OK! Now I'm really peeved!!!

While walking our dogs this morning, Cece came upon one of the neighbor girls who was headed for school. She informed Cece that her younger brother who is 12 (maybe 13), “got jumped yesterday on his way to school!” And why did young Collin get jumped you might ask? Three 18 year old thugs terrorized this innocent young man because, get this, he was wearing red shorts!!! Yeah! Can you believe it? They got out of their car, pulled a knife on this poor kid, and then beat him up because he was wearing the color red! I know some of you are saying, "Hey Tony! Wake up! This is happening everywhere, it's just beginning to seep ( or ooz) into your neighborhood!"

When my wife told me this it just sickened me, then it made me mad. I had thoughts of waiting in that same spot where he got jumped, pack'n an RPG (missile launcher) which I'd borrow, cause I know a guy, and then when these punks showed up, I’d ask them politely to get out of their car, and then after making sure that they were a good safe distance away and out of danger, I'd blow that hub cap spin'n, too loud base thump'n, attitude written all over it vehicle to smithereens, I don't think I've ever written the word "smithereens" before, much less use it in a sentence...Hmm...Anyway, then I'd tell those juvenile delinquents to "scram". Now, would I or could I really do that? Probably not, but I think that if the Holy Spirit weren’t with me and in me, and it was left up to me, my flesh, and I, I would more than likely try and find these guys and see what wuz up! But of course times being what they are, this would probably be the last email you’d get from me, in fact the next time most of you would see me would be stand’n at the pearly gates high five’n ya as you came on through, know what I mean?

So what can we do when we’re faced with violence like this? I mean as a Christian man or woman? We can’t go around blast’n all the thugs like they would have no problem blast’n us, and we can’t just sit on our hands doing nothing. You noticed in my description of what “I’d” do in this situation, I said that “if the Holy Spirit weren’t with me and in me, and it was left up to me, my flesh, and I, I would….” The key to all of this is the Holy Spirit! He assured me that “Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord”, and then he reminded me of two men who once were thugs like these, Raul Reis and Nicky Cruz (I’m sure there are others). If my God could grab a hold of Raul’s heart who after a lifetime of violence was ready to kill his entire family, and if my God could soften the heart of Nicky, who since he was a kid was a New York gang banger, my God can grab a hold of these three young men and love them like they’ve never been loved before. ONLY the Holy Spirit can make me feel this way, ONLY the Holy Spirit would cause me to pray for these young men rather than retaliate against them.

In this scenario would I be fearful if confronted by these men? Probably yes! “Would I fully Rely On God” for the outcome? Yes! Does that mean I should go down to the beach flats at 12:00 at night and just hang out? No! But if I’m called and led by the Holy Spirit to go down and share the love of Christ and His Good News, I’m more apt to go!

There was yet another shooting in yet another High school in Colorado very recently, this was a drifter who came into town, did his business and died in that town, all in a matter of hours. When I first heard the story it reminded me of Satan and how the Bible describes him as a “roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”, but then it also reminded me of Columbine, and how a young Christian girl would not renounce her faith in Jesus Christ, and for that she was executed. This young girl had the Holy Spirit in her and is now rejoicing and praising God “face to face”. Her legacy will live on until the end of this age. Her bravery is not something we can celebrate by seeing her in parades or personal appearances on television, she is no longer here, but her act of trust, faith, and strength that ONLY comes from the Lord, will always be remembered.

Thank You Father for Your Holy Spirit which You not only left as a “desposit” and “guarantee” until Jesus you come and take us home to be with You, but it’s also our “counselor”, our guide, the person from whom we can draw strength and courage as You remind us of Your “promises” Lord. Father I lift up these 3 young men to You, and ask that you would “grab hold” of their hearts so that one day they would be a testimony of Your saving grace. Thank You for protecting little Collin, I pray that even he would come to know You through this. You are mighty and awesome, and I Love You!
In Jesus name I pray, Amen!


In HIS Grip
Tony

"The "GO" of Renunciation" what does that mean?
Taken from the Oswald Chambers devotional; "My Utmost For His Highest"

My words are in YELLOW

“The “Go” of Renunciation”? In the back of my mind I kinda knew what the word “renunciation” meant, but I had to be sure before I could even begin to understand what that whole phrase meant, so I looked it up. Webster’s told me first to; “see Renounce”, I went to the word “Renounce” and this is what I found; It means to “Give up, Cast off, disown”.

