Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Death By Temptation

James 1:14-15 "but every man is tempted,when he is drawn away of his own lust,and enticed.Then when lust hath concieved,it bringeth forth sin:and sin,when it is finished,bringeth forth death."

God wants to live among His people,but sometimes we don't want Him around.(let us be honest)See sometimes do to our fallen nature their are lust and desire we chose to surround ourselves in, that keeps God on the outside of our lives.Sin doesn't rush in and over take us,it is first a simple suggestion,then it becomes a strong imagination,then a delight,then it is accepted.In other words, sin at first does not necessarily appear disgusting to us.In fact sin frequently fascinates us and appeals to our fallen nature. Unless we immediately flee from it, we can easily slip into the darkness of sin.We must reconize it for what it is, a rebillion against God.

Despite God's faithfulness to His people,time and time again, we turn away from him and worship and serve the Idols we have built in our lives.We reject God and embrace the lust of the flesh and the worldly desires that appeal to our carnal nature.Though the Idols and the packaging of sin may appear different than it did to the Israelites,its basic nature is still the same.Sin can hide itself so that it becomes so beautiful to look at, so wonderful to touch, and so sweet to taste, yet the end there of is still death. Idols today are still made of wood,stone,and metal, but we call them houses, cars ,money, and the biggest Idol is the god we've made out of flesh, ourself.As the writer of Hebrews said, its always tempting to "enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season". In many forms and guises, sin still allures and entices us and charms us to do its bidding, by offering to satisfy desires that are pleasurable to us, but violate God's truth and commandments.

Once sin has won one victory in our lives, it will be even more persistent in securing greater victories. Therefore, we give it power over our lives every time we surrender to it, until sin no longer has to hide its true hideous nature.But by then we are already firmly locked in its grip.Let us not dabble in sin and slip into darkness.But if we find yourself in the darkness of sin ,remember Jesus the light of the world, will save you from the grips of sin.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Way Back!

Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord,and He will have mercy upon him".

Here we have the great chapter of gospel invitation.How free! How full! How plain and pressing are the calls to receive grace! Yet the necessity of repentance,in its most practical form is a must.We must turn from our sinful ways back to God, its insisted upon.The Gospel provisions are presented freely(vs.1,2). The Savior is provided and proclaimed(vs.3,4).Salvation is promised to Him(vs.5).We are encouraged to seek and find the Lord (vs.6).But the call to conversion follows close after,and is intended to be the necessary inference from all that preceded it.We must return to God: he mercy make it imperative.

The Holy nature of God will not allow Him to pardon those who continue in their wickedness.The very nature of the gospel is not  a proclamation of tolerance for sin,but the deliverance from it.It contains no single promise of forgiveness to the one who goes on in his iniquity.Jesus died to save us from sin not to save us in sin.Conversion always goes with salvation.Sin must be punished or else virtue will perish. The well being of the sinner himself requires that he should quit sin,or suffer the penalty.The work of the Holy Spirit would be of non effect as He is a Sanctifier.The character of heaven requires that a sinner's nature be renewed,and his life purged, in order to enter the holy place where God, and holy angels and perfected saints abide."Except ye be converted, and become as little children,ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven"(Matt.18:3).

Jesus died to accept for us the wage paid by sin.When we accept His death as our own, we must die to the old life and walk in the new life provided by Christ.It is by, and with His power that we can walk in the spirit as not to give into the flesh.But when we do stumble and fall along the way we have an advocate who tells us to confess our sins and he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

Monday, February 27, 2012

He Had To Die!

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us,who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

Jesus Christ death;the message is unbelievable,a message of redemption,that is a substitution for sin. This is one of the great verses proclaiming the unbelievable love of God.It is impossible for man to grasp the fact that God made Christ to be sin for us,yet that is exactly what the scripture says.He who knew no sin made to be sin,for the sole that sinneth shall surley die,so for man to live He had to die.

Why was this act necessary? Because man needs more than just righteousness to stand perfect before God.To stand righteous before God is not enough,for man has already sinned.Man already stands guilty of breaking God's law, and the judgement and condemnation of death has already taken effect upon man. So the condemnation and judgement of sin had to be taken care of. God did this by laying all the sins of man upon Christ,all the guilt and condemnation of sin,God placed it all on Christ and let Him bear it all Himself.God's purpose for this was that we through Christ death, might be made righteousness of God in Christ.When a person believes in Jesus Christ,I mean really believes,God takes that man's faith and He counts it as righteousness.The man is not righteous,but God considers the man's faith in Christ as righteousness.God does this because he loves man so much,so much that he sent His only begotten Son to die that we might have a right to life.Jesus secured righteousness for man.He came into the world to die for man.He came and arose from death and thus conquered death for man,thus His resurrected life could stand for the resurrected life of the believer.

