As always, the LORD either gives me a title for my newsletter, or He gives me chapter and verse.  Today I heard the words “IN READINESS”.  So here we go. I looked and those word READINESS appears three times in the Bible, being Acts 17:11, 2Corinthians 8:11, and 2 Corinthians 10:6.  So just to be sure, I will use all three, however 2 Co 10:6 in my opinion is the one for me to focus on. Here we go:

Acts 17:11, These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

            It makes me wonder, how ready are we to receive the Word of God, to hunger for it so much that we search the scriptures daily, to search out if these things written are so?  Or are we satisfied to dust our Bible off and drag it to church once a week?  Do we even LOOK at our Bible during the week?  You know, where our heart is, there is our treasure.  So, where is YOUR treasure? The things of the world, or the things of God?  I can’t answer that for you, but  you need to have a hard look at that, as do I.

2 Corinthians 8:11, but I will start in verse 7 to keep the context of Paul’s thought.

7  Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

 8  I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

 9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

 10  And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. 

 11  Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

            Here, in the following verses after these, it is apparent that Paul was telling the disciples to take up an offering to ease the burdens of those brethren who were in lack.  You see, sometimes we have a WILLINGNESS to give, but following through with the actual giving is where the problem is.  How many times has your heart been moved to give to a good cause, but you put it off, and ended up not giving?  It has happened to me, and I’m a ready giver, so I’m assuming it can happen to others.  Let me tell you, Paul hit the nail on the head in verse 11.  God wants us to be obedient to that which He lays on our heart.  “Now therefore PERFORM the doing of it..”  Yes, you had a readiness to WILL to do it, so now let’s see the PERFORMANCE of that willingness.  So often the heart is willing, but the flesh gets in the way.

NEVER will our flesh agree with our spirit, God created us that way so that when we receive His Holy Spirit, they are constantly in opposition with one another, and God made it so, it is not an oddity that only YOU are experiencing.  No, I suffer with that malady as well.  I have to fight my flesh to obey God, even after all these years, the flesh still wants its way.  And sometimes the flesh wins.  But that’s when we must REPENT and ask forgiveness from our LORD.  Thankfully, He is merciful and quick to forgive, but hey, that’s not an excuse to let your flesh have its way.  The idea is to obey the Holy Spirit ALL the time, not just when the flesh isn’t fighting us too hard.  Now, let’s go to the verse I believe God wants us to focus on today, which is 2 Corinthians 10:6.  For clarity, I will use verses 1 through 7,

 1  Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: 

 2  But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 

 3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

 4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 

 5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

 6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

 7  Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.

            WOW! What a powerful section of scripture!  You see, there is a battle in the spirit realm for the control of our mind.  Our battlefield is not with people of differing opinions than ours.  I see on Facebook how ugly people can get when you don’t agree with them.  But people are not our enemy, even though it may appear so.  Our enemy is SATAN, and he uses his power to influence people to do his bidding. Our battlefield our own mind!  And as it says in verse 4, our weapons are MIGHTY through God to the pulling down of strong holds.  What are those strong holds?  Glad you asked!

Our flesh may want to retaliate against those who speak badly of us or treat us badly.  Our flesh is not our friend when it comes to things of God.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, we have to cast down EVERY thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of or our obedience to Christ.  And believe me, that’s a lot of stuff that hits us daily.  The devil tries to wear us down, and he also tempts us with stuff to disrupt our walk with the LORD.  We must be in readiness 24/7 to cast all the devil’s junk down, and never let our guard down.  Remember,  to be IN READINESS 24/7.  If you can remember that, you will do well.

The heavenly Father loves you, Jesus loves you, and I love you.  God bless!

As usual, when I sit to write, I have no clue what it’s going to be about.  Well, the LORD gave me the title, so now it’s apparent that I’ll be writing about myself, seeing I’m “the least of these”.  It is written in Matthew 25:31-43,

31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

 32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

 33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

 34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

 35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

 36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

 37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

 38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

 39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

 40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

 41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

 42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

 43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

            I’ve spent 29 years visiting the sick and prisoners, not once considering any of those to be “the least of these”, but always esteeming others better than myself.  Why?  I never really had an answer to that, but just did it, because my LORD saw fit to suffer and die for me.  I’ve seen enough suffering in 29 years to more than last me forever.  Suffering isn’t fun, and I’ve had my personal share of suffering as well.  It makes a person have pity on those suffering.  Right now, I’m suffering again from a back injury, and for the last month have had trouble even getting up and walking. Progress has been little, and that’s using liberal doses of God’s Word at that.  So the LORD is perhaps using this to remind me how important it is to go to those who are suffering.

