I Had to Make a Choice. Who Was I Really Serving?

 
For twenty three years I presented clients and prospective clients investment choices, insurance choices, and financial planning choices.  Ameriprise Financial always did a fantastic job of due diligence on making sure the clients were placed in investments with strong companies.  It was my responsibility to explain the products and investments to clients.  We also had government regulators checking to see if we complied with the regulations pertaining to clients knowing the products and their suitability for them.

When I was convinced my proposals of investments or insurance were suitable for each client, I would present the benefits and features of what I was proposing.  I had to state the truth about each product. The company compliance department would also be thorough in making sure everything said was truthful and if any deception was noted on my part, my franchise contract would have been terminated immediately.  Achieving clients financial goals demanded truth, without any deceptions or false statements just to make the sale.  I would not have had it any other way.  My livelihood depended upon it.

Today I want to make a proposal to you.  I will present the features and benefits just as I did with my clients.  I will present the truth with no deceptions allowed.  This may take several post to cover, but it will be eternally important for you to see the comparison I make and the consequences of choosing one over the other.

I had a problem for several years. I called myself a Christian. I was a good Christian on Sunday, and very bold within the Sunday School class, but silent the other six days of the week.  No I didn't go out and do bad things, but one thing I did, I wanted to walk with God on Sunday and hold hands with the world the other six days.  This created  internal battles within my soul.  I wanted to have a successful career, make lots of money, and be financially independent.(Nothing wrong with this if kept in its proper place.)

I purchased and read every self-help book I could get my hands on. In chasing my financial dreams, worry set in and began to control my thinking.  This led to many sleepless nights.  The scriptures written below began to haunt me.  I was deceiving myself, and the result was, "I was serving the wrong master".  Satan knew my weakness and was using the lust of the eyes and the pride of life to weaken my spirit and try my faith.

I look back now, and all of my focus was on making more money and being independent.  Pride was a large problem for me.  I wanted to show people I could be successful.  In dealing with people and their money for almost forty years, whether they were rich or poor, money or the lack of controlled their thinking. I was one of them.

I allowed my wanting the things of the world to be my focus, and I was going to be "All In" for serving God when I accomplished my success.  I don't think that is what God has in mind for us. When I read what Christ said, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 4:32), it started my search for that truth. I needed to be free of the world and wanted to have only one master to serve.

I was searching for an abundant life and peace in all the wrong places. I could not profess to be a Christian before my children and not live my life trusting and serving God, my creator, the way He desires. In the next few posts, I will just show you how I made the choice to put God first, and the peace I now have.

Are you ready?  First, Christ tells us in Luke 16:13, No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.  In the Old Testament Joshua said, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15, NKJV)  We cannot be a friend of the world, doing the things of the world and be a friend of God.  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4, NKJV)

What is the world or the things in the world?  Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:15-16, NKJV)  If we walk according to the course of this world, we do so according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. (Satan) (2 Corinthians 2:2)

So we all have a choice.  We will either be following and serving God, or we will be following or serving the world. (Satan).  At the end of this study you will know the choice you have made and stay with it or change from it.  I will try to explain benefits and consequences of choosing one over the other.  In the end you will love the one and hate the other. You will not be able to hold on to both. I have tried in the past to hold on to both. You can't do it. It will make you miserable. I made a choice, and I want to show you how, and why I did it.  Maybe this will help you to choose. Praying you will make the right choice, and your everyday living will reflect that choice.

If you or someone you know wants to follow along in this study, please send me your or their email, so I can notify you each time I post something new. My email is rhepler52@gmail.com. Your questions and comments sent to me will be confidential.  I have kept clients financial matters confidential for 40 years, and I can keep your concerns and questions confidential as well.  If you want me to personally invite someone to join in this study, just send me their email.  I will not mention you unless you ask me to.

Thanking you in advance for your reading and participation.  Our country can be great spiritually again.  We just need to want to follow the right master.

Rick



 



             

Thoughts That Enslaved a Nation

They were captured, taken against their will, shackled in chains and locked in the hulls of ships.  I can't imagine the different ways slave traders forced them to submit. The physical pain was probably overcome by the emotional pain. I am just assuming this, because I have never been in that position.

The lives of some African men and women would be changed forever.  Family trees would be severed. Traditional beliefs and cultures would be greatly challenged.  Traveling, as a free people, from one continent to another, was a risk and some didn't make it.  Think about making that same trip, but being in bondage.  I wonder what the mortality rate was for the slaves.

I will let you decide the negatives and the positives of black people as a result of this.  The cost was great. Families divided, not by choice but by force.  Also, many lives were lost in the Civil war because of it.  Please think on this for a few moments.

What if it was you?  How would something like this affect you, your family, and your future generations? Would this produce a deeply engrained anger in your subconscious mind? How great would your hunger for freedom be?  Would you have the courage to seek that freedom at any cost?  Would your dream consist of making enough money to buy back yours and your family's freedom?

We still have slavery in America today, and it is destroying lives and families. This is morally and economically devastating.  Many chose this slavery over freedom.  No one captured them, beat them, or chained them.  What is it? Who does it enslave? Is there a solution? Can we ever be free again?  At what price can we be redeemed?

