The Crossless Message

The pope graced our city with his unholy presence last week. The picture above shows our insipid prime minister (who pretends to be whatever the flavour of the month may be - to catholics he is catholic, to buddhists he is buddhist - chameleon!) greeting him I happened to be having lunch opposite the airforce base where his arrival was expected, and watched as the crowds gradually gathered, the police entourage and anti-terrorist squads checked the fenceline, and the roadblocks were set up. I had forgotten that he was actually coming and left before his plane touched down.

The catholic church is a diabolical institution, responsible for the murder, torture and abuse of many millions of souls. Don't ever think for a minute that the harlot has repented of her ways and her filth, even in this twenty-first century. Don't ever believe that the Inquisitors died out in medieval times......no friends, I bleieve that our present pope holds the title of Inquisitor and could reinvoke those powers at any time, I am quite sure.

I read an article about the pope's call for peace, harmony and acceptance of other religions. He called today's youth to renounce materialism (the Vatican is filthy rich - yes, the harlot is adorned in jewels and great riches and rides on the beast) He called the youth to have hope for the new age......the words of the lamb with the voice of the dragon.......I felt disgusted as I looked at the spindly, grotesque crucifix on the pole he carried. Do you remember the story of the Pied Piper, that German fairytale. Welcome the Pied Piper -Ratzinger (do you like the play on words?) he will free the town of rats but take the souls of children.

No gospel will ever be preached from the mouth of a pope, because popes are not Christians. They stand in the place of God and are worshipped accordingly by the deceived and idolatrous. Those who preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ are traditionally killed by the catholic church. Read your history books, including Foxe's book of martyrs, and you will see that this is true.
www.smh.com.au/news/world-youth-day/the-lords-prayer-be-prophets-of-this-new-age/2008/07/20/1216492255438.html

The Lord is Faithful

I have lots of half finished posts, and notes. It reflects my busy-ness that I don't get to publish most of them, but I thought it was high time that I put something here. I hope it may bless some of you in passing, anyway.

The Lord has shown His faithfulness time and time again. If you are desperate for deliverance, or for a breakthrough, then don't give up...be like the persistent widow if you have to be, but then rest, knowing that He has heard you, He loves you, and even if we are fickle and fainthearted and feel like giving up, beloved He is faithful!

What I love so much about the Lord, is His jealous desire to have us all to Himself and to do everything necessary to make us fit for heaven, for His highest purpose and to purge us of our unrighteousness. We cry out for our circumstances to be changed or removed, but more often than not, He changes us within our circumstances. I am glad of that. I would rather suffer trials and learn hard lessons than be delivered prematurely or remain unchanged. Sometimes when the Lord convicts me of a truth, it is like a splinter working its way to the surface - irritating, painful and a struggle. I can do nothing to remove it myself, except relinquish to His hand. That can take years. Perhaps I am stubborn too, slowing the process. But I reiterate, that He is faithful and having begun a good work, will complete it.

And I must be patient too for those things which I have asked, and believe His promises to me. Promises for the salvation of my husband, my children and other family members. Even when it seems like the opposite is happening, and that all hell has broken loose, 'my anchor holds within the veil'. I will pray unceasingly, sometimes fast and pray even, but then I can leave my loved ones to the Lord. Because He is faithful.

My oldest son is in the grip of evil, darkness and death. He dresses as a goth and dances with demons. I did my best to raise him to know the Lord, but he has turned his back on all that is right and lovely. I have despaired almost of life itself; I have asked whether I failed as a parent, and listened to every accusation from the enemy. But all this is about me. And the truth is, it never was about me. It is about the Lord's faithfulness. It is about His power to save even those in the darkest rebellion. It is about His infinite greatness, love and mercy.

With praise and with thanksgiving, I will sing to the Lord, for He has done marvelous things. He has heard my cries, even though I am weak amongst the brethren. He has sustained me when I had no strength left. He has restored my hope. I will yet rejoice in Him, and rest in His promise of salvation. The Lord has delighted in me, and His joy strengthens me.

