Month: January 2025

Some people are water people. I’m not one.  My wife loves to power wash because she enjoys playing with water. I have to either pry her fingers away from the gun, or turn the machine off on her to get her to stop.  And I’ll get a frown in return.

A Four Tops song titled Still Waters shares how a man’s love for his girl ran deep.  The phrase can mean that on the surface something or someone may seem calm while beneath it, there’s turbulence or complexities. Some people’s lives are like that.

Scripture has lots to say about waters, and there’s one verse however, that today’s generation seems to live by: “Stolen water is sweet; and food eaten in secret is delicious.”

Translation: Stealing, conniving, scamming, engaging, etc. in illicit relationships, events, or acts, seem sweet and enjoyable at the start because one feels you’re getting away with something,  sneaking around or going over someone’s head or behind their backs. Satan uses these opportunities to entice people. The second part of the verse, however, reveals what happens: “But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guest are deep in the realm of the dead” (Proverbs 9:17,18 NIV). The consequences are hidden by Satan through lust, greed or addictions: Basically, you’re good as dead when the results are revealed.

Today’s generation has rebranded old sins.  People “borrow” others’ belongings.  Careers are made from “selling” or even “renting” oneself to others.  Justifications are made, such as to pay off debt, tuition, launch a career, or be financially secured, etc..
But God, knows it all. There’s a 1000% guarantee that it will all crumble and destruction will follow.  Actually, it’s best if it all falls apart here while you’re still alive.  Because afterwards, the punishment will be fixed, eternal; no way to change it.  Jesus put it this way, “The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell- and great was its collapse” (Matthew 7:27 BSB)!  That’s concerning foolish people who build their lives upon the sand (upon me-ism), not upon God, who is solid and stable.  But time’s running out to change your ways!       

Stop drinking stolen waters!  Come to Christ who: leads us to calming, still waters that refresh our souls (Psalms 23:2).  Jesus has promised: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3).

And: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you” (Isaiah 43:2a).

Note: “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters” (2 Samuel 22:17).

Finally, why will He do all these thigs for you?  Simple: “Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of Solomon 8:7).

His love is so great, nothing will stop Him from loving you!

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1).

Go deep for the dive!  Make a splash!

God Bless!

Sam

Recommended Song: Spring Up O Well

I think all kids are fascinated by magnets and how they attract and repel each other.  One magnet can chase another one across a table.  A person can do tricks such as placing a magnet under a sheet of paper or cardboard and pull items in various directions.

When I was about 9, my brother and I got Monster Magnet by Wham-O.  We had lots of fun with them! They were red, shaped with two arms and you put your hand through its mouth to use them.  Once they attracted and got stuck, it was very hard to break away.  I sometimes pulled my little brother across the floor with my magnet as we tried to break loose the grip!

Obviously, magnets are fun. People can be like magnets: we can be drawn to them, or they repel us. We say, “I’m drawn to him.”  Jesus had magnetic charm.  Even kids wanted to be around Him.  That can’t be said about a lot of us.  Jesus was genuine.

Besides His charm, healing abilities, and providing for the needs of others, He had a different type of magnetism.  He was God-in-the-flesh!  Almost all of humanity is drawn to God!  We want to be in His favor.  We want to please Him.  We want to imitate His ways.  We want to be in right standings with Him.  And we want to be like Him!  But He had a different way of making sure all mankind could be “attracted” to Him.  Jesus said: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). So, what exactly did He mean?  Would He use a huge, powerful Mega-Monster Magnet?   Would He force men to follow Him? Nope!  He was predicting His death! 

Through crucifixion, He knew He’d be suspended between earth and heaven. He would accomplish the plan He, the Father, and Holy Spirit, had agreed upon BEFORE the foundations of the earth!  

The Father’s wrath is something none of us can take.  Only Jesus, the perfect Lamb, could offer a perfect sacrifice and appease God’s demands (John 1:29).  Therefore, after suffering brutal beatings and a horrendous death in our place, He rose/went to the Father with our redemption, and drew all men to Himself and the Father. That’s Magnetism!

