Category: Faith Talk

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Enjoying Life Part II

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Luke 18:36-38

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice “of the truth,” the ability to recognize Jesus as God’s Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, our Messiah). 

Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

At times Jesus’ words make no sense to a casual reader. To understand Him, one must understand His reason for coming. Without that as the basis, His words can become confusing. He came to bare witness to the Truth. As in Pilates day, so is Truth today. It’s a moving target if you reject Jesus’s words, who spoke the Truth because He spoke of Himself. There is no truth regarding Life, our purpose in Life, and the future of our life apart from Him. Pilate’s words “What is truth” points to his emptiness, a war-hardened man whose “Truth” was his sword. Rome had conquered many nations and the gods of those nations, so much for their gods and their truth. 

Yet he would learn through some painful and soul-searching experiences with Christ that Truth is not the sword but the peaceful person of Christ. Christ was unlike any man he had ever questioned or met. Would he later regret killing an innocent man when he had the power to free Him? He feared the Jew’s report to Caesar; therefore, who he really cared about was himself and his position, not the innocent man standing before him. Christ was and is a King from another world that Pilate’s heart was blind to even though his wife said to him “that she had suffered much in a dream and that he was to have nothing to do with that innocent man (Matt.27:19).” Would he come to understand this after Christ’s resurrection? The centurion who oversaw the Crucifixion came to believe.  

Why would Jesus answer Pilate, “Thou sayest that I am a king”? Pilate never said Jesus was a King; Pilate asked if He was. Yet behind Pilate’s questioning of Jesus was the concern that Jesus might be a threat to Rome since he had such a large following. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, Nicodemus knew Jesus came from God because of His miracles, but he never asked Jesus about salvation; being a Jew, he assumed he had it. However, Jesus knowing that Nicodemus was blind to the Truth of Salvation, spoke to him, saying that he needed to be born again. 

At times Jesus’s comments do not make sense. They do not follow the dialogue that is occurring. Yet Jesus, by speaking as such, creates the dialogue that needs to occur. He did it with Pilate and with Nicodemus. God allows situations to occur, sometimes very painful, so that we press into Him and ask hard questions that make us uncomfortable asking. Desperate needs give rise to desperate questions, which causes us to be uncomfortable, but cause us to seek Him with greater earnestness. 

It makes us push aside our daily routines, comforts, and shallow living and seek Him. He longs to answer, but not always then and there. At times, time has to pass. Like water that runs over jagged rocks are smoothed, so pain has a way of humbling us, helping us to get our priorities straight, and now, He has our full attention. As we continue to search and seek, we position ourselves to be loved by Him. He can love us, teach us, and in time we may get the answer, or we no longer need the answer because we know He loves us (Amen). 

Next question, what would you consider the Christian Faith’s biggest objection? Is it not because of its one-way “one-way” stance? That there is only One Way to be saved, to have Eternal Life, that there is only One True King, only One Truth, One True Confession, and only One Name in which we must be saved “under Heaven” (no other faith, no other name) no other teaching, doctrine or belief, One Name for the forgiveness of sin and only One Way to live life. There’s only ONE. Those statements are offensive statements to most people. 

Equally offensive is that Christianity absolutely denies that all religions lead to God, and it denies that all faiths lead to the same place (Heaven). Also, the statement, ” It doesn’t matter what you believe, it just matters that you believe,” is probably one of the most ignorant statements I’ve heard. It’s just another lie that is so ridiculous that it sounds profound—one of many from satan’s bag of lies. Just think how many soldiers died in wars for their belief in this nation. Their beliefs were specific. 

Therefore the posture of Christianity is all religions are just that, a religion. They are a way of belief, codes of conduct, means of thought, and ways of interpreting life and living life, but none of them can actually “grant” Eternal Life, forgiveness of sin, or the Abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit, which seals the deal when it comes to Salvation. That is the guarantee that one’s faith is genuine and authentic and has been honored by God Himself. 

The Holy Spirit is the Heavenly down payment of His presence now and of much better things to come – so cool. And there is no middle ground; you have been given the Holy Spirit, or you haven’t, you are not “half saved,” and there are no negotiations. It’s either you have believed and confessed Christ as your Savior and repented of your sins, or you haven’t (we have all sinned and often need forgiveness). Is God being mean by having such strict requirements? Does He have the right to require a One Way belief; “It’s His way or it’s no way?”

John 3:14-18

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

(I love story pictures to explain the truth. Man’s drowning in his ocean of sin, the ship’s captain called Salvation, sees us drowning and throws a Life Saver to us named Jesus. Is the Captain throwing us His Life Saver condemning or trying to save us? And if we do not grab unto His Life Saver and drown, whose decision was that, His or ours?) 

**So God does not force anyone to believe, but He has the absolute right to establish the standards to which one can have a relationship. He absolutely has that right. If we have requirements for people to be our friends, how much more does a Holy God, Creator of the Universe, have? We make God into “our image” when we question Him or judge Him as if He was one of us. If we got one glimpse of His Majesty, we would pass out as dead men or tremble in fear (28:1-4). 

Only Christianity leads to Eternal Life, other faiths proclaim Eternal Life, but only Christianity “lays the groundwork for it.” Why? Because Christ paved the way via His death. Only in Christianity is God Exalted, “High and Lifted Up” a Holy God, Pure and Righteous, and cannot look on sin or be approached by a man in his natural state. Still, because He (Jesus) took on my sin and your sin and paid the penalty for it on the Cross (death), He, God, can now engage with us (all other faiths emphasize our good deeds as if we could earn or gain our salvation). 

Therefore because of what Christ has suffered on our behalf, He does have every right to set a standard of Holiness, “You are to be Holy as I am Holy ( Lev.11:44).” However, His Holiness is impossible for us, it’s unattainable, but it is in Christ, the sinless Lamb of God and His Holiness is “imputed” to us when we confess Him as our Savior and receive forgiveness for our sins (that’s the definition of Grace, God’s unmerited favor, just as an orphan adopted by the King becomes heir to the throne). 

Another word picture. I have a nursery background, and part of my experience dealt with grafting specialty trees such as Japanese Maples. We would use the seedling for the “host” and graft on our tree (a tiny branch or bud). The two would become one as the cells of the two healed. The minerals and water from the rootstock would flow into the graft giving it life. This is precisely what happens when we abide in Christ.

John 15:4

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

It’s incredible, this invitation is from God Himself!! Hence the reason why the Gospel is called the Good News. We now have 24-7 access to Him. It’s beautiful, beyond words to describe and comprehend. To have a relationship with The Father is Thee Pinnacle of this Life, there is nothing better, period! If you disagree, that’s okay for now, for we have all felt that way; however, it is wrong, and you need to mature in Him.

***We fail at ever being pure enough EVER to approach a Holy God on our merits; therefore, He has instituted Grace. Grace is very costly to God because it cost Him the death of His son, but because of that, He can grant us His Atonement, “the payment for my sin.” Grace then comes, and through years of trials and victories, growth occurs, and I begin to take on His likeness. Yet we all know that I’m not righteous and that you are not, but via His Grace, His Presence with us, we are given a most beautiful gift called Sanctification (just as if I’ve never sinned). It’s somewhat challenging to explain, but here’s a simple explanation. It’s when you take a street child (me, you), poor and dirty, uneducated in the ways of the Kingdom, and the King adopts us for no reason other than He has chosen to love us. We did nothing to deserve it, nor could we. It’s a gift from the King, and it is given to us when the Holy Spirit is sent upon confessing Christ as our Savior. The Holy Spirit is the proof of our adoption.

Early on, I thought, as many do, that I could earn God’s favor by being good. I never took to heart that I already had His favor, and now all He wanted was for me to spend time with Him in prayer and reading the Bible, getting to know Him. This proves how blind and ignorant I was; we are of God. As soon as we accept that He loves us just because He loves us (which is problematic because it’s very humbling, we want to be loved for something), we then become more submissive to His will. His love changes us. As clay in the potter’s hand, He seeks to form His nature in us. And I did say clay, moist dirt, not gold, silver, no precious metal, just moist dirt, but what He can do with moist dirt in His hands is amazing! 

Isaiah 57:15

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the “contrite ones” (crushed into dust, pulverized). 

Isaiah 66:1-2

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is — the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?

For — all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word (poor, contrite and trembleth at my word; to walk and exist in Awe of God, to be consumed with wanting to please Him. To this man or woman will God “look,” which means “looking somewhat intensely in a focused way at something;” to regard or watch).

He gave up His life for us because we could NEVER be good enough, holy enough, or pure enough ever to merit seeing the face of God, which means we stood condemned. Yet He could not have that, why? John 3:16 

“For God so loved the world that HE sent His only son.” Question, how much love would you need to sacrifice your only son or daughter for someone else?

It’s way beyond me. I could not conceive of sacrificing either of my daughters for someone else. Therefore since He did, it only stands to reason the following; God sets the standard, the requirements for us to know Him. Of that small group of people (narrow is the gate and few there be that find it…Matt.7:13&14), no man or woman can meet the standard without the intervention of the Holy Spirit. So then, where does that leave all the other beliefs and good deeds and actions of good men and women? THEY ALL FALL SHORT because there is no deed done and no heart pure enough that can ever be equal to the Holiness of God. WE must repent, for only judgment awaits if we don’t, but it all can change. Once we understand our sinful state before a Holy God and see His love for us, we have hope.

John 14:23-24

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him ( we are not just anybody now we become God’s Temple! Amazing!

**He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the

Father’s which sent me.** (in that day of judgment, no one can stand before GOD and say that GOD did not do all to save them). 

John 10:14-15

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

As the Father knoweth me, even so, know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:27-30

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand (talking about being security). My Father and I are one (Jesus is not “A” God, He is GOD, part of the Trinity). 

We are so well protected when we come under God’s righteousness. Trials and hard times don’t stop, they are just part of Life, but they teach us to trust Him, and we learn that He is Big enough to make all things work for our good.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose (many times it doesn’t seem like it, but that is where trust/faith comes in and understanding the Cross, He paid way too much to fail us. It may take time to see “behind the curtain,” but as we trust Him, we mature our faith. And as we mature, we may come to understand the purposes of our hardship, or we may never understand, but knowing that He loves us is all we need to know.

John 14:26

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (there is perfect harmony in the Trinity of God). And similar when we are right with God, abiding in Him. 

Father God, 

Thank you for these words. They are hard to read, but they are Life and said in love and for our good. Removing cancer is painful, but it is necessary to save a life. If we are willing to go through so much pain to save our temporal life, should we not care the more to pursue Christ for our Eternal Life? Cause us to heed Your words and follow in Your way. Help us to say no to our flesh and pride and understand that it is my honor to forsake the wants of this life to pursue You, my Savior. Nobody loves me like You. My greatest satisfaction comes from being in a relationship with You and doing Your will. Nothing can touch that. 

Thank you, 

Your son by Grace, 

Arthur

Author’s note – I was sharing with my friend who edits Vida that this Vida reminds me of searching for crawfish with my grandson. We walk along the edge of streams, especially where there is a collection of rocks, and begin to turn them over. As we do, all the dirt and muck trapped under the rocks get washed away by the stream, and when we put the rock back down, it’s all clean. God wants to do the same, turn us over, expose all the sin and shame we are hiding, allow His Holy Spirit to clean us, and then set us down clean and pure. Please allow Him to, there is nothing He does not already know about me or you.