And I know that He is faithful. What He has said, He will accomplish. Amen.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Hearing the Lord's Voice - and Living!

The Lord kindly allowed me to have some time at home this week, sending me a bad head cold, and coinciding that with minor eye surgery and another day of recovery. These were blessings to me, because I so needed time with Jesus, to be free from distractions, and to just love Him. I have done too little of that lately. I have been too busy and distracted, taking on extra work without discerning His will, relying on my own reasoning power, and hardening my heart against Him because of my difficult circumstances.

Satan will try every possible way to tear us from that which is vital to our life - communion with Jesus - by bringing into our lives 'good things' to be sure, but as I have heard said, 'good' can be the enemy of the 'best'. Jesus said to Martha, that her sister Mary had chosen that which was best. She sat at His feet, hanging on to His every word.

Lu 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word....
Lu 10:42 "But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her".

Oh beloved, it is those who hear the voice of God who will live!

Joh 5:25 Verily, verily I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the Son of God and they that hear shall live!

I was blessed when the Lord led me to some material recently, which reignited my desire to be passionate about Jesus, to 'fan into flame' the gifts which I had laid aside, and reminded me that, if I am one of His sheep, I am to hear His voice - not just in time of need or decision, but daily, moment by moment. That very day, I received in the post some handwritten notes from a dear friend in England, on......hearing God's voice, of course. And, a DVD with the testimony of Ian McCormack (see his site http://aglimpseofeternity.org/ ) who began by worshipping Jesus and stressing the need to be hearing His voice!

With all this, I believe the Lord was urging me - and longing for me - to listen to Him, to seek after that which I had lost - that passionate love for Him, and in fact, that place of rest and safety, which can only be found at His feet, in His presence. How insidiously the enemy steals those things away from us, so gradually that we don't fully notice, and when we do, we are so imprisoned by our busy-ness that we feel powerless to regain that which we have lost.....but He reminded me today that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And He is calling His sheep:

Joh 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

And, other sheep will recognise the Shepherd's voice in us -

Lu 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
Joh 8:47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

I don't mean for one minute that we are not to know the Scriptures, and know the Lord through reading His Word - God forbid! We are surely and certainly to test everything alongside the Scriptures, and to read and study the Bible diligently. But I also believe that we are meant to operate by hearing the Lord, that quiet inner voice, and I believe that in these treacherous times we need to be hearing as much as ever in order to discern His specific will for our lives, and to keep us strengthened for what is to come. As well as reading the Scriptures, hearing comes, too, by sitting at His feet, and just loving Him above all else.

I will finish with an excerpt from yesterday's morning reading by Charles Spurgeon:

I love thee, Lord, but with no love of mine,
For I have none to give;
I love thee, Lord; but all the love is thine,
For by thy love I live.
I am as nothing, and rejoice to be
Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in thee.

"This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him"

Faithful Love

It has been a little while since I have added to my blog. Busy. But also going through those fiery trials in which both James and Peter tells us to rejoice, consider it not strange, and to be aware that these things are common to the brethren.

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

I Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Am I reproached for the name of Christ? Yes. With blasphemy and murderous threats. With ridicule, mocking and menacing. With constant reminder of past mistakes and shortcomings. The accuser of the brethren does not play fair. He does not wait for you to recover from the last onslaught. He knows your vulnerabilities, your sensitive spots, those areas of unbelief where he can make you doubt the Word of God. He knows he can use those closest to you when he needs a mouthpiece. He knows that he can get to you through the pain of your children. He uses the sympathy of friends and the reasonable advice of kind colleagues. He does every possible thing to separate you from the love of God and the Truth. And when you listen to him, even just a little, you struggle to maintain your prayer life, you begin to lose your right view of God, and you begin to look to the world for solutions.

Romans 8:33-39 tells me that nothing can separate me from the love of God.

"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Lord also tells me that in Him, I am a new creation. My sins are not held against me. They are washed away by the precious blood of the Lamb.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

I am accepted in the Beloved, because He has made me acceptable.

Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Anything not from the Word of God which challenges my faith, my peace, my joy and which causes me even to doubt the love and truth about my Saviour, can only be from the mouth of a liar. And we know that the devil has been a liar, a deceiver and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44)

And so, I will be more than a conqueror. I will be victorious and I will hold fast to the truth. I will believe God, not man. And I will obey, no matter how hard or how unreasonable His charge seems. And He will complete the work He has begun in me, because He is faithful and will do it. And I will pray (Ephesians 6:18).

And the peace of God which passeth all understanding will keep my heart and mind in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.

Sweet or Bitter Fruit

II Kings 4:39 - 41 "And one [of the prophets] went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But [Elisha] said 'Then bring meal'. And he cast it into the pot, and he said, 'Pour out for the people, that they may eat' and there was no harm in the pot."

Last weekend my husband, youngest son and I went out west, to outback New South Wales, which is a drought stricken, harsh land of deep red soil, thirsty gum trees and saltbush plains. However I noticed many small green, lush looking vines growing by the roadsides, and in the adjacent paddocks. Closer inspection showed pretty little round green striped melons, which surely looked good to eat, surprisingly untouched by rabbits, birds or other animals. I believe they are called paddymelons, wild vines....
We brought one back, as I thought that even if the melon was not tasty, it may be good for jam.

When I cut the melon, I put my finger to my mouth, and discovered that it was the most bitter, disgusting taste that I had ever experienced. In fact, I could not eliminate the bitterness from my fingers even after washing them. Needless to say, the pretty striped melon was discarded. Not even jam would have been possible.

This is the fruit of the wild vine, bitter and inedible. It is useless for food.

Perhaps these were the melons which the unsuspecting prophet chopped into the stew, thinking that they looked good and would be delicious to the taste, only to be horribly disappointed.

But Elisha brought flour, a measure of meal, surely a picture of the Lord Himself, our Bread of Life, and applied it to the pot of death. And the stew became edible, and good to taste. The bitterness disappeared.

I thought about how, outside of the Lord, our fruit can only be bitter. Can the Lord taste of us and say that we are sweet to Him? Can others say that we bring life to them? Nourish them by our words and deeds? Or do we look good on the outside but bring only death and bitterness like the wild vine? Jesus is clear that it is by a person's fruit that we will know them.

Luke 6:43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth corrupt tree bring forth good fruit"

Jesus does not say by our gifts, but by our fruit we shall be known. Fruit is about character, the Life of Jesus Himself in us, and this will last, as we abide in the True Vine and draw our nourishment from Him. If I act out of self, or begin to wander away in the darkness of my own understanding, or harbour those thoughts of resentment or bitterness, then I begin to grow wild, and my fruit will be like the abominable taste of the wild melon. When I submit to His pruning, feed on Him daily and remain firmly in the vine, then my fruit can only be pleasant and abundant.

Song of Songs 4:12, 16 "......Let my beloved come into His garden and eat His pleasant fruits"

Giving Reason

We stand on the authority of the Word of God, the holy scriptures divinely given to faithful men, who recorded as they heard.  To us, it is absolute, infallible and can never be shaken.  It contains all we need for life.  It contains in writing, the means by which we may be saved.  And yet, to those who are perishing it is foolishness, even offensive.  It is alive only to those whom the Spirit quickens.  

We are instructed to respectfully and gently give reason for the hope we have in Christ, and it is a joy to be able to do this when asked.  On the other hand, we are also advised not to cast pearls before swine, or become caught in foolish arguments which profit nothing because the hearers wish only to antagonise, or to defame Christ.  

We know in Whom we believe.  He is the Creator of the universe, who also became a Man, in the form of His Son and laid down His life to redeem His creation.  He did this, that though separated from Him by our sin, we may be restored and made clean, to live with Him eternally. He gives us His Holy Spirit, who indwells true believers, forming in them the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, keeping them and bringing them spotless to stand before the Throne.

Evolutionists believe that they have all proof to disprove a personal Creator who is still involved with His Creation.  The legacy of Darwin.  Psychologists believe that man can redeem himself, by changing his behaviour or delving into his past.  Their father is Jung.  

