Hello Church,   In Philippians, chapter 3, verse 4, the Apostle Paul states, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” No matter what might be going on in society, we are to keep pressing into the things of God. There are two groups of people, one group are those being led by the Spirit and the other group are those who are self-serving.

   When Israel made it to the Red sea after leaving Egypt, they were led by the Spirit of God through the waters toward the place where all of God’s promises would be fulfilled, where the impossible now becomes the possible. After they made it to the other side of the Red Sea, God immediately led them into the dessert on their way to the land of promise. The dessert (wilderness) is a tough place – there aren’t any grocery stores, no internet cafes, no take out service or fast foods, except when manna from heaven came down every day.

   The other group of people are those who are self-serving people represented by the Egyptians who were pursuing God’s people, but not pursuing God. The Egyptians, who had the shiny chariots, expensive uniforms and the latest state-of-the-art weaponry was only interested in their own personal success. On the outside you could say that they were pursuing God, BUT their pursuit was nothing less than self-serving. They wanted the blessing of God to themselves, BUT the result was they drowned in the Red sea.

   This is a powerful warning for those whom are using God’s people to pursue selfish ambitions and their own prosperity. When that happens, the Word of God, the Scriptures doesn’t make sense to self-seekers. Think of the denominations that have embraced the gay lifestyle, same-sex marriage, the aborting (murdering) of thousands upon thousands of babies – all of a sudden the Scriptures don’t make sense, these seek-seeking people will look only for those verses that back up their selfish desires.

   I really believe that one of the reasons why many in the Church aren’t finding God is because they’ve given up on the Bible and have turned to false prophets to interpret the Word for them. These are counterfeiters and nothing more than messengers of satan. They stand in pulpits leading people farther and farther away from the truth of Jesus.

   Church – the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about Calvary. It’s about Jesus dying for you and for me so that we can stand with confidence, knowing our sins are forgiven, and being able to tell others that they too can have this life. God’s burden hasn’t changed and His mission is no different than it was two thousand years ago –it’s for His Church to arise and be that voice, be the salt, be the light and be the example of the true Jesus.

P. Tom