Category Archives: blasé

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To shun the Son….

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that HAVE NOT SEEN, AND YET HAVE BELIEVED.” JOHN 20:29 

Faith. Faith is a funny thing and sometimes we can have faith to move a mountain and then sometimes our faith errs more on the side of the mountain moving us. But we do have it, whether we always use it or not it is very much there. God told us that to all believers we are given the measure of faith and to some, even the gift of faith.

Even in our lost pre Christ days, we still have faith in things working at certain way, and cause and effect of all situations , things that are without question as, just being and working as they should and no one has to tell us otherwise. But when it comes to the Kingdom and believing for the afterlife, it gets tangled, many have no problem with the reality that as magnificent as it is, they were formed inside the womb, they grew, and bodies and minds faced amazing changes, and all taken for granted as a bald, toothless, helpless person soon started to walk, talk and explore the world and they believe this happens because it has been proven over and over as each child is born.

They could easily believe in Jesus because they had seen Him, they walked with Him, ate with Him, learned from Him and now were witness to absolute living proof that He had indeed raised from the dead. I truly believe that we are born with a knowledge deep inside of us that there is so much more than this life and even those who don’t want to seek the Lord still end up spending their lives seeking something, anything to fill that void. they seek false religions, seek paganism, humanism, and the never-ending search for alien life forms:

2TIMOTHY 3:7 “ EVER LEARNING, and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH.”

As those who profess to be wise, boy, we could list some doozies right there, reputable for their “brilliant” minds and lead countless people straight to hell because they detest God and want everyone else too also and have done a great job convincing the secular world that not only does he not exist, but that those who believe are of a Neanderthal  intelligence.

And yet, Jesus said that we are BLESSED. Starting with those who are crushed, afflicted, and wounded in their souls:

BLESSED are the poor in spirit; for their’s IS the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

BLESSED are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

BLESSED are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

BLESSED are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

BLESSED are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

BLESSED are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

BLESSED are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. REJOICE, and be exceedingly glad: for GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”                                                                                             MATTHEW 5:3-12

Notice our rewards ARE in heaven, in the afterlife in which we must believe and as my last post, I know that there are those who do believe and yet refuse to accept Christ. Whatever reason, if it is just peer pressure from friends or spouses, that the world will just not think your cool anymore, you’ll be laughed at or mocked.

Well , He said when you “lose your life” for His sake, you WILL find it. When you are ready to give up the fake friends and false bravado and humble yourself into the hand of a mighty God, then, and only THEN you WILL begin to live as you were created to, and that life WILL be eternal and all the Blessing of God WILL come upon you and your life.

What most people fail to realize is this, we ALL influence someone, there is always someone who watches how you live your life and the decisions you make WILL affect them. If you choose Life eternal, how many more could you bring unto that life? If they saw the change in you and your acknowledgment of God, how can that affect THEIR eternity?

And if you refuse eternal life, you are exchanging that blessed state for an eternal cursing and again all who follow you and your ways will be more inclined to that path of destruction also.

And being a “Closet Believer” is the equivalent to being an unbeliever, Jesus said you are not condemned because you do believe but yet in not acknowledging Him to those in your life, then it like being married to a person and hiding them from your family and friends as if you are ashamed of your association with them. Being ashamed of a person means that you acknowledge them as that person you just don’t want anyone else to know that you know them.

Which is what makes it clear that in this verse, Jesus was SPEAKING to those who DO BELIEVE in HIM: 

LUKE 9:25,26: ” For what is a man advantaged (benefitted) if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (be destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? For WHOSOEVER SHALL BE ASHAMED OF ME AND OF MY WORDS, OF HIM SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE ASHAMED OF, WHEN HE SHALL COME INTO HIS OWN GLORY, AND IN HIS FATHER’S, AND OF THE HOLY ANGELS.”

So if we deny Him here on this earth, if we are too proud, too stubborn to admit we need Him, even though we believe in him, it will be counted as nothing.

Because we have chosen to deny Him in front of our peers, He will then deny us in the presence of the host of heaven itself and as He said, what will it profit then? What will anyone give in exchange for their own soul? At that time there will be no more opportunities to make it right.

So you see, BELIEVING is not quite enough, even the “devils” believe in one God and tremble”. They BELEIVE because they know He exists but they are still going to hell because they knew the judgment of God and chose to rebel against Him. It is like “having a form of godliness and DENYING the power thereof.”

 Like all who are saved from the least to the greatest among disciples and all the saints, NO ONE is of a higher standing than another in the eyes of God, and just as Nicodemus came to Him by night, so many in our world today want to do the same, come to Him under the cover of the night, come to Him in secret with the plea, “I believe, but I can’t let others know” a sad cop-out.

Well, there is only one way: ROMANS 10:9-11:

” That if THOU SHALT CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH THE LORD JESUS, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED. FOR WITH THE HEART MAN(HUMANS) BELIEVETH UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION. For the scripture saith, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED.”

Pretty point on there, we must first believe in our hearts through faith that HE IS and we must then confess that belief openly and willingly, and then at His coming we will not be ashamed.

So we all have a choice, surrender while there is time, call on Him while He is nigh, answer the door as He knocks on our hearts, and for the record, if you are straddling this fence and putting off until tomorrow the decision for Christ, when you are not guaranteed a tomorrow to make that decision, I want you to know, if He has allowed this to come to you, you have consented by reading it, you are bound by it, you will never be able to stand before the Lord and plead blissful ignorance to these things, “to know to do good, and do it not, is a sin unto you”, heed this carefully.

You have been presented with YOUR choices, accept Him, and His Word, His Blessing, or reject Him and His blessings and keep the world, shun the Son, but know that one day, it will be you that He will shun.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2016  Original post 10/15/2015 REVISTED 01/27/2021, & 08/12/2022

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"GO FOR THE GOLD BUT PLEASE, HOLD THE JADE"

Ah, Jaded. What a lovely word, normally a beautiful stone used to adorn beautiful things. but in the right context, not quite so lovely on us.
We are to press toward the mark, to earn the crown of righteousness to one day lay at the Master’s feet, beautiful I am sure, pure gold just like His word and His truth that refines our souls purer than the purest of all gold.
But if that crown happens to be embellished with a little jade, what’s it going to hurt?
Well what was to be made of precious metal will now consist of hardened stone.
What should have shone with heavenly brilliance and reflected the Fathers light will now dull and now have an odd color and an indifferent feel.
That crown will be inferior and will tarnish and once that happens it will never be presentable before a King.
All that work, all that heartache, tears,and sacrifices, whatever had been involved in winning that crown will now be useless and disallowed and burned with the stubble in the fire in which all things must be burned away in that purification process of the soul.
So what causes us to go from that ecstatically exuberant joy that we are bathed in the day of our salvation to the “j” word over the course of that salvation?
I have pondered it, in myself and in others and I have come up with a couple of reasons.
In my circle our favorite subject is “Christendom of Yore” I know that they had problems, I know they had battles, and that females were to sit quietly and express no thoughts or opinions, to which I am thankful to be in the present day or otherwise my heart would explode!


Jaded: Deadened, injured, weary, tired, apathetic, blunted, blasé (indifferent or unimpressed) dispassionate, half hearted. Remember apathetic.
So how does our beautiful golden crowns become inlaid with flat, dulled jade?


#1 Fatigued, battle weary
We are in or nearing, in my belief, “the wearing out of the Saints” it seems no matter who they are, rich, poor, married or single that Christians are being constantly bombarded with a steady stream of attacks from the enemy unlike ever before.
Usually people would face one battle at a time but now it seems many fight multi battles on different levels and I am reminded of Nehemiah 4:17: “They which builded on the wall, and they which bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work (working) AND WITH THE OTHER HAND HELD A WEAPON.”
Trying to “work” on our building for the Lord, and whatever he has called us to do being carefully on guard against attacks at all time, never a moment to rest, never a moment of ease by not having to look over our shoulders because this work must be done and many want it to cease.


