I Die Daily

Our Daily Sacrifice

There’s a verse in the Scriptures which says, “I die daily”. (1 Cor. 15:31)

It is a small quote, within the context of a larger concept, but it’s a powerful tool for life improvement and spiritual growth.

We often wake up in the middle of the night, or in the morning, full of anxiety. Our mind races after problems, troubles, worries, plans, goals, mistakes, and depression.

But, if every morning we make the simple act of “dying” a reality, then none of these things matter.

Let me explain. This is not real death, although, in a way it is. When we say ” I die to self today.” And we believe it and accept it, a transformation occurs in our mind.

When we announce to ourself. “I die to self today. I am going to live for God and others.” Our focus moves from ourself to God and others.

We then live that day focused on serving God and others.

How can you serve God and others?

You serve God by being a vessel for Him to do His work through, to save and help others.

Our will. Our selfishness. Our sin, prevents that.

So, where are your hurts at? What has God brought you through? Drug addiction? Health issues? Divorce? Job loss? Prison? Homelessness? Death of a loved one? Suicidal thoughts?

These things are an indication of where we can let God work through us to help others.

When we die daily, we open ourselves up to see the hurt in others. We are not looking at ourselves, but outwards.

By doing this, it also works to heal us of what we struggle with. 

 We are what we think about all day long.

If our thoughts are always on depression, trouble, suicide, drug use, fear, desire, loss or anything else that hurts us, then it becomes magnified, or can manifest into our lives even more.

Dying daily can get our head out of those things.

I am not saying it’s easy. But, if you make a habit of dying daily to self, and speaking positive things to yourself, it can make a huge difference in your life.

In Christian concepts, we turn to God and give ourselves to Him. By doing this we die with Jesus Christ, and are buried with Him, and rise from the dead with Him.

When we believe this, and put our faith in Christ, confessing that Jesus is the Lord, it cleanses us and we are reborn.

Think about it. When we die, nothing can hurt us. Nothing can be against us. Because we are dead.

Imagine the freedom that brings. All the pain, all the rules, and all the evil of this life does not really hurt us.

We are not of this world, and the suffering here ends in death.

Dying daily is a powerful tool for life improvement, it will transform you. Giving yourself to Christ will transform you in ways you can only hope for.

(1 Cor. 15:31)

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

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Destroying The Image Of God

Satan’s Insanity If you’ve read the Bible, you know that we have a spiritual enemy. Satan fell sometime after creation. We do not know exactly when, but it was because he desired to be “like the most High”. (Isa. 14: 12-17) He wants to be God. This desire led to his fall and corruption. It…

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Can Mobsters Be Christians?

Do you really know What makes a Christian?

The story goes, that a police wire tap expert named Jimmy Vaus had tapped the notorious LA gangster Mickey Cohen.

However Cohen discovered the tap, and instead of killing Jimmy Vaus he got Vaus to spy on the cops instead.

Eventually Vaus was caught and publicly shamed.

In the midst of this, Vaus went to a Billy Graham crusade and got saved. It was 1949.

Billy Graham talked with Vaus and got him to set up a meeting with the mobster Cohen.

Graham went to meet Mickey Cohen at his home in Brentwood and it started what became a public friendship between the two men.

Cohen even went to a Billy Graham crusade in New York.

The mobster said that he was “High” on the Christian way of life, in a 1957 TIME magazine article.

But it is not known if he converted from his Jewish religion to Christianity.

He continued with his mobster life, and was asked about repentance, by some Christian acquaintances; to which he is claimed to have asked an interesting question.

“Christian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians; why not a Christian gangster?”

So, the question is,

Why not?

We are not asking about Mickey Cohen’s salvation. The question is about Positions of power, real repentance, and salvation.

Can a President be a Christian? They send people to kill and die. They enforce laws that are not always inline with Christ. They appoint people who are not believers. Etc.

Can a judge be a Christian? They send people to die in prison.

Can a soldier be a Christian? They are prepared to go and kill for questionable reasons.

Can a cop be a Christian? They arrest people and fight with people and kill people while enforcing laws that are not always in line with Christ.

