Chosen

Chosen and Faithful

Revelation 17:14

"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."

What if this was the day of Armageddon and you were part of the armies of God. Would God have the capability of calling you chosen and faithful? Though we still live in the day of grace, we must realize that God is still in a war with Satan, and He needs His children to be a part of the army that helps to fight in this great battle. You will see that when God looks for those whom He can use to fight in the battle of Armageddon, He says that they must be "...chosen, and faithful." These qualities are still needed in this day, and Christians need to realize their importance in fulfilling their role.

First, let me remind you that you are chosen by God. John 15:16 says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."Christian, God chose you to serve Him before you were ever born. Does this mean that there is no choice in who gets saved? Not at all! God is simply reminding us that everyone on this Earth was created to serve Him.

God chose you by creating your life. What a privilege it is to be chosen by the God of the Universe to serve Him. This calling is higher than making money. This calling is higher than pursuing some position in the work force. This calling is higher than having possessions. The calling for every Christian to be a part of the army of God is a great calling. You were made with the purpose of serving God, and you should do everything in your power to fulfill that purpose. Don't let bitterness, sin, jealousy or any other thing pull you away from fulfilling the role of why God placed you on this Earth. Realize that you were chosen by God.

Furthermore, God needs you to be faithful in what He has called you to do. The reason God chose these to fight with Him in the battle of Armageddon is because He could depend on them. God was not concerned with them quitting on Him while He was in the heat of the battle. He knows that those who will be in His army can be depended upon because they are faithful.

If you want God to use you in a great way then you need to be faithful with all that He gives you to do. If God gives you the duty of cleaning the toilets in your church, then be faithful to clean the toilets. If God gives you the job of greeting people as they come through the doors of your church, then be faithful to greet people. You may think that your job is insignificant and of no importance, but God is seeing if you will be faithful. Luke 19:17 says, "And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities." God always tests His children with the small things before He blesses them with bigger things. He wants to see if they will be faithful with the "little" before He gives them the big.

Christian, are you faithful to God with everything for which you are responsible? Are you dependable to be there day in and day out, or are you one of those who are hit and miss with your service to God? God needs your faithfulness because He has a job for you to do. Faithfulness to fulfill the tasks that God has given you in the present is vital to whether He will trust you with bigger things later on in life. When you walk throughout your day, don't ever think that you can let the little things slide, for God is watching to see if you are faithful so He can use you for greater things. Be that Christian whom God says is faithful. When God can depend on you, then He will surely use you for greater tasks.

All You Need

All You Need

Revelation 7:17

"For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

The world is constantly looking for answers in the wrong places. There is nothing more disappointing and frustrating than to need an answer for something and not find it because you are looking in the wrong place. However, when you need an answer and find the answer, the satisfaction that you have is great. Finding the answers you need in life simply come down to looking in the right place.

The verse above is talking about the future kingdom. It says in the future kingdom that the Lamb, Who is Jesus, will feed His people, lead them "unto fountains of water," and that He will wipe the tears from their eyes. What a promise this is for every believer. Even though this is talking about the future kingdom, Jesus will still do this for His people today.

Jesus is the One Who can feed you today. First, He will feed you spiritually. Christian, you need to stop looking to man to be fed Spiritually when you can be fed through reading the Word of God. John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word. In other words, the only way you will be spiritually nourished is through reading the pages of the Word of God. Jesus is the spiritual sustenance that you need for your Christian walk.

Furthermore, Jesus is the One Who will supply your daily needs. Philippians 4:19 says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." I have watched Christians drop out of church because they needed a job to pay their bills, yet they never seem to financially catch up because they didn't go to the One Who supplies their daily needs. You must realize that God promises to supply every need you have through Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus can spiritually feed you, He can also feed you physically. He is the One Who will help you pay your bills. He is the One Who will make sure that you have food on the table. He is the One Who will put a roof over your head. Jesus is your sustenance.

Moreover, Jesus will also satisfy you in every area of life. The verse above says that Jesus will "...lead them unto living fountains of waters:..."The "fountain of waters" is symbolic of satisfaction. Nothing will satisfy you like Jesus can. Nobody can give you the complete satisfaction that Jesus will. You will only find the complete satisfaction you are looking for in Jesus Christ. This is why you need to pour your life into Christ, because He is the only One Who will give you complete satisfaction. Sure, other things will satisfy you, but nothing will give you complete satisfaction. Only Jesus can offer that.

Finally, Jesus will comfort you in your heartache. I love the phrase, "...and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The loving care of God is seen in this phrase. Christian, when your heart is hurting, God is the One Who can wipe the tears from your eyes. I have found in the greatest heartaches of my life that Jesus is the One Who was able to wipe the tears from my eyes. Does that mean that the heartache will leave? No! It simply means that He will be with you in the heartache. He will be the One Who comforts you the best during this time.