#2 Blasé and unimpressed 
 “Heard it, believed it, didn’t happen, not buying it again”
I want to be very, very careful how I say this, but one huge problem running amok over the last few years is “Believe it, receive it, Doubt it and do without it” I am ALL for faith, and I know what scripture teaches on believing for what we do not see, but miracles and healings are in a special, special league all their own.
Miracles are instantaneous and the moment that you are healed you know and there has been such a free for all of proclaiming healings over people and “feeling” like the “Lord is saying” that some teach that all you have to do is proclaim it and “believe” (which is actually different from faith, belief is in your heart and faith is knowing come what may He is God and He is sovereign) and when people are hurting, love ones are dying and they are told this and someone actually proclaims that they are healed then they die and the bewildered family are told they just did not have the faith or that they received the ultimate healing.
And no one admits to maybe having misspoke or trying to pray “in faith”, often people want to reach out to others but in this area it is best to pray the Lord’s prayer, “deliver them”.
( I do understand that Paul perceived that the man had faith to be healed BUT Paul was filled with the HOLY GHOST, he KNEW when the anointing came that GOD would grant his request FOR THE GLORY TO THE LORD, not so he could win preacher of the year!) 
BUT NO,NO,NO, NO! When they have believed based one what they were told by Christians that they trusted and if it DOES NOT happen, this leads to apathy and causing them to lose more faith than what would have been lost if they had known the truth, this has caused many to leave church completely.
But IF GOD truly says it, it will come to pass.
#3 Apathetic and Blunted:
“They don’t care, why should I?”
The beginning of the journey all fired up, feeding off on another’s anointing, iron sharpening iron, the spirit bearing witness.
Now that is good, but when things start to change and the one you once loved to listen starts coming against you for whatever reason, what was once a beautiful flow will become a dangerous hindrance in the spirit world.
Two swordsmen fighting each other with equally dangerous weapons and that unspoken carnage will spill over onto the entire congregation.
And the swordsmen are prime to have the Lord to take both their swords. 
And that once sharp iron will become dull and blunt rendering it absolutely ineffective against the enemy.
That apathetic “blah, blah, blah” attitude will breed into so much more than a covering of jade.
When this hit me, I knew the meaning of jaded, I wanted a clearer list and broader understanding and as I kept defining meanings, two fascinating words appeared,
stemming FROM the jaded definition of apathetic, LUKEWARM and LAODICEAN.
Yeah, and we all know what that means, so all these things left unchecked will lead to being lukewarm and we also know that is the condition in which Jesus said he will spue us out.
So how do we clean that jade off before it takes hold of the gold?
Renewing, renewing and renewing  our minds, “let this mind which is in Christ Jesus be in you also” renewing our minds through scripture back into the word of God. Reminding ourselves repeatedly of every single promise that we have been given.
As Nehemiah prayed that God would “strengthen the work” of his hands so must we.
He will never allow us to break, when we are weary, it is His right hand that holds us up, when our heads are bowed in discouragement it is His left hand that lifts our face.
When we desperately, desperately need a word to hang onto or a glimmer of hope, remember “What time that I am afraid I will trust in thee” and that He will be with us “even unto the end of the world” and sometimes that can be when we feel that our world is ending, but He will never leave us.
Remember our first love and “remember thy love more than wine” and know that even though we don’t always feel it, the only approval we need is His.
 No one can zap us into heaven and no one can deny us heaven if we don’t let them, no matter who has hurt us it is still up to us to “work out” our “own salvation” if that means finding another church, then do it because God is not the author of confusion.
Forgive those that have hurt you, just let it go and go on and don’t even try to understand it, God doesn’t want us to waste time over analyzing and ever analyzing what went wrong yesterday, because He already knows what tomorrow will bring.
I have found in my own life that every painful path that I have had to walk down led me to a more beautiful place and at the end of that road I may not have liked the circumstances that lead me there but I have always been thankful for the journey because of the  blessings in that valley that He has given me and I know that I would never received that on a mountain top.
Sharpen that sword and  get that crown polished because no matter how tired, how weary, lethargic or depressed you may feel, you’ve been furnace fired to be pure gold and that jade is just never gonna look good on you!
Φλογίζω / NBJ/ All rights reserved 2015    REVISTED 07/29/2021






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To shun the Son….

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that HAVE NOT SEEN, AND YET HAVE BELIEVED.” JOHN 20:29 

Faith, Faith is a funny thing and sometimes we can have faith to move a mountain and then sometimes our faith errs more on the side of the mountain moving us. But we do have it, whether we always use it or not it is very much there. God told us that to all believers we are given the measure of faith and to some, even the gift of faith.

Even in our lost pre Christ days, we still have faith in things working at certain way, and cause and effect of all situations , things that are without question as, just being and working as they should and no one has to tell us otherwise. But when it comes to the Kingdom and believing for the afterlife, it gets tangled, many have no problem with the reality that as magnificent as it is, they were formed inside the womb, they grew, and bodies and minds faced amazing changes, and all taken for granted as a bald, toothless, helpless person soon started to walk, talk and explore the world and they believe this happens because it has been proven over and over as each child is born.

They could easily believe in Jesus because they had seen Him, they walked with Him, ate with Him, learned from Him and now were witness to absolute living proof that He had indeed raised from the dead. I truly believe that we are born with a knowledge deep inside of us that there is so much more than this life and even those who don’t want to seek the Lord still end up spending their lives seeking something, anything to fill that void. they seek false religions, seek paganism, humanism, and the never-ending search for alien life forms:

2TIMOTHY 3:7 “ EVER LEARNING, and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH.”

As those who profess to be wise, boy, we could list some doozies right there, reputable for their “brilliant” minds and lead countless people straight to hell because they detest God and want everyone else too also and have done a great job convincing the secular world that not only does he not exist, but that those who believe are of a Neanderthal  intelligence.

And yet, Jesus said that we are BLESSED. Starting with those who are crushed, afflicted, and wounded in their souls:

BLESSED are the poor in spirit; for their’s IS the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

BLESSED are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

BLESSED are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

BLESSED are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

BLESSED are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

BLESSED are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

BLESSED are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. REJOICE, and be exceedingly glad: for GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”                                                                                             MATTHEW 5:3-12

Notice our rewards ARE in heaven, in the afterlife in which we must believe and as my last post, I know that there are those who do believe and yet refuse to accept Christ. Whatever reason, if it is just peer pressure from friends or spouses, that the world will just not think your cool anymore, you’ll be laughed at or mocked.

Well , He said when you “lose your life” for His sake, you WILL find it. When you are ready to give up the fake friends and false bravado and humble yourself into the hand of a mighty God, then, and only THEN you WILL begin to live as you were created to, and that life WILL be eternal and all the Blessing of God WILL come upon you and your life.

What most people fail to realize is this, we ALL influence someone, there is always someone who watches how you live your life and the decisions you make WILL affect them. If you choose Life eternal, how many more could you bring unto that life? If they saw the change in you and your acknowledgment of God, how can that affect THEIR eternity?

And if you refuse eternal life, you are exchanging that blessed state for an eternal cursing and again all who follow you and your ways will be more inclined to that path of destruction also.

And being a “Closet Believer” is the equivalent to being an unbeliever, Jesus said you are not condemned because you do believe but yet in not acknowledging Him to those in your life, then it like being married to a person and hiding them from your family and friends as if you are ashamed of your association with them. Being ashamed of a person means that you acknowledge them as that person you just don’t want anyone else to know that you know them.

Which is what makes it clear that in this verse, Jesus was SPEAKING to those who DO BELIEVE in HIM: 

LUKE 9:25,26: ” For what is a man advantaged (benefitted) if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (be destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? For WHOSOEVER SHALL BE ASHAMED OF ME AND OF MY WORDS, OF HIM SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE ASHAMED OF, WHEN HE SHALL COME INTO HIS OWN GLORY, AND IN HIS FATHER’S, AND OF THE HOLY ANGELS.”

So if we deny Him here on this earth, if we are too proud, too stubborn to admit we need Him, even though we believe in him, it will be counted as nothing.

Because we have chosen to deny Him in front of our peers, He will then deny us in the presence of the host of heaven itself and as He said, what will it profit then? What will anyone give in exchange for their own soul? At that time there will be no more opportunities to make it right.

So you see, BELIEVING is not quite enough, even the “devils” believe in one God and tremble”. They BELEIVE because they know He exists but they are still going to hell because they knew the judgment of God and chose to rebel against Him. It is like “having a form of godliness and DENYING the power thereof.”

 Like all who are saved from the least to the greatest among disciples and all the saints, NO ONE is of a higher standing than another in the eyes of God, and just as Nicodemus came to Him by night, so many in our world today want to do the same, come to Him under the cover of the night, come to Him in secret with the plea, “I believe, but I can’t let others know” a sad cop-out.

Well, there is only one way: ROMANS 10:9-11:

” That if THOU SHALT CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH THE LORD JESUS, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED. FOR WITH THE HEART MAN(HUMANS) BELIEVETH UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION. For the scripture saith, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED.”

