THE SNARE OF SIN

Sin is Repugnant to Me

Isaiah 59:1-2; Habakkuk 1:13; Hebrews 4:15; John 8:3-11

Yes My people, nothing will ruin your effectiveness as a Christian more than losing your sensitivity to the seriousness of sin in My sight. These days it is more fashionable to call sin by other names_behavioral excesses, quirks, hang-ups, frailties, distinguishing traits, or even sickness.

If only you could see sin as I do. Because of sin, Adam was cut off from fellowship with Me in the Garden of Eden. His childlike love for Me was replaced with sickening dread that I would destroy him for what he’d done. He began to view Me from a warped perspective. It has always angered man that I cannot tolerate sin, that I can’t “ease up” on it just a little bit. People are, after all, “only human”.

My Son was born into this world as a human baby. He was faced with all the same temptations to sin as any of you. You have often found other people a challenge to your patience. Jesus was tempted in the same way. Other children considered Him a bit odd because He would not join them in their after-school pranks. Some threw rocks at him, but He never retaliated in anger. He was even teased because He enjoyed doing His share of chores, while other children He knew would grumble about doing theirs.

As a young Man, He became acquainted with His ultimate destiny as the sin-bearer Who would become the final Atonement for straying sinners. I gave Him the inner fortitude to bear up under this sobering revelation. He knew inside it was not My will for Him to marry as other men did. The other villagers even thought He was peculiar on that count, for it was considered a sacred duty for all healthy males, especially the firstborn, to marry and beget offspring to carry on their family name. Jesus and His cousin John the Baptist broke with that norm. Their lives on the earth would be of short duration. Moreover, My Son had a higher destiny: a heavenly Marriage with the true Church at the time of the Rapture.

Although Jesus knew these things, the devil even did his worst to tempt Him in the area of lust. There were women in His area who had no scruples whatsoever. They certainly approached Him as they did any other young man. Most men who turned them down spat on the ground in disgust. They were harlots, considered lower than dogs. My Son looked beyond their degeneracy and pitied them. As He looked upon their hard, brazen countenances, He realized their rough exterior was only a desperate defensive mechanism. These outcast women had been robbed of tender hearts. They were afraid to appear vulnerable in a world which denied them love. Jesus looked past their jangly ornaments and provocative paint, and beheld My shattered image in them. He longed to save them and give them a new life of holiness and purity. Either these harlots would be moved to tearful repentance by His gentle admonitions or they would laugh in His face for being too virtuous to resist their charms. This never caused My Son to detest them; instead, He was saddened by their impending destruction. He was most angry with those who had mistreated them throughout their lives and contributed to the ruination of their souls.

There were many affluent men who considered themselves upstanding members of the community and staunch members of the local synagogue. Yet they would patronize these pitiful women on the sly, even girls young enough to be their own daughters or granddaughters. These men prided themselves on their knowledge of God’s laws, yet they cared not that they were leading young souls down the slippery path to hell.

Afterward, to “make things right with God” they would offer up an animal sacrifice at the Temple. I remember one smug sinner, who after cheating on his wife in such a vile manner, offered Me an expensive, hand-picked bullock without visible defects. He did not realize how much I loathed His gift. In My eyes, it was a tainted offering, for it had not been given out of a contrite heart. He just wanted to be able to boast that he never committed a sin “without paying for it properly”. The man walked away from the Altar thinking, It was well worth it. She was so much fun, and even God got something out of it. Such wicked men further angered Me by their attitude toward the women they had abused. These adulterous hypocrites despised their own harlot consorts because in those days, a woman’s sins were considered to be far worse than those of a man. Jesus made My views known on that point when He said to a crowd of men wanting to stone an adulterous woman: “Let the one without sin be first to cast a stone at her.” That crowd was full of murderous, adulterous, lying, cheating scoundrels. Some of them had even patronized prostitutes on the sly. These depraved men certainly did not want My son to expose them before their cronies for the hypocrites they were.

Grudgingly they all dropped their stones and went home to sulk.

That forgiven woman became one of my most devoted followers, for she gave back to Me the life I had saved from destruction.

Sin distorts My image in you. Sin makes you less than what I meant for you to be. Sin stirs up wrath and wars. I can never condone sin, for sin violates My own Law of Love.

The sins of the world put the nail prints in My dear Son’s Hands.

Now do you know why I hate sin so much?

The Governor’s Reprieve

Psalms 14:1-3; Romans 3:23

Some people wonder why I wait so long to put the wicked on trial for all they’ve done. The sad truth is, I found all mankind guilty of sin a long time ago and fallen mankind has already been condemned to death.

Every unconverted man or woman, and every child who has awakened to an awareness of sin is already condemned to eternal separation from My presence because all have sinned and fallen short of My Glory. This world is sitting on death row.

Your only reprieve from eternal death is to accept the Governor’s pardon and walk free from the prison cell of sin.

God’s Warning to the Unrepentant

Isaiah 66:24; Matt. 18:6-9; Mark 9:42-48; Luke 16:19-31

I the Lord am the only escape from that fire which is to come, a fire far worse than could ever rage in this world, an everlasting fire which is as inextinguishable as My just wrath against all wickedness.

Why do I hate sin and perversion so much? Because it destroys innocent souls which I have made in My own image. Daily I am grieved at the bloodlust of evil men. By day and by night the cries of innocent babes and children arise to My Throne. I hear the screams of little children victimized by brutality and by the lust of men so evil they are beneath the vilest beasts of the earth. I am well able to restore purity and peace in precious souls who had to suffer in such a world as this, but I can do nothing for those who refuse to forsake their sins.

I see many people in middle age and old age reminiscing with loved ones and friends about the pranks they pulled when they were young, the mean things they did to others in the name of “fun”. These perverts still make sport of the ones they victimized. They laugh and joke about the lonely soul they singled out for derision and isolated in the freezing solitary cell of utter loneliness.

Well, I have news for such sinners. Hell is a furnace of fire, but it is also a place of utter loneliness. Billions of bullies will end up in hell for their wickedness. Every last one of them imprisoned in that dark region of torment will feel a rejection far worse than they inflicted on their fellow human being. They will feel the icy cold of desolate loneliness clawing at their cruel hearts. And the presence of other sinners in hell will provide no relief for their well-deserved punishment!

I say to such ones: Don’t brag that you’ll be throwing wild parties in hell, and all your friends will be down there too. When you’re crying with remorse and need comfort, they’ll be unwilling and unable to comfort you because they will also be in the same wretched state of torment. Love and caring will be totally absent in those who gave their whole lives to victimizing others. They will be utterly wrapped up in their own miseries. Every last vestige of civility will have faded from their personalities, and they will, in hell, be finally stripped of their masks. Their wild savagery will be manifest for all to see, and by then they will be beyond all hope of redemption from a condition of sin which will be permanent. Every trace of what passes for goodness will be utterly gone like a mist faded away, for those debauched souls will not have founded their lives upon that One Whose righteousness alone is enduring.

When there are no innocent souls available for them to harass, the wicked will make each other’s hell even worse by showing their true colors: mean and selfish beasts who exist only to stoke the fires of their perverted lusts.

