THE PERFECT PRESIDENT

Monday, 03 September 2012 17:07 - Last Updated Tuesday, 04 September 2012 02:02

“The Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes

and sets over them the lowliest of people.” (Daniel 4:17)

Over the last three plus years many Christians, this writer included, have expressed increasing

levels of frustration, even anger, over the actions of the incumbent President of the United

States. ‘Why does he do what he does?’ ‘How did he get elected in the first place?’ Political

discontent, of course, started early in man’s history. Recall how the Israelites murmured against

Moses, who had just led them out of slavery in Egypt. Murmuring against our leaders is

apparently ingrained in our nature. However, it’s accurate to say that current levels of angst

over the occupant of the White House are at a fever pitch, particularly among Christians. The

purpose of this post is to attempt to look at the leader of our nation, as God Almighty may

Himself view him. You may be surprised at the conclusions reached.

I. Who Picks Our Leaders?

We live in a representative republic. Thus, we get to pick our leaders. Right? Is that how it

works? See Daniel 4:17, above. Let’s ask it this way. Can a nation avoid God’s sovereignty over

it by how the method it chooses to elect/pick/select those who have earthly power over them?

Well, apparently, though God allows us some permissive will in life, say, in how we cast our

votes, He retains the sovereign right to select who rules over the affairs of man. As humans,

and Americans, we tend to chafe over that concept. We get to choose, don’t we? Re-read

Daniel 4:17, above. Who decides the weather on Election Day? Who decides who stays in the

race for office, or who even announces or who withdraws? Who decides which voters show up?

We flatter ourselves to think that we decide who rules over us. As damaging as it is to our egos,

and our civic pride, God Almighty is still….well…. God Almighty, and He rules over the affairs of

man. Does that mean we shouldn’t vote? Of course not. As long as He has allowed us such a

sacred right, we should utilize it. All the while knowing that God controls the outcome, just as He

controlled the casting of the lot, another selection device that He authorized, and controlled.

OK. So God picks our leaders. Why did He pick this leader? This is a question many have

asked themselves, particularly Christians who know that God reigns over the affairs of mankind.

What’s God doing? Has He provided us clues?

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II. The Perfect Storm

This analysis of God’s selection of the incumbent President of the United States of America

follows the meteorological phenomenon known as “The Perfect Storm”. In 1991 three weather

events came together in the north Atlantic off the coast of New England. A small cyclone-like

warm air flow from a low pressure zone came down from Atlantic Canada; a cool and dry mass

of air came from a different direction from a high pressure zone; and a third weather system

was thrown into the mix, as moist tropical air from Hurricane Grace collided with the other two

systems. The result was not only labeled as the Perfect Storm, the National Weather Service

called it the “storm of the century”. Thirteen died, over two hundred million dollars of property

was destroyed and records were broken. One buoy measured waves at 100.7 feet, the highest

ever recorded in that area. A book, and then a movie (The Perfect Storm), soon followed.

William Koenig’s book, Eye to Eye –Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, noted that

President George H.W. Bush (41) was in Madrid at the very time of the storm giving a

history-making speech. He was the first U.S. President to officially and publicly call for Israel to

give up some its land in order to obtain “peace”, contrary to scripture, in which Israel is

admonished not to give up the land which God gave to Israel. Within just hours of President

Bush’s call on Israel to engage in “territorial compromise” the Perfect Storm hit Kennebunkport,

Maine, the site of the Bush family compound with three story waves covering the Bush three

story home, according to the New York Times (November 1, 1991). Koenig asked if God

created this Perfect Storm to send a perfect message.

Just as the Perfect Storm included three weather systems that would not normally ever come

together, the incumbent President has within his background, training and beliefs three political

belief systems. None of these three political belief systems would normally be held by a

President of the United States. So, finding all three belief systems combined in one man,

especially the leader of the free world, might seem to be impossible. But, the incumbent

President, like the Perfect Storm, is the Perfect President.

III. Political Belief System Part One –Muslim Training

Barry Soetoro (a/k/a Barack H. Obama) was a student for the early years of his life at schools in

Indonesia. He was registered at the schools as a “Muslim” with “Indonesian” citizenship. He

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studied Islam daily; read and recited the Quran; learned Arabic and studied the laws of Islam. In

Dreams from My Father, the President acknowledged studying the Quran, describing his school

in Indonesia as “a Muslim school”. He wrote, “In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell

mother I made faces during Quaranic studies.” The principal of the school, Tine Hahiyary,

recalls the young Soetoro “studying the Quran in Arabic”. One of his classmates, Rony Amir,

described him as “previously quite religious in Islam.”

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulgham emphasized the

importance of what we learn as young people. Numerous studies have confirmed that how we

view life is largely determined by how our ‘soft disc drive brains’ are programmed in our first

years of existence. Needless to say, no prior President of the United States ever attended a

Muslim school, nor learned the Quran nor studied Arabic. What are the chances that a US

President would have a Muslim background?

A Muslim political belief system, ingrained early in life, is an essential component of “The

Perfect President”, to be used by God for His perfect purposes. Why? Continue reading.

