COME INTO THE LIGHT

There is no such thing as good light or bad light, there is just light. There is however a vast difference in how light is projected and the conditions under which it is cast. In the world of photography there are two types of light that can create different moods and situations known as the golden and twilight hour. Golden light as it is known, is so real and striking, that it has its own nature and can become a character in its own right. It conveys true reality and brings a sense of calmness and happiness. It is the truest form of light sought by true light seeking photographers. While the light during those twilight hours has its own beauty, it does not give a true or exact reflection of what is being photographed. It has to be enhanced to create or convey a projection in order to see the beauty in it. Light travels in a vacuum, space or straight line. It bends and changes direction when it hits an object. These are ways that light energy is manipulated.

God is the truest form of all light. John 1:5 explains that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Light is the nature and character of God. He is not a light or a kind of light; He is the light itself. All light comes from Him. At the beginning of time, He created the light to dispel the darkness and chaos that was over all the earth according to Gen.1. Then He created the lights in the sky, the sun, moon, and stars. As light itself and the source of light, He had only to speak and light came into being. Darkness on the other hand represents everything that is the total opposite of God.

The scripture has a lot to say about light as well as darkness. Mankind has an enemy that portrays himself as light and he is the devil. According to scripture, he wants to hide God's light from mankind and works his crafty delusions by using light mixed with darkness to bend, change and create an illusion of beauty and truth as his version of God's will for us by manipulation. 2 Corinthians 11:14, tells us that Satan masquerades himself by "transforming himself into an angel of light". Ezekiel 28 gives some description of him. he was created perfect and beautiful and was full of all beauty and wisdom in his original created form. his name was Lucifer, meaning “Day Star.” God dressed him in the finest jewels and placed him on the Holy Mountain and he was perfect in his ways until the day iniquity was found in him.

 Like humans, even angelic being have free wills. It was by satan’s own desire that his pride in his beauty and abilities overtook him. By her own desire Eve too, was convinced that the tree was desirable (by her eyes) to make her wise in Gen. 3:6.

James 1:13-15 tells us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." satan does not make us sin, he is only responsible for enticing us by thwarting truth and leading us away from the light of it.

Eve had been warned by God in Gen. 2. "thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die". 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" Our enemy wants us to listen closely as he whispers into our mind, taste and see he calls to us, look at this or that truth, as he mixes them with lies to distort, bend, discolor and break down our belief and faith in God and the plans He has for our lives. his primary goal in every attack on us, is to take down our faith with every blow. his forces are hell-bent on his strategic objectives according to Eph. 6:10–18.

The faith of a Christian is God’s chosen channel to bring his saving, sanctifying, strengthening, healing, and delivering grace to the world. If satan can weaken our faith, he can immobilize us, kick us, make us look bad, and use us to mock God. Light and darkness cannot exists in the same place at the same time because light will always cast out darkness according to John 1:5. Remember that! We are in a spiritual war. If the fighting doesn’t get fierce, we are likely not engaged or doing anything threatening to Satan. But if satan is fighting us, he perceives us a threat. Through the promises of Jesus, He will help you to overcome the enemy’s most lethal weapons. But you must first come into the light where He is. Rev. 12:11a says, "And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony." Do you have a testimony?

Hold Fast,

-Ben

 

Apostasy - Part 2

There is a common thread that unites every church that turns from truth to apostasy and that thread is that they have set aside the authority of God’s Word. This is the most well-worn path to apostasy taken by an apostate congregation. Consider the spiritual ground that is lost when the church surrenders biblical authority. If Scripture does not speak with absolute, inerrant authority, the offer of justification by grace through faith cannot be extended to desperate sinners. We have no leg to stand on if we do away with the sufficiency of Christ as the sacrifice for sins, or His authority as the head of the church nor, are we unable to cling to the glorious truth that was imparted by way of the cross. Without these truths, man has no guarantee that God’s wrath against sin has been satisfied. There can be no assurance of faith, no hope of heaven, and no confidence in the promises of God for salvation in John 3:16. Doing away with the authority of Scripture to the authority of men only paves the way for false doctrine and false teachers to infiltrate a church. It invites theological confusion, elevating the words of fallible men over the inerrant Word of God. Romans 1 gives us a true glimpse into what the world will look like once truth has been shut out and God's light is no longer allowed to reflect biblical truth and authority.