But that’s only the beginning!  Soon to come, Jesus will, like a huge magnet, call all believers home!  “But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 underline mine).

That will be an absolute attraction!  We’ll be “beamed up in millionths of microseconds!  *The word Rapture comes from the Greek word, harpazō, meaning to snatch away, or be caught up (underlined above).

Millions of Christians misunderstand the Rapture because they miss the point that when the trumpet sounds, no one will see Him! We’ll be gathered to Him in the air and will stay with Him to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb just before He returns with us (Revelation 19:7-9) at the Second Coming.  That’s when all eyes will see Him. He’ll return with the armies of heaven (Revelation 19:14), (Jude 1:14), (Zechariah 14:5), which include the saints (the church)!  He can’t show up at the end of time without the saints, and suddenly, we’ll be there.  First, we  have to go to Him!

Be drawn to Him!

 Sam

Recommended Song: Who Is This {Official Lyric Video} Vineyard Worship feat. Wendy O’Connell.

P.S. In the previous post, The Vail Upon Your Heart, the word appears as vail in the Old Testament, and as veil in the New Testament.  For the sake of Scripture, I had to go with vail.

After spending forty days in God’s presence when Moses descended the mountain, his face shone so much he placed a vail over his head to keep from scaring away the people (Exodus 34:30, 34); yet, he removed it in the presence of God.  The vail was a shadow of things unfulfilled.  They occurred to draw us closer to God and to remind us of His coming.  But He came and people missed Him!!!  “To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19 ASV).

Even today man will invent ways to show God they’re serious about reaching Him.  They subject themselves to burdens or pledges, even sacrifices. In some countries, people crawl on their bellies or make pilgrimages on their knees to please their god or to appease him.  Again, those things don’t accomplish anything in God’s eyes.  WHY??  Because Jesus offered the ultimate sacrifice: Himself!  He went to the cross so we don’t have to.   

Consider that billions of people live under an invisible vail draped over their eyes/face as well as over their entire lives.  They fail to see God in everyday situations.  When He visits, they attribute His visitation to angels, spirits, inanimate objects, powers that be, to chance, even to aliens.

Meanwhile, you’re not the only one under a vail. To this day God’s chosen people, the Israelites, continue having an invisible vail preventing them from seeing the whole of God’s plan for them. Check it out:
“But their minds were blinded: for unto this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away with in Christ.  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.  Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:14-18).

Let’s see it this way:  You’re a young, (OK, older) Indiana Jones  on a quest for a treasure map leading to eternal riches.  You spend hours staring at clues, ancient manuscripts, visiting sites, overturning stones, relics, etc.  Yet staring back at you are the clues.   But vailed, your eyes just can’t grasp it.  You need a breakthrough, something to shed some light.

When we turn to the LORD with a sincere heart in repentance, Jesus, the Light of the world removes the vail and leads us to His Word, which is the treasure map leading to eternal life.  Suddenly, the ancient manuscript (The Old Testament), as well as the New Testament come alive.  Prior to this moment, “You were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).

As a nation, Israel’s vail remains until the Time of the Gentiles is over. “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brother: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25).  The vail shall then be removed and all scriptures shall come alive to them.  And we, the church, His Bride shall have our vail lifted so Jesus can see our face as the Holy Spirit presents us to Him for all eternity! “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God” (Revelation 19:710).

In the words of Johnny Nash, I Can See Clearly Now (!) How about you?

God Bless!
Sam

Recommended Song: Tim Hughes Here I Am to Worship (Light of the world You stepped down into darkness…)

We can say two things about Moses: Either he was ready for the headaches the Israelites would bring him, because he had tablets (aspirin)!  Or, he seems to have been the most technically advanced leader in the Bible being that he possessed not one, but two tablets!  (Drumroll)!  Yeah, yeah.