Now of course, I know God hasn’t “allowed this to happen to teach me a lesson”.  God teaches His kids from His Word, He doesn’t send the afflicter to afflict them with pain and sickness.  No, that’s the devil who does that.  Nevertheless, suffering is suffering, and I’m seeing firsthand how few actually reach out and check on people if they haven’t heard from them in a while.  I’m a motorcycle rider for the past 56 years, and obviously, I’m not out riding.  Just a couple hours ago, one of my biker friends whom I haven’t seen in a month called to check on me.  I haven’t been to church in 4 weeks, and not a peep from anyone there.  That tells me I’m failing miserably to impart the love for others into that congregation.  I’ll let God deal with that..

I said all that to say this in this short “epistle”: if you have friends you haven’t heard from for a while, GO SEE THEM OR AT LEAST CALL, because to the LORD, they aren’t the “least” to Him.

Maybe you’re shut in, if so, I’ll come see you if possible and encourage you.  Once again, I’m learning the importance of caring and watching out for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and those who AREN’T your brothers and sisters…..yet.  You see, a caring call or visit can break the stony heart of an unbeliever, and let the love of Christ flow in to the point of they will receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.  End of rant.  Now, you know what to do….just do it.  If they’re important to Christ Jesus, they need to be important to YOU!  After all, in His eyes, YOU’RE not the least of these, actually, He loves you so much, you’re his favorite child.  It’s amazing how the love of God can be so powerful, that each and every one of you are His favorite, even me, the least of these.  God bless you!  I love you, and Jesus loves you!     

There seems to be a question these days “How many is ALL?”  Well, ALL means the total amount of, whatever that happens to be.  The Bible tells us some examples of “ALL”, so let’s have a look at a few of them.

Continue Reading »

Every day we are faced with thousands of decisions to make, some are trivial, such as, should I have Corn Flakes for breakfast, or Cheerios.  Others are much more important, such as, should I stay at this job, or go find another?  We know that if you are a child of God, He wants to help us make wise choices so we can live peaceable lives and be blessed.  But you know man’s heart; people want to do what they want to do, when they want to do it.  And that often leads to some very bad consequences. The Bible says in James 1:5-8, Continue Reading »

Almost every day people receive calls from who knows where, wanting to sell them an extended warranty on their car.  I’m wondering if they cover 25 year old cars?  Not everyone drives a new or newer car.  Most of the time, if you do buy the warranty, that’s the last you’ll ever hear from them.  Most of the time the seller is someplace in India, and if you have a claim, well, good luck even finding the warranty company OR the one who sold you the warranty. Continue Reading »

There are a lot of people who seem to think God puts sickness on us to “teach us a lesson”. Or they say, “Well, God ALLOWS it, doesn’t He?”  That would be like a wife saying, “My house got broke into because my husband allowed it”.  No, there is a thief out there, and the crime needs to be laid upon the thief, not the homeowner.  Christ Jesus said in John 10:10, The thief cometh not but for to kill, and to steal, and to destroy; but I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  Jesus made sure to tell us the difference between Himself and the devil.  And yet today, most Christians can’t tell the difference between the works of God, and the works of the devil.  And that’s how the devil likes it. Continue Reading »

Many people hear a personal prophecy and get all excited and think God is going to just drop everything in their lap, and most of the times, that just isn’t the case.  You see, God requires obedience and action from us.  It is said, If you are a farmer and you ask God for an abundant harvest, you’d better have a hoe in your hand as you pray. Continue Reading »

It’s normal to hesitate when you don’t know for sure what to do, but when you know that you know, then it becomes easier, even if it’s something very difficult to do that you don’t really want to have to deal with. It’s almost like dealing with someone with an addiction; you know that person needs help, but they don’t want it, and you don’t want to be the one to force that change. That’s the kind of difficulty I’m comparing it to. Continue Reading »

With so much bad stuff going on in the world today, it is more important than ever before that we be led by the Holy Spirit of God.  The Apostle Paul wrote a lot about that, and we need to pay attention, because there is another spirit out there leading people, and it is NOT the Holy Spirit. Continue Reading »

One thing we can see very plainly today is the disorder of things.  Governments are out of order, societies are out of order, families are out of order, and it seems the order of the day is chaos.  And yet there is order in heaven, for God is the God of order, not confusion.

