NCarolinian

There are many lessons God reveals through His Spirit to me. There are many teachings The Lord unveils as I read His Word. There is instruction I receive from just paying attention to God in life. However, there is perfect timing to consider in certain situations also. These situations are usually not noticed until I see them in life's rear-view-mirror. It is frustrating, even as a Christian, that at times I am on a Need To Know Basis with God.  When Christ was asked by His disciples, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?", the disciples touched on something I have prayed to God about. I have prayed, "God, do you speak English? Do you speak clearly? [and sometimes...] Do you speak at all?"  Christ's answer to them is found in Matthew 13:11-17 .  "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.  (v.11)  Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even wh...

When I think of the word Evangelist, the first image that comes to mind is Billy Graham. His contribution to The Kingdom has been monumental.  Billy Graham had the answer - a choice for Jesus as personal Savior and a continued lifestyle like Jesus Christ.   His influence has led others to countless decisions for Christ. No doubt his reward in Heaven will be awesome!  Another Evangelist I think of is Christ Jesus.  People before the time of Jesus and in the time of Christ were primed for The Messiah with all kinds of conditions besides our fallen nature - sicknesses, diseases, demon-possession, fever, and other ailments. The Lord had Himself to spread as the answer and He did with great compassion and supernatural energy. There are a couple of Book-End Scripture passages that summarize the life and times of Jesus. The first Book-End is Matthew 4:23-25 . The second Book-End is Matthew 9:35-38 . These Book-Ends generally speak to the ministries of Christ's teachings...

Wow! Talk about two opposing forces - the lusts of the flesh and The Spirit of God. Paul speaks about these in Galatians 5:16-25 , he says -  " But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such ...

In every Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) there is an account of John the Baptist speaking about his baptism by water for repentance compared to the coming baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire by Jesus (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 1:8; Lk. 3:16; Jn. 1:33). Let us study Matthew 3:11-12 in particular. “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” In these verses we can see.......   John the Baptist admitting his ministry is not the Christ's ( “I baptize you with  water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. ) That it will be Jesus doing the baptizing of believers  with  the Holy S...

I have always tried to be aware of what I view on t.v., at the movies, and on the computer. This is a practice not only to keep my integrity in check, but to keep my dreams nice and half-way reasonable also. However, according to Scripture, a wonderful life is not required to have really interesting dreams. Joseph, Mary's husband, had quite a few dreams. The interesting thing about these dreams is that they had a spiritual directive element to them. As we look back now in Scripture we might observe - sure it was Father God making certain that His Word became flesh in Mary's womb, relations happened between Joseph and Mary, the family was protected and Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled. However, each time Joseph went to sleep and dreamt, an angel was charged with delivering important instructions for the family. Just to ponder Joseph's encounter makes me wonder if I will ever receive this kind of visitation - an angel implanted in my dreams. In the universe we h...

I am adopted, I am grafted into God's Kingdom.  All people who accept Christ as their Savior have been adopted back into the family of Father God by the adoption price of Christ's blood and life.  Yes, at one time humanity had the correct Father - Yahweh, Jehovah, Father God. However, humanity accepted another bloodline, way of thinking, and personality - the  father of lies. With this decision came  a rebellious nature towards Father God.  A promised ultimate sacrifice for our redemption was made known in Genesis 3:14-15.  Then a first-fruits sacrificial system was established by God to  continually  "accept"  and show favor upon the sinner who did  "what is right" (Genesis 4:2-7) .  We see that Cain and Abel knew this system because they each had their career and time passed within this system which is indicated by the phrase - "In the course of time"  (Genesis 4:2-7) . The Ultimate Sacrifice has come and given His l...

"Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god." ( Psalm 24:3-4 ) Before the answer is even given, the questions themselves lend you to believe that there is someone or some kind of person that can "ascend the mountain of the Lord" and "stand in His holy place" . That belief is answered in the next verse with four criteria for ascension and standing.  Clean hands A pure heart No trust in an idol No swearing by a false god The "mountain of the Lord" or hill as it is rendered in some translations seems to be most commonly connected with Jerusalem or Zion ( Daniel 9:16; Daniel 9:20; Joel 2:1; Joel 3:17; Zephaniah 3:11 ). In the future God will raise this mount higher than anything on earth ( Zechariah 14:10 ). And many from all nations will associate themselves with the Jews because of His favor upon thei...

Lords, servants, Masters, and slaves have all been around since humanity can remember. Having someone in an authority or teacher role while others are in following or student roles can be exemplified in all kinds of relationships throughout the ages. The history of everything, even time itself, has been subjective to someone from the start. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17) Within this relationship of two entities (Higher/Lower), each should know his place. When speaking about slaves, the Scripture says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and r...

Look at the word  Christian  another way, just take away the "a" and you have - Christ-In. "...if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)  - THEN you are a  Christian .  Christ comes in to your life. Believers in Christ have done nothing but have Faith in His Grace.  Christ paid it All. The incredible thing is to realize and stand on all the additional benefits Christians receive by being In Christ.The realization that we have a powerful relationship with the God of Creation, our Salvation, and our future should lead us to the question - now that God is in us what do we find In Him? This is what my research found (not exhaustive). The Christian's righteousness or right-standing with God comes In Christ.  Romans 3:22  The Christian has become alive!  We were dead in our sins, now because of Christ we are alive!  Romans 6:11  ...

I thank God that He has used me in areas such as leading worship, participating in missions outreach here and abroad, and teaching some. My adoption into God's Kingdom translates into a desire to action. He first loved me, now I want and must show Him my love for all eternity, starting back in 1979. Presently my love towards God is a more public format. Again, not to boast about myself, but to brag on God. Growing up I had limited opportunities to share my light and The Gospel. However, now-a-days I have things like this blog, my book ( Angels: More Than Messengers ), and history with a great choir that God has blessed me to minister through. In Revelation 3:12, Christ says,  " The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name."  I...

Damascus and Babylon. These two cities have their destruction highlighted in Scripture. Damascus exists today but has never been fully demolished like Isaiah foresaw. An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. (Isaiah 17:1) So, however the destruction plays out, keep an eye on the news concerning Damascus. The other city, Babylon, once existed, was slowly eradicated and is now being rebuilt. It was a literal city and is spoken of in Scripture as a literal city. "When John wants to indicate that a geographical location is symbolic, he does so clearly (Revelation 11:8). Otherwise, the geographical places in Revelation are literal: Patmos, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Sardis, Laodicea, and Armageddon. With this established pattern of literal interpretation for places, I believe Babylon should also be taken literally." (p. 363, The End , Mark Hitchcock) The city has a quick end forec...