The worst punishment in hell is I won’t be around to comfort anybody who chooses to go there!

No Skin Off My Back?

(Gen. 3: 1-6; Psalms 129:3; Isaiah 53:5; II Cor. 11:3; I Tim. 2:14; I Peter 2:24)

“Do it just it once,” an unconverted friend will whisper. “No one will ever know. You gotta live a little. The store detective isn’t looking this way. It’s so small, they’ll never miss it anyway. Just take one puff, to be sociable. It’s no skin off God’s back if you tell a little white lie. Your wife will never find out, and I’ll never ask you again. If you really loved me, you’d...”

The devil used the same pitch on Eve. But what was circulating in his deranged mind and what he was saying out loud to her were two entirely different things.

In modern vernacular he said: “Listen, dear, I’m on your side, and I’m looking out for your best interests. You’re such as bright person, with so much potential for growth and development. It’s time to expand your horizons, spread your wings and fly. Just take a little nibble, and see if I’m right.”

His real thoughts: Come on, eat, you stupid woman. So you and Adam really think you’re destined to rule over the likes of me? You’re mere mud sculptures! Come on now, make my day. Take a bite, and the rest of the plot will be a breeze.

Her halting reply: “But God said we mustn’t eat from, or even touch this tree, or we’ll die!”

At that, satan used a little psychology on her, to make the tree seem all the more desirable. “God,” he insinuated, “really doesn’t have your best interests at heart as I do. In fact, he’s only jealously defending His own territory, fearful that another being will usurp His position as the All- Wise One. He wants you to remain perpetually locked in your infantile, dependent state of existence. He has a sick need to keep you down, just to make Himself appear all the more glorious. He Himself knows it would be no skin off His back if you took just a tiny taste, and you yourself know that this tree is so prolific the piece of fruit you pick will immediately be replenished, and He’ll never miss it.”

Satan was really thinking: I’ve got her now. Just look at the eagerness in those starry eyes. Ah, she’s taking the bait. Now she’s sinking her teeth deep into her own death. She looks quite pleased with herself, hardly aware that the brightness of her form has muted, and the shadow of death is already cast upon her countenance. But now her smile is fading, and her strength is diminishing. She sees now that the Glory is departed from her, and fear is gripping at her vitals.

Once he had vanished from Eve’s sight, he continued to observe her, laughing at her frantic pleas: “Serpent, come back! Oh, I’m so frightened! You must help me!”

She almost flung the remainder of the fruit away. But now, in her fallen state, she would unwittingly play a tragic part in the ruination of future generations of mankind. Her powers of reasoning had been warped by that one act of rebellion against Me. She would see it it that Adam also ate, and doom himself to join her in exile from Paradise.

My, how the devil laughed at the two of them! He congratulated himself for killing two birds with one stone, as Adam also fell into sin, and all of mankind with him, except for the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was begotten not by a human father, by Me.

Those dense mudballs, the devil thought. The crown of God’s creation, huh? Too bad, God, You lose! Satan really did think he’d won a prize I was powerless to redeem from the clutches of his dark kingdom. He didn’t count on the stubbornness of My love for those precious souls whom he disparaged as “dense mudballs”. He had no idea of the great sacrifice I was willing to make to redeem them from death.

People tempt Christians with the same diabolical line: “Just this once. It’s no skin off God’s back. But it was skin off the back of God in Christ as He suffered a terrible scourging in Pilate’s Judgment Hall to restore the peace which that “one little bite” cost the descendants of Adam and Eve.

The Thorn

Hebrews 6:8

Sin is like a thorn stuck in the bottom of your heel. It can seem small and insignificant. But if you don’t bother to get it removed, it just digs deeper and deeper. It impedes your walk and burrows deeper into you to cause pain and destruction. It becomes so deeply entrenched that the cure becomes more complicated and more painful.

I Am Lord

I am treated like a constitutional Monarch by lukewarm believers who are keen on their own watered-down interpretations of My Word. A believer can choose to shut his ears against My clear instructions, pretending not to hear Me at all. He’ll decide for himself the limits of My jurisdiction over his life. Such a headstrong individual wants My Kingdom to be a democracy, rather than a theocracy under My Lordship.

Some saints who once were on fire for Me and My Word grow so cold they limit Me to being a a divine figurehead they pray to on occasion for help. Otherwise, they tell Me in so many ways to mind My own business and let them live THEIR lives as they see fit_forgetting that I have purchased them with My own redeeming blood. And there are those who treat me like their own personal butler, where they call Me when they need Me to do something to make their lives easier. Once I have served them, they give Me cursory thanks at best, dismiss Me by tuning Me out like a TV, then get back to earthly concerns. Such careless believers treat Me as if I’m part of the furniture. Never, Never, never lose your sense of awe and reverence toward Me, or divine chastisement might result to straighten out your flawed concept of just Who I Am. I Am the One Who sits upon the Throne of Heaven, Who rules over all creation, and Who calls you to be My servants as well as My sons. Never lose sight of the fact it is an unspeakable privilege that I treat you also as My friend, that I go so far as to share the secrets of My very own heart with you. That ought to incite deep thankfulness, as well as exuberant joy in your heart. Treat Me as your choicest Treasure, the most unspeakably wondrous Blessing in your life, ever approaching Me through the Blood of My dear Son Jesus, because I am Holy, Holy, Holy in every aspect of My triune Nature.

I must be the One and only Captain of your ship. Otherwise, your life is headed for certain shipwreck.

I Never Change

Isaiah 55:9; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; James 4:4

I am the Lord. I never change. I cannot, I will not lower My standards of ineffable holiness to conform to the depravity of mankind. My ways are infinitely higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts, saith the Almighty God. My judgments are unsearchable. Indeed, human imperfection cannot endure the Presence of My Glory. Yea, the very angels who attend My Throne modestly lower their pure eyes as they commune with Me face to face. For they are created beings though sinless, and must bow before their Creator Who shines with an infinitely greater Brightness.

The humblest streets of Paradise are immaculate beyond all earthly standards of cleanliness. Not one dust particle defiles their utter purity. The garments worn by My redeemed saints shine with the brilliance of blue-white light. These garments neither fade nor wear out with age. For these My precious ones have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and their holiness is reflected even by the garments they wear.

There are no relative standards of holiness. Adultery is always adultery, regardless of the underlying circumstances which give rise to it. Fornication is fornication. Lying is lying. And they who die in such sins shall not inherit My Kingdom. Instead, these souls shall be cast into outer darkness with the devil and his demons.

My wrath must shortly descend like lightning upon this corrupt world. For thousands of years My Hands have been outstretched to this evil world, pleading for sinners to respond to My offer of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. I have restrained My Hand of judgment throughout this present dispensation of grace and offered mercy to Adam’s fallen race.

The greater part of humanity has treated My overtures with either gross contempt or indifference. The world goes on warring, whoring, looting, lying, stealing, killing, and blaspheming just as it always has. Indeed, the world is even more vile now than it was when I unleashed the Great Flood. I say to My earthly saints, you must never partake of the evil spirit of this present age. Far better to be ostracized by the world than to have to stand before Me tongue-tied wiith shame, devoid of an excuse. For truly, those who love the ways of this present world are at enmity with Me.