Can a Football player, Boxer or MMA fighter be a Christian? They use violence to make money.

Can an insurance agent be a Christian? They sell faith in money, instead of God.

The question goes on and on.

Repentance means “to turn”

The Bible teaches that we turn to God, and He saves us through Jesus Christ. Then, He builds a relationship with us through His Holy Spirit, which makes the things of God more important than the things of the World. We then walk in this relationship. Growing in Him.

The scriptures also teach that God ordains people in positions of power. Which many Christian scholars have gone so far as to claim that this includes the boss of your job, and that God puts them in these positions and we are to obey them. There are different ways to interpret this, but we will go with the traditional view in this case.

So, is a mobster boss a “Power” ordained by God? You must realize that in some foreign countries the legitimate government is no different than gangsters. Some might say, it’s no different in America itself. That the police are just another gang.

If your employer is ordained as a power by God, then why not the local Mob boss?

If the judge and police chief are ordained by God, then why not the neighborhood mafioso who often do police type duties, by keeping things safe and dealing justice?

What about repentance? Do Presidents sin? Yes. Do Presidents send people to kill and die? Yes.

So, whats the difference between a “saved” President and a “saved” Mobster Boss?

The question is supposed to get you to see the nature of repentance, power and salvation.

We all need Jesus and we are all sinners saved by grace, through faith; not by works.

We let the Lord work in our lives and draw toward Him.

It’s not about how holy you look to other humans. It’s about you and God.

God will work on His children, and correct them as He sees fit.

Further reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Cohen

https://www.criminalelement.com/god-and-the-gangster-how-billy-graham-tried-to-save-mickey-cohen-jake-hinkson/

https://crimeandcocktails.net/mickey-cohen-and-billy-graham-a-friendship-tested-by-faith/

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger fro Southern Illinois.

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Our Diet According To The Bible

God created us to eat certain things.

I have seen tons of posts online arguing about whether we should be carnivores or herbivores. Whether we should be vegan or paleo.

And this is good, because what we consume is actually able to heal us or kill us. So, it’s important to try to get it right.

As far as I’m concerned, I think our creator. God All Mighty, might have some insight into the argument.

First we need to look at our creation and the nature of the Earth at creation. This matters. And you can read all of this in the first few chapters of Genesis, in the Bible.

God created humans in His image, after his likeness. I think this refers to two things. First, He created us a spiritual being. (God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth)

When I say spirit. I do not mean a ghost or wispy thing.

I mean an eternal being, that lives forever.

We are also triune. Meaning that we have 3 parts. A body, a soul and a spirit.

Just like He is triune. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He breathed his divine spark into our body. We are His.

Our body is designed to match the body He uses when He decides to take material form.

Our body is made similar to monkey’s and apes.

We did not evolve from them we were designed similar to them, but after God’s image.

When we look at monkey’s and apes we can see that they have certain teeth. We have teeth like them. Not like carnivores, or herbivores, or omnivores, but like frugivores. Eating fruits, nuts, and veggies.

That is how we were designed.

Now, at creation there was no death in the world. None. Everything ate plants.

Eating fruits, nuts, and veggies does not cause death. These things grow back, and you poop out seeds to procreate the plants. It’s a cycle of life, not death.

This is what Paradise was like and what it will be again.

Yes, in The Garden there was no death and everything ate plants. The dragon or dinosaur ate plants, and the lion ate plants. I realize that your science might reject this. But, the things we see today, are not the same as they were.

When mankind fell, death entered the world, along with fear and competition for survival.

This is when things started changing into Carnivore, Herbivore, Omnivore, etc. in order to survive.

Humans were kicked out of the Garden or Paradise and God told us to eat grains. This was needed for survival. We started growing crops. (The Agricultural Revolution?)

This is not a theological lesson of morality. It is just pointing out creation and how it applies to our current food situation.

So humans grew in number and things got bad on the Earth. The Bible is not clear on what exactly happened. There are theories from corrupted DNA to the sinfulness of man or both.

But, God decided to destroy the earth.

He saved Noah and his family through the destruction. Then, told Noah and His family that it was ok for them to eat meat.

