“I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”
John 14: 6
12 “Look, I AM coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22: 12-13
Pastors Noreen & Henry Kevern
We are Called the Children of GOD
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
1 John 3:1
We are the children of GOD, all of us, whether we know Him or not. But not all people acknowledge Him. God created each and every one of us for a purpose and to bring glory to His Name. God spoke and He created the heavens and the earth; He created the stars and the planets; He created the earth and all that lives in it. He created you and me. He gave us an incredible gift, free will so that His perfect love would be displayed in us. This very gift, has been abused by humans and has caused our downfall from God. But GOD did not and has not abandoned us in our low estate. He has loved us and made a way for us to be redeemed. He has never left us alone and is always holding out His hands, speaking to us to come and follow Him. It really is simple; all we have to do is accept Jesus as our LORD and Savior, confess our sins and walk in the way that Jesus walked.
Simple yes, but oh so hard! We have this one thing that gets in our way—pride! We are ever so prideful. We are so full of ourselves that we fail to see GOD in us and fail to listen to His still small voice telling us, “Here is the way, walk in it!”
In the wake of the abundance of violence, people in their pride put blame on objects, on other people, on circumstances but never on themselves. My brothers and sisters, we are to blame for all the violence, the hatred, and the discord that is running rampant in the world. It is time that we stop blame shifting and begin to truly listen to the HOLY SPIRIT living in us. We are so blinded by the world and Satan and we ignore GOD’s hands that He is holding out to us. GOD is love and we were created in love and to be love. But all we can see is hate. Even we who believe that JESUS is LORD and Savior have become sullied by the works of the flesh. We have let so much of the world into our lives that we have lost how to walk with God. We care more about what the world says instead of what God says. We wonder if God is really there and if He is listening. We ask how He can allow such evil that is going on in the world and we blame God when He seemingly does nothing to stop all the hatred, all the bad things that happen. It is time that we stop blame shifting and take responsibility for all the evil that is in life.
We who know Him have this hope inside of us, that all things will come into His will but we have become complacent in our lives. We do not even try to be perfect as He is perfect. We have so much going on around us, the noise and the bustle of life, that we are blinded by the evil one into seeing God’s truth. We are afraid of being different, but my sisters and brothers, we are in the world but we are not to be part of the world! We are to be God’s light, His hands and feet and to walk in His way, His truth and in His life. We have been given much by GOD, He gave His life for ours and so what are we giving Him for such a gift?
I cry as I read and watch the news. And if I am crying because the world has grown so cold, you can bet that there are many others who are crying. We see how fractured the world is; how broken we have become. We see despair, anger, restlessness, so much sin abounding everywhere. We walk in the world and desire fame and riches. We want whatever will bring us pleasure, happiness, fulfilling whatever desire comes into our heads. We allow ourselves to be caught up in what others are saying and forego what God is saying. We allow ourselves to be covered in the filth of sin and do nothing to stand in God’s truth. We as Christians need a revival, a renewal in our lives; we need to wake up and see that our deeds, our very purpose for our lives is not being done; we have not completed the work that God has set before us.
Do you know that God is crying over us?
Christians, wake up! We are so lukewarm in our faith. We have much to atone for. We take ‘turn the other cheek’ as bowing down to the will of the evil one. But Jesus did not tell us to turn away but to stand up and offer our other cheek and not back down from His way, His truth and His life. But He calls us to do so in love. Love is what God is and love is what He is about. God is a just God. He cannot tolerate evil, but we having been tolerating evil. We allow the evil one and the people he uses to control us. We are supposed to be overcomers instead we have become trampled upon and we lie in the dustpan by allowing the evil one to control every area of our lives. We walk in fear instead of faith in God. We allow His Word to be misused and misconstrued by people and do nothing to confront the lies of the evil one. We forget that the devil knows the Word better than we do and he uses his knowledge to confuse us because we are too lazy to read God’s Word and to make GOD the center of our whole world.
