The Devil Made Me Do It!

     Are people naturally evil?  I love a story the late Adrian Rogers said.  It is about a boy who was hitting his sister with a broom stick and calling her names.  His mother stopped him and said what has gotten into you.  The devil must have made you do it.  The boy answered, "The devil made me hit her with a stick and call her names but the spitting at her, that was my idea." 

     So many people claim themselves to be good people.  They care for their community, mother nature, they recycle, they love their neighbors, they donate to charities and so forth, but when it comes to God's people and God they are hostile.  The fact is people are evil naturally.  Even Jesus declared that the world is condemned already.  It is not that he came to condemn the world but to save it. 

     At a meeting I was at a lady in the audience asked me about the battle I was having with the City of Phoenix.  I answered that as an American I have the right to protect my rights and the rights of all those who want to practice their faith.  The lady commented that even though I was fighting the fight I should stop worshipping at my home.  I stated that I was not doing anything illegal and that is why I am fighting this and I will not stop because it is my right as an American.  When asked why I filed suit against a Police Officer, I stated that the Police Officer falsified information and tried to create a prejudicy against me that may cause harm.  This same lady responded with, "Well, you probably deserved it or else he would not have done it."

     Hypocrisy and double standards are at the core of humanity.  We call good evil and evil good.  We can blame all of the problems of society on the devil but as Adrian Rogers said and I approve, there is enough evil in the heart of man that there is no need for the devil.

     I leave you with one more funny story.  A man stood before God being judged.  The man began to explain to God that all the evil he did was due to the devil.  In which the devil in his defense replied, "I did not know anyone can do such evil, until I saw the what man has done.  They taught me."

 

Have we become Communists....

Psalms 2:1-3 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? (2) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, (3) Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.



     These days we are seeing a shift of the balance.  That which was considered sacred in God has become the sacredness of the courtroom.  What has occurred in the past 10 years that has made this America become so hostile to religious excercise and worship?  People now look at the clegry and ministers of the Gospels as enemies to the State and the neighborhood.  That which was once so welcomed, admired and respected in communities has become a soreness to the eyes of the people.  The people who once protected the consitution and the freedom of religion are now fighting against it.  They yell, "NO MOSQUE!!!"  "NO TEMPLES!!!"  "NO CHURCHES!!!"  "NO CHRISTIANITY!!!" and eventually they are yelling and will yell, "NO GOD!!"  Those who have a desire and zeal for their faith are not finding comfort in the leaders in which they have entrusted to protect their rights but are rather now fighting against them and bringing them to court.  The leaders that God has placed in office are playing politics rather than standing up for what is right. 
     I assure you the sins of those who do such things will destroy them.  They who yell and fight against God will find that their lives and the lives of their children are now damned and at stake.  It reminds me of those who wanted to Crucify Christ.  They also thought that they were doing the right thing so it went: 

 Matthew 27:24-25 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. (25) Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

AND SO IT WAS AND SO IT WILL BE TO THE REST.

Did man make Up God??

     Have you ever heard of the idea that God is a man-made concept?  There are people in America and around the world that believe that Man for their own comfort came up with the concept of God.  Maybe you are reading this and maybe you believe this concept. 
     This morning I was reading Romans chapter 4 in the bible.  In this chapter the word of God declares that Abraham became a friend of God by faith before circumcision.  As I continued to read I thought to myself, "Out of all the signs that God can give why Circumcision?"  It was as the Holy Spirit spoke and said, "This is proof that man did not make me up."  When we go back to the Old Testament story God tells Abraham to circumcise himself and all the males as a sign of the covenant. 
     You see, man would have no problem cutting a finger, shaving the head, maybe even losing a toe, but it truly takes a belief that there is a God when you start messing around with the privates.  You can smile that is fine...  If I made up God, being a man that would be the last thing I would even think of doing.  Yet, Abraham and all did what God told them to do.  Circumcision then truly is a sign.  A sign that is private between God and the person (NO PUN INTENDED) and a sign to all humanity that God is real and not man made. 
     Today, god looks for a different circumcision.  The circumcision that God is looking for today is the removal of the flesh and its lust from our heart. 

Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: (29) But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.


     May the Lord bless you today as you remember the Love He has for those who call on His name.
 
In Jesus name.