Again, this was for survival. The conditions of the Earth after the Global Flood were so devastating that humans needed more than plants, especially during winters, which humans would encounter as they grew in number and spread out on the Earth.

Dairy in the scriptures is viewed as a treat. “Milk and Honey”. Not as a needed food option. And if you look at the world today, most countries worldwide do not drink milk after childhood. And no species on Earth is required to drink the milk of another species in order to survive. It’s not needed.

Only in rich countries do we drink milk or eat cheese on a regular basis. Dairy and the chemicals in our food are the reasons why we have obesity.

Ok, so what does this tell us? Well, it shows that the food pyramid is wrong. It was allegedly created by the Dairy Industry in order to sell dairy products.

Our main courses on our dinner plate should be fruits, veggies and nuts, followed by grains, then meat, with dairy on occasion. All of it organic. They are poisoning us with these chemicals.

So, the idea of eating meat 3 times a day is wrong. We don’t need that, and the factory farms raising meat is destroying the planet.

Even a reduction in meat consumption would be useful. Meatless Mondays. Would be a start.

And yes, you can get protein from plants.

So, that’s the truth of what the human diet should look like.

What sorts of damage and disease comes from eating the opposite of what God intended? What sorts of damage comes from the chemicals we consume in our food, drinks and hygiene products?

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

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Work Out Your Own Salvation

What does it mean?

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”—Phil. 2:12-13

There are those who enjoy using this verse as a tool to push a works based doctrine. They claim that works are required in our salvation. Works, are a sign of our faith, between you and God. Works do not save us. This can clearly be seen in the very next verse. It is God who does the work.

As James said, “Faith without works is dead.” Our works show that we believe. Show who? Are we trained apes that perform for people? No. It shows God and ourselves that we believe. It helps build our faith as we actively follow the Holy Spirit and do the things God calls us to do. Our faith grows and is alive as we see ourselves following God. (Jas. 2:24)

The fact is that we are saved by GRACE, not by faith or works. This is very important to understand. It is nothing we do. Even faith is a work, when compared to grace. Any work on our part rejects God’s Grace. If we think we are helping God or paying God back, or obeying Him because of grace, we are rejecting His grace. If I give you something, and you do something or pay for it, you have ruined my free gift. See? When you try to do something nice for someone and they demand that you let them pay you back, this is what we try to do with God and His Grace. When we do it, we are rejecting His free gift, and trying to save ourselves through our own righteousness.(Eph. 2:8-10, Rom. 11:6)

So what does it mean to work out our own salvation?

Well, first it means that it is each person’s responsibility to hear God’s call and turn to Him for salvation. It is also each persons responsibility to make sure they are really saved. Hence, the fear and trembling. (Romans 10:9-10)

We must realize that each of us are born with certain problems in our DNA. This is our corrupted nature from Adam. You can often see it in family traits. Things that are in our flesh and we struggle with. Sometimes, these are mixed with our environment as kids. I don’t want to call it sin, because it doesn’t start out as sin, until you sin in it, or because of it.

Take anger as an example. Some people are born, with quick tempers. But, it’s not a sin, until it causes you to sin. Then, you must deal with the consequences. Addiction is another example; people are born with a proclivity to addiction. They become addicts faster or easier. This is something that leads to more sin and struggle.

These are just a couple of examples. The point is that we are all born with these failings in our DNA, and we are raised in families or environments which impact us. These things lead us to grow up a certain way. It opens doors for the devil to influence our life. It creates who we are.

This is a product of our fallen world, our sin, and the demons who rule it. God does not make junk. But, this world does impact us. (2 Cor. 4:4)

Then, we meet Jesus.

We hear a sermon or a tract, or a friend tells us about Christ.

We are saved. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. We are set free. Our sins are forever gone.

Then comes Monday morning and the world attacks us, along with the devil. We discover that we have power over some things in our lives, that we never had before. But, we also learn that there are still fleshly things we must struggle with.

As we walk with God in the Spirit we have things that will tempt our flesh. We have spiritual enemies seeking to devour us. We will fail. But, we are overcomers through Him. We will sin. But, we are forgiven and confess them to the Lord.

This walk is working out our own salvation, with God. We are saved by His grace. But, we walk in this world.