At this point let me continue from my last post. God created all of us with a freewill. Adam and Eve used their freewill and chose to disobey God, so they could be like God, having knowledge of good and evil. They ate fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Evil could then be known by all humanity.  Mankind could then choose good or evil.

Sometimes, evil was dressed up to look better than good. Satan dressed it up and is still dressing it up to be fun and pleasurable. Consequences of choosing evil over good are always hidden or explained away. We are all susceptible in choosing evil. When we do and have severe consequences in doing so, we usually do not own the accountability that comes with our bad choices. Most of the time we blame it on others or even God.

Satan deceives all of mankind into doing anything that God has commanded us not to do.  When we choose what God calls evil over good, there is always a consequence. Let us look at one of these areas in our country today.

Sexual immorality has become a devastating giant in our country today.  It is one of the three giants I write about in my book: The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart.  How has this risen to such giant sized destruction?

God's people are told in Galatians 5:16 to: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill fleshly desires.  In listing the works of the flesh, fornication is the first one on the list. Read verse 19.  Satan knew mankind had a problem with this.  This still is a weakness that man has. This weakness initiates thoughts in the mind which seeks ways to manifest the strong sexual desires.

There is no discrimination in this destruction. Rich or poor, famous or unknown, black or white, Christian and Non-Christian,  have all fallen to this enslavement of their bodies.  Satan tempted them, and their uncontrolled thoughts chose to be enslaved by the runaway desire (lust) of the flesh.

This enslavement by the body and mind has caused families to be splintered, unborn babies to be murdered in the womb, same sex marriages, children molested by pedophiles, human sex trafficking, and men who call themselves transsexuals are being protected by the federal government so they can go pee in women's restrooms.  Now add up all of the economical cost of welfare payments made to those who have illegitimate children and then the medical cost.  I have not even mentioned the high cost of spiritual death.

I am going to have to continue this next week.  I am going to give the solutions next time on how all of this, which began with a thought in the heart, can be changed with a pure heart from God.  It hurts me to see young children without fathers to guide them and provide for them. It has really gotten out of control.  It has become a big mess. I am tired of it. How about you?  We keep living like the world, we will keep getting what the world gives us. What we have right now. If we live like God wants us to live, we will begin to see a change.  I love God, my family, and my fellow man enough to do all I can.

Send me your comments by going to www.rhepler52@gmail.com.  I address some of this in my book: The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart.  God can correct this problem if we seek His guidance.  He has done the impossible for His people before, and He is ready and able to do it again. The question is are we ready to do what He says? David, before he killed Goliath, asked, "Is there not a cause?" I ask you the same question.

Please go to www.Amazon.com to preview my books.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

This Happened in the Beginning. Does It Still Happen Today?

Satan knew God had given her a free will. Satan also knew God had given her a commandment, so she would have an opportunity to exercise that choice. How could he get her to make the choice of disobeying the God who created her and blessed her with the paradise of Eden for her dwelling place?

Satan would deceive her by introducing thoughts to grasp, rationalize, and dissect God's only command. (Sound familiar?) He does this in Genesis 3:1-6. The free will God had given her and Adam was going to be tested.

Satan starts with a question, and he already knows the answer. Has God indeed said 'You shall not eat of every tree in the garden'? Why did he ask this question? He wanted her to state the truth God had told her. Why? He wants her to reveal God's truth. Now, he is going to get her to doubt this truth.

You will not surely die. Satan replies in verse 4. The next verse will cause her to rationalize and dissect this command. You will be like God begins her contemplating disobeying God's only command to her.

Verse 6 introduces Satan's unseen weapons to humanity. Will she fall for it? Would you? She saw it was good for food, (Lust of the Flesh) it was pleasant to the eyes,  (Lust of the Eyes)  and a tree that was desirable to make one wise. (Pride of life).

Satan did not make Eve take of the fruit. He got her to introduce her desires into the decision making process. She then came up with her own reasoning and excuses to disobey God's only command for her and Adam.

Her choice, no matter what excuses she could give, had the consequences of them being removed from the paradise God had given them to live in, a spiritual separation from God, and her spouse also sinning.

Humanity was then enslaved by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. What could emancipate mankind from this form of slavery? What would this form of slavery do to mankind in the future?

( To be continued)

Thanks for reading. Please send your comments to rhepler52@gmail.com and share with your friends.

I need your help. If you have read my books, "The Heart Behind the Stone" or "123 Tips: For My Grandchildren and Yours", could you write a review. If you have not purchased them, would you preview them and consider purchasing?  These are good to use as devotionals for your teenagers. You may purchase them by going to www.amazon.com .

Thanks

Rick Hepler

Do We Still Have a Form of Slavery Today? I Think We Do.

They had families like we do. They had to work hard in the fields and had a certain poundage of cotton to pick each day. I read in some places, the master or his taskmasters would give one whip across the back, leaving a scar, for every pound under the daily quota. No, I didn't say a dock in pay, I said a crack of the whip across the back. This would sometimes leave permanent scars.

