Northwoods Conservatives

21 hours ago

March 12, 2026, the 71st day of 2026 Encouragement It is way too easy to get discouraged if we put our trust in anything other than God.... View More

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Nelani Nettrour

Yesterday, 9:34 pm

March 11, 2026, the 70th day of 2026 In the Middle of Things In the middle of things God moves. We may not see it or feel it, but He moves in the lives of His children.... View MoreMarch 11, 2026, the 70th day of 2026 In the Middle of Things In the middle of things God moves. We may not see it or feel it, but He moves in the lives of His children. And since God exists outside of time, those who will be His children, are His children. He knows our choices before we even make them. Anyone who has repented and surrendered to Jesus as their Lord and Master can look back and see that God was working in their lives, in many ways, through different times and situations. Before we took the path that would lead us to Jesus, it was already known by God. He had a part in the making of it after all. At one time we were not God's child. We were cut off from Him. We did not know that we would ever come to believe, but God did. And then with our decision to follow Jesus, becoming a new creation in Him, we became God's child. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.”' Romans 8:14-15 The process of becoming a child of God was beyond the natural way of things. But why should we expect ot to be otherwise? The whole process involves flesh and blood, the here and now, but is of eternal consequences. We may compare our life in Christ to something else we may understand better, but that description will always lack the fullness that it represents. We are dealing with the Creator God and His ways are so beyond our ways. “'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:8-11 I love all of Isaiah 55. But these verses give us a bit of the awe we should feel when we realize Who we are dealing with when we are speaking of God. Our Father is an awesome God! Stay strong! If you have not done so, seek Jesus, repent and completely surrender your life to Him and become a child of God! If you have already done so, rejoice in the God of your salvation! NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

March 10, 2026 5:53 pm

March 10, 2026, the 69th day of 2026 Zombie Sin Nature I starting writing about this a while back, but it didn't fit the post I was working on. That post had already gotten too long. So, I set thi... View MoreMarch 10, 2026, the 69th day of 2026 Zombie Sin Nature I starting writing about this a while back, but it didn't fit the post I was working on. That post had already gotten too long. So, I set this aside for the time. Since this is the time of the year where we start to think more about the death of Christ and what it means to u--who have become new creations in Christ, through repentance and surrendering our lives to Jesus as our Lord and Master, our King--I figured I would finish it. During the process of salvation when God makes a new creation of us, our old man, our sin nature was crucified and should not longer be ruling over us. But though it is dead, it can rear up its ugly head if we dwell on darkness, let bad moods control us, or in any way turn back to the ways of the flesh. Because of that I started calling it the Zombie Sin Nature, or the Zombie Nature. We are to put to death the sin nature in us, and yet while we live in this flesh, we must battle against it. For most of the unsaved, sin nature is their guiding force. It is not dead in them. It is alive and well. It will lead them down the part of destruction, but they won't seem that different from the rest of the crowd headed down the same path. They will not reek of death. But it is different for a Christian. For us, sin nature is a corpse. If it stays nailed to the cross, it will not corrupt us. But if we free it to reign again in us, it reigns as the living dead, a zombie nature. That is why a sinning Christian is so much worse than the unsaved going about their life. The carnal Christian will spiritually reek of death and decay, which should not be a part of any Christian's life. The zombie sin nature thrives in darkness and on darkness. It hates the light. So it will cause those led by such a nature to avoid the light, to avoid Christians, or to bad mouth them or try to corrupt them. "And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." Galatians 5:24-26 Though it may not feed on brains, like fictitious zombies do, it feeds on the lower and meaner thoughts and tendencies in us. Putting to death, nailing it to the cross, is not an act that we do just once--in repentance--but any time that evil zombie nature rises its ugly head. Pound those nails in deeper and draw closer to Jesus instead! "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him, where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Colossians 3:5-11 Here is another pretty good list od some of the things that the Zombie Sin Nature thrives on, the works of the flesh. "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21 If we hold the old man close to our heart, refusing to walk the way of righteousness, that sin nature will corrupt us. It is like holding the decaying, putrid, body of the walking dead zombie, next to our heart, breathing in its stench and having it permeate our very essence. Only a fool would think they could remain untouched by that rot! "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:17-24 The Zombie sin nature will become stronger when we feed it those things by dwelling on such things, or worst of all, by giving into, and doing those things. Christians are redeemed sinners. We still need to battle against sin nature. The difference in any of us who are victorious is that we don't give into sin nature, we battle it. We are vigilant and watchful for any signs of corruption in us. And when we find it trying to rise in us, we pound those nails tighter into its ugly corpse. There is a difference between being human, with human limitations, and giving into sin nature--the nature corrupted in the fall. We need to take care of ourselves, of our bodies and our health, but we do not let our vile, old man, our zombie sin nature, have sway in our lives. We cannot be soft on our own sin nature or give it any leeway in our life. We need to see it for what it is and have no mercy with it! If we have been saved, having repented and surrendered our lives fully to Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Master, our Saviour, we are a new creation. But we carry with us the remanents of the old man, the sinful, selfish, obnoxious man. We are to pound those nails back down when it tries to free itself. And to put it back to death as many times as it takes until Jesus returns or calls us home! Stay strong! Be led by the Spirit, not your Zombie Sin Nature! NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