Let’s take two people. One is born into a nice Christian family. They have everything going for them and they get saved. Now take another person born in poverty, addicted to drugs, prison and all kinds of sin, and they get saved.

Both are saved. Both are equal. Both have problems. But, both did not start out in the same place.

Their journey with God is different. Not better or worse, but different. They have different struggles. They have different sins that they are impacted by. They have different demons.

They work out their own salvation on their own journey with God. They walk through different valleys and over different mountains with Him.

An addict who gets saved, struggles with that issue, while another believer might struggle with anger. Another might struggle with gossip, while another battles anxiety.

The devil attacks our flesh and tempts us any way he can to get our focus off of God, and serving Him. It’s a war. The devil wins by keeping us from sharing the Gospel, building the Kingdom, and bringing light into darkness.

All of this is working out our own salvation, within God’s Grace, as we walk with Him. It’s our sanctification through our relationship with Him.

Do not let the works based doctrines of some beat you down. Just turn to God and keep turning to Him. That is relationship, as we rely totally on Him. Not ourselves.

Praise Jesus.

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by Pexels/Kampus Productions

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Give And It Shall Be Given Unto You

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The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

It has been building since the beginning.

What is it?

It began at some point before time; when Lucifer decided to be “As the most high God.” (Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:1-19) He and an untold vast number of angels and spiritual beings of various sorts rebelled against God, becoming infected with Sin and fell.

The war had begun and Satan, driven mad by pride and the plague of Sin that had come upon him, wanted to be God. He started working to replace, mimic and steal God’s creation. He moved upon the humans that the Lord had created and led them to fall from God. Because of the infection of sin, we became corrupted and rebel as well.

He did this by promising them that “Ye shall be as gods”. He told them that God was hiding something from them, and that they could know what it is, and become gods in the process. That idea is what continues to fuel the New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom. It is the idea that humans will evolve to become gods, and that we will create a world that will match our god status. (Gen. 3)

When mankind fell, Satan gained dominion over the Earth. He and those angels who follow him came to Earth to take physical possession of what is theirs. They took the women of the Cainite race, from the line of Cain. Those who had fallen prey to a deceptive global religion, which grew into a global empire that sucked all humans into it. This included the line of Seth who mingled with them.   (Gen. 6)

This same thing is occurring today; an ideology that is really a religion that is helping to grow a system. While believers are drawn into it as well, and mingle with them.

God wiped out that former world wide system with a Global Flood. We can see evidence of this Flood, and the old empire today, in the giant structures around the world. But, the enemy immediately began re-building the system God had wiped out in the Flood. Satan and his fallen angels, led the entire world to build the Tower of Babel, which is another picture of what is going on today. A global system being built that opposes God. That Tower system was again destroyed by God; He does not want unity apart from Himself through Christ. The languages of humans became confused and they spread out globally to their own places, before a great cataclysm broke up the continents, and separated everyone. (Gen. 11, Gen. 10:25)

The Enemy again, began to build his system through his earthly minions. He led to the creation of more world empires, throughout the planet; Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and many others throughout history. All of them working for the same goal, whether they knew it or not. They are all part of the same system. They were ruled by demons, and human royalty who worked on the New World Order till Christ came and broke their yoke of bondage on mankind in the spirit. (Dan. 2)

But after Christ, the enemy continued to spread global empires over and over again. He created religions and twisted human beliefs, over and over again, seeking to pull humanity together and keep them from God. Through secret societies, mystery schools, finances, corporations, religions, warfare, government, media, arts, education, intelligence communities, and deceptions of all kinds he has worked to create this system.

It continues to grow, and to gain more control, and pull people together while the whole world waits for a superman to come and save us. To save us from the evil we have created. To save us from what Satan has deceived us into bringing upon ourselves. So, that he can bring us the final solution. The final answer to all our problems, he created. It will be the final deception that leads to ultimate destruction; The Superman, The Anti-Christ and his world system. Understand that “Anti” does not mean against. It means “Instead of”. The Anti-Christ will appear to be a hero, saving the world.

