From Pity to Praise

Featured

Like A Thief In The Night

One night a thief broke into a house he thought was abandoned. As he walked then the darkened house with a flashlight he heard a voice from the kitchen that said, “Jesus is watching you.’ He stopped and said, “who’s there?” There was no answer so he thought he must have imagined it. But after he took a few more steps, the voice said again, “Jesus is watching you.” He decided to walk toward the voice, just before he entered the kitchen, he heard it again, “Jesus is watching you.” He swung the flashlight up and saw a parrot talking in a cage. The parrot said, Jesus is watching you.” The their turned flipped on the kitchen light and said, “Why you’re just a dumb bird.” The he looked in the corner of the room and seen a huge Rottweiler couching. And the parrot said “Get him Jesus.”

You might think it’s strange that Jesus would compare Himself to a thief. Of course, Jesus isn’t identifying with the sin of stealing. But just a good thief (that’s a oxymoron).that tries to sneak in quickly and quietly and escape with His people. That’s an accurate description of how Jesus will rapture His church.

We should all be living as if Jesus was crucified yesterday; raised from the dead this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.

1 Thessalonians 5: 1-4 tells us, “But concerning the times and the seasons, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come to then, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

We should know these 4 things

1. Jesus will return, But we don’t know the exact day.

Can you imagine a thief sending you a text or email saying, “Just wanted to know that I’m coming to rob your house tonight.” Of course not. Thief’s don’t announce when they’re coming. They sneak in and out.

When I was growing up my Dad used to do military funerals when a soldier or veteran would pass away. My father would keep all the guns in his closet. One night when no one was home the house was broken into and all the M16 rifles were stolen. He was very upset because they trusted him with these rifles. For a long time there would be someone home, or a neighbor would be watching the house.

Jesus told us to keep watch, because you don’t know on what day the Lord will come. We need to understand, if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let the house be broken into. So we must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him (Matthew 24:42-44),

There have been times throughout history when many people expected Jesus to return. We use the Gregorian calendar now, but when the Julian calendar turned from year 999 to the year 1000, people expected Jesus to come for a new millennium, the same was true in the year 2000. People were on their best behavior, In the year 1000 history says that worldly goods were sold and money was given to the poor. Prisoners were set free, and many traveled to Israel to wait for Jesus’s return,

In the second and third chapter of Revelation, Jesus gives messages to the 7 churches, which represent all churches of all time. When He wrote to the church at Philadelphia, He says, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I also will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth” (Revelation3:10).

In Luke 17 Jesus compares His return to a couple of Old Testament events. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the dat Noah entered the ark. Then the flood cane and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and suffer rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son Of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26-30).

Are You Ready?

The Real Battle

Our true enemy is not question blood, but a spiritual force of darkness that seeks to divide us. When we shifted our focus from fighting people to recognizing the unseen battle, back, then we can open the door to grace, forgiveness, and true victory, and Jesus.

It’s easy to look at a difficult coworker, a harsh family member, or a frustrating stranger, and think they are the problem. People’s faces wear arguments, the snubs, and the hurts. Yet the Bible reminds us that the person is standing in front of us is a field, not a foe.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.”

When we fight a person, we use the wrong weapons. Anger, gossip, retaliation, and bitterness only feed the very division and wants to create.

Scripture does not tell us there is no enemy; it simply unmasks him. There is an active, spiritual adversary, who tries to steal, kill, and destroy us, using misunderstanding, pride, and deception.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us to, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

People caught in conflict are often blinded or swayed by lies. When they act like enemies, they are often hurting, confused, or attracting darkness. Treating them as the enemy traps us into bitterness, but recognizing the true enemy, frees us to pray.

We are called to respond with kingdom weapons. If people are not our enemy, how do we respond when we are wrong? Jesus gives us a radical path forward that disarms the spiritual battle.

Luke 6:27-28 says, “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

When we pray for someone who hurts us, we stepped out of the trap of the real enemy. We stop wrestling in the flesh and let God fight the battle.

Where Justice And Love Meet

“Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of Your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before Your face” -Psalm 89-14

There is an analogy that explains why Jesus died for us that was written by Charles Spurgeon. It tells the story of an ancient Saxon king who was known throughout his tiny kingdom as the fairest and most loving king ever to live. The people loved him, and he loved them.

