If You… God Will…

Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (KJV)
²⁹ But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
³⁰ When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
³¹ (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

There are 1595 ifs in the bible denoting conditions to be met before blessings are released. Repeatedly throughout scripture you will read phrases similar to “if you… He will…” It was what we call “conditional promises.” In other words, God will give us a key in the form of a condition that will unlock the blessing he has wrapped in a promise.

People oftentimes will subtly feel resentment at God because they feel he is not doing something in an automatic way. We often believe that if God wants to do something for us, that it’s all up to him whether he does it or not, and we have little to nothing to do with it. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our decisions have everything to do with it.

Consider the most famous of all scriptures which is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus states that if a person believes in the only begotten son, then the blessing of eternal life will be released into their life.

I have to admit that there is a lot of wasted prayers due to ignorance. Many pray things that will not be answered due to a lack of understanding what our personal responsibility is in the situation. I will give you some examples of what I am saying. Here are some ways we pray that indicates we believe that God will just do it without any personal responsibility of our own.

1. We will pray  “Lord, I am lonely send me some friends!” The Lord will then remind you of a key and where  it is found.

Here is your key:

Proverbs 18:24 (KJV) A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

He is saying “be friendly to others and you will gain friends.” You can pray till the cows come home, but if you don’t use the key you will not receive the benefit!

2. We pray “Lord, please touch my mind – it is confused and miserable and depressed and I am full of worry”

Here’s your key:

Isaiah 26:3 (KJV) Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

IF your mind is always on the problem then how do you expect to have peace?

3. We pray “Lord stop this from my enemies and I pray that you make them treat me better…”

Here’s your keys:

Matthew 5:44 (KJV) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Romans 12:20-21 (KJV) Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. [21] Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

God wrote this book for us to use – it is a doing religion! These keys work and this is how you apply the Word.

It all comes down to the original point – if you… God will…

A Revolutionary Prayer!

Bob Russell is the pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the one who wrote the prayer that Pastor Joe Wright read at the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. Below is the article and the prayer that ensues. I have taken the liberty to bullet list the prayer. It is courtesy of

 http://www.bobrussell.org/2013/05/02/americas-prayer-of-repentance/

In 1995 I wrote a prayer of national repentance and offered it at the Kentucky Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in Frankfort Kentucky. The prayer was adapted by Joe Wright and presented as the prayer to open the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996.

You may have heard about the controversy stirred that day. The prayer infuriated several legislators; one member stormed out of the hall in protest. Several gave speeches critical of the prayer, and one even called it a “message of intolerance.”

The chaplain coordinator in the Nebraska legislature read the prayer the following month, stirring a debate there. Paul Harvey reported on the controversy and read the prayer on the air. He has since repeated the story, claiming it is one of the most requested readings he has ever had. The prayer has been widely circulated by e-mail.

O God, we know that your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we’ve done.

• We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
• We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word and called it moral pluralism.
• We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism and New Age spirituality.
• We have committed adultery and called it an affair.
• We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
• We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
• We have neglected the needy and called it frugality.
• We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
• We have killed our unborn children and called it choice.
• We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
• We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
• We have failed to execute justice speedily, as your Word commands, and called it due process.
• We have failed to love our neighbor who has a different color of skin and called it maintaining racial purity.
• We have abused power and called it political savvy.
• We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
• We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
• We have made the Lord’s Day the biggest shopping and entertainment day of the week and called it free enterprise.
• We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our parents and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today. Try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us of every sin and set us free. Though our sins be as scarlet, may they become white as snow. Though they be as crimson, may they be as wool.

Blood Moons mean what??

The latest craze to hit Christendom is the lunar phenomenon of blood moons. Believers are buying up these books as if their last breath depends on it, and the Christian nerves are on edge once again. Observing this new revelation and the reaction it’s producing, I can’t help but think back to the Y2K phenomenon. The prophesy experts were crying out that the end was near and encouraged food hoarding along with all kinds of doomsday instructions. Of course, nothing happened as predicted, other than gullible people ended up with tons of food, bottled water, and a bad case of nerves. The flip side of the coin was favorable for the authors of the books, the manufacturer’s of the processed foods, and sellers of all the gadgets, because now they were laughing all the way to the bank. I often wonder how many times can people be duped.

One prophesy expert recently said that because of the blood moons there would be a major change with Israel and other nations in the middle east within the next few years. Well, you don’t have to be an expert in saying that and be safe in your prediction. A “few years” lacks the opportunity to scrutinize that statement.