Arthur Navarrette

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Vida4U.com is the website where all past Vida’s are archived. In addition to the weekly devotionals, the yearly inspirational writings featured in December’s House2Home Magazine are archived under “Faith Talk.”  Please use this site for your benefit and refer your friends to it as well. If they would like the weekly series emailed to them, they can send their requests to Arthur@Vida4U.com.

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Enjoying Life Part I

Psalm. 119: 9-12

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

    By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

    do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

    that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, Lord;

    teach me your decrees.

Walking in harmony with God or being in agreement with God is my definition of enjoying life.   This verse is David doing just that. There can be no enjoying life the way God intended it to be when my life is in conflict with the Life Giver. We are plagued with guilt, insecurity, fear, pride, loneliness, and doubt. How can there be a union? These emotions result from wanting to do life my way instead of His way, which is what the scriptures teach. How do we cope with these negative emotions if we do not want to submit to the Lord? It varies between individuals, but one way is by achieving goals. If I do this or become that, I will not be so insecure or afraid, and I will be happy. Or if I can get in with this group or date this girl/guy, then I must be somebody, and I will not doubt myself. Or if I could get along with my spouse, I would be more secure about my marriage. Or if I get that promotion, I know I will be a good provider, and people will think I’m important.

We believe attaining these goals will rid us of these negative emotions. Things will be better when we get them, right? It becomes a day of reckoning when we do attain our goals, and the happiness we achieve does not last. We then set other goals, never realizing that the problem is the absence of God in our life. We visited the Oregon Coast (camping) early in our marriage, and I loved it. We were living in Fresno, and I felt that our lives would be better if we could only move there. We were seeking a simpler life, especially since we both came from a coastal environment. The ocean always gave us peace. However, I learned before moving that my flaws and personality quirks follow me. The Lord showed me that Peace, true peace, is not in a place but in focusing more of my attention and time on knowing Jesus. Goals are admirable, but they are not the answer the soul needs.

“Taking heed” means to guard, to watch, to listen to with the purpose of obeying. Here’s a word picture of taking heed. Imagine you are lost, cold, and hungry in the wilderness, and night is fast approaching. You need to light a fire and only have two dry matches. You would be so careful lighting that fire, being sure that the kindling you selected will lite, and once lit, you would tend to it carefully. You would also ensure you had enough wood to keep it going. Your next meal, warmth, and survival depended upon that fire. If we attended to God’s Word and prayer with the same kind of attentiveness and dependency, we would be less apt to stumble and be less apt to believe that things, people, or places were the answer. We would be stronger, defeating deceit and temptation. Our lack of commitment to knowing His Word gets us in trouble. As we do take heed to His Word, we grow the spirit of man.

Zechariah 4:6

Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Unfortunately, many of us are easily distracted and do not have that kind of dependency on the Lord. We go to church and maybe even pray over our meals, but that’s as far as we go. There is no conviction to With my whole heart have I sought thee: we are not 100% in. We are not concerned about O let me not wander from thy commandments. We lack the fear of God that causes us to seek and change. Our hunger and thirst are not 100% for Him; it is mixed with the passions and desires of the carnal man.

Psalms 42:1-2 Thirsting for God

As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL VERSE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO SEEK HIM FULLY, TO SEEK HIM AS IN HAVING A … “LONGING” or “THRIST” for God.

And though David is very much on the right track of seeking God, it didn’t exclude him or us from the struggles of this life.

Psalms 42:5

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted ( troubled, stressed, worried) within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God ( health in this usage means protection, fortified walls, security). As human beings, we need that!

What does maturity as a Christian look like? As the verse says, as we battle against worldly fears, insecurities, temptations, and just the general “stuff” of life, we know that we shall praise Him. As we mature in Him, we see more, and as we say, hindsight is 20/20, and so is spiritual maturity. Faith becomes our road map; we trust God for the journey, and the victories come as we believe. David is a man of war, couples two concepts together, the pleasure of feasting and defeating one’s enemy…

Psalms 23:5-6

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) ; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

On our worse day, in the presence of my enemies, I can focus on my Lord and know He has me, so with joy my cup runneth over…

Here’s a saying, “Small God, Big problems, Big God, small Problems, though the problems be the same. His presence nourishes us.

There can be periods of fun living in this world, especially when one attains a goal, but that cannot compare to the peace and love that God gives and at what cost to ourselves or our family are we paying to attain a worldly goal, a goal that is passing. And what happens to our goals when something terrible happens? Car accidents, sickness, death, stress, and arguments happen to all of us, yet we are less affected by them when we walk in harmony with the Lord. When we go out from under the Lord’s umbrella, we compromise that. When we compromise our Godly values to attain a goal that is contrary to God’s Word and do it enough times, we soon no longer feel God’s conviction over it. The Bible calls this “searing your conscience.” It now becomes a pattern of behavior, and a stronghold is formed in us. A stronghold or fortress that the enemy operates from. 

As in war, the enemy seeks to develop a “beachhead” where he can continue to make assaults on our soul and take more ground. If, as a man, I am tempted with sexual lust, that can be a “beach head” if I yield to it. The enemy wants to exploit that weakness and develop other roads of captivity. We need to war against our carnal nature with God’s Word aggressively. Use the superior armor God has given us. Proverbs 5, 6, 7, and 8 are God’s heavy artillery against lust. We need to realize that the enemy seeks to compromise our life. He loves the lie that says, “Oh I’ll just do this once, it’s no big deal.” Say this enough times, and it’s how another “beach head” is established, and more and more of your freedom is being eroded. Our best defense is a strong offense. Focused on growing in Him and allowing Him to close these roads of lust and deceit by spending time in His Word. Become His son of Grace, “man up!”

For my sisters, what I have learned from being married for 42 years and raising two daughters is that women struggle with insecurity, “the feeling of being less than.” The Lord has excellent verses for this, but first, you must ask yourself what I am focused on. Is all my security based on my looks, clothing, outward approval, etc., for then you are like the parable of the man that built his house on the sand? That is precisely what you are doing. You must change your focus and be like the man that built his home on the rock. You must change your focus to pleasing Christ. Focus on being God’s daughter by Grace is the best decision you will ever make. You are en route to multiple victories.

Proverbs 31:10

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.

Proverbs 31:30-31

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

This is where we need to use our heads and not our emotions to guide us. How many famous attractive women get married and end up in a divorce? What happened? Did they become less attractive? No, they just proved that it takes more than “looks” to have a successful relationship. This is the outcome when we follow the world’s values more than God’s. Rather receive your “fullness and identity” from the Lord. YOU are His Daughter, can there be any title, fame, or importance greater than that? Now grow in the joy of what it means to be His daughter. I promise you; you will never regret this decision. 

Psalms 42:8

Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life ( is my response to Him). 

Enjoying life is something so much more than just everything going my way. It’s having favor with God and knowing that brings confidence and peace when faced with difficulty. When you live this truth, that alone helps us surmount life’s hard things. Therefore searing your conscience by repeatedly and purposefully disobeying God’s injunctions is much like burning your fingertips; pretty soon, they have no feeling. It’s a pretty stupid thing to do. Remember, He convicts us for our good; the sin in us separates us from Him. Sometimes we have reasons for why we ignore Him. We are hurt, we feel He has let us down, etc. I think we all have felt this, so talking to a friend who is a firm believer or a pastor would be wise because keeping our distance from Him will only incur more pain. 

Proverbs 1:5

A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

God will not do life our way; He’s not that stupid. He will do life His way, the right way, and it’s up to us to get on His agenda, not vice versa.

If we continue disobeying the Holy Spirit soon, the conscience becomes silent. This, to me, would be a terrible place to arrive too. I’ve met unmarried couples that sleep together. It’s almost expected in today’s world; some even claim to be Christian. People say the Bible is outdated, which is their reason not to obey. Yet God made marriage and sexual union a specific way, always for our best. Ignoring this or “trample on His way” is only to hurt ourselves. 

Hebrews 13:4-5

Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation( your life) be without covetousness ( and sex outside of marriage is just that) and be content with things you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor — forsake thee.

“whoremongers and adulterers” refers to all sexual misconduct, from opposite sex to same-sex. So maybe it’s a “cost” to obey God, but God promises never to leave or forsake us, and what is that worth? To repent and then seek Him to help me straighten out my life would be the most intelligent decision I ever made and the hardest thing I’ve ever done. However, to have Him as my Lord, Savior, and Friend is worth every bit of the struggle and more. Remember, a wise decision now means fewer regrets, with Eternity awaiting.

However, if we continue to disobey, this is another area of our life where we can sear our conscience. 

1 Timothy 1:18-20

This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightiest war a good warfare;

Holding (keeping) faith, and ( hence) a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith (doing away with their faith) have made shipwreck of their conscious of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Father,

I come to you convicted by Your Word regarding my sins. Though I feel bad and ashamed, I know this conviction is because You love me and want to become my spiritual Dad. I’m so grateful that my sins do not lessen or deter your love for me. Thank you. According to John 3:16, I accept Jesus as my Savior and ask for forgiveness for all my sins. I ask for your Holy Spirit in my life now to walk with me. Please help me not to grieve the Holy Spirit or sear my conscience by living contrary to your will. Give me the desire to read your Bible, go to a Bible-teaching church, and make Christian friends that want to live a life pleasing to You. These are the things I need to do to grow my faith in You. Please help me to do them. Lastly, let me not become discouraged by the battle ahead of me. The devil has always hated me, but now that I belong to You, I have become his enemy. He will do his worse to cause me to denounce You. Thank you for your love that caused you to die a gruesome death on the Cross for me, something that no one else would ever do for me. Amen.

Thank you beyond words, 

Arthur

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Arthur NavarretteVida4U.com is the website where all past Vida’s are archived. In addition to the weekly devotionals, the yearly inspirational writings featured in December’s House2Home Magazine are archived under “Faith Talk.”  Please use this site for your benefit and refer your friends to it as well. If they would like the weekly series emailed to them, they can send their requests to Arthur@Vida4U.com.

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Getting Out the Roadblocks Part IV

Welcome to this month’s Vida and the final chapter on Getting the Roadblocks Out.

Can a Christian be oppressed? Note that I said “oppressed,” not processed. If you are a born-again Christian, you cannot be processed, for Christ abides in you via the Holy Spirit, but oppressed, yes. That means you are born again, seeking to love Jesus, but specific triggers go off, and then like a puppet, you do things that you hate. You don’t have the power to defeat it. 

Crash and burn is another way to put it, and then the devil is there or our guilt, and this pervasive lie goes through our head, “What’s the point of trying to be a Christian, when it really counts, I blow it.” We become so discouraged and feel like giving up, yet the only one that is surprised is us, not the Lord. That’s good news; our sins and shortcomings have all been accounted for on the Cross. It’s not good news that we sin. Sinning is never good news. However, it is good news that we cannot disappoint our Dad. He is such a good Father and forgives us all our sins; we want to do everything to not sin.

Romans 8:13-15

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live (for every temptation we face, there is an equal and more significant promise of God for us to defeat it. He has not left us Fatherless, He’s there via His Word). For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear (or to fail); but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (all these verses need to go deep inside of us, they should be memorized).

“The Spirit of Adoption;” The concept of adoption is a beautiful thought. He picked us, and that’s wonderful. In picking us, we had to agree; we had to say yes to Him picking us, and in so doing, we become His child with full rights. Just as a naturally born son or daughter would have, and yet He is under no obligation to have us. He is choosing to be our parent, and in so choosing, He chooses to love us, and correction and discipline are part of that, just as we do with our kids. If they stray and rebel, they will receive the consequences of their action, just like the Prodigal. He lost all his inheritance… but regained his relationship with his father. God is represented as the Father in this story.