Lessons From Lot

Genesis 18:16-32; and chapter 19; Proverbs 4:23; Luke 9:62; 17:32

Abraham was a righteous man who walked with Me and did his utmost to keep his distance from wicked Sodom. His nephew Lot typified the believer who doesn’t want to seem fanatical or out of sync with those around him.

Abraham was unselfish and considerate. When he realized that he had to part ways with his nephew so their their cattle and sheep would have sufficient pasturage, he offered Lot first choice of the land.

Earthly-minded Lot immediately chose the fertile plain around Sodom. Abraham would remain in the Land of Canaan with his flocks and herds.

The devil isn’t stupid enough to think you’ll set foot in Sodom all at once. At first, Lot simply pitched his tent at a safe distance outside the city. Still, he gazed upon the place with longing eyes. His heart was in Sodom before the rest of him moved there! If the devil has your heart, he’s already won.

Before long, Lot was living a cozy life in Sodom. Being a righteous man, he was very troubled about the depraved moral condition of the city. But he felt unable to make much of a difference. Had he not shuddered at the thought of returning to the rigors of the pastoral life, he might not have remained under the influence of that city. The devil can use the comforts of the flesh to keep people in bondage to him.

Eventually, Sodom and her four sister cities came under attack. Lot and his family were taken captive, along with other residents of those wicked cities. When a saint compromises with the devil, he is weakened by sin and taken captive by his lust, just like an unbeliever!

But his Uncle Abraham had not compromised with the world, but remained separate from it. He was strong in the Lord. He took some well-trained men and went to rescue Lot. The enemy was vanquished. Lot was set free, with all he owned restored to him. Believers who are strong should wage spiritual warfare to liberate saints taken captive by satan.

The King of Sodom was so grateful he offered to reward Abraham for his valor. But Abraham told him he wouldn’t accept anything from him, not so much as a shoestring. Abraham would not be contaminated by anything from Sodom, and he didn’t want the wicked to be able to boast that they had been the source of his wealth. While Lot was eager to enjoy all the benefits of life in wicked Sodom, Abraham held all its treasures in disdain.

Instead of taking that experience as a warning to consider his ways, Lot returned to the city. Some believers are content to remain weak witnesses to what the devil does in society, instead of becoming strong witnesses testifying of My saving power.

Wicked Sodom did not give thanks to the God of Abraham for its deliverance. Instead, it grew still more evil and debased. I got so disgusted with the perversion and cruelty of the Cities of the Plain that I decided I had to utterly destroy them. Sin can so consume a person or society that it is past all hope of redemption!

When Abraham learned of My intention, he pleaded with Me to spare Sodom for the sake of Lot and any other righteous people who might be living there. At length, he pleaded with me, wondering how many godly residents Sodom would need for Me to change My mind. At every turn the number proposed by Abraham and agreed to by Me decreased. Fearfully and finally, he asked Me if I would change My mind if there were only ten righteous people in the city. I said I would spare the city if even ten righteous could be found there.

Abraham left the negotiations somewhat confident that Sodom would be spared. Surely ten upright individuals could be found, even in that sordid city. Even random probability would dictate that, reasoned Abraham.

Sodom was so sold out to wickedness that there were no absolutely no restraints on degenerate behavior. Two angels were sent to Sodom to warn Lot to leave immediately, with his family. Soon all the perverts in town were gathered outside Lot’s house, demanding that Lot turn the angels over to them for their sinful gratification.

Lot felt helpless in the face of such an onslaught. He offered to throw out his own daughters, in order to spare the visitors, but the crowd would not listen. They said Lot had no right to tell them how to live, and they would assault him, too. Any believer who traffics with the world and partakes of its evil culture soon loses his courage and fears the devil. Satan will laugh at you if you sojourn in his spiritual territory!

The angels struck the crowd of perverts with blindness, so they were unable to harm Lot. The angels told Lot to go warn anyone who might be related to him. He went to warn his sons-in-law, but they only made fun of him. If you refuse to take a stand for righteousness now, your witness to unbelievers will be in vain when the day of judgment looms!

Lot had narrowly escaped homosexual attack, but he was still was reluctant to leave the city with the angels. By then, he’d grown so used to life in Sodom, he actually feared being set free from the devil’s domain. If you remain long enough in satan’s domain, you will develop soul ties to sin which are hard to sever, and the devil will imprison you with fear! Satan deceives his captives into thinking they can easily make a break with sin any time they choose.

The angels had to take Lot, his wife, and two daughters by the hand and lead them out forcibly, they were so loath to leave. Furthermore, the angels commanded Lot and his family not to look back as they fled to the city of Zoar. But Lot’s wife looked back with longing at the home she’d held so dear. She perished in the overthrow of the Cities of the Plain, and was turned into a pillar of salt. Many who have escaped the pollutions of this world through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ are even now looking back to their own destruction!

Lot and his daughters had no sooner found shelter in a cave than the two girls cooked up a diabolical scheme to ensure they wouldn’t end up childless. Both of them, on succeeding nights, got their father drunk so they could rouse lust in him. Lot fathered his own grandsons, Moab and Ben-ammi, progenitors of the Moabites and Ammonites, peoples whom Israel would later war against. Lot and his daughters had gotten out of Sodom, only to take some of Sodom with them. Children pay dearly when their parents sojourn in Sodom!

Lessons From Solomon

Deuteronomy 7:3-6; 17:17; I Kings Chapters 2 -11; John 12:43

How glorious the beginning of Solomon’s reign was. Here was a king far wiser than any of his contemporaries, and far richer too. In the beginning Solomon had a humble heart. He confessed he was of tender years, and petitioned Me for the wisdom he needed to govern such a great nation as Israel.

I did much more for him. I gave Solomon far more wisdom than any other mortal who had lived before him, or any who would live after him. I gave him untold riches and honor. I promised him a long life, if only he would walk before Me as David his father walked.

Things went well for awhile. Solomon’s subjects were proud to have such a wonderful sovereign. Under his reign, Israel enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, with “every man sitting under his own vine and fig tree”. So long as he obeyed Me, Solomon’s Kingdom was free of warfare with surrounding nations. I even gave him the privilege of building the original Temple on Mount Zion. At its dedication, Solomon prayed a wonderfully spiritual prayer, after which I filled the whole House with My Glory.

But Solomon began to lose sight sight of all I’d done for him and his people. He got so caught up in the pageantry and magnificence of his life that My still small voice of warning was drowned out. It wasn’t long before feelings of insecurity began to gnaw at Solomon. He was afraid that in spite of all his greatness he might be toppled if he didn’t retain favor with his friends. Solomon made political alliances with other nations by marrying their princesses, because he lacked confidence that I could protect his nation from attack. In all, he married upwards of 1000 women, although I had clearly commanded that kings were not to multiply wives unto themselves. These wives and concubines turned Solomon’s heart away from Me.

It is a myth that abundance of riches bestows a sense of security. Every rich man knows deep inside that money cannot buy true love, or keep it from straying away. Solomon maintained his harem in exquisite luxury. Because of unwise ties with the heathen, Solomon was afraid to refuse his wives anything they wanted, regardless of what it was. He feared these women might grow cold toward him, and his political alliances might be weakened if word got out that he wasn’t keeping his wives content.

