|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

Faith is a bridge to grace, which is the only narrow road to righteousness. Romans 5:1-2 NKJV — Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God . Few will find this, because it requires we do something that seems weak.  Faith makes prayer powerful.  Prayer without faith seems like a waste of time.  The flesh says, "either I do nothing, or I do everything." But God made man for partnership.  We plant the seeds, God makes the miracle of growth happen. We can't do God's part, He won't do our part.  Our part is prayer, His part is power. Matthew 7:7-14 NKJV — “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, if his son ...

 There is no such thing as a "cultural Christian." The very idea implies a false witness of Jesus, not a true one. Either you give your whole self to God, or you have given nothing to Him.  There is no in between.  God saves on His terms, not man's.  Matthew 7:15-23 NLT — “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. ...

Obeying God = self denial Luke 9:23 NKJV — Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. This is the main way I can know I am obeying God, or not. Am I fighting to make a way for what I want, or am I laying down what I want and letting God make a way for what He wants? The heart is very slippery... What I think, feel, and plan to do will lie to me.  All people have slippery hearts.  The worst decision a person can make is to, "follow their heart." Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV — “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? The problem with our heart and following God is that the flesh wars against the Spirit of God. My flesh (thought life, emotions, and will) does this cunningly.  It tries to convince me that what I want is what God wants.  It is always angling to be God. Jeremiah 23:26 NKJV — “How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy l...

Skill will carry you a long ways with people. But, only anointing will carry a person into heaven. It's the anointing that breaks the yokes our flesh and the enemy of God wants to place on us: Isaiah 10:27  It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Yeshua Hamashiac is the anointed one... the Christ. To bear fruit, I need to abide in Him. 1John 2:20  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 1John 2:27  But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. Anointing is a gift of power (grace) to overcome the flesh and the power of the enemy. Skill is the working of flesh. Anointing will always surpass skill. ...

God will never leave faith unused. In all the people who have ever lived on planet earth, very few have had heart-changing faith in God. God is good.  He asks us, "what would you do with a person of faith like you?  Would you waste their faith and not give them the desires of their heart-turned-toward-truth?!  Of course not.  How much more so, God?!" God is good. He is a good creator, a good king, a good manager, a good steward, a good father, a good friend. So much better than we are.  If you wouldn't waste a loyal person's faith, how much more a good God would do with it! 2 Chronicles 16:8-9 NKJV — “Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall hav...

The human mind is always trying to filter good from evil. We were never made to do this. We were made to be in a humble relationship with a good God. It was never our place to judge whether God was doing good or evil. Our attempt to replace God and His leadership is what has caused the myriad symptoms of rebellion in the world: -lack, sickness, death -emnity, inequality, division, war -uncertainty, fear, and pain -selfishness, greed, and hatred And many more... The earth has a spiritual problem. Physical solutions will never address a spiritual problem.  Because of how God made the universe, spiritual problems manifest in physical symptoms, like stress can make you physically sick, for example.  The Spiritual problem behind all the physical problems is selfishness, or self-leadership... Which inherently is the lack of God's leadership.  Because of love, God lets man ignore the simple truth that God made everything well.  That God is good.  That on our own we mis...

I  can have faith in many things.  Idolatry is faith in the wrong thing. The faith the Bible describes is very specific.  It isn't a faith in outcomes.  It isn't faith God will do what I think is good. It's faith that whatever God does IS good.   God-pleasing faith accepts the Bible and the God of it on His terms, in His words, and in the humility of letting those words reform the man who has the faith. This kind of faith obeys God in the unseen outcome, and rejects the knowledge of man as a reason to obey or not obey: Hebrews 11:6-7 NLT — And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. ...

Romans 4:13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. Abraham's faith preceded His obedience.  This is one of the most important principles in knowing God and His redemptive plan. Wanting the world to act righteous before it has the power of a relationship with God flowing through it is not only a vain hope, it denies that any obedience ever offered from my life came from God's help, not my will. This vain hope that someone else would "get it" uncovers the fact that I think I "got it." Rather than embrace the humility in accepting how much God has given me and changing from an accuser to a blesser, walking in accusation towards those that don't see life the same as I do is hypocrisy.  I am wasting what God has given while pressing on others to get the same in this scenario! Matthew 18:32-34 NLT — Then the king cal...

 I cannot blame the shepherd if I don't want to be led.  It's easy to become Christian in name... Not really finding the joy of salvation, but all the facts and burden of it.  This will make you hard and life less abundant.  Becoming a follower of Jesus in the Spirit requires a willingness to be led. God isn't searching for experts in God. There are none. God is willing to lead those willing to be led into something more. Psalm 95:7-8 NKJV — For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, God's people rebelled when He tried to give them something better, because they didn't want to lose what they thought they had, even though it was slavery. God's people.  Not some people who didn't know Him.  The people who knew Him best. Jesus rejects those who tell Him and others how things ought to be, accordin...