What if the slave got up on Monday morning feeling sick? He still had to work and at the end of the work day if his quota was not made, the taskmasters whipped him. Think how you would feel at that moment. Put yourself in that emotional state for just a minute. Do you feel the pain on your back? Do you feel the emotional pain which is worse than the physical pain. Now feel this. Your master or "owner" comes in the next morning and puts chains on you, telling you to get in the wagon, he has sold you to another plantation owner, many miles away. He doesn't give you time to tell your little boy and girl good bye, nor give your wife a hug and tell her you love her. Feel the emotion in this moment.  What would be your most powerful emotion or thought at this point? No, it is not fear, hate, anger, or a broken heart. It is the most powerful thought we all have to deal with at some point in our lives. It is the devastating emotion of feeling helpless.

Do you feel it with him? You ever been there? How do you feel right now? Are you showing empathy or apathy at this point ? I am thankful many back then had empathy for the slaves. Our country lost over 600,000 lives over the decision to abolish slavery. What would our country look like if someone back then, did not have the courage to stop this type of enslavement and treatment of a fellow human being, also created by God?

How would slave owners and their taskmasters be perceived today, if we still had that form of slavery? Would we have anyone to care enough to do something about it? Would we detest the way the families were broken up, because of the master dividing families and selling them off to other slave owners, sometimes far away? The thought of even bringing that form of slavery back, would cause riots in the streets in most cities today.  Our government and the media would do all in their power to not allow the people of this country to be enslaved by these horrible slave owners and their taskmasters. Why would they do this? They would do this because the identity of the slave owners and taskmasters would be known and punished. They could be seen, touched, heard, and then ostracized, if not put in jail, from society. What they were doing to their fellowman could be seen and the damage to their families would be realized as being wrong.

Today, these masters and taskmasters would not be tolerated nor protected.  They would be exposed for the evil they were doing and solutions would be given and acted upon to correct this evil. We would probably experience both democrats and republicans unified on resolving this.

Now.  Read this slowly. We still do have slavery in America.  There is a master with his own taskmasters enslaving the people we love everyday. We cannot see him nor his taskmasters, but we can see the families he is separating and a country divided because of his desire to have us serve him.

Who is this master, who has enslaved the mind of mankind with his deceptive destructive, yet pleasurable promises? He is Satan, a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44) Yet people believe and follow the path he leads by his lies. He has crafty taskmasters that bombard us with thoughts and damaging desires which lead us to do acts against our families and even ourselves, we would never dream of doing.

The slaves of old were forced to leave their families, not by choice but by force of their masters. Today, fathers willingly walk away, satisfying the desires of their master. We grieve over what was done to the families of slaves. Family members were traded like cattle, and some were separated never to see one another again. Yet these children knew their father and mother loved them and leaving them was not their choice, because at the time, they were forced to do so.

As a free people in America, we have a choice of who we serve. We will serve one of the two. Joshua said in Joshua 24:15, (Please read the whole verse) But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Also, in Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. So we have a choice. Which one are you serving now?

Our Father in Heaven loves us and wants us to have the best. He has given us His word to live by. Most importantly, He has given us His Son to die in our stead. I want you to be honest with your thoughts as you contemplate on answering my next question. Would your life be better right now by following Christ and His teachings? Would your family be whole, by your following Him? What would our country look like if it followed Him? What would we look like as a people? What would be our day to day actions?

If you are not truly and honestly following God right now, do you know who you are following? There is only one other option and he is the prince of this world. If you do not choose God as your master, then you choose Satan, the ruler of this world,( John 12:31, Eph. 2:2). He also has many other names. If you do not choose God, then you choose Satan by default.

What does Satan use as his taskmasters? Go to 1 John 2:15-17. His taskmasters are describe in these verses. These same taskmasters have been used by Satan since the garden of Eden. With his deceptions and the enabling of these taskmaster to control your life and desires, you are enslaved to follow these desires. The end product is not righteousness, but destruction, and mankind is blindly and willingly led into this most devastating form of slavery. The taskmasters are: The lust of the flesh; the lust of the eyes; and the pride of life.

Christ was subjected to this master and his taskmasters in the wilderness. He chose God and God's word to make this master and his taskmasters leave. His choice was to serve God and God's purpose for Him coming to earth, over any pleasure the world (Satan) promised in this life. The end result is, our salvation. Be grateful He made the right choice. ( Matthew 4:1-11)

Let's compare the two masters and their taskmasters. We will start with Satan first. He hates us and wants us to be lost eternally with him and his angels. He uses temptation and his taskmasters are: the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He temps you with your own fleshly desires. He deceives you into thinking it will be ok to fulfill your desires outside of what God has commanded. These sinful desires are in the world and not of the Father. This world will pass away and the lust of it.

What are some of the consequences of choosing this master? What will the taskmasters do to you? Did you think it was awful for a slave to be sold off and never to see his family again? What about over 600,000 deaths to bring an end to slavery? Would you support slavery like that today? Are you sure? What about the beatings the taskmaster gave to slaves if they didn't do what was asked?

In this blog post I want us to notice what damage has been done by the allowing to be enslaved by Satan.

Let us begin with the family. What effect has Satan and his taskmasters had on the American Family? How did God want the family to be from the beginning? Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, NKJV) God set the precedence and command for future men and women to be of one flesh, making a family. Notice He said, shall leave mother and father. Man was to leave his father's family and start his own family.

How sacred and binding was this marriage to be? Jesus said, But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. (Matthew 5:32, NKJV) (Remember God said His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways, and His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, Isaiah 55:8-9) Jesus stated the only way to dissolve a marriage and to be able to marry again, having a marriage that God would recognize, in this verse. We will get to the why later.