The stage is set, the people are ready, and it’s coming soon. Only to be ultimately destroyed by the Lord Himself, at His glorious return. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

—–

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

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Walking on Water

Take A Step In Faith To See Miracles In Your Life

When we have trouble in our lives we often pray to God. But, sometimes we do not see anything happening. We expect a bolt from the blue, or a miracle, but God mostly works through His creation.            

So we relax and have faith in God, and His goodness, His love, and His promises. But, we often already know what we need to do about the situation. We might not know exactly, but we know enough. We might have been given just a hint or enough information from God, to take a step in faith.            

We might be sick. But, we know enough to realize that we should change some health habits in our lives. Perhaps start eating better or walking a little. We know we should stop doing that thing we do, or stop going to that place we go. We know enough to take a little step, then another step, and we pray more.            

Maybe we are fighting with someone, and we know what caused it and what we must do to solve it. Just take a step. Then, another, and another. You prayed, now take that step you know to take. Trust God.            

I’m not saying you should jump off a cliff. But, you could drive up there. You could buy a map, and find out where the cliffs are. You could take a step. Then, another and another, pray and keep having faith.            

You might feel crippled, but called to walk. Take a step. Pick up your mat and walk. You already know enough. God has given you faith and enough information to take a step. Just do it. You prayed and prayed and prayed, but have you believed He answered and is waiting on you to trust Him and take a step?            

You might be called to do the impossible, like walk on water. So, take a step. Test it. Look into it. Then, take another step, and have faith that He is there. Then, take another step, and another, trusting Him, until eventually you look, and you are walking on water.            

Don’t stop trusting. Don’t worry about the wind, it’s nothing but air. Keep stepping and having faith. He is there.

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

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Our Suffering In Christ

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The Darkest Time Of Year

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Iron Sharpens Iron

“Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” –Proverbs 27:17
   

We often hear or have this belief that we are to always be happy and joyful. That we are to never have a complaint or conflict among brethren, and some believe we should never argue with those who oppose us.            

But, that is really not the truth, nor is it reality. “In this world you will have tribulation.” We will have trouble, we will have conflict, but ultimately we are to realize that Jesus has overcome the world, and we overcome through Him. He works in us and through us. That does not mean everything is always daisies, as some try to maintain. We remind ourselves that He has overcome, and it works to help us, but it does not always remove the tribulation.            

Believers often have disagreements about things in God’s Word. These disagreements can get very heated and even hateful. It’s claimed that this stuff drives people away from Christ. But let me ask you; does it drive people away from football when folks disagree or hate on different teams? Humans argue about politics, we argue about philosophy, we argue about academics, we argue about money, we argue about everything. It’s part of communication and learning. Does it drive us away? People are driven away from Christ, because they have listened to the demons whispering in their ear. Satan will show you all kinds of things that offend you, if it will keep you from getting saved, knowing Christ, growing in faith and serving God.            

Remember, that iron sharpens iron. When this happens, heat is created as friction occurs. Bits of iron fly off, but both pieces become sharper. There will be conflict as God works to teach and improve us. There will be heat. There will be things removed. If not, then are we being changed? How can we grow stronger if we do not have more weight added to the bar we lift?            

As we grow and learn in our spiritual walk, we will encounter challenges. When we express our view from God’s Word, we might encounter resistance. As we speak what God is teaching us, we might face others who disagree. There are people who have seen or gotten different views or who dwell in different stages of growth. They won’t totally agree always.            

As we continue in discussing or arguing these points, we learn. We will get sharper and improve our arguments, or we will finally see that we were flawed in our reasoning, and let God change our minds. How you respond to this, is what matters. Understand that God is working on us, and that we should try to show love and forgiveness to those we disagree with. It’s hard to do this, to be sure, but even that is part of our training.             Now some people will quit, when they face resistance. When they quit, they cease to grow and learn in that area. You have to have your beliefs and views challenged, or else how do you know if you believe false things?            

Some people act like it’s a sin to argue or debate. It’s not; Jesus and Paul both discussed and debated. Be angry but sin not. The sin comes in how we treat others. It also comes by arguing for the sake of arguing, or never coming to a conclusion. I have debated or discussed things with people and it has been a joy. But, other times it has led to conflict.

