NCarolinian

There are two mountaintops that people, Christians in particular, have their feet on the summit and cannot make a decision which peak to live on - Mt. Fear or Mt. Hope. Hebrews 12:18-24 "18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant,...

Death has surrounded me quite a bit lately. Tanya's Uncle Billy passed away this week, as did a dear sister of our church. Also, my parent's neighbor's husband died two days ago. Then I find myself reading about the many celebrities that are dying and natural disaster deaths and I pause to contemplate. I had left the world of contemplation on death and was deliberating, prayerfully, on some personal matters with The Lord when the Holy Spirit led me to the book of Romans. Specifically He had me read Romans 7:15-25 , with an emphasis on verses 24-25. "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want t...

There are particular parts of the body that God instructs us to guard. These parts are the mind, the lips and the heart. Each of these can influence the other and each can be influenced by outside sources as well. My view of these three has the heart as our will/desires, the mind as the deciding force for our desires and the lips/mouth as the maker of the desire. The key is to include God, The Holy Spirit in every area and all parts in-between for an abundant life . Jesus used the word "heart" as the location of the center of the earth in Matthew 12:40 . Therefore, it is not a very large leap to view the human heart not only as a centered four-chambered organ, but as the center of our inclinations and/or behaviors. In Matthew 13:15 even the inclinations of a group of people were known to be housed in the heart - " For this people’s heart has become calloused;" . On an individual level, just as James had some heavy words about our tongue (mouth/lips) in James ...

Perspective is so key in life, especially in a faith-walk. I was watching the movie "The King's Speech" the other day and the newly found king said, "I'm not a king, I'm a navy man." His position was thrust upon him and he had to deal with all the responsibilities associated with it, in a very short time-frame. However, if he could have gotten a hold of a kingly perspective ahead of time, the transition and position itself would have been a lighter burden. The way I see it (ha), perspective sets the proper context for a situation that is current, past, or future. I have said, "Hindsight is 20/20" or perfect vision, but what I need to say is - "What does the Lord say about this?" His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), therefore His perspective is higher and the view for how we should address any situation - past, present or future - should be screened through God's context for our lives - His Word. I am by no means a pro...

The phrase Like Father Like Son is not always a good thing. I am reading in the book of Daniel and my latest observation sees King Belshazzar making a similar mistake his father King Nebuchadnezzar made. Nebuchadnezzar was prideful and claimed all the success of his empire as his own. This led to loss of his power and position, being driven from the city and made to live like a wild animal for 7 years until he gave proper credit to Yahweh. King Nebuchadnezzar recovered with an affirmation of Yahweh's sovereignty and his kingdom and more were rewarded as a result. The story of King Nebuchadnezzar's son, Belshazzar, had a similar beginning, boastful/prideful, but a different ending. Throwing a party for his nobles, he made the grave mistake of summoning the gold and silver goblets taken from the siege of God's temple in Jerusalem and drinking from them. But Belshazzar did one worse - "As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron...

James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (NIV) "Every good gift and every  perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (KJV) Notice that there are two kinds of gifts and the King James Version makes it a point to separate them out. The "good gift" or agathos dosis in the original Greek speaks to someone blessing another out of the kindness of their heart. The giving was good, therefore the gift was good.  The "perfect gift" in the original Greek is teleios dorema.   That first Greek word  teleios  refers to perfect maturity. The second Greek word  dorema  means right on time bestowment.  Place these two words together and the concept deals with someone bestowing that right thing, at the right time, for not only the situation but the ...

As I read the book of Daniel, I am fascinated with the themes of the steadfastness of Daniel and Company and of the prominence of God's Sovereignty. At the time the land of Judah was taken into Babylonian exile, by King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was a young man, physically fit, handsome, with an aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand and qualified to serve in the king's palace ( Dan. 1:4 ). It is probably with many of these God-given qualities that Daniel reasoned, from Scripture - a long, challenging road lie ahead of him and his three Hebrew friends. The fact that Daniel did not corrupt his wisdom on account of his splendor (nod to Ezekiel 28:17 ) is a lesson that Daniel teaches us that we can ascribe to today in our modern-day Babylon. Notice the difference between a humble vessel of God - Daniel - and an exalted, self-proclaimed king - Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 2, we read of King Nebuchadnezzar's first troubling dream. It haunts him...

Ever since The Fall,  Satan has been killing, stealing and destroying the lives of humans.  Those who are considering or  consider Christianity as their faith must also contemplate the possibility of death because "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)    The devotion of lives to Christ, even unto death, should be expected. Revelation 12:11 speaks of a future time  when a loud voice testifies to that devotion of believers in Christ, even unto death  -   "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb  and by the word of their testimony;  they did not love their lives so much  as to shrink from death. " An old contemporary Christian music group named Degarmo and Key wrote and performed a song called "The Pledge" many years ago. In the song, the lyrics declare - "He died for me, I'll live for Him." It is a wonderful place to be - ready, willing and able to live for Chr...

I really want to meet Paul when I reach Heaven’s shores. His words about the cycles of sinful hardships in life are unfortunately familiar with me ( Romans 7:15-25 ). I am reminded of Israel and how they kept returning to their idols. However, the faithfulness of God was and is everlasting. I physically, emotionally and spiritually feel sad and depressed after rebelling against God. There have been times when I went into a situation knowing it was not right, but did it anyway because of my prerogative. This is like filling the shoes of the Pharisees, the night of Christ’s betrayal, and spitting in His face and mocking all He had to offer. It stomps on His sacrificial high price of His own life for mine. If you sense you have a “thorn in your flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7) like Paul experienced or a “thorn” in your mind/spirit, then recall Paul’s ordeal and take heart. Paul said that a "messenger of Satan" was given to "torment" him and that this tormenting was so...

The days of the caboose are gone. I have noticed all the trains over the last decade at least contain no red end-car or caboose. Whether it is meant to or not - this lack of the end-car gives me a sense of non-closure. I guess one could look at the train another way - you can always add-on a new car. But, at least in this age, everything has it's season then ends - as should a train on a track with a caboose. Closure is important. Closure is healthy. Closure allows for something new to hit "the tracks" and see where it takes you. A lot of our closure is defined by age. Our teens come to a close and young adulthood begins around eighteen. Then from this age, according to the individual and society, there are different benchmarks like manhood/womanhood which are closed by age. For the Christian there is closure on an old life and the beginning of a new one when he accepts Christ Jesus as his Lord and Savior. In the future, there will be closure on this corruptible bo...

I am sure many of you have heard the old saying - "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning." Jesus had similar words of observation for the Pharisees, but highlighted their lack of noticing the fulfillment thereof. Matthew 16:2-3 says, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?" Here, I believe, we have a charge by Christ to be mindful of the signs given for His first coming. How much more should we be aware and perceptive of the signs concerning the Lord's return FOR His church. 2 Peter 2:11-12 encourages us - "what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." Observing the increasing frequency and intensity...