When you put all of these things together, you must come to the conclusion that Christ is all you need. You need to realize that Christ is everything, and that He has the answer for every need of your life. When you pour your life into Christ, then you will find that every need will be met.

Come and Go

Come and Go

Revelation 4:1

"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

Throughout the Scriptures you will find two commands that God commonly gives, and those commands are "come" and "go." They are given in this order for a purpose, for you will never accomplish the goal of going unless you first come. When you come to God, He gives you the substance you need to accomplish what you need to do while you go. Yet, what I see in Christianity is that there are many who try to go without coming to God. You will be successful for a while when you go without coming, but you will eventually dry up and not have any substance to give while you go.

First, you are to come and see. In the verse above, John was to come and see what God was going to do. Christian, you need to daily come and let God show you from His Word what you need in your Christian life. You will never have the spiritual sustenance that you need unless you come and see. If you get too busy to come and see on a daily basis, then your Christian life will be lacking. When you come and see the truths of God's Words, then that will give you the substance and fire you need to go. Don't ignore this command to come and see, for it is a command that you need to make it through your day with the spiritual strength to fulfill God's works and to ward off the attacks of Satan.

Second, you are to come and rest. Matthew 11:28 says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."Christian, after a hard day of serving the LORD and fighting Satan, you need to come to God and get the rest you need for the next day. Simply put, there must come a time when you come to God and let Him give you the rest you need through the preaching of the Word of God. Yes, preaching is that recharge button that will encourage you to keep serving the LORD. Even though I am a preacher, I need times when I come to God and rest through the preaching of the Word of God. When I hear preaching it challenges me to keep serving the LORD, and it will do the same for you.

Third, we are to come and unload. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. There comes a time when you need to come to God and unload your burdens upon Him. God says in Hebrews Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." You will never make it in the Christian life without having a time when you daily come to God and unload your burdens of the day. You may unload on people, but they cannot give you the help and strength you need with your burdens. Only God can help you if you will unload upon Him.

Finally, you are to go. Once you come to God, then you will have the strength and substance you need to go and tell a lost and dying world about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. If you will go, you will find there is a world of people whom you could help. Coming to God and never going is selfish and unspiritual. God commands you to come so that you can go.

I challenge you today to daily come to Christ. Make time in your schedule to daily come to Christ to get the strength you need from Him. Then, make time in your schedule to go and win the lost to Jesus Christ. When you come and go, you will find fulfillment in your Christian life.

What is...

What is the Love of God?

1 John 3:16

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 are not only tied together because of their chapter and verse being the same, but they are also tied together because their message is the same. Though some may think that this is a coincidence, I believe there are no coincidences with God, and that on purpose He placed it in the Scriptures this way. God wants you to think of His love whenever you think of these verses. But, what is the love of God?

First, God's love is being willing to give up your life for another. God defines His love in the verse above, but He illustrated this love in John 3:16. Jesus showed us how much He loves us by giving His life for the world. The greatest love that anyone can show to another is to be willing to give up their life for someone else. This is not only being willing to die for someone else, though it is definitely that, but I believe it is more than that. Giving up your life for someone else is being willing to give up your ambitions and dreams for the sake of another. Only the love of God dwelling in the heart of an individual can move them to do this.

Second, God's love is keeping His commandments. Throughout the whole book of 1 John you will see that if you love God, you will keep His commandments. This is God's love for several reasons, but the biggest reason is because you're obeying Him even when there are times when your flesh does not desire to do right. When you show God that you are willing to follow His commandments in spite of what your flesh desires, then He can see that His love dwells in you. Furthermore, by keeping God's commandments you show God's love to others in that you don't want to hurt them. Sin always hurts, and it especially hurts those whom you say that you love. When you truly love someone, you will find that you will do right to keep from hurting them.

Third, Romans 8:39 says that God's love is inseparable. When you have the love of God dwelling in your heart, then you will find that nothing will cause you to stop loving someone. It doesn't matter what they do to you, or how deep they go into sin, if the love of God dwells in you then you will continue to love that person.

Fourth, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 says that the love of God is patient. If you are having a hard time being patient with someone, it is because you lack the love of God. The love of God is patient with those who try your patience. The love of God believes that one day the other person will do better. The love of God believes that one day the other person will start doing right. The love of God is patient with those who don't deserve patience.

Fifth, Jude 1:21 says that the love of God is merciful. I love this because God's mercy kept Him from sending me to Hell. Likewise, God's mercy has kept His judgment from being executed on your life. When you have the love of God dwelling in you, then you will find mercy for those who deserve punishment. The love of God will tell you that they deserve another chance.