One day, the king discovered that money was being stolen from his treasury, so he gathered His people and announced. “You know I care about you, and if you have needs, let me know, and I will try to help you. But you cannot steal money from my treasury. That is sabotage.” But every day, money continued to be stolen, so the king made a decree. “Though it breaks my heart, whoever is caught stealing from this treasury will be whipped with ten lashes.”

Several weeks passed by and money continued to be stolen. The king upped the penalty to twenty lashes. Still, money was stolen. The king once again doubled the penalty to forty lashes -which was, in essence, the death penalty.

According to the story, two days after this decree, the thief was caught red-handed. It was the king’s mother.

So the people wondered, “What will the king do?“ Some people thought he would punish her -that was the just thing to do. But others asked “How could such a loving king kill his own mother?” Others thought he would let her go -that was the loving thing to do. But there seemed to be no way for the king to be both just and loving in this case. He had to choose.

The king took a few days to think about it, and when he emerged, he decreed that the law was the law, and the punishment had to be given. So, they took the king’s mother to the whipping post, tied her up, ripped open the back of her shirt, and the guard raised his whip to bring down the first lash.

But just before he did, the king said, “Stop.” And the king walked over, looked lovingly at his mother , then took off his royal robe and laid it aside. Then, he wrapped his body around hers. He looked back at the guard and said, “Now you can hit her.”

The guard objected. “But I can’t. If I bring down the lashes I’ll kill you.” The king said, “I’ve given you an order, Do it.” So, the guard did, but every single lash went into the king’s body, and not one touched his mother. The king fully lived up to his reputation of being the fairest king ever to live, and also the most living.

The king’s wisdom and sacrifice show us a picture of what God did for us on the cross. God couldn’t send an angel or lesser God to die for us, as other religions teach. No one but God Himself could take on the punishment for our sins. God absorbed the penalty of His own wrath into Himself so that He could give us forgiveness.

In Romans 3:26 Paul writes that at the cross, God demonstrated His righteousness so the He could both satisfy the full demand of His justice and save His people.

“To demonstrate His righteousness at this present time, that He might Himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Yeshua” -Romans 3:26

Justice and love. Fairness and mercy. By offering a sacrifice or making amends to turn away from their anger. Paul tells us that it’s because of God’s grace through the work of Jesus, that God‘s wrath against us can be taken away. That hurts.

Many people today think that God is supposed to be a God of love. We can’t imagine the same God being wrathful, because we think wrath is the opposite of love. Far from it: without God‘s wrath, we have a shallow view of God’s love for us. In fact, when we love something, we hate what ever destroys it.

Think of all the destruction in the world, all the sickness, the pain, the broken relationships, the betrayal, the abuse. You probably feel a bit like God does: you hate it. If a child of ours were to get cancer, I wouldn’t have a hands-off approach to this situation. I’d be furious at the cancer, hating it with every fiber of my being. Why? Because I hate what destroys those that I love.

If God were to ignore sin and injustice, He would be unjust. More than that, He would be unloving.

The beauty of the gospel is that God and acts justice in a way that also shows mercy. He offers the forgiveness of sin as He absorbs the wages of sin Himself, dying on the cross in place of His people.

Because God is just, His wrath against sin must be exercised. Because God is loving, He chooses to take that wrath into His own body so that we may be free.

That is the kind of God I want to follow.

Forgiveness always involves the absorption of a debt.

My Personal Goal

Do you set personal goals for yourself? My latest personal goal has been to build up my food pantry by making the ingredients I need. It began when I looked at a jar of chicken bouillon and noticed it had bioengineered products. It is no wonder we are so sick. The doctors put us on medication and then the food we eat keeps us sick. It’s a vicious cycle. I started looking at homesteading sites and realized I could make the things I need at home with a few simple spices that I mostly had in my cabinets. I began to pay attention to ingredients more closely. For example, there is some bottled water with the ingredient salt. For a person dealing with high blood pressure on a low-sodium diet, this should be cause for concern. The doctors give us medication or put us on medication. I’ve begun making my own mayonnaise, ketchup, and cream soups. I’ve noticed these simple hacks have cut my bill at the grocery store.

