How Can We Know When God is Angry?

How Can We Know When God is Angry?

“Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken,                       because He was angry.”     2 Samuel 22:8 (NKJV)

Did any of you listen and feel the storm we had last week? Here is what I thought: When those huge claps of thunder roared overhead, our windows rattled and the ground shook like an earthquake, I wondered what would happen next.  I don’t think I ever heard thunder like that and at the same time, the lightning was so bright, it shown right through our window darkening drapes.  This was what my grandfather would have called, “a hum- dinger’ of a storm.

My daughter called and ask me if there wasn’t something in the Bible about the earth shaking.  It sounded interesting and so I looked it up.  There were several places the Bible talks about the earth shaking and trembling and why it happened.

I have been following this past year and so far this year, for the tragedies happening concerning the weather events, on our side of the world. I have lived for many years and have never seen such extremes in weather, wind and fires.  I have personally experienced weather changes, but I do not believe in ‘global warming’. I have read about the great ‘ice age’, and ‘the great flood’, and the Sea splitting in half, and I believe all of it and know that someday this earth as we now know it, will be changed. “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” Revelation 21:1

So, why has the weather become so extreme? (I only speak for this country and others probably speak the same of their country.) This country has become so evil that I believe God’s anger is intensifying.  In Psalms 18:7 we read, “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.”  In another Psalm 77:18, it says, “Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook.”  God is not happy with us; He is not happy with this people who sacrifice their unborn children to the god of this world, Satan. Yes, Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.”

We give in to all the evil we see all around us and even God’s people feels desires rise up within themselves and many who are not grounded in the Word of God, give into those desires. The evil which we see from within our own government follows evil and not good.  We pray it will change quickly with a new leader at the helm, but the former is out to destroy the present.  What does God think of all this?  I can’t pretend to know the mind of God, but we must trust in his Word.  Jesus, himself was telling the disciples what was coming in the future and in Matthew 24:8 when he had told them of the horrors people would have to go through, he said, “All these are the beginnings of sorrows.”  It is going to get worse.

There is a time coming when we feel the earth shake and the lightning striking around us that worse things are coming in these end times.  In fact, in Hebrews 12:26, (God) “whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.  What we experienced last week with the thunder and lightning was like a practice run.  If that scared you, hang on.  There is no doubt that God is getting fed up with this country and the whole world and it remains to be seen how quickly we will have more of this.

It is time to pray and remember to pray for those who cannot see to follow God.  Our time here is swiftly passing and we will meet with God one of these days.  Prepare your heart that you may be able to go with him when he appears to you.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9

My own interpretation of Romans 12:9 is “Hate what is evil and Love what is good.”

At times we look at the world as bad and even downright ugly.  We may look at it carefully, but often we can’t see any good. Watching the news one can say, “Why can’t they put something good on the TV?”  The reason being, is that bad and ugly news sells.  Let’s take a look in the Bible for the reason it’s that way.

Genesis 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”  What a beautiful place earth was.  God wanted a perfect place for his people to live; it was truly a Paradise.  We all long to have a Paradise in our own lives, but will never be in our lifetimes.  You may think that living on a south sea island would be paradise, but it’s not true.  We will still have sickness, sorrow and pain.  The only time we will experience paradise is when we are with Jesus.

When sin entered this world through Adam and Eve, it began to grow in the human heart.  It grew so evil that God decided to destroy what he had made perfect in the beginning.  “So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!” Genesis 6:13 (NLT) Only Noah and his family survived because Noah was a righteous man.

Think about this; the good turned to bad and then to ugly in a short amount of time.  Now there were only Noah and his family on the earth and in a short time sin began to raise its ugly head and as time went on, it grew and grew and grew.  Why?  Why couldn’t it stay good; they had a second chance?  As it says in Romans 3:10, “As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one.” 

I know that God is over all mankind, but Satan in the ruler of this world.  You might not believe this, but in 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.”  You see, if you are not a Believer, you are open season for Satan.  No matter how wise you think you are; no matter how much of a Christian you think you are, if you are not born again and serving the Lord, Satan controls you.