IV. Political Belief System Part Two –Marxist Training

As a teen ager the incumbent President, who had moved to Hawaii with his mother, spent much

of his free time with Frank Marshall Davis. Who was Frank Marshall Davis? He was a registered

member of the Communist Party USA (CP#47544), listed by the FBI in its 600 plus page file

listing Davis on its Security Index, as a potential threat to the US. Before being moved to Hawaii

by the Communist Party to organize labor unions to overthrow the government of the new State,

Davis had previously been the editor for Communist newspapers in Chicago. The influence of

Davis on his young student is documented by Dr. Paul Kengor in The Communist –Frank

Marshall Davis: the Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor.

Dr. Kengor suggests that there may be reasons to believe that Davis was the biological father of

the President. For those interested in further pursuing that issue, they may choose to view the

documentary, Dreams from My Real Father, by Joel Gilbert (Highway 61 Entertainment

Production). Gilbert documents the relationship that developed between the President’s mother

Stanley Ann Dunham and Davis. He argues that a major reason that the President spent so

much time with Davis was because Davis was not only Obama’s mentor, but raised the future

President in his free time, as his father. Whether one believes that Davis was the President’s

biological father is not essential, as his Marxist mentorship of the President is the important

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issue. (Though this conclusion does explain Obama’s refusal to release a birth certificate, not to

hide the location of his birth, which was apparently in the US, but the identity of his real father.)

The President wrote in his autobiography that when he left Hawaii to enroll at Occidental

College in California, he first sought out “Marxist professors”. Apart from his mentorship by one

of America’s leading Communist ideologues, why would this young student have sought out

Marxist professors?

What are the chances that a US President would have a Marxist background? A Marxist political

belief system, ingrained early in life, is an essential component of The Perfect President, to be

used by God for His perfect purposes. Why? Continue reading.

V. Political Belief System Part Three –Anti-Colonialist Training

The President’s grandfather arranged that an African student would marry his daughter, Stanley

Ann Dunham. The student, Barack Hussein Obama, was brought to Hawaii under a program

known as Airlift Africa, sponsored by the CIA, to train young African leaders in the ways of the

west. Gilbert’s documentary includes a picture of the President’s grandfather and Obama at the

CIA welcoming ceremony when he arrived at Hickam Air Base. Though Obama was already

married, he was persuaded to agree to marry Dunham’s daughter. Soon after, he was admitted

to a graduate program at Harvard and was divorced from his American wife to whom he was

married for such a short time.

In the President’s Dreams from My Father he writes extensively about his ‘sheep-herder

Kenyan father’, whom he only met once. But, he frequently mentions in his book the importance

in his early life of “Frank”, though he never uses “Frank’s” last name, nor does he identify who

“Frank” actually was. What he does do is talk about his two later trips to Kenya to get in touch

with his roots. What the President has done in his book, and in his frequent speeches about his

Kenyan father, is link himself to the “dreams” of his purported African father. What are those

“dreams”? Author Dinesh D’Souza, in his documentary 2016, confirms the anti-colonialist

background of the President’s African grandfather, father and other relatives, who resisted and

fought against British colonialism in Kenya, and in Africa generally. America is likewise seen as

a colonial power. D’Souza begins the movie by showing the bust of Winston Churchill which had

previously resided in the Oval Office as a gift from America’s allied nation and which was

promptly shipped back to Great Britain in the President’s first week in office.

D’Souza notes that anti colonialists support jihadists and radical Muslims because they see

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them as co-victims of colonialism, which they strongly oppose. Thus, supporting radicals in the

Muslim world, or at the very least not using every resource available to thwart them (example –

allowing Iran to continue to develop nuclear weapons) is quite consistent with an anti-colonialist

belief system.

What are the chances that a US President would have an anti-colonialist background? An

anti-colonialist political belief system, ingrained early in life, is an essential component of The

Perfect President, to be used by God for His perfect purposes. Why? Continue reading.

VI. The Perfect Political Storm is Swirling

Just as one cyclone, or one low pressure system or even a small hurricane, by themselves,

would not likely have led to a book and a movie commemorating The Perfect Storm. Likewise,

just some Muslim training, or some Marxist beliefs or a leaning against America and Britain as

colonial powers, though unprecedented in a US President, and thus troubling, would not, taken

alone, be a cause for a red alert, so to speak. But, just as Hurricane Grace joined a small

cyclone and combined with a high pressure system to wreak havoc on America, the mixture of

three toxic political belief systems combined in one man, should be more than cause for

concern for Americans.

Coming back to where we started this article, we must acknowledge that God chooses our

leaders. Thus, He has chosen our incumbent President. In doing so, He has combined in one

man the background, training, parentage and beliefs of Islam, Marxism and anti-colonialism.

What were the chances of The Perfect Storm forming in 1991? What were the chances of The

Perfect President being elected in 2008? God doesn’t work on “chances”, but on His sovereign

choices. Unless, America experiences a spiritual awakening, it is quite likely to experience a

second term of The Perfect President. Perfect to be the instrument of God’s judgment on

America, a nation which has destroyed seventy million of its own children through abortion.

Over the last few months I have often observed that:

IF Barack Obama is God’s instrument of judgment on America,

there is no force on earth that can prevent his re-election.

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That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray, work and vote for change. It does mean that we may

watching The Perfect President eventually take the actions that prophecy says the leader of a

rich, powerful and influential end times nation will take. More details on this subject may be

found at www.endofamericabook.com. In The End of America (99 cents on Kindle) we read the

223 verses written by five Old and New Testament prophets that tell us of the destruction of the

described end times nation that betrays Israel. No other prior President of the United States

would so callously disregard calls for help by an invaded Israel, with whom this end times nation

has a military defense agreement.