The enemy's plan and intention is designed to exchange the gospel of grace for a man-centered system that pollutes the purity of God’s truth. It clouds biblical doctrine with superstition, tradition, an extra-biblical revelation, which all leads to a demonic deception. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees because they were making up rules that were not given to them by God, but from their own corrupt intentions and were laying heavily upon the people. They preached a separate theology than that of what God had instructed Moses to give them. Churches today are so invested in attracting people and I fear that in their attempt to bury their theology under the welcome mat, they are losing any solid spiritual ground that they may have had. That unbiblical model of outreach is the very thing dulling many churches’ ability to reach the world with the gospel. Filling the pews with comfortable, unaffected unbelievers is the fastest way to confuse and corrupt the work of the church. God has not called His people out of the world to chase its trends in vain attempts to seem relevant. The church cannot be salt and light in this world if we are indistinguishable from the very people that we are seeking to reach as described in Matthew 5:13–16.

Sadly, the fate of an apostates not only ends in destruction for themselves, they take those who listen to them and believe their false teachings with them. Speaking to His disciples about the religious leaders of His day, Jesus said, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Matthew 15:14 Jesus affirms that it is not only the false teachers that go to destruction, but their disciples also follow them.

Matthew 13:24-30 explains how in the right time God will deal with apostates. In one of His parables Jesus told the story of a farmer who sowed good seed on good ground, but while he slept an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. Tares are poisonous weeds that look just like wheat in the early stages. But if eaten by a person or an animal, nausea would occur, convulsions, and in certain circumstances, even death! This was a spiteful act of malice by the enemy to do such a thing. The enemy had nothing to gain, except to ruin the wheat crop of the farmer. When his workers realized what had been done they asked the farmer if they should begin removing the tares, and he told them no, that it would be easier to tell the difference at harvest time. He added, that at that point, they would bring the wheat into the barn, but would separate the tares into bundles and burn them. Apostates will always be in the church. It is not always clear as to who they are. Their teaching is so close to truth at times that if possible, even God's elect would be deceived. But O friend, God knows who they are and at the right time will deal with them properly. Matthew 7:21-23 gives us a glimpse of that day. Our churches are full of people who have a religion but they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. Philippians 2:12 tells us all to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Billy Graham once said that his greatest mission field had been the roll books of churches. Many that were brought to Christ through his ministry had been church members. Examine yourself today sweet friend whether you be in the faith!

Hold Fast,

Bren

 

 

Apostasy - Part 1

An apostate is someone who claims to have once been a Christian but renounces their so called faith and denies truth as "absolute truth". They are not simply A non-Christian, who never chose to accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. They are not simply an unbeliever who has yet to receive Christ, nor are they a struggling Christian. There are many people who are Christians who love the Lord and yet, have periods of struggle and disobedience. An apostate is someone who is or has been inside God’s covenant church, rubbing shoulders with true believers and who has professed at some point a faith in Christ only to later consciously and intentionally repudiate their belief in Christ leaving the covenant community all together. A tare amongst the wheat as scripture calls them. That is what an apostate is.

 Some people get confused by these apostates, because they believe this means that they lost their salvation. But the answer is that they did not lose their salvation but rather, never had it to begin with according to Mathew 13: 24-30. This is something that the true Church is always going to face and the scripture warns about it. A church can fall into a state of apostasy through apostate teaching. Churches can descend into apostasy on a wide variety of issues. They deny the essentials of the faith, like the divinity of Christ, the sinless nature and life of Christ, salvation by grace through faith and not of works of man. They succumb to mysticism, worldliness, false teaching of all sorts and a host of other misuses of scripture that are designed to corrupt the church. Be aware of churches whose leaders are proud and boast that their memberships are open and tolerant of all forms of licentiousness as the scripture calls them and even go as far as affirming acts of fornication and immorality and do nothing to condemn them. Sin is not confronted and church discipline is not faithfully practiced in them. Over time, the conscience both individually and collectively grows cold as unconfessed sin becomes the norm, and the church bears no discernable difference from the world. That is a picture of an apostate church.