In this family, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, wives are to be subject to their husbands as the church is to Christ. Also, children are to obey and honor their parents. Fathers then are to bring their children up in the training and admonition of the Lord ( Please read Ephesians 5:22-6:1-4) This is where God's ways and thoughts are higher than man's. Today, man tries his own ways to define a family.

One of Satan's targets I talk about in my upcoming book, The Father of Deception, is the family. He uses his deception to keep the family torn apart from how God intended it to be.  Satan is going to enslave you with his deceptions and his taskmaster, the lust of the flesh, is going to make you disregard your children, wife, and even the God who created and loves you.

Have Satan's deceptions in this area worked today?  Has his taskmaster, the lust of the flesh, done a good job in enslaving men and women to their fleshly sexual desires outside of what God would have them to be? It is hard for me to come up with families that Satan has not tried to ruin. Do you know of any?

Satan uses our thoughts and desires to deceive and tempt us to commit fornication and adultery. When mankind gives in to these sinful desires, society suffers and lives are lost and eventually souls are lost, completing Satan's plan.

(To be continued next week)

Always remember, you cannot go back and change the past, but you can begin today in Christ to make a new and better ending.

Thanks for reading and be sure to read the continuation of this study in the next few days. Please share on Facebook with you friends and send your comments to rhepler52@gmail.com .

Rick Hepler

We Must Embrace Step One Before Going to Step Two

In step one, we read about God, our creator, revealing Himself by the world He has created.  David, the shepherd boy, was placed in the wilderness to care for his father's sheep. His solitude with the sheep, the beast of the field, the fowl of the air, the sun rising and falling, the moon and the stars, and the plant life, gave him an opportunity to wonder about how all of this came about.

All of these spoke to him without words, and their voices were not heard but seen, telling him they were created by a powerful divine being, God.  He just looked around him, and all that he saw demanded a creator.  This caused him to believe there was a creator.  Notice, he did not have the distractions you and I have today, or he didn't let himself be distracted from noticing the handiwork of a creator. (Psalm 19:1)

The first six verses of Psalm 19 must be meditated on and believed with all our hearts, before we can truly embrace step two. You and I will not pursue through obstacles or trials anything we do not believe in. David saw, and David believed. What did he do next? He sought to find out about this creator.

David's heart was convinced fully of his creator. But, what was his creator, God, like? What was His character? Why did He create him? Where could David search for the answers to these questions? He searched the same place you and I can search today. He was told or read the words from God. In his day, those words were spoken by the prophets. (Hebrews 1:1)  Today we can read those words, but we also have the words spoken by Jesus. (Hebrews 1:2) We can be confident when reading all of God's word today that we have what we need to learn how to live and please Him. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The children of Israel were commanded to teach their children. Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren...(Deuteronomy 4:9, NKJV) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on your doorpost of your house and of your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9,NKJV)

By reading the above mentioned verses, we can come to the conclusion that David was taught God's word as a child. We read in Psalm 19:7 how he began to view God's word at an early age. He said, the instruction of the Lord is complete for restoring the soul back to following God, and the testimony is sure or trustworthy to teach wisdom to the open-minded.

Now, let's review. David has seen God's creation, and he is fully satisfied, 100 percent, that there was a creator of all the visible things on the earth and in the sky. Now he tells us to go to God's word, as he has been taught since a child, to receive instruction from this powerful creator, God.

What if he had forgotten about the step one I have talked about and only went to step two?  I think I can tell you.  Do you remember reading 1 Samuel 17 about David and Goliath? David's three oldest brothers, the men of Israel, and even King Saul fled from Goliath and were dreadfully afraid. Were they not taught as a child, as David, about God and His power and glory? I believe they were. So, what is the difference between them and David? Why did they run, and David wanted to stay and fight?

David remembered what he had seen when he was alone with the sheep in the wilderness. He had seen the stars, the sun, the moon, and all of creation glorifying their creator, God.  He was not about to let this uncircumcised Philistine get away with defying the armies of the God he had grown to know and love.  This God was real, and he believed and trusted in Him.  He had observed God's power in creation and read or heard about His love and protection of His people.  No way was he going to be deceived by the Devil to back down from defeating this giant they called Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:36)  David's belief in God led to his trust in God.  This trust was manifested in courageous acts, instead of cowardly acts.

King Saul, David's brothers and the men of Israel had been exposed to the same word of God as David.  So, why did they run and tremble?  Why were they afraid?  Had they not heard or read about the consequence of God's people running from the giants in Numbers 13?  This unbelief in the power of God caused their children to wander in the wilderness for forty years until all the adults, except Joshua and Caleb, had died.  They missed the promise land God had given them, because they were afraid of the giants the ten spies had reported seeing. They believed in their negative message instead of God's promise to them.

David wanted to learn more about the God whose handiwork amazed him everyday.(Psalm 19:1, NKJV)  So, he read his word or listened to others tell him about this powerful God.  Both of these steps continued to make him a man after God's own heart.

I have giants arise in my life often, challenging me to fear them and serve them.  We all do.  If you do not have trials or challenges that seem giant size, then live a little longer. But, listen very carefully. Do not let these trials grow into an imaginary giant that sucks out your very being and consumes your every waking hour.  Have you not read God's word and his promises to His children?  Still afraid?