But those fathers can not save their children.

There is good, there is evil.  There is truth, there are lies.  There is light, there is darkness.  Sin leads to eternal death, and if we don't get right with our Creator, then we will be judged accordingly, as our sin deserves.  We can mock our Creator, even denying His existence.  We can scoff at the Bible, and say "That is only your opinion.  I don't even believe that the Bible is anything but a book of good advice, maybe total myth, in fact." 

There is much deception in the world.  There are false believers, committing crimes of hatred in the name of God, or those claiming to be followers of Christ who live selfish, unchanged lives......and we have an enemy who never rests in his frenzy to deceive humankind, and to destroy the true saints.  

But one day we will have to face Him, our Creator, and face Him alone.  On that day we will not be able to blame others.  People, there is an after-life.  Don't take the risk that He doesn't exist, just because you think you know better or because the god of your own imagination tells you otherwise.  To die in your sin is eternal death and punishment.  It is your destiny if you remain as you are.  The judgment is set because He is a just Creator.

The good news is, that He has provided a way for us to be saved.  He loves you and is within reach.   Your sins can be forgiven and washed away because He shed His blood on the Cross, dying a cruel death in our place.  Unlike us, death could not hold Him because He is holy.  The Lord Jesus Christ, now in heaven, soon to return, has done this for you - for us all.  We must see ourselves as we are, and call upon Him to save us - before it is too late.

How can I ever urge you enough, dear friend....dear husband? I intreat the Lord daily on your behalf - you who are dead in your sin, just as I was.

Amazing grace.

The Beloved's Vineyard

I have been absent from my blog for a month or so. This was due to school holidays, new computer and general busy-ness. Welcome back.

Today is the 24th January, and so, this morning I read the 24th chapter of Proverbs. This book of Wisdom is such, that no matter how many times you read it, there will always be new treasure. Of course, the whole Word of God is like that - new and fresh each day, just like the manna from heaven.....and today I was drawn to the final verses of this chapter where we read about the vineyard, and the effect of being slothful in tending to our vineyard. This is encouragement to not slacken our hands, to not give up being diligent in our communion with our Beloved, or immersing ourselves in the Scriptures.  Here is the picture:

'I went by the vineyard of the slothful, and by the man devoid of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed man' Proverbs 24:30-33

The thorns and thistles are painful weeds, which grow amongst the good vines, robbing them of nourishment and finally obscuring them from the light.  The fruit, if indeed any remains, is hidden so that none may find it or enjoy it.  It may well be sour and stunted fruit, because the thorns have taken the moisture and sweetness.  Nettles are painful and irritating to the touch, and repel anyone from coming near to the vine.  Our neglect of our walk - our own vineyard - will eventually make us fruitless, sour and separated.  Sin will always result in this (Genesis 3:18)

The stone wall was erected to provide shelter from the elements, protection from pests and predators.  If the wall was broken down, the vineyard was vulnerable; the winds could more easily blow foreign seed into the vineyard.  Foxes could find a way in and rob the vines of their fruit.  Thieves could more easily slip in undiscovered in order to steal.

The wall also marked a clear boundary around the vineyard.  Only the rightful owner or person caring for the vineyard could enter, and only by the gate.  Anyone entering would need permission from the owner.  A city with its walls broken down was considered conquered.

This boundary was also important not just for outer protection, but also because the vines were contained.  They could not ramble their way into a stranger's field or escape the vineyard owner's attention and pruning.

Spiritual poverty renders our vineyard worthless and hostile.  The Master can no longer delight in the fragrance and fruitfulness of His planting, and will cease from walking there.  Others will not find us pleasant.  In the extreme, we have become fugitives and our lives become restless and we are fugitive away from His love, care and provision.  And when the Master does look upon us, and choose to tidy up, the process is hard and painful, because we have allowed sin to take root and our vines have become wild.  Let us not sleep, like the foolish virgins, oblivious to the true state of our vineyards.  (Matt 25:1)