 A church does not descend into apostasy overnight; the changes are slow and steady. Rejecting Scripture’s authority as the priority is the first step and usually followed by a succession of compromises. Their biblical mindset changes in order to accommodate worldly thinking like: "Maybe we can be more relevant and inviting to the world if we don’t take this verse or that sin too seriously. After all we don’t want people to think that we are judging them" "and besides, God is the god of love". That kind of church is bound to end up attracting the culture rather than edifying and properly equipping the saints.

The dangers of apostasy were warned about in the book of Jude, which serves as a handbook for understanding the characteristics of apostates. Jude’s words are every bit as relevant for us today as they were when he penned them in the first century. Jude tells us the reason that we should contend earnestly for the faith in verse 4. He says, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”. In this one verse, Jude provides Christians with three traits of apostasy and apostate teachers. He first says that apostasy can be subtle. Second, Jude describes the apostates as “ungodly” using God’s grace as a license to commit unrighteous acts. Third, Jude says apostates “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” and in doing so denies the divinity of Jesus.

It is important to remember that ideas have consequences. Satan did not come to Eve with an external armament or supernatural weapons. Instead, he came to her with an idea ("surely God did not mean what he said") that caused her to question truth. The Scriptures say that apostasy will only get worse as Christ’s return approaches. “At that time (the latter days) many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another” Matthew 24:10. In describing the dangers of apostasy, A. W. Tozer wrote, "So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel."

Hold Fast,

-Bren

PEACE IN YOUR SITUATION

God's Word does not flatter us as some would have us believe like, the fairy tale stories that we read to our children at bedtime. The problem with fairy tales is that they subvert reality. Some even go as far as presenting the idea that our goodness and little faith can secure us from our troubles, but the scriptures speak more of the reality that we live in and warns us over and over again, to expect troubles as long as we live in this world. Our faith is meant to prevail us through any hard time that may come our way. Any promise outside the boundaries of scripture only risk modifying the beautiful simplicity of God’s redemptive plan for our lives. Our afflictions come from all points of life's compass, and are far too many to count. Psalm 34:19a tells us that, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous..".  

It is our human lot to find thorns and briars growing in our pathway and even in our lying down amongst them. Psalm 34:19b goes on to say, "but the Lord delivered him out of them all". One day God shall lead his redeemed scathed-less and triumphant from the fiery trials of this world to the next, for there is an end to the believer's affliction, and a joyful end too! None of the enemy's trials can hurt so much as a hair on our head, neither can the furnace hold our spirit for even a moment when the Lord bids us home. But until that time comes, Job 14:1 reminds us that "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." Our troubles may be many in number, strange in their nature, heavy in measure of them, but God's mercies are more numerous, His wisdom more wondrous and His power more miraculous. He promises His children that He will deliver them out of all of them, at His appointed time. While a lawyer can deliver his client from his charge, a physician may deliver his patient from an illness, a banker may lend money until the borrower's pockets are full, and in his heart man can plan his course and set his way, but according to Proverbs 16:9 it is the Lord that directs his steps. Do you ever get discouraged? Sure you do and so do I. In fact sometimes it feels like the world itself is against us, and we are overcome with feelings that "no one really cares" and "nothing seems to work out".