Luke 15:16-22

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him (the Father spent time daily looking at the horizon in hopes that he would see the familiar figure of his son. His heart yearned for his son) and had compassion, and ran (the Father ran to him, very undignified for the father to run but the father did not care), and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

Luke 15:24

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to make merry. 

The Father could not have been more overjoyed because he understood that his son was back on his terms. He learned the lessons needed; when we repent, it’s like a homecoming. Repentance is the way home from whatever crime, sin, or evil we have done. 

The son could not be more repentant, requesting to be a servant, willing to give up his sonship rights because of how ashamed he was of his behavior, but his Father would have none of it. We must understand this, our view of our Heavenly Father is critical to our relationship with Him and how we live life. If you struggle in seeing God this way because you had a harsh father or maybe lack of a father, I would strongly suggest that you meditate on this parable. Meditate until your heart warms up and believes that your Heavenly Father is exactly like the Father in the parable. To see our Heavenly Father as Jesus portrays him will revolutionize your walk with Him. You will fear less, be more consistent in your devotional time, have greater joy and self-confidence, and overall enjoy life more and respond with more confidence to life’s problems. You will begin to become a beacon of His love. You are receiving His love for you and now will find in yourself the ability to love others (this is a crucial truth).

We are never worthy of His Love and Grace, but it is given to us. To not receive it is pride. Pride works two ways; I’m too good to stoop that low and apologize is one example of pride, or I can’t get off that easy; I need to do something to earn my way back is often an unrecognized example of pride. To believe I can do something to right my wrong before God is pride, but it is also a blindness, an ignorance of the Holiness of God. To understand that there is nothing I can do to cancel my sins but repent is to understand that “God is High and Lifted up,” Holy and completely unapproachable except by Grace, to begin to understand His Holiness and Greatness. 

Isaiah 57:15

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones (contrite, picture a clay vessel crushed so that all that remains of it is the dust from which it was made from and now in the hands of God will be made anew).

A contrite heart is a gift, something every serious believer should pray for. It is the best security and armor against the wiles of the devil. All the devil’s schemes and temptations are embedded in our human pride, and to fear God as such is to give the enemy very little to work with. Amen

Isaiah 6:1-5

God Calls Isaiah

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also — the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled — the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen — the King, the LORD of hosts.

Now hold that and interject the Cross. The Great King, the Second Person of the Trinity, coming down from His throne, as a babe in the womb of Mary, to be born and to live a normal life and then to dwell, teach and suffer and die on the Cross for His creation.

This then is choosing to live in the Truth and allow the Truth to change us. And in His love for us, He changes us into His image, and we begin to get the victory over sin, depression, hopelessness, temptation, fear, etc., all the disorders common to man and all a result of the fall. All this is contrary to God’s purpose for us, for His Word says that…

Nehemiah 8:10

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry (depressed, or fretful) for the joy of the Lord is your strength (refuge, shelter, or a place of safety, a stronghold which the human soul craves and requires). 

***This verse brings out a critical comment about the human soul. When sin entered, God’s Spirit left man. God made no provision for man to live absent of His presence, the connection that brought us joy. Therefore, in place of His joy came all the disorders we just mentioned, fear, insecurities, worries, anger, hatred, greed, jealousy, envy, etc., all resulting from disobedience. However, now because of Christ, we can respond with trust and choose joy because God is our refuge, shelter, and place of safety*** (let that sink in). 

*(*), What example did Jesus leave us in dealing with satan’s lies and temptations, and are we in the Word enough to know when we are being lied to? Our two enemies are our flesh and satan, and the good news is they lessen as we become more connected to Jesus and know the Word. We can identify the lies more readily. Here are three key verses to memorize that fortify our intimacy with Him.

John 14:23

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (the same security we had before the fall).,

John 14:26-27

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (fearful or fretful, so if this a direct promise from Jesus, why are so many of us absent of His peace? Peace arises and is kept by purposely meditating upon His promises). 

As we reconcile with God, a sense of divine favor is felt. 

John 15:7-8

If ye abide (dwell with or in) in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

So when temptation or trials become manifested in our emotions, we feel depression or temptation or anger, but then we have the choice to believe our fear, etc., or defeat them with God’s Truth. We use our minds to recall His Words. This is the battleground; it starts in the soul as the flesh seeks one thing and our mind seeks another. We must defeat it before it controls us, just as Jesus did.

Matthew 4:3-4

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

And King David said

Psalms 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Therefore reading or not reading the scriptures is not an option. It is a necessity.

The struggle is real and complex, especially early on as we grow to trust Him. 

Romans 7:14-18 (this is the most brutal truth for us to grasp. If and when we forget it, then guilt plagues us).

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

Paul, the apostle, is being so candidly honest that we may not fully grasp what he is saying. He is simply saying I struggle with sin, and sometimes I lose. I do things or think things that I don’t want to do. Paul wrote half the New Testament, and the flesh was a struggle for him. Why is the flesh such a struggle? We can see it in our children, even the youngest ones. We do not need to teach them to take for themselves, to put themselves first; that comes naturally. Teaching them to share or be considerate of others needs to be learned. 

Since man’s fall, we have dwelt with a self-aware nature called pride. Pride’s chief and foremost concern is to take care of number one. It is entirely against the laws of God to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself… It’s impossible without a changed nature, and even so, it takes time to mature and grow to that point. Have you ever worked with food color? You put several drops in a glass of water, and shortly after stirring, the water has thoroughly become the color of the dye. There is no part of the water that has remained clear. That is our sinful nature, it completely taints us, but we are never without hope, ever. 

Psalms 119:9-12

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse — his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statues ( the power of God’s Word to listening ears and a yielding heart is undeniable).

However, I think it is essential that we understand the cloth we have been cut from. We must all appreciate the victory Christ paid for us, especially as we celebrate Easter. Without His sacrifice, the Word of God would not have the power it has. It has this power over us because we have accepted Christ as our Savior, and now the Holy Spirit, the power for all changes, can indwell us, the reason for the change. So we must cling to God’s provision for us. Our weaknesses and concerns may vary, but in our flesh, it all exalts our sinful nature, not God’s sinless nature. 

Romans 7:23-25

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

How do we serve God with our minds by choosing to be obedient to what the Word says? Agree with God that whatever conviction He’s bringing to mind is a sin, don’t justify it. That’s the worst thing you can do. God knows the why and how, but the response God wants is for you to agree with His Word that it is a sin and ask for forgiveness. And why is it a sin? As with all sins, it creates a divide between Him and us. Our sin seeks to replace Him, which He doesn’t want. Maybe initially, it isn’t a big deal, but sin is like a small fire, always seeking to consume more, grow, and become more dominant. 

In our hearts, we have a throne (as in a king), and our sins seek to sit there, but no one must sit there except God Alone. If anything or anyone sits there, then that’s the definition of an idol. It can be a thought, a belief, a person or our jobs, or anything we put before Christ. That is what a stronghold is made of, and it needs to come down. As the walls of Jericho had to come down, so do any walls around our hearts that keep Him out and the lie in. 

And with each idol torn down, we gain more freedom as we confess. He may take the desire right away and heal the hurt or the weakness that gave it permission into your life, or once repented of, He may use it as a means to drive you into the Word to build up your faith or both. I’ve had both things happen to me, had the issue instantly gone, and have memorized specific verses for my concerns and found it chip away at the stronghold till it was gone. It’s like lifting weights; you are putting on spiritual muscle with each new verse learned. Soon saying no is not tricky. The yoke of bondage doesn’t fit anymore because of our growth. We are overcoming the weaknesses and lies that have held us captive( Amen).

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast (steady, anchored, rooted, unmovable) in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled (to be ensnared) again with the yoke of bondage. 

Another translation says

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, therefore stand-fast being not entangled again with the yoke of slavery.  

Sometimes we can feel like a marionette puppet with all its strings tangled. We need to have an urgency in dealing with known sins. We can’t be kind to it but decided to break its influence over us before it affects us more than our home. Just as physical characteristics come from our parents, so do specific sins. I may be bulletproof against a hundred different sins, but there is one or two that always get me, and more than likely, my parents struggled with them as well. Repentance is critical, for it brings God’s power to our defense.

James 4:6-8

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded (to have one foot on the dock and one foot in the boat, very unstable, and as long as we maintain that stance, we are ineffective for either side. That’s double-minded, two minds opposing the other).

In reading the above verse, if you are like me, I see the word resist and emphasize that but the power to resist is found in submission. Submission speaks of our union with Christ, of our relationship and fellowship with Him, without which we have no power. In Greek, submit is Hupotasso; it means to place myself under, to become subject to. Therefore my job is to walk in union with God by placing myself under His authority, and then I can receive His Grace, and the Word becomes powerful in my life and in my mouth, defeating the lies and temptations of the world and my flesh. This is my position of strength, and I can, we can wrestle and defeat anything in me or outside of me. The rebellion is my carnal nature, and it won’t change until I get a glorified body. Therefore it must continually be defeated via my mind. 

Romans 8:7-9

Because the carnal mind (or the flesh as it is known in other areas of The Word) is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God d0well in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

This is where it can get confusing; let me explain. Believing in Christ is like having three people in the same body. Just like God is a Triune Being, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, we too are a triune being when we have Christ in us. It is God the Holy Spirit, our soul (our person), and the flesh, or the carnal man who, as we just read, cannot please God. It is unable to subject itself to Him, and hence our battle. It is impossible to train the flesh to love Jesus, period. 

Therefore assuming the Spirit of God does dwell in us, the next critical step is to know specific portions of God’s Word that deal with our struggles. We must learn to rethink life. For men, lust towards women may be natural; it’s built into our carnal man, but natural is not Holy, and God wants His men to be Holy. Proverbs 5-8 became my go-to as a younger man. It was so helpful, and I was in it so frequently that I retained a good percentage of it today. For women, jealousy, and insecurities seem to be the main struggles. You must realize your value to Christ and His love for you. Realizing that will minimize your jealousies which are fueled by your insecurities. These will decrease as you increase your knowledge of God’s love for you.

Psalms 139:17-18

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Amen

Father GOD, 

Take this wonderful study and its truths, and as a cowboy brands his Cattle, which is both painful as it impresses its ownership unto the hide of the cow or bull but shows and guarantees ownership and provision, so brand us with a fullness of your Holy Spirit. Let us defeat the strongholds and the oppression the enemy wants to keep us in. With each stronghold that comes down, let your joy increase, a sure sign of your growing presence in our life. 

Love you, 

Arthur and family (brothers and sisters)

P.S.  If you’ve come this far, take a look at my book on Amazon.  It’s a wonderful collection of messages just like these.

Arthur NavarretteVida4U.com is the website where all past Vida’s are archived. In addition to the weekly devotionals, the yearly inspirational writings featured in December’s House2Home Magazine are archived under “Faith Talk.”  Please use this site for your benefit and refer your friends to it as well. If they would like the weekly series emailed to them, they can send their requests to Arthur@Vida4U.com.

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Getting Out The Roadblocks Part III

Please watch the video introduction to our message here:

In this series, I feel in my spirit that we are dismantling and exposing the traps many of us have fallen into unknowingly. When a hunter seeks game, especially before rifles, they laid traps. It could be a pit that the animal would fall into or a trap that would clasp onto a leg. In our spiritual lives, these traps are real, and no amount of psychology, psychiatric help, or other resources can permanently remove them from us because they are spiritual.