The truth is this God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much, that He honors any man who honors His son by believing in Him and believing Him.When we sincerly trust Christ,God takes that faith and counts it as righteousness,thus He judges us , and treats us,as though we are innocent.We are not innocent,us and God both knows this,but God counts us as innocent because of our faith in Jesus Christ.To God we have died with Christ and rose a new creation.So He had to die in order for us to have life.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Dangers Of A spiritual Drought

Isaiah 5:6b "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it".

Rain is essential for growth of seed and fruit, and its withdrawal for a length of time a terrible temporal judgement,especially in hot climates.The spiritual rain of the Holy Spirit's influence essential to a spiritual life,in its beginning,growth, ripening, and perfecting.What does it mean when the spirit doesn't rain down; ministers preach with no power;assemblies gathered, but the Lord is not in the mist; the word read ,but there is no application to the heart.Formality of prayer kept up ,bit there is no pleading with God.The Holy Ghost restrained and grieved.This is the case of any church or person if sin is tolerated after warning.The clouds which are ordained to rain are commanded by God not to.

This hinders spiritual growth as their is no conviction or conversion as these are brought about by the spirit.There is no restoration of the backslider,withered plants are not revived when there is no rain.No refreshing of the weary,as strength and comfort comes by the dew of heaven.No spiritual activities,as the congregation moves about like people sleep walking.Everything suffers when there is a spiritual drought.This happens when the soul experiences no benifit under the word.When the person feels glutted with a false gospel and grows weary of the truth, causing one to neglect  the hearing of the truth.It can be prevented let us confess our sins to God as he might have with held his grace from us;let us come humbly, and look alone to Jesus, for he shall come down like rain,and let us use that blessing more diligently when it comes that we may bring forth fruit unto God. 

God's grace can save souls without any preaching: but all the preaching in the world cannot save souls without God's grace.The hearer sometimes complains that there is no food for his soul; when the truth is that there is no soul for the food.Without the raining of the spirit, their can be no produced fruit in the church.Let us pray for rain.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Attorney for The Accused

Romans 8:34" Who is he that condemneth?It is Christ that died,yea rather,that is risen again,who is at the right hand of God,who also maketh intercession for us".

The key to solving the problem of sin is the help we receive through Jesus Christ.Jesus came not only to make possible the forgivness of the past,but to help us conquer the stronghold of sins, the entrenched habits that are so difficult to dislodge from our lives.Jesus is our merciful High Priest in heaven,who is interceding with the Father on our behalf.Jesus is ever ready to help us gain the victory over sin:"And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.Who is he who overcomes the world,but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God"? The Apostle John, while acknowledging our human weakness, encourages us not to give in to sin."I am Writing these things to you so that you may not sin.But if any one does sin,we have an advocate with the Father,Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus died to save us from sin not to save us in sin, by his mercy we are forgiven the sins we have commited and will commite, but his grace gives us the strength to not give in to sin and the wiles of the evil one, as it allows us to walk in his spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.This should give us every reason for encouragement in our daily struggle against sin.After all Christ has experienced the same temptations and fully understands our plight.For our High Priest is one who can sympathize with our weakness,as he has been tried and tempted by the same enemy who attacks us, yet without sin,and he has been given power over all flesh.There fore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness,so that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

How do we get that help?Jesus said " ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be opened". He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him,Jesus Christ our great intercessor and the Attorney for the accused.


Thursday, February 23, 2012

I'LL Pray for You;

Ephesians 3:14,16 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, That he would grant you according to the riches of His glory,to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man".(read 3:14-21 for full impact of the prayer).

This is the great prayer of Paul for the church and the believer.It is probably the second most important prayer in the Bible.Because of it's importance, it should be prayed by believers daily.

