God’s grace a wide open space

I know our Lord said in Matthew 22:14 : “For many are called, but few are chosen.” But I think what is few in our eyes is not necessarily few in the Lord's eyes, because it is also written in 2 Peter 3:8 that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So who are we to say "the vast majority of professed Christians are lost and will not make it"?

And I know it is also written in Romans 11:5 that the Lord has a remnant chosen by grace and when I read Revelation 7:9 there is "a great multitude which no one could number" before the throne of God!😊

And also written in Romans 14:4 :

Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

And actually, a truly born again Christian cannot be plucked from Jesus or the Father's hand! Jesus said so Himself in John 10:28-29.

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

So let us stop acting as if we are God to know how many Christians will be lost. I think they actually gloat when they say that and I can assure you they count themselves in that number that will be saved, yet they write off other Christians.

God's grace is a wide open space in which we stand secure in His favour, even though the entrance is narrow.

God controls the weather

Look there... the Lord our God does all these things!  Either to punish people or to show His love and all He does is righteous and justified.

“My heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me.
Listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice as it rolls from his mouth. It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.
Then comes the roaring of the thunder— the tremendous voice of his majesty.

He does not restrain it when he speaks. God’s voice is glorious in the thunder.
We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.
“He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.
The wild animals take cover and stay inside their dens.
The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold. God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.

He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning. The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.

He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love."
Job 37:1‭-‬13

Be holy

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We are to live holy and consecrated lives unto our God, set apart from the world, come out from the world, be separate.  Touch not the unclean thing, defile not ourselves with the things of the world.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world.  Be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  We are to fill our minds and hearts with the word of God and He will receive us.
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Believers Sharing in All Things

Will we ever have this among Christians again? Such unity, such love, sharing everything we have with other believers in need. None of them lacked anything! That is the power of true love! And that is what God blesses! And He blesses with spiritual riches. It's not about material blessings.

Yes He blesses us with enough for every day, but believers are not promised a luxurious life (take up your cross comes to mind). That's why the poor are so blessed...God blesses them to be rich in FAITH and with many off-spring and He chose them to be heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.

In those days the Christians were going through much persecution and it seems that's the only time when we as Christians will truly love and live like the early church, when under intense persecution.

 

 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

~James 2:5 NKJV

 
Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction,
And makes their families like a flock.

~Psalm 107:41 

Trust not in men

Now why do you cry aloud?
Is there no king in your midst?
Has your counselor perished?
For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor.
Be in pain, and labor to bring forth,
O daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in birth pangs.
For now you shall go forth from the city,
You shall dwell in the field,
And to Babylon you shall go.
There you shall be delivered;
There the Lord will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.

Now also many nations have gathered against you,
Who say, “Let her be defiled,
And let our eye look upon Zion.”
But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
Nor do they understand His counsel;
For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

“Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion;
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hooves bronze;
You shall beat in pieces many peoples;
I will consecrate their gain to the Lord,
And their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.

~Micah 4:9-13 NKJV  © 1982 by Thomas Nelson

I see how our country's people depend upon their leaders, their political parties, instead of on the Lord. Therefore we must bear the consequences. Sometimes the Lord puts us through the furnace. He forces us on our knees to cry out to Him, because when there is no one to help and you lose all hope, God is your last resort, especially if you do not know Him.

When we are stripped of everything on which our hope is built, the earthly things that give us only a false sense of security, God starts anew with us.

First through the furnace, but then the Lord will deliver us again. Only then do we realise our dependence on Him.

For us who are His children there is always hope, no matter how dark circumstances look. We know where our help comes from and we run first to our Heavenly Father in prayer. Put your trust in the Lord alone, for your help comes from Him who created heaven and earth. His name is Jesus.

Are you an enemy of God?

Do we as Christians long for the wrong things that we used to enjoy, that the Lord saved us from? Do we desire to partake of the things of the world? If so, we are enemies of God.

As Christians, we should stand out from the world. We must be set apart. We should stay away from the things of the world. We do not participate in it. I'm thinking of the Pokemon game. It is of the world and then one reads that it also has to do with occultic powers, with special "powers" and Pokemon means "pocket monsters".  Dear people of God!..what do Christians have to do with such things? How are we honoring the Lord our Holy God with these worldly things? You know, if something is only slightly leaning towards the occult, we need to steer clear of it.

It's not just about the Pokemon game. So many other worldly things that Christians get involved with. We are children of a holy God, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, to proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light!

We are pilgrims and strangers in this world. So how can we become just like the world and love the things that the world loves and follows? Our actions should not be like that of the world. The world chases Pokemon monsters, we're going the opposite direction, we chase after Jesus, to be more like Him.

The other day I saw a video of a lot of people with mobile phones led by the Pokemon game to the location where the so-called pocket monster is to be found. Do you know how it looks to see everyone walking around with cellphones searching for monsters? .... They look like zombies. They are of the world, but the saddest of all, among them are Christians! My brothers and sisters in Christ that look like the world, doing just as the world does that do not stand out from them, not set apart from them.

Look, I understand we cannot completely withdraw ourselves from the world, because it is impossible to tell people about the Lord and to show how the children of the Lord look and act and live. We are in this world but not of it.