I want to show you how to make your giant flee.  Go back to step one. Do what David did. Observe God's creation around you.  Now write down what you see.  Think about how marvelous it is.  Realize the supreme intelligence and power God, your Father in Heaven, has completed before your very eyes.  Do not do like King Saul, David's brothers and the men of Israel.  They did not compare the size of Goliath to the size of their God. BUT, DAVID DID, AND THE HEAD OF THE GIANT CAME TUMBLING DOWN.  His mouth was stopped to never challenge them again.

Now, write down your problems or trials.  How big have you made this giant in your mind? Now compare the size of your trials to the universe in which you are a part of.  You know, the universe your God created. Do you see how powerful your God is?  Now go to this same God's word and read about how He loves you and wants to protect you.  Have you cut your giant's head off yet?  No? Oh, I see. You have seen some of God's faithful people die because of some terrible disease or get killed in an accident.  They are laying in their graves now and your question is, " Where was God when this happened?". This disease or accident proved to be a real giant, that God did nothing about.

Go back to step one. See again God's creation. Now go to His word.  Remember we must trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding as we search His word. (Proverb 3:5-6) Our worst fear is death, either our own or the death of a child or loved one. It is terrible and we all fear death, but God says he will raise us from death on judgement.  Those who die in Christ will be raised first. (1 Thes. 4:16) If we or a loved one have an illness in which we suffer and later die, in Christ, we will be raised from that death on Judgement Day! 

We must remember, believe, and trust God in this, that nothing can separate us from God's love if we are in Christ Jesus our Lord. Not even our deaths. (Romans 8:38 ) Our enemy, Satan, who has the power of death, has been conquered by Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. (Hebrews 2:14-15) What have we to fear then?

David naturally proceeded from step one to step two because he wanted to gain knowledge of the One who created him and everything he could see. That first step provided his faith and trust for step two.

I understand why David did not flee from Goliath.  His faith and trust was sealed in his creator God. Is yours?

Next week, we will follow David's next step.

I cannot face my giants without God.  I have a library of self help books videos, and dvds.  After a few years of trying to face my giants with man's help and my own thinking, I have finally realized I was not created to face these giants without the God who created me.  Faith and trust in God have enabled me to remove the heads of the giants in my life named, Unessential Fears.  You can do the same.

Please share with your friends on Facebook or email this link to them.  I welcome your comments. Please email me at rhepler52@gmail.com .

I want to introduce you to the health professionals at the IMAC Regeneneration Center in Paducah, Ky.  They are using stem cell therapy on my wife, Debbie, for her Parkinson's disease. Please go to http://imacregeneration.com/blog/ to read about Debbie's progress and other ways they are helping their patients. 

 

Thank you so much for reading.


Rick

His Step One Should Also Be Our Step One.

His first night with them, I am assuming, was sleepless.  Part of the family's livelihood was entrusted to him.  The task at hand was shared by no one.  He was to account for any losses.  He would share any mistakes with no one.  Little did he know the magnitude of his place and time on this earth.  He would share this first night with only loneliness, the beast of the field, and the few sheep his father, Jesse, had instructed him to shepherd.

His name was David. Later to be called a man after God's own heart, then David, King of Israel. He was a man just like me.  His beginnings were meager, with no one but God having high expectations of him. The trials he had in his lifetime and his trust in God allowed him to write many of the Psalms that comfort us today when we are troubled and are faint of heart.

How did he prepare his heart to seek God in a way that was pleasing to Him? Is it possible for you and me to take those first steps he did in building such a faith and trust in God? What about developing such a reverence and love for God that causes us to have a contrite heart when we sin against Him?

His first step toward preparing his heart to seek God was presented to him with no speech, vocal voices, nor even written words. What was presented to him got his attention and prepared his heart to seek more.  It is evident that King Saul, David's brothers, and the men of Israel skipped this first step in preparation of their heart to seek God.

What was this first step? It was very simple and it only took a little quiet time alone each day.  Does it still work today? Absolutely!  The first step for David was taking the time to look up as he lay down at night all alone in the wilderness.  The vast universe was in full display before his very eyes telling without a sound the glory of a great creator. Only a fool could deny this proclamation.

Please get your Bibles and turn to Psalm 19:1-4, The heavens tell of God's glory, and the expanse proclaim the works of His hands. Every day pours forth information, and every night breathes out knowledge.  There is no speech and there are no words; their voice is not heard.  Yet their sound goes forth in all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (The Everlasting Gospel Version)

David could tell by the numberless stars shining in the sky at night and the vast universe, there had to be a creator in control. Without any written word to tell him, he knew something out there was larger, smarter and more powerful than man could ever be.  He could also look at the different animals that roamed the earth, the birds of the air, the beautiful plants and trees, and the rest of creation speaking the same way without sound, pointing to a mighty creator.  David's conclusion:  it would take a fool to believe there is not a creator.  He stated this in Psalm 14 :1, The fool has said in his heart there is no God. (NKJV)

When we see all of creation and realize, yes, there is a creator, and He is God, we then recognize how this creation glorifies God. The supreme immeasurable power of God is then realized. At that point we are ready to submit to what this Creator desires for mankind to do in glorifying Him while we are on this earth.  There is no doubt of His power, wisdom, intellect, and might.  Step one creates our awe for God, getting our attention.  When we get step one, we are ready for step two in preparing our hearts to seek Him.