This prayer  was not a prayer of begging for worldly gifts.It wasn't a prayer of tattling, it was a prayer to uplift,strengthen,save,enlighten and to aid in the growth of the church.The prayer first requested strength and power for the inner man, the spirit man,the new man from the new birth,requesting God's presence and power in our lives.The prayer requested for Christ to dwell in the hearts of man by faith.That means to have rule and reign in our hearts.Dwell means a permanent living arrangement.So the prayer is asking that Christ ,takes up permanent residence,settles in,and lives in the hearts of all believers.It is the presence of Christ that motivates us to follow Christ.He then prays that we be rooted and grounded in love the same love God has for us.He prays that we have understanding of all spiritual things.That we might fully grasp God's perfect plan of salvation, and the part we the church must play in that plan.Understanding God's perfect will for our life ,not the will we have chosen,but that which he has chosen for us. He prays that we know the love of Jesus which surpasses all understanding and knowledge.It is utterly impossible for man to grasp and experience the love of Christ, to know it in it's full measure,but we should pray and ask God to help us learn more about it everyday.

Prayer should be to lift up the name of Jesus;to stand in the gap for the lost and unsaved, while strengthening and uplifting the believer,while asking for strength to continue in the work we have been called to do.Jesus said "take no thought" for what we should wear, eat etc. He said our Father knows we have need of these things,so let us pray for the strengthening of the Church and other believers that God might get the glory throughout all ages. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I Gave You My Son.

1John 5:11" And this is the record,that God hath given to us eternal life,and this life is in his Son."

John declared that our faith in Christ is the victory that overcomes the sinful influences of the world.And then,as if to test his readers' comprehension of that statement, he asked, Who overcomes the world?John immediately answered his own question:only the one who believes that Jesus is God's Son.

No other agent or formula defeats the sinful influences we face. Only Jesus faced them all and overcame them all.It is only when we acknowledge our own helplessness and place our confidence in the sufficiency of Christ's victory that we have victory over sin.We may try other means,such as will power,accountability, support groups, human thought, or philosophy, rituals,or routines, disgust for the sin, or shame and guilt. We may even find that some of those things offer limited success in helping us curb certain behaviors or keep them in check temporarily.But it is only through faith in Christ, and a total surrender to Him, that we can be tuned in to his will,our mind can comprehend His thoughts, and our actions become joyful acts of worship.
If we are believing in and relying on anything but Christ's victory to overcome sin ,our efforts are doomed.It is good for us to examine ourselves periodically to be sure that our faith is not misplaced. What a relief it is to know that the hard part of overcomming sinful influences has been done for us by Jesus' life, death ,and resurrection.To remain in His victory,we need only to hold confidently to God's provisions for us in Christ.Faith in Christ includes an understanding of who he is and a complete reliance upon him for salvation and an overcoming lifestyle.Through this kind of faith believers experience victory over the sinful influences of this world, and thus walk worthy of the name by which we are called;Christians, or to be Christ like............

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Lost in Religion

Ezekiel 47:11 "But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt."

Here we have a vision of the flow of the life-giving river,and marked its wonderful and beneficial effects.The prophet also observed that here and there the river carried no blessing:there were marshes which remained as barren as ever.There are some whom the Gospel does not bless,like the marsh where more water just makes more mudd;they hear in vain; learn but don't practice;feel but don't decide;and resolve but do not  perform.

No person  appear less likely to be saved than your religious unbelievers.They see with a blinded eye, understand with a carnal mind, and receive the truth but deny the power of it.Everything has to be proven to them.You cannot tell them anything new,they are so full religious knowledge, but possess a heart empty of love.The gospel is unable to penatrate their hearts for they wear the breast plate of gospel hardening. Their carnal security lives on the fact that they are hearers of the word so they don't become doers of the word.They bow assent to every truth,and yet believe nothing:They participate in every religious observance,and yet have no religion.Ever learning but never coming to the truth about God and His will for our lives.They have great religion but no true relationship with the savior thus they are lost in the congregation.

Jesus told us to go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel,we don't know who will or will not be blessed with His word,he just told us to tell everybody.So let us make sure we do our part and let the life giving river flow to from us to all that we see, and trust the holy spirit to do his part and prepare the hearts of all where the river flows to recieve the good new of Christ and Him crucified. 

Monday, February 20, 2012

Chosen

Galatians 4:7 " Wherefore thou art no more a servant,but a son; and if a son,then an heir of God through Christ".

When a child is adopted that means a parent went and chose a particular child to take care of, to provide for.We have been chosen by God, picked out to be part of His royal family.We're adopted into God's family when we trust in Jesus as our Savior.It only happens through our relationship with Him. This is when we become God's child.We were oringinally born in sin,which separates us from God, making us His enemy, as we are followers of satan.But when we make a conscience decision to accept Christ,and become a born again ,baptized, blood washed believer we begin a relationship with Christ and are on our way to becoming a part of God's royal family.