2 Timothy 2:26

And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

These “traps” can be past conflicts, compromises we regret, or things done to us or things we have done, producing emotions of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, hatred, and the like, and these are only some of the tools in his bag. They adversely affect us, and though medication may help, it is like using a band-aid to stop the bleeding when stitches are needed. 

Only God’s love and forgiveness can help us with guilt, depression (assuming our hormones are in balance), emptiness, loneliness, anger, feeling wronged, etc. These problems will not be resolved with just medication. We need instead to bring our concerns to the Lord, seeking His help and asking for forgiveness, or through Him, find the strength to forgive (forgiveness is not based on whether the person deserves it or not, but forgiveness is a necessity for me to gain freedom from the trap bitterness keeps me in. It only hurts me Luke 6:37 & Ephesians 4:31&32). 

We need to find help and encouragement in His Word before it affects our relationship with Christ, who gave so much that I could be forgiven. Speak to a sister or brother who has been a believer for a while. They will pray with you and show you scriptures that will help. It’s super important. 

Ultimately, it is knowing His love for us that heals us. Our souls are complex, and spiritual forces affect us from childhood. These are the hardest, the ones inflicted or experienced as a child. They become part of our souls. As mentioned before, I was blamed for my brother’s drowning. I was eight at the time. I carried that guilt into my forties before I could escape it. I needed to mature in my Christian walk to understand that since Christ died for my sins and I was completely forgiven, I had no right not to forgive myself. I did not have the right not to forgive myself. It took time and maturity to understand that. 

It was like continually crucifying Christ again and again. He wanted me to live in His joy, not in my depression. So finally, I understood that I forgave myself and became free of a weight I had carried virtually my whole life, which is just one example. Many of us have experienced dramatic events as children, and that trauma goes deep and affects us to this day. For girls especially, it happens to boys as well. There is the concern of being molested, raped, or maybe even having an abortion (for older girls) that we regret. 

It has affected your self-esteem. Once, you were happy and light-hearted and laughed, but now you are serious and feel like you are carrying a ton of bricks. To make matters worse, your friends do not understand, so often you are left alone. Even your judgment is impaired because of the guilt you carry. When things are terrible, you wish you were not here, and when good things come your way, you do not feel worthy of them, so you sabotage it so it does not happen. It could be a good job, a promotion, or even a nice man or woman to date. 

Yet these actions that were done to you were not your fault, but as a child or young person, we are not mature enough to deal with them, so we blame ourselves. When dating now, instead of holding out for a Christian man or woman that truly loves Jesus, we go out with someone less because we do not feel worthy of someone better. We think, “who would want to date or marry me,” so out of desperation and insecurity, we settle for someone who dates us, provided we have sex with them, though we would prefer not to. We are too afraid they will leave us if we say no. Though if they loved you, as they say, they should be able to respect your feelings. This is a bad combination of low self-esteem and selfishness. With no respect for your feelings, the relationship is doomed to fail.  

Do you want the correct answer from a man who raised two girls? Learn that Jesus loves you. Read the Bible, don’t date, don’t sleep around, go ahead and be weird; I give you permission. Instead of wondering who will call you, know that Christ is waiting for you. I know this sounds weird, but it is so true. Pray, talk to Him, ask Him to guide you, then read The Bible. Start with the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but memorize Psalm 23. Accept Christ as your Lord, ask Him to forgive your sins, and now start growing in Christ. Tell the Lord that it is His job to pick the church, the guy or gal you are to date, and especially the person you would consider marrying. For now, put dating on the back burner till you are stronger in your faith. Here are two excellent Bible verses that speak of His love for you and the restoration that will begin as you read and pray.

Jeremiah 31:3-4

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel (put your name in place of Israel).’

: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

John 3:15-17

That whosoever believeth in him (Jesus Christ) should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world (again put your name instead of the world), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (Any condemnation comes from us or satan. Conviction comes from God; conviction is meant to cause us to repent and turn to Him. Condemnation is meant to turn us away from God because we don’t feel worthy. The truth is that none of us are worthy, from the saint to the sinner; it is ALL GOD’S MERCY).

Now we must deal with obstacles to our growth. There is a saying that says sooner or later, you will deal with your parent’s demons. Just like emotional and physical characteristics come from the bloodline, so do spiritual liabilities from our parents. We do not like to talk about demons and their impact on us; that is precisely how they like it. When we do not acknowledge our enemy, he can hurt us, but when we bring him into the light, as we are doing, now we have a chance. Scripture does not shy away from this topic. It acknowledges satan and his demons. 

1 Peter 5:8-10

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, — make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. 

1 John 4:1-5

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets (inhabited by demonic spirits) speaking lies are gone out into the world, Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: (God is salvation is what the name Jesus Christ means). And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater (mega) is he that is in you than he that is in the world (why? Because the Holy Spirit indwells all true believers).

If satan could quelch the fact that Jesus did come and die for our sins, he could effectively erase Jesus and Christianity from history. Praise God that that didn’t happen; now it’s up to us to carry the truth to the next generations.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart (desert, fall away) from the faith, giving heed (paying attention) to seducing spirits, (liars and impostors) and doctrines of devils (as opposed to God’s Word) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

The conscience is our God-given fortress to protect us from being seduced into believing lies. Yet without the Holy Spirit to guide us, we do not stand a chance against such a formidable foe. To sear your conscience is like taking a hot iron to your fingertips and burning them until they no longer feel. The hot iron has deadened the nerves, and as the fingertips are the sentries to the hand, protecting them from grabbing or holding something of harm, so too the conscience is to the soul. Continued exposure to the anti-Christ, anti-Biblical culture, and soon you will have no conscience. No ability to discern good from evil and wrong will become good, and good will become evil.

Isaiah 5:20-24

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight (have no need for God, for they have become their own god)!

… because they have cast away — the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised — the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Two popular lies taught and promoted as truth are “I am not a bad person,” and “do what makes you happy.” There is no such thing from God’s perspective as bad or good. It’s like saying I am 96% percent virgin. Well, you are or you’re not; righteousness is the same. You are either born again, made righteous by Christ’s blood, or not. Therefore bad or good is not what God sees; it’s forgiven and walking in a relationship with Him or not. Righteousness makes us right with God; good can never do that.

The Cross was not suffered to make us good but righteous. Now it is up to us to accept His gift, seek forgiveness and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, live righteous lives. To seek Him when we fail, repenting and asking for forgiveness, and to seek Him when we are getting it right. In both cases, we need Jesus. He is our advocate before the Father.

“Do what makes you happy,” goes against how we were made to enjoy a fulfilling life. The two greatest commandments Jesus gave us are to love the Lord your God with all your might, with all your strength, and with all your mind and heart, and the next is to love your neighbor as yourself (as if you are caring for your own needs). Focused on our happiness, we become self-absorbed. We are selfish by nature, and quite honestly, the carnal man does not know what they want; he thinks it does, but led by his passions, it becomes a road of disappointments and hard times. Look at movie stars or famous people; most are messed up. “Do as they will” is the motto for those pursuing the satanic agenda, which are not happy or peaceful.

We are way out of our league if we try to “be Christian” without the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit and the Word (The Bible). Also, belonging to a local Bible-teaching church body is essential. The saying, “there is strength in numbers,” is true when it comes to being connected to other believers corporately, but in a small group setting, e.g., a home Bible study group is the most important.

2 Corinthians 2:11

Lest — Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Satan’s agenda is no different than a pack of wolves. They chase the herd till one gets too tired to keep up or till one breaks from the pack – the end is soon as the pack descends on that one sheep or deer. Satan’s tactics are the same; he uses offenses to separate us from other believers or our ignorance of the importance of meeting together. Then, left on our own, it is so easy to fall into sin. 

2 Corinthians 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded their minds which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

We are in a war for our souls and our families’ souls. There are many verses on the demonic and how it seeks to influence us away from knowing Christ and the grievous harm it causes in our lives. Yet, at the same time, the devil doesn’t make us do anything. Flip Wilson coined the phrase, “the Devil made me do it.” In reality, satan knows our weaknesses, and all he has to do is present the carrot at the right time. We do the rest; we bite. We do not need much help from him. Our selfish nature is quite capable of messing up our lives. Why is this true? Scripture teaches us that we are born in sin or rebellion to God’s righteousness, and with iniquity, sinning brings forth spiritual death.

James 1:13-15

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The root meaning of iniquity is to be bent. Our sinful nature has the propensity to gravitate and bend toward specific sins. Some people struggle with gambling, some with telling the truth, others keeping pure thoughts and lust, others have a temper or jealousy or are challenged in being friendly and considerate to others, and others it’s just our pride; we feel pretty good about who we are. 

Luke 18:9-14

And he spake — this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican (tax collector).

I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

So the value of humility in our Christian walk is paramount. We constantly compare ourselves to others. That is not God’s standard, Holiness is God’s standard, and we all fail there. We fail from the start. I sighted the two first commandments to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and who does that? Then we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, and who does that? So this is the true comparison, and we all fail, hence our need for forgiveness, faith in Christ’s atoning work, and the need to be in dwelt by the Holy Spirit. 

It’s not easy following Christ; we need to develop some “spiritual muscle.” However, living life without Him is even harder. Living life as best as you can was my dad’s way. I saw the pain and emptiness in that. After two failed marriages and my brother (who rebelled), and my younger brother drowning, life only became one disappointment after another. Years later, he found pleasure in a job he had created but was let go. In tough times I learned that there has to be someone you can run to, someone greater than yourself. Otherwise, it’s hard not to become disillusioned, bitter, or apathetic. Being your own god is tough. I’ve been a believer for so long that I don’t know what it’s like not to have The Lord to run to. His peace, guidance, love in my life, and the assurance of Eternal Life for my loved ones and I are huge. I’m not saying that being a Christian is easy because it’s not, but it is much better than life without Him. 

James 1:12

Enduring Tests

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried( and stands), he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised them that love him.

Proverbs 3:11-14

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

For — whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father — the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

Throughout life, we deal with nurture, attitudes, and inherited dispositions, and we deal with “Nature,” things that happened to me as a child or youth or as an adult. As mentioned, being blamed for my brother’s death yoked me to an emotional harness of guilt and shame (and the earlier a negative event happens to us, the harder it is to get over, it goes deep into us and forms our views of self and life). 

As a 14-year-old boy, I babysat for my neighbor, a single mom with an eight-year-old son and a live-in boyfriend hooked on porn. He had playboys all over the house, bathroom, living room, and kitchen. It was my first time being exposed to it. I only knew a little about them because my grandfather gave some to my dad. I went to see them, and my dad stopped me, but he stopped me in a different way; there was no love in it. I had no idea what was inside, but I soon learned what my dad was looking at. 

It was an awful, dirty feeling. It was more than I could process. I felt like I ate a whole trash can of garbage. I had never felt like that before. I prayed and asked for forgiveness and felt God’s forgiveness, but from then on, I didn’t see girls with the same innocence; something was taken from me. As I matured, that sense of regret and guilt never left; only now, the weight was doubled. I read where David had sinned with Bathsheba and then read the Psalm he wrote, and that ministered to me so much that I committed it to memory. 

Psalms 51:1-10

A Prayer for Spiritual Cleansing

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightiest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part, thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop (a specific plant dipped in lamb’s blood and sprinkled on the altar and on the person confessing), and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear joy and gladness; the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (this became my strength, my hope, and my step forward).