March 9, 2026 5:20 pm

March 9, 2026, the 68th day of 2026 The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob There really is no better way to verify those who believe in the God of the Bible, the God of Creation, than to call God by Hi... View MoreMarch 9, 2026, the 68th day of 2026 The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob There really is no better way to verify those who believe in the God of the Bible, the God of Creation, than to call God by His title of "The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob" and see how they respond. Many who believe in some kind of god, that isn't God Almighty the Creator, will still call their false, or demonic deity, "god", "father" "lord" or some such term to fool others into believing that we are all worshipping the same god. We are not. God chose His special people. And how we respond to that truth, shows whether we believe in the God of the Bible or man-made or demonic gods. "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure. For I know that the Lord is great, And our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In Heaven and in Earth, in the seas and in all deep places." Psalms 135:4-6 God identified Himself to Moses. "Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." Exodus 3:5-6 Those families would lead to Jesus, God in the flesh. But it was not enough to say the God of Abraham, because Abraham had more than one son. Adding the God of Abraham and Issac would not be enough because Issac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. So to get to the family line God was making of Israel--and ultimately the line of the Messiah, Jesus Christ--Jacob had to be added. Thus we have the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob Jacob was later renamed Israel. So the God of Israel also encompasses that line. "And He said, 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.' ” Genesis 32:28 Since Jacob was renamed Israel, God is also called, "The God of Israel. "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things!" Psalms 72:18 The children of Israel also became the nation of Israel. "I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” Isaiah 43:15 The Gid miraculously restored the land of Israel to the people of Israel. And God is still moving through His people in Israel and around the world. Though many of Israel have returned home to Israel, not all that are of Israel have returned to Israel. Many are still lost among the nations, unaware of their own identity. But of all places of refuge to the people of Israel, before they had a homeland to return to, was America. And America was blessed because of our care of the people of Israel. America has shielded and protected them. They are beloved of true followers of Jesus because they are beloved of our God. And there is an even brighter future for Israel. “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, Who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 39:25-29 But the Devil hates Israel and he wars against them and any who support Israel. So, be aware of whom you are siding with, if you war against Israel or hate her people. God is keeping an eye on His children, both the physical children of Israel, and we who have been adopted into His family by being born again through repentance and surrender to King Jesus, of the tribe of Judah, King of the Jews and King of kings and Lord of lords. Stay strong! Rejoice and be glad in the Lord our Redeemer, the God of Israel! NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

March 8, 2026 11:34 pm

March 8, 2026, the 67th day of 2026 Spring on the Mind It is the time of year that we really start to crave Spring. It seems to happen overnight, with the movement of the breeze, the sparkle of the... View More

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Nelani Nettrour

March 7, 2026 11:40 am

March 7, 2026, the 66th day of 2026 Does it Fit God's Nature? The problem we have with God, and even with each other, is misunderstandings. But when we know and trust God, misunderstandings don't m... View MoreMarch 7, 2026, the 66th day of 2026 Does it Fit God's Nature? The problem we have with God, and even with each other, is misunderstandings. But when we know and trust God, misunderstandings don't make us doubt or lose our faith in Him. When we don't understand something about God, what we should do is search out and see if we have a misconception about God that caised the misunderstanding. It is the same with one another. When we have a misunderstanding, do we seek to resolve it? Or do we let it ruin our relationship? If we truly love someone, we will know the true from the false, even if we cannot prove it. Love gives us insight that a mere acquaintance does not have. We don't want to hear from Jesus as Philip did in John 14:9 “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me?" When we hear somethjng about God that does it fit with Who we know He is, and it needs a response--as sometimes it doesn't--we can go to God's word and see if there is some misconception in the reading of the verse or verses. We also ask? Who is God speaking to? What is the background? What does it actually say? What is the best translation of thr verse? With instant access to various translations online, we can see the verse in multiple translations and compare. Is our history of hurts interfering with how we are reading the verse? Do we have false assumptions we have never shaken about the character of God? With the proper assumptions we can battle misunderstandings. God is not a one-faceted being. Above all, He is God, the Almighty. He existes without beginning or end. He is the Creator. We are made in His image, but we lack the fullness of God in us. We are redeemed from a fallen world, but we still dwell in the dying flesh and battle the sin nature--the old man. Satan hates God. Satan hates anything of God, which includes us. He battles us and can whisper lies and doubts into our mind. If we are not on guard against him and his monions, we will take those lies in as our own. We must cling to the nature of God, which the Bible expresses. God is good. God is just, holy, righteous, all knowing, all seeing, all powerful and yet is merciful, loving, caring, considerate, compassionate, trustworthy, faithful, truthful, long-suffering as well. And that is only a fraction of Who God is, of His nature, because we have no pure versions of these attributes to compare Him to, except in Jesus, God in the flesh. And many don't understand Jesus either. And since Jesus has ascended and is in Heaven until His return, we do not have His physical presence to show us the Father, to teach us with His physical voice. We have an even richer connection to God when we repent and surrender our life to Jesus as our Lord and Master, our King. But that does not make us all knowing. We can ask God for wisdom, but our human brain will only take in so much wisdom at a time. And if we don't build upon that, adding knowledge by studying the Bible, we will only grow so much in our understanding. Since we have never met a human to compare to God, or have seen any of these attributes shown perfectly, it can leave us without the knowledge we need to understand the nature of God, if we are looking to humans for an example of it. Jesus gives us an answer to that, so simple, but so deep, we could write of it and never come to the end of it. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" John 14:6 And continuing: "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.'" John 14:7-11 Stay strong! Study Jesus to understand the nature of God. Then you can study the whole Bible with a clearer understanding. NAN

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