Pretty point on there, we must first believe in our hearts through faith that HE IS and we must then confess that belief openly and willingly, and then at His coming we will not be ashamed.

So we all have a choice, surrender while there is time, call on Him while He is nigh, answer the door as He knocks on our hearts,

(and for the record, if you are straddling this fence and putting off until tomorrow the decision for Christ, when you are not guaranteed a tomorrow to make that decision, I want you to know, if He has allowed this to come to you, you have consented by reading it, you are bound by it, you will never be able to stand before the Lord and plead blissful ignorance to these things, “to know to do good, and do it not, is a sin unto you”, heed this carefully)

You have been presented with YOUR choices, accept Him, and His Word, His Blessing, or reject Him and His blessings and keep the world, shun the Son, but know that one day, it will be you that He will shun.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2016  Original post 10/15/2015 REVISTED 01/27/2021

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Either way…it IS forever

“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Luke 16:23 

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying,  How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth? Revelation 6:9,10

Now normally I don’t start off with two seemingly unrelated verses but I promise these verses are some of the most important yet rarely mentioned words in the Bible. To be honest, I have never heard the teachings of the end time warnings taught on, never once have I heard anything preached or taught about how those who do not accept Christ before His return can still be saved.

They can be saved but they will die in that process and you can read more about those things in these past teachings: The Betrothed and The Beheaded each one will explain the blessed state of both the end time groups that will be part of the Kingdom of Christ.

If you notice the parallel of the verses above, you’ll notice something quite interesting. The first is from the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we’ll get into more of that in a bit, but to do a quick relay of it, the rich man had had  a great life here on earth, everything he could dream of  and never had a care as to where he would sleep or where his next meal would come from.

Lazarus on the hand… well, we’ll listen to Jesus’ description concerning both of these men. “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, fared sumptuously every day (lived in luxury): And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried.” Luke 16:19-22

We don’t have to be rich to be like the rich man. Our world has become so VIRTUAL that we have lost touch with what is TRUE REALITY.

We have so much invading our minds and so much to “occupy” our minds that we often trade out the truth for those lies, and as we know leads to damnation.

Social media and web games, and the host of internet resources now preoccupying peoples time, life, and in my personal belief has become the “god” of many, so who has time ponder the universal questions of heaven and hell, life and death, and more importantly death and the eternal life AFTER this death?

How can they possibly be troubled with the thoughts while there are statuses to post, great selfies to be taken, and of course the never-ending bash posts to spew hatred that they have not courage to say in person nor the common social graces to not make a spectacle of themselves in doing these things.

Please don’t take that wrong, there is nothing WRONG with playing some games and doing some web surfing and I think it is a fabulous tool especially for those who are living alone, or grieving because it does provide a little “escape”.

But when it starts becoming more important than spending time in prayer with God, or attending church, praying for people, and reading and studying the Bible, then it has become much more than a hobby.

And I do know that there are many good uses for technology but we all know the majority of it is not for good.

How can we even hear God when we can’t even hear?

The most profound, life changing message I heard, (excluding the one that got me saved) came one night when I was watching a local Pastor on television and He preached on Tophet and how that the people sacrificed their children, burning them alive, to pagan demons and that their custom was to play drums and “music” to drown out the screams of the children.

That message made such an impact on me, that I just prayed for God to NEVER let me fail to hear the cries of others.

The lost of this world and those who do not even realize that they are being “sacrificed” to the god of this world, through their refusal to acknowledge, or even SEEK Jesus and His salvation because the sounds of this world drown out any whisper they may hear. And that same effect is what I am going for today.

I want to make you think about something, if you believe and have never committed to that belief or if you are an absolute atheist and choose not to believe anything, I have a message on both counts. Refusing to believe does not exempt anyone form the law of God, you are not going to look at Him and use the excuse that you did not believe, because whether you believe or not has no bearing on his existence. 

And if you don’t believe you have chosen to drown out the voice in your own soul because even our hearts assure us that there has to be more than this life.

Love, love never dies and the love you have felt, received and given lives on, if you do not believe in an afterlife you are not acknowledging the power of love.

If you have had a terrible life on earth, like Lazarus, doesn’t something inside of you hang on to hope that there has to be something better?

And if you have had a great life here on this earth, why would you want to ever risk an eternal life of misery and torment beyond comprehension because of your failure to acknowledge the one who gave you your very life?

The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell, one moment on this earth the next moment lost for all of eternity.

As the Bible teaches us, we are FIRST natural and then SPIRITUAL, and that is the problem of our own wisdom, we think we know everything and base that arrogant self-righteous thought on our carnal, NATURAL knowledge.

But we CAN’T even begin to understand the truth until we become SPIRITUAL and we must accept Jesus before that can take place and those who are literally making reservations for hell because they DO BELIEVE in the afterlife but believe satanic lies that it will be like the parties here on earth are taking natural to the most unnatural extreme.

The rich REMEMBERED earth, He FELT unquenchable thirst. and he BEGGED his brothers be warned to not “come to this place” and as he was told that they would not BELIEVE even one from the dead, think about it when we refuse to believe that Jesus rose, we ARE being his brothers.

Being DEAD from earth but ALIVE in hell, he still felt, thought, and expressed and was AWARE of both worlds.

Now the passage from Revelation concerning those that had DIED, been murdered, martyred, FROM this earth.

They also are very AWARE of both worlds, they also THINK, FEEL, and EXPRESS themselves and they ALSO want someone to “come” back on their behalf, they want VENGEANCE against those who killed them.

They REMEMBER how they died.

And just as the rich man’s request was refused, they also are told that they must rest for a little while until THOSE WHO ARE ALSO  YET to be killed as they were and THEN justice would come. And as Jesus promised to”wipe ALL our tears away” in that faithful glorious day, we will KNOW but we will be made new, all things WILL be made new in that day. 

So today, if you have not accepted Jesus, don’t wait another day because we are not promised the next breath, the next day, not one moment of our life is guaranteed.

But God in His mercy and kindness GAVE us these lives, He GAVE us this day, and he GAVE us all the choice, the CHOICE of where our true LIFE will be spent because this place, this earth, is but for a moment and when death comes, then and only then does REALITY truly begin. In that life there is no second chances, it is what it is, but in this life, no matter how bad it has been, Jesus CAN can everything, He CAN give you on this earth a life you could NOT even imagine with joy, peace, and blessings in this world.

And the assurance that you don’t have to fear that moment when all things become eternal. Ask any believer and they will tell you that the single most profound moment in their life came when they REALIZED that it was God’s mercy alone that had kept them and protected them until they came into the truth.

And the realization that truly they had been ONE breath away from being lost eternally, and my dear friends is what make us want to see ALL come to that truth.

So know this, either way, we will ONLY begin when this world ends and either way IT will be forever, so please choose today and choose Jesus, THE ONLY WAY!

Thanks for reading!

Love&Peace from my heart to yours, till next time!

Φλογιζω360 NBJ 2019

For more on these subjects: “Bought & Sold” Riches Untold 

                                             Prophets, Prodigals, & Puttin’ it off…….

                                              Just kinda like… MESSED UP…

                                              To shun the Son….

 

 

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“Vexing Vineyard Variances”

“Now will I sing to my well beloved a song touching (concerning) his vineyard, My beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes. 

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray (ask) you, betwixt (between) me and my vineyard. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN MORE DONE TO MY VINEYARD? THAT I HAVE NOT DONE IN IT? wherefore, when I looked that is should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? ISAIAH 5:1-4

As God describes the planting of his vineyard, he chose a spot with rich, fertile soil, He cleared out all the weeds, briers, and all that could hinder and choke the new plantings.

He then removed all the rocks and debris that could hold back the tender shoots and He then planted the absolute best of vine, He himself being the tower in the midst of it. Watching and protecting the young vines, as they could grow without disturbance as beasts would try to trample and destroy them.

The winepress ready and waiting the harvest of grapes that was to come and produce magnificent. new wine, the Father’s own personal signature selection. But instead of producing the grapes needed for this particular vintage, wild, bitter, strong, unpleasant, nasty grapes grew instead. He tells us to judge this matter for ourselves…  Is the problem with the planting or is it a problem with the vineyard itself?

HE THEN ASKS THE QUESTION…that should terrify us all, What more could MORE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE THAT HE HAS NOT ALREADY DONE?

