SelahV Today by hariette petersen

Israel Will Not Be Forgotten

The new ISIS terrorists who are savagely and systematically going through Iraq and slaughtering and raping their own race, vow to destroy Zionist Israel. They are beheading people, including the judge who sentenced the sadistic Saddam Hussein to death by hanging.  They have forced thousands upon thousands of Christians to flee their homes for fear of similar death.  They've allegedly demanded that all young females be brought forth to pleasure their evil warriors.  They have no regard for life...not even their own as they strap on suicide belts to blow themselves up for this cause to take over all the land in the area in anticipation of their Caliphate coming to power.

It amazes me how much other countries around the world abhor Israel and want to deny it any right to exist. It further amazes me that when the world around her has so much that they cannot stand that Israel has the little she has. YET...when you think about how ISRAEL represents the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...and is the birthplace of our Savior, Jesus the Christ, we can see that evil will always stand against a representation of GOD THE FATHER...can't we?

 

When We Are Attacked We Need Jesus Even More

There are times when we can be so overwhelmed by what others think of us, we lose sight of what God thinks of us.  When our spirit is crushed by the actions of others, the betrayals, the misunderstandings, the irreconcilable differences, we fall prey to a kind of inward journey of heartache.  That is not what our Father in Heaven wants for us.  He wants us to be ever focused upon Himself.  He's given us His Spirit to encourage and strengthen and comfort us.  We are never alone.

When discord enters our lives through friend or foe, family or stranger, we can be assured that they are in our lives for a divine reason.

"The one thing for which we are all being disciplined is to know that God is real.  As soon as God becomes real, other people become mere shadows.  Nothing that other saints do or say can ever perturb the one who is built on the real God.  'In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.'"  Oswald Chambers, So I Send You, 1930

Would that we remember that we are more than conquerors through Him Who has ascertained our victory with life.  Would that we rest in His never-changing, all-sufficient grace.  Would that we look beyond ourselves and into our Savior's face.

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Sin in the Camp (Devotional by Karen Scott)

“Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you. “In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the Lord will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one. The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel.” Joshua 7:13-15

Joshua 7 is a victorious story of the blessings that occur when people are following God. It also tells of the ultimate defeat of a whole army because one man chooses to disobey. Israel had just experienced a great victory over the city of Jericho. They miraculously defeated Jericho when its great walls tumbled down and lay in ruins by the mighty power of God.

Joshua then sent men to Ai, which in comparison would be an easy victory for Israel. But victory did not occur there. In fact, Israel’s soldiers ran for their lives and men were killed as they were running away. Joshua’s reaction to what happened was proof that he was a great and godly leader. He displayed grief for his fallen men and Israel’s future. He was also worried about how this defeat would affect the name of God.

Joshua prayed in earnest for God to reveal why they had failed to have victory and God’s answer to him was that there was “sin in the camp.” Someone had taken items from the destruction of Jericho for their personal use and had hidden them in the camp. This “sin in the camp” obstructed God’s desire to bless the nation with another victory. God will never bless us at the expense of His holiness.

If we hold ourselves accountable for sin, no one else needs to. Do whatever it takes to get out of the situation that is compromising your walk with the Lord. When we realize that we have sin in our camp, we need to deal with it swiftly so that it does not continue to drag us down and become more destructive. ~by Karen Scott

Will God Hear a Vindictive Man's Prayers?

I sincerely question the possibility.

A vindictive man is a man living in sin.  He sees the people he opposes as less than himself.  He sees himself as the better man, the more noble, the more righteous.  Kinda like the Pharisee who prayed, "Thank God I'm not like that publican".  That publican-- tax collector who'd cheated people and lied-- and was also wailing about his own sin and unrighteousness and unworthiness before a holy God and the people of God.  Not even vindictive-- just piously holier than thou-- yet Jesus used it as an example.

For anyone else to examine another person's expressions and tears and faltering voice when he speaks in honest humility before a congregation of his peers, and then to make sport of it and seemingly compare it as less than someone elses hurt or sadness, is a person who relinquishes any claims he has to any humility, any compassion, or any purity of his own.  You see, we can't pick and choose who we have compassion for in God's kingdom.  We are to have compassion for all.  And when we pick one brother or sister over another and say they hurt more, then we appoint ourselves judge, jury and Holy Spirit over man.

Scripture points out not to boast when a brother falls or stumbles and fails in his own life.  Not to rejoice in his humiliation. When one man gloats and points fingers towards another, it exposes the sin in his own life... his own unrighteousness, his own flaws as a Christian.  It speaks ill of the body of Christ.  Why?

Well, because God is merciful.  God wants us to exhibit HIS characteristics, not the characteristics of the father of all lies and deceit.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren.  Satan points fingers and laughs and tries to tear down rather than build up.  Satan dredges up and emphasizes pimples and pus.  He is the one we honor when we do likewise.  When we seek to gain the praise of man by our opinions and sanctimonious gloating, we fail our Lord who bowed down and was obedient unto death.