Once we establish a relationship with Christ we are brought into God's family.God adopts us and bestows His grace on us through Christ.Every spiritual blessing is found in Christ,and the only way to be with Christ is by believing in Him and doing what He requires.This is how everyone becomes blessed.God is now our Father.All of the riches of heaven are our inheritance.So why are we acting like orphans?Why do we stand outside the gate,like we are not welcome to come in,like we don't know the way in.We should be living as children of the king,heirs of His promise,celebrating everyday,the joys of our inhertiance.God so loved us he looked beyond all that was wrong with us and he chose us.He wants us to be part of His family,He adopted us with the blood of His only begotten,Letu saccept this free gift with gladness and walk worthy of the family name.

Jesus died, He endured all that sin causes so that we can be free of the guilt, shame and death of sin. That we might have a life of peace and Joy with our Father which art in heaven.All we need to do is go out and enjoy that which God has for us.He is our Father,and every good and perfect gift is from Him,and he will with hold no good thing from us.All that is before us, all that we go through is for our good and the building of His Kingdom which is part of our inheritance.


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Compassion Of Christ

Hebrews 5:2"Who can have compassion on the ignorant,and on them that are out of the way;for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity".

Those who are ignorant of the salvation of the Lord should not be met with scorn,nor fault-finding,nor neglect,for they need compassion.We should lay ourselves out to bear with such for their good.A disciple who has been taught all that he knows by a gracious Savior should have compassion on the "ignorant". A wanderer who has been found should have compassion on those who are still out wondering.A priest should have compassion on the people with whom he is one flesh and blood,and assuredly our Lord,who is our great High Priest,has abundant compassion upon the ignorant,for He died that all might be saved.

What is this ignorance?It is moral and spiritual,and it deals with eternal things.It leaves the ignorant strangers to themselves,as they know not their own ignorance.They are unaware of their heart's depravity. They are unconscience to their actual sin or that they even need saving, for they have no ideal that they are lost.They are unaware of the danger they are in,unable to know what is truly good,and they don't know the way of salvation as they choose the other way,the broad way.This leaves them without knowledge of who Jesus is,not knowing his work,his person,his power, his character or his readiness to save them. They are strangers to the Holy Spirit, ignorant to regeneration, cannot comprehend the truths of the bible or the things the spirit teaches,and thus he is a lost,wondering aimlessly through life.

But the Lord's compassion toward the ignorant is shown,by offering to teach them,and willing to receive them as disciples.By instructing them little by little,teaching them the same thing over and over with patience and in unconditional love.By never despising them even through their rebellious nature.By never casting them off by tiring of their stupidity.To such a compassionate Lord let us labor among the ignorant and never cease to pity and pray for them.Jesus shed his blood for all mankind,and at one time we were the wayward,and the ignorant, what if God had given up on us?What if those who prayed for us had given up.The lame sheep belong to the Lord also.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Not Guilty!

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us,who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

Jesus Christ death;the message is unbelievable,a message of redemption,that is a substitution for sin. This is one of the great verses proclaiming the unbelievable love of God.It is impossible for man to grasp the fact that God made Christ to be sin for us,yet that is exactly what the scripture says.He who knew no sin made to be sin,the perfect sacrifice for an imperfect people,that we might be found not guilty.
 
Why was this act necessary? Because man needs more than just righteousness to stand perfect before God.To stand righteous before God is not enough,for man has already sinned.Man already stood guilty of breaking God's law, and the judgement and condemnation of death had already taken effect upon man. So the condemnation and judgement of sin had to be taken care of. God did this by laying all the sins of man upon Christ, all the guilt and condemnation of sin, God placed it all on Christ and let Him bear it all by Himself.God's purpose for this was that we might be made righteousness of God in Christ. That we might be found not guilty before the Father.When a person believes in Jesus Christ,I mean really believes,God takes that man's faith and He counts it as righteousness.The man is not righteous,but God considers the man's faith as righteousness.God does this because he loves man so much,that he sent His only begotten Son to die that we might have a right to life.Jesus secured righteousness for man.He came into the world to die for man.He came and arose from death and thus conquered death for man, thus His resurrected life could stand for the resurrected life of the believer and pronounce him innocent.

