Peter's House

Have you ever been weighed down, felt crushed by the weight of a circumstance or
situation, found yourself in an inescapable place or position, or just grown weary of
living each day in an unsatisfying way, being totally frustrated, feeling as if you are well
past your neck in deep water, with no hope or release in sight? Welcome to a life NOT
ruled by Christ.

Even as Christian, we can find ourselves in any of these predicaments. We can be walking along loving
and enjoying life to the fulness, when BAM! You are blindsided by drama, reeled about by a circumstance,
or stopped dead in your tracks by a questioning spirit. This could have come upon you suddenly, or it may
have been the result of a timely withdrawl from a daily schedule (such as reading your Bible everyday to
reading it maybe once a week or every other week). None of that matters now, NOW you're in the midst of
it, and it is ready to consume you. Whether or not it's something that has come upon you suddenly (as an
accident, death in the family, or other type loss), or its that enormously weighted problem your boss just
hand you to handle; ALL that matters now is I've got to get through, accomplish, or finish this test.

A great example of this is your budget (funny how to get someones attention its usually through their
money). The daily grind of melting out the resources to cover the expenditures is and always has been the
greatest trial performed by man, especially one who has become consumed by his situation or need for more
than what he has. In desparate measures you 'rob Peter to pay Paul', if Paul gets paid, Peter comes up
short, it's the same with tithing, then God is robbed to find the way. Malachi 3:8-9 "Will a man rob God?
Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the
whole nation of you--because you are robbing me.' Whoa, did you catch that, it's not just about YOU, the
curse is on the whole nation! (It is really funny how you can get off track so easily, I'm trying to run a
theme, and another pops into my head - Well that will have to wait for another time and lesson).

To finish off that scripture in Malachi 3:10-12 'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be
food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the
floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will
prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the
LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the
LORD Almighty.' Is this a lesson on tithing? NO, but it can be! No, the crutch of this lesson rest solely
upon believing in the reliance of God, and His assurances that He will make good on His word. How did we
get there from the example of our budget?

Surely you've heard, 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want' (or be in want), 'The earth is the LORD'S,
and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein', "'A tithe of everything from the land,
whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. The entire
tithe of the herd and flock--every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod--will be holy to the
LORD.' Lev 27:30 & 32 Gen 14:18-20 'Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was
priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of
heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then
Abram gave him a tenth of everything.' Paul wrote, 'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you
have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be
with you.' Phil 4:4-9

When one's focus moves from God's ability to make provision for His chosen, to their own way of doing
things, we shift our reliance from God to ourselves. We now are our own god, so to speak, taking and
thinking we can do for ourselves the same as God could do. We've done nothing more than turned our backs
and turned away from our God and His provision. This is SIN! I see it and can recount it in my own
personal life and walk with Jesus. I have a great amount of colleagues who would debate that assertion with
me, but that IS what the Bible teaches! My teachings may seem eccentric, but I assure you, they are totally
Bible based, and through the Holy Spirit's revelations. Any way, to remove yourself from His provisional
position, you open yourself up to ALL the dominions, principalities, and powers unseen and seen. Being
unprotected like that is liken having a computer that you use to 'surf' the internet WITHOUT any virus
protection. You may get by for a while, but there is a crash in your future.

For UN-believers, it doesn't matter that you disbelieve the word of God, IT IS STILL GOING TO GO
according to His word. And if we can we agree that all the passages listed above are located in the Bible, and
that the Bible teaches those passages? If so, then we must agree that living as 'a prodical son' (living
separated from God) is living in sin. The Good News is that God loves you despite yourself, and He is with
you, even when you're living in that sinful state, 'Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your
presence?' Psalm 139:7, or Matt 1:23, "and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." Then
'If God is for us, who can be against us?' Romans 8:31. OUR CHOICES! When God created MAN, He didn't
make him flawed (thinking the male sex was female, or vice versa), He was made in the IMAGE and
LIKENESS of God, but He did make him with and gave him a choice. That's what the apple thing is all about
- and from that point, all other vices have been derived (homosexuality, fornication, promiscuity, and on). It is
our choice to live as a prodical, or we can choose to acknowledge God, Jesus the only son of the Father (God),
given as the redemptive sacrafice for our sin, and the Holy Spirit, a gift given to us, 'who is a deposit
guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his
glory.' Eph 1:14, and live a life worthy of being His kids!

The evidence is there, and whether you're living as a prodical or you've just grown cool, the Word of God IS
and HAS the answer and solution to that problem. It's all about your relationship or UN-relationship with
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. OK, OK, I knew you were going to pin this on me somehow. I knew I'd be at
fault, and you would bring God into this! Well congratulations for staying with me this far. And I don't know
if you noticed or not, THIS IS A CHRISTIAN website, which translates into discussions that include God in
and through all.

For believers, it is as if you are robbing God, robbing Him of your time spent with Him, robbing Him of your
reliance on His provisions, robbing yourselves of His blessings, gifts ans talents. 'He has showed you, O man,
what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
with your God.' Micah 6:8 'But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given
to you as well.' Matt 6:33. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength.' Mark 12:30. If your relationship lacks any of these fundamentals, you
are robbing God, AND not receiveing all the blessings that you are entitled to, 'But when he asks, he must
believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That
man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he
does.' James 1:6-8. You see, it's not really about money! as much as it is about believing and having a
relationship, and receiving your blessings.

Do you bless anyone? Do you believe that you are blessed? Blessed is the blesser, as Melchizedek blessed
Abram, and God blessed Abraham, "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the
stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their
enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." Gen
22:17-18. Again I ask, do you bless anyone? (THIS IS ONE OF THOSE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM!) Does
God bless you? How you answer that question will give you the insight you will need to know. If He does,
then why aren't you blessing anyone you come into contact with? Bless those because you're a blessing. If
you don't believe you're blessed, you need to work on your relationship some more, read the Bible through
cover to cover, and discover WHO God really is! I truely believe that we don't have all the blessings God has
intended for us because we don't exercise our blessing of others along with our loving one another.

So you can see how Christians and unbelievers alike can be affected by their poor choices throughout life. A
Christian's poor choice in NOT keeping Jesus first in his life, NOT being or living Holy, NOT sticking to
that redundant reading and praying schedule, NOT blessing and loving one another. Likewise, the
unbeliever's poor choice of thinking ignorance of Biblical things is bliss, just keeps him living a lifestye apart
from God. In the end, both will probably go to the same place, dependant on God's will, but for me and my
house, I'd rather live believing that there is a God and finding out that there isn't one; than to live as if there
is NO God and find out that there really is one. What's your choice? It's decision time, the crunch is right
now! Time is getting short, His return is imminent