Okay! So by the title only, Oswald Chambers is telling me to “Go” and “give up”, “cast off” and “disown”, but what? I think as you read through, that by the end you’ll realize what he’s talking about, don’t miss it, it’s good!
September 27, 2006

The "Go" of Renunciation
(Oswald Chambers Devotional; "My Utmost For His Highest")

. . . someone said to Him, ’Lord, I will follow You wherever You go’ —Luke 9:57

Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, "for He knew what was in man" ( John 2:25 ). We would have said, "I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!" Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of "what was in man." If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.

Wow! That’s a pretty heavy first paragraph don’t ya think? What does Oswald mean when he says; “The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended.”? My personal opinion? There is something inside us that causes us to hurt or offends us as human beings; it’s called “Pride”.

One of the main things about our Christian life is that we need to empty ourselves of ourselves, and to be refilled with His righteousness. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a long way to go in that area! Think about it, if we were to let Jesus right this second, point out things in our lives that might be ugly, or dark, how many of us whole heartedly are going to say on a consistent basis, “Yes Lord! Your right, that’s me!” And if we again whole heartedly took the next step and asked Him to remove those things COMPLETELY from us, wouldn’t you think the next time He spoke to us about those things we wouldn’t be “offended”?

Here’s how Jesus answers the man:
Luke 9:58 “And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”. These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, ". . . the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

“These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do.” Think about that statement for a minute. Jesus is telling the man; “Hey! Are you ready to sleep out in the cold? Are ready to be in danger of wild animals? Can you handle not knowing where your next meal is coming from? How many times have we said; “Yes Lord I will follow You!” because it “was the pleasant thing to do” and didn’t think about the costs? A great example is Peter; he didn’t take into consideration what he was getting himself into before the “cock crowed”, but after the cock crowed and the Holy Spirit got a hold of him, he was then willing to count the costs, and truly follow Jesus even unto death.

Then another man shows up on the scene…
Luke 9:59 . “Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.

Oswald says; “This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father.” That’s a tough decision to make wouldn’t you think? You hear the call of the Lord, but you’ve been with your father all your life. Actually if the man didn’t go back to bury his father who would have really been effected? The father was dead, the young man does want to go with Jesus. Do you think maybe his main thought was that the right thing to do is to go and bury his father, because after all, “if I didn’t go back what would people think of me?” I don’t know! Jesus told him to “let the dead bury the dead!” Do you think the young man knew what that meant?

On the other hand what if he took the approach as some of us do? We wink at God’s Holiness, and don’t take His call on our lives seriously. We say things like “Hey! Wait a second; I thought you were a God of love and compassion! So here’s what I’m gonna do because I know You’ll understand my motives and forgive me, I’m gonna go bury my father and I WILL catch up with you later!” It’s the same tact the devil took with Eve, “Did God really say…?” It’s like; did You really want me to come with You right now? But inevitably he made his choice and didn’t follow Jesus.

Then finally the third man shows up…
Luke 9:61 “And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

The person who says, "Lord, I will follow You, but . . .," is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop.

So to answer our original question: What is it that we need to “give up”, “cast off” and “disown”? I think the answer is ourselves!


In HIS Grip
Tony

"Perhaps Today!"

Complacent – “Self-satisfied, pleased, gratified” Webster’s Dictionary

As we come out of the month of September and away from the barrage of the media’s portrayals which ignite our memories and passions of that fateful day on September 11th 2001. One of the programs I watched struck me more than the others, as I think about it, more vivid in my mind than the planes striking to towers, the smoke and rubble, and even the sight of those huge towers crumbling to the ground as if made of sand, was watching what had taken place months, days, and even hours before. In their normal routines of life were people going about their daily business, kids going to school, men and women going to work, the scenes of our country's leaders as they lead the country in those days prior, but one thing was more emphasized than anything else in this “docu-drama”, it was the complacency of us all!

There as I watched, my screen showed me people just milling around the airport, some in hurry, and some just seemingly there. It showed me that airport procedures and security were lax, as screener joked with passengers letting them through and on their way to their destinations. It reminded me that the country in those days was focused on current events which weren’t very exciting, new comedy shows, and soap operas both on TV, and the ones not scripted that took place in the White House, but in all of this, people just went about their business and never thought that what took place on September 11th 2001 ever would, but it did!