Maybe there’s not much any of us can do on an individual basis about our government being out of order, other than pray God’s will be done.  Society has gone bonkers. I saw a comment on Facebook how the prior generation had Wonder Woman, and today’s generation wonders what a woman is. We’re in a mess, for sure.  Everything is out of order, even the pay phones of yesterday.

The Bible, however, is not confused about the order of things. Heaven has order, and once in the past, that order was challenged.  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit being ONE, were in charge in heaven.  But number two, that being Lucifer, wanted to be number One in heaven, and somehow managed to deceive a third of the angels in heaven into backing him to take over the Throne.

While we may think that confusion began here on earth, it really originated in heaven with Lucifer.  And while we think divorce originated on earth because of the hard hearts of mankind, the first divorce took place in heaven, when God kicked Lucifer out of heaven, and put him on the earth.  Now apparently, Lucifer (or Satan as he is known) thought he was in charge of all the earth, and God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, and then created Eve from one on Adam’s ribs, and gave them dominion over all the earth.

We can read about that in Genesis 1:26-28,

 26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

I’m sure Satan wasn’t too happy about being put out of office.  We know by reading in Genesis chapter three that Lucifer, the serpent, came to Eve to reestablish his rulership over the earth.  Now we don’t know how long Adam and Eve were in charge, but I’d wager it wasn’t long at all after they showed up in the Garden that the serpent came calling. We can pick that up in Genesis 3:1-19. You’ll notice a pattern of order by the LORD here:

1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

 2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

 3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

 4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

 5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

 6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

 7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 

 8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 

 9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

 10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

 11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

 12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

 13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

 15  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.

 16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 

 17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 

 19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

            You’ll notice in verse 9 that God called ADAM.  He didn’t call Eve or the Serpent.  The chain of command is God, Adam, Eve, Serpent, IN THAT ORDER.  So in verse 13, after talking to Adam, God called upon Eve.  Then Eve pointed the finger at the serpent, and he didn’t have a leg to stand on.  The order of how God operates was established on earth that day in the Garden.  God did not put Eve in charge.  He put Adam in charge.  And today, women have a real problem with that.  But don’t blame the man.  God put the man in charge. If you want to blame someone, blame God. Good luck with that one….

And right down to the time of the disciples, we read in Ephesians 5:21-33, the Apostle Paul went about to put the families of believers in Godly order.

 21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

 22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

 23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

 24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

 25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

 26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

 27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

 28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

 29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

 30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

 31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

 32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

 33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband

            You can read it there for yourself, argue with God’s order if you will, but it will stand forever.

Even today a certain religion venerates Mary as the Mother of God, and millions pray to her daily, instead of praying as the Bible states, to the FATHER in the name of the Son.  Nowhere does the Bible tell us to pray to Mary, and that spirit seeks to overturn the order the heavenly Father placed upon us, which is the very same spirit that Lucifer had that got him kicked out of heaven.  FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, then the husband/father of the family, then the wife, then the children, IN THAT ORDER.

First off, Mary isn’t in heaven. She’s dead and buried awaiting the resurrection, like every other one who has died.  Secondly, God the Father is in charge, not Mary.

Why am I writing this?  Because I’ve been hearing too many times “Happy wife, happy life.”  God didn’t say that, the spirit of antichrist says it.  And that’s why so many families are miserable and out of order, because they’re out of GOD’S ORDER!  Will it be easy for those husbands/fathers who have rolled over in order to please their wives and keep the peace to put things in God’s order?  Nope! But men, it has to happen.  You don’t want GOD to have to do it for you.

Our time on this earth is short and getting shorter by the day. Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, not the Queendom of Mary.  We’d better get busy and put things in order now or we will never step foot in the Kingdom of God.  Not MY opinion, mind you, but “IT IS WRITTEN…”

It’s being taught in some circles that we’re all equal in the sight of God.  Well, we may be equal in the sight of God, but every family has a boss, and it’s the Father, just as there is an order in heaven.  Just in case you think that nobody should be the boss, go to Walmart and tell them everyone is an indian, and nobody is chief.  You’ll learn about order.  Same with serving in the Armed Forces.  Someone is in charge, and if you mess with that chain of command, things just don’t work right.  Deep inside, whether you like what I’ve said or not, you know I’m right, because I’m telling you what God said, not what Jerry said. The LORD is the God of order, and if we’re His kids, then we’d better submit ourselves to that order. Amen?