The truth is this God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much, that He honors any man who honors His son by believing in Him and believing Him.When we sincerly trust Christ,God takes that faith and counts it as righteousness,thus He judges us , and treats us,as though we are innocent.We are not innocent,us and God both knows this,but God counts us as innocent because of our faith in Jesus Christ.To God we have died with Christ and rose a new creation.Yes not guilty

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Lord I'm Sorry!

Joel 2:12"Therefore also now saith the Lord,turn ye even to me with all your heart,and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning:"

There is a feast prepared with the bread of heaven, we must gather all those we can, and bring them into the house of the Lord;and cry unto the lord"spare thy people O Lord and "Forgive us for we no not what we do.Let us come together, all the people, and hear what thus saith the Lord;for the Lord says "Turn to me".

There are many going the wrong way,doing the wrong thing,following the wrong leaders,and traveling on the wrong road.Many on the broad road,yet Jesus said narrow is the way.God says turn, turn from our wicked ways,just turn and turn loose.Let go of the earthy and grab hold of the heavenly. Don't just turn your head giving the appearence of change,you know walking different but still going in the same direction.Let us turn our hearts with weeping and mourning,rent our hearts like it greatly grieves our souls to have sinned against God,rent our hearts, as we desire to never do it again.Rent our heart not our garments, make this an inward commitment and not an outward show.Rent our hearts, and turn to God with fasting,not the commitment of doing without meat for a day,but the commitment of doing without sin for a lifetime, as Jesus told the lady go and sin no more.Crucify the old man and his ways, walk in a newness of life.Turn and fast,as to fasten to him,and fasten on him,like Jacob holding on to the angel,and refusing to let Go,as our blessing are in holding on to God.Fasten on to him,hold to him with true devotion and loyalty,hold fast weeping for the wrong we have done to him,and the shame sin has brought to us, his beautiful bride.Hold on and wait for our change to come.

Let us truly turn back to God, truly repent and become an accurate reflection of the one whose name we bear, that we might truly lead a lost and dying world, to the salvation of the Lord.Let us lead in truth ,teach in honesty,and reprove in love,for our Fathers desire is that none shall parish.Reach out in love to save the souls Chirst died for,pray for the lost, be a living sacrifice,and lead one back to God, that we might truly be Christ like........

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Walking In God's Nature

Galatians :22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such is no law".

 "A tree is known by the fruit it bears",yet as a tree takes time to grow and mature,so the spirit does not cultivate these virtues into a believers life over night.But just like you can see the evidence that it is a fruit tree before it bears fruit,there should be some evidence in the believer of the nature of God.With the death of Christ, all who believe are born of the spirit of God,exposed to the fruit of the spirit,let us therefore walk in the nature of God.

We have been blessed with the fruit of God's Spirit,and we are now to walk through life bearing God's nature. A nature made up of Love,a willing sacrificial giving of oneself for the benifit of others. Joy, a gladness of the heart;Peace, a tranquility of mind,free from worry and fear; Long-suffering, being patient with others;Gentleness, kindness;Goodness, generosity;Faith,is dependability;Meekness, having consideration for others;Temperance,is self control,the ability to harness and control ones lust. God has absolutly nothing to do with sin,it is not within His nature.Therefore being born again with the nature of God,we are not to surrender ourselves to the lust ,will and desires of the old nature.We are to walk bearing the fruit of God's nature,in the fruit of God's spirit.Now notice the word fruit is singular not plural,the Holy Spirit has one fruit, God has but one nature,but it has been broken down into a list of traits to help us understand His nature.When the believer is blessed with God's nature,all the traits are present,but time is needed for all to mature.

At conversion every believer crucifies the flesh,that is in repentance we have turned from, renounced and destroyed all that held us in the life of sin.We have forsaken all our evil passions that we might walk in the nature of God.All of our earthly children bear some, if not all of our characteristics,and if we have been born of the nature of God, we too should bear His characteristics and nature. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Characteristics Of Our Father!

1John 3:10 "In this the children of God and the devil are manifest:Who ever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother".

The scripture reveals that God's children occasionally sin after baptism.But, if they wish to continue in His favor,they must not only confess to Him but also ask Him to"cleanse them from unrighteousness" . We cannot please God if we deliberately practice sinning.However,some habits deeply ingrained from early childhood may not be that easily overcome.The effects of such sin fosters serious weaknesses in our walk.It may take a long period of diligent striving to finally overcome.Paul put it this way:"Put to death, therefore,whatever belongs to your earthy nature".We can accomplish this through the power of God's Spirit.