Kinda what is going on with the “falling away” we are now under, like the breaks and wounds body of Christ that are allowed to continue without remedy and without even caring to heal them, and churches of the modern-day that are seemingly unaware that when one member hurts, we ALL hurt, and continue to allow the Gospel to be falsely advertised and outright sold and not only do they not speak out against these things, they often help promote the very ones who perpetrate these “crimes” committed against the cause, verse 7:…. and he looked for judgement (justice), but beheld oppression; for righteousness but beheld a cry.”

To not speak out on behalf of the truth, makes us all guilty of these things, and too easily we forget that we,  ALL the members,ALL the churches, ARE ALL ONE BODY and “in that day His name shall be one” and we’d better start getting in that ONE mindset here or we just not make it to even be there.

What more could He do for us? And as we know, and I will not get repetitive, even though I really want to.. but we all know the major problems of today. There is often not enough love, caring, and general goodwill  between members of the vine, which cause essential growth nutrients to be siphoned away from the small grapes and over ripening the mature ones and too much money-grubbing, self promoting, ulterior motive impeding the vine’s overall general growth.

He will absolutely not lose His harvest because of a bunch of bad grapes! I really believe  major change is coming soon and the vineyard will be pruned, all the vines, as He says, that do not produce fruits will be cut away and all the bad grapes, all those who have held the positions and the ministry that have further alienated people AWAY from the Gospel through their false representations of the heart of Christ, will allowed to fall to the ground, just as when a grape withers and rots away on the vine, finally falling useless to the ground.

Whatever places they held will be given to the “new grapes” that are growing up into the vine as we speak, and that new wine will be wine for all, not just a select few and they will have a heart for God and for His people, they will see to the widows, and the fatherless, and they will care for those who are outcast, sick, and spiritually wounded.

They will be the leaders and ministers for the church and know that they ARE for the church, and not fall for the power tripping trap that the CHURCH IS FOR THEM. They will go forth in faith knowing that God will supply all their needs in unfolding ministries and that He is quite capable of furnishing the house and they will be those who “instead of thy fathers shall be thy children”… these will be the true fruits of God’s vineyard.

Time to check what’s growing and do some pruning and purging, better to tend what we can than to be cut down, cast out, and burned up, never, ever to grow again.

When we know it is ABOUT HIM and not us!

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω  NBJ 2016

by

To shun the Son….

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that HAVE NOT SEEN, AND YET HAVE BELIEVED.” JOHN 20:29 

Faith, Faith is a funny thing and sometimes we can have faith to move a mountain and then sometimes our faith errs more on the side of the mountain moving us. But we do have it, whether we always use it or not it is very much there. God told us that to all believers we are given the measure of faith and to some, even the gift of faith.

Even in our lost pre Christ days, we still have faith in things working at certain way, and cause and effect of all situations , things that are without question as, just being and working as they should and no one has to tell us otherwise. But when it comes to the Kingdom and believing for the afterlife, it gets tangled, many have no problem with the reality that as magnificent as it is, they were formed inside the womb, they grew, and bodies and minds faced amazing changes, and all taken for granted as a bald, toothless, helpless person soon started to walk, talk and explore the world and they believe this happens because it has been proven over and over as each child is born.

They could easily believe in Jesus because they had seen Him, they walked with Him, ate with Him, learned from Him and now were witness to absolute living proof that He had indeed raised from the dead. I truly believe that we are born with a knowledge deep inside of us that there is so much more than this life and even those who don’t want to seek the Lord still end up spending their lives seeking something, anything to fill that void. they seek false religions, seek paganism, humanism, and the never-ending search for alien life forms:

2TIMOTHY 3:7 “ EVER LEARNING, and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH.”

As those who profess to be wise, boy, we could list some doozies right there, reputable for their “brilliant” minds and lead countless people straight to hell because they detest God and want everyone else too also and have done a great job convincing the secular world that not only does he not exist, but that those who believe are of a Neanderthal  intelligence.

And yet, Jesus said that we are BLESSED. Starting with those who are crushed, afflicted, and wounded in their souls:

BLESSED are the poor in spirit; for their’s IS the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

BLESSED are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

BLESSED are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

BLESSED are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

BLESSED are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

BLESSED are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

BLESSED are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. REJOICE, and be exceedingly glad: for GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”                                                                                             MATTHEW 5:3-12

Notice our rewards ARE in heaven, in the afterlife in which we must believe and as my last post, I know that there are those who do believe and yet refuse to accept Christ. Whatever reason, if it is just peer pressure from friends or spouses, that the world will just not think your cool anymore, you’ll be laughed at or mocked.

Well , He said when you “lose your life” for His sake, you WILL find it. When you are ready to give up the fake friends and false bravado and humble yourself into the hand of a mighty God, then, and only THEN you WILL begin to live as you were created to, and that life WILL be eternal and all the Blessing of God WILL come upon you and your life.

What most people fail to realize is this, we ALL influence someone, there is always someone who watches how you live your life and the decisions you make WILL affect them. If you choose Life eternal, how many more could you bring unto that life? If they saw the change in you and your acknowledgment of God, how can that affect THEIR eternity?

And if you refuse eternal life, you are exchanging that blessed state for an eternal cursing and again all who follow you and your ways will be more inclined to that path of destruction also.

And being a “Closet Believer” is the equivalent to being an unbeliever, Jesus said you are not condemned because you do believe but yet in not acknowledging Him to those in your life, then it like being married to a person and hiding them from your family and friends as if you are ashamed of your association with them. Being ashamed of a person means that you acknowledge them as that person you just don’t want anyone else to know that you know them.

Which is what makes it clear that in this verse, Jesus was SPEAKING to those who DO BELIEVE in HIM: 

LUKE 9:25,26: ” For what is a man advantaged (benefitted) if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (be destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? For WHOSOEVER SHALL BE ASHAMED OF ME AND OF MY WORDS, OF HIM SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE ASHAMED OF, WHEN HE SHALL COME INTO HIS OWN GLORY, AND IN HIS FATHER’S, AND OF THE HOLY ANGELS.”

So if we deny Him here on this earth, if we are too proud, too stubborn to admit we need Him, even though we believe in him, it will be counted as nothing.

Because we have chosen to deny Him in front of our peers, He will then deny us in the presence of the host of heaven itself and as He said, what will it profit then? What will anyone give in exchange for their own soul? At that time there will be no more opportunities to make it right.

So you see, BELIEVING is not quite enough, even the “devils” believe in one God and tremble”. They BELEIVE because they know He exists but they are still going to hell because they knew the judgment of God and chose to rebel against Him. It is like “having a form of godliness and DENYING the power thereof.”

 Like all who are saved from the least to the greatest among disciples and all the saints, NO ONE is of a higher standing than another in the eyes of God, and just as Nicodemus came to Him by night, so many in our world today want to do the same, come to Him under the cover of the night, come to Him in secret with the plea, “I believe, but I can’t let others know” a sad cop-out.

Well, there is only one way: ROMANS 10:9-11:

” That if THOU SHALT CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH THE LORD JESUS, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED. FOR WITH THE HEART MAN(HUMANS) BELIEVETH UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION. For the scripture saith, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED.”

Pretty point on there, we must first believe in our hearts through faith that HE IS and we must then confess that belief openly and willingly, and then at His coming we will not be ashamed.

So we all have a choice, surrender while there is time, call on Him while He is nigh, answer the door as He knocks on our hearts,

(and for the record, if you are straddling this fence and putting off until tomorrow the decision for Christ, when you are not guaranteed a tomorrow to make that decision, I want you to know, if He has allowed this to come to you, you have consented by reading it, you are bound by it, you will never be able to stand before the Lord and plead blissful ignorance to these things, “to know to do good, and do it not, is a sin unto you”, heed this carefully)

You have been presented with YOUR choices, accept Him, and His Word, His Blessing, or reject Him and His blessings and keep the world, shun the Son, but know that one day, it will be you that He will shun.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2016  Original post 10/15/2015 REVISTED 01/27/2021

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“GO FOR THE GOLD BUT PLEASE, HOLD THE JADE”

Ah, Jaded. What a lovely word, normally a beautiful stone used to adorn beautiful things. but in the right context, not quite so lovely on us.
We are to press toward the mark, to earn the crown of righteousness to one day lay at the Master’s feet, beautiful I am sure, pure gold just like His word and His truth that refines our souls purer than the purest of all gold.
But if that crown happens to be embellished with a little jade, what’s it going to hurt?
Well what was to be made of precious metal will now consist of hardened stone.
What should have shone with heavenly brilliance and reflected the Fathers light will now dull and now have an odd color and an indifferent feel.
That crown will be inferior and will tarnish and once that happens it will never be presentable before a King.
All that work, all that heartache, tears,and sacrifices, whatever had been involved in winning that crown will now be useless and disallowed and burned with the stubble in the fire in which all things must be burned away in that purification process of the soul.
So what causes us to go from that ecstatically exuberant joy that we are bathed in the day of our salvation to the “j” word over the course of that salvation?
I have pondered it, in myself and in others and I have come up with a couple of reasons.
In my circle our favorite subject is “Christendom of Yore” I know that they had problems, I know they had battles, and that females were to sit quietly and express no thoughts or opinions, to which I am thankful to be in the present day or otherwise my heart would explode!