These experts are saying that because of past history when blood moons occurred that they were associated with happenings in Israel and world events. We need to remember that anyone can take a happening or event in history and include solar phenomena and claim it’s the reason or sign. For example, I can do a little study concerning the relationship between full moons and the day wars have started throughout history. Let’s pretend that out of 100 wars I have found that there have been 65 full moons within weeks of those days. Now, I read in the news that Israel is being threatened by Iran and I immediately review my analysis. I see that a full moon is scheduled to happen in July. I go on Christian TV, write a book “The Coming Full Moon War between Israel & Iran,” and create a stir about what I have found. Are you getting the picture? In other words, I can force analysis into saying anything I want but that doesn’t necessarily make it accurate.

Here is the REAL blood moon in Scripture.

Revelation 6:12 (KJV) And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

This particular happening stated above will occur in the Tribulation, not now. It WILL be a sign and will happen in the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation as a result of the 6th seal being unleashed. If you are a believer, you will not see it because you will have been raptured out before the 1st seal was opened.

Here are some of the problems that create confusion when it comes to these topics:

• Associating Tribulation events and signs to the pre-rapture time
• lacking understanding in proper dispensational placement
• not differentiating between God’s dealings with the Jew and the church
• making the bible fit our opinions instead of allowing the bible to form our thoughts into true doctrinal stances
• the subtle desire to prostitute the bible by playing on people’s fears in making money off of it

Once we properly place events, signs, and happenings, of scripture in their rightful place, then all of the foolishness disappears.

The next great happening of scripture is the rapture of the church. No signs are needed for it’s fulfillment – we could go at anytime. This knowledge of not knowing when this event will occur should be a stimulant to every believer to go and win as many souls as they can.

Here are some (not all) reasons for the rapture:

• To take saints to heaven to live in the New Jerusalem and receive rewards (1Th. 4:17; 3:13; Jn. 14:1-3; 2Cor. 5:10; Heb. 12:22-23; Rev. 19:1-10; 21:9-10)
• To change bodies of saints to immortality (1Th. 4:16-17; 1Cor. 15:35-58; Philip. 3:21)
• To cause the saints to escape the tribulation of Rev. 6:1 -- Rev. 19:21 (1Th. 4:16-17; 5:9; Lk. 21:36; Rev. 4:1)
• To receive saints to Himself as promised (1Th. 4:17; Jn. 14:1-3; Eph. 5:27)

Instead of wasting money on the latest and greatest – why not allow the phenomenon of the rapture provoke such a passion that burns in us to win souls? Do you know the rapture itself is a sign? It is the leading sign that the Tribulation is near.

So, if a full moon happens and at the same time a war starts somewhere in the world – I will tell you “see, I told you so!”

HOW You Say It determines…

Tactful speaking and making what you say palatable to the hearer requires forethought and intention. Truth can be spoken but whether it is received depends much upon the one's attitude in speaking it. Think about it, if someone came up to you and revealed things that needed corrected in your life and all of it was true, however, they said it with a nasty attitude – how would you respond? Of course you would reject it, not because it was true, but because the attitude of the person turned the truth bitter.

The following story is from an unknown source but it illustrates the lasting impact of a right attitude.

John Wesley and a preacher-friend of plain habits were once invited to dinner where the host's daughter, noted for her beauty, had been profoundly impressed by Wesley's preaching. during a pause in the meal, Wesley's friend took the young woman's hand and called attention to the sparkling rings she wore. "What do you think of this, sir, for a Methodist hand?" The girl turned crimson.

Wesley likewise was embarrassed, for his aversion to jewelry was only too well known. But with a benevolent smile, he simply said, "The hand is very beautiful." 

Wesley's remark both cooled the too-hot water poured by his  friend, and made the foot-washing gentle. The young woman appeared at the evening service without her jewels, and became a strong Christian.

I have nothing against the wearing of jewelry but I thought the attitude of John Wesley made all the difference in this woman’s response.

Colossians 4:6 (KJV)
⁶ Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

The purpose of salt is to:

• preserve foods
• improve taste – make palatable
• enhances the color of food
• A nutrient source

Finis Dake said in reference to this verse:

Let your speech be always spiced and seasoned with answers that will oppose sin and preserve from the corruption thereof. Let it be holy, wise, gracious, Christian, savory, wholesome, courteous, respectful, desirable, and worthy of being kept in the memory of others.

Salt in this verse has much to do with the attitude, or the way we speak the truth. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “what to answer” but “how to answer” every person. Not that truth is unimportant, but the attitude makes the spinach of truth more palatable and ingestible for the hearer.

If you have been dealing with someone about salvation, or trying to get a person to see the error of their ways, and you are not seeing success. Don’t change the truth, change your attitude and see what happens. You might be surprised at the change in their response.