Our iniquity seeks to bend us away from the Gospel of Truth and ultimately damn us while adversely affecting our life. It could be through porn, drugs, drinking, divorce, arguments, and the like, or just by an un-surrendered life. Living life on our terms, maybe going to church so we can believe we are a good person, but that only camouflages our need. We must humble ourselves before Christ, ask for forgiveness, and invite Him in. This is step one, but it’s a hard climb. Just as I accepted Him into my life but still had much guilt and shame to deal with. These are called strongholds. I believed lies as truth, and it takes much time, trial, and maturity to realize that the truth you believed was, in fact, lies, but then once realized, there is such freedom. We must find the Bible verse that counters the lie we believe and meditate upon it till freedom comes. 

We must learn to gain our strength and sense of identity from an intimate relationship with The Lord via His Word. As we do, we can stand against our flesh and the demonic that seeks to control us. We must learn these verses…

1 John 4:4

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

Romans 16:25

Now to him that is of power to establish (to anchor) you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Romans 7:22-25

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

The bottom line is that once we accept that our flesh, “body,” will continue to want to sin, it is only through renewing our mind through the Word and memorizing specific promises that speak to our struggle that we begin to start living free. And there is no guilt in feeling what the flesh feels, but we must counter it with God’s Truth. I spent years feeling guilty because I felt lust though I never gave into it. And then, once I understood that the flesh would not change, no matter how much scripture I knew, the battle became much easier. The thought would come in, but I had powerful guards that would quickly escort the thought out. Once I (we) learn this revolutionizing truth, we can “kick butt.” As a spirit-filled believer realizing this and the authority we have IN CHRIST, the one running will not be you or I. I address this comment to both men and women, specifically to men, the head of the home. 

This is a command that God gives Joshua before entering the Promised Land, which is symbolic of the Promise Land in our hearts. God wants to bless us, but we need the take the “land” of our hearts back.

Matthew 22:37

— Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (which none of us do, but it is with that passion that Jesus wants us to seek Him for it mirrors how He loves us, hence why He was willing to suffer the torture and belittling prior to the Crucifixion and then the Crucifixion). We are greatly loved. 

Joshua 1:8-9

This book of the law (The Bible) shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make — thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

If you read Joshua in any way other than a direct command from God, you are reading it wrong. This is not an opinion survey; God is not asking us to vote, but to do! 

Father God, 

Thank you for these truths, help us to understand and stand in the freedom that You purchased for us. The road against the deceiver is not easy, he knows all our weaknesses. Yet if we keep our focus on You we will overcome, for greater are You that is IN US than he that is in the world. Amen

1 John 4:4

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

We love You, 

Amen/ Arthur

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Arthur Navarrette

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Getting The Roadblocks Out Part II

Please watch the video introduction to my message here:

There can be many roadblocks in our lives and many reasons for them. One roadblock that is not emphasized enough is our disobedience to the scriptures. Some of these actions are purposeful, we choose to ignore God’s commands, and some are because of Biblical ignorance. I believe one that the church has under-emphasized is the teaching of water baptism and being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Both were heavily taught and practiced in the early church and were taught for a reason. The next step after one accepts Christ, and one must accept Christ to be saved (attending church or ascribing to religious beliefs is not sufficient), is water baptism. The best example of this is the Ethiopian eunuch. 

Acts 8:35-37

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him, Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Baptism is a public statement that you want to follow Christ. It gets you out of being a closet Christian. I was not baptized immediately upon my conversion; it was a couple of years later. During the first two years of my conversion, I wandered, being 14, when I came to Christ. My close friend at the time was not Christian and became an obstacle to my Christian growth. I was double-minded or, as the Bible calls it, “lukewarm.” Toward the end of this period, I heard a message from my pastor about being lukewarm. Revelations 3 is the verse, and it scared the lukewarm-ness right out of me. I recommitted my life back to Christ.

Revelation 3:15-16

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot.

So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew (spit) thee out of my mouth.

I did not want to be “spit” in God’s mouth, let alone spit out. I started attending my church’s youth group more and really started listening to Sunday morning messages more intently. Peter and I broke up as friends. He told me I was no longer fun to hang around with. It hurt because we had been good friends for a while, but I could feel the drag on my soul. I had been praying about breaking up with Peter, but his salvation was a concern to me, and I did not know what to do. I was really hoping that he would come to my youth group. However, when he decided to leave, I took that as answered prayer. Without Peter, I began growing in my faith. I was unaware of how much of an influence he was on me, like my non-Christian dad was on my mom. I could now see why the scriptures teach not to be unequally yoked. Not only was I living the effects of that in my home, but also with Peter. From this point on, all relationships close to me were going to be believers.

2 Corinthians 6:14

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

As I became more involved in my church’s youth group, I volunteered to be a church camp counselor. It was the summer of my junior year. I was 16. At camp, I had ten boys between 10 and 12, and I was serious about teaching the scriptures to them. We had church Bible studies taught by my friend’s dad, the camp pastor. After the message, we would break up into our groups and discuss the message. I also had a female partner who had ten girls. The idea was to represent a family structure. This was tough. I was way over my head, especially with the girls. I had no sisters. 

The boys pushed my buttons one time too many. It was Wednesday night, and they kept messing around, so at 11:00 pm, I made them get out of their sleeping bags, go outside and do push-ups till they couldn’t do them anymore. My partner, with some of her girls, overheard my voice and came out to see what was happening. I was mad, and she being several years older, helped me to calm down, but the boys learned that night that I was not to be messed with. The last two days of camp went very well. I still felt way over my head and prayed hard not to blow it. The last message from Mr. Bixby was about accepting Christ and getting baptized. After the week, I was now ready. I was all in and wanted to obey the Lord and get baptized. He talked about the baptism of water and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was a Baptist minister who knew the scriptures on baptism. All I knew was I wanted it all. 

When Pastor Bixby baptized me, I felt the power of the Holy Spirit come over me, and I could not stand. Fortunately we were in the pool and Pastor Bixby could hold me up until I got my feet under me. As I got out of the pool, my partner asked me to baptize her. We asked Pastor Bixby and he okayed it because I had just gotten baptized by the Holy Spirit. He felt I was now qualified. This was all so new to me. Karen, my partner, had never seen a young man so committed to Christ (if she only knew my struggles), and it moved her to become more committed. 

My last surprise was equally amazing. There was a very rebellious young man in my group who I ended up spanking. I told him that his behavior would hurt him in the future and that I was spanking him because I cared about him. He said his dad never spanked him, and it showed. Before I sent him to the cabin, he said he would tell his dad. This happened on Wednesday, so I had a couple of days to be stressed about meeting his dad, but I spent extra time with Rick on Thursday, showing him that I did care. Friday came, and all the parents came. Some I met, and after Rick greeted his dad, he returned and hugged me and thanked me for caring. I was so overwhelmed with everything that had happened I just cried. Karen saw me and came up and asked if I was okay. I told her what had just happened, and she understood and hugged me. That hug felt so good. I saw her a few times after that in church, but then no more. She was 21 and was going to college in another state. 

That is my experience with water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Others teach that unless you speak in tongues, which I don’t (unless you count Spanish), you are not baptized in the Holy Spirit. I disagree, but at the same time, I know the scriptures that give examples of people being baptized in the Holy Spirit and afterward speaking in tongues. I have no dispute with those that teach that. Typically what is taught is you first get baptized in water as an outward confession of your commitment to Christ, and then sometime later as you are maturing in your faith, you feel as though you need more. That becomes the internal indicator that God wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Jesus put it this way…

Luke 24:46-49

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (the baptism of the Holy Spirit).

The word endued means to put on, like a cloak or jacket and power is “ achieving power.” Dunamis is the Greek word. It is used throughout the New Testament. It means strength, capable, able, so combining the two words is to put on power ( that God clothes you in) that enables you to accomplish what He is calling you to. Yet we cannot put Jesus in a box and say it must be done in this order. There is an account of a Greek man named Cornelius, and his group received the Holy Spirit even before getting baptized. 

Acts 10:44-47

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid — water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

There is no “formula,” but generally, this is the order. One becomes a Christian, gets water baptized, and then gets filled with the Holy Spirit. There was no question in the early church of the need and the practice of water and Spirit baptism. Disobedience to this is a significant roadblock and the first way the enemy siphons off immature believers. Obedience is always critical, especially in the early years of being a believer. I hold the church at fault for not emphasizing this teaching and practice. 

This is when you now want to be 100% His. This enables you to witness for Christ more effectively. Peter, through the Holy Spirit, said our faith was precious, as gold tried in the fire. 

1 Peter 1:6-7

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (trials). That the testing (refining) of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (the present hardships are preparing us for future glory). 

Another roadblock is becoming offended at trials or not taking Christ’s words seriously.

These roadblocks or trials can be severe. Many years ago, my youngest daughter was dating a policeman, and they were considering marriage. Unfortunately, on a traffic stop, Matt got struck by a car and died. The father told me that God had no right to take him. “Matt was mine,” he told me. I was not able to help him. To tell God He had no right (assuming that it was God that took him and not just the risk of the job he was in) was to put yourself in the place of God. However, I was able to help my daughter, praise the Lord. Having gone through a death with my brother, I could relate to her, and slowly, as a family, we got back to normal. I was so grateful that God had prepared me to help my daughter. It made all the pain, guilt, and self-hatred worth it. I blamed myself for my brother’s drowning, though I was only eight. 

This is often the case when a family member dies, and the family member that is present blames themselves. You always feel you could have done more. It’s an awful burden to carry. Even now, as I write this, strong emotions come back. I make myself remember that Bobby is with Jesus, and my emotions calm down. If I didn’t have Jesus and His hope, I would drink. It’s just simply too much.

This is just one of many roadblocks and offenses that could cause us to turn our backs on Christ. From family to work to massive personal insecurities and temptations. I had a vision during one of the most challenging times; I was on a tightrope. The chasm below me was enormous, sure death if I fell off, and there were miles of tightrope to travel. I was no good at walking on a tightrope, so confronted with such a huge challenge, I told Jesus that this was so beyond me that He needed to do it through me. Instantly I felt courage and hope. These were the words the Lord was waiting for to surrender to Him fully. I was still a little scared, but now I had hope, sensing His presence with me. I was learning a valuable principle of the school of faith: apart from Him, I can do nothing. Said in another way, God wants to do everything with us. He is so relational that every big and little thing in our life He wants to be part of. I was learning about how relational and loving my (our) Dad was (and is). 

John 15:4-5

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can — do nothing.

The word picture here is fabulous. If you have ever driven through Napa county in late summer or any other regions where grapes are grown, you see the grapes hanging from the vine. The grapes would not exist except for the vine. Jesus wants us to be fruitful, but the fruit He wants is righteous fruit, something in our sinful nature we cannot produce. 

Galatians 5:19-25

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

What kind of fruit is found on you or me, especially when things are not going our way? Now there is no condemnation in this. The Holy Spirit often puts us in difficult situations to expose these hidden weaknesses in us so we can acknowledge them, repent, and find His forgiveness and Grace to get past them. So please do not hide from the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but agree with Him and repent. 

Hebrews 12:5-7

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Proverbs 3:11-13

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

For — whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father — the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding (and how is wisdom and understanding gotten, through submitting to His loving hand of chastisement). And did not Christ our Savior not have to do the same?

Luke 22:41-44

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

The tension is so great in Him that His sweat was blood from ruptured vessels in His face. He bore the worst so we could benefit from His obedience. We only have to deny ourselves, but the weight and condemnation of our disobedience and sin rested and was fully satisfied by His death. The Spotless Lamb of God.