I recently read how an original ten commandment stone tablet was sold for nearly 5 million dollars.  Supposedly, it’s legit, but it weighs 155lbs.  I know Moses was on the extraordinary side with being 80 years old when God called him to deliver Israel from the Egyptians.  But to carry down a mountain two tablets with a combined weight of over 300 lbs., is very difficult. Additionally, when he returned to the camp with the them and saw the people’s great sin of worshipping the golden calf they made, he cast the tablets at them. Must’ve been very strong to lift and cast them.

Here’s the thing, the original tablets were written on both sides (Exodus 32:15) by God’s finger (Exodus 31:18) Plus, Moses carried both tablets in one hand!  Later on, Moses had to replace the tablets by hewing his own and carrying them up the mount to God so He could rewrite them (Exodus 34:1,4).  So, I don’t think the tablet recently sold is legit.

But, as with other things, mankind tends to glorify and idolize things instead of worshipping He who created them or what they represent.  God is not as interested in you locating and buying the ten commandments as He is in you honoring/keeping them.  To avoid idolizing this object, and to emphasize keeping them, He’s made it possible for us to both know and keep them by having written them on the tablets of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3)! Meaning, within our hearts we know right from wrong.

See, God wants us to know Him for real, not in theory.  While He wants us to go to church to fellowship with others and to seek His face (Hebrews 10:25), He’s made sure we have access to Him at all hours of the day by making our bodies His temple (church building), and by indwelling us (Ephesians 4:30).  We’re His church, and He lives within us (2 Corinthians 6:16).  That’s why we need to take care of our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

So, now that you know where the ten commandment tablets are, call Him in the morning! 

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3).

Up is where God is.  Always on His throne, reigning forever!

God Bless!

Sam

“I never promised you a rose-garden” went the song by Lynn Andersen.  Pardons are great, and most of us see them as worthy when extended to someone deserving one.  Recently, however, our president, Joe Biden, granted pardons to a large number of prisoners; amongst them thieves and murderers, provoking outrage from some families as well as from the public. 

Outrage comes from the fact that some criminals don’t deserve pardons-members of society feel.  Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on with this issue, multitudes against pardons in general, don’t recognize God as a forgiving God.  Hence, “if I’m not forgiven, no one else should,” they say.

Granted, inmates on death row don’t seem like caring and trusting individuals.  Not exactly who you’d like to invite over for a meal. I don’t know specifics in their cases, and I’m not choosing sides.  But I do know that as bad, or horrific some of their crimes may be, you and I have been in bad-standing with God.  We’ve been on His death row all our lives.  In fact, some of us have been so mean and bad that others won’t believe we’ve really come to the Lord.  Some may think it’s a hoax.  Some believe it’s impossible for God to forgive us, because they surely won’t.  Some may say, “I’m glad Jesus forgave him, cause I surely won’t.”

That’s where God draws the line.  He knows NONE of us are worthy of His forgiveness.  That’s what makes grace so special. See, NOT ONE individual in heaven will be able to stand and say he/she deserved forgiveness!  No one can claim they made it to heaven on their own merits. NOT ONE person can claim righteousness without God’s intervention.  Not a single (or married!) person will stand up and say, “It took you long enough!”  “I’ve been here chillin’ wondering when the rest of y’all were gonna get here.”

 God’s the perfect reason why we need to learn to forgive others.  We all deserve death and punishment for our sins against God.  Knowing there was no way anyone could achieve forgiveness on their own, He made a way.  Even before Adam & Eve sinned, He had already established how we’d be forgiven. Jesus would come to earth to die in our place.  Instead of each of us being nailed to a cross carrying our sins, Jesus took our place.  He became the curse that we were and carried, and allowed us to take on His righteousness.

Remember the TV show, Trading Spaces? Think of it as Trading Places.  He became us, and we became Him.  We get to be called children of the Most-High God (Galatians 3:26).

So, although, trials come, just like the song says, “Along with the sunshine there’s gotta be a little rain sometime,” Jesus, who prayed, “Father forgive them” (Luke 23:34), has also promised to “never leave us or forsake us” (Hebrews 13:5).  He’s with us in the dark, dingy days.