Solomon relaxed his vigilance in keeping My most basic statutes in order to appease these vain, silly women. Instead of teaching them about the One True God, he had shrines built to accommodate vile demonic gods which were an abomination to Me, and had no place in My Holy Land. He had reached the point where he loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

When I am demoted to second place in any person’s life, disaster always results. Because of this gross sin, I stirred up foreign enemies to annoy Solomon all the rest of his days. I took most of the Kingdom of Israel away from his dynasty, and Israel was split into two rival nations, Israel and Judah. Israel, which encompassed the northern Ten Tribes which had seceded, reverted to gross paganism. The history of the Kings of Judah wasn’t much better. It saw periods of apostasy, chastisement, then revival, followed by a relapse back into apostasy when the lessons of chastisement were forgotten. Because of idolatry, both nations were eventually driven into exile.

Beware of idolatry in any area of your life. It cuts you off from My protection, and brings certain judgment.

Satan Binds and Blinds

Judges chapter 16; John 15:5; II Timothy 2:25-26

The devil did not appear to Samson as an ugly ogre, but in the guise of a beautiful woman. The enemy was very subtle about it. He got Samson used to dallying with ungodly women long before he forged a bond with Delilah. Samson had a special anointing on his life, but fraternized with the heathen in a way I had specifically commanded Israel not to do. Samson’s moral sensibilities had become so jaded he was like putty in her hands. This winsome, charming lady, with her graceful airs and alluring perfume easily took this strong man captive with her feminine wiles.

Samson fell into the same trap many believers do. He had scored many triumphs; but through his own careless way of living he’d drifted away from reliance on My ability, and leaned upon himself instead of Me.

Samson felt powerless to break off his relationship with the Philistine Delilah. This brawny hulk of a man got himself into spiritual bondage to this dainty woman. She nagged him day and night, wearing him down, till he told her the secret of his strength: As a Nazarite, his hair had never been cut. One who is in captivity to satan has no rest day or night, as the enemy wears him down by inches.

For years Samson had flirted with the enemy, but I in My mercy did not immediately remove My power from this man. I gave him chance after chance to come to his senses and repent. Finally, Samson’s last link with his anointing was severed by the scissors of his godless consort. That was when My Spirit of Power left him, along with My strength.

He awoke from slumber, saying: “I will easily throw off my enemies, just like I always do.” But I said in My Word, Without Me, you can do nothing. What a shock it was to Samson when Delilah’s comrades in crime were able to easily bind him and blind him. Satan binds My rebellious children, and blinds those who have refused to let Me guide their journey through the darkness of this world.

The devil is the cruelest taskmaster. Those who refuse to obey Me automatically serve him! Samson was forced to grind corn for his enemies. Serving the devil is a grind which goes nowhere! Like a beast of burden, Samson walked in a circle endlessly, day after day, turning a heavy millstone, hardly pausing even to eat. He was in a rut.

During that time, he came to his senses. He pleaded with Me for mercy and forgiveness. He asked no special favors of Me, except to be avenged of his enemies for the loss of his two eyes. Physically he was blind, but spiritual sight was returning to him. His hair was growing back.

At last Samson was leaning not on himself, but entirely upon Me. At the time of his death he dealt the enemy a far more devastating blow than he’d done during the the sum total of his wayward career.

How To Get the Whole Wide World to Accept You

Matthew 7: 13-14; John 15:19; James 4:4

Reject all moral absolutes.

Entertain evil companions.

Just go with the flow.

Evil conversation.

Compromise your principles, if you have any.

Talk about and taste the latest sinful fads.

Join the crowd.

Emulate the idols of the crowd.

Stand for nothing of eternal value.

Urge others to follow your example.

Say “no” to Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

How to Get Me to Love You

Isaiah 55:1; John 6:37; Revelation 22:17

Just come to Me and let Me love you freely.

Just What do You Mean by “Love"?

Psalms 2:12; 11:5; 97:10; Amos 5:15; Matt. 18:15-17; Luke 13:3; John 2:13-17; Romans 1:18; 12:9; Gal. 6:1; I Corinthians Chapters 5 and 6; 16: 22; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; I Tim. 5:20; Titus 1:13;

Hebrews 12:1, 4; I John 3:8; Jude 23; Revelation 19:11-16

Oh, the pusillanimous, wishy-washy preaching spewing forth from politically correct pulpits! Doctrinal drivel devoid of divine discipline is mass-marketed as “love” in My Name.

Once, it was permissible to preach fiery sermons against sin, so long as you remembered to love the sinner and seek only his salvation. Whereas the majority of present-day churchgoers are taught that they should overlook moral decay in fellow parishioners in the name of “love”, I taught in My Word that you ought not to even eat with such an individual. Before the great apostazing away from the Truth as taught in My Word, the faithful pastor sometimes would publicly admonish a morally corrupt brother or sister when efforts to reason with that one privately had failed. But he would do this difficult thing not out of a sense of superiority but in a spirit of humility and godly fear, and in the wisdom of My Spirit. And as he thundered against sin from the pulpit he would trust the gentle Holy Spirit to convict the hearts of those guilty of besetting sins.

Jonathan Edwards loved his congregation enough to warn his parishioners in graphic detail about the peril backsliders were in. He emphasized that only My mercy prevented people from sliding into the pit of hell, not the ground they stood upon. He spoke in an even, controlled tone of voice, but his words were infused with a strong anointing of power. His listeners trembled with godly fear. Many repented of their lax attitude toward the solemn worship of God.

Today, a great majority of ministers are afraid to violate a widespread societal taboo against preaching absolute truth. The devil has cowed them so much they’re afraid to denounce the sin which is damning millions of souls to hell. Weak, whimpering pleas have replaced the thunder in the prophet’s voice. Acts of moral corruption strongly and unequivocally branded as abominations in My Word are excused as “alternate life-styles” which ought to be tolerated in the name of “love”. Rowdy children run wild, wreaking havoc wherever they go, even in the sanctuary. They draw barely a mild protest from their parents, who have been robbed of the right to discipline them in love.

One compromising minister after another is subscribing to the latest false doctrine: Since it is sin to hate sinners, it is even wrong to hate the hatred they inflict on their victims. “Loving” people is all you are permitted to do, and you are obliged to tolerate their sin until they decide they’re ready to change!

Suppose you spot a huge bully beating up on a four-year-old child. How can you possibly construe from any scripture that it’s a sin to hate the hatred motivating the bully’s attack? Just who is really the source of the bullly’s hatred? The devil! What would be your response, especially if you were strong enough to step in and defend the child?

Some might say: You can’t fight fire by pouring more gasoline on it. The child ought to turn the other cheek, even if he’s crippled or killed by the bully. Just quietly tell the bully Jesus loves him and say you’ll pray for him. And remember_smile! Jesus always did.

What dribble! What kind of a signal do you send to satan and his people when you let him do his dirty work unopposed? Would it be an act of love for you to stand silently by in the Name of Jesus and allow the destruction of an innocent child? What idiocy, to teach that you must not hate the devil-induced hatred which both kills the innocent and ruins the life of perpetrators of violence!