Luke 24:47-49 NKJV — “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. “And you are witnesses of these things. “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” At the very center of what it means to be a witness of Yeshua is HIS personality, not mine. The Spirit of Jesus is what we see His personality to be in the Gospel.  This is because Jesus successfully denied His flesh.  Because of the humility of Jesus, we see God's personality shine through Jesus' actions, words, and teachings. Jesus got out of the way so God's will could shine through. "Not my will but Yours," was the final statement of love and obedience Jesus left the earth with. Jesus said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." John 14:9 NKJV — Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? H...

Anyone truly in a growing relationship with God... Anyone that truly knows Him, becomes more and more confident of One Thing: God is the strength of their bond, not themselves. *It's God who made us, not the other way around *It's God who sustains us... Every heart beat, every breath.. *It's God who holds eternity, not us. *It's God who has done every good thing, not man. If heaven is truly good, it's good because of God, not man. If righteousness is truly righteous, it's because of God not man. Life is only a thing we have because God decided it would be so.  He is looking for those who humble themselves back into His majesty and out of their own theft of His life and creation. Relying on human strength for godliness is theft, not a help to God.   What I do doesn't help me grow in God. What I want and express to him in prayer (ask and receive) does.  It takes God for all the change necessary to make me righteous. Trying to be righteous for God results in al...

 Delusion isn't just a word in the Bible, it's a thing God promises to give to those who don't love the truth... God giving delusion to the people around you, if you aren't humble, will make you offended.  If you are humble, it will make you thankful.  You decide. If you fall into offense, you fall into the same delusion.  It's a snare. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-14 NKJV — For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that t...

Life's not too hard.  Its impossible for the flesh on its own.  On my own, I'll surely wear out and die. But, with the creator of my life, the impossible becomes a light burden and an easy yoke. Matthew 11:28-30 NLT — Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” If I fight to protect my right to grow weary and die, that's what I'll get!  If I give up all my self saving and rest in Yeshua's perfect work, I'll get rest.  I must pick one or the other.  Trying to do both is unfaithful to both. Hot or cold is better than lukewarm. Either I spend myself trying to live well and make something of myself, or I give myself to another, letting Him lead, guide, protect, and provide. Either I live my life or I give it to God. Only ...

If God establishes something, it cannot be moved. 1 Samuel 13:13-14 NKJV — And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” Saul was jealous, afraid, and uncertain.  These inner realities led Him deep into rebellion, falsely believing HE was a victim when he was actually a perpetrator. Jealousy, self seeking, quarrelling, plotting, manipulating, fighting, positioning... These are all counter to the way God establishes authority.  God establishes authority in those who trust Him and believe in what He shows them.  He upholds those who WAIT on God.  Revelation will always put restraint on the flesh ...

If I am not ACTING in Jesus, then I am not increasing righteousness. If I really believe He is God's son... the example of heaven's heart sent to earth... it will change my will. Righteousness isn't taught. It grows. If God were just going to lecture the world into righteousness, He wouldn't have sent Yeshua. Jesus is a seed. He said it himself: John 12:24-26 NKJV — “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. This is what it is like to be IN Jesus, or one with Him... This is what it's like to have His life grow into yours: Isaiah 42:1-10 NKJV — “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,  My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put...

Reacting to what men/a man does IS the Spirit of antichrist.  It's the point.  It's what it means to fail the test.  If the guy you think is the antichrist does something and gets you riled, you are failing the test.  God is ahead of this moment.  What is the Spirit of prophecy saying?  It's different than what both halves of the world are saying.  Man can only pick "good or evil" in the flesh.  God is working all things for those that love Him AND are called to his purpose. Following a man, whether you like him or not, is following a man. It isn't righteous. No man can save, or destroy, the earth.  The Bible already tells us what is going to happen. Do I believe it? Follow God.  You'll end up in a totally different place than both halves of the world are going right now.  Satan divides to conquer.  Both halves are under his sway.  I can go up. Revelation 13:3-5 NKJV — And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally ...

In our flesh, which includes our impatience, it's difficult to watch and abide misunderstanding.  Humans fear what other humans get wrong. But, God isn't like us.  He is a Father.  A good parent doesn't get impatient about misunderstanding.  Because they have been with their child since birth, they see a child who misunderstands coming into understanding. Children can only go from not knowing into knowing. God isn't impatient with us not knowing.  He is offended with those that claim to represent Him but show the world a character and way that isn't His. Those who claim to see, but are blind, He judges. We all started not knowing God.  Not one person was born righteous. If you really know God, then you remember the moment He first revealed Himself to you in your misunderstanding.  Understanding only followed that moment.  It's the only way it works. If you can't place your finger on that moment, then you really don't know Him yet, or you have forg...