How does one explain an incumbent who is tied in the polls, while at the same time the nation

faces unprecedented economic bad news, high gas prices, millions unemployed and numerous

natural disasters? In spite of these facts, this President may, nevertheless, be re-elected? As

Christians we may grumble about the mainstream media, or uninformed voters, or slanted polls,

or…fill in the blank. The inconvenient truth is that we always get the leaders that we deserve,

and leaders whom God chooses, based on….us. We need to fulfill II Chronicles 7:14, soon,

humbling ourselves, in prayer, seeking God’s face and turning from our wicked ways….in order

to be healed by God Almighty. We can’t vote ourselves out of a second term of The Perfect

President if that’s God’s plan. However, if we experience a true II Chronicles 7:14 spiritual

awakening and repentance, we could see the healing of our nation in our time. It’s no more

complicated than that. God bless.

John Price

www.endofamericabook.com

(Permission is granted by the author to share this post with others.)

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Halloween is Hellish

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (Avoid Wicked Customs)

"When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you. NKJV

We are quickly approaching the end of October and the day we have made into a holiday, Halloween. This is perhaps one of the most celebrated holidays of every year. It has been turned into a time of games, candy, and other fun for children. Little children are dressed up as ghost, goblins, wizards, witches, and monsters of all forms and the older ones are sent out with the younger kids to go door to door to tell people trick or treat, each fully expecting to receive a vast array of candy in their bags. On the surface or the outside it appears to be all innocent fun, but what is behind the surface of this holiday? Who is it that lurks in the murky background seeking an entry into the lives of the adults and little children who participate in the celebration of the holiday? I submit that most people blindly celebrate this day, even Christians not realizing who it is that is behind it. This holiday has its roots in pagan culture and it has been dressed up with a nice sweet innocent face, however, it is all Satanic. Many young girls and boys will be lured into witchcraft and sorcery and begin a long path of bondage and degradation that will end up in hell if they don’t have an encounter with the living Christ Jesus at the foot of His Cross.

Here is an explanation I found on the web of the origin of this so-called innocent holiday: “Around 2,000 years ago, the Celts, who lived in what is now the United Kingdom, Ireland, and northern France, had a festival commemorating the end of the year. Their New Year was November 1, and this festival was called Samhain, pronounced sow-en. The end of their year signaled the end of summer, the end of the harvest season, and the beginning of a long, hard winter that often caused many deaths of animals and people. Weaker livestock were often killed and eaten during this holiday, since most likely, they would not survive the winter anyway. Because of this, and the cruel winter to come, this time of year signified death to the Pagan Celtics. They believed the night before the New Year that the wall between the living and the dead was open, allowing spirits of the dead, both good and bad, to mingle among the living. Some of these spirits were thought to possess living people, cause trouble, ruin crops, or to search for passage to the afterlife.

Samhain was considered a magical holiday, and there are many stories about what the Celtics practiced and believed during this festival. Some say the spirits that were unleashed were those that had died in that year, and offerings of food and drink were left to aid the spirits, or to ward them away. Other versions say the Celts dressed up in outlandish costumes and roamed the neighborhoods making noise to scare the spirits away. Many thought they could predict the future and communicate with spirits as well during this time. Some think the heavily structured life of the Pagan Celtics was abandoned during Samhain, and people did unusual things, such as moving horses to different fields, moving gates and fences, women dressing as men, and vice versa, and other trickeries now associated with Halloween. Another belief is that the Celtics honoured, celebrated, and feasted the dead during Samhain. A sacred, central bonfire was always lit to honor the Pagan gods, and some accounts say that individual home fires were extinguished during Samhain, either to make their homes unattractive to roving spirits, or for their home fires to be lit following the festival from the sacred bonfire. Fortunes were told, and marked stones thrown into the fire. If a person's stone was not found after the bonfire went out, it was believed that person would die during the next year. Some Celts wore costumes of animal skulls and skins during Samhain. Faeries were believed to roam the land during Samhain, dressed as beggars asking for food door to door. Those that gave food to the faeries were rewarded, while those that did not were punished by the faeries. This is reported to be the first origin of the modern "trick or treat" practice.”

The author of the Celts practice described above is none other than the devil. The spirits are not those of dead men or women, but they are demons. Every man or woman who dies goes directly to heaven (if they are born again) or hell (if they are not born again). The men, women, boys, and girls who know and love Jesus Christ have no business at all in anyway participating in the celebration of this so-called holiday. However, all over this country (especially in schools) adults will have elaborate celebrations allowing children to be opened to the devil and his demons unknowingly to the children. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than an adult that would lead a child into wizard, witchcraft, and other demon worship. I truly believe my Lord Jesus Christ extremely abhors this with His entire being and I believe that the worst part of the Lake of Fire is reserved for Mothers and Fathers and all other Adults who lead children into the practice of magic, witchcraft, and being wizards or sorcerers.