The Holy Spirit is continually drawing you, but if you don’t want any of the Lord, he will not keep you away from the enemy of your soul.  Here is what happens, “According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience….” Ephesians 2:2.  This is why God has given us complete instructions to fight Satan and keep on God’s side. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Ephesians 6:10-12

We’ve been showing the Good, the Bad, but not the ugly.  Turn on the news and watch the extreme evil, which I call, the Ugly.  Men, women and children who are being tortured, heads cut off and put in prisons which are like the pit of hell.  There are those which are so evil there are no words to describe them.  This is the ugly!  Yet we have people in our own country of hope for man who can’t see beyond the lies of the enemy.  They stand on the corners and in the streets crying for our country to invite the good, the bad and the ugly to come and be part of their godless lives. 

Yes, not all who enter into the USA are evil, but until there is a way to sort through them and their past we are not safe.  This is not hate; it’s being careful and not allowing danger to come into our lives.  Satan has been very busy at dividing our country; he is smarter than you think.  Go back and read Ephesians 6:10-12. Note that we need to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. What does that mean?

Wiles means, “cunning, stratagem, ploy, schemes, lure, entice, devious, guile, craftiness, etc.; none of this is good, so that means it’s bad and evil.  God gives us a warning in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  How do we do that?  Be obedient to the Word of God.

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.”  Mark 12:30 

Are Tattoos Sinful?

Are Tattoos Sinful?

“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you:               I am the LORD.”   Leviticus 19:28

We are living in a time when so many people think it’s (cool) to decorate their bodies with tattoos. It isn’t just young people or rockers; the elderly want them too.  For some people, the more tattoos on their bodies, the better.  Let me tell you something, it was also cool over 35 hundred years ago. Early finds in Egypt, China, Japan, Greece and Rome have shown different types of tattoos and even on mummies. Even Moses had to warn the Israelites about tattooing.

You can see from the scripture above, they were told not to do this.  However, let’s see why Moses told them this.  There were no doubt that some of the people that came out of Egypt still had not given up their idol worship which they had been a part of in Egypt.  Then when they would enter the Promised Land they would see thousands of people worshipping Baal. 

When those that worshipped Baal, got so carried away, they would cut themselves and mark their bodies with tattoos to honor their gods. Many would offer up their babies on altar to be killed for their idols. That is so evil, I can’t imagine offering your child to be killed.  Just a minute, don’t millions of women each year have their unborn babies aborted?  It’s called murder and is no different than what the heathens did thousands of years ago, so that shouldn’t shock any of you.

In the Old Testament, Elijah was a prophet of God.  God sent him to King Ahab to prove to him there was only one God so Elijah met with the prophets of Baal and there were 450 of them and only one of Elijah.  Elijah challenged the prophets to put animals on their altar and cry out to their God to set it on fire.  So the priests of Baal danced around the altars, chanting frantically and cutting themselves with knives to inspire the attention of Baal, their god.  Nothing happened.

Elijah poured water over the animals and onto the ground and then called out to God and fire came down from heaven and it consumed the sacrifice, the wood and the entire altar.  All the worshippers of Baal had nothing happen even with all their cutting and frantic dancing.

Over the past centuries, people have been cutting their bodies and tattooing themselves, but it didn’t do a thing to help them.  Tattooing in itself isn’t a sin, it just makes people look like it.  It depends on why you want to be tattooed.  Tattooing can be a useful tool today, mainly for cosmetic reasons.  Women whose eyebrows have disappeared over time, find having them done on your brows are an easier thing then to have to draw them on your brows every day.  Some men in particular, who may be grieving about the death of a loved one will have them tattooed in remembrance.  However, evil tattoos like a picture of Satan or evil beings has no place on your body.

If you just want tattoos all over your body for attention or to look tough if you are illegally doing something you shouldn’t, then you better pray about what you are doing.  I see nothing wrong in having a tattoo or so, but covering your whole body, shows others you probably have a deep seated issue.  You may be even punishing yourself in some way.