My brothers and sisters, let us rise up off the ground and stand firm in GOD’s Word and in His way, His truth and in His life. Let us humble ourselves and pray. Shut the TV off, stop playing games, stop listening to the voice of others and listen to the voice of God. Stop looking at how we look different and focus on being a child of GOD. Let go of what the world says and be reborn again and this time, walk the narrow path. When you watch the news, pray about what you are seeing. When there is despair, pray for hope for those who are lost. Where there is hatred streaming in movies, on TV or in music, do not watch or listen. Stop allowing evil into your lives and instead, focus on GOD and His love, and be His love in this world.
The murders that are taking place are all works of the devil. The devil brought the evil into God’s creation and he has been sowing deceit into our lives ever since. A gun, a hammer, a car, a knife, or whatever else the evil one is using to kill with, is just an object. If any of those things are placed on a table and never touched, one hundred years from now that is exactly where they will be. It is the hands of a person who picks them up and kills. Do you really think that inanimate objects can do anything? Instead of grasping hate, open your hands and drop it. Fill yourself with GOD and His love. Every murder, every person who picks up something in hate and is listening to the lies of the devil will do his will. Because of GOD most people would never think of hurting or killing another person. But those who listen to the devil sow his hatred, his lies and so enjoy doing so. It is time to walk faithfully with GOD and to do His will and be His love with our lives.
Stop listening to the lies of the devil. As Christians, let us stand up and be counted, not pushed down and be blamed. If we live our lives for GOD, we will not allow evil to gain a foothold in our lives. We need to immerse ourselves in GOD and in His Word. We need to live our lives in love and in faith, becoming overcomers of the world and our flesh natures. We need to call everything that God calls a sin, a sin and not focus on one sin over another. We need to be like Jesus and live our lives as He lived His on earth. When confronted with the lies of the evil one, He showed mercy and love. His goal was to take our sins and to nail them to the cross, laying down His life for ours. We need to try harder, to lay down our lives in God: To stop bowing down to the devil’s will and to stand in faith in GOD and in His Word. His Word is truth. God does not see things as we see them because He is perfect and His way is perfect. And God calls us to be perfect as He is. Are we doing that, becoming perfect as GOD is? Instead of getting angry at another person because we do not like what they are doing, we should pray to GOD so that God can come into whatever is going on. By prayer, we allow GOD to speak, into hearts and to give Him the chance to speak life. When the woman was caught in adultery, the first thing the people did was to act like they were so righteous, but in reality, their righteousness was the evilness of the devil. They were trying to sow hate instead of love. They thought they were so righteous but they were not. Jesus saw right through them. He said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” We have been casting far too many stones. We are so fast to see sin in others but fail to look at our very lives. Can you truly look into yourself, allowing the HOLY SPIRIT to convict you of your sins? I know that I am a sinner. But thanks be to GOD that He has not let me stay in my life of sin. When we accept Jesus as our LORD and Savior, we are to be reborn, in Spirit and in truth. We are to put away the old man of sin and put on Christ and to become like Him in every way. I am so very tired of this world. It holds nothing for me. In hope, I am waiting for Jesus to return and to restore us to what we were created to be—living our lives for GOD and in GOD. Every day as sin places itself before me I ask the Holy Spirit to show me God’s truth, His way and His life. Every day, I am learning from GOD, in His Word and in prayer. That is what we are to do, to spend time with GOD, to have a relationship built on love and faith, and to grow out of sin and into His perfect love. I am on my way to being an overcomer, and I am trusting GOD to lead me in His path of life.
Sisters and brothers, let us not continue to allow sin to enter our lives. Let us come before GOD and humble ourselves and pray. Pray so very hard. Today, right this very minute, pray. Pray that GOD’s love will overflow in our hearts and in the lives that we lead. Pray that GOD will use us to be His hands and feet, to become overcomers of evil and vessels of His amazing love.