This love of God is certainly worth having. However, how do you get such love? Notice that the love of God is of God. This love can come from no where else other than God. Christian, until you start spending time walking with God you will never have this love in you. Yes, this world needs to see the love of God, but they only way they will see it is through your life. You need to be sure that you spend time walking with God so that those whom you know can see the love of God in your life.

Early

Early Will I Seek Thee

Psalm 63:1

"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;"

There is something about being early with everything that gives you a fresh outlook and excitement for whatever you do. When I was a boy, my parents taught me to do things early. They taught me when I had chores to do that I should do them early. They taught me that I should arrive early for appointments and church. They taught me that I should read the Scriptures early every day. When you do things early, you have a better chance of not setting them aside until it's too late or until it slips your mind.

The Psalmist said, "...early will I seek thee:..." He realized that God was worthy of being sought. When there are other endeavors and people whom he could have sought, he chose to seek God. Though seeking others may not have been bad, he realized that seeking God was the best. However, he didn't just wait to seek God after he sought everything and everyone else, he sought Him early. He knew that God deserved to be the One Who was sought first before anyone or anything else. Let me show you several times when you ought to seek God early.

First, seek God early in life. Young person, the best time to start seeking God is at a young age. Many people waste years of their lives seeking things that will not bring satisfaction when they could have used the early years of their life to seek God. The early years of your life are not filled with clutter from the world. Setting a pattern early in life to seek God will establish that pattern for the rest of your life.

Second, seek God early in the day. For many years I have been an early riser. I must confess, I was not always an early riser. I must say that I was never one to sleep in until late in the morning, but getting up early was not of great importance. It became of great importance when I realized that God's desire was for me to seek Him early in the day. Likewise, I believe you should wake up earlier so you can seek Him. You will find that the Word of God will have a greater opportunity to feed you if you seek Him early.

Third, seek God early in endeavors. Before you start any project, stop and take time to seek for God's help. Don't wait until you've tried everything else to seek God, instead before you start be sure to seek Him. Seek God before you go into business. Seek God before you start your work day. Seek God before the biggest and smallest task. Make God your first stop before you step out in any endeavor.

Fourth, seek God early in relationships. Young married couples need to be sure to seek God early in their relationship. When a child is born, the parents need to seek God for help at that child's young age. No matter what the relationship may be that you are starting, seeking God early in that relationship will establish it on the right foundation.

Finally, seek God early in troubles. Whether the troubles are something of your own doing, or maybe they are trials that have come your way, be sure to seek God early on. Don't wait until the troubles have overwhelmed you because you tried to work them out yourself, but when they first come start seeking God. He alone has the wisdom to help you through your troubles.

Christian, make your pattern of life one that always seeks God before you do anything. Seeking God early will allow you to see Him work early on in whatever you are doing. If you seek God early, then you will get Him involved earlier, which will allow you to see success more quickly in that endeavor.

Difficulty

The Difficulty of Love

2 Corinthians 2:4

"For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you."

In the verse above, the Apostle Paul explains to the church of Corinth how hard it was for him to write the previous epistle. He explained that the epistle caused him much grief, but he did it because he loved them and wanted them to correct their sinful ways. He was simply saying that his love, as difficult as it was, caused him to write the epistle in the manner that it was written.

Sometimes love is not easy. Quite often we think when we love someone that we will never hurt them, but the opposite is true. Sometimes love must be firm, and even hurtful, all for the sake of trying to salvage the one who is loved. God loves us, and yet He must punish us when we do wrong. Is it easy for God to punish His children? Absolutely not! In fact, His love pushes Him to be longsuffering with the hope that we will come back to Him before He must administer punishment.

A parent who punishes their child often finds it difficult to do so. Most parents love their children and would never want to hurt them; however, there are times when a child must be punished. A parent who never punishes their child for doing wrong does not have much love for that child. Though it is difficult, it must be done to salvage the child from doing things that will cause greater harm and bring greater punishment to them in the future.

Likewise, a leader who loves their follower will find it difficult administer punishment, but if they truly love them then punishment will be administered when a follower does wrong. For instance, a pastor who allows sin to go unpunished is a pastor who does not have much love for his church members. Likewise, a school teacher who does not administer punishment to the student who does wrong is a school teacher who does not have much love for that student. Proverbs 3:12 proves this point when it says, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." Love corrects those who do wrong.

True love not only is gentle, but true love is also tough at times so that in the end it may bring happiness to those whom it is placed upon. Be careful not to fall into Satan's trap of thinking that because we love someone we don't want to hurt them by administering punishment. True love will be tough at the times when it needs to be tough no matter how hard it may be on the person whom you must correct or punish.

Let me take this one step further and address the one who has been punished. Don't let punishment cause you to become bitter. Realize that punishment was administered out of a love to keep you from experiencing greater heartache down the road. Though at the present it was unpleasant, if you will realize that it was administered with love, then you will keep punishment from causing you to become bitter.