“And to as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name.”

What does it mean to receive Him? Repentance is a change of mind, a turning towards God. When someone has received Jesus Christ, He comes to live inside them, He is one with their spirit, the person is sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit and forever changed. That means the Holy Spirit is always there, either grieved or blessed by the life of this person, and the person who has received Him knows He’s there. When that person sins, the Holy Spirit convicts, grieves, and leads that individual. This person hears the voice of God and listens.

This person may fall into great sin and debauchery, but the Spirit of God never leaves him. This person may be chastised or fear the Lord’s chastisement, but this person knows the Lord and knows if he’s living in sin, he’s living wrong. He will be chastened of the Lord. When he is, it is a painful, effective chastening.

It’s not that salvation isn’t easy, it is. To become such a one requires simple belief and rest on the Son of God and His work on the cross on our behalf. But the person must know that Jesus is God, their only hope, their Judge, and the Lord. The person must receive Him in truth as all these things. A fear of God results. The eyes are opened, and the person realizes they must answer to this higher authority. They love this higher God, they hope in Him. Despite their failures, despite their sin, their hope is in Him. He becomes real to them, a real person with a real existence, once He is received into their life.

Once He is received in truth as God and their Saviour and only hope, He never leaves, and they never lose their relationship with Him or the eternal life He gives them through His work on the cross.

“Remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.”

Are you born again unto this blessed hope?

“Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee.” This is not a person of integrity in one’s life. This is not a person who cares about you. This is a person who would have you do something, not in your best interests because they have an evil eye. ” The morsel which thou hast eaten thou shalt vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

There are so many seducers out there. ” Let not thine heart envy sinners.” The Bible seems to warn that they will come and tempt you, and try to get you to sin with them, to partake of their dainty meats. “Be in fear of the Lord all the day long”. For surely there is an end, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” The end of life is coming. What we do matters, every decision is important, and there are eternal consequences to your life. Our testimony matters and has far reaching influence. Even the very words of our tongue matter.

I’ve been enticed by sinners, by worldly women who seem to “have it all”. People who tell me, “get a life, get a job, please myself, dump my homemaker role and marriage,”be somebody”! I have an RN, use it! Please myself! Do what I want, dump all authority, and old landmarks. Remove it all, seek self. Get what you can, while you can! But the Bible says ” there is an end” and my expectation shall not be cut off. It also states, “the expectation of the wicked shall perish”. The wicked and their evil are everywhere. I shall set no evil thing before my eyes, the Bible commands. Surely we are in the very last days.

A woman, a wise one, is commanded to build her house. To build a house is to strengthen and support it. It is to do everything you can to preserve, grow, and establish it as well as protect and nourish your home, trusting that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Have faith! Obey God, when the road turns and it does not make sense, knowing your faith has great recompense of reward.

“Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Wow! I am dead and my real life is hid with Christ in God! My real life that goes on forever and has no end, is hidden; people cannot see it, the Bible says. I can’t see it! It is with Jesus Christ, the person, Jesus Christ in God! My real life is in God, Jesus. Jesus is in heaven, but He lives in me. So, I am there, and He is here. The Bible says, as believers, we are inextricably connected to Him, and our earthly flesh is dead! Gone! It awaits to fall off, and then we are free. We go to be with our Saviour!

My day will come, and my faith has great recompense of reward! This is why Jesus says our lives consisteth not of the abundance of the things which we posseseth. A house, clothes, cars, things, jobs, titles, popularity, or accomplishments. All are passing away. So He says ” love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, for if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof. But he that does the will of God abideth forever. We who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will never see eternal death, but fall asleep, as God removes us from this flesh.

It’s a waste of time to aquire stuff in this life. Looking all the time for bigger and better. We cannot keep any of it. It’s not our’s to keep. Without Christ, one will die very poor, so very poor! We all have to face death someday, but if we have Christ, we have the blessed hope. We are already dead in this flesh and our life, our real life, the only everlasting life there is, is hid with Christ in God! Colossians 3:3

A quiet life. The Bible says ” make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to do your own business, to work with your own hands, in 1st Thessolonians 4. To live peaceably with all men even so much as it is up to you. To be still, and to know that He is God. This is a worthy goal and the best sort of existence, but it’s becoming increasingly more difficult with the vast amount of knowledge available to us, to live a quiet life, a peaceful life.

