen
I beseech you: theunfetteredpreacher
The message, I beseech you, is found over 20 times in the Bible.
To beseech someone, is to beg, plead, or encourage them, to do a certain thing, or to live, think and act a certain way.
The first time we see it, is in Nehemiah 1.
The Prophet is reminding the people of the comands the Lord gave Moses.
That if they strayed, or transgressed, His commands, He would scatter them.
That was the Law, the Lord speaking.
We see the Grace of God, as always, available if we miss the mark of the Law.
If you turn to Me, and keep my commandments, (and do them), even if you have been cast out.
I will gather you again.
In the New Testament, we find Paul as the messenger.
He encourages us to walk worthy, of our calling, (Ephesians 4:1 and Thessalonians 4:1). To walk pleasing to God.
In (Romans 12:1), Paul he gets more specific, that we would:
present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
The message of God is simple.
~ Love God and one another.
~ To walk worthy of, pleasing to God.
~ Be Holy, sacrifice our desires, and wants, to please God, more than ourselves.
We then hear the direct and practical voice of Peter.
There is not any question to his directive, in (1 Peter 2:11-12), that we:
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; have honest coversatins with others, to draw them to God.
A final word from Paul. (2 Corinthians 6:1),
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
We know the desires of the Lord, now walk in them. Amen
The Saints in Houston: theunfetteredpreacher
The devastation, heartbreak, and sorrow for the people of Houston is felt throughout this great country.
The Cajun and Waco Navies, the first responders, the next door neighbors, friends, strangers…. everyman.
All pulling together, helping one another, working, crying, praying.
A picture of love, in the most trying of times.
Then we have the commentators. Shoes, big buildings not available, Confederate Flags flown by rescuers.
My advice, to all of us who are not there, in the fray….
Pray, send cash to the Salvation Army or the organization of your choice.
Pray, Cry, and Pray some more. Then:
1 Thessalonians: 4:11-12
“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.”
Look after your own attitude, heart and mind.
The Lord will deal with those we think are gaming the system.
Not our monkeys or circus….
GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL.
My Story: theunfetteredpreacher
The Fence:
We had an old wooden fence around our front porch.
The spindles were not all even in its spacing, and our dog had many avenues of escape.
Bette, my sweet wife, wanted the new prefabricated fence.
Prefabricated? Yeah, right,… delivered in pieces… with directions for assembly.
The top picture, was the first to be put together. I was so proud… straight, leval… (pretty work). lol
It took my wives help to fit the spindles into the top rail and connect it to the end posts.
The next step? Turn the corner. The desire? To match the hight of the first piece.
Looks like I was one half inch low…. I didn’t notice at the time. I finished that section. (Again could not have got the top rail on without Bette’s assistance).
Again straight and leval, all the way down the other sections.
So pleased with myself, (and thankful for Bette’s assistance), only the gate left on the far end. I sat in my rocker to admire my fine work.
One word… SATISFACTION. until, … I noticed that second section, at the corner.
Now, I know, it should have been cleaned and painted first. It wasn’t. Nuff said.
No, it was the corner itself.
So proud of it being straight and leval. How did I end up higher than the first section?
I didn’t notice I had not knocked the top rail to the bottom of the clip it hooked to.
So the rest of the fence is higher than the original.
No worries…. I can live with and laugh at my mistakes.
It will still keep the dog inside. (We hope).
It still looks ok.
No the fence really isn’t the point of the story.
The story is the Gospel, Jesus gave us the first section.
Straight, leval, strong and true.
Full of Power to heal the sick, comfort the brokenhearted, to save the lost.
The Church turned the corner. Didn’t notice, we weren’t matched up perfectly.
We had the Word, the promise, the hope of Salvation, of Healing of Love, Peace and Joy.
What’s missing? Power.
The Church, by not matching the plan of Jesus, has lost the Power of His Promise.
Where have we gone wrong?
Like the Jews, before Jesus. We took His Words and added to it.
We added Ceremonies, Rituals, Readings, Order…. theses are all man’s inventions.
Jesus taught, touched, ate and met needs.
The Apostles sang, shared, prayed,taught, touched, ate and met needs.
In one accord…. believing His PROMISES.
We have an order of service, the music minister leads us to the announcements and offering.
Then the Pastor leads us in prayer and readings. If he is any good he teaches and touches the needs of the flock.
The problem is, the Pastor, loves the Lord, but has no inspired word from God.
It is easy to teach and preach. We can do that in our natural man.
To work in the Power of God, takes the Spiritual Man.
A man who doesn’t just read and study the Word, but believes and acts on it also.
We must lay hands on the sick, if we expect the Lord to work through us.
We must not give excuses, if we do not see results. According to our Faith and the Faith of the one in need…. so be it.
SAINTS, EXPECT THE WORD TO BE TRUE.
IT IS TRUE. THAT WE DO NOT SEE IT WORKING, IS OUR PROBLEM NOT HIS.
BELIEVE AND RECEIVE.
Build yourself by the renewing of your mind, studying to show yourself approved, recognizing and acting on the Revelation you will receive as you determine to draw closer to God.
Know the power of His Resurrection, the fellowship of His Sufferings, be Conformed to His Image.
Take up His Yoke. Walk with Him.
Build His Church.
Both tickled and ticked off: theunfetteredpreacher
Does it concern you?
That the SYMBOLS OF HATE…. KKK, WHITE SUPREMACY…. Confederate Flags and Statues…. ECT….
Are considered worse than the actual HATE AND VIOLENCE OF THE ANTIFA AND BLACK LIVES MATTER?
Wake up, America!!!
theunfetteredpreacher 