John 1:29

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Our greatest need is fulfilled in Him if we deny ourselves and follow Him. “Not my will Lord but Yours be done in me.” This needs to be the response of our heart. Many of us get so busy attending Bible studies and volunteering at church or with life, the kid’s sports, business meetings, and family functions that we neglect our time with the Lord. If your schedule is so tight that you do not have 30 to 45 minutes each day to spend with Him, then you are too busy. My suggestion is to lose some activities. He did not save us from doing ministry or from keeping us so busy that we neglected Him. That may sound strange, and “ busy” is like a drug to many of us. It makes us feel important and needed, but we are worshipping a false idol. There is NO GREATER sense of worth than sitting at His feet (figuratively speaking) and sensing His love and presence. If we would do just that, we would lose the need to go here or do that because our sense of worth would be rightly satisfied. 

That may sound strange to you “ Martha’s out there, but to you, Mary, it’s a joy.

Luke 10:38-42

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was encumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But only one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

From where The Lord is, He only sees one critical thing, our relationship with Him. Nothing will outlast that or exceed it in importance. And learning to prioritize and live the Truth is the secret to feeling secure and victorious. The farther away we get from the Truth, the fewer victories we will have and the greater our struggles with insecurity, inferiority, stress, worry, etc.

He saved us because He loves us and wants us to know Him. For ministry to be effective and impactful, it must come as an outflow of knowing Him, never through education or learning how to work the crowd. I’ve known several pastors that have gone down this road only to have big churches with no depth. These churches are great for people who feel they can earn their salvation by doing good deeds, much like the Pharisees in Christ’s day. Burnout and broken families, and children that want nothing to do with Christianity come from that scenario. It is so sad, for they blame Christ for the breakup of their family, and Christ had nothing to do with it. He made marriage, but when a man seeks his good, his ego above being In love with Christ, this is one of the many scenarios that can happen. Christ said He would build to build the church to increase the donations etc. The Lord said the Church was His body and will care for it, but He is looking for faithful, self-giving pastors to entrust her to. Will that be us?

***

Father, 

Help us to heed thy Word knowing that it is for our good to bring radical obedience to us, not from works that illusion of the flesh but firm, solid obedience from a heart that just loves and adorns You, I pray. It is all for our good despite the difficulty we may find it to obey. It will always be for our good from a Father who loves us so. 

Since you’ve come this far, consider my book collection of essays.

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Arthur NavarretteVida4U.com is the website where all past Vida’s are archived. In addition to the weekly devotionals, the yearly inspirational writings featured in December’s House2Home Magazine are archived under “Faith Talk.”  Please use this site for your benefit and refer your friends to it as well. If they would like the weekly series emailed to them, they can send their requests to Arthur@Vida4U.com.

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The Doctrine of Salvation

The Doctrine of Salvation

The History – In beginning… Genesis 1:27 ” God created man in his image: in the divine image he created them; male and female created them.”  So we had a great start.

One of the saddest verses in the scriptures Genesis 2:8 -11
” When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden… the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God… God called to the man…’Where are you?’ …. I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself….You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” (what a mess)

 The first glimpse of hope Gensis  3:15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman (speaking to the serpent- satan) and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, ( indicating victory) while you strike at his heel (referring to the suffering Christ endured) The Protestant translation is a little more accurate here, quoting ” And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. As we know the woman does not have the “seed” so this is a prophetic word referring to Jesus Christ immaculate conception.

God within man? – it would be hard to prove given this next verse
Gensis 6:5 When the Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on the earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.” Super sad verse.

So then what is our hope, or in what does our salvation lie?
 John 3:14 – 21 We all know verse 16 but the whole part is insightful especially verse 18 ” Whoever believes in him avoids condemnation…” The Greek definition for believe, ” have faith in or trust,” this then speaks to something active on our end. God is not in us if we do not have faith. It is faith or belief in his words that saves a man/woman. The free will you mentioned is exactly that, the free will to believe and accept God’s salvation through Jesus Christ, as much as the free will not to believe in salvation. With each decision having its ownconsequences.

So what does Jesus say?
 Revelation 3:20 -22 “Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself won the victory and took my seat beside my Father on his throne. ” Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches.” In Jesus own words we read that “God within” is by invitation only. If the door (theheart of man) remains closed, he remains outside and the soul remains lost or unsaved. Andhopefully there will be a change of heart as the Spirit continues to testify of Christ and the need of repentance.

In summary
I have skipped over many scriptures, many of my favorites to keep this brief and to the point.However the scriptures that I did select prove the point that God is not in all of us. He wants to be, but he waits for the heart to repent and confess Christ.
The major concern with the heresy that “God is in all of us” is that it completely by passes the Cross, the need for Christ, man’s culpability, sin, repentance etc. It is a major lie that has spread from New Age into the church. That in part was also my excitement.
May my words, and the scriptures find Grace and room in your hearts.

mucho love,

Arthur

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“La Verdad” Part II December 2010

Thank you for wanting to know more; a hungry soul seeks to be satisfied, a searching soul seeks answers, and an empty soul seeks fulfillment. The LORD is all of this, and more. He is able to nourish our souls, answer our questions, and fulfill us with His presence. There are some foundational truths we must understand first. Many times we come to GOD because we are hurting, fearful, struggling etc., our jobs could be in danger, our marriages and our relationships could be on the edge, or our kids are making wrong choices. We could have suffered the loss of a loved one,  just been told we have cancer or that a love one has only months to live etc.  There are many things that affect us, weaken us and cause us to think about The LORD (GOD and LORD are synonymus). What I am about to say is not easy for me to say, especially when you may be hurting. I will use my own struggles in my marriage to speak for me. Early in my marriage I was not a good husband, I was critical. I was critical of myself, and hence critical of my wife. After several years of this, divorce was becoming a way out for my wife. As a last attempt I asked her to go to counseling with me and she agreed. In counseling the pastor tried hard, but words could not change the root of why I was critical. However, in the last moments the pastor did say something that rocked my boat. He said I was not allowing GOD to love me for just me, I was trying to earn His approval through my actions. Now having already been a Christian for several years, I thought that he was way off and that our meeting was a waste. I pretty much figured that the next day my wife was going to file for a divorce. We drove home, it seemed forever, we didn’t say much, and I was mad at the pastor and GOD, basically saying “Don’t You care about me and our marriage; is this what You want?” Before I could finish the next thought, The LORD broke into my thoughts, and it is just as clear to me now as it was then, and it still brings tears. He simply said, ”He is right, you are not letting Me love you as you are, you are always trying to prove you’re worthy of My love.” When GOD speaks to the human soul, the soul crumbles, and in that moment I had all my motives and reasons for being the “perfect Christian soldier” revealed to me. We want to be loved for something, that’s human, but it’s not that way with the Lord. There is no amount of good deeds we can do to make Him love us more, or conversely, there is no amount of sin we can do to make Him love us less. The Bible says, “While we were yet sinners (in rebellion) Jesus died for us”, He was sacrificed for our sins. His death satisfied the righteous judgement of God’s Holiness . It is like the judge, who one day was forced to render a verdict on his own son; a son that had gone wayward and murdered a man. The judge pronounced the death sentence on him, then stepping away from his podium, taking off his garment, and leaving his gavel, he stepped down. In speaking to the amazed audience he said, as judge I have honored my position and the law, convicting my son fully for his crime; now as his father I will take his place, and my life will become an atonement (to pay in full) for his sins. I will die so he may live….

Once home I went and closed myself in a study room. Alone with GOD, I prayed “GOD, I am a wreck, I feel so worthless, destroying the only thing that mattered to me… If You want to love this wreck, I need Your love, please forgive me for my many sins, and teach me accept Your love for me, and then to give it away”. What happened after that I can’t explain, but my heart changed, it filled with joy, peace, and a knowing that I was loved for me, just as I was, with all my imperfections. I had not known this kind of peace; the striving was gone, the heaviness that I had grown so accustomed to, the guilt, it all left, and for once I felt free. Free to live, to laugh, to accept my short comings, work through my insecurities, and to give that grace to others, first and foremost to Lisa. I stepped out of that room a changed man, into a room with a damaged wife, who had stopped believing that I would ever be different. It took three years to destroy my marriage, and it was seven years till I saw the joy in her eyes that I had seen when we first took our vows; two years for every year I hurt her, and then one more. It’s funny (not ha,ha) in the Bible numbers mean something, and seven is the number for completion. So now I have been married to Lisa 29 years. I love her dearly and we continue to work on our weaknesses by God’s Grace; and combined with two daughters with their own weaknesses, there have been some very challenging times (as I am sure you have had). Yet the man that kneeled and cried out for a love he didn’t possess, found that LOVE to be TRUE (for He is TRUE), and found a strength to not only work on his weaknesses, but to extend love and grace to the family he cared for as well.

Now here is the reason why I shared this with you. Lisa could have walked out, there was no guarantee that she was going to stay. If she had decided to pack her bags and leave, did God fail? We come to God to “fix” our problems, and if He doesn’t…, do we stop believing? This is not Faith, this is us in a very dark moment having tried everything else; we reach for God as a last hope. Can God use hardships to bring us to Him? Sure He can and does, and He did with me, but here is my point. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the Cross for our sins (an amazing truth) and on that Cross He bore ALL our sins, receiving the full wrath of God’s judgement on Sin. On the Cross Jesus said several very specific things. One of those statements was, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (He was interceding for us, His role as High Priest for mankind). Another one took place toward the end when He cried out, no longer using the term Father but instead “My GOD, My God, why have You forsaken me?”. God the Father, for the first and last time, separated Himself from God the Son, while He hung there taking on our sin, and He died. …think about that. The Lord didn’t die for my marriage, He didn’t die because I lost a job, He didn’t die so that my kids would do the right thing, etc. He died for my sin, for your sin, and to restore us back unto the Father. That is why He died. We are separated from Him because of our sin, and He died to bring us “home” to the Father, to grant us fellowship with Him and to give us the gift of Eternal life, that is why He went to the Cross. We must come to terms with that, we must do spiritual business with God. Once we are restored unto Him, we become His child, and the concerns of the child, become the concerns of the Parent. So you’ve got problems, stresses, etc., talk to your Dad, for He gave it all for you, and will He not also come to your aid? I will end in a prayer,

Father thank you for this time, I pray Your words would reach our (my) heart(s). I ask that through my life others will see your Grace and Power to heal and to save. Forgive us (me) of our (my) sins. I accept You Lord Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and Your death on the cross as atonement for my sins. I bend my knee to You, and ask that You would now fill me with Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Comfort and Strength. Thank You, teach me to understand Your Bible, to love to spend time reading it, to attend a church that preaches from it, and that teaches me to worship You in song and in prayer. Let me now live my life to honor You, for You and You alone are worthy. Amen.

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“Landscaping The Soul” December 2010

Welcome to our Holiday edition. One of the beauties of the Holiday season is the traditions that have become part of our lives. I am so pleased that last year’s Christmas edition was read and favored by so many. I received personal comments, as well as emails about how meaningful the article was, encouraging, and bringing positive changes in people’s lives. As a landscaper/writer, it does not get any better than this. So back by popular demand, we are rerunning this article, making only minor changes for clarity’s sake. So please enjoy. Get your coffee or tea, slippers and robe and sit down with me. May the article and its intent be a blessing to you this Christmas/Holiday season and throughout the year.