And let us continue to seek GOD through His Word, His Word is truth. In the passage of the woman caught in adultery, the Pharisees were so quick to condemn. How quick are you to condemn others of their sins? Are you slow in asking the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sins? When Jesus bent down and began writing on the ground, He was giving the Father the opportunity to come into peoples’ hearts. When He straightened up, He was standing firm in the Father’s amazing love. When we accuse and point at another’s sin, look at how many fingers are pointing back at you. These people were pointing at the woman, yelling and screaming, ‘look at how perfect we are. We caught this woman in sin. Let us kill her and rid ourselves of her.’ But Jesus stepped into the middle of this and showed us GOD’s mercy and grace. He told us to look deep into our own souls and let GOD’s SPIRIT convict us of our own sin. And by allowing the Father to speak, Jesus was able to let the HOLY SPIRIT use Him to do the work that He came to do. When we allow God to use us, we are doing what we came to do. We are to be GOD’s love and to love one another as GOD loves us. How often have you looked at another and seen their sin, but fail to look into our life and see our sin? Let us allow God’s Spirit to change us. Let us walk away from hate and walk in His love. When all the people had walked away because Jesus had not spoken in hate but allowed GOD to speak to their hearts, they let go of their hate and walked away. And Jesus being pure love, looked at the woman and asked her where her accusers were. They had left. That is what will happen if we turn the other cheek and allow the Father to come and speak.
My fellow Christians, let us pray without ceasing. In every situation, let us come to GOD and pray. Let us ask Him for His help in whatever we are facing. Let us ask Him for His will to be done. Let us ask GOD to change ourselves and to change others, so that we will be perfect as He is perfect.
So now let us look at the final piece to the woman caught in adultery. Jesus said to her, “Is there no one left to accuse you?” If we pray in every little thing and every big thing that is happening in our lives we will be walking in faith and in GOD’s love. Then we will not be condemned and will not condemn because we will have allowed the Father into our hearts and souls and give Him the opportunity to speak into others by not spouting hate. Turn the other cheek and stand in GOD’s love. Let us be like Jesus and say, “Neither do I accuse you. Leave your life of sin and sin no more.” Do you understand that? We do not continue in sin, nor should we deny that sin exists. Jesus did not condemn the woman but He did point out to her, her sin. And we as Jesus did, point out what is sin as GOD sees sin. And we point out sin in His love. And when we call out sin, let us not do so in hate. Any sin, whether it is hatred, anger, sexual immorality in all its forms, lies, deceit, stealing, adultery, idol worship, despair, worry, not putting GOD first, any thing that comes before GOD or is not of GOD, is sin.
So let us go forth in His amazing love. Let us come to Him in pray and ask Him into whatever is happening. When confronted by hate, let GOD’s love abide in what we say and do. When confronted with sin, let His Spirit speak. In every situation let us walk with GOD. And let us do the work that the Father wants us to do. To believe in the One He has sent, Jesus. Let us walk in His way, His truth and His life. Let our lives be God’s light shining out of us. Let us shine brightly in His amazing love so that the devil will flee from us. Let us stand firm in God and in our faith in Him. And let His Word be our daily bread.
Father, I am sorry for not always letting You enter into every situation in my life. I am sorry that I have not always prayed without ceasing. I ask You GOD for Your help. I cannot do this on my own. I believe that You came to earth and took up Your cross and died for my sins. I am sorry that I caused Your death in this world. But I am so very glad at the same time. Because of Your amazing love, You took my sin. Thank You. Thank You for rising from the dead and giving me hope that I too, because I believe that You are the way, the truth and the life, can come and live with You forever in Your home. O GOD, I want to be home with You. I am not of this world. Help me to overcome all that the evil one places before me and help me to pray to You without ceasing. Father, I love You. Thank You for loving me first. Thank You for being faithful, that when I confess my sins, You forgive me. Help me to overcome my flesh and to be filled with Your Holy Spirit. I make You my LORD and Savior. I ask these things in Your Name, JESUS. Amen.
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