Jaded: Deadened, injured, weary, tired, apathetic, blunted, blasé (indifferent or unimpressed) dispassionate, half hearted. Remember apathetic.
So how does our beautiful golden crowns become inlaid with flat, dulled jade?


#1 Fatigued, battle weary
We are in or nearing, in my belief, “the wearing out of the Saints” it seems no matter who they are, rich, poor, married or single that Christians are being constantly bombarded with a steady stream of attacks from the enemy unlike ever before.
Usually people would face one battle at a time but now it seems many fight multi battles on different levels and I am reminded of Nehemiah 4:17: “They which builded on the wall, and they which bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work (working) AND WITH THE OTHER HAND HELD A WEAPON.”
Trying to “work” on our building for the Lord, and whatever he has called us to do being carefully on guard against attacks at all time, never a moment to rest, never a moment of ease by not having to look over our shoulders because this work must be done and many want it to cease.


#2 Blasé and unimpressed 
 “Heard it, believed it, didn’t happen, not buying it again”
I want to be very, very careful how I say this, but one huge problem running amok over the last few years is “Believe it, receive it, Doubt it and do without it” I am ALL for faith, and I know what scripture teaches on believing for what we do not see, but miracles and healings are in a special, special league all their own.
Miracles are instantaneous and the moment that you are healed you know and there has been such a free for all of proclaiming healings over people and “feeling” like the “Lord is saying” that some teach that all you have to do is proclaim it and “believe” (which is actually different from faith, belief is in your heart and faith is knowing come what may He is God and He is sovereign) and when people are hurting, love ones are dying and they are told this and someone actually proclaims that they are healed then they die and the bewildered family are told they just did not have the faith or that they received the ultimate healing.
And no one admits to maybe having misspoke or trying to pray “in faith”, often people want to reach out to others but in this area it is best to pray the Lord’s prayer, “deliver them”.
( I do understand that Paul perceived that the man had faith to be healed BUT Paul was filled with the HOLY GHOST, he KNEW when the anointing came that GOD would grant his request FOR THE GLORY TO THE LORD, not so he could win preacher of the year!) 
BUT NO,NO,NO, NO! When they have believed based one what they were told by Christians that they trusted and if it DOES NOT happen, this leads to apathy and causing them to lose more faith than what would have been lost if they had known the truth, this has caused many to leave church completely.
But IF GOD truly says it, it will come to pass.
#3 Apathetic and Blunted:
“They don’t care, why should I?”
The beginning of the journey all fired up, feeding off on another’s anointing, iron sharpening iron, the spirit bearing witness.
Now that is good, but when things start to change and the one you once loved to listen starts coming against you for whatever reason, what was once a beautiful flow will become a dangerous hindrance in the spirit world.
Two swordsmen fighting each other with equally dangerous weapons and that unspoken carnage will spill over onto the entire congregation.
And the swordsmen are prime to have the Lord to take both their swords. 
And that once sharp iron will become dull and blunt rendering it absolutely ineffective against the enemy.
That apathetic “blah, blah, blah” attitude will breed into so much more than a covering of jade.
When this hit me, I knew the meaning of jaded, I wanted a clearer list and broader understanding and as I kept defining meanings, two fascinating words appeared,
stemming FROM the jaded definition of apathetic, LUKEWARM and LAODICEAN.
Yeah, and we all know what that means, so all these things left unchecked will lead to being lukewarm and we also know that is the condition in which Jesus said he will spue us out.
So how do we clean that jade off before it takes hold of the gold?
Renewing, renewing and renewing  our minds, “let this mind which is in Christ Jesus be in you also” renewing our minds through scripture back into the word of God. Reminding ourselves repeatedly of every single promise that we have been given.
As Nehemiah prayed that God would “strengthen the work” of his hands so must we.
He will never allow us to break, when we are weary, it is His right hand that holds us up, when our heads are bowed in discouragement it is His left hand that lifts our face.
When we desperately, desperately need a word to hang onto or a glimmer of hope, remember “What time that I am afraid I will trust in thee” and that He will be with us “even unto the end of the world” and sometimes that can be when we feel that our world is ending, but He will never leave us.
Remember our first love and “remember thy love more than wine” and know that even though we don’t always feel it, the only approval we need is His.
 No one can zap us into heaven and no one can deny us heaven if we don’t let them, no matter who has hurt us it is still up to us to “work out” our “own salvation” if that means finding another church, then do it because God is not the author of confusion.
Forgive those that have hurt you, just let it go and go on and don’t even try to understand it, God doesn’t want us to waste time over analyzing and ever analyzing what went wrong yesterday, because He already knows what tomorrow will bring.
I have found in my own life that every painful path that I have had to walk down led me to a more beautiful place and at the end of that road I may not have liked the circumstances that lead me there but I have always been thankful for the journey because of the  blessings in that valley that He has given me and I know that I would never received that on a mountain top.
Sharpen that sword and  get that crown polished because no matter how tired, how weary, lethargic or depressed you may feel, you’ve been furnace fired to be pure gold and that jade is just never gonna look good on you!
Φλογίζω / NBJ/ All rights reserved 2015







by

"GO FOR THE GOLD BUT PLEASE, HOLD THE JADE"

Ah, Jaded. What a lovely word, normally a beautiful stone used to adorn beautiful things. but in the right context, not quite so lovely on us.
We are to press toward the mark, to earn the crown of righteousness to one day lay at the Master’s feet, beautiful I am sure, pure gold just like His word and His truth that refines our souls purer than the purest of all gold.
But if that crown happens to be embellished with a little jade, what’s it going to hurt?
Well what was to be made of precious metal will now consist of hardened stone.
What should have shone with heavenly brilliance and reflected the Fathers light will now dull and now have an odd color and an indifferent feel.
That crown will be inferior and will tarnish and once that happens it will never be presentable before a King.
All that work, all that heartache, tears,and sacrifices, whatever had been involved in winning that crown will now be useless and disallowed and burned with the stubble in the fire in which all things must be burned away in that purification process of the soul.
So what causes us to go from that ecstatically exuberant joy that we are bathed in the day of our salvation to the “j” word over the course of that salvation?
I have pondered it, in myself and in others and I have come up with a couple of reasons.
In my circle our favorite subject is “Christendom of Yore” I know that they had problems, I know they had battles, and that females were to sit quietly and express no thoughts or opinions, to which I am thankful to be in the present day or otherwise my heart would explode!


Jaded: Deadened, injured, weary, tired, apathetic, blunted, blasé (indifferent or unimpressed) dispassionate, half hearted. Remember apathetic.
So how does our beautiful golden crowns become inlaid with flat, dulled jade?


#1 Fatigued, battle weary
We are in or nearing, in my belief, “the wearing out of the Saints” it seems no matter who they are, rich, poor, married or single that Christians are being constantly bombarded with a steady stream of attacks from the enemy unlike ever before.
Usually people would face one battle at a time but now it seems many fight multi battles on different levels and I am reminded of Nehemiah 4:17: “They which builded on the wall, and they which bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work (working) AND WITH THE OTHER HAND HELD A WEAPON.”
Trying to “work” on our building for the Lord, and whatever he has called us to do being carefully on guard against attacks at all time, never a moment to rest, never a moment of ease by not having to look over our shoulders because this work must be done and many want it to cease.