Having your views challenged, sharpens your arguments. This is how you learn to organize your thoughts, and to become a more capable soldier for Christ. We learn among our brethren, how to discuss the truth, and share our values and beliefs. Then, when we face opposition, we can give a proper answer for why we believe. We can lead people to Christ, and not sound like a buffoon. We gain confidence in hearing the Spirit speaking into our hearts, as we serve Him.  We learn from the Spirit as we encounter resistance.          

We need more debate and discussion of God’s Word in our churches, so we can grow and learn how to engage the world around us for Christ. It’s not something to fear. Its part of our growth and it is good. We should train believers on how to deal with conflict and disagreement while we serve. We must learn how to deal with failure, when we discover we are wrong on a subject. It is difficult to deal with growth, and to keep a proper mind about these things. But, we must grow, and it’s better to do it among brethren. That’s what the body of Christ is for.

We are called to build the Kingdom. We are saints, soldiers and servants for Christ. We need to be ready to give an account of why we believe. Iron sharpens iron, to make it a useful tool, not to destroy it.

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by pexels/Kampus Production, Edited by Author

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The Coming Persecution

A Look at Matthew 24 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive…

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How Are We Tempted?

It’s important to understand. In order to resist temptation, we must understand what is going on. If we miss an aspect of it, we cannot really resist it. We just shift it around or suffer through. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with…

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How Do I Turn To God?

What does that look like? It’s so simple anyone can do it. That is how God designed it. I’m going to avoid magical theological words and just give it straight. As we go through life things happen to us. Good things and bad. We have excitement over good things. We celebrate victories and enjoy time…

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Should We Be Hearing From God?

Are we crazy?

People don’t tend to like it when you say “God told me” or that you imply that you hear from God.

They think that this is the realm of the cult.

They think this is what false prophets do to lead people into crazy stuff.

They might ask “Did you hear an audible voice?”

Trying to imply that you are insane if you hear from God.

We’ve all seen the movies and heard the stories of insane people who hear God. Or the mentally ill woman who killed her kids because God told her to.

News flash. That probably wasn’t God. That was a demon.

When we know the Word of God and believe it, we can compare those thoughts to the Word and cast that demon out.

When Abraham was tested to kill his son. He had far more insight into what was going on. He had walked with God and trusted God. It was years of seeing God’s character.

It was not some random thought that drove him insane. He was creating a picture of Jesus Christ, and God stopped him. Abraham even said before hand. “God will provide His own sacrifice.” He knew God would fix it. (Gen. 22)

Why?

Because He walked and talked with God. He heard from God.

That is relationship. That is walking in the Spirit. It is living by faith.

We can trust God.

The Bible says in Proverbs “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”–Prov. 3:5-6

Pray to the Lord about everything. Don’t trust your own fleshly thoughts. Seek Him. Seek wisdom. Seek the truth from the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13, James 1:5)

Talk to God and He shall “Direct thy paths”

That means we hear from God. He speaks to us. He guides us. He does this in many ways, through His Word, through His creation, through our lives, and through His Spirit.

There are some churches who ignore the Holy Spirit working in our lives and directing us. They don’t even mention it. If you talk about hearing from God, or act like God told you something, they will reject you and treat you like you are crazy.

Satan uses this to keep people silent and to cut the communication between God and his saints. The fear of appearing crazy keeps people from speaking on what God has done for them. It silences the testimony they have been given. It impacts the working of the saints.

Every person who God has called to serve Him are really supposed to appear insane to the World. That is kind of the point of it. We are not of this world. It is not our home. We should be a little crazy for Jesus.

But, too many folks want to fit into this world system and cannot have their customers or business contacts thinking they are a crazy religious person. So they stifle the Spirit.

Every preacher is supposed to preach as unto the oracles of God. (1 Pet. 4:10-11)

They are supposed to put forth the message God has laid on their heart, using the Word, the gifts and The Holy Spirit.

They are supposed to be telling people what God has told them.

Every week I pray for the Lord to tell me what to write for my sermon. And something always comes up, or I’m directed to re-do something old.

Does it make me crazy?