Forgive Quickly And Fully

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” -Matthew 6:14-15

I was listening to Josh Howerton a preacher from lake point church the other night and he said a truth that hit me hard. He said when we don’t forgive we pull hell up into our lives, and when we do we pull heaven down into it.

How many times have we hurt God and said, “Lord forgive me, I will not do it again.” And He forgives us, we hurt Him again, repent and He restores us? Too many times to even count right? Yet why is it so hard to forgive others when they have wronged us? Why do we harden our hearts and refuse to talk to people?

The Bible clearly tells us to forgive those who have heard us, those who have wronged us, those who cheated on us, even those who have wrongly accuse us or belittled us. We are to forgive as God has forgiven us. When we forgive others, God also forgives all our sins. But when we do not forgive, our heavenly Father will not forgive us.

God desires for us to be able to come to His throne of grace with forgiveness in our heart and Thanksgiving for those who have received His forgiveness. Jesus paid the penalty of our sins. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.

There is freedom in forgiveness. There is healing in restoration.

The Future Of Artificial Intelligence

What do you think is the future of AI? In my opinion, artificial intelligence mimics human conversations and processes a large amount of information, but it lacks consciousness, a soul, free will, and morals. It cannot answer your prayers, offer relationships with God, or experience divine grace.

God gave human beings the capacity to create; because artificial intelligence is trained by humans, it can create human biases, blind spots, and bad tendencies. I believe there is a risk of idolatry; artificial intelligence causes temptation to treat algorithms as all-knowing authorities and substitutes for spiritual intimacy. We must use it with wisdom. It will be a test of discernment. Artificial intelligence is fictional and offers false companionship. God calls us to human patience and critical thinking. I believe this will lead to our destruction in the end. Artificial intelligence is a define as a framework, and it depends on keeping machines in their proper place. They are machines managed by human people and can be treated as idols or moral guides. Artificial intelligence leads to further risk in an already fallen world.

The First Decision Of The Day

Before we answer an email, check our phones, or speak to anyone else, the very first choice, we make set the tone for either a distracted, self-directed or shielded, Spirit led day.

Here’s a prayer to keep your day in alignment.

“Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning, for in You do I trust, cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You” Psalm 143:8

We often think that discerning God’s will is only for a major crossroads, like changing jobs, moving cities, or making major purchases. But God‘s unrevealed specific plan for our day is unlocked by our obedience to His will the moment we open our eyes.

Max Lucado once wrote a classic dedication that before the day demands anything of us, the choice is ours to select our attitude. When we wake up, we are faced with our first decision of the day: will we carried the weight of the day on our own shoulders, or will we set the throne of our heart in order?

Surrendering our morning is not a rigid routine we must follow, it’s an act of spiritual warfare. David did not ask God for directions at the end of a long defeated evening. He lifted his soul to God before the world could lift anything against him.

By deciding first to give our mind, our schedule, and our worries to God, we declare that the One who created the day is the only One qualified to lead it.

A World That Would Be The Absolute Worst To Live In

Which book’s world would be the absolute worst to live in? One book that would be an absolute nightmare. It’s part of the series “Left Behind,” written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It dramatizes a disastrous view of the New Testament book of Revelation.

It talks about when Jesus comes back and true Christian believers vanish instantly into heaven. I would not want to live through the day of chaos, realizing that driverless cars will crash, airplanes will fall from the sky with empty clothes left in their seats, and the global panic that erupts. I would not like to live to see this nightmare come true. For those left on Earth, life, quickly descends into totalitarian control, and supernatural disasters. It would be the rise of a one-world government.

Free From Condemnation, Secure In His Love

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” -Romans 8:1-2

If you have ever carried the heavy burden of past mistakes, whispered failures, or the nagging fear that you are not good enough for God, Romans 8 is written for your heart.

Romans 8 is said to be one of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible. It marks a massive shift in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul honestly wrestled with human weakness and the frustrating tug-of-war of the flesh. Then comes Romans 8:1 with a breathtaking, life changing declaration: No condemnation.

No condemnation because our past does not define our present. When you belong to Jesus, God does not keep a ledger of our shortcomings. The verdict has already been handed down at the cross. Because of what Jesus did we are pardoned, cleansed, and set free.