Listen to Him speak in this passage of Scripture would you please; Matthew 18:6-11 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. NKJV

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you would guard the souls of every small boy and girl at all times, but with a special protection Dear Lord Jesus during this time leading up to the end of this month. You Dear Lord see in every place and know the end from the beginning. I pray for Your mighty Hand of love and power to guard these little ones from the evil one and that You Dear Lord Jesus will render to the Adults that lead any of these little ones into evil their just reward for their evil acts of foolishness. Although Dear Lord Jesus one of Your Proverbs says we are not to speak in the hearing of a fool for he will despise the wisdom of our words, yet we know that You can speak to the evil one and stop him dead in his tracks from bringing harm to any child during the end this month. Dear Lord let Your Grace rein on that day and night and I pray that none of us, Your true sons and daughters will have any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather that we would expose them. In Your Holy Name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen!!!

 

Sincerely in Christ,

 

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle e-books now and will be available in a couple of weeks @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…                                    

 

 

The Will of Man Opposes the Will of God

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. NKJV

I first heard this story I am about to share from a sermon by Dr. Adrian Rogers, but I have subsequently heard others share the same story in other sermons and articles and devotions written. A boy (maybe 7 or 8) was misbehaving rather terribly and his Father or Mother repeatedly kept telling him to sit down, but he would not. After a period of time past and the boy still would not obey, the Parent (Father or Mother) took him by the arm and walked him to a chair and sat him in it forcefully. The boy looked up at the Parent and replied, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m still standing up on the inside.” How appropriate is this story to the title of this article. This little boy represents all sinners of every era of all races, classes, and cultures. Man’s will since the fall is obstinately opposed to the will of God.

Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. (NKJV)

The heart of man is so wicked and deceitful that it will rationalize to the point of ruin. Why do you think there are many different belief systems throughout our world today and in times past? Every cult that has ever been founded in the past and present is because man wants his own will and not God’s will. The occult is a result of the same obstinacy and disobedience Eve displayed in the garden when she listened to the serpent’s lies and the enemy is still offering those same lies to men and women today, the power to be as God. Today there are men and women witches and wizards sitting in Orthodox Evangelical Churches having never repented and turned from that evil thinking they are right with the True God (Yahweh) mixing the occult with the sacred believing they are right in their own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. NKJV

Man wants his will and not the clear will of God revealed in the Word of God. Some people will claim the Word of God cannot be trusted because it was written by men and therefore it must be corrupted because men are corrupt. Others will hear the Word of God but twist the Scriptures to fit the life pattern or lifestyle they desire to live. For example, the men and women who teach that the God of the Bible wants every person healthy and wealthy always fall in these two categories, some of them are wolves in sheep’s clothing fleecing men and women of their money to make themselves rich, while others are simply misinterpreting Scripture from ignorance. Both will lead to the same eternal destruction for the teacher and the hearer of the error no matter whether it is done from malice intent or ignorance of the truth. Just like the little boy in our story above they are still standing up on the inside refusing to bow the knee to the will of God. However, the One True God says clearly, “As I live say the Lord, every knee will bow to Me and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.” Jesus Christ is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. NKJV

Finally, this was not only true during the time when Israel only had judges in the land, but it reins true today all over the world. It is not something new today to hear men and women say that what is true for you may not be true for me as if there are many truths. This is one of the oldest of all deceptions. Truth is never relative, but always absolute. The Bible for many centuries has been handled in a similar manner, where people over many years have said that a passage of Scripture might mean one thing to one person and another thing to someone else. When our Lord spoke to the disciples, He did not mean for His words to mean something to Peter that it did not mean to John. When He spoke to them, His words meant the same thing to each one of them. One of the clearest passages in the Scripture of the will of God for His children is 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. In this section of Scripture Paul tells us plainly that Jesus Christ’s commands are for His sons and daughters to abstain from sexual immorality and in verse 8 Paul says that if anyone rejects this they are not rejecting him (a mere man), but they are rejecting God. However, we find today that many are ordaining men and women homosexuals as Priest, Bishops, and Pastors in many places deemed to be Christian Churches, clearly rejecting God and they are like the little boy sitting down on the outside, but still standing on the inside refusing to bow the knee and receive Jesus Christ for who He is LORD!

1 Timothy 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. NKJV

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you --- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. NKJV

 

"Greater Works" — My Utmost For His Highest for 10/17/2012

And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. — John 14:12

Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work. We think of prayer as a common-sense exercise of our higher powers in order to prepare us for God's work. In the teaching of Jesus Christ prayer is the working of the miracle of Redemption in me which produces the miracle of Redemption in others by the power of God. The way fruit remains is by prayer, but remember it is prayer based on the agony of Redemption, not on my agony. Only a child gets prayer answered; a wise man does not.

Prayer is the battle; it is a matter of indifference where you are. Whichever way God engineers circumstances, the duty is to pray. Never allow the thought - "I am of no use where I am;" because you certainly can be of no use where you are not. Wherever God has dumped you down in circumstances pray, [spontaneously cry out] to Him all the time. "Whatsoever ye ask in My name, that will I do." We won't pray unless we get thrills, that is the intensest form of spiritual selfishness. We have to labour along the line of God's direction, and He says pray. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest."

There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man's work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labour at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.

By Oswald Chambers

 

Dear Heavenly Father, You are so longsuffering to all humanity and desire all to come to repentance and believe the gospel and receive Your unmerited grace which brings salvation to mankind and that grace which teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world I pray that this day every heart that hears these words would receive such mercy from Your Hand through Christ Jesus my Lord. Amen!!!