This article is still about landscaping, but not with plants, trees, soil and boulders, but with encouragement, faith, character and truth. Not our physical yards, but the “yards of our soul.” They also need “tending to.” Like our physical yards, our souls get “weeds” (attitudes), need “pruning” (character development), do well with regular fertilizing (love and encouragement) and need light (truth/faith) to grow and be healthy, to “bloom” with peace and joy, to grow with strength and character. These attributes just don’t come, they need to be cultivated; they need to be practiced. Just like a beautiful and fruitful garden, we need the same care. I want to talk about that care and specifically about character and faith.

I love nature, plants and landscaping. I see so much truth in them that I can apply to daily living. I was having breakfast with a good friend, who is an arborist by profession and we were talking about this very topic, the truths we see in nature. He shared a story with me that his instructor taught him while he was studying for his license. A couple had bought a home in the country and on their new property was a stand of oak trees, beautiful overall, except the first row. The first row was noticeably distorted, rough, shorter and thicker in stock than the trees behind them. So they decided to remove the first row exposing the taller, greener, more beautifully shaped oaks. So with the help of some friends, they cut the distorted oaks down, getting quite a pile of fire wood, which once dried, burned hotter and warming the house more than any of the oak wood they had bought previously. Well as winter is, we get storms and some bring high winds. To the couple and their friends’ surprise they noticed that with each strong storm, some of the branches of the oaks would break, and on occasion a whole tree would come down. This happened for several years until their stand of oaks had been reduced to about half. At this point they thought it best to get help, worried about disease that if not controlled, would soon decimate their beloved oaks.

The instructor took the call and was the one to go out. Upon hear- ing the concern and inspecting the oaks, he asked why the first row of trees were removed, taking note that the stumps were thicker, having tighter growth rings (the yearly growth measurement of any tree) than the other stumps he observed. He also inquired from what direction the winds came from. The couple replied that when they first purchased the home that these oaks were stunted and unsightly, so they removed them to view the more beautiful oaks. They also replied that the winds came from the southwest, understanding then that the first row would have taken the brunt of the winds.

Once hearing this, the instructor gave them an answer they did not expect. The first row of oaks had grown in the presence of the storms, so they grew stouter, more deeply rooted, and their appearance bore the look of many a storm. They were the “guardians” for the rest of the stand, providing a wind barrier, allowing the rest of oaks to grow more uniformly in their protection. Without the pressure of the winds, the roots of the other oaks were shallow, their trunks lacked stoutness, and the branches were long and graceful and not able to bear up against the winds. The instructor said that it would be just a matter of time before all the oaks would come down. He recommended a canopy reduction, reducing the branch weight, fertilization to encourage root growth, and time. The couple was grateful for his time and advice, saddened by how foolish they had been.

When I heard this story it amazed me how close to life this was. I see two obvious truths, the mistake that the couple had made by not consulting an expert prior to removing the oaks, and the importance of that first row of oaks to the rest of the stand. I also have made mistakes like that, feeling hurried and not consulting, and they have cost me.

Currently as a society we are suffering because of financially unsound decisions that started with our mortgages. Our culture has been so prosperous, so trouble-free in general, that we have grown without the need to have caution, believing that we are “entitled” to the “American Dream” that has turned into an “American nightmare” that has affected us all. We grew accustomed to a “Burger King Culture” (have it your way) that provided instant gratification, where bigger is always better, and credit was how we bought our toys. We have lost our way, believing that things and money can “buy” quality of life… and it DOES NOT.

I learned this lesson in Mexico where I spent several summers on mission trips. My equals were happy and content with so little, they spent time talking and laughing, valuing each other, their lives were very simple. I learned that quality of life is internal, found within one’s character. That struggle is not bad; in fact it is necessary for character to develop. To learn to enjoy the things we do have, to be grateful for the things we can afford, and not coveting the “bigger and better” and most importantly to have contentment with thankfulness. How critical are these lessons, how important that we live them out for our children to see.

Now character, as invaluable as it is, has a partner, can you guess? When “married” together it completes the soul, it is faith. I so love faith, and it is not that flowery, whimsical faith that believes that if I smile at the world it will smile back. It helps to smile yes, but I have received my share of frowns as well. Not everyone or every circumstance smiles back, some want to “take you down.” So character when united with faith to me is best likened to that first row of oaks. They grow in the presence of adversity, the winds of trial and testing serve to deepen the roots of faith, developing our character, making us real, and causing us to stand “lean and mean,” readied for the challenges ahead—something that a “satisfy me now” culture severally lacks.

As important as character and faith are, the object of our faith is CRITICAL, and determines our character. Last year my wife shared a particular Bible lesson with me, I cannot remember the story she read, but her comments I wrote down. They were this: “In this broken world you get a ‘junk load of parts’ with which to build your life; and since we live in a broken world, life is not fair. Some people get ‘better parts,’ (more talented, better opportunity, smarter etc.) than we do, but fretting or complaining about it only makes it worse. It gets you nowhere. If anything self pity makes you go backwards in life. Accepting your parts, taking ownership of them, is the birthplace of character. Working with your parts, doing your best, develops your character.

Another comment she made is about the need to have an “other world mindedness.” This is where faith comes in. There is a God who loves me and desires me to know Him. How do I know this aside from the Scriptures (the Bible)? God’s handiwork is evident in all of creation, like a master painter creating his work of art. So He has made creation for our enjoyment, and as a testimony of His presence. As one acknowledges the landscaper behind the landscape, so creation speaks of His Greatness. With each sunrise and sunset, I am reminded of His ability to hold my life together, despite the challenges and pressures I am facing.

What happens if I do not have an “otherworld mindedness,” believing that this life is all there is? There is a saying that speaks to the perspective that one develops when godly faith is not active. It goes like this: “Get all you can, can what you get, and sit on the can.” The problem is no one told us that the bottom can fall out…and then what? When this life is all there is, where does one turn in time of crisis or loss? How important it is to have an “other world minded- ness”, a personal faith in God, a faith that acknowledges the Cross; the Cross, for all its violence and horrific statement of death, is also beautiful. For it so completely speaks of a Savior’s love, and of our need to come to Him and to be made whole! He is bigger than all our problems, and He is able to forgive us our wrongs and restore us unto Himself. The hardships we suffer He can use to develop character and deepen faith in Him, to get our attention –as He sets us on a new course, and grow in us an “other world mindedness,” the hope of Heaven. This helps us put the challenges and hardships of this life in right perspective. As this new faith grows in you, you will take life and yourself less seriously. You will find hope in time of trial, and He will give you courage to face the challenges and fears that seek to “take you down.” I know this to be true- because I am a growing and ever changing testimony of His handiwork. I am far from perfect, yet I find within me a spiritual current, like a determined course of water, quiet yet strong, that is ever growing me into a man of godly faith. So when difficulties come, pressures as we all have and face, I come to Him, as a son to a loving Father, kneeling in prayer making my requests -to Him, spend- ing time in His presence; and in that state, unhurried waiting upon Him, there comes a point that I know He has heard me. I then rise in gratitude knowing that He will work out His will in this matter, not my will, but His. I have learned through the years that His ways are much better, not always understood, but that He can be fully trusted with the very deepest concerns I bare. With burdens removed, I am ready to move forward in this life of faith—having His hope, His strength, His wisdom, His direction, His scriptures, and His LOVE, quickening my steps, as I go forth to face my next giant.

If you would like to know the Lord in this personal way, I invite you to go to my website, go to publications and click on December 10, part 2. Thank you so much for reading, I trust that what I have said has encouraged and challenged you. May you have a blessed Christmas, and thank you for spending your time with me; it means so much, especially this time. God Bless.

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“The Gift That Heals” December 2010

For those of you that follow our monthly writings, thank you. Your readership means a lot to me. As you know, each month we have been talking about how we use the interview process to develop a landscape. It takes time and purposeful questions, but by starting off right, we end right. Life is like that. In fact, I am often amazed by how much we are like our gardens.

As a landscaper, it has been my privilege to build relationships with our clients and their families. Over the course of a project, I am blessed to become a friend, at times a counselor or an encourager, and in some cases even “Uncle Arthur” to the children. That is how I come to you today, not as a professional, but as a friend. We will not talk about the gardens we plant, but rather the “garden of our soul.” I will be sharing my faith with you, the beliefs that guide my life.

Like a garden, our souls need tending. We can get weeds (attitudes), need pruning (character development) and we all like water and fertilizer (love and encouragement). Today I want to talk about a weed that can devastate our relationships, be it spouse to spouse, parent to child, friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor, or co-worker to co-worker. In agricultural terms, it would be classified as a “noxious weed,” which means that it is so incredibly invasive and hard to control that it must be eradicated at all cost. It is a weed that if left unchecked could ruin the whole crop. One of the most “noxious soul weeds” is the weed of resentment.

Resentment has one face, but can be sown into our soul through many means because the “seed” is a personal offense. Someone has offended me in speech or action. It could be someone close to me, like a family member or friend, or a co-worker or neighbor, but in one form or another “my rights” were violated. Something was taken that was not given, or injured and not made right. Sometimes people are not even aware that they have offended us. In other cases, the wound is inflicted more purposefully. Either way, we can seek to “pull the weed” or let it spread. In medical terms, we can “treat the wound,” or let it fester. A festering wound is the soil in which resentment becomes a noxious weed.

Webster offers several definitions to describe resentment, including, “exhibiting intense animosity” and “rawness.” If these deeply intense feelings were physical weights on one’s shoulders, it would be like trying to carry 10 pieces of fully packed luggage on our backs, under our arms and for the whole of our life! How inhibiting, and emotionally exhausting that would be, and we definitely would be rubbed raw. At times we may even wonder how the situation got so out of hand. Well just like in gardening, to be inactive is to allow the weeds to be active. Unkindness breeds unkindness and resentment breeds resentment; bitterness breeds bitterness and hatred breeds hatred, and there is no end to it. It is a poison that runs deep and contaminates much beyond the borders of two people. It even affects “non- target relationships” (an agricultural term describing damage done outside the target area). In other words, our resentment hurts others not directly related to the situation, bringing more injury to ourselves and creating barriers to other meaningful relationships. If you are honest with yourself, you know this to be true. Resentment is always there, only a thought away. It makes us snappy, impatient, angry, and in general a pain to be around. We become a burden, instead of a burden lifter; our presence alone becomes a weight to others. Some of us learn to compartmentalize our hurts, and as long as we stay away from that person or thoughts of them, we do alright. At least that’s what we think. In reality, it’s like running a complex software program while working in another; it weighs down the overall performance of the computer. Our souls are no different, emotional energy is being expended.

As “unworthy” a person may be of forgiveness, to not forgive and contaminate or potentially ruin all that could bring you happiness, reward and enjoyment is not wise. Regardless of whether the offender has asked for forgiveness, forgive for your sake. Let the bitterness/resentment stay in the past, why bring it into the present? Allow the love of others to come into your soul, diluting the poison that still remains. Resentment/bitterness only keeps YOU captive, it is much better to engage in life again, for behind the bars of bitterness surely what flicker of life is left will soon go out, leaving only a darkened soul.

I know I’ve said a lot, and I can hear some of you say, “If only I could…” Some wounds that we carry are so deep that they seem impossible to release. I understand, so let me tell you a story that might help. It is a parable that Jesus told. The story involves a ruler and a servant, but it starts with a question from Peter regarding forgiveness. Peter asked Jesus “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Peter thought he was being generous.) Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” In other words, without number. To illustrate his answer, Jesus told this parable:

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents [millions of dollars] was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had to be sold to repay the debt [this was common practice]. The servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything.”