#2 Blasé and unimpressed 
 “Heard it, believed it, didn’t happen, not buying it again”
I want to be very, very careful how I say this, but one huge problem running amok over the last few years is “Believe it, receive it, Doubt it and do without it” I am ALL for faith, and I know what scripture teaches on believing for what we do not see, but miracles and healings are in a special, special league all their own.
Miracles are instantaneous and the moment that you are healed you know and there has been such a free for all of proclaiming healings over people and “feeling” like the “Lord is saying” that some teach that all you have to do is proclaim it and “believe” (which is actually different from faith, belief is in your heart and faith is knowing come what may He is God and He is sovereign) and when people are hurting, love ones are dying and they are told this and someone actually proclaims that they are healed then they die and the bewildered family are told they just did not have the faith or that they received the ultimate healing.
And no one admits to maybe having misspoke or trying to pray “in faith”, often people want to reach out to others but in this area it is best to pray the Lord’s prayer, “deliver them”.
( I do understand that Paul perceived that the man had faith to be healed BUT Paul was filled with the HOLY GHOST, he KNEW when the anointing came that GOD would grant his request FOR THE GLORY TO THE LORD, not so he could win preacher of the year!) 
BUT NO,NO,NO, NO! When they have believed based one what they were told by Christians that they trusted and if it DOES NOT happen, this leads to apathy and causing them to lose more faith than what would have been lost if they had known the truth, this has caused many to leave church completely.
But IF GOD truly says it, it will come to pass.
#3 Apathetic and Blunted:
“They don’t care, why should I?”
The beginning of the journey all fired up, feeding off on another’s anointing, iron sharpening iron, the spirit bearing witness.
Now that is good, but when things start to change and the one you once loved to listen starts coming against you for whatever reason, what was once a beautiful flow will become a dangerous hindrance in the spirit world.
Two swordsmen fighting each other with equally dangerous weapons and that unspoken carnage will spill over onto the entire congregation.
And the swordsmen are prime to have the Lord to take both their swords. 
And that once sharp iron will become dull and blunt rendering it absolutely ineffective against the enemy.
That apathetic “blah, blah, blah” attitude will breed into so much more than a covering of jade.
When this hit me, I knew the meaning of jaded, I wanted a clearer list and broader understanding and as I kept defining meanings, two fascinating words appeared,
stemming FROM the jaded definition of apathetic, LUKEWARM and LAODICEAN.
Yeah, and we all know what that means, so all these things left unchecked will lead to being lukewarm and we also know that is the condition in which Jesus said he will spue us out.
So how do we clean that jade off before it takes hold of the gold?
Renewing, renewing and renewing  our minds, “let this mind which is in Christ Jesus be in you also” renewing our minds through scripture back into the word of God. Reminding ourselves repeatedly of every single promise that we have been given.
As Nehemiah prayed that God would “strengthen the work” of his hands so must we.
He will never allow us to break, when we are weary, it is His right hand that holds us up, when our heads are bowed in discouragement it is His left hand that lifts our face.
When we desperately, desperately need a word to hang onto or a glimmer of hope, remember “What time that I am afraid I will trust in thee” and that He will be with us “even unto the end of the world” and sometimes that can be when we feel that our world is ending, but He will never leave us.
Remember our first love and “remember thy love more than wine” and know that even though we don’t always feel it, the only approval we need is His.
 No one can zap us into heaven and no one can deny us heaven if we don’t let them, no matter who has hurt us it is still up to us to “work out” our “own salvation” if that means finding another church, then do it because God is not the author of confusion.
Forgive those that have hurt you, just let it go and go on and don’t even try to understand it, God doesn’t want us to waste time over analyzing and ever analyzing what went wrong yesterday, because He already knows what tomorrow will bring.
I have found in my own life that every painful path that I have had to walk down led me to a more beautiful place and at the end of that road I may not have liked the circumstances that lead me there but I have always been thankful for the journey because of the  blessings in that valley that He has given me and I know that I would never received that on a mountain top.
Sharpen that sword and  get that crown polished because no matter how tired, how weary, lethargic or depressed you may feel, you’ve been furnace fired to be pure gold and that jade is just never gonna look good on you!
Φλογίζω / NBJ/ All rights reserved 2015    REVISTED 07/29/2021






by

GOLDEN RULE X2



“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” MATTHEW 7:12

“And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” MATTHEW 5:41,42

Quick interjection, if someone needs you to go a mile , go two. And I know people prefer the “modern English” of the scriptures and No, Jesus did not speak Old English, BUT we were given our Bible through men who risked and often lost their lives for sharing the Word of God and William Tyndale was STRANGLED AND BURNED AT THE STAKE FOR TRANSLATING THE GOSPEL, SO THAT OTHERS WOULD KNOW THE TRUTH! So for me the KJV is the only Bible it is gonna be.

How often do we really apply this to life and how often do we respect one person above another?
God himself has respect to no one person, as the parable of the hired laborers teaches us.
The eleventh hour laborers received the same wage as those who had worked all day, even though the others had worked longer hours, the latter ones had to work harder because they  had only one hour to get the job finished.
Of course the first group was angry because in their opinion they deserved more because they had toiled longer BUT the owner of this job paid the same to all  employees, such as is the kingdom of heaven, when we accept Christ we are all the same and he values none of us above the other, so a person who has served God for forty years will receive no greater reward than one who just accepted salvation!

Now that is fair and that is just! We see that God doesn’t play favorites and if God does not work that way, and neither should we!
When it comes to respect and common courtesy in the world there is often a lot left to be desired.
How often does this happen, people being ranked higher or lower on the scale of importance, and treated in a lesser fashion due to name, social status, or what they have to offer, or rather what they do not have, all of a sudden they are expendable and not quite worth the time.

As Jesus, said with everything that we do, with everyone we encounter, we should keep this well in mind BECAUSE WE WILL RECEIVE EXACTLY what we have shown BUT the BIG difference is that we will be the one on the other end of that spectrum, and for many THAT IS NOT GOING TO BE A PRETTY PLACE!
Mark MY words, YOU will be on the flip side of whatever someone else is facing today.

GALATIANS 6:7 “Be ye NOT DECEIVED; GOD IS NOT MOCKED: for whatsoever a man (human) soweth, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP.“

If you receive a prophet, you will receive a prophets reward. Just as the lady blessed of God for helping a prophet, whose oil and flour did not run out during famine and spared her and her son a slow death of starvation.
Another lady who was blessed through the oil that flowed supernaturally that it could be sold to pay off debt sparing her and her family from servitude.
The borrowed ax head miraculously surfacing to save another, yet again from debt based slavery.
Jesus himself resurrecting the grief-stricken widow’s only son, knowing that he himself the only begotten son of the Father would also resurrect.
What if any of these had pulled a big “Well, I’ve got enough problems without having to fool with you a-tude”?
Kindness is repaid, God with not be indebted to any that have shown kindness to his people.

ACTS 9:36-42 ” Now there was a Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was FULL of good works and almsdeeds (charitable deeds) which she did.
And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, AND DIED: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.
And forsomuch as (because) Lydia was nigh to (located closely to) Joppa, the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring that he would not delay to come to them.
Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come (had arrived) they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing him the coats (tunics) and garments which Dorcas had made, while she was with them.
But Peter put them all forth (out) and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to THE BODY said, Tabitha, arise.
And she OPENED her eyes: and when she saw Peter she sat up.
And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her ALIVE.
And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.”

Now the beauty in that is that many were made believers through seeing the hand of God resurrect this lady, a great gift she was given, the Bible clear to point out the love SHE had for those she helped clothe and the love THEY had in turn for her, calling upon the Lord and he answered.
Could have ended very differently had she not held this testimony, had she had an attitude of indifference and never helped anyone other than herself and her circles of friends.

So beware and very aware of how you treat others, because what holds true in life today may not hold true tomorrow.
You could find yourself wearing the shoes someone else just took off, following down a rough and rocky road they have just trod and God’s principles never change and how well you survive your own trying seasons heavily depend on how well you score on the character “testing” points of today.

GALATIANS 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in DUE season WE SHALL REAP, IF WE FAINT NOT.”

IF we faint not tells a little of just how hard some of these seasons can be.
Simon of Cyrene was called upon to carry the Lord’s cross just as he commanded US to pick up our cross and follow him, and if while on that path another asks us to walk with them, we need to remember this lesson, it would be better to walk two miles with our brethren than to sow indifference and as a result reap the walking of four miles absolutely alone.

 ORIGINAL POST@FOWC 08/29/14Φλογίζω/   NBJ 2015/ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Golden Rule X2 N. BrownJohnson/ Φλογιζω















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BELIEVE A LIE…. Part 2/ GOD? WHAT GOD?

