Let us glory in the Lord…

1 Corinthians 1:25-31 (NKJV)
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God–and righteousness and sanctification and redemption–
31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NKJV)
23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

The FOOL hath said in his heart there is NO GOD (Psalms 14:1)

And why?

Because this fool lives for himself.
Because this fool has no hope outside of this cruel world.
Because this fool doesn’t see creation around him and see THE GREAT DESIGN.
Because this fool is ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the TRUTH.
And so many more…

Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Psalm 19:9 (KJV)
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Psalm 111:10 (KJV)
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Proverbs 8:13 (KJV)
13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Proverbs 10:27 (KJV)
27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

Proverbs 14:26-27 (KJV)
26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Proverbs 15:16 (KJV)
16 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Proverbs 15:33 (KJV)
33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

Proverbs 16:6 (KJV)
6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Proverbs 19:23 (KJV)
23 The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

Proverbs 22:4 (KJV)
4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.

Proverbs 23:17 (KJV)
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

Hosea 3:5 (KJV)
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

John 20:24-31 (NKJV)
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

I went to a bee symposium with my wife on Saturday. She is looking at starting a few hives as a potential business or hobby….what I learned below will shock you…Some may have already heard of this but I have not so I thought I would share…

98% of the wild hives have been wiped out across America. Some say so what? I know that was my immediate response. The so what is that without the honey bee there is a severe famine….we can not produce crops without the honey bee. And this plague is not only in America but everywhere. The only place on planet earth where this plague is not yet is Australia. Beekeepers in Australia are actually shipping bees to the US so that we can grow our crops here.

In 2006 the bee industry took a large loss in hive destruction…called Colony Collapse disorder. No one really knows why. Some say global warming ( a professor at Auburn seemed to support this view). Other ideas are loss of habitat from clear cutting and the use of pesticides.

As I watched I couldn’t help but ache in my soul. We are so close to the collapse of our food source and don’t even know it…

Not fear mongering here but hoping that I can get a few Christian brothers and sisters to pray for the Healing of our land. Not just this nation but globally as this is at epidemic proportions.

I learned that some Beekeepers are actually making good money just selling bees and honey making falls secondary….this is to replace the hives that were lost.

While we know of many parasites that attack bees…the industry is working around how to treat for those parasites or why the bee immune system isn’t fighting off the parasite.

Interesting stuff to say the least but if you get a chance to look it up for yourself do so.

There were about 500 people that showed up at Auburn from all over Alabama…the majority of which were new beekeepers as people are understanding the benefits of backyard hives and local communities…even large cities are approving beekeeping in the smallest of back yards….realizing that without the bee…we all starve.

I was taken back from it…it just totally blew me away how vulnerable we really are and that if it were not for God’s mercy we would be without hope.

Lamentations 3:21-26 (KJV)
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Anyway…just thought I would share because this is scary stuff and we need prayer warriors that will stand in the gap for this nation and this world.

Ezekiel 22:23-31 (KJV)
23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

<<<<<<30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.>>> [Let this NOT be said of us.....Remember Abraham did this for Sodom]
31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

Father Heal our land in Jesus Name. Amen.

Isaiah 61:10 (NKJV)

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Malachi 3:13-18 (NKJV)

13 “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the LORD, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts?

15 So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.

17 “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.

Raising the Tabernacle of David:

10 Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said: “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all.
12 Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.
13 “Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name. 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 (NKJV)

David a King that passed it forward…

1 Chronicles 16:1-3 (KJV)
1 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.
2 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.
3 And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.

Isaiah 16:5 (KJV)
5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

Amos 9:11-12 (NKJV)
11 “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this thing.

For David not only gave to his own people but he gave also to the gentiles.

A King of True Compassion and mercy did much the same thing twice. He fed 5000 besides women and children and 4000 besides women and children…and they were all filled.

Matthew 14:14-21 (NKJV)
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Matthew 15:29-38 (NKJV)
29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.
30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.
31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.
37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.
38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

And not only did Jesus feed this multitude that included Gentiles but he also gave unto the Gentiles the Holy Spirit and included them in one In Himself. And testified to it through the Jew Saint Paul and St. James and a council of many others. Saying this:

Acts 15:13-32 (NKJV)
13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me:
14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.’
18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works.
19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
23 They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”–to whom we gave no such commandment–
25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.
31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.
32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words.