James puts God's requirements in perspective:"Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?Can a fig tree, my brethren,produce olives, or a vine produce figs?Neither can salt water produce fresh.Who among you is wise and understanding?Let Him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentlness of wisdom.But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.This wisdom is not that which comes down from above,but is earthly,natural, demonic.For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing".(James 3:11-16 NASB)
God is love.Love is the foundation of God's character.God's love in us should transform our character. "Love is patient,love is kind,and is not jealous;love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecoming; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;bears all things, believes all things,hopes all things, endures all things.Love never fails.Every other aspect of the fruit of the spirit is merely a specific expression of godly love.We are not just to love our friends and family ,but also love those who do not love us,for which we need God's Spirit to help us.We must overcome evil with good. Let us be known as a child of God by portraying the fruits of God's Spirit

Monday, February 13, 2012

With All He Did!

Ephesians 4:1 "I Therefore,the prisoner of the Lord,beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."

One day when I was lost, Jesus died upon a cross! Jesus the Christ laid down His life that we might have a right to the tree of life.He fulfilled for us all that God requires of us to enter into His kingdom and enjoy everlasting life with our Father.Everything I need to live in peace with my creator is all wrapped up in the birth,death,and resurrection of Jesus Christ.With all he did, the least we can do is walk worthy of such a life.

Here we have Paul saying, with all Jesus did we ought to live a life worthy of the calling to which we were called.In view of all that God's grace has done for us sinners,we should live in a manner befitting the devine call and the great price paid for salvation.With all He went throught,with all He endured, with all He suffered,sacrificed, gave up,and surrendered,with all He did for us ,we should live a life worthy of His name.We must be humble in our dealings with one another.Let us be patient with the weaker and lame sheep of the flock.Let us seek to bear one anothers burdens in love as Christ bore ours on the cross.We are one body,we must bend over backwards to maintain the unity and oneness of the body. With all He did, let us deny ourself daily and walk in harmony with our Savior.

With all Jesus did for us,we should be willing to present our bodies a living sacrifice,holy,acceptable  unto God.With all He did ,we should walk worthy of our call that a lost soul might come to know the salvation we enjoy. He died for us so let us live for Him.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Trying To Love Two

Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters:for either he will hate the one and love the other,or else he will hold to the one,and despise the other.You cannot serve God and mammon".

We are a complexed being;made up of flesh and spirit.We have two seeking to be our master. We have two seeking  the service of our hearts intent,yet we can only serve one.We have the flesh which seeks the things that while seems pleasurable,will only destroy us in the end, and the spirit striving to destroy the evil which lies within the flesh.We cannot serve both,they are enemy one to another.One will always be denied, in favor of the other.Who is it that you truly serve?

Jesus said you cannot serve two masters.He didn't say you can do it, but it will be hard, he said you cannot do it.Yet many on this journey are fighting hard to hold on to both,trying to love two.Everybody wants to go to heaven ,but nobody wants to die to the ways, will, and desires of the flesh, which will  not allow us to live in the spirit and receive everylasting life with the Father.We want to be saved our way,serve God under our terms.We want the things desired by the flesh and at the same time,we want that  which is offered by the spirit of God.But the flesh is enemy to the spirit.The flesh is selfish,while the spirit giving;the flesh is proud, but the spirit is humble;The flesh is greedy ,the spirit is sacrificing; the flesh is malicious, while the spirit is forgiving;the flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing.So as you see it is impossible to serve both,they are oppisite one another.One will lead you to death,damnation and hell,while the other leads you on the path of righteousness to everlasting eternity with the Father.To serve the flesh you must deny the spirit of God,and to walk in the spirit you must put to death the flesh. You cannot serve two masters.

Jesus tells us to "seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness,and these things shall be added unto you."When we put God first in our lives he will supply everything our flesh needs to survive,but not so much that it will hinder our walk in the spirit.God wants us to rely on Him for all of our needs, He will withhold no good thing from us.Trust God, be content with God and be a loyal servant to the spirit and watch your blessing flow.You'll be like a tree planted by the river of water,blessed in your comings and your goings...............

Friday, February 10, 2012

Word Power!

Acts 19:20 "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed".

The word Of God; the power of God unto salvation.If we just once again trust in this word like the saints of old did what a wonderful world we would live in.In these times God's word is so badly needed yet we seem to share everything but the truth and purity of God's word.We agree and disagree with it as it relates to us and what we are doing or trying to do. If it goes against our agenda's we don't want anything to do with that part and will de-friend and remove people from our sights because we're convicted by God's word.How can we lead the lost to Christ when we who profess Christ can't follow one another to his truths.We must continue to share God's word and  we will see the Word of God grow and prevail. 

