OUT OF THE BOX

  God will Deal With Those Who Persecute and Slay Us. Mercy and forgiveness are necessary in dealing with those who oppress and persecute us, but we must remember that that God is the Righteous Judge. He will reward those who suffer for His sake.   He will also avenge our deaths.   And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to be, because you have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.”And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”  Revelation 16: 5-7 God is the Righteous Judge. Christians often have difficulty with the fact that God seems to delay in punishing those who hurt and offend us. We are glad for Him to be patient and merciful with us but want Him to be severe and quick in rebuking others. We often refuse to forgi...

Dear Friends, I am thankful for those of you who read my articles. I pray the messages have been and will continue to strengthen and bless you in your walk with God. I know that some of you face persecution and hardship because you have taken your stand for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.  In my times of intercession, I pray that special grace and strength will be upon those of you who suffer for Christ's sake. I pray HE will open the windows of heaven and will reveal Himself to you as HE did for Stephen when Stephen was stoned (Acts 7:54-60). And remember there were those who, by faith, did wondrous things and had great miracles of deliverance during their persecutions (Hebrews 11: 30-35).  But there were also others who by faith were mocked, stoned, and slain, and gave their lives for Jesus' sake. Whether a miracle of deliverance, or a life laid down as a martyr for Jesus sake, they all stood in faith. Jesus told us to forgive those who persecute us, and t...

  Prov 24:10;  Jeremiah 12:5; Gen 41:52 Christians tend to naively believe they will have victory without battle, but when faced with adversity they tend to skeptically think they will have battle without victory. We must remember that we will have battle, but we will also have victory. Luke 22:39-46 When the load cannot be lightened, we must be strengthened. In the agony of Jesus’ prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane He knew He would have to carry that load. It was not lifted, but the angels came and strengthened Him. Sometimes He lightens the load or lifts it, but at other times we must carry it. He will strengthen us if we stand in faith and call out to Him in prayer. Luke 21:19; 2 Thess 3:5; Rev 2: 10-11, 13, 19, 25-26; 3: 8-10; Rev.1:9; 13:10; Rev 14:12. The mark of spiritual strength is perseverance and endurance, not glory clouds and glitter. We can be tempted to grow soft on the mountain top. Comfort sometimes breeds complacency. Popularity breeds compromise. Muc...

PETER'S EXAMPLES "Get thee behind me, Satan" -Matthew 16: 16-17, 22-23 We learn through our mistakes if we remain humble, teachable, and easily entreated. At one moment Peter received a great revelation from the Father; the next moment he was influenced by the enemy. In one moment he was praised for his insight; the next moment he was rebuked for speaking without knowledge. Experiences such as these helped Peter to grow in discernment. If Peter and the other disciples had to learn through their mistakes, how much more should we expect to do the same? Instruction and discipline are the way of life. We should not be surprised and ashamed when we need them. "Lord, let us build three tabernacles..." -Luke 9: 33 Peter stood in the glory of God and, even there, spoke foolishly. He wanted to build tabernacles to Moses and Elijah. The Father had to silence him and move Peter's focus back to Jesus. It is a mistake to think a person is infallible just because ...

As Israel approached Canaan, God warned them not to harass or harm Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Edom was descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother. Moab and Ammon were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. They were, figuratively speaking, Israel’s cousins. The Lord referred to them as their brethren and told Moses not to attack or harm them. In studying the scriptures relating to these three nations, we might learn some lessons in how we relate to and deal with our spiritual “cousins.” The issues are very clear when we deal with the non-Christian world. They reject the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. But the dynamics become a little more complex when we deal with fellow Christians who disagree with us on some doctrinal points. They may be in error, but we cannot automatically say they are of the devil and evil. The New Testament does not tolerate heresy and false prophets, but it does call for humility, wisdom, and grace in dealing with them. Here are a few points to remember. Matthew 13...

  SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD’S SENDING JUDGMENT I wrote the paragraphs below as a response to a good friend who was uncomfortable with one of my previous posts dealing with God’s judgment. Please feel free to post a comment or send an email with any questions or thoughts you’d like to share. ---Billy Long (broblong@gmail.com). The first motivating thought in my post is that there is a God, as opposed to the Atheist who thinks God does not exist and who thinks He is irrelevant to earth’s events, and as opposed to the deist who thinks God simply walked off and left us to ourselves. There is a God who manages the affairs of earth, and we must acknowledge and call upon Him. When I say “nothing is out of His control” I am saying that nothing is “out of control,” that is, God is not helplessly standing by watching. I would not make a blanket statement saying bad weather is God’s judgment. The book of Job says that God sends weather for correction and for mercy (Job 37:1). The weather is lik...