I think that in all history, when God touches people they are transformed and cannot go back to normal. They are no longer conforming to this world, but are being transformed as God renews their mind. This makes them seem crazy to those who are still conforming to this world.

Jesus said, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”—John 10:26-28

Do you hear His voice?

Do you hear Him guiding you?

Ask Him.

Read and study the Word, with the Holy Spirit teaching you. (1 John 2:27)

All of the Bible is God-Breathed. It is alive.

Jesus is the living Word. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth.(John 16:13)

We are supposed to be fools for Christ.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”— (1 Cor. 1:18-21)

Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?”— (John 3:12)

Those who do not know God, do not understand heavenly things. They do not understand the spiritual. It is foolish to them. They do not hear His voice, and they hate those who do.

God has called them. Just like He calls us. But, they have turned away and ignored and let the devil snatch the Word from them. They have let the pleasures and troubles of life, along with the deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word.

He is still calling.

He is calling you if you are reading this.

Don’t let Satan snatch it away. Don’t let the demon get you to think you are crazy for hearing God knocking on your heart.

Turn to God and ask Him to save you.

Turn to God and ask Him to teach you and grow you.

We do hear His voice.

He calls us to Him.

He guides our life.

Listen to His call, and fear not.

(Cover photo by pexels)

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A Deeper Meaning “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”—1 Tim. 6:10 People often misquote it as “money” is the root of all evil. But it’s not. Money is a tool. Like a…

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The Gathering

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The God Who Answers

He is there and will answer. We live our lives in this world, where we seem to have no control. Where we look every where for answers. Everything seems hard and we have sorrow, working our selves to death. We seek answers from gods, idols and wisemen. We seek answers from deep within ourselves. We…

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Who is a Liar?

The Answer Might Surprise You.

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”—Rev. 21:7-8

This is a haunting verse at the very end of the Bible.

Let’s rightly divide the word. (2 Tim. 2:15)

First, we must look at the first verse because it basically cancels out the rest. If you really turn to God because you hear His call and Confess Jesus as your Lord. You are saved.

“Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”—1 John 5:5

That’s what it says.

After salvation, God will work in our lives to change us and sanctify us if we have really turned to Him. Our faith will grow, if we are really with Him.

But, “the fearful and unbelieving” in the verse are those who have been too afraid to give up their life and turn to Christ. People who are too afraid of what people might think. Afraid to lose business and friends or family.

The unbelieving are those who refuse to put their faith in the Lord. They hear the call and refused.

Next we see a list of sinful actions, all of which God warns us about in the Word. But, all of which are sins that keep us from turning to God.

“abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters,”

All these can be saved if they turn to God and confess Jesus as Lord. But, these sins make it extra hard for a person to break free.

An abominable lifestyle is hard to stop.

A murderer has refused to forgive. And instead chose to kill. Remember Jesus said, “ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”—Matt. 6:14-15

This is talking about actual murder and murder in the heart. What we would call 1st degree murder. It’s also talking about people who have absolutely no regard for the lives of others at all.

A whoremonger is a pimp. A person who is a sex trafficker and exploits other people to survive, and for profit. It’s difficult to get out of this life. Like the Abominable there is a demonic presence in this type of thing.

The Sorcerer and Idolater have basically turned to other Gods for help and salvation. They have not turned to Christ. They have never had a relationship with Him.

That brings us to “Liars”.

This terrifies us because we have all lied. We have all told lies in our lives. Whether we want to admit it or not. We try to justify it. We try to make it “White Lies”. We lie because of fear. We lie to save ourselves and others. We share things we have not seen or proven.

We lie.

But, God clarifies in His Word who is a liar.

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”—1 John 2:22

So again, God tells us that the only people who are liars are those who have rejected Christ.

Why?

Because if you have accepted Christ, then your sin is washed away and you are hid in Him.

You do not sin because your sins are no longer held to your account. It’s not about what you do, it’s about your position in Christ.

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”— 1 John 3:9

In chapter one, John tells us to confess our sins. (1 John 1:8-10)

In chapter three, he tells us that those in Christ do not sin. These two ideas do not work together, unless he is talking about something else.