Your assignment for step one is to look up in the sky on a clear night.  Can you count the stars? Can you realize the distance from you to the stars you are viewing?  Imagine the power and intelligence in putting the heavenly bodies in motion.  Now think of the power holding it all in place.

The next morning get up before dawn and read Psalm 19:4-6, Yet their sound goes forth in all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.  In the heavens He has made a dwelling place for the sun, which is like a bridegroom emerging joyously from his bedroom, like an athlete running his race.  At the horizon the sun rises, and circles to the west.  There is no hiding place from its heat.  Now go out and view the sunrise.

We have sunrise and sunset everyday.  We do not slow down long enough to realize the power and heat of that yellow globe in the sky each day.  This too, glorifies its creator.  The apostle Paul in Romans 1:19-20, That which can be known about God is plain among them, for God made it plain to them.  His unseen things from the creation of the world, His eternal power and divine nature, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.(The Everlasting Gospel Version)

God is saying that we can see His unseen eternal power and divine nature by looking at the things He has made. These things are visible to us on a daily basis. We have no excuse in not believing in Him, the Creator.

This is step one. Next time we will move to step two, in preparing our hearts to seek the Lord.

Please send me your comments on Facebook or to rhepler52@gmail.com . Please share this series with your children and friends.

We will never be a strong nation again until we all prepare our hearts to seek the Lord. It all begins and depends on you and me preparing our hearts as the young shepherd boy David did.  We will then be able to bring down our giants.

Please go to www.amazon.com to purchase my books: The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart and 123 Tips For My Grandchildren and Yours.  These books can be read to your children and grandchildren to help them develop the faith and trust in God that David had developed.

What Are You Preparing Your Heart to Seek?

Poochy, one of my best dogs when I was a child, was a Beagle hound. I have so many fond memories of going hunting with him.  Poochy’s instinct was to chase rabbits and he had a heart prepared to do just that.  How did he prepared or set his heart (innermost nature) to seek rabbits? I don’t know. All I know is he had an innermost desire to go hunting with me, be with me, and chase any animal I sicked him on.

He was prepared to go with me anywhere and in any type of weather.  Nothing would stop him from doing what he was purposed to do.  If a rabbit ran in a hole, Poochy would dig until he was worn out trying to get him out.  Many times I would have to pick him up and carry him to the truck because he didn’t want to give up on getting a rabbit.  Can I learn from Poochy’s tenacity for chasing rabbits? Solomon said in Proverbs 6:6 “Go to the ant, you sluggard!  Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. (NKJV)

I cannot remember ever seeing Poochy eat a rabbit. I can remember his tail wagging when I held up the rabbit I shot that he had chased for several minutes. Why was he so set on chasing rabbits when he never gained anything by chasing them through brush piles, blackberry thickets, creeks and cold weather?  I can’t speculate on what this little dog had on his mind, but I think he did it so passionately because he knew that was his purpose.  And he carried out his purpose with all his heart.

The ants are prepared for gathering food in summer, Poochy was prepared for chasing rabbits on a moment’s notice, no matter the weather conditions, so what is my heart prepared to seek? Is it a career, a big house, popularity, etc. or is it to seek the Lord?

If I prepare my heart to seek the Lord and love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, what will my life look like and what will my family look like? What trials and storms of this world can I withstand? Will I be diligent pursuing my God given purpose in seeking Him, loving Him, and obeying Him?

A Pew Poll a few years ago said the population of the United States was 78 percent Christian.  It doesn’t matter which media I receive information from, my perception is only a small percentage of those “Christians” have prepared (set) their hearts (inner being, will) to seek God.  I cannot avoid looking inward myself and asking the question, “Have I prepared my heart to seek the Lord?”.

Does God’s word say anything about man preparing his heart to seek the Lord? In 2 Chronicles 12:14 we read of King Rhehoboam.  And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.  We also read in 2 Chronicles 19:3 of Jehu the son of Hanani the seer speaking to the King Jehoshaphat, Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God. (NKJV)

We all prepare or set in our heart to seek something. We unlike animals that have been given instinct, have a will.  God created man in His image and let him have dominion over everything on this earth.  In Deuteronomy 4:27-29, read what God tells His people who have fallen away serving gods made with men’s hands. He tells them in verse 29, But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (NKJV)

Have we in this country served other gods made with men’s hands?  What is made with men’s hands that we choose over preparing our hearts to seek God? Sports, recreation, social media, money, careers, education, political correctness, alternate lifestyles, to name a few, have distracted mankind from preparing his heart to seek God.  The above activities are then made evil because they are in place of preparing the heart to seek God.  Also, some are evil because God has said not to do them.  Some are ok if they do not come before God in our lives.  Good examples are sports and some recreation.  God knows we have need of some things. Please read Matthew 6:25-34. Christ tells us not to worry, but to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

What motivates us to prepare our hearts to seek God? How do we do it? Why do we have to do it? What are the obstacles standing in our way? What happens to us and our families if we do or do not do it?