To be quiet, to have a meek and quiet spirit is of great price in the eyes of God. What does it mean to be quiet? The King James Biblical dictionary defines quiet to be still, at rest, immovable, at peace, undisturbed and untroubled, and void of offense towards others. This requires discipline in this age of electronic media and communication, but also a decision must be made to not ” react” to all the chaos and craziness that our world can throw at us. In the day in which we live one is quite challenged to mind their own business. Social media, news media, has inundated us with so much information that if we take it all in and let it weigh us down, our quiet peace will soon evaporate. The little instrument we all carry, the information super highway at our fingertips known as an iphone threatens any quietness from ever settling in for very long. It takes a considerable amount of effort to simply put it away and listen to the sound of the clock ticking, or the birds outside, or the stillness of our own surroundings. 

The Lord intended to give us life and that more abundantly.  A quiet habitation where all our paths are peace. This can happen but we must shut our eyes and ears to all electronic devices and the noise of the world’s voice clammoring to get into our minds, and learn to feast on silence, the Creator, and the simplicity of nature as well as our own business that God has given us to do.

It doesn’t sound too bad does it? A quiet life, once you get use to it, you may never return to all the ruckus outside your quiet place ever again.

“As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come” Proverbs 26:1

Wanderings. Our tendency to move in an aimless direction without purpose or meaning but simply being pulled by the fleshly impulses of our migrant lusts. This is a dangerous place to be. Wanderings can lead us away from the nest, away from that safe place where God has placed us, away from truth, and away from what is right. Being where you should not be, leaving, flying, from your nest, yearning for what is not yours, the whole idea of wandering is moving into a place where you should not be, being led by a force that is not good, and not of God. The curse that ensues has a cause. Wanderings have the notion of being driven by discontent, and ingratitude. “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, a rod for the fool’s back.” God has chastisement in the form of curses for those who would be fools.

I’ve often pondered the winding path life seems to unfold. Why do things happen as they do? Why is it so hard to see, and have foresight into our future wanderings and avoid them if possible to preserve what might have been, what was intended to be. I don’t have the answers. This verse about wanderings causes one to pause in light of such curses that inevitably come, and to consider our steps, to sincerely evaluate our motives.

The Bible would seem to be sending a stern warning to the wandering soul, to notice our direction and not move frivilously in a world where curses abound and surely causeless shall not come. Our actions have consequences, and we do reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. The most sobering prospect of all, is perhaps the reality that time is short, life passes quickly and our wanderings may lead us to an end, in which there is no time left, to right the ship. King Saul suffered such an end, and we can learn from his life what a curse can bring. Though he was the Lord’s anointed, his life did not end well. Could he not forsee where his wanderings would lead?

Prone to wander, OH I feel it! Will my soul so quickly depart from thee? Only God can anchor our wandering souls. Only God can rescue us from our meaningless drifting and the inevitable curses which will result. God sees all. We must trust Him, when life doesn’t make sense, and we are tempted to ” fix” it, Wait on the Lord! “My defense is God, which saveth the upright in heart.”

Sometimes the hardest thing to do, is wait. Wait on the Lord. You shall yet praise Him. “Trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Delight thyself in the Lord, and He will give thee the desires of thy heart.”

Let us learn contentment, acceptance, gratefulness and peace. God will surely bless those who wait upon Him.

This painting was inspired by a beautiful Sunday afternoon walk through Wolf State Park, a gorgeous hiking trail right on the ocean. A thickly forested yet beautifully maintained park, one has no idea as you begin the trails down through the hills that eventually it opens up to this serene cove which leads out to the wide expanse of the sea. Islands dot the landscape both near and far , as white sails from distant boats move across the horizon. We sat there on the rocks, smelling the salt water breeze while listening to the water gently lap upon the shore, as it brought back memories of my childhood, growing up in Rhode Island, and being taught to love the sea.

The first time I’d ever been to Acadia National Park, we discovered this beautiful pond, these gorgeous hills to the west, and a trail that winds around the water offering different perspectives of this wonder of the sea. The trees, mostly conifers and birch shroud the water with pristine foliage and shade. The rocky cliffs above are an invitation to any avid hiker to climb or scramble their heights, and my boys wasted no time accepting the challenge, while I was content to simply walk around this beautiful body of water. It’s hard to imagine that places like this still exist, that the virgin beauty of such a place has not been corrupted, but preserved, and is seemingly untouched by all that goes on under the sun. Yet there it is, the quiet peace of nature is keenly felt in these parts of the world.