And this practice was not new. For God showed Moses this very same thing by sending out a great “mixed” Multitude out of Egypt. They were NOT all Jews.

Exodus 12:37-38 (NKJV)
37 Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.
38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds–a great deal of livestock.

Yet before God gave the ten commandments on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20). He tested them to see if they could walk in his ways.

He tested them by declaring to each person regardless of status a day off. And when they had no food he rained down mannah on them. Some gathered much….some gathered little but notice what they did…

Exodus 16:15-18 (NKJV)
15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”
17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.
18 So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

Verse 17 shows that some had the capacity to gather more. The purpose of which was that even those who were feeble among them would have no lack.

But look what happened to those who hoarded this for themselves…

Exodus 16:20 (NKJV)
20 Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

David supported this same thing showing that it was wickedness to hoard the blessings of God.

Psalm 17:10-15 (NKJV)
10 They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.
11 They have now surrounded us in our steps; They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,
12 As a lion is eager to tear his prey, And like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O LORD, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
14 With Your hand from men, O LORD, From men of the world who have their portion in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.
15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

And Jesus confirmed it as well…

Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV)
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:16-23 (NKJV)
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.
23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

And Jesus’ disciples understood this…

Galatians 2:10 (NKJV)
10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

James 5:1-8 (NKJV)
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

So why do many in our generation reject this? Why do we think we can run after our own gain and not look after the business that God has entrusted to us and empowered us to accomplish.

It’s simple…

Matthew 24:12 (NKJV)
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

Let us not grow cold in this generation but let us move ever closer to God getting close to His fire that we may work the works of God while it is still day being zealous with the fire and passion to please Him in all that we do.

2 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NKJV)
⁹ Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
¹¹ Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

For Jesus is coming back and will set a table for those who served Him by serving others…as it is written…when you have done it to the least of these you have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40, 45).

Luke 12:37 (NKJV)
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when He comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that He will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

Come Lord Jesus.

Amen.

At War…but I have read the last book and in the end we win. Enduring the patience of all the saints…

Micah 7:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.

1 Samuel 17:45 (KJV)
45…Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (KJV)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Romans 5:1-5 (NKJV)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Revelation 20:10-15 (NKJV)
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

It’s been a real long day. But God, He is still on His throne. Amen.

Isaiah 26:3-4 (NKJV)
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.

In Him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28

Acts 17:22-31 (NKJV)
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;
23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. Proverbs 11:22 (KJV)

While this scripture can easily be interpreted by women who cast away their virtue and run after wickedness, I can’t help but to think that this is a message to the Churches of America and even around the rest of the World. The true Church of Jesus Christ is called the Bride of Christ….metaphor for a woman.

My prayer today is that our churches would not be lukewarm churches having the riches of Gold but as it were a pig running back to wallowing in the mire.

There are Laodicean churches among us who have done just that.

2 Peter 2:20-22 (KJV)
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

We can spare ourselves a lot of suffering and shame if we will take the advice of Jesus to the paralytic that he healed.

John 5:14 (NKJV)
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

We are indeed living in a Laodicean age. Let us be careful not to become a Laodicean Church. Hear Jesus’s message to the Luke Warm churches of our generation. These churches were obviously very rich on earth but racked with poverty in heaven.

Revelation 3:14-22 (NKJV)
14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:
15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’–and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked–
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ‘ ”

God still loves his church…even the Laodicean church….He is giving them space to repent.

My prayer is that we will do just that…Repent.

I once was speaking with someone that actually was part of a vote in their church. They voted on whether to have revival services or a Bar-B-Q. The Bar-B-Q got the vote.

We need to wake up and pray for revival knowing that the Holy Spirit is grieved. We need a great awakening to the person hood of the Holy Spirit. He is not an it or a force. He is a person that is one with the Father and the Son. Let us be careful not to grieve Him and let us ask Him to take first place in our churches and return us to the work that God prepared beforehand that we should walk therein.