Look for upcoming post that will give us some ideas and examples of how to prepare our hearts and also,  the way some great men of God prepared their hearts to seek God.

You may not need this, but I do.  I hope in the next posts you can read how I have struggled in preparing my heart to seek God.  Many forces and trials have tried to obstruct my path in seeking God.  Poochy didn’t give up on seeking rabbits and I am not going to give up on seeking God.  I hope I can write something and use God’s word for you to come to the same conclusion.

Thanks for reading. Please share on Facebook or email to your friends and family.  We have a God who loves us and an enemy, Satan, who hates us. We will serve one or the other.  We can’t serve both. It is and always has been our choice. 

If Only They Knew They Did Have a Father. We Must Show Them They Do.

They need us desperately this year.  They need to see us chasing and slaying our giants, then they will have the courage to do the same. Who are they? The children of our communities.  If they do not see us conquering the evil in our own lives, who will teach them?  Left alone, the children of our communities will be taught by the world.  We have more fatherless children in our country than I can ever remember.

How does God feel about the fatherless? God is a helper of the fatherless. (Psalm 10:14) David calls Him a father of the fatherless. (Psalm 68:5) In James 1:27, pure religion before God, is to care for the needs of orphans and widows in their trouble… (The Everlasting Gospel Translation)

Have you visited an elementary school lately?  It will break your heart as you learn some of the conditions, physical and emotional, these young children deal with.  I was a mentor a few years ago of 4^th and 5^th -grade boys. Most had one parent in prison or the county jail.  Some did not know where their fathers were even living.

When these children see the parents of some of their classmates coming to school and participating in their children’s activities, their little hearts are wounded.  This wound can be carried for the rest of their lives, and possibly have outward manifestations.  What about at Christmas? A time of the year when families get to gather sharing love and making memories, what childhood memories are they making?

Baby Jesus in a manger does not mean much to them.  Singing joy to the world in their present environment is not real to them.  They are just trying to make it through the day and especially night.  After school, some do not have anything to eat until the next day at school.  I know this because my daughter used to be a teacher.

What is it in this high tech world giving them hope? As these children move into adolescence and young adulthood, the only hope many have is to get the next fix or high.  They succumb to a few minutes of lustful pleasures, hoping to erase their deep feelings of failure and desperation.  You know and I know, when one of these do try to climb that mountain of hopelessness, their peers will make fun of them and try to defeat their efforts. Why would they do this?  Because they are afraid to attempt the same thing, fearing defeat would only make it worse.  So, any hope is extinguished by fear and ignorance.  Ignorance of having a life plan that gives hope and ignorance of finding the right people willing to help them.

I am not a psychologist, but I believe the saggy pants, body piercing, tattoos, weird hair, profanity- laced language, etc. are outside the cup dressings mimicking some popular singer, athlete, movie star or someone else they view as popular and successful.  What does this do for them? They identify with the success of others, hoping they can identify with their peers.  Bottom line. They, like you and I, want to be accepted.  Do we not wear designer clothes, drive nice cars and live in large houses wanting the same?

They like we, have been lured into identifying with some form of societal identification.  Have you ever heard the phrase, “Dress for success”?  We have let the world describe for them and us what success and failure look like.  We have forgotten and some have never heard these words that give hope to everyone, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.  For the Lord does not see as man sees, for the man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. (1 Samuel 16:7, NKJV) Christ warned the Pharisees about looking acceptable on the outside with these words, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence”.  “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matthew 23:25-26. NKJV)

 

All of us need to know and remember our hearts were created in the image of God.  I want to emphasize “all of us” because no matter what I think of your appearance, God knows the thinking of your heart and this is how you and I will be judged. (Matthew 15:8, 19)

The first step in getting our country back is carrying the gospel to the young people of our communities.  They need to know God’s awesome love for them and the place Christ has prepared for those who love and obey Him.  I have always heard we are one generation from apostasy.  Looking at the way God, His Son, and His word are viewed in this country today, I would say we are experiencing that generation today. Should that concern you if you want your grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be Christians?

We must not take the apathetic attitude of Hezekiah, the king of Judah.  We read in 2 King’s 20:16-19 that Isaiah, the prophet, went to Hezekiah and told him the days were coming when all that was in his house would be carried to Babylon.  He said nothing would be left and they would take some of his sons, who would descend from him, and make eunuchs of them in the palace of the king of Babylon.  Here is Hezekiah’s response.  “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”  Did he say what I think he said? “At least, it won’t happen in my day.” He didn’t seem to be concerned about the welfare of his grandsons.

We must not only be concerned for the lives of our grandchildren’s souls, but also for the souls of others their age. Why? I want my grandchildren to have an unwavering faith and I also want their peers to have the same.  I want to live a life pleasing to God, so those around me will also want to prepare their hearts to seek God and His ways.  Our hearts must be prepared to seek God. When our hearts are not prepared to seek God, we will do evil.  In 2 Chronicles 12:14, God’s word says of Rehoboam the king, ”And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek God.”

