Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
I currently play piano in a nice UMC.  I Know that the people, know and love the Lord.   (Why else attend  for 60 years?)

What I do not, and will not ever understand, is how they can just accept where they are and not hunger and thirst for more.

How can you accept that God has saved you, and not believe the rest of His Word.

To my natural mind, there is nothing more outrageous or unbelievable then, a man has to die, to save me from my sins.

A man, sacrificed, to replace the blood of bulls and goats.  How gullible, do we have to be, to believe this?

Yet, I do.  Why?  

Because, I sensed,  a knocking on the door of my heart.  I opened the door.  Jesus came in.

The weight of the world, lifted off my shoulders.  I experienced forgiveness and   freedom from the bondage of sin and shame.

I am blameless in the beloved. 

Should I stop here, continue no further?   Is that all I need or want?   No, no a thousand times, NO. 

That place, is the beginning of a never ending quest, a journey of discovery.   It gave me a hunger and thirst for righteousness. 

The first taste, gave me, a longing for more.   I search the Word, to know Him more.

You saved me Lord, You set me free, You let me recognize true love, for the first time ever.

I desire more.   I realize, I do not deserve anything,  that I am not worthy of Your notice.

Yet, I am loved, accepted and promised so much more.

IF I ONLY BELIEVE.  IF I,  HAVE FAITH IN GOD.

Saints, the Bible is full of promises, they are available for whosoever will.

We have too many who won’t.    

I beg you,  Seek first the kingdom of God, everything else you need will follow.

Blessings, 

Amen

Psalm: 10. 4. 

“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”

This is the condition of our towns, counties, states and country.  The people,  will not seek after God.   God is not in their thoughts.  God has no reverence in their lives.  

We, do fine without a God.  We, are all powerful, we, cause, and can fix, the climate, we, are the masters of our universe. 

I am, the master of my own life.  I have, by my own power and wisdom, caused my success.  I will succeed in all I do.

Is that not, the attitude of the world?  Do not the lost, believe this?  Are they not, delusional?

Are they correct?  Is there any reason to serve the Lord?  Is there an upside to becoming a Christian?   Is it worth it to press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus?

Indeed it is worth it.  Here are some Blessings For the righteous from Proverbs 11.

  ~   The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: 

  ~   The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: 

  ~  The righteous is delivered out of trouble, 

  ~  By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: 

  ~  As righteousness tendeth to life: 

  ~  To the LORD:  such as are upright in their way are his delight.

  ~   To him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

  ~   The desire of the righteous is only good: 

  ~  He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: 

  ~  The seed of the righteous shall be delivered.

  ~   The righteous shall flourish as a branch.

  ~   The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

  ~  Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: 

These are Blessings promised to those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness. 

Is it worth the trouble?  ABSOLUTELY….

When you said, seek ye the Lord.  I answered, I will set my face like flint seek my God.  Amen. 

Mark 4:36-41. Matthew 8:23-27. Luke  8:22-25

 Who do you trust?   What do you believe?   When is your faith strongest?   Where is your faith?  Why does your faith fail?   How do we grow our faith?

These are all good questions,  do we have the answers at hand.

1 Peter 3:15
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:“

Jesus, in His ministry years, mentioned faith, often.   

He was disappointed with those who lacked sufficient faith, to walk on water, cast out devils,  be healed, calm the storm, or move mountains.

All because of a lack of faith. 

He marvelled at those with great faith… He saw their faith,  and healed them,  they received their petition because of their faith, they received their sight, were saved, were made whole.   

All because of faith.

So “In whom do you put your trust?”

Is your faith in Christ?   Or in your Pastor?  Billy Graham, Jimmy Swagart, Martin Luther, John Wesley?   

Is it Christ, or your Church that you Worship? 

I cringe, when I hear people,(in pride say), I am a Baptist, Methodist, Adventist, ect, and ect…

We identify with our Denomination, when we need to  identify, only with Christ. 

I joined the Church, the day I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.   I am a member in good standing, forgiven, blameless, accepted in the beloved. 

Please don’t expect me to join your Denomination. 

I will gladly attend services,  Praise the Lord with you, listen to and embrace the teachings of your Denomination, or teach, as long as it lines up with the Word.

Our faith, our service, our praise,  needs to be centered and directed to Christ.  

What do you believe?

Are you a cafeteria Christian?  Or do you believe the Full Council of God?  

