|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

The purest obedience is doing what God says in its simplest form. The flesh always wants to add reason to God's instruction.  We try to find ways to appease God and ourselves.  That is called rebellion by God.   Our reasons are at war with God's instructions. Galatians 5:17 NKJV — For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. Well-intentioned people are the most likely to compromise, because they believe their intention is what God wants and they miss the war their flesh is having with God's Spirit.  God knows our intentions lack His understanding.  Obedience cannot be replaced by well-intentioned "getting close." If God calls me to do something, I just want to do it, knowing and believing His ways are different than mine.  Obeying God almost always results in doing something the world wouldn't do. God asks us to give things we wouldn't to...

Song of Solomon 5:9-11   What  is  your beloved More than  another  beloved, O fairest among women? What  is  your beloved More than  another  beloved, That you so charge us?   (10)   My beloved  is  white and ruddy, Chief among ten thousand.   (11)   His head  is like  the finest gold; His locks  are  wavy,  And  black as a raven.   There has never been a person more alive than Yeshua.  Jesus lived, and continues to live, completely free, satisfied, engaged, focused, and joyful.  He knows how to live life better than anyone.  This verve and freedom was very misunderstood by religious people:     Luke 7:33-35   John the Baptist came, and he fasted and drank no wine, and you said, 'He has a demon in him!'   (34)   The Son of Man came, and  he ate and drank , and you said, 'Look at this man!  He is a glutton and wine drinke...

Impatience leaves the heart sick.  A sick heart tries to feel better in impatient (lawless) ways. Proverbs 13:12 NKJV — Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. All lawlessness is sin. Impatiently trying to do what only God can do is sin, not help.  Impatience does not please God. Hope does. Faith hope and love please God. Every promise God makes is a yes. It will be fulfilled.  Patience and faith are required for me to continue abiding in love (obedience) while waiting on Gods timing. Because God is committed to love, He is also committed to free will.  Because of this unwavering commitment to our own freedom, the Lord waits! What an amazing God... A Father that waits on His children.  A King who has tender patience for His subjects.  A Creator who yields His hand to waiting for His creation's readiness to receive all of the blessings that come from it!  Our God is so powerful that He can afford humility. Go...

*All uncertainty about your eternal destiny comes from the tension of hoping you are good enough while knowing you make mistakes. *All certainty (peace) about your eternal destiny can only come from knowing you make mistakes and placing all of your trust in the way GOD made for you to be restored, knowing you were weak, too! God made you. He KNOWS what He made. When you and God agree you are weak and that it is fine because He knows what He is doing, then the longer you live the MORE certain you become that you need a Savior and that God has provided One. You cannot earn your way to eternal life. The only way in is to yield your life back to the One who created it. Once you really believe this, you stop expecting other people to be "good" and you start living in mercy, both for you and others. The problem the earth has is man trying to be God, instead of humbling ourselves to Him. John 14:14-18 NLT — Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! “If you love me,...

The first promise God gives to us is life.   The very act of creating life is a promise from God of sustaining that life forever:   Psalms 139:15-17   You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.   (16)   You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.   (17)   How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! Our lives are precious to God.  Eternal existence is guaranteed to all.  The quality of that experience for each individual person is dependent on recognizing the source of all life.  Life flows from One Place:   John 1:1-7   In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.   (2)   He existed in the beginning with God.   (3)   God created everything through him, and nothing was created except th...

Misinformation is rapidly increasing. Reacting to the events happening around me is the worst thing I can do since reactions can easily steer me into more misinformation. We have to have a tether to truth. Hebrews 6:18-20 NKJV — that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Bible calls this anchor to truth "abiding in God." John 15:4-6 NKJV — “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. “If an...