If we do not show the children of our land how to seek God in their hearts, they will seek evil.  Those who do seek God can only do so privately or in a church building.  It is forbidden in public places and belittled in our higher institutions of learning.  From the world, without God, we can only receive the works of the flesh and from God, we can receive the fruit of the Spirit.  Please go and read Galatians 5:16-25.  The children of our communities are being influenced by the works of the flesh.  As Christians, we must introduce them to the fruit of the Spirit.  First, they must see this fruit in us and secondly, we must teach them how to obtain it.  Are the works of the flesh evident in our land today?

One of the giants I mention in my book, “The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart”, has challenged us for too long.  Christians have done as David’s three brothers and the armies of Israel when Goliath challenged them. They ran trembling, hiding behind rocks. With their fear, they were destined to be defeated and serve the Philistines as Goliath suggested.  When Madelyn Ohara challenged God’s people, they ran and hid in their living rooms and church buildings. They turned the fight amongst each other over their differences and did not realize how powerful they could all be by, together, obeying the simple truth God had presented them in His word.  The theory of evolution was gradually introduced to the classroom and the Bible was gradually removed.  Teaching evolutionary thought to our children over the years, in our public school systems, has grown to become a giant. If that giant was given strength by one woman, could not one person, as David, take that giant down? Or do we care enough to get involved? (To be continued)

Please send me your comments on this to rhepler52@gmail.com . Please share on Facebook with your friends.

You can preview and purchase my books: The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart, and 123 Tips: For My Grandchildren and Yours, by going to www.amazon.com .

 

What goal did Christ have for His disciples, that is the same goal for Christians today? (Matthew 28:18-20)  What prayer did He pray for us, when He was on this earth? (John 17:20-23)  What would our country look like in 50 years, if these were our goals for 2016?

Thanks for reading.

 

Rick

 

His Birth Set the Stage for Our Going Home. How Awesome!

I can still remember my first nights away from home as a child.  I was fine until bedtime.  It didn't matter if I was with family, grandparents or cousins, come bedtime I wanted to go home to mother and dad.  The toys and candy would keep my mind occupied until bedtime, but at bedtime all the loving words of comfort and promises of doing fun things the next day could not compare to being home at night with mom and dad.

I remember the awesome feeling I had when I heard the closing of the door on their old car.  They had come to take me home.  The sudden sense of love and security quickly erased my homesick feeling.  I was not then nor am I now embarrassed of this story.  I had already developed, in my heart, where my home was and I wanted to be there. The end of the day's attractions and promises of fun tomorrow could not give me the love and security to sleep in peace. Sleeping in my own bed at home with mom and dad was the good life.

Man had to leave his original home in the beginning.  It was a wonderful garden paradise.  He had abundant life in this place, provided by the Tree of Life.  However, this man and his wife chose knowledge instead of life.  They were deceived into partaking fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Ironic isn't it.  Choosing more knowledge, thinking it would give them abundant life. They disobeyed God to obtain that knowledge.  Life can never come to man by disobeying God, no matter how much knowledge he obtains.

Satan knows we were created in God's image.  He knows what is truly in our hearts.  He has deceivingly buried our desire to go home to our Father in heaven.  He has used the things of this world, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life, to provide layer upon layer of distractions to hide the image we were created in.  We are homesick and have been deceived into not realizing it.

We have just witnessed the celebration of Christmas. The manifestation of the plan for God's Son, Jesus, to be born of a virgin, with His Spirit clothed in the flesh of man. This was in God's plan to bring us back home to Him.  Jesus was born to die in our place for our sins.  What Satan had stolen away from us, He came to lovingly give it back.  Only we had to choose Him over the world. 

We have to know and feel secure with Him to want to go home to Him.  We have to be as a child when bedtime comes.  We can only rest if we are at home with our mother and father.  No toys or candy can give us this secured, loving, and peaceful rest.  Satan with all of his worldly luring and promises can never give this kind of peace.  The only life he can give is one of lies and deception. Look at the nightly news!

Jesus plainly tells us in John 10:10, The thief (Satan) only comes to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life more abundantly. (The Everlasting Gospel Version, Hugo McCord)  Following the life of Christ on this earth and living the way He has shown us to live, can bring us abundant life here and for all eternity.

Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection, shows to man how awesome God is.  This is a good place to get the awe of God back in your heart.  Be honest. You know if you have it or not.  Here is a quick check to see. Do you look forward to praying daily?  Do you worship God, with his people, weekly? Do you enjoy reading and meditating on His word daily? Do you love Him by following His commandments?  Do the things of this world give you a restful sleep and peace at night or does the peace from God, which surpasses all understanding give you that sleep of confidence?

We have begun 2016.  This is a very important year for our country. This is an important year for each of us.  If the awe of God is not in your heart, Satan has buried it.  Search for it each day. He came and suffered for all of us, so we could go home to be with Him someday.  Is this not awesome? To be at home someday with the God who created the whole universe and everything that is in it. Also, do not be deceived.  He created you in His image and He loves you very much.  He sent His only Son to die for you and me while we were sinners.

Getting back our awe for God will change us.  The change this can make in our lives, will also change the people around us. What kind of influence would this have on our children and grandchildren? Could this be your goal for 2016?  I hope so!

Young married couples, the movie War Room is out on dvd.  If you have not seen it, you can rent it from Red Box. This is a good movie to start your new year with.

Please share on Facebook and send any comments to:rhepler52@gmail.com .

Thank for reading and hope you have a Happy New Year.

Rick