 

Sincerely in Christ,

 

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle e-books now and will be available in a couple of weeks @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…                                    

 

The Prophet's Anguish and Hope

Lamentations 3:
^{1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
6 He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.
7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
10 He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.
14 I have become the ridicule of all my people --- Their taunting song all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
18 And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD."
19 Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul still remembers And sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
22 Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
24 " The LORD is my portion," says my soul, " Therefore I hope in Him!"
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him;
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust --- There may yet be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under one's feet All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause --- The Lord does not approve.
37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed?
39 Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction.
48 My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption,
50 Till the LORD from heaven Looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird.
53 They silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me.
54 The waters flowed over my head; I said, "I am cut off!"
55 I called on Your name, O LORD, From the lowest pit.
56 You have heard my voice: " Do not hide Your ear From my sighing, from my cry for help."
57 You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, "Do not fear!"
58 O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
59 O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me,
62 The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day.
63 Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song.
64 Repay them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands.
65 Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!
66 In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD.}

"Is God's Will My Will?"

— My Utmost For His Highest for 10/20/2012

This is the will of God, even your sanctification. — 1 Thessalonians 4:3

It is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me; is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me all that has been made possible by the Atonement? Am I willing to let Jesus be made sanctification to me, and to let the life of Jesus be manifested in my mortal flesh? Beware of saying - Oh, I am longing to be sanctified. You are not, stop longing and make it a matter of transaction - "Nothing in my hands I bring." Receive Jesus Christ to be made sanctification to you in implicit faith, and the great marvel of the Atonement of Jesus will be made real in you. All that Jesus made possible is made mine by the free loving gift of God on the ground of what He performed, my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness), a holiness based on agonizing repentance and a sense of unspeakable shame and degradation; and also on the amazing realization that the love of God commended itse! lf to me in that while I cared nothing about Him, He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification (see Rom. 5:8. R.V.). No wonder Paul says nothing is "able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is done only through the superb Atonement of Christ. Never put the effect as the cause. The effect in me is obedience and service and prayer, and is the out come of speechless thanks and adoration for the marvellous sanctification wrought out in me because of the Atonement.

 

by

Oswald Chambers

Imposters Revealed!!!

The God of the Bible is neither at a loss for his own power, nor is he commanded of man.  It is he, alone, who rules, and he, alone, who is the source of all power.  I strongly encourage anyone who is under the indoctrination of a WoF teacher – be it a rock-star TV celebrity or a local church knock-off – to seriously consider the words of God himself on this subject. 

It is He who loved the world and gave his son for the redemption of sin.  It is He who creates, sustains, upholds and commands the entirety of the universe.  He is not at the disposal of any man nor does he require any man to give him aid.  His testimony is very different from the testimony of these impostors of his faith. 

He declares, Deuteronomy 32:39 (ESV) 39 “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”

These are not the words of an incapacitated power.  They are not the words of One who needs man’s helping hand to get anything done.  This God is the source of all power and the recipient of no assistance. 

It is He of whom it is written, 1 Chronicles 29:11 (ESV) 11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.

While Copeland has the audacity to say, "God's on the outside looking in. He doesn't have any legal entree into the earth. The thing don't belong to Him. You see how sassy the Devil was in the presence of God in the book of Job? God said, "Where have you been?" Wasn't any of God's business. He [Satan] didn't even have to answer if he didn't want to ... God didn't argue with him a bit! You see, this is the position that God's been in ... Might say, "Well, if God's running things He's doing a lousy job of it." He hadn't been running 'em….." [56]

Job himself, a man who was refined by suffering and who spoke to God personally notes, Job 9:12 (ESV) 12 Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

Job 25:2 (ESV) 2 “Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. And God’s answer to Job’s trouble was simply, Job 41:11 (ESV) 11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

In conclusion, the concepts of God "losing" his creation and being dependent upon man, are both utterly unsound theologically and rationally:  Theologically, because scripture never teaches nor even hints at God having lost his foothold on earth nor in all of creation, and rationally because one who loses his control over his creation cannot be rightfully called God, as he will have been usurped by one more powerful than himself.  To follow this flat-out postulate to its logical conclusion, God is no longer God at all, but is in fact at the mercy of others.  And, this supposition is precisely that of the Word of Faith movement's theology:  God is not in control on earth. 

Fred Price arrogantly confirms the status quo of this doctrinal nightmare, "Yes! You are in control! So, if man has control, who no longer has it? God." [57]

Indeed, the "little god" doctrine comes full circle in the WoF world view.  Man has not only become "like" God, but has trumped God's power entirely, making man fully in control of his own destiny and even the very actions of God.  Satan must be very proud of these men.  His original sin has come to fruition within the walls of the apostate church. 

Isaiah 14:14 (ESV) 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

WoF teaching has found its niche in the hearts of a corrupt world, as through this illogical set of doctrines sinful man has received what he has always wanted.  He presumes himself to be in control, even over the very God which owns him. Please understand that these teachers are the enemies of Christ.  They intentionally malign his Word.  Unless they repent they will meet the judgment that Christ’s enemies will all succumb to.  For such destruction – for many – is the only means by which they will ever come to the truth. Psalm 83:17-18 (ESV) 17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, 18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. 