Gross hatred exists in this world between diverse races, religions, and ethnic groups, and between individuals. That is a sin, along with every other kind of sin which sent My only Son to the Cross. Why shouldn’t you hate the works of a devil you are not obliged to love? My Son sure did. He came to destroy satan’s works, not endorse them with a loving smile. He was gentle, but he warned sinners: “repent or perish.” If you’re a follower of Christ, you’ll hate the works of the devil too, and war against them, while still loving the sinner. And indeed, you must differentiate between hating sin and hating the sinner! Sinners who are under demonic delusion are mere puppets of the devil. And those who refuse to turn to Christ in repentance allow the evil one to orchestrate their thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

You cannot truly love righteousness without hating unrighteousness. Nowhere in My Word do I forbid you to hate satan and all his evil works. How can you be victorious in your battle against satan if you don’t hate him enough to want to strike blows against his foul kingdom? Christ didn’t die for the devil and you are not obliged to turn the other cheek in forbearing love toward him or what he decides to do to you!

As for appearing angry, Son certainly had no qualms about hating the way sinners desecrated My Holy Temple, which He loved with all His heart. He chased them and their livestock out with a whip, shouting strong rebukes at them. And, no, He didn’t do it with a whimsical smile. He got real mad. Not because he hated those greedy men, but because he was angry about the corruption in the House of God. He was angry with the priests, who enriched themselves at the expense of the poor. They hadn’t committed this dastardly deed out of ignorance, either. Those learned men were the leaders of Israel. They had access to the Scriptures. They should have kept even the Outer Court of the Temple holy as a place of prayer for all nations.

Jesus was furious about the collusion between those racketeers and the priests. Both the priests and the stall owners were enriched by the livestock trade going on in the Temple. And the priests were expert at twisting the Scriptures to justify their graft and corruption “in the Name of God”.

I was concerned about those men who had been misled by the corrupt priesthood. I longed to rouse them from their dangerous stupor of indifference toward My Holiness. Far better that they should lose a day’s profits and smart from a verbal chastisement than that they race unhindered toward hell because of a faulty idea that love is always passive and soft-spoken.

Job: STILL Misjudged

Job 42:7-8; Ezekiel 14:14, 20; James 5:11

Job still stirs controversy among religious folk. He was a good, upright man who walked in My ways and showed generosity to the needy. His walk with Me was a vital testimony to all his neighbors, even to those who later turned against him because of his trials. Although I commended him for the patient faith he displayed in Me, he is often cited by “faith” teachers as an example of failure in the School of Faith. In reality, they dislike Job because his written testimony throws a monkey wrench in their pet doctrine: Play the game by the rules and the goodies will never fail to come your way! He who dies with the most toys wins!

Some heresy teachers even vilify my servant Job by relegating him to their Faith Hall of Shame, rather than the Faith Heroes’ Hall of Faith, as cited in Hebrews 11. They say that because Job had very human fears to contend with, he was operating the principle of “faith-in-reverse”, which brought about all his calamities. Basically, these so-called experts deny that I was still in control when satan asked Me for permission to try his faith. I would have said no, had there been no divine purpose for allowing his ordeal.

Fear can indeed be the undoing of true faith. But unscrupulous Prosperity teachers have terrible fears of their own to contend with every day. Deep down, some are afraid that they ARE teaching truths twisted into heresy, but don’t want to “open a can of worms” by admitting it must be so. They fear that a lot of naive sheep will one day come to their senses and realize they’ve been had, and have sent their teachers money for many years, but their big windfall never did come.

These misguided teachers would do well to cultivate the Fear of the Lord and repent. Many of them are fully aware they’re sinning, but they stand to lose too much money by admitting it. So they go on deceiving baby Christians and older believers too set in their ways to change. Besides,they would feel greatly humiliated by telling the truth. That would amount to a frank admission that they were spitirual bunglers who had mishandled the Word, or that they were spiritual burglars robbing My people.

Those who are truly charlatans would never wish to participate in the workaday grind of earning an honest living. They close their eyes to what I am about to do, although deep in their darkened hearts they know that a Day of Reckoning for the Prosperity Racket is coming. With one flick of My little finger their multi-million dollar empire, built on shifting sand, could be toppled. Indeed, everything founded on lies will be swept away in a flood of My indignation.

Laboring Among Tares

Matt. 10:14-15; Mark 6: 5, 10-11; Acts 18: 32-33; 19:9; 22:18; II Tim. 3:5

I see so many of My children wasting all their ministry time struggling to win arguments with skeptics who are only giving them the runaround. Or they find little opportunity to do wonderful works in My Name because a cultural barrier exists beyond which “religion” may not be discussed, much less practiced.

In many places of the earth ritual “prayers” are offered up to some deity on various occasions to mark milestones in a person’s life: some feast day, some initiation into a religion, a physical rite, a marriage, a death, a funeral. Then when the “prayers” are finished, the participants go back to their comradely chatter and laughter, their lives quite unchanged.

It is useless to stand quarrelling for endless hours with such people, who have no interest in experiencing the real thing; people who go through the motions of existence but shut out the message of how to find real life in Christ.

Beloved, the time is perilously short. Don’t struggle in a field of tares any longer, pulling up stubborn weeds when I would move you on to where the wheat is ripened to the point of falling off the stalk with ease. Green fruit is difficult to pluck, but ripened fruit is much easier to gather.

If you discern that you are laboring among tares rather than wheat, ask Me to move you on.

Don’t Ever Be Ashamed to Ask

Galatians 3:3; Hebrews 4:16

Mature saints are often ashamed to have to come to Me to ask forgiveness of sins. They think that since they’ve walked with Me for so many years they should be well past the stage where it’s easy to stumble into pitfalls of the flesh; so they perceive it as an agonizing humiliation to come before Me and confess they aren’t so perfect after all. Indeed, you will need My grace to overcome the weaknesses of the flesh until the day of your glorification, when you are changed into the sinless likeness of My Holy Son.

Oh, My beloved, I am not ashamed of you at all. You have nothing to hide. I love you, and the precious Blood of My Son cleanses you from sin of every kind. The very fact you care indicates you are growing more mature. It would be a far greater disgrace not to come and confess your sins so I can blot them all out. Nothing is to be gained by self-sufficiency. You began your walk with Me by acknowledging your own helplessness to save yourselves, and you must continue it by leaning on My everlasting arm.

Eggshell Love

Matthew 24:12

Unbelievers’ disdain for the Word of God is evident by the way they live. Where it concerns marriage, if they marry at all, they tend to “try before they buy”, and the spouse, especially the woman, who gets rejected after being “tried out” feels depressed, bruised and used after the sordid affair.

Now, all too many church-going believers “buy before they try”, thinking My grace is so cheap that they can call casual divorce and remarriage a “grey zone” instead of a hard-and-fast sin against My Love.

In fact, any “love” in such a relationship is as fragile as an eggshell, not the rock-solid love I have toward you. While each Christian partner confidently expects Me to be patient with his or her own imperfections, they are so selfish they withhold that same compassion from one another. Each spouse knows deep inside that in spite of the thoughtfully written, beautiful-sounding vows exchanged at the altar, they are merely on lifelong probation with each other, and there is no real commitment to forging an enduring family bond with one another. They undertake, rather, a conditional contract. Both know they are living under the dark shadow of divorce, which rears its ugly head when one or both partners decide they aren’t getting what they want from the other.