What's the point I’m trying to get at here? That complacency is a bad thing, and that we should always be on the look out, always being alert? I’ll get to my point in a little bit. I wanted to tell you that we just started a 5 week "prophecy series" at church on Sunday nights. The first night was last night, and “Wow!” The gentleman took us to Ezekiel 38 - 39 in our bibles, there he gave us information about “end times prophecy”. He gave us a lesson in current events and geography, for example when Ezekiel talks about the place called "Rosh" it’s believed to be Russia, and when it talks about “Meshech”, “Tubal”, “Gomer” it’s talking about modern day Turkey. “Persia” is Iran, “Ethiopia” or “Cush” is the Sudan, and “Put” is Libya, all very interesting stuff. If any of you guys can go next Sunday night, you should try and make it

But what struck me most about last evening was that after he talked a bit about the “tribulation”, he said that some of us Christians believe in "pre-tribulation" some believe in "mid- Tribulation' and some even believe that we as Christians will go through the whole 7 years tribulation period, but whatever you believe, the fact that you believe in the tribulation means you also believe that Jesus IS coming back! Then he challenged us, this is something I pray I never forget! He said “Take just 30 seconds of every day, preferably in the mornings before you get out of bed, and let these 2 words sink deep in your minds for the day “Perhaps Today!”” Isn’t that great! My pastor says (para-phrase) “No matter what you believe about when the rapture will take place, live your life like he’s coming back today!” I love that! “Jesus in coming back – AND - perhaps today!”

So what does this have to do with complacency? The Bible talks about “complacency” in Proverbs:
29 “Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. 31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. 32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.” Proverbs 1:29-33

If we take this thought of “complacency” and the thought of “perhaps today”, how should we live our life? Should our thought be; “I need to do as much as I can for people today in case Jesus comes?” or “I need to try not to swear today, and while I’m at it, I need to walk as many old ladies across the street as possible today?” or “I need to call my boss and tell him I’m not coming in as I’m going to be fasting and praying all day long, and maybe tomorrow too?” Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with trying not to swear, or helping old ladies across the street, and there certainly is nothing wrong with fasting and praying, but I think it’s more about being available to God through His Holy Spirit in what He would have you to do today. It’s about watching for those “divine appointments” He has for you today. Turn complacency around to be positive, not a negative! Be complacent (Self-satisfied, pleased, and gratified) in the thoughts and actions of you life that Jesus is coming back, and perhaps today!

Father! It is so easy for me to write these words, and at times it is so hard for me to live them out. I want to be, and love being used by you as an encouragement to my brothers and sisters in You, so I would ask that you help me to live my life in the excitement that Jesus You are coming soon! I thank You for the “knowledge” that You give me from Your Word, and through our pastors. I pray for our pastors as they become more and more passionate to preach and teach Your Word as the world shows more and more proof of prophecy. May we also remember that WE are a “royal priesthood” and that our pastors are no different than us, they are “just one sinner leading another sinner to the bread of Truth”, that we are called to do the same. Give me a heart that shares the same passion that my pastor has when he says that we who are sure of our eternal destiny, that our heart would break for those whose destiny is not sure to them. Jesus we love you, and so look forward to the day of Your return! We pray this in Your name, Amen!

“Perhaps Today!”

My Very First Blog!

Man! Up until about 6 months ago, I didn't even know what a "Blog" was, admit it, some of you didn't either huh!My "Blog" will include some of things that God has shown me from His Word, some of my own stories, and probably a lot of my own ideas from different devotionals that I subscribe to. But I would say that these comments (or commentaries) will come mainly from Oswald Chambers "My Utmost For His Highest" which can be found at: http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php . Look for the link in the "link section"[I will make it very clear when I use my words to describe what I think the author is saying], whether it be Oswald or God. I don't want to be accused of plagiarism, these are just my thoughts and I could be wrong, especially when it comes to the Bible, but the awesome thing is, you can go to His Word yourself and check it out. Please let me know if I'm way off base!I definitely want to put a "shout out" to my brother in the Lord Anthony, who encouraged me to start my own Blog, as well as teaming up with him on his blog.You'll find his blog at: http://questionsoffaith.blogspot.com/ (this LINK is also in the link section) go there and check it out, he'll definitely get you thinking about who we are in Christ!
God Bless you!
In HIS Grip
Tony