Please read beyond your Denominational teachings, Ask and Trust the Holy Spirit to Lead you to all truth.

Don’t waste your time asking UNBELIEVING BELIEVERS,  to explain, that which they do not believe.  

If the BOOK says one thing, and your Denomination, another?  

PLEASE TRUST THE BOOK AND SEEK THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO WILL LEAD YOU TO ALL TRUTH.

ABOVE YOUR DENOMINATIONS.

When is your faith strongest?   Why does your faith fail?   How do we grow our faith?

We are all given a measure of Faith.  The ability to believe, if we will.

We need to understand a few things.  Faith in God and Salvation are personal things.  Mom and Dad cannot save us by their faith. 

We cannot save our children by our faith.

According to the Word, our lack of Faith, or our unbelief, our worship of anything that isn’t the Lord, brings us to trouble.  (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5)

” I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.”

Our disbelief, our sins will have consequences to the third and forth generation.   If you feel like you are cursed?  You might be.

The other side of the coin is blessings to thousands of our descendents, if we love and keep His commandments.

We can easily fall away, by staying away or by never really growing to start with.  To be strong in the Lord, we must first know the Lord.

We must:

~  Study to show ourselves approved:

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

~  Set ourselves apart:

Romans 12:1-2

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

We do this by renewing our minds, this takes Study of the Word, renewing our minds, learning to be holy, knowing God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will.

~  We must learn to pray:

Jude 1:20-21
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Pray in the Holy Ghost,   yes, the best way to do that is to Pray in Tongues. 

1 Corinthians 14:2

“For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.“

If You don’t pray in Tongues,  at least know the Word and pray in accordance to it.  KNOW GOD’S WILL, AND PRAY THAT.

When do we need strong faith?   NOW.

We must believe.   Our Faith needs to be strong, sound and active.   Amen

Mark 4:36-41

36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Matthew 8:23-27

23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Luke 8:22-25

22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

Psalm 139:13-14

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.   

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

We are POSSESSED…  

Possessed:  To occupy, to seize, to rob, to inherit. (Strongs Concordance #3423, OT)  These are some of the meanings given for the word Possessed in the Old Testament. 

It means to own, or occupy the land.  In the Psalm above we see that the Lord, possessed my reins.  What???

Reins:    Strongs #3629 tells this means an essential organ, a kidney or fig. the mind (as the interior self).  

We are Possessed by the Lord.  Every human ever conceived, was and is, fearfully and wonderfully made.    We belong to God. 

He is our Creator, herein lies the  problem,  Freewill.    He gives us the ability to choose whether to accept Him as Lord and Savior or not.

Most of the world chooses not.  How Sad.

That’s not what this post is about.  Let’s talk about us.  We possess things.  We own our cars, homes, land, things…   Some, once owned people. 

Slavery, unfortunately once was practiced  here in the United States,  and is still practiced in many parts of the world.   That is certainly a wrong that should be corrected.   

We as Christians  should be slaves, though, bond slaves of Christ.

To be a bond slave of Christ is by choice, by our   Freewill.  It is a total giving of our mind, heart and body to the Lord.

How about being Possessed by the devil?   We find a lot of references to people being Possessed by the devil in the New Testament. Really?  What does that mean?

Matthew 12:22. Luke 11:14
Matthew 12:22
“Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.”
Luke 11:14
“And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.”

Possessed:  In the New Testament it can mean to own something, (such as property or things), but when connected to the devil, (possesed by, it is #1139, Strongs Concordance New Testament), it means to be exercised by, or vexed, troubled, bothered.

It is from the root word for devil.  A demon or devil cannot possess you, they can continuously trouble us, tempting us, vex our Spirit, but  We  are the Lords.

As Eve found out, the devil can tempt us by reminding us of our lust, greed, or pride.

Paul tells us a messenger of Satan, can buffet us, be a continuous thorn in our side.  

Tempting us, reminding us, if we fail in the fight, it can become the sin that so easily be sets us.

We see different levels of trials from this vexing, trouble, agitation.  From the Legion, wild, crazy, out of control. 

To seizures, issues of blood, deformities of limbs, to spirits of divination. 

 The point is Jesus can heal and set us free from anything the devil sends our way.  As He healed the blind and dumb man, causing him to see and speak.

The point?   NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.

He can comfort, heal, set us free from all the vexatious, troubles of the devil.

Unfortunately,  we do have to deal with the consequences of our decisions and actions.

That is a whole separate can of worms.