When you stand at the altar and promise to love one another, pray for the grace to love with My Love and to see one another through My eyes of mercy.

The Forsaken Foundation

Malachi 2:11-16; Matthew 19: 3-10; and 22:35-40; Romans 13:10; Hebrews 13:4

Even My disciples asked Me if it was permissible to divorce a wife for just any reason at all. My reply shocked these compassionless men.

I told them in no uncertain terms that God’s original intent was one woman for one man. Moses only permitted writs of divorce to be issued to unwanted wives because those pitiable women needed legal protection to enable them to get on with their lives. That society was imperfect; full of selfish, hard-hearted men who were utterly dead to the higher Law of My Love.

The foundation of the Jewish Law was this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Love fulfills the Law.

My disciples got in a dither when I told them that adultery can be committed even against women, who were considered second-class citizens in ancient times. Indeed, My altar was covered with the tears of forsaken wives and families. My offended altar could not receive offerings from the hands of evil men who despised My forsaken daughters who appealed to Me for help. These sinners were quick to forget that I had daughters in My Family of Faith as well as sons, and they were no less precious in My sight. It was even debated whether a woman possessed a soul. Those who prided themselves in their maleness often uttered a ritual prayer thanking Me that I had not created them as a heathen, a beast, or a woman.

The same exhortation to faithfulness applies to women who are tempted to stray from their husbands in order to pair up with someone more exciting. You tread on dangerous water when you disparage the value of your marriage partner, and you ruin your own testimony before the world. When you so sin against one of My children, you touch the apple of My eye and will by no means be accounted as innocent in My sight.

The Husband of One Wife

I Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6; Hebrews 13:4

I have even found cases of unrepented-of betrayal and remarriage among so-called pastors who ought to set an example for their flocks.

She is old and tired-looking, such a sinner thinks. Or, She does not cut so svelte a figure anymore after having the kids. She was a real cutie when I first married her, but now she looks shopworn. She has put on weight. She just doesn’t have the sparkling wit of that other woman in our church. I need that other woman to polish my image, to “serve God” as a more suitable complement for my ministry. After all, how can I move up in prestigious Christian circles if my wife doesn’t LOOK the part of glamor and prosperity? If I don’t seem to have the product, how can I peddle it to a lost person sitting out there in the pew?

God will forgive me as usual. There will be pain but it will pass. How can I sell Jesus to the people if they associate Him with a dowdy frump? Oh, I know a few fanatics in the church will threaten to leave, but let’s face it. They don’t contribute much to begin with, so who needs them anyway?

This slick charlatan is out to preach his own brand of deliverance. He means to convince carnal churchgoers that they need to be liberated from their lacklustre, unglamorous, second-class, humdrum, cosmetically-challenged circumstances. Who is a more effective mascot for his tawdry ministry than his young paramour who smiles like an angel?

it infuriates Me to behold daily such flagrant abuses of My grace. My blessing does NOT rest upon this type of illicit union! Shall My people do evil, supposing that good may come of it?

Forgiveness is always possible for the truly repentant soul, but My chastisement inevitably follows such grave transgressions. Remember David, who very nearly forfeited his own soul and hope of eternal life because of his adultery with Bathsheba, and his murder of her husband Uriah. At first the taste of sin is sweet, but the cost is always bitter.

Part of the penalty an adulterous minister pays is that the very image he is so eager to embellish and safeguard is marred by sinful flesh. This presumptuous transgressor is broken upon the Rock of broken law. He will become a reproach among his own brethren in the congregation, and a laughingstock to the sinners he is striving to convert to Christ. For truly it was not the image of the Redeemer he sought to perfect in his life, but that of the world spirit which has infiltrated lukewarm, liberal congregations.

David’s Damaged Authority

Numbers 32:23; II Samuel Chapters 11, 12, and 13; Proverbs 17:25; and 19:13; Romans 6:23

David found fleeting pleasure in those stolen moments, lying with the wife of one of his most loyal army officers. The young Bathsheba felt a mixture of bewilderment, awe and shame. Just why had he asked her to come lie with him? Didn’t the King have many other wives and concubines to satisfy his longings? Did this great ruler’s authority, she wonder, even extend to taking any woman of his choice, whatever her marital status? What would her long-absent husband Uriah say, if he should find out? And once he came home to her, how could she ever look him in the eye again? Surely her beautifully expressive eyes would let him know something was amiss.

As she was about to discover, something else would give her dark secret away. There were signs in her body which portended the birth of a child_and it was not to be Uriah’s. He had been gone from home far too long.

David began to sweat when a courier brought some upsetting news. He had gambled with his body and hers, and lost. It had taken just one sin session to get them both into this awful mess. What could he do now? There seemed to be but one answer, however distasteful it was to him. Get Uriah home at once!

On the pretext that he wanted only a detailed report on the progress of the war with the Ammonites, David had Uriah dispatched from the battle front to the Royal Palace. After conferring with him just long enough to avert suspicion, David dismissed him to go home and spend the night with his wife.

But Uriah foiled his King’s plot. The next morning, David discovered that his conscientious army officer had refused to go home, preferring instead to sleep in the army barracks. He would not, he said, enjoy the pleasures of home while all the other soldiers were out on the battlefield fighting for their country.

David resorted to desperate tactics. That evening, he invited Uriah to dinner and got him drunk. But it didn’t work. Uriah just wouldn’t go home to sleep with Bathsheba.

By now David was beside himself with dread of what was to come. He could be deposed as King, or even stoned to death for adultery, along with Bathsheba. Now sin had come between him and his God. David knew He could not ask the Lord to help him deceive Uriah, because His ways are infinitely higher than those of man, and He would not aid and abet his sin. Name-it-and-claim-it theology would not have provided an easy way out for David.

David sent a sealed letter by courier to General Joab, instructing him to set Uriah at the forefront of the fighting, where the battle was hottest. The first phase of his plan worked. Uriah was killed almost immediately, and David thought his problem was solved. After a respectable period of mourning, he brought Uriah’s grieving widow back to the Palace to be his bride. Surely, he thought, no one would be any the wiser after the baby was born. People might even think it was his own child born prematurely.

But Nathan the Prophet knew the truth. He told David a shocking parable, which forced the erring King to own up to his sin. David tearfully repented and was forgiven, but was told he would have to be severely punished.

Trouble began immediately. David’s little son fell sick with a high fever. David fasted and prayed for seven days, but the child died. David’s reputation was besmirched. His foes gloated over his humiliation. The very atmosphere of the Palace began to be soured by strife. There would be no peace there after that, only thinly veiled hostilities between rival factions. Some of David’s wives, sons, and courtiers quarrelled over who would ascend to the Throne after he died. Spying ears were hard pressed against doorways throughout the Palace, and no one felt truly secure. Through David’s great sin, evil spirits of hatred, vice and contention had been unleashed upon the royal court, and would be deeply entrenched for generations to come.