The gospel is the same as it ever was,God hasn't changed.There are still sinners in the world, the sins that need to be overcome are the same, and the Holy Spirit is just as mighty to convict and renew,but we have changed how we share this good news.We must understand it is a blessed time in the soul,a blessed time in the family,a blessed time in the congragation and in the country when the word of God grows mightily and prevails in the hearts of the people.But Faith comes by hearing,and hearing the word of God.But to many are sharing their books, motivies,ideals and philosophies over the truth of God's word, thus giving birth to so many faithless christians.It is a blessed time when the open sinner is seen leaving his sinful ways and seeking the salvation of the Lord.When men are seen giving up their unholy gains, and changed their lives to follow the word ,will and way of God.When the leaven of the gospel begins to work, there will be no need of  arguments to prove how unworthy it is for a christian to turn to the amusement of the books of the world or those who proclaim the messages of said books.

The grace of the gospel produces a new taste,it alters everything about us,our friends, our pursuits,and even that which we find entertaining.Is the word of God growing amoung us?If not why not?It is a living seed and it should grow,and will grow unless it is hindered or wrapped with the imagination of man.There is no other power in our ministry which will equal that which is produced when one hears the truth of God's word.If you plant it, it will grow;"So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed". It won't come back void! 

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Head of My Life

Judges 8:23 "And Gideon said unto them,I will not rule over you,neither shall my son rule over you: The Lord shall rule over you".

When we think of what rules our lives,we think of our habits and passions,which can turn into addictions if we are not careful.Whatever our addictions may be and they can include such things as habitual lying, uncontrolled shopping, constant gossiping, fornication, drugs, and gambling,just to name a few .We must remember that all sins tends to be addictive,and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation.

When Israel wanted to crown Gideon King,he refused, and for a while he stayed focused on the right things and told the people"The Lord will rule over you".Later, however Gideon turned from God's directions by making a golden ephod, and the people begin to worship it.The Lord must be Lord of all or he is not Lord at all.Outwardly,we are placing God first when we attend worship on Sunday.But where is He in our life the rest of the week.Does He hold first place in our hearts in all situations and all the time?Does His will rule in our families,our business,and our relationships? What part of our lives and our possessions do we wish to keep under our own control?Although Gideon rejected the title of King, the gold became a snare to him and to the people.

The principles that lead Gideon in the hard times, was lost  during times of great prosperity.We tend to begin to worship the blessing and neglect the blessor in times of great prosperity. Sometimes the blessings God gives us become ephods in our lives,and consume all of our time and energy.See rather we agree or not " the love of  money is the root of ALL evil", no matter what the evil ,if you look deep enough ,it is someones love of money that is behind the evil.The faithful child of God should desire the giver more than the gifts.God does not promise to give us all we want, but He has promised to supply all of our needs.Trusting that promise,even in the darkest hour makes him Lord indeed.We must not let the world's attractions, resources, or philosophies rule our lives, but let God and God alone rule our lives.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Silent Witness!

John 12:10-11 "But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away,and believed on Jesus".

The Lord said "let your light so shine before man that they see your good works and glorify your Father which art in heaven".Light is seen,and not heard.Jesus wants us to live a life that shows who He is. But many are busy telling  the world they are saved,telling the world what God can do ,but the life they live tells a different story all together.Our life should tell a dying world that the Savior lives.

Here we have one who lived such a life.Lazarus doesn't say a word in the entire bible, there is no record or reference of him saying anything.Yet the life he lived was one that caused others to believe in Jesus. Lazarus was dead and Jesus called him to life.His new life with Christ was such a powerful witness, that not only did it lead others to believe,but the religious leaders wanted to put him to death along with Jesus.We were once dead in sin, once wrapped up in the guilt of sin, and held captive in darkness,but Jesus called us into a new life with Him.We should let the light of our new life so shine that a lost world will believe on the only begotten of the Father.

Jesus said "If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me". It is when we lift Him with the living of our life which draws lost souls to Him.My grandmother once told me a gentleman never says he is one, his actions do.So a real Christian doesn't have to say he/she is one, the life they live will tell the story.Let your light so shine,and lead a lost soul to Christ.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Dying to Live

Luke 17:33 "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it;and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."