Clearly he is saying “We do not sin in the eyes of God. Because we are saved.” He is not saying we do not commit sins. That wouldn’t go with the need to confess our sins to God.

We are saved. We confess our sins to wash our feet.

John wrote Revelation and First John. When he says “All Liars” in Revelation 21:7-8 he is speaking of those who have rejected Christ. The Holy Spirit ties these together.

The only reason anyone is condemned is because they reject Christ. They have never been cleansed of Sin.

That’s it.

Jesus said, “ Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” —Matt. 10:32-33

Do you know Him? Have you confessed Him?

Turn to the Lord and let Him save you and grow you.

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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Checkout Chris’s new book “Good Soldier” A book on discipleship and spiritual warfare.

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The Princes Of This World

Who really rules? Let’s talk about some conspiracy and spiritual truth for a moment. Because you must understand that there is only ONE conspiracy. And that’s the spiritual battle behind the scenes, that we all can see parts of, and have a feeling about, but cannot completely prove. The people who rule this world are…

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Overcoming Anxiety And Fear

It is a demon. Cast it out. Jesus said, “Fear Not” (Matt. 10:31) He said it many times.  Actually, it’s a theme throughout scripture. Fear at its most basic level, is a lack of trust in God and His promises. That is a harsh saying, especially when we are dealing with anxiety. Because, often times…

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The Thief On The Cross

A picture of us all    The thief on the cross, spoken of in the Gospels of our Lord Jesus, stands as an extreme view of salvation in the eyes of some.  The man who did what appears to be absolutely nothing, yet Jesus himself saved him declaring, “Today you shall be with me in…

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The Power Of Your Testimony

Go and tell

When you got saved, you had an encounter with God.

He called you. He whispered into your mind. He knocked on the door of your heart. He gave you a Word and you heard it and believed it and turned to Him. You asked Him to save you and confessed Jesus as your Lord.

When God called Abraham He said, “Come unto a land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12)

Abraham heard, believed, turned and followed.

When Jesus came to the disciples He said “Come and I will make you fishers of men.” They heard Him, believed, turned and followed. (Matt. 4)

They had an encounter with God, which led them to desire to know Him.

But, it started with an encounter that left a memory and a story.

Something that was carried through time. Something personal. Something they shared with others, in conversations and writings.

Their testimony.

A story of how they met Jesus and the great things He has done for them.

We see the story of the Gadarene demoniac. Who Jesus set free from the demons that tormented him. And when he was free he asked Jesus if he could travel with Him.

But Jesus saw a greater need.

He told the man. “Go to your house and tell what great things God has done for you.” (Luke 8:30-39)

That’s testimony.

When the Blind man was driven from the local church by the religious leaders, because he was healed on the sabbath against their traditions of men.

The pharisees came accusing the blind man and demanding him. They threatened him and his family, because Jesus had healed him on the sabbath. They wanted him to accuse Jesus of evil.

But, the man did not fear. He gave his testimony “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” (Luke 9)

He told the great things God has done. He told them that Jesus had healed him, and the Word spread and more believed.

We can go on about all the apostles, who went around the world, telling what Jesus had done for them and being killed for it, because they have believed.

That is our testimony. We are to tell others. We are witnesses.

That is the work we are called to do.

We are not all preachers. We will not save every one. Noah only saved 8 souls.

But, if we know Him; we all have a story to tell.

We can’t help but tell others.

Prophecy says that there will be mass persecutions in these last days, when Satan is driven down onto the Earth. He will seek to destroy anyone who knows God.

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” —-Revelation 12:7-12

Satan and his demons will be driven to Earth, and will lead the Anti-Christ to greater evil. He will persecute anyone who claims to know Christ. He will overcome the saints in this world.

But as the saints are murdered, they will overcome Satan by the Blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. They will keep telling others the story of what God has done for them, even in the face of death. And as they die, they will be set free forever in Christ.

Do you have a testimony?

Do you have a story about your encounter with God, and the great things Jesus has done for you?

The story of your relationship with Him, and the building of your faith?

The story of the work He has done on you and through you?

Pray about it. Ask Him.

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I Am Legion

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Overcoming The Saints

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