Don't Shoot the Messenger

2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB)¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)¹⁵ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I have to say, it's not easy preaching and teaching the truth!!  I see friends on facebook growing in their relationship with the Lord, learning the truths of the Bible and throwing out the teachings of man that they have grown up with their whole life and I am so THANKFUL.  I thank God for each and everyone that will pray, study, fast, read and pray some more for God to reveal the truth to them and then accept it when HE does!!  Many times God plants a seed through some small something that another person says or HE plants a thought in our minds.  Because of free will, it is then up to us to do something with it.  My heart breaks for those who follow after men, whether it be t.v. Evangelists or their own church Pastor, OR their dad or granddad or uncle etc.  No one, let me repeat, no one will make it into the Kingdom of God based on their relationship with their pastor or any other man.  You cannot follow man and God, you can learn some things from man but if it doesn't line up with Scripture, it's not correct. 

Here is why the title says, "Don't Shoot the Messenger":  When God lays it on someone's heart to pray and search the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit teaches them something, IF they obey God, they do not keep that information to themselves.  IF they have the love of Christ in them, they do not keep that information to themselves.  IF they are truly concerned and love their neighbor as themselves, they do not keep that information to themselves.  They are a messenger, they are the person at that moment that the Holy Spirit has pointed towards truth.  Our job is not to immediately discredit them, slander them, destroy or expose them, etc.  If we are truly a Child of God, we will search the Scriptures, pray and ask God if it's truth, not toss it out because our Pastor doesn't agree or didn't preach it.

Now listen to me carefully, please.  I am not saying that you should be "tossed about by every wind of doctrine".  I am saying that everything we have been taught from childhood is NOT necessarily the truth.  We HAVE to pray, search the scriptures and make sure what we are hearing or reading lines up with the Word of God.  IF what you are reading or hearing does NOT line up with the Word of God, then you can expose false witness, BUT be careful that you search the scriptures and make sure it doesn't line up with it.  Make sure you aren't kicking against something you've just "always been taught".

If we are going to get anywhere in our relationship with God, we have got to "come out of the world".  We have got to get out of doctrine and into God's truth.  We've got to stop believing everything we hear and read and study to show our own selves approved.  Sometimes learning the truth will also be backed up with other research materials, i.e. Sunday observation, where did it come from?, Easter, Christmas, The Pre-Rapture theory.  Not only are these NOT Biblical but you can find through History where these things began and how they came about being celebrated.  I am just listing those few but there are many more things we have been taught to believe come from the Lord only to find out if we study them out that they actually were created by man.

I am just a messenger, but shoot me if you must!  Until then I will keep revealing what the Holy Spirit reveals to me.  To those who are willing to learn, God bless you, continue your search and prayer.  To those who are not willing and get angry when the lies are exposed, I will pray for you and I still love you, so does God. 

All I ask is prayer, that I will continue to pray, fast, seek God and be led by the Lord and the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  Prayer that I will stand for the truth and not fall for anything!  I pray the same for you.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) ¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) ¹⁵ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Love you all and God bless you all,

Another Messenger

The Lighthouse

I have to admit I love lighthouses. I've been fortunate to actually get to see some up close. My love of lighthouses probably didn't start with the first picture of one I saw or even the first actual lighthouse I saw up close. My love of lighthouses began with a song, a gospel song called- The Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse

There's a lighthouse on a hillside
That overlooks life's sea

When I'm tossed, it sends out
A light that I might see
And the light that shines in darkness now
Will safely lead me thru the night
If it wasn't for The Lighthouse
My ship would sail no more.

chorus:
And I thank God for The Lighthouse
Well, I owe my life to Him
For Jesus is The Lighthouse
And from the rocks of sin
He has shown a light all around me
That I might clearly see
If it wasn't for The Lighthouse
Tell me where would this ship be.

Everybody that lives about me
They said tear that lighthouse down
'Cause the big ships they don't sail this way anymore
There's no use of it standing 'round
Then my mind goes back to that stormy night
When just in time, I saw that light
Yes that light from that old lighthouse
That stands up there on the hill.

I love lighthouses because of what they represent to me. To me they represent when God came into my life, when He shone His light around me. Jesus is the light house.

When I see a picture of a lighthouse, it serves to remind me of Who is looking out for me, Who is guiding me to safety.

As I was searching for pictures of lighthouses, one of the sites I came across had a sentence that said, "lighthouses are not always easy to get to". That brought me to this thought, Jesus is not always easy to get to either. Not because He is illusive or hard to find but because we have trouble seeing, or we ignore the Light He shines out for us. We don't always row towards the lighthouse, sometimes the storm we let control our lives keeps us from reaching that Lighthouse.

Just like the lighthouse, Jesus stands firm.
He is always there, always in the exact same spot, always shining, a beacon to draw us to Him and keep us safe. It is we that ignore the warnings, we that ignore the light.
We actually choose to fight the stormy seas and batter ourselves against the rocks, rather than set sail for safety.

As the song says, "if it wasn't for the lighthouse, just where would this ship be?"
I know where "this" ship would be, lost and sinking. Sinking into a deep sea of sin and crashing into rocks of desperation.

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, 'I am the light
of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life'."
John 8:12

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"
2 Peter 1:19

And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow:
and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Mark 4:38-41