David sat dejectedly on his Throne. Never had he had known greater heartache. His villainous son Amnon had pretended to be sick in bed. What was wrong? the King had asked. Stomach ache, Amnon replied; from overindulgence, perhaps, but perhaps a change of diet would aid his digestion.

Undiscerning to the danger, David had been duped into sending Amnon’s beautiful half-sister Tamar to the schemer’s home so she could bake him some honey cakes to help him feel better. Amnon lured his godly sister into his bed chamber and violated her. Afterward he threw her out of his house in disgust.

Now was the awful moment when Amnon must face the King’s judgment. Amnon knew that this time his indulgent dad might not go so easy on him. He’d better keep his wits about him, he thought, and do his best to pacify the old man. This was an extremely serious offense he’d committed, a felony punishable by death. His cunning brain got to work, and he hit on a solution. He had a real ace up his sleeve for sure!

Never in his entire life had Amnon seen the King so enraged over anything. He began to shake. He hoped he wouldn’t have to drop his big bombshell to save his skin. That could be dangerous.

This time it wasn’t his amiable dad calling him in for a paternal chat; this was the offended King of the Realm sitting in judgment on a capital case. After David finished giving his despicable son such a blistering sermon that he feared for his life, the lad whimpered: “Who are YOU to talk? YOU made me into what I am! YOU know what YOU did to get Bathsheba_or have YOU already forgotten? YOU didn’t have to die for YOUR sin. YOU didn’t even lose YOUR throne! If YOU got off so easy, then why shouldn’t I? Whatever punishment YOU inflict on me, YOU should also suffer YOURSELF!”

David reeled from the hammering blows of those words. He remembered how the Prophet Nathan had stood before his Throne, and told him that damning parable about a rich man who’d stolen his poor neighbor’s only pet lamb to kill and cook for his dinner guest, rather than slaughtering an animal from his own vast flock. The prophet’s ringing indictment reverberated through his mind: YOU are the man!

David’s expression melted from lionlike indignation to deep penitence. Amnon’s insolent rebuke had hit its mark, and stung the King’s heart heart deeply. Here he was, King over the Lord’s Heritage, with the power of life and death over all his subjects, and he had just lost authority in his own home. His own son didn’t reverence him. All David could do was meekly mutter: “You’re right about that, son. Who am I to punish you?”

Amnon smirked with serpentine satisfaction. Now things were going his way, he thought. His father was subdued. He was no longer yelling insults at him. He seemed rather composed now, meek as a lamb. Amnon thought he’d won, that he was off the hook completely.

But David wasn’t quite finished castigating the impudent lad. “I cannot lay my hand upon you, perverse son of wickedness. Indeed, your crime merits punishment far worse than any mere man could visit upon you. It is true I am unworthy to mete out such terrible retribution as you deserve. You have judged rightly, son. I, who protected my sheep from the perils of the wilderness, have led you astray. I must answer to God for what I’ve done, but don’t flatter yourself by thinking no evil shall ever be visited upon you. You also must face the Judge of all the earth, that One Whose ways you hold in contempt. You shall be punished as I am being punished, even by the Hand of the Most High.”

“Truly my sin was a sin worthy of death. But because I have humbled myself before my Maker, He has blotted out my transgression, great as it was, and He has redeemed my soul from the Pit. In mercy He has allowed His unworthy servant to remain upon this Throne, which is rightfully His. And once He sees fit to depose me by death, He alone shall have the right to decide Who occupies it thereafter.”

“Naturally, Father, it must be I,” said Amnon nervously. “I am your first-born son, am I not?”

“You were my rightful heir, Amnon, but no more,” said David wearily. “It is not for me to say who shall get what is the Lord’s to give. The Lord has already chosen a man to sit upon My Throne when I am gone.”

Greatly unsettled, Amnon sputtered, “But, Sire, I’m still your first-born son! I have a right to reign on your Throne! You’re no better than I am, and you know it! Where, in heaven’s name, is the justice in all this madness? Or, have you already reserved the Throne for Bathsheba’s latest son?”

David winced, struggling to control his temper. “Amnon, you have forfeited your own inheritance as firstborn son, even as the Patriarch Reuben did when he lay with his father’s concubine Bilhah. Regardless of which wife I cherish the most, only the Hand of God shall set one of my many sons upon the Throne of Israel. Moreover, you are a fool to think that this Throne could ever shield me from the awful judgment which is yet to descend upon my head. All the wealth of my kingdom was insufficient to redeem the life of my innocent little son who was struck dead by the Hand of the Almighty because of my folly. God only knows who else must die because of me. And through your sin, my house has been struck again with sorrow. My desolate daughter might as well be dead. Indeed, her heart has already withered because you killed it. As for me, death would have given me too quiet an end. No, but I must live to pay for the theft of my poor neighbor’s little lamb, and be requited in kind for the innocent blood I shed to cover up my crime.”

Amnon raised his eyebrows and shrugged. He plucked some grapes from a fruit bowl. All this to-do over a mere woman, he thought, giving his father a vacuous look.

“Do you not care,” inquired David, “that your mother now bears the reproach of your sin; that ever since the terrible news reached the Palace, she and Maachah have been at each other’s throats, and my other wives and concubines have been quarrelling, taking sides against each other in the matter?”

“That silly flock of hens,” chuckled Amnon. “Always cackling and pecking at each other. Women are like that. Never mind, Father. They’ll tire of quibbling over it soon enough.”

Fire rekindled in David’s eyes. “You fool! How DARE you speak to me like that! After all your mother suffered with me in the desolate wilderness of my exile, do you think she deserves such an arrogant ass as you for a son, heaping yet more affliction upon her head? Were it not for the high esteem in which I hold this good and decent woman, I would thrust you through with my sword at this very moment!”

Amnon cringed. It would not do to rouse the ire of this seasoned old lion of war. “Oh, please, sire” he whimpered. “I spoke out of turn. I’m so sorry for upsetting the womenfolk. I swear, I’ll say nothing more to offend you. And,” he added diplomatically, “God grant you respite from all the turmoil of this place!”

“Oh,” sighed David, “ that I could flee this quarrelsome place and take refuge in the hills of Judah, there to tend my docile flock once more. But that is not to be. You, Amnon, are a pestilence sent to vex me and afflict me for what I have done. I must remain here to be tormented by the likes of you. No, I cannot escape God’s righteous judgment. In great fearfulness I await the full measure of my just punishment which is yet to descend upon my head. Daily I live in dread of it. Had my fate been placed in the hands of my enemies, I would long ago have been slain. I live, rather, to endure the chastening of My Maker. Oh, that I could flee and find rest! Even so, Sheol itself could not hide me from Him, for there is no place hidden from His sight. All my ways are open and manifest before Him.”

A tear stole down David’s cheek. “You do not fear God, son, nor do you seek His pardon. I know in my heart that even if I were to offer up ten thousand bullocks today on your behalf, the Lord would not accept one such as you. I fear that He is even now your enemy, and that you shall die even before I do.”

Amnon’s face whitened, but he dared not voice his thought: Surely my father is growing more fanatical and fear-ridden by the day. “Oh, surely not, Sire, I’m in the best of health.”

