Be Hoopoe

Those of us who were brought up in various religious practices and cultures often make those rituals and social identities our only source of worship and acknowledgement of our Lord.  These practices without a personal relationship will become stagnate and our beliefs of who God is will also become narrow in focus.  Your service to the Lord and community will become mechanical and your works will begin to die although they are performed.  You must abide in the Lord and develop your relationship to thrive in the things of God.  It is impossible to walk and know the will of the Lord concerning you, without your own relationship.

Situations and circumstances come up all men. However, some of our troubles are because of things we have done and have continued to do despite many warnings. We do not live in a place of solitude we are a collective grouping of people starting with the family, Community, Town City, State and Country.  As sin increases at each of these levels there are results and judgements that are executed on those who participate in these sins which impact the entire group. Many scriptures support this at each level.  We are all affected by the good and the evil of our societies. As a country who once established itself on the belief and faith of God and Christ we have almost completely turned a way from the blessings to the curses for they both are real.  

Let’s us not forget we have no righteousness of our own which is acceptable un to God the Father.  Because of our sinful nature even our righteousness is filthy in his eyesight. In Jesus we are made acceptable and righteous by his righteousness and goodness. Those who are in Christ are partakers of his right standing with God the Father. In Him we are made partakers of his holiness and returned to our place and relationship with God.  In this knowledge we can never be prideful in believing that anything or any works on our part has or will earn us this salvation. In Christ we can become like Jesus and develop his character of holiness and goodness. Remember in Him we live, In Him we move, and in Him we have our being.

We are in and will continue to be in times of division concerning many of our personal, political, and spiritual convictions. However, we are as scripture has established to obey those individuals who have authority over us.  We are to comply to their request if their directives are not in direct opposition to the word of God or to what the Lord has individually directed us to do.  We obey our leadership as an act of respect and obedience to God and his supreme authority.  The directives of good leaders are for the commonwealth of all people.  As in all things we are not to follow leaders  blindly without thinking we are to examine ourselves first to see if we are aligned and then investigate the mandate made and get approval from our Lord if we should proceed as requested.  In all things we need to practice this process of checks and balances with the Lord. We are to be people who practice wisdom in all we do and always with humility allowing Jesus the final ruling on the path we should take.  

We all come into times of personal testing in which we must decide who will be God in our lives.  The God of all creation or the god of this world and world system.  In times of trial and temptation we often discover who we are aligned with by our actions and are uncovered by our motives.  Trials expose our maturity in the Lord or our pettiness in the faith.  Do not despise the testing of your faith for in this fire of persecution and mockery we are made to make public the hope of our salvation.  Be not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. Delight yourselves in the Lord always. 

Often, we are confronted most by those who we believe would be supportive of our chosen paths of service to our communities and those the Lord has assigned us to serve. After all many of them were also selected for public service in some form.  However, there are many among us that believe that only a few methods of service is acceptable and honorable.  Those who choose to serve in other capacities are often met with ridicule based on favoritism and legalistic rules. The Lord equips those who have a heart for service and a heart for people.  He (the advocate) that is in you is greater than He (the opposer) that is in the world.  If you are willing to be obedient to the things, he has placed in your heart to perform in his service your labor will not be regarded as worthless to the Lord.

The grace and mercy of the Lord is always extended to us and especially those who will acknowledge their shortcomings.   Those who are willing to turn away from their wrongdoings and embrace the love he has for them personally.  We all have come to a crossroads in our lives where we have had to take inventory of our lives to include the things that need to be discarded that no longer have place in our natural life. So, if you have fallen and hit the ground hard due to the struggles of your own personal sinful addictions.  God does not discard the baby with the bath water!  He just dumps the dirty water and adds new cleansing water to clean and restore the baby he loves.  So don’t run from the Lord! run to him so he can hold you in his ever-loving arms. 

Many of us have been trained to plan out our day, weeks, and Months well in efforts to maximize our productivity and to accomplish our task with great efficiency.  However, we seldom consult the Lord in our Efforts to determine if our wishes and plans align with His will for us for that given schedule. Most of us do not ask his guidance or permission concerning where we will go, what we will do, or when we will perform our assignments.  We do not seek or include him in our lives and for some when we do seek the Lord our motives and desires for what we ask for are for selfish and evil purposes.  In order to please the Lord, you must be willing to give him control over your daily lifestyle and be willing to recognize and examine your motives and behaviors. Finally, also willing to allow him to help you in your struggles to become the person he desires you to be in Him. 

There is and has been great debates of how the rapture will unfold with one group believing that the rapture will happen before any of the sorrows begin to occur. The other group believing that many of the sorrows will begin, and the rapture will happen before the greatest of the sorrows begin.  The scriptures are clear concerning this issue and provides an example of how it will unfold as the birth pains of a woman which has a beginning of pains which increase gradually over a period of time. Then gets greater with increasing frequency of pains. Finally with the most turbulent and greatest of pains at the time of the child’s delivery. We are now in the year 2021 in the year of the beginning of the birth pains! The question of the hour is simple.  which type of servant will you be identified as if he returned today, “your day of judgement” and you had to give an account of your talents and stewardship concerning the things he has given you to do in your life for Him! 

Many people do not understand the simplicity of the gospel of our Lord and Savior. Which can be provided in such ease.  Which is his great love for us Displayed, Proved and Completed.  His love was shown by his life and ministry. The love of Jesus was proved by his sinless example and death on the cross for our crimes against God the Father.  Finally, his everlasting love completed with his resurrection and victory over death and the grave.  The love of Jesus is continually reaching out for acceptance to those who will receive this precious gift which came at a great cost to him personally.  This is the gift of life and restoration that can only be received while we walk the earth in our mortal bodies.  The offer of acceptance expires at the time of your death for all eternity. We are here temporarily to make choices and decision that will determine our eternal state.