Original post: 07/25/2014 FOWC/ AVENUE
The world has a saying, “if you want help, you must be willing to admit that you have a problem.”
This world has bad problems and before I can give you good news, I first must show you the problems.
Before we go any farther down the road forewarning of things to come on this apocalyptic journey, what to expect and how to survive.
For my own peace of mind, I want to say to anyone who asks how can I say these things, how can I not?
I am not anti-American, or anti-anyone, I love people, I love my country and I did not wake up one morning and think to myself, “Hey, I sure would love to proclaim doom, death, and destruction over earth, wouldn’t that be fun?”
I am cut by the same sword that I weld.
I am doing what I have been called to do, I am a messenger, trumpet, mouthpiece, have your choice, it is the same job and as a trumpet if I see danger and fail to sound I am accountable.
As a messenger, if I do not share that message I am accountable and all watchmen are responsible for the blood of those they failed to warn.
We will be standing in judgment covered in the blood of those we failed and I am sure we will get to behold the destruction that may have been prevented had our jobs been done.
How could anyone profess to have love and not do that job?
And that is all that will ever be said about that subject.
On to Babylon, how does a nation fall so far from being blessed of the Lord to an absolute stench in his nostrils?
Again to reiterate, it is the blood, just as the blood of Abel cried out from the earth, God continually warned the Hebrews to not let the earth become polluted with blood and the stoning of people proved just how serious he was about that.
He says what he means and he means what he says.
That is why we pray for the healing of our land.
It really is irrelevant whether we are physically who polluted it, but rather that we acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness for the atrocities committed here.
Just as Job offered sacrifice for his family for forgiveness of the sins they may have committed.
From the beginning of the Bible:
Genesis 6:11-13 ” The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence THROUGH THEM; And I WILL destroy them with earth.”
End of the Bible:
Revelation 19:2.3 “For true and righteous are HIS judgments; for HE hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand, and again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke went up for ever and ever.”
And all the Bible in between, warnings, judgments, and what all people, all nations must do to be saved.
Deuteronomy 8:11, 16-20 ” BEWARE that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statues which I command thee this day;
Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and he might prove thee, to do good at thy latter end; and thou say in thine heart, MY power and the might of MINE hand have gotten me this wealth. But thou shall shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto the fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I TESTIFY AGAINST YOU THIS DAY THAT YE SHALL PERSIH.
As the nations which the Lord destroyed before your face, so shall you perish; because you would not be obedient to the voice of your Lord your God.”
We have believed that WE made OURSELVES the great nation we once were.
We have bought the arrogant lies that OUR might and power have allowed us to control our destinies and that WE are just too great to fall.
In truth, only “a fool says in his heart, there is no God”.
We are trained from birth to have pride and believe all is beautiful and bright, the truth is we are no longer pilgrims, we have forgotten honor, kindness and true brotherly love.
There is nothing loving about a false sense of tolerance that leaves souls open to condemnation in hell.
Next time, Becoming Babylon.

08/10/2015*******AUTHORS NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE TAHT IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS ON ANY SITE OTHER THAN MY PERSONAL SITE THAT IT HAS BEEN REPUBLISHED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. FINAL WORD: JESUIS CHRIST IS LORD AND “ONLY A FOOL SAYS IN HIS HEART THAT THERE IS NO GOD!”
Φλογίζω/ all rights reserved. nbj/2015

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Prophets, Prodigals, & Puttin’ it off…

“Cry loud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew (show) my people their transgressions…. ” Isaiah 58:1(a)

“Son of man, SPEAK to the children of thy people, and SAY unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for THEIR WATCHMAN: IF HE SEETH THE SWORD COME upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people.

Then whoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul (save his life).  Ezekiel 33:2,3,5

So that is a pretty heavy job, a prophet is to warn of all the impending snares, and traps, and forthcoming woes that God has allowed them to foresee. But the major problem comes when the prophets pull a Jonah and decide that they are just not going to do it. Understandably, the fear, the rejection, ridicule, and constant state of having to keep a drawn sword that comes with the job. But understandable or not, you did not apply for this job, you were chosen and as the “gifts and callings of God are without repentance” you are forever in the position GOD has chosen for you in his army and you can’t request a transfer, you cannot retire and you are not allowed to check out at anytime.

The reality of this, whether you do YOUR job or not, that calling remains active and it will follow you to Hades.

Luke 15:11-32, We know it as the story of the prodigal son. As the story tells this gentleman had two sons and the younger son decided that he would not work for his father, nor would he wait for his inheritance. So the father divides everything up and the younger son leaves out on his journey to sow his wild oats, and he played, he drank, he raised Hades, and he rocked, he rolled, he partied, and he “boogie-oggie-oggied till he just couldn’t boogie no more” and oh the women, women, and never enough women.

Got to pay to play, and this was a high maintenance lifestyle. Soon the money was gone, and all his fair weather friends had soon flown the coup taking the hungry chicks with them. Hard times came and he hit bottom, he took a job feeding pigs, an animal considered so unclean it was forbidden to his family, no one offered him help of any kind and he became so starved that he would have delighted in just eating a little of the food that he fed to the pigs. Being surrounded by filthy pigs that are eating better than you can be a very effective wake up call. He started to think of how even his fathers servants fared better than he.

But he worried about going back home because he felt no longer “worthy” to be a son, but maybe he could be a hired hand.

Satan loves to do that to us, we all have made mistakes and plenty have backslidden and he loves nothing more than to tell you that you have gone too far, done too much, and that after walking out on your father to his face, that he will never take you back so don’t bother trying. He wants you to wallow around with swine and eats pigs food when your Father wants to feed you with manna! Even being a long way off, his father saw him coming back ( Just as God sees you, my wayward friends, because he watches for you) he ran to meet him, kissed him and hugged him.

He called for a robe (symbolic of course of God changing even swine dirt covered garments to robes of righteousness) and for a signet ring to be placed on his finger, declaring to the whole world his family lineage and that he was not a servant, but a son.

He ordered a huge feast prepared with the best he could offer placed before his son as a welcome home dinner.

The oldest brother extremely upset because he had never left, had worked, and worked, and had never been treated so lavishly, showing us that sometimes there are brothers and sisters in Christ who may not be so happy to see you return to the sheepfold.

Maybe it’s jealousy, maybe they hate seeing God bless you extraordinarily for returning to him, whatever the reason, you must always remember they are still your family, but don’t worry what they will say or how they will react.

Because the father NEVER ONCE ASKED the son where he had been, what he had done, or how he spent all the money. He welcomed him only with open arms and acceptance. Because his son “who had been dead was alive again”. That is how God sees us, and he is our father and the only opinion that matters is his.

So puttin’ it off, Watchmen know their job, we all know how scary it is. This was the main group all through the Bible that God had to constantly reassure to “not be discouraged nor dismayed” or “afraid of their faces”.

We know the world will hate you, it hated Jesus first. No one wants to be told that what they are doing is wrong according to the word of God, and they really don’t care what he has to say.

But God WILL NOT SEND JUDGMENT WITHOUT WARNING. “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil (calamity) in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?  Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but (EXCEPT) he revealeth his secret UNTO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS.” Amos 3:6

But as you step out God will bless each of those steps and as you proclaim his statues and his judgments, you really will start to develop a “streak”, sorta like the holy anger he allowed Ezekiel to feel, and if you need to ask him for confirmation over and over again, ask him! People often bash Gibeon (Judges chapters 6&7) because he asked for so much confirmation, I am not suggesting asking for “signs” but to pray and ask confirmation through his word or a word of wisdom. I personally think he was a wise man, because no one wants to “fall into the hands of the living God” !

He wants you to work and offers on the job training! Prodigals believe in their father and his work, they are just puttin’ it off till later on.

Sorry, there may not be much later left to put off until! WE ARE IN THE END OF DAYS, IT IS THE END TIMES, HENCEFORTH, THE END OF THE WORLD.

No other way of saying that.

The world is so wicked that it is coming under divine judgment. Babylon will without warning (well, secular warning) be destroyed from the face of the earth immediately after the rapture. And then all of Revelation will be fulfilled. It is time to pack it up and come back home to your father’s house. We are not promised our next breath, but we are promised that we will stand and give account for our lives and what we accomplished with the gifts he has given us.

As I write this and as you read it, and every second of every minute of every hour in every day of every year, year after year  there are people who are very much ALIVE and in HELL. Just as the “rich man lifted up his eyes in hell.” They are really there, and they are really suffering and they will never, ever have the chance escape that fate again. If he ever allowed you to hear those cries (and he just might) and make you painfully aware of their eternal presence there (and yes, he can arrange that too) you may look at your jobs a little more seriously.

