APRIL 2012

We have a pond behind our house and we see Canadian geese all the time, but every now and then we'll see a mallard, road runner or a blue heron. When one of these birds are across the pond they are hard to see with the naked eye. So we keep a pair of binoculars handy so we can see these beautiful creatures that God has made. We have to keep turning the lever on the binoculars until the birds can clearly be seen - until they come into focus.

 

Bringing binoculars into focus reminds me of what Jesus said in Matt. 6:22 "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. In verse 23 He went on to say "But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light ...

 

The Platters have a classic song called The Great Pretender. The song was remade by several other artists over the years; including Dolly Parton and Freddie Mercury. 

 

There is a real life, genuine great pretender and he is also the great deceiver. This being deceived Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden and he has deceived billions of people and he is currently deceiving billions more today. This great pretender is known as Satan, the Devil (Revelation 12:4), Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12), the father of lies (John 8:44) and many other names.

 

Unfortunately, Satan pretends to be an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). But do not be deceived: the devil is actually a thief whose purpose is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). 1 Peter 5:8 says that we should "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour."

 

Satan even antagonizes true believers and unfortunately he doesn't need much of a foothold to negatively ...

 

Jesus told a parable about the Wheat and the Weeds (Tares in the King James Version) in Matthew 13:24-30.  In this story, Jesus tells us that a man sowed good seed in his field but when he slept and enemy came and sowed weeds in the field. When the wheat started growing the workers saw the weeds growing too. So they asked the man if he used good seed and he said that he did. They wanted to know if they should root up the weeds, but the man said no, let both ...

Some people claim to be a Christian, but they still live for themselves: selfishly, lusting, coveting and doing whatever they want, when they want. While at the same time claiming that Jesus Christ is their Savior. I've known people like this. In fact, I used to be one of them!

But you see, I was only fooling myself. I really wasn't saved. Yes, I had asked Jesus to be my Savior when I was 11 years old. But I had never really surrendered my life to Him. I still wanted to be in control. Sin was still pleasurable. In fact, I had an insatiable appetite. I couldn't get my fill of sin  in my 20's, 30's and early ...

We hear all kinds of statements like these when we are out street witnessing. Most people really, truly don't believe that they are bad. Since they are not rapists and murders - truly "evil" people, they think that God should cut them some slack. They think that God should recognize their "good works" and ignore their sins.

The big deal about sin is that it's a big deal to God! Sin goes against God's Holy nature. When we sin, we are putting ourselves in God's place (think of Satan's sin as stated in Isaiah 14:12-14). ...