The ocean to me is a place to escape, a place to be reminded that there is a God, someone greater than all, that is in control of all that happens, of all that will happen. In this racing and sometimes seemingly meaningles world of a life that moves so very fast, if you want to be brought back to the one who holds it all in His hands, go to the sea. Look at the vast expanse of the ocean, and you will witness the creative power of God, and the glory of His presence. He is still there. He is real.

” Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.” Psalm 40:16

We were created in the image of God. Each person is a unique creation of God and by His authority and design, endowed with certain inalienable rights. We are given a free will. The freedom to choose is a gift from our Creator. God not only allows this freedom, He ordained it. According to our United States Constitution,  we are granted three inalienable rights as well. These are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Sadly there are enemies of such liberties, and they are lurking in places you might not expect.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Proverbs 27:6 . The kisses of an enemy…someone who pretends to care for you, but doesn’t. This can be a spouse, a family member, or a ” church person”, someone who is supposed to love you but doesn’t. The discovery of such a betrayal has happened many times and unfortunately is a rather common experience. The result of one who experiences this is a lack of trust for people. Often this type of abuse comes in the form of shaming someone for deviating in any way from the expectations and demands of his abuser. The abuser controls or suppresses his victim, rather, to become what he wants them to be and do what he wants them to do. The tactics employed are control, dominance, fear, shame, but most of all oppression. This is done by withholding love, and acceptance, as well as freedom rightfully owed the individual to act, within the boundaries of Christ’s commands, in order to force compliance with his own demands, so as to gain performance, loyalty, and submission. In essence, it is to defraud one of his own God given identity, to seek to separate or force forfeiture of his own inalienable rights. This is the work of someone who may pretend to be a friend, but is actually acting as your enemy, for there is no love in defrauding, no freedom, no kindness, and no truth. The entire process is based on lies and the presumptive agenda of the abuser.

It is for this reason that submission granted to someone who would seek to become your spiritual authority must be carefully considered and evaluated. There are many people behind masks that are not worthy of such trust. There is a tremendous amount of spiritual abuse that goes on in churches today. This is a serious injustice, and one condemned in the Bible. For to defraud is to injure, by the withholding of what is due. To attempt to oppress using mockery, scorn, shame, or rejection is an abuse of power and it is evil. The victims of such abuse often don’t recognize or suspect the tactics of their abuser, and progress to defending and protecting them. They are brainwashed to believe that this is a legitimate use of power on the part of the perpetrator, and thus the oppression takes hold. In the truest sense, the abused become victims. This kind of abuse goes on often in cult like Christian churches everywhere. People use God for unjust gain, or to control and abuse others. The victimhood of the crime is to defraud by withholding the right to freedom, diversity, free will, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness that God has granted to each individual within the constructs of His revealed Word.

The Lord has granted each one of His creatures the right to exercise our free will, though He commands us to obey His Word, because we were made in His Image. Though we may choose not to obey His commands and suffer the consequences, God does not violate this free will, and no religious leader has the right to violate it either. No spouse, parent or religious leader has the right to violate the uniqness, or God given identity of another person, his likes, dislikes, quirks, personality or the person God created him to be. God, while condemning sin, does not condemn freedom of choice, personal traits, or diversity and freedom. As parents, we are called to guide and instruct on what is morally right, and teach the child proper behavior through consequences and rewards, but a parent, spouse or religious leader has no right to define another person’s God given identity nor force then into their mold through the threat of rejection or abuse.

True love respects each person for the unique creation of God that they are. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. Regrettably, so often we have “cookie cutter Christianity,” with a powerful leader at the top manipulating and controlling a mass group of people.

How do you begin to extricate yourself from such people who have made inroads into your life? It starts with taking responsibility for yourself, your rights as given to you by God, and embracing the truth, while exposing the lies. You must release yourself first and foremost from the mind control such a person or group has over you. The truth will set you free. You must find the courage to accept and believe the truth. It means calling out the abuse, and taking a stand against it. Only when we truly desire the freedom in Christ the God intended will we find the fortitude to take such a risk.

