In church today, we sang one on my favorite songs. The song goes like this. “I’m consumed by the cry of Your spirit. I’m consumed by Your calling on me. And may my life forever be, consumed by Your fire in me.” The service went on this way, “What consumes you?” I began to think about the things that we allow to get in the way of our walk with God. Oh we always think we have a “really good” reason for skipping church this week. I mean we were up late last night, we were so busy getting things done around the house, it’s my only day to sleep in, I have a cold, and…well, the list goes on and on. I wonder what God thinks of our excuses. And just how would we feel if God suddenly had some excuse as to why He couldn’t be bothered with our “petty little lives” today. You see, we always expect God to act on our behalf…whenever we call on Him that is, because, well He’s God, and that’s His job, that’s what He is there for.

But, is that really a “relationship” with our Loving Father, or are we simply “going through the motions” and hoping no one will notice that our Faith Walk really leaves something to be desired. Our God is a loving God, and if we turn and call on Him, He is faithful to help us, but as we choose to step further and further away from a true “relationship” with Him, we begin to get to a place where we call on him less and rely on worldly advisors more and more, and when we really need to press into the Lord, we suddenly find that He has stepped back and let us go our own way. You see, God is a gentleman. He doesn’t force His way on any of us. He gave man a “free will” when He created us, and if we choose to go to hell, well He will stand up for our right to do so. But it will be the last thing He wants for us. It breaks His heart to see it. We are His children, His family. He wants nothing more than to have a real relationship with His kids. He is no different than any other parent in that way, but His love, and a relationship with Him offers us so much more than any earthly parent, because with God, there is only Love. Even when we are in sin, even when we turn our backs on Him, even when we refuse to listen or even give Him 1 hour of our “precious little pathetic lives” each week, He still loves us. He still LOVES us!!! How can that possibly be? Well, it’s because He is the God of second chances. He keeps taking us back, even when we don’t deserve it. It makes me feel very ashamed of myself for the times that I have let the silly, worthless, unimportant cares of this world get in the way of my relationship with my God, my Father. And Father, for those times, I ask your forgiveness.

The really good news is that when we ask His forgiveness, He is faithful to take us back and treat us like kings again. So today I want to ask you this question again, “What consumes you?” Is it God and His love for you, a loving, perfectly wonderful relationship with a Father who only wants the very best for you, or are the cares of this world, and the cares of your little life so far more important that you can’t be bothered…can’t even take 1 hour out of your week; and maybe a little bit of time to read your Bible; to spend time with your God…who gave you your very life. Think about that…..

“[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” Romans 8:1

Before we were saved, we were lost in our sin and condemned to Hell. We had no hope, but God, who knew that after the fall of Adam we would not be able to keep His laws, loved us anyway. Our world had come under the control of Satan, and we were separated from God; condemned. God had to find a way, within the laws that put our world into being, to bring about the atonement that would restore man’s relationship with God. Since the wages of sin is death, and the only one qualified to reverse the curse that had been brought upon mankind, was someone who was sinless and yet human, God had to find a way to bring a sinless person into this world. It would take a long time to find a man on the earth who was willing to partner with God to bring this to pass, because God was now outside of His creation looking in. God would partner with Abraham to bring about a race of people who would be His special treasure and the ancestors of His Son, who would soon put off His Heavenly glory to take on an earthly body, in order to go to the cross to buy back God’s people. He would pay for us with His earthly life, beaten and hanging on a cross, which was the most humiliating way to die in that era. But Jesus loved us and willingly made this sacrifice for us.

Jesus would enter our world, having given up all the privileges of His status in Heaven, as the Son of God. The cross was so much more than simply the shedding of blood. There was a covenant made between God and Jesus, the Son of Man. Blood covenants in Middle Eastern culture are forever. Jesus had taken our sins, our sicknesses, our separation from God and through the shedding of His blood, He paid the price required to buy our freedom from the curse and condemnation. All that was left was for us to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and our lives would be forever changed. We would walk after spiritual things and be free from condemnation forever. The sacrifice Jesus made is free for anyone who will receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Lord, thank you for the atonement for my sins that you have freely given. Now I am a new creation. I am no longer condemned, but an heir to the throne. I receive your salvation in Jesus name. Amen

I am reading a book right now that, were I not a Christian, could put fear in my heart instantly. It is a book by John Hagee called “Can America Survive” and it concerns the end times and America’s place in them. In my head, this book is very hard to read, and my head wants to fear over what I read here, but God’s word says that many things will happen in the end times that could bring fear, but that we are to “fear not” so that is what I will do. Many of the things in this book are happening in this country as I write this. And they are things many of us don’t give any thought to. We often take our freedoms for granted, and too often offer our freedoms to those who have no right to them, because they aren’t even citizens of this country.

That said, I want to address first the issue of the claim that the Muslims make, that they will take over America. If you know anything about their faith, you will know that they are allowed to have as many as 4 wives, and birth control is not an option for these women. So many of them have 15 or more children. So potentially each Muslim man can contribute 60 or more new members each in their lifetimes, and that is just by having children. If they actively try to convert people from other religions, the numbers grow. That said, 1,000 Muslim could grow the Muslim faith by 60,000 or more people in a lifetime, and with that number and how many children they could have…well, you get the picture. Christianity is growing too, but are our numbers equal to those of the Muslims? Probably not.

Another issue to give thought to is our freedom of religion. We in America believe that each person has the right to choose, and that the church should be protected. So as a way of hiding all of their radical activities, the Muslims build mosques. We are not allowed to search these places, or even enter them. So, here on American soil there are places where they can hide guns, bombs, etc, and they are safe from our eyes.

So, what am I getting at? After reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that the Christians in this world must pray for the Muslims people to receive an awakening to the one true God. We all know that we are to pray for them, but we also know how hard that is when they are out to kill us. So, I say, pray for them to have an awakening to the one true God, as an act of self defense…and defense of our nation.

My second point is that the Bible tells us to pray for our leaders. I know that many of you are struggling with this issue concerning our current president, as many of us believe that he is not a citizen of this country and that he is Muslim. Again, I say that Barack Obama (or Barry Soetero) must be prayed for to receive an awakening to the one true God.

I know how hard this prayer request will be for many of you. It will be as hard for you as it was for me, but in the defense of our country and our way of life, and most importantly in defense of our God, we must pray for salvation for these lost Muslim people, our president, and any other leaders federal, state and local that are not saved. The end times are near, and God’s plan will be fulfilled. Every prophecy will come to pass, and our prayers will not change the outcome of the end times, except that maybe, just maybe a few lost Muslims who would have gone to Hell, will end up in Heaven. It makes our prayers worthwhile, don’t you think?