The prayers of a righteous man availeth much.  But he who regards any leaven or iniquity in his heart has no access to the Father in heaven.  God turns himself away from we who hold animosity for others.  Jesus himself told us if we come to the altar and have anything against another to leave our gift at the altar and go and make amends.  When a person clings to that animosity, bitterness, angst or ire then his gifts are not worthy and are unacceptable before the Father in Heaven.  His prayers are no more welcome than his gifts tainted with unforgiveness. Forgive us as we forgive others. 

Longheld ire towards those we oppose only taints the blessings God wishes to pour forth upon us and those we walk among.  What good could come from one who humbles himself before God and man and confesses his sin against another brother?  What good could be produced if one would lay down his personal vendettas?  I wonder.  Do you?

Will We "All End Up In Heaven" as Michael Strahan Believes?

I nearly choked on my pineapple and fruit breakfast today as I happened to catch the beginning of the Live Kelly & Michael television show. As they chatted back and forth in their relaxed conversational chatter, Kelly Rippa asked Michael Strahan if he went to church. After a bit of hesitation, Michael said, "on occasion...I mean, I'm pretty much working six days a week and then football on Sunday". Then he excused, "I'm always at church cause sometimes church can sometimes be in a state of mind." 

He appealed to the crowd, "you can pray, you can pray...?"  Kelly called him on that citing her parents would have disagreed.  He further stated:

"There's so many different religions that they all end up boiling down to the same thing, but at some point in my heart of hearts, I think we'll all end up in heaven, and I'll be looking at you saying, I told ya, I told ya."

Kelly Rippa quipped, "yeah, but I'm gonna be in the express lane".  Later she said she liked his statement that "church is being in a state of mind".

Michael Strahan is a retired American football defensive end who spent his entire 15-year career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football.  He's been so appealing as co-host with Kelly Rippa that Good Morning America has contracted him as a commentator on the morning show.  On GMA, I think, Michael upstages everyone every time he says anything.  His quips and all-encompassing personality steal the show.  If anyone would be fun to have in heaven, Michael and Kelly might be the ticket.

I agree that we need to keep our mind stayed on Christ and always recognize we are part of His body.  But I'm not so sure that's what Michael seemed to have in his mind when he quipped with Kelly.  However, I do find it hard to believe Michael really believes that church is "being in a state of mind".  In his "heart of hearts", he might wish that everyone will be in heaven (as do most of us), but to voice it to the world that he truly believes that is what will occur, is a rather reckless thing to say--- coming from an influential character like himself. 

Yet, isn't this the way our culture's view is formed?  People like Michael, who might believe strongly in the God of the Bible but then says some off-handed remark like this that carries an entirely different message?  Michael's jester personality and need to keep conversation moving along in a fun way on a light-hearted talk-show may have jumped out before his true thinking.  I don't know.  He is a famous fella.  Things can be a bit wacko in the world of lights, camera, and action.  Maybe he does believe this.  Maybe he buys into today's cultural views that everyone is good in their own way, that sin is not really sin and there's no need to repent of any wrong doing. That the Ten Commandments aren't even suggestions anymore, let alone commands or laws God expects his creation to honor.

All I know is what I know and believe.

And, to me, church is more than a state of mind.  Church is a fellowship of believers. Church is why Jesus came to earth to die.  Church is the bride of Christ.  Church is who Jesus uses to procreate and make disciples and bring people to a knowledge of His saving grace. Church is a place where we can grow in faith, be edified by the Word, find encouragement and comfort from other Believers. Church is a group of people, made up of far more than one individual mind, that seeks to share His message of eternal life.  Church is disciples who manifest His love, grace, mercy and forgiveness.  Church is a place where fellow believers assemble to praise the Creator and worship the Most High God.  If we are not to forsake the assembly, can we live in our own "state of mind" and call it "church"?

Each believer makes up a part of the church.  We, the church, are Christ's bride and someday He will return for his church.  When he does, there will be some who are left behind and who will not be in heaven.  That is a fact.  Heaven is for Believers of the One True God.  Heaven is not for "so many different religions".  It is for blood-bought, faith-filled, regenerated and Spirit-sealed Believers of Jesus Christ-- the only begotten Son of God.  To speak light of that, even on a light-hearted talk show could give people wrong directions to a place no one wants to consider an eternal home.  And one of these days, the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats (the Believers from the unbelievers) and those who trust in chariots, horses, swords and religion will pay the price of eternal separation from God for believing silly things people say for a laugh.

Unlike Michael, I don't want to be the one who says I told you so.  If you are trusting any other way but Jesus, I pray you turn to Him today.  He is the only "express lane" you are offered this side of heaven.