We must remember that we are ambassadors of Christ on this earth and we have a duty to tell everyone about Him, and when people look at us, they should be drawn to Jesus! Not to Pokemon or whatever is of this world.

Just like in church buildings, they are trying to invite the world in with earthly pleasures, carnal pleasure. What happened to drawing the world to Jesus with the gospel? It is by hearing the Good News that people are drawn to Jesus, because faith comes by hearing the message. NOTHING else can draw them to the Lord. The church (we are the ekklesia, not the building) should not sound, look and act like the world!

Let us be a shining light in this dark world. Shine your light. We are the light of the world. Avoid the things of the world. Let everything we say and do honour the Lord our God. He is holy and He tells us to be holy as He is holy. That's another thing ... when you speak about these things then you are branded as "holier than thou", but those lukewarm Christians contradict what God, whom they claim to worship, tells them to be! How sad is that? : '(

It is a sad day when Christians come against you because you are saying what God says in His word. I wonder, does the world come against you? I can tell you they come against me and I rejoice because it shows I'm standing out, I'm on the right track with my God (and I say this in all humility, because all honor and thanks I give to God who works in me and has much to change in me and He is always working in me to conform me to the image of Christ until the day I go home to be with the Lord. Until then, I am not perfect.) but when especially believers rise up against you, something is very wrong. I know it's not against me they are coming, but against the Spirit of Christ in me and all of you, who love the truth of God's word. Jesus also told us that the world will hate us and that a servant is not greater than his Master.

So this is my question to my brothers and sisters in Christ, are you a friend of God or an enemy of God? Does the world love you or does the world hate you?

These are dark times we are living in people. We as Christians need to be vigilant. Satan is cunning and walks about like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Stay in prayer about everything. Pray for our country and all the people and also for the wicked leaders of our country. They need it. We do not want people to go to hell! We have Christ's love for people in our hearts, that is if we have the Spirit of Christ, otherwise we do not belong to Him!

Thank you for reading. Let us think about these things. Much love in Christ to you from me.♥ It is in love and because I care that I write these things and warn. God bless you.

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

~James 4:4

 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”

~2 Corinthians 6:17

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

~John 15:19

Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  

But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 

~John 15:20-21  

When God answers

Where do I begin?  Well not to make it too long I'll get to the point.
On Friday the 5th 2016 my husband asked me to please pray that God answers him regarding a big decision he wants to make.  He was planning on doing it in two years' time, but the opportunity arose to do it this year (to do with his job/future), but those interested had to fill in the forms before the 10th.  So we prayed, he prayed, I prayed whether this was God's will for him, whether this was the way God wanted us to go now.
So last night I was again praying, reminding God about answering us before the 10th.  After prayer God led me in His word to Ps 143.

¹ Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    listen to my plea!
    Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.
⁶ I lift my hands to you in prayer.
    I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.
⁸ Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
    for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
    for I give myself to you.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
    on a firm footing.
¹¹ For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.
    Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.

Those verses spoke to my heart and especially when I read verse 8, I had this joy rise up in me and I had this 'knowing' that God was going to answer us this morning.  The following is what I wrote in my spiritual journal last night:

(I'm translating because I wrote it in my mother tongue.)

I believe with my whole heart that the Lord is going to answer us because we are asking for His guidance!  We are knowing Him in this big decision we want to make.  We do not want to operate in our flesh, in our own wisdom and understanding because then we can only go wrong.  Therefore He will show us the way forward, the path we are to take.  His good Spirit will lead us on a level road.  I believe He is going to let us know in the morning as to what to do.  We are waiting on you Lord and we know you are a God who is always on time.  Your timing is always perfect.

So this afternoon my husband comes home from work and tells me that he believes the Lord answered him.  He said that another man at work who also needed the same forms (my husband did not even try to fill out the forms because he was waiting on God!), came to get some and he was told there are none in stock!  They have to order it and the deadline has been extended to the 12th!  haha  Do you see it?  How the Lord answered?  No forms for my husband to fill out!  That's a clear cut answer from God that He does not want my husband to do that now.  I knew it wasn't God's will right at this time in our life.  I just knew it.  Oh my goodness, the Lord is so amazing.  How can anyone doubt that this was all His doing. :D  I LOVE YOU MY LORD MY GOD of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob!  Thank you JESUS.  Tomorrow is a public holiday, so today was actually the last day to get an answer from the Lord. :)  See, God's timing, perfect timing...and it was in the morning that He gave His answer.

This morning the Lord led me in His word to Daniel 6, Daniel in the lions' den.  I learned a lot from that, but what stood out and applied to us was the fact that Daniel trusted in His God and also through all that happened to Daniel, in the end God got all the glory!  Just like here, we trusted in God and here I am giving Him all the glory and He gets it because there is no doubt the way things happened, the way God answered us, was God and only God's doing.  Hallelujah!  Thank you Lord my God!  Blessed be your Holy Name Jesus. ^_^ ♥†♥

So I decided to blog this and boast in our God so that you can be encouraged that when you ask God for an answer, He will surely do so...in His way!  God bless you.  Thanks for reading.