The King was a broken man. “Please go,” he sobbed, his head bowed. “ I fear for you so much I can no longer be angry with you. The sight of your face makes me sick. A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him. Go now, and leave me alone in my sorrow.”

Amnon slinked away, muttering that David wasn’t fit to be King of Israel, and just let him or his God try to stop his ambitions for glory.

But Amnon was stopped. Tamar’s equally ambitious, and hot-headed brother Absalom held a grudge against the King for leaving Amnon’s punishment in God’s hands. Not even the whispered rumor that Amnon might have been demoted as heir to the Throne quenched Absalom’s burning lust for revenge. To David’s great grief, he lived to see his lascivious son murdered by Absalom, who fled to Geshur, homeland of his mother Maachah. Absalom later took advantage of his father’s merciful nature so he could return to Israel in order to stage a revolt. What indescribable agony to David’s sensitive soul, just knowing his own son hated him enough to want to kill him!

How Absalom broke his father’s heart. Absalom hated David for sparing Amnon’s life after the outrage perpetrated on his sister. He drove him into political exile and went hunting for him to kill him_the very same trials David had suffered at the hand of King Saul in his youth. Absalom mustered an army to try to seize the Throne of Israel by a military coup. This was one of the worst trials of David’s life, being persecuted by a treacherous son who was bent on murdering him to get his throne. Absalom succeeded in persuading many of the choicest warriors of Israel to join in his rebellion against his own father. Moreover, he insulted his own father by seducing ten of his concubines. He knew full well this vile deed would be interpreted as a claim to the Throne of Israel.

But Absalom’s diabolical bid for power was unsuccessful. For his insurrection, he was executed by General Joab. His tender-hearted father was grief-stricken for the rest of his days.

Death is the wages of sin. Sin robs saints of victory and authority, and is an open door for the devil to oppress them in every area of life.

Satan’s Mirth Turns to Rage

Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:24; 37:24; Hosea 3:5; Romans 5:20

What exuberance there was among satan and his infernal underlings when David fell into the greatest peril his soul had ever known! “We got him!” they all shouted. “If we can get him to fall, then we can get anybody to sin!”

The devil had been determined to prevent Me from keeping My promise to Abraham to raise up a Deliverer through his lineage, and especially through the Royal Tribe of Judah. And now he thought victory was in the bag. He felt certain that I was so furious with David because of the size of his sin that I couldn’t possibly forgive him. Surely I was bound to end his dynasty forever, and the Messiah could never be born through him.

Satan licked his chops, thinking that now David, son of Jesse was a goner. Gleefully he anticipated David’s death, and the day he would be dragged by demons into hell for his sin. The devil truly hated David above all men who were alive on earth at that time. The sweet songs of praise David had composed on his harp were excruciating torment to satan. The devil had been enraged when his earlier attempt to murder David with King Saul’s javelin thrust was unsuccessful.

Yes, in that terrible hour of David’s disgrace, the devil was very glad that David had not died in his youth. He thought for sure David was destined for eternal destruction. But when I forgave David for his sin, the devil was first amazed, then incensed. He simply had not counted on Me being able to forgive a big sin. A tiny peccadillo, maybe even theft or manslaughter. But never a sin so mind-numbingly sordid as David’s. It’s not fair, thought satan. After all the strings I pulled to set David up for that big fall. How could God do this to me?

The devil is extremely vengeful. He hated David more than ever for escaping eternal damnation, and he detested Me all the more for pardoning David and keeping him on the Throne of Israel.

David was not lost to me, but for the rest of his days the enemy wreaked havoc in his home. What merriment it brought to the enemy to see David struck time and again by domestic and national calamities.This poor man felt like he was a ball being kicked around by forces beyond his control. He often wept, pleading with Me to set limits on the awful sufferings he must endure. How it grieved My heart, knowing I had to allow the consequences of sin to play themselves out in that dear saint’s life. Only when David died did he know lasting peace. Only then was he completely at rest from the fiery darts of the Prince of Darkness.

How great is My grace. If it made satan angry when I forgave David, how galling it will be to him when I resurrect this one whom I called “a man after My own heart”, and appoint him to rule over mortal saints once again in the coming Kingdom of God.

Christ: A Lamb And A Lion

Psalms 7:11; 97:10; John 1:29; I Cor. 16:22; I John 3:8; Rev. 2:6, 5:5; 6:1; 15; 19: 11-18

Some Christian scholars make the mistake of trying to cram Me into a box of their own making, which doesn’t extend beyond the limits of their own understanding. This may seem contradictory, but Christ is portrayed in Scripture as both a Lamb and a Lion. It is a common misconception that I am so meek I never raise My voice and never get angry, even at the worst sinners. My love, it is thought, simply won’t permit that. I am expected to be a quiet mouse standing helplessly by on the sidelines watching satan do his dirty work unopposed.

For thousands of years I have exercised restraint toward this wicked world, giving all men an opportunity to turn from their sins and choose life eternal. I came the first time as a sacrificial Lamb to atone for the sins of the world. But My lamblike nature doesn’t make Me hate sin any less. Why would I have come to this earth to destroy the works of the devil if My patience and tolerance knows no bounds? Why shouldn’t you and I hate what the devil is doing to condemn souls to an eternity in hell? You are called to be a spiritual warrior, not a nodding diplomat holding peace talks with the devil!

Soon I am returning to take My rightful place as King of kings, and it is then the Lionlike aspect of My nature will be fully manifest. I will uproot the wicked from this planet, and cast them into outer darkness, because they hated the Light and fought to snuff it out. Light cannot co-exist peacefully with darkness, anymore than a brothel can be consecrated to be used for My glory.

Hate the sin, but love the sinner. By all means, warn such a one. Many will continue to scoff and throw My gracious offer of salvation back into My face. Some consider the consecrated Christian a crank and a nuisance to civilized society. But when I shall appear to take My loved ones out of this decaying world, countless sinners will curse themselves for being so blind to the truth.

Don’t ever let some well-meaning “Bible expert” tell you it’s not okay to hate evil!

Resist Sin For the Right Reasons

John 8:29, 46; Matthew 5:27-28; Hebrews 2:13-18; and 12:1-11

As your Heavenly Father, I take great pleasure in watching you grow in grace. It thrills Me whenever I see a heartfelt desire in one of My people to become more like My precious Son. You know in your own heart that He did not avoid committing sin just because He feared doing so would result in His own destruction. He avoided sin because His relationship with Me meant more to Him than anything else, because he loved My Word, and because He was unwilling to walk contrary to the divine nature within Him. In His incarnation He partook of flesh and blood in order to live a life of perfect obedience before Me as a Man, and to finally take that sinless life and offer it up as the only acceptable Sacrifice for sin.

There are many Christians whose first love for Me has slipped away. Just like a small child, the double-minded believer will sometimes resist temptation to sin just because he is afraid he would be chastised for it. Therefore he will just barely keep himself from giving in to adultery, although he will cheat in his workplace or school, or commit what he thinks is petty theft. Just barely he will overcome the urge to swear at the driver who is going too slow in front of him. Inside he is screaming curses, though. I look upon the heart, not merely outward behavior. I often have to discipline believers who, in reality, harbor resentment at My restrictions, though they do their utmost to conceal their ugly attitudes from Me. Alway