Prophets, ever time you resist that fire that is trying to come from your mouth, this is what you are doing “BUT if  the watchman see the sword come, and BLOW NOT the trumpet, and the people BE NOT WARNED; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; BUT HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT THE WATCHMAN’S HAND.” Ezekiel 33:6

You will be held personally responsible for the deaths of all you fail to warn.

Prodigals who refuse to return and “be about their father’s business” could very well get a bird’s-eye view of what became of those that they were to minister to and the consequences suffered in the lives their disobedience affected. Maybe see the eternal fire and hear the eternal screams of someone YOU were supposed to witness to, or someone whose suicide that could have been prevented had you been in the place of the will of God, where you could have been used to stop it. “He that gathereth in summer is a wise man:  but HE THAT SLEEPETH IN HARVEST IS A SON THAT CAUSETH SHAME.”

So end of story, THIS IS NOT ABOUT US! It is not about our comfort, our fear, our shame, our vices, or things we just don’t wanna let go! This is not about fitting in with the crowd as opposed to being singled out. IT IS NOT YOUR LIFE! YOUR LIFE BELONGS TO THE ONE WHO GAVE IT! It is about helping the wounded be healed, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and lead the lost back home. It is ABOUT PUTTING THE SOULS OF OTHERS BEFORE YOURSELF. It is accountability, the book is written, that will never change, so  never put off today what you are not promised tomorrow to do!  

εν Φλογίζω  N.Brown Johnson 2015  / REVISTED 03/18/2021 because if there has ever been a time to step out in faith, now is beyond time!

by

Prophets, Prodigals, & Puttin’ it off…….

 

“Cry loud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew (show) my people their transgressions…. ” Isaiah 58:1(a)

“Son of man, SPEAK to the children of thy people, and SAY unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for THEIR WATCHMAN: IF HE SEETH THE SWORD COME upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people.

Then whoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul (save his life).  Ezekiel 33:2,3,5

So that is a pretty heavy job, a prophet is to warn of all the impending snares, and traps, and forthcoming woes that God has allowed them to foresee. But the major problem comes when the prophets pull a Jonah and decide that they are just not going to do it. Understandably, the fear, the rejection, ridicule, and constant state of having to keep a drawn sword that comes with the job. But understandable or not, you did not apply for this job, you were chosen and as the “gifts and callings of God are without repentance” you are forever in the position GOD has chosen for you in his army and you can’t request a transfer, you cannot retire and you are not allowed to check out at anytime.

The reality of this, whether you do YOUR job or not, that calling remains active and it will follow you to Hades.

Luke 15:11-32, We know it as the story of the prodigal son. As the story tells this gentleman had two sons and the younger son decided that he would not work for his father, nor would he wait for his inheritance. So the father divides everything up and the younger son leaves out on his journey to sow his wild oats, and he played, he drank, he raised Hades, and he rocked,he rolled, he partied, and he “boogie-oggie-oggied till he just couldn’t boogie no more” and oh the women, women, and never enough women.

Got to pay to play, and this was a high maintenance lifestyle. Soon the money was gone, and all his fair weather friends had soon flown the coup taking the hungry chicks with them. Hard times came and he hit bottom, he took a job feeding pigs, an animal considered so unclean it was forbidden to his family, no one offered him help of any kind and he became so starved that he would have delighted in just eating a little of the food that he fed to the pigs. Being surrounded by filthy pigs that are eating better than you can be a very effective wake up call. He started to think of how even his fathers servants fared better than he.

But he worried about going back home because he felt no longer “worthy” to be a son, but maybe he could be a hired hand.

Satan loves to do that to us, we all have made mistakes and plenty have back slidden and he loves nothing more than to tell you that you have gone too far, done too much, and that after walking out on your father to his face, that he will never take you back so don’t bother trying. He wants you to wallow around with swine and eats pigs food when your Father wants to feed you with manna! Even being a long way off, his father saw him coming back ( Just as God sees you, my wayward friends, because he watches for you) he ran to meet him, kissed him and hugged him. He called for a robe (symbolic of course of God changing even swine dirt covered garments to robes of righteousness) and for a signet ring to be placed on his finger, declaring to the whole world his family lineage and that he was not a servant, but a son.

He ordered a huge feast prepared with the best he could offer placed before his son as a welcome home dinner. The oldest brother extremely upset because he had never left, had worked, and worked, and had never been treated so lavishly, showing us that sometimes there are brothers and sisters in Christ who may not be so happy to see you return to the sheepfold. Maybe it’s jealousy, maybe they hate seeing God bless you extraordinarily for returning to him, whatever the reason, you must always remember they are still your family, but don’t worry what they will say or how they will react.

Because the father NEVER ONCE ASKED the son where he had been, what he had done, or how he spent all the money. He welcomed him only with open arms and acceptance. Because his son “who had been dead was alive again”. That is how God sees us, and he is our father and the only opinion that matters is his.

So puttin’ it off, Watchmen know their job, we all know how scary it is. This was the main group all through the Bible that God had to constantly reassure to “not be discouraged nor dismayed” or “afraid of their faces”. We know the world will hate you, it hated Jesus first. No one wants to be told that what they are doing is wrong according to the word of God, and they really don’t care what he has to say. But God WILL NOT SEND JUDGMENT WITHOUT WARNING. “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil (calamity) in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?  Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but (EXCEPT) he revealeth his secret UNTO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS.” Amos 3:6

But as you step out God will bless each of those steps and as you proclaim his statues and his judgments, you really will start to develop a “streak”, sorta like the holy anger he allowed Ezekiel to feel, and if you need to ask him for confirmation over and over again, ask him! People often bash Gibeon (Judges chapters 6&7) because he asked for so much confirmation, I am not suggesting asking for “signs” but to pray and ask confirmation through his word or a word of wisdom. I personally think he was a wise man, because no one wants to “fall into the hands of the living God” !

He wants you to work and offers on the job training! Prodigals believe in their father and his work, they are just puttin’ it off till later on.

Sorry, there may not be much later left to put off until! WE ARE IN THE END OF DAYS, IT IS THE END TIMES, HENCEFORTH, THE END OF THE WORLD. No other way of saying that. The world is so wicked that it is coming under divine judgment. Babylon will without warning (well, secular warning) be destroyed from the face of the earth immediately after the rapture. And then all of Revelation will be fulfilled. It is time to pack it up and come back home to your father’s house. We are not promised our next breath, but we are promised that we will stand and give account for our lives and what we accomplished with the gifts he has given us.

As I write this and as you read it, and every second of every minute of every hour in every day of every year, year after year  there are people who are very much ALIVE and in HELL. Just as the “rich man lifted up his eyes in hell.” They are really there, and they are really suffering and they will never, ever have the chance escape that fate again. If he ever allowed you to hear those cries (and he just might) and make you painfully aware of their eternal presence there (and yes, he can arrange that too) you may look at your jobs a little more seriously.

Prophets, ever time you resist that fire that is trying to come from your mouth, this is what you are doing “BUT if  the watchman see the sword come, and BLOW NOT the trumpet, and the people BE NOT WARNED; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; BUT HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT THE WATCHMAN’S HAND.” Ezekiel 33:6

You will be held personally responsible for the deaths of all you fail to warn.

Prodigals who refuse to return and “be about their father’s business” could very well get a bird’s-eye view of what became of those that they were to minister to and the consequences suffered in the lives their disobedience affected. Maybe see the eternal fire and hear the eternal screams of someone YOU were supposed to witness to, or someone whose suicide that could have been prevented had you been in the place of the will of God, where you could have been used to stop it. “He that gathereth in summer is a wise man:  but HE THAT SLEEPETH IN HARVEST IS A SON THAT CAUSETH SHAME.”

So end of story, THIS IS NOT ABOUT US! It is not about our comfort, our fear, our shame, our vices, or things we just don’t wanna let go! This is not about fitting in with the crowd as opposed to being singled out. IT IS NOT YOUR LIFE! YOUR LIFE BELONGS TO THE ONE WHO GAVE IT! It is about helping the wounded be healed, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and lead the lost back home. It is ABOUT PUTTING THE SOULS OF OTHERS BEFORE YOURSELF. It is accountability, the book is written, that will never change, so  never put off today what you are not promised tomorrow to do!  

εν Φλογίζω  N.Brown Johnson 2015