This brings up the issue of cutting yourself which is happening to our teenagers who no doubt have multiple issues with relationships, how they see themselves, or peer pressure among other things.  Cutting your self is not what God wants you to do.  He wants you to turn to Him for help and not to abusing your own body by cutting.  God wants to love you and not hurt you.  Self-injury is not pleasing to God.

God wants to tell you that God says, “Behold, I have graven (tattooed) thee upon the palms of my hands.”  Isaiah 49:16 (KJV)  No matter what was sinful in your past, God wants you to ask forgiveness and invite him to come into your heart.  God loves you and wants a relationship with Him.  He will never leave you or forsake you.

What is the Word of God?

What is The Word of God?

“The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone,

But by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:4

We are living in a time when it is so very important for people to understand what the “Word of God” really means.  Everyone knows what the Bible is; it’s a book about Christians and what we should do and what we shouldn’t do.  For many that is the sole purpose of the Bible.  Some may read it and some may not. Let’s go beyond skimming the surface of it.

If we only pick a few verses out of the Bible, your understanding could be like this: “Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."” (Matt. 27:5 and Luke 10:37)  We certainly don’t want to make a teaching out of that.  It doesn’t make any sense and certainly doesn’t show the love of God.

 

The Bible tells us that we should meditate on the Word of God, so we can have understanding of what he is showing us.  In Joshua 1:8 it says, “Study this Book of Instruction (Bible) continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”  This is so simple and yet people ignore it. You need to read the Bible faithfully every day and then think about it.  That way you will understand what God wants you to know and live like it says.  If you live like God tells us to, you will succeed in all you do.  What is so hard about this?

However, there are many, not a few, but many who are teaching otherwise.  Quoting Pastor Rob Bell, “Ignoring the Bible will help the church stay up to date in the current times.”  He goes on to say that 2000 year old scriptures can’t help anyone and does not fit in our culture.  It reminds me of a verse in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” People like Bell are preaching a different Gospel and are not true Christians or they would not denounce the Word of God. 

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”  The Word of God is God!  If you start at the beginning with Genesis, when God created everything it began with “God said”! Over and over again it is “God said”.  If God is who he said he is and he said he is the same now and forever, who can argue with that?  The Word of God has such power.

The Word of God is alive; it speaks to your heart and minds. There are times when you are looking for an answer, so you read the Bible and God will give you the very scriptures that answer your questions.  Even though I have read the same verse many times, this time those words pierce your heart and soul.  There may be times that God warns you about something in your future.

There is such a thing as discernment and it comes from God.  You may meet someone and right away you know that something is not right.  You may feel a darkness about them; it may even be a supposedly godly person, but if you have the Holy Spirit you will understand. How do you know about such a thing as discernment? God told you in his Word he was sending the Holy Spirit to teach you.

By discernment you will see people for who they are and not through what they are pretending they are. Read this in the book of Matthew 7:20, “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. When I became a real born-again believer God changed my life and gave me a whole new attitude. I wanted to listen to what God told me and do what he said to do in the Word. I am a serious believer and I love the Word of God.  The words of the Bible speak to my heart.  The Word came to me before I ever understood it.

As a child I sang all the time; in fact I was singing on stage by the time I was five years old.  However, my real desire was to play the piano and when I was twelve years old my parents bought me an old upright piano.  I finally began lessons and as soon as I learned notes, I tried to play something. We had an old Hymnal and I turned to page 333 (I still have it) and tried to plunk out the keys.  Its title was “Wonderful Words of Life”. I sang along with it and the words went like this:

Sing them over again to me, Wonderful Words of Life;

Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful Words.

Words of life and beauty, Teach me faith and duty.

Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of Life

Even then, God was showing me to love the Word of God.  I eventually learned to play that song like it should be played.  It is still so meaningful to me after all those years.  I keep that songbook on a shelf right over my desk.The Bible is more than just a quick glance; it is so deep and its words are always fresh and true.  Drink it in and you will find a deep love of its words.  They are truly “Wonderful Words of Life!

 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1