Kluttz, Jeff  Apostasy! The Word-Faith Doctrinal Deception

Excerpt from "Silent Assassins of the Soul"

We must always remember that the Lord Jesus is God, but He is also a person (our brother who took on our humanity). We must treat Him with reverence and awe as God, but we can also talk to Him and receive guidance, advice, and direction and pour our hearts out to Him as a best friend and brother, which He is to each one of us He receives.

Hebrews 2:11 (AMP): “For both He Who sanctifies [making men Holy] and those who are sanctified all have one [Father]. For this reason He (the Lord Jesus) is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

When a commercial aircraft is en route to its destination at 30-40,000 feet in the air, the pilot stays in continual and constant communication with the air traffic control tower on the ground at his final destination. The air traffic control tower makes the pilot aware of any pending danger from weather, monitors the airspace for the aircraft, and gives navigational instructions for the pilot and his plane. As Christians we have been made aliens upon this earth and citizens of Heaven. Thus, we need continual and constant communication with the Lord Jesus Christ to enable us to know and carry out our duties here, avoid and overcome obstacles (i.e., pornography and masturbation), and reach our final destination of Heaven. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual air traffic control tower who sees and knows all.

John 16:13 (AMP): “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes; He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].”

The Holy Spirit will guide you and me into all wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, we must not turn from His guidance to the left hand or right hand. I personally liken His guidance to driving through a dark tunnel. There is but one way to go, and that is straight ahead. We must be self-controlled, watchful, and circumspect (giving close and thoughtful attention to potential consequences). We should have a watchful care over our conduct as the Holy Spirit guides us into the truth and impresses upon our spirits to be vigilant and stay in constant and continual prayer all through the day, every day. We should be praying and fully on guard against sin in any form, but in particular the sins of pornography and masturbation (sexual addiction).

Tate Sr., Clifford D. Silent Assassins of the Soul: Finding Freedom from Sexual Impurity through the Lord Jesus Christ, A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy's Crosshair's

Wow! People are Teaching this to Others!!!

Yet, this doctrine has become the modus operandi of the entire marketing strategy of WoF life.  Simply put, everyone wants something.  Now, the false teacher has a means to sell it to them.  It matters not if one wants money, fame, power or healing.  Through this faith doctrine, literally everything one’s heart desires is accessible by a faith incantation. 

Marilyn Hickey notes, "Say to your body, 'You're whole, body! Why, you just function so beautifully and so well. Why, body, you never have any problems. You're a strong, healthy body.' Or speak to your leg, or speak to your foot, or speak to your neck, or speak to your back; and once you have spoken and believe that you have received, and don't go back on it. Speak to your wife, speak to your husband, speak to your circumstances; and speak faith to them to create in them and God will create what you are speaking." "What do you need? Start creating it. Start speaking about it. Start speaking it into being. Speak to your billfold. Say, "You big, thick billfold full of money." Speak to your checkbook. Say, "You, checkbook, you. You've never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money."

In Hickey’s world, at least God seems to have a role in it.  She notes that “God will create what you are speaking.”  Perhaps she missed the memo proclaiming that God is only a faith-user, but she clearly has accepted the word-power tenet of the technique.  Healing, beauty, physical strength, money and prosperity have never been so easy to acquire.  It merely requires that one speak positive confessions into existence.  It makes one wonder why so many destitute, sick and injured people continue to flock to hear these wolves preach.  Why have they not all been freed?  Why are they still poor?  Why do we see them leaving such events in the same wheelchairs they arrived in?  Sadly, instead of finding riches, they give what little they have to the false shepherd as “faith offerings” in the hopes of obtaining their counterfeit miracle.  And instead of finding healing, they are accused of lacking the necessary faith to deserve health. 

Even in the shallow end of the WoF pool, the teaching is the same.  T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen, both considered to be “not quite as bad” as their colleagues in this shell game, are full-fledged proponents of the same lies. "It's what you say to yourself that gets you healed. If you say that you won't be healed, you won't be healed. If you say that you arebroke, you will stay broke. Oh! But I came to serve notice on the Devil. The Bible says, 'The power of life and death is in the tongue.' Slap somebody and say, 'You better speak to yourself.' " 

“You can cancel out God's plan by speaking negative words.  God works by laws”  Fear is a force just like faith is a force.  If you give into fear and start to dwell on that junk and start to act on it, that fear can actually bring things to pass just like faith can bring things to pass.  Job said, 'the thing I greatly feared came upon me.”

Faith-filled words are the instrument by which all of man’s needs may be met in this tradition.  Gone is the dependence upon God for one’s needs.  Gone are the acceptance of his judgment for sin, the consequences of uncontrolled spending and the need to rely on God’s direction for life.  The WoF proponent is in control of his own destiny through the power of his tongue.The quotes in this chapter are a mere foreshadowing of the great heights to which these teachers claim the word of faith can take those who speak it.  And, sadly, a mere foundation stone upon which an entire false systematized theology was laid.  The disclosure of their apostasy has only just begun.

Kluttz, Jeff  Apostasy! The Word-Faith Doctrinal Deception

My Quiet Time this Morning

2 Thessalonians 1: Greeting
<sup>1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's Final Judgment and Glory

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,
4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;
6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,
7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.</sup>

October 15

Morning

"But who may abide the day of his coming?"