“So, what if I don’t forgive?” you might ask.  God’s got that covered as well. The LORD’s prayer ends this way: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen.  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” (Matthew 6:13-15).

The only way to receive God’s forgiveness, is to extend forgiveness to others.  This is one of the main reasons He will say to millions of people: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).  Words we never want to hear!

Even if we choose to forgive a person we feel doesn’t deserve it, God is the judge (Isaiah 33:22), He’ll judge them righteously (Psalm 7:11 NIV).  Leave it to Him! No one will escape Him!

But, if you have a forgiving heart, then you can understand the lyrics to another song that says:

I’m forgiven because you were forsaken and I’m accepted you were condemned I’m alive and well your spirit is within me because you died and rose again

Amazing love how can it be that you my king would die for me”

Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin

Start the year on the right foot.  Forgive others.

God Bless!

Sam

It was Thursday, January 19, 1978 when Gil and I went to a Pet Land store somewhere in Far Rockaway on train to buy some fish for my aquarium.  It was 20 degrees out, and as we waited on the El for the train, we saw flurries beginning to fall which suddenly picked up strength.  Soon, we had wipeout conditions.                              

I remember placing my bags of fish inside my army coat to shield them from the cold blasts.  We were amazed at seeing two trains arrive on the opposite platform and as they left, they’d disappear within 40 feet from us into a cloak of white powder.  The entire train seemed to vanish right into thin air!  It snowed all evening and night, giving us 13 inches of snow next day!  What a great and beautiful day that turned out to be!

We live in a world covered beneath cloaks.  Some wear cloaks of make-believe, hiding behind luxury, prosperity and success, when in fact, they’re poor and maybe failing miserably.  Others operate out of cloaks of deception. Their world is a bunch of lies, scams, and what-ifs.

Look around and you’ll see sickness, thefts, attacks, and killings, while others smile, show-off, and spend thousands and millions on everyday trash, sometimes, just to make sure they don’t have to share their wealth with those in despair, or what some consider “low-lives.” A cloak hides their greed and selfish ways. Some cloaks are fashionable, others, eh…

Today’s New Year’s Day!  We dress up, eat, drink, celebrate, and make plans for the coming year.   With God’s help, we’ll survive 2025, and can impact the lives of others in a positive way.

Behind the cloak of life, lies the cloak of suffering and death.  Thousands didn’t make it to this new year.  Their lives were cloaked from tomorrow.  Are you living under a cloak of suffering?  Or hiding under the cloak of worldliness?  Satan is the master at tailoring cloaks.  He knows our size and exactly what he wants us to wear.

My wife’s older sister died at 7 a.m. this morning.  Did so in her sleep.  She suffered from a lot of health issues.  But the one thing that kept her captive for over a decade was the cloak of depression.  She saw the death of her mom, brother, son, nephew, and friends one early January several years ago when her older brother, fearing he wouldn’t inherit anything, invited them over for dinner & then set them afire with matches and gas tanks stashed under the dining table. He killed about six family members and one fiancé who came from the states to meet the family before marrying into it…he operated under cloaks of deception and greed. 

In scripture, the prophet Elijah wore a cloak as a symbol of his prophetic authority.  In 2 Kings 2:8, he rolled up his cloak and struck the Jordan River with it, causing the waters to part.  Almost similar in fashion, a robe of righteousness, covers God’s children (Isaiah 61:10).  Do you have a cloak?   God’s cloak covers His own: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

No one knows what lies ahead.  Why not be cloaked with God’s favor?  There are millions of people that die unexpectedly-only to awake and find themselves an eternity away from God, and there’s no redirecting!  They have lost all their opportunities here on earth.  In Christ, we are made alive in 2025 and beyond! Let’s see what lies ahead!  “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever” (Psalm 30:11,12)!

Happy New Year!

God Bless!
Sam