We are endowed with certain rights as given to us by our Creator. We have liberty in Christ, not to sin, but to live as the free children of God, and only God defines what that is in His Word. The freedoms He gives are non negotiable and never to be separated from the believer. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No religious organization or leader has the right to infringe upon or deny us those God given rights. If any entity is guilty of this, they are ones who abuse, and oppose God and they are to be rejected. We are born with these God given rights, and they are permanent in this life. No one has the right to deny you your God given individuality, uniqueness, or right to life and happiness. No one.

Many people in churches today are believing a false gospel. They have been taught that faith alone in Jesus Christ and His atoning death on calvary is not enough. They believe that good works on the part of man are also required, be it repentance of sin, baptism, church membership, good deeds, or reformation. They have not rested in the finished work of the cross. They simply don’t believe the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf is efficacious to save them. Sadly, they teach others this false gospel as well.

They accuse the brethren, those who have fully trusted in the promises of Jesus Christ, that ” He that believeth on me hath everlasting life “. They who are trusting in their works to be saved, change, disguise, and misinterpret the word of God so as to hide its glorious hope and meaning. They, in effect, become gods themselves, trusting in themselves, to save themselves. They say, just as Satan did in the garden, “hath God said”, regarding the promise of eternal security we have in the Bible, and the freeness of His grace. They try to cause one to doubt God’s word. In doing so, they have tampered with the gospel, and God’s word. This fatal error will cause them to end up in hell, just as Satan himself.

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” Proverbs 11. Above all, these false profits have no love, no mercy, no meekness, no joy, no fruit of the Holy Spirit. They are in truth, liars. Tares. They appear as angels of light, but in truth, they are full of pride and want to be just like God, just as their father, the devil, wanted to be like the Most High. They seek to ascend above God, save themselves, exalt self, in a false holiness. They see themselves as good when, in fact, they are evil. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

We are saved by faith alone, in His grace alone. Our actions, our sins are covered by the blood of Christ. We simply trust in the Son of God. We have no works to offer God. Anyone who adds to the gospel is lost. It’s Christ alone! He is enough. We need to simply rest in Him, His work, He is our redemption.

One of the tell-tale signs of such false prophets is that they hate free grace teaching. They hate eternal security, ” easy believism,” they hate the gospel, and they hate Jesus Christ for wanting and offering to save lost sinners. They abhor this! They want to be the gatekeepers of heaven and decide who is good enough to go, set the rules of entrance, and control admission. They want to be as the Most High and seek to Lord over God’s people. This is blasphemy and an abomination, as it is a false balance. For they are, in truth, the worst of sinners, in believing they they have merit in themselves and can exalt themselves to the summit of Christ!

God loves sinners. He loves you and me, in all our weaknesses, frailties and imperfections. Those are nice words, How about our wretchedness, debauchery, and depravity. Yes, He loves us in all that too. So much does God love each one of us in our hopeless sinful state that he took on human flesh and came to earth to save us, to redeem us.

We are the object of his love, the apple of his eye. In our carnal minds, we don’t know this, we don’t believe it. We know ourselves, we, each one of us, know our own thoughts, our own lostness. We try to imagine that maybe God doesn’t see. Maybe He doesn’t realize the depth of the waywardness that dwells within the halls of our minds. At least we hope He hadn’t noticed. This is a vain hope for He knows every detail, every thought, word and deed, though no one may see, He sees.

This knowledge, King David states in the Psalms, is too wonderful for him. He is in awe of God’s omniscience. Why would it be wonderful that God knows all the bad? Why would David say it is wonderful when his works included adultery and murder?! Could it be because God’s love for David was so great, so all consuming, that David knew there was nothing he could do, to lose God’s love, His faithfulness, and kindness? David knew that God understood what an awful sinner he was. He knew God saw it all, yet loved him, with an everlasting never-ending love. He couldn’t wear God’s love out, and neither can we.

For what kind of love would it take, to leave heaven, and all the glory of a king, the King of Kings, and come to earth, to be depised, and rejected, scorned, and crucified, for a pure love for the creation, that only bitterly rejected you? God’s love, that is the answer. You can’t wear out his love for you, or convince him to reject you, once you have received Him, and his love gift, eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ. It can’t be done. He promises to His own, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life and will not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

If you have put your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and believed on Him for salvation, you will never be left, abandoned, or cast away. Never. Once you are His child, you are forever his child. He promises, “you shall never perish.”