- Mal_3:2

His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for him, showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession, and few enough could abide the process. But what will his second advent be? What sinner can endure to think of it? "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." When in his humiliation he did but say to the soldiers, "I am he," they fell backward; what will be the terror of his enemies when he shall more fully reveal himself as the "I am?"

His death shook earth and darkened heaven, what shall be the dreadful splendour of that day in which as the living Saviour, he shall summon the quick and dead before him? O that the terrors of the Lord would persuade men to forsake their sins and kiss the Son lest he be angry! Though a lamb, he is yet the lion of the tribe of Judah, rending the prey in pieces; and though he breaks not the bruised reed, yet will he break his enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. None of his foes shall bear up before the tempest of his wrath, or hide themselves from the sweeping hail of his indignation; but his beloved blood washed people look for his appearing with joy, and hope to abide it without fear: to them he sits as a refiner even now, and when he has tried them they shall come forth as gold. Let us search ourselves this morning and make our calling and election sure, so that the coming of the Lord may cause no dark forebodings in our mind. O for grace to cast away all hypocrisy, and to be found of him sincere and without rebuke in the day of his appearing.

by Charles H. Spurgeon

Good Works only come from a New Heart

Ezekiel 36:25-27 (AMP): “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness; and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. In addition, I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.”

In these three verses of scripture spoken by the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord uses the pronoun “I” six times. He does this to confirm what He will do and accomplish. The lost sinner is passive in this work of regeneration or new birth. It is the full and complete work of Almighty God. I became the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works (that is morally excellent and virtuous actions, deeds, and lifestyle). My character and my conduct have changed, even though in this life I am still a mortal man. These words mean more than an outward reformation. I formerly saw no beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ now I love him above all things.

Here is what Charles Spurgeon[23] said about good works: “Good works come from a real conversion, brought about by the Spirit of God. Until our conversion, there is not the shadow of goodness about us. In the eye of the world, we may be reputable and respectable, but in the eye of God, we are nothing of the sort. Could we look into our hearts, as we sometimes look into other people’s faces, we should see very much there, which would drive out of our souls the very imagination of good works before our heart, is changed. How many things there are in the world, which we have upon our tables and which we even eat, that if we were to put beneath our microscope we should be afraid to touch, for we should see all kinds of loathsome creatures creeping and crawling about in them-such things as we never conceived! Therefore, it is with human nature. When once the human heart is put under the microscope of Scripture, and we see it with a spiritual eye, we see it to be so vile and filthy, that we are quite sure that until we have a new heart and a right spirit, it would be just as impossible to expect to find good works in an unrighteous, unconverted man, as to hope to see fire burning in the midst of the ocean. The two things would be incongruous or incompatible. Our good works, if we have any, spring from a real conversion. Good works from the creature. Impossible! Good works are the gifts of God, his choice pearls, which he sendeth down with his grace. Some people say, ‘Then, sir, you mean to say that Christians may live as they like.’ I wish they could, sir. If I could live as I liked, I would, always live holy. If a Christian could live, as he liked, he would always live, as he ought. It is slavery to him to sin; righteousness is his delight. Oh! If I could but live as I list, I would list to live, as I ought. If I could but live as I would I would live as God commands me. The greatest happiness of a Christian is to be holy. It is no slavery to him. Put him where you will, he will not sin, Expose him to any temptation, if it were not for that evil heart remaining, you would never find him sinning. Holiness is his pleasure; sin is his slavery.”

Sincerely in Christ,

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle e-books now and will be available in a couple of weeks @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…                                    

Silent Assassins of the Soul

Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs


Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Beginning of My Captivity

Chapter 2: How God Designed Us to Function Sexually

Chapter 3: Adam’s Fall and How it Changed Everything

Chapter 4: Except for Sexual Immorality

Chapter 5: The Pit I Had Dug for Myself Deepened

Chapter 6: Who Our Enemies are in this Battle

Chapter 7: The Battle is in the Mind (Our Soul)

Chapter 8: Taking the Hook and Feeling Trapped

Chapter 9: He Began to be in Want

Chapter 10: Do You Want to be Made Well?

Chapter 11: Restoration to Our Original Design

Chapter 12: Immediately the Leprosy Left Him

Chapter 13: A People Prepared for the Lord

Chapter 14: My Deliverance Comes Through Jesus Christ

Chapter 15: Armed with Weapons to Fight

Chapter 16: The Promise of Rest

Chapter 17: The Cure for the Weak Flesh

Chapter 18: Be Vigilant and Put Up God’s Security System and Obtain Continual Victory!

Epilogue

References

"After God's Silence - What?" — My Utmost For His Highest for 10/11/2012

 

When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days in the same place where he was. — John 11:6

Has God trusted you with a silence - a silence that is big with meaning? God's silences are His answers. Think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything analogous to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking for a visible answer? God will give you the blessings you ask if you will not go any further without them; but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into a marvellous understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? You will find that God has trusted you in the most intimate way possible, with an absolute silence, not of despair, but of pleasure, because He saw that you could stand a bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, praise Him, He is bringing you into the great run of His purposes. The manifestation of the answer in time is a matter of God's sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you said - "I asked God to ! give me bread, and He gave me a stone." He did not, and to-day you find He gave you the bread of life.