Now, as a side note, the servant’s words are just words in a time of great difficulty. There was no way this servant would ever be able to pay back such an astronomical debt. He was obviously a servant with authority, one of position under the master, but he was a terrible steward of what he was entrusted with, undoubtedly spending the master’s money to his benefit. You might say he was a thief with royal protection, until now that his stewardship is brought into question. Yet, “The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”

If you’ve never heard the story before, I am sure the master’s response came as a surprise. You would also think that the servant who had been forgiven so much would be a changed man. Let’s see:

“But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii [a few dollars in comparison]. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’” The servant refused. Instead, he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

The servant’s hard-heartedness and incredible lack of mercy is incomprehensible. He could not find it in his heart to forgive a fellow servant, an equal; the greatness of his own pardon had not been valued. So when the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant, ’he said, ‘I canceled all your debt because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger the master turned him over the jailers until he should pay back all he owed.” The servant’s lack of mercy came back to judge him, and found guilty, he will spend the rest of his days in jail.

So let’s ask some questions. In the story who is the master? The master is God. And who is the servant with the enormous debt? That is us. Finally, who is the other servant? That is our fellow man, whether a spouse, child, co-worker or friend. The point that Jesus was teaching was if God, who is Holy and Just, can see to forgive a repentant heart, who are we to not forgive one another. If the Greater forgives the lesser, should not the lesser forgive his or her equal? Indeed, which of us has not offended, which of us are so much better than the rest that we can stand as judge? As stated, who are we hurting by not forgiving? Only ourselves. How much better it is to forgive! How good it feels to forgive, to release the offense, and seek peace. It’s healing to our inner being, and to the fractured relationship—a fresh breath on life. Why would I want to keep all that poison inside? Would it not be to my betterment to “forgive my fellow servant?” For before a Holy God we all stand guilty. Not one of us is holy, just and without sin. We are all like the servant who owed much more than he could ever repay. Yet, God is willing to forgive us completely.

The Bible teaches that God is not only willing to forgive, but also that He forgets our sins when we confess them unto Him. He who would have every right to keep record does not. In Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18, God speaks tenderly to His people, saying, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be as [white as] wool…” Amazing! The Creator God wanting to come to reason with His creation! Yet as incredible as it is, it is true. The divine mercy He offers is the key to us becoming a more merciful person. For once you experience the graciousness of God, His forgiveness and love for you, you understand how much mercy we all need. Giving the Gift that Heals begins with receiving it, and by receiving it and being changed by it, we in turn are able to extend it.

So let’s get the weed of resentment out of our souls and begin to live life. If you would like to personally know the LORD,and experience spiritual healing, I invite you to go to my website, executivecareinc.com; click on publications and scroll to December 2010 part II. I explain some very critical truths about starting a new life, a journey of a life time.

Thank you so much for spending your time with me. What better way to enjoy your landscape creations and one another, than to know the Creator of All. Have a wonderful Christmas, and if I can be of help do not hesitate to contact me at our website, or call. I will be at the Northern Cal Expo show in January, sharing a booth with Patio Perfections in the Landscapers building. I would love to meet you personally.

God bless- Arthur

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“Heaven’s Hope, Grace Unmeasured” December 2011 Part II

Thank you for coming to Part II for both previous articles, The Giving of Grace and The Gift that Heals.

This article, Heaven’s Hope, Grace Unmeasured, as the other two, are written from the desire to heal wounds and help relationships. Having said that, there is one relationship that is paramount to all relationships and that is the relationship that God wants to have with us. To some this is common knowledge; to others this may be the first time hearing this and, undoubtedly, it raises questions. I will seek to answer those questions throughout the context of writing this. However, I have a question for you. Do you know God, and if you answer yes, by what means? On what truth rests your confidence, or what evidence gives you the assurance that you know the LORD? Now before I am misunderstood, I want to give some clarification. I am not challenging or trying to be confrontational. My goal is that by the end of this writing, there will be a clear Biblical answer to this question, so that there is no doubt that you know the LORD, and if you don’t know Him, that you clearly know the steps to take. That is my direction; that is my goal. Now to achieve that goal, I will step on some toes, lovingly so, but I will. Part of the reason for “stepping on some toes” is the truth of God and how to know Him is so misrepresented in our culture, that what I say may contradict a personal belief. So with that as an introduction, let’s start.

Christianity is viewed by many as divisive. That the “one way” message excludes many people, and if God was truly a God of Love, why would He set up a system of faith that was so narrow-minded? Right, is that not what people think, or maybe you think that? So do you want to know the answer? It depends on your perspective. Let me explain. It is just like looking through binoculars. If you look through them correctly, everything looks closer, more in focus. However, if you turn the binoculars around, everything looks extremely far, but it’s the same instrument being used. So why is that? Well it is a matter of your perspective, or understanding, on how to correctly use the binoculars. There is one way to correctly view through them, and the correct way even supersedes our natural vision’s capabilities. Christianity is identical. The “heart” of Christianity is not about doing good, or following a set of rules, but it is all about a relationship, and to understand that requires a specific “focus” or view. Here’s another example. We all have had, or have young children, or remember when we were one, although it might seem decades ago. When our girls were very young, we lived in a town-home with a very small front yard. The back was always shady, so much of the play occurred out front. However, the front was so small, that it took no time before the girls were out in the street playing. Problem with that is our street was busy. So Lisa or myself, or both, were always pulling the girls back unto the lawn, much to their frustration and the disappointment of their little friends. They had not the maturity or foresight to perceive the danger of playing in the street. To them, we were being “one way” in our determination of where they could play. So these are two simple analogies of a much more complex truth. However, they support my earlier statement: it depends on your perspective.

So clearly, we have two perspectives, or two roads, to introduce another analogy: God’s and ours. The first is the road God invites us to travel. The second is the road we choose for ourselves. Even for the best of us, the most moral of us, the two roads go in opposite directions. God’s road is one that includes Him in your life. He is driving the car of your soul and you are the passenger, verses you driving the car of your soul, making your own decisions, facing your fears alone, etc. The big problem with driving our own car, and I am bypassing a lot of theology to make this point, is that no matter how well we drive and which roads we select, we can never drive or always choose the right roads. We will take wrong turns, speed, get into accidents, cut people off, etc. In other words, spiritually speaking now, we fall short. To drive perfectly is to “live perfectly” and none of us meet that criterion. Yet the LORD is perfect (Holy) and hence our lives can never be in “agreement” with His.

Holiness is a hard concept to grasp; there are no examples, but internally I think we understand. The only word picture I know for Holiness is the red hot coals of a fire. If you have camped, had a fire in the fireplace, or even better yet, had a fire insert, you are able to see the very center of the fire—the fire that comes off the coals, which is pure and extremely hot and has no smoke associated with it. The coals are so hot that the impurities have already been consumed: utterly pure and utterly untouchable. If I were to ask you to pick up a red hot coal with your bare hands and bring it to me, you would say I am crazy! Who would do that? Yet God is like those red hot coals and more so. His Holiness is beyond comprehension. If we will not grab a red hot coal, something of this earth, what makes us think we can stand justified before a Holy God with nothing but our own efforts representing us? We are blinded by our ways, our perspective of God is off because we are unable to comprehend the Holiness of God.

I do not believe I will be challenged if I say that we are not perfect. Even with our limited understanding and definition of the word perfect, none of us would stand and say, “Look at me; I am an example of perfection.” We are not perfect. We all have faults, shortcomings, and regrets for past actions. To be human is to be faulty, but GOD is not. He is without fault, for He is HOLY. Now I know some of you may not believe in GOD, and I am not going to try to prove His existence to you. But I will say this. When you see a painting, you acknowledge a painter; when you see a nice landscape, you acknowledge a landscaper. But what do you acknowledge when you see all of creation, something so vast and much greater than what the hand of man can do, from the beautiful diversity of fish and coral in the oceans, to the mountain tops with beautiful flora so delicate and yet living in such a harsh environment? Creation speaks of a Creator.

The LORD says of Himself in Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Just as we have a generational gap between age groups, we have a spiritual gap between us and a Holy God. What is the solution? Is there one? And here begins the main point of Heaven’s Hope, Grace Unmeasured. As mentioned earlier, Christianity is seen as divisive with its “one way” doctrine. Again, it depends from which side of heaven you are looking. In Isaiah 1, verse 18, God says, “Come now, let us reason together says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” And in John 3, verses 16 and 17, it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever would believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” So how is it that Christianity has become a religion viewed as divisive, when from God’s perspective He is reaching out through Christ to save us?

So, is Jesus Christ the bridge between a Holy God and sinful man? Is it He who “fills” the spiritual gap of our imperfection so that we can be one with God, granting us a presence before a Holy God? Is it possible? In 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14-21, we find very enlightening scriptures. I will share versus 17-19 but encourage you to go back and read all the scriptures, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” And in verse 21, “God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Did you catch that, “that in him we might become the righteousness of God”? That is amazing! It is not about me, my works, or my faulty life and attempts to be good. I do not have to fear the Holy Fire of Righteousness. I do not stand alone before a Holy and Righteous God. I have an Advocate, a “Holy Buffer.” Because of what He did for me on the Cross and because I came to agreement with Him about my sins, receiving His forgiveness, I have standing before God. It is important to understand that Holiness demands righteousness by the very definition of Holiness. That cannot be changed. But God also is loving and is seeking a relationship with us, so He has provided an atonement, a provision for man to be forgiven. Christ is that provision of righteousness for me. I become a new creation! I am united back to God to live in peace. The Greek definition of peace (the original language of the New Testament) means “to set at one again,” as something broken, or broken off, that has been set back in place. Divisive may be the name that those of us who are seeking our own way would call Christianity, but for those who come under its shelter and are restored back into relationship with a loving Father, sins forgiven and peace within, UNITY would be a far better word.

I would like to end with a poem of sorts, which I wrote the other day as I was contemplating this article. The poem is simply entitled Adoption:

Adoption

We are orphans, raised on the streets
We steal for a living, fight to survive
Adoption became a road, an offering by a King, something I didn’t understand
But it represented food, shelter, and a permanent home
The King paid my debts, made right my wrongs,
He gave me a new name, nice clothes to wear, and freedom from hunger and fear.
One day I was a street orphan, next day I was heir to a Throne
How is that possible? How can such a transformation occur?
It is the King’s doing, nothing of my own
Just my willingness to accept His offer, come to agreement, and acknowledge my need
Inside me, I sense a light, something not of me—a quiet peace and encourager
Yet, I still sense much of me: bad habits, self-willed thoughts, consistent wrong actions
These all still lie present within me. How do I change?
I must spend time with the King, hear His words and allow them to settle inside me
I must read His writings, store them up in me, and watch how He acts
By abiding in Him, slowly change will occur,
By His Grace, Forgiveness, and Kindness, I will change
I have hope of a better me and a better life.

The Hope of Heaven is that we come to know the LORD through Jesus Christ, and in relationship with Him, there is Grace Unmeasured for the journey we will travel. So let’s do it, not by our strength, not by good works, but by learning of our Savior through reading the Bible, praying, and attending a church that teaches the scriptures, worships, and models prayer for us. As I like to say, the Teacher is always teaching; just show up for class with a humble heart and a readied mind, and Truth will enter your soul and change will occur. It is His doing and your willingness to participate. Amen.

If this has touched you, I would like to know. Please send me an email at arthur@vida4u.com and let me know of your decision. I will contact you.

Wishing God’s Blessings to all of you.