PLANS FOR TOMORROW?

Did you check with God about those plans? This is just a friendly reminder that God is not on our timetable but rather we are on His. We may be able to change the outside color of hair, but God can permanently change the DNA of your hair. When you can change the actual color of your hair, then I suppose God may take your plans a little more seriously.

We all make plans, yes we do. It is Scriptural to make plans.(last post) But it is not Scriptural to presume that you can carry out those plans without considering what God is doing. God's will is going to be done no matter how much we may strive against Him. The American "Can Do" Attitude attempts to influence us into thinking that we are in control of our destiny. However, the Word teaches us that God is the ultimate One in control of destiny.

Hear these words from James 4:15.

For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that.

So, what have you planned for tomorrow???

Count the Cost.... BEFORE....Not After

Sure you want a puppy. After all, it is so soft and cuddly and cute. It is fun to watch it chase balls across the floor. And who does not laugh when it chases it tail around and around until it gets dizzy?! But wait. What…what is that the puppy is doing now? NOOOOOooooo, not squatting on the floor. Aw mannn. Human reaction is not fast enough to thwart the bodily functions of this puppy. Now, a damp spot in the carpet and a little pile of pooh of which needs disposing await human reaction. Finally, it is bed time and so the little pup is placed in its bed. It peers from the blanket with huge eyes of wonderment as to what is going to happen now. The human body longs for its own bed and its feet turn from the puppy to head to the bedroom, but the tickety-tick of little puppy nails on the floor indicate that the puppy has learned how to follow. Placing it back in its bed followed by sharp admonitions to stay should do the trick. Ahhh but the puppy has a few tricks up its fur. What is it now? Yelp yelp yelp yelp. Whimper. Whine. It is lonely. This is its first night away from its own family. The night is a sleepless night for all in the house. Eyes blurred by the lack of sleep miss the nights gift of a wet spot in the hallway floor. The kitchen has its own gift awaiting as the puppy rounds the corner. It really was cute when it was picked out of the litter. In fact, it was the cutest of all the little pups. Having a puppy does not seem to be the brightest of choices now. What happened?

Somebody forgot to ponder, for even a moment, the care and upkeep associated with the puppy. Counting the cost was exchanged for consideration of cuteness. Temporary desire overruled life-long devotion. Commitment to a person, project or pet is just that. A commitment. Rather than failing to live up to those commitments, a person should avoid them altogether. If you cannot be faithful, do not marry. If you cannot finish the project, do not start it. If you cannot take care of the pet, do not take it home.

Many things seem like a good idea at the time. In fact, when I fail at something now and somebody asks why I did what I did, I try to make it a habit to say that, “it seemed like a good idea at the moment.” But what I do not like is when something turns out one way other than what was expected and the reason that it was not expected is that the cost was not counted and then you begin to hear complaining. In fact, you will even hear, “I did not count on this happening.” Well, simply put, you should have put more counting into your plans. Hear the words of Jesus.

Luke 14:28-32

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have to finish? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is ye a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

While the application Jesus makes is specifically to the cost of discipleship, the truth that Jesus puts forth is applicable to all of life.

Count the cost BEFORE you begin so that you may finish well.

THE IRONY IS

...that there are those who, as of today, still have not found Jesus.

JEREMIAH WRIGHT: Eisegesis and Historical Revisionism

Occasionally, we read on blogs the accusation towards another of eisegesis rather than exegesis being the foundation of an argument. Occasionally, we may find ourselves listening to a recorded message on the radio by some pastor or some televised message that we label as eisegetical in nature rather than exegetical, but the message by Barak Obama's former pastor yet current mentor is rather obvious. In one of his sermons, which are readily available on YouTube, he makes the statement that "Jesus was a poor black man". As blinded as the Pharisees were before Jesus, this preacher stands before his own congregation. Wright's characterization of Jesus as black is as bad as those painters who give Jesus blue eyes and blonde hair. You can point to the Bible all you want and say that it tells you Jesus was a poor black man under the rule of rich white people but the fact that you are a pastor does not make it right. Point blank, Wright is WRONG! Jesus, incarnate, was a Jew come to save His people, the Jews who are not black(African) and who are not white(European) but Jews AND who also came to save the black, white, red and any other color fella you want to list. The attempt to make Jesus more/less than what He is/was is idolatry. And no one, regardless of color gets a free pass when it comes to rightly dividing the Word of truth.

Occasionally, we read modern books that attempt what is called historical revisionism. This is a reference to the attempt to rewrite history not to record what actually happened but rather history with a slant from the writers point of view. This slant is supposed to help a modern agenda. Again, Wright is wrong. He seeks to make a correlation between the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 9-11. He would repaint the pre-WWII history and make the United States the aggressor rather than Japan. He would repaint the modern history of 9-11 to make the United States the aggressor rather than Al Qaida/Taliban. Wright wrongly states that this is the reason for America's troubles, that "America's chickens are coming home to roost".

America has troubles to be sure but America's troubles stem from it rejection of the Biblical principles upon which it was founded and the God that blessed America rather than aggression towards Middle Easterners. America has troubles to be sure but America's troubles stem from pastor's who do not rightly proclaim the truths of God's Word but instead tell their congregants what they want to hear rather than what God wants them to hear.

We have traded the Gospel of spiritual deliverance from sin and death for a social gospel of handouts without accountability. We have traded the truth that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places for the lie that the white man is the black man's enemy and the black man is the white man's enemy. We have an enemy and he is the same enemy that is behind racism, Nazism, Islam and a host of other 'isms. He is the same enemy that thought that by killing Jesus, he could usurp the throne for himself.

God help us to tell history as it was and the Gospel as it is.

IN DEFENSE OF LARGE FAMILIES

I was both saddened and happy when I read a recent letter. A couple wrote their friends and families to tell of the fact that they were expecting another baby. Daddy, mommy and 5 children were excited about the new addition to their family though they would be waiting another 8 months for it to arrive. In this letter, the lady was compelled to write that she desired that everyone would be happy for them. I was overjoyed to hear they were expecting again and the fact that this child would make the sixth time the Lord had blessed them was in no way a hindrance to my joy at all. But to live in a world where she felt that there would be some reading who would think that she was just going way to far shows just how much of the Word of God we have forgotten. To think that there are people who would question, chastise or belittle the next blessing this family was about to receive is beyond my understanding. So to those who think large families are a burden and to those parents who have been questioned about their reason for adding to their number, let me offer to you the Word of the Lord.

Psalm 127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

It is time that especially we as Christians see children for what they truly are. They are a gift, a treasure given to us by the Almighty God. Neither global warming nor global cooling nor taxes nor personal goals should be allowed to influence us otherwise. Families are the KEY to a functional society and you cannot have families without children. Thank God that those who can have large families do and may God bless them so that their children will continue to bring a heavenly influence over the world as a whole. May God truly bless the wombs of His children and may they indeed celebrate the blessings of the LORD.

TOP NEWS HEADLINES THAT ASTOUND

With hopes of slapping Christianity and Judaism, it is now reported that Moses had a little help on Sinai:
LINK

And yet Islam followers are given a free pass:
LINK

Can you imagine the outcry if the first story was that Mohamed had been smoking camel dung and that Christian women were asking for their own time to exercise at Harvard?

It is so comforting to me, in the midst of such duplicity, that this world is NOT our home but that we have an eternal home, not made with human hands, awaiting us. Blessed thought this is!

WORD FOR THE WEEK

THANKFULNESS

The attitude of the heart of a father to the heavenly Father for His grace and mercy upon his son.
The attitude of the heart of a father, to the Father, when he contemplates what could have been apart from Divine Intervention.