Have you been feeling that God is angry with you? Have you wondered if you have sinned just once too often and He’s done with you? No, He will never be done with you, until He faithfully brings you home to himself, then his work is done. He is a faithful creator, a faithful father, a faithful Saviour, and He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of redemption. That is His promise to us.

Aren’t you glad God is so much higher than us, He is God! He cannot fail. He will never fail you. His love won’t fail. Will you trust Him?

“Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethsada, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately, the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.” John 5: 1-10.

There are many like this poor man by the pool, in life. Stuck. In a place where they lack the power, the resources, the endowment of gifts or opportunities to help themselves. In the race of life, they are trailing a far off, way behind their more competent fellow creatures, unable to catch up, to live the life God intends for them to live. They are impotent like this man. Unable to propel their lives forward by their own wits. They are oppressed, held back by some infirmity or affliction. Then there are those who are far more capable, they can walk, and even run in this life, they succeed and do well according to the world’s definition. However, all of us suffer the sinful condition passed down from the fall, through Adam, the inability to obey God’s law perfectly, and stand before Him blameless on our own merit. We all have a sinful disease that will bring judgement one day from a Holy God. ” For all we like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way. But He hath laid upon Him, the iniquity of us all.”

But God. God sees our fate. He comes to us through the person and divinity of Jesus Christ, and offers, wholeness, healing, forgiveness. What is interesting about this passage is the directness with which Jesus approaches this man. He doesn’t waste any time with introductions. The man didn’t know who he was or with whom he was speaking. Jesus simply asks, ” Wilt thou be made whole”? For the man’s will on the matter had to be considered. Jesus knowing he alone was able to heal this man, did not say to him, Well let me help you down to the pool the next time the angel comes, or ” I’m so sorry to hear of your misfortune, here is some money to ease your sorrow”. He flatly asks Him,”Do you want to be healed?” He cuts to the chase. The man presents his obstacles to Jesus, in a sense answering his question. Jesus commands him, ” Rise Up! Walk. ” Jesus possessed all the power the man needed to change his entire life and eternal destiny. Yet it would take one thing, one requirement of the man. Faith. He had to believe, in order to move his legs, stand up, put one foot in front of the other and move. Jesus healed him, but he had to believe to experience it. After all, the man could have responded, “Didn’t you hear me, I can’t walk, I can’t move, why do you tell me to rise?” In which case he would have continued to sit there, waiting helplessly, for perhaps another thirty eight years or until he died in defeat. But thankfully, he doesn’t do that. He believes! He rises, he walks!

Jesus is able to help each one of us, in whatever state we are in. He offers us hope and truth. He offers Himself. We can not make it it to heaven on our good works, we are as impotent as the man. We are sin sick and need a Saviour. We can’t get to the pool, heaven, on our own, to be made whole. Jesus knows this. That’s why He came. He finds us in life, wherever we are, whoever we are. He knows all about our disease, our limitations, and our helplessness. He didn’t come to us to play games or offer some false hope, religion, or rules, some self help program or the opportunity to turn over a new leaf. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. In his invitation, he doesn’t use a lot of eloquent words or enchanting philosophies. He’s rather straight. ” Do you want to be made whole?” Do you want to be forgiven, loved, and receive eternal life? ” Believe on Me,” he says. Those who believe are healed. Those who believe, He states in John 6:47, have eternal life.

It’s also interesting to note in this passage who is not happy for this healed man. Who wouldn’t be, but those who would be threatened by Jesus’ power, those who didn’t believe themselves, and didn’t want anyone else to believe either, lest they should lose their power, and control through religion. The pharisees response to this miraculous healing is found in verse 16 of the same chapter, “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. “

They persecuted Jesus because he broke their laws in healing the man. They hated him because he threatened their control, because He didn’t submit to their authority but through his power, would turn the people away from them. Not everyone will believe on the Saviour, and many won’t be happy for you if you do. They would offer religion, rules, works, as a means to earn heaven, as if any of us could. Jesus came to offer truth, mercy and grace. The question each one of us must answer is the question Jesus asked the man at the pool of Bethsada, ” Wilt thou be made whole”? If the answer is yes, believe!

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

Receive.