A wonderful thing about God's silence is that the contagion of His stillness gets into you and you become perfectly confident - "I know God has heard me." His silence is the proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, He will give you the first sign of His intimacy - silence.

By

Oswald Chambers

Approved by God

1 Thessalonians 2: 3-4 For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. NKJV

There perhaps is not one human being alive today that does not desire approval. Children as they grow up desire the approval of their parents and then their peers in school. Employees seek the approval of their bosses and co-workers. Often we human beings are driven to some very extreme measures to gain approval from others because it gives us some sort of comfort to feel that we are accepted. This Presidential election year motivates every politician to say what particular interest groups want to here in order to get their approval and then get their vote. It is not at all beyond their scope or agenda to lie deceive, and give erroneous statements filled with error, if it accomplishes the end result of getting more votes (approval) than their opponent.

The Apostle Paul shows that a man or woman living for the Glory of Jesus Christ has adopted a new agenda and now desires to please but One and that is God. Paul went to the Thessalonians not seeking their approval, but their transformation. When he spoke the gospel of God to them, he did not make it more palatable as to not offend them and gain their approval but he wanted to give them the truth that would lead them out of darkness into Christ Light. The Lord Jesus told some people one time that they were those who sought the approval of men but God knew their hearts. It is always more comfortable temporarily to gain man’s approval over God’s approval. However, to seek to please men and gain their approval will lead one far away from God and in the end will prove to be eternal folly. A man is not measured by his earthly approval, but that he is approved by God because in the final analysis how God sees a man is all that will matter in the end.

Every servant of Christ never goes about to flatter men to gain their approval or financial favor, if so; he is not a true servant of Christ. The servant of Christ seeks to honor Him by telling people the truth no matter the circumstances. The Lord Jesus Christ knows the hearts of all men and the motives of men are not hidden from Him. All who love our Lord Jesus knows that He searches our hearts constantly being aware of every motive for what we do. To truly have the love of God abiding in you is to give people the gospel in truth and warn them that there is a certain death to face. People must know that their approval by God is the only affirmation that will count after death and only by receiving Jesus through repentance and faith (new birth) will they meet God’s approval.

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) said this of Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians, “Their design was to please God and not men. God is a God of truth, and requires truth in the inward parts; and, if sincerity be wanting, all that we do cannot please God. The gospel of Christ is not accommodated to the fain fancies and lusts of men, to gratify their appetites and passions; but, on the contrary, it was designed for the mortifying of their corrupt affections, and delivering them from the power of fancy, that they might be brought under the power of faith.”

 

Sincerely in Christ,

 

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle e-books now and will be available in a couple of weeks @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…                                    

 

 

Turning from Idols to God

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. NKJV

Today we tend to dismiss the notation that people worship idols in our seemingly sophisticated generation. Those who lived long ago were idol worshipers we all agree and believe because today we are far more advanced intellectually than they were and we are not primitive. However, today we worship more idols I believe than ever in the history of humanity. Because of our advancement in technology, our idols range from great parks (Yosemite) to large man made buildings (the Eiffel Tower) and down to a tiny ipod not much larger than a silver dollar. The magnitude of human idolatry today is astronomical.

Television and the movie theaters have become perhaps the biggest idols over the past 30 years, but now the iphone, smartphones, and the internet are slowly passing them by leaps and bounds. The television networks, satellite, and cable stations are fighting back to regain its place as man’s number one idol by flooding their programming with reality tv shows. Today there seems to be nothing of limits as long as it can draw people to watch. The exploitation of children and grown men and women doing some gross things permeate the television airwaves. Let us not forget Hindus who worship many animals as gods and have many monuments and shrines to their many false gods or idols. There are many other false worship systems Islam, Buddhism, Bahia, Mormonism, Jehovah’s witness, etc. who are nothing but deceived idolaters. We can and have turned enjoyable things and events into idolatry such as sporting events of all kinds from little kid’s soccer, to college football, to professional sports.

I just read in the news this morning a tragic event of a man who won an eating contest (they have crept slowly into a form of idol worship) but not a contest of eating some type of food but rather live roaches and worms. What made the story tragic is that the man died after winning the contest. This is a tragic example of how low we can go down in a form of idolatry and find ourselves reaping bitter fruit as a result. It is eternally tragic if this winner of the contest died without Jesus Christ. This was a senseless show put on to entertain the on looking crowd and all for the winner to receive the prize of a python (snake). The reality tv show fear factor often has contestants eating bugs and other live and dead animals. Can we not see the big lying snake Satan right in the middle of this side show? The devil is the original idolater and seeks to see human beings worship idols instead of the true and living God.

Luke 4:12 “You shall not tempt the LORD your God.” NKJV

We all make an idol out of something, someplace, or some person and we worship it or them and that is sin in God’s eyes that we must repent of and receive His forgiveness and healing. However, with all that being said, the Apostle Paul went to a city filled with idolaters and idol worship and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ and celebrated that some of those people turned from their idols to the one and only true living God Jesus Christ. The gospel is still the same today as it was then with Paul in Thessalonica.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. NKJV

If I should forget Your patient hand to leave and worship useless things

Please send Your Word for loving correction, although it may sting

For on the other side of rebuke, is a river flowing with mercy and love

And there I find You Lord Jesus the only truth from Heaven above…

 

Sincerely in Christ,

 

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle e-books now and will be available in a couple of weeks @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…