Sometimes we get discouraged because of our past regrets, and sometimes we get discouraged because God so clearly has not answered a certain prayer as we cry out for help, when and the way we want Him to. We pray for sunshine He sends rain. Discouragement is a real feeling, and it’s a real tool the enemy uses to come against us. If you let it sink in, discouragement will press you down, take you out and hinder you from doing what the Lord has called you to do. Yet, in our discouragement, there is hope! Psalms 34:17-18 says, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit." Today sweet friend if you are discouraged and need something more tangible to hold on to, than a fairy tale dream, turn to the One who knows you best and is waiting for you to seek Him with a humble and contrite heart. Get a Bible and dig around, searching through verses. Find verses that encourages you in the Lord. A merry heart does good like a medicine. Proverbs 17:22

Find out what God says about your situation and then trust His Word. It has power to give life, if you let it penetrate your heart. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalms 34:19 I think we often times misunderstand God's way of delivering us out of our trials. We doubt and become discouraged because God does not give us the kind of deliverance we want. While we want out of the situation God may be wanting us to find peace within our situation. You see sweet friend He is the peace that we seek not simply freedom from the circumstance. The most obvious biblical example of the false equation of this kind is in the book of Job. As Job’s family is killed, his financial status in ruin, and his health poor, Job’s friends surround him to convince him that his plight is the result of his sin. Yet it absolutely was not! Job learned to worship in spite of his situation which brought honor to God and blessing to Job. I pray today that if you are discouraged that Jesus will lift your spirit and whisper truth in your ear. Run to Him to find peace in your situation!

 

Hold Fast,

-Ben

 

WHERE DOES YOUR THIRST LEAD YOU?

 

Are you spiritually thirsty today? If so, how would you rate your thirst?  Would you say you are desperate or slightly thirsty? Are you in need of a cup of Spiritual moisture or are you holding out a bucket for a downpour? O to have the most intense craving after the Most High! David cried in Psalm 63:1, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Friend, the dirty wells of this world can never satisfy the deepest need of your soul, Jesus only, is able to quench that desperate thirst that you have and nothing else will or can, satisfy. That is part of God's eternal plan. You and I thirst after Him because He created a spiritual well within our heart that nothing outside God Himself, can fill. Christ departed so that God's Holy Spirit could be imparted to those who will allow Him to come in and sup with them. Living, moving currents of spiritual water never become stagnant, but is always on the move seeking out human souls that need God's nourishment. Not only does living water come inside, it flows outwardly from the vessel that it inhabits to refresh others as well.

Casually wanting a drink of water is not thirsting. We know nothing of real thirst, when tap water is at our fingertips. But when every pore cries, "water"; when our lips swell, when every thought, hope and desire is solely concentrated on nothing but one cooling drink; that is thirst. If not by now, at some point in your life, you too will seek this living water. You may not realize that "living water" is what you seek as the woman at the well in John 4 was seeking and may very well try to fill that seeking with other means and may even find for a while to be satisfied. But eventually, the thirst will return only to beckon you to the well that never runs dry. In the physical realm, water quenches a person's thirst. In the spiritual realm, however, once you have tasted God's living water, while you are satisfied with finding what your soul searches for, you will find that your spiritual taste buds have changed and nothing else can ever satisfy your thirst like He does. In fact, your thirst for fellowship with God is directly connected to how much living water you drink on a daily basis.

Once you have tasted God's water, no other type of drink will satisfy. Our thirst for God is a wonderful tool that God uses to cause us to keep coming back, returning to Him again and again and as we do, we find that His well runs deeper than we could have ever imagined. The deeper we go, the sweeter the water becomes. This is the purpose and the plan for our spiritual thirst. It will draw us to it and as we come to God in the study of His Word and through our praise and prayer life, we find ourselves growing into His likeness being properly nourished and as we do, we walk with the Living God Himself; that is what He desire of His creation; to walk with Him, to Know Him personally and enjoy being in His presence. The more frequent you drink, the deeper and sweeter your relationship becomes and this supernatural experience is incredibly refreshing. Jesus said to the woman at the well, "If you knew the gift of God…" “But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14. Jesus was telling her that if she is constantly seeking to satisfy her body, her spiritual self will languish. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” according to Romans 8:6. Are you perishing today from spiritual dehydration and cannot get satisfied? If so, the problem is never with God's supply, but rather, with our going to Him in humility and brokenness, knowing that He is the giver of what we are searching for. He longs for you to come sweet friend, will you today?

Hold Fast,

-Bren