Life in the Spirit replaces the struggle of our flesh. We are not white-knuckle our way through a godly life on our own strength. Because of the Holy Spirit we can have real power, daily guidance, peace of mind and the strength to turn away from our sins.

Even in our suffering is comforting to know God is at work. Romans 8 reminds us that we live in a broken world, and pain is real. Yet God promises to weave all things together for the ultimate good of conforming us to the image of His Son. When we don’t even know how to pray or what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in our weaknesses.

The last verses in Romans 8 gives us an unshakable promise. Nothing in height, depth, life, death, or all of creation can pry us loose from the grip of God’s love. Paul puts it this way, in Romans 8:36-39,

“Even as it is written, ‘For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love with is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Once Saved Always Saved

The belief that “once saved always saved” is known as an unconditional perseverance of believers. People who believe this believe that once a person genuinely accepts Jesus as their savior, their eternal salvation is irreversibly secured, regardless of their lifestyle, choices or potential apostasy.

But, the Bible tells us that salvation is framed not as a one time unconditional insurance policy. It’s a conditional covenant that requires ongoing faith, obedience, and perseverance.

There are many scriptural warnings, metaphors, and explicit commands the tell us otherwise.

If it were impossible for a believer to forfeit their salvation, the New Testament’s frequent and severe warnings against falling away would be redundant. The writers of Scripture routinely cautioned believers about the danger of spiritual shipwreck.

Hebrews 6:4-6 tells us, “For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the power of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put Him to shame.”

Hebrews 10:26-27 tells us, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.”

Jesus consistently used metaphors that flatly contradict the concept of unconditional security.

While the Bible offers profound assurance to the trusting, obedient believer affirming that no external force can pluck us out of God’s hand, it never strips humanity of free will.

The “once saved always saved” lie creates a false sense of security by ignoring the foundation biblical truth that saving faith is an enduring faith. Salvation is initiated by grace., sustained by grace, but walked out through a lifetime of faithfulness. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

The crown of life is promised to those who remain faithful until death. Not believing that if we professed Jesus as our Savior and then believing we can live in sin.

Underrated Movie

What’s the most underrated movie you’ve ever watched? One underrated movie I think is “Do You Believe,” made by Pure Flix. It was released in 2005 as a Christian-themed drama and is underrated because of its high production values and emotional message.

Things I Never Thought I Could Do

What’s something you’ve done that you never thought you could? One thing I never thought I could do was change my perspective on life. Our brains are wired for survival, efficiency, and familiarity rather than personal transformation. Once I decided to change my life, it took building and maintaining new neural connections. And that requires significant time, sustained focus and mental energy. It requires living in discomfort, which feels awkward, frustrating, and exhausting because of brain lacks an established track for it. The emotional abuse I suffered as a child, kept my brain, stuck in survival mode and hyperactive, while weakening my brain was responsible for logical and emotional control that I never thought I could get myself of.

Lessons From The Women In The Bible

Women in the Bible, often endured lessons of faith, resilience, courage, and grace through both their triumphs and their trials.

Esther:

With courage and timing, she risked her life to speak up for her people, reminding us to use our position and voice to help others.

Ruth:

With loyalty and dedication, Ruth made a firm commitment to her family and chose to follow God so that loyalty and faith could rewrite a person’s future.

Hannah:

With persistent prayer and surrender and waiting Hannah pour her heart out to God in prayer and trusted Him with the outcome.

Mary (Mother of Jesus):

Mary was humble and obedient, even when facing a frightening, and uncertain path with social judgment. She surrendered completely ton God’s plan.

Hagar:

Hagar was seen by God in the middle of her mistreatment and loneliness; she discovered a God who seen her pain.

Deborah:

As a prophetess, Deborah showed courageous leadership. She demonstrated that true leadership relied on wisdom, obedience, and courage rather than titles.

Rehab:

Rehab show us the transformation of the past not dictating our destiny. We have choice to exercise faith and protect the spies integrated her into God’s story.

Mary Magdalene:

Mary showed us devotion after redemption. He was transformed from an outcast to a dedicated followers and modeled fierce loyalty to Jesus.

These women of the Bible offer powerful, timeless insights that remain some of the most heavily discussed and steady topics today when dealing with relationships, waiting, or leadership; these women provide crucial blueprints for navigating life.