Is the life you are living worth keeping?Are you striving to gain the precious pleasure and treasures of this world ,only to lose your soul?Are you willing to lose everything to follow the Lord?Have you made a new life with Christ your choice?

Jesus said those who seek to save their life shall lose it.Those who hold on to the old man, those who seek or look for ways to serve God and mammon,they shall lose their life.But those who are willing to forsake all, those who are willing to die to the old man and live a new life in Christ shall save theirs. Now Christ is not saying we cannot enjoy the good things he has created.No it is not a sin to have riches, or to own things, or even be successful. But like he told the rich young ruler,we too must be willing to let go of everthing to follow God.Many have put the blessing ahead of the blessor.We have made the things God has blessed us with our gods.The new house now get our tithes, the new car gets our offering and the new wife/husband gets all our attention and devotion, andGod gets what ever is left.God doesn't bless us with things that will pull us away from Him. If there is anything in your life that is pulling you out of fellowship with God,you might want to get rid of it. You cannot serve two masters.

There are many things that we have in our life that we put ahead of God.Many things and people we hold to actually hinder our walk with the Lord.These things we should get rid of.Let us not seek to hold on to the old life,but be wiling to die to the old life, and trust Christ in the new life.Trust that he will supply our every need

Monday, February 6, 2012

Positioned to Prosper!

1Corinthians 12:18 "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.

Here we have a passage of scripture which gives the most meaningful description of the Church in the entire bible (1 corinth.12:12-31).The purpose of the passage is to stress the unity of the church.The church is said to be a body,a body of many member,and no one member is  more important or valuable than another.All the parts of the body are still in the body and God placed each member in the body, everyone of them where it pleased Him.You are in the best position to prosper when you are where God places you.

In this era of the mega church and the larger than life religious leaders, it is easy for some in the church to feel unimportant or un-neccesary.But we must understand that God dosn't make any mistakes,every person in every congregation has a value and a gift to be used in the worship service, and a part to play in God's plan of salvation.Each member is set "in the body" as God wills.You are place where you will best be blessed as well as a blessing. Note the words "every one of them",every member has been set in the church by God and gifted by God to do a work in the church. We are all gifted for a specific function,and every function is necessary for the prosperity and health of the body.Even the finger nails are not needed, you might have an itch.We sometimes allow others, the world orlfe's circumstances to dictate to us where God wants to use us in the body but the fact is God places you in the body where it pleased Him.God will place you in a area of the body,that will strengthen your walk and help another along the way.We must remember we are His people,proclaiming His gospel about His salvation to His lost souls, so He knows better than us where we belong.

If you truly want to be in a position to prosper,allow the spirit of the Lord to lead you in the way you should go.God knows what we need, and the things we don't need,so he places us in the body to build up where we are torn down,and to tear down that which we have build up.So where ever he has placed you in the body, be obedient to His word, submitt to His will,and lead others His way.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Committed!

Acts 28:30-31"And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house,and recieved all that came in unto him,Preaching the kingdom of God,and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence,no man forbidding him".

Paul brought the message,Jesus commissioned all believers to witness for him.Some will listen and accept Christ with open arms;others will reject the message and the messenger.During his time in Rome,Paul set a wonderful example of how to give the message and persevere in spite of those who refuse to listen.

As Christians,we have made a commitment to work on growing in our walk with God.The mission is ongoing, it dosn't stop after we have attended church a certain number of Sundays or read through the entire Bible a certain number of times.Of course,those things are important to being a disciple,but a bigger charge is that we not only believe in the Lord,but also have unwavering faith in Him. Once we learn the Gospel, it is our responsibility to share it,we will want to share it,because it is such good news to us and everyone else.The Gospel is bigger than our failures, even when we fall short of perfection, we must remain steadfast and determined to believe the gospel and share it.
When we minister to non-believers, we will sometimes be met with resistance,as Jesus and the apostles were.This should not discourage us from our unwavering loyalty.Regardless of what challenges we're met with or what failures occur,we cannot feel responsible for the fate of others.We cannot save others, only God can do that.We are only responsible for remaining true to our commitment to the gospel, and sharing it along with what we have experienced with others.Every day we are met with challenges.We can have bad days when we are feeling down or when others have called us boring or too conservative because we are not interested in the same things they are.The important thing is how we respond,with Jesus' love.We have to continue in our walk regardless.Let our message be situational or circumstancial,
but let it be unwavering. 

Friday, February 3, 2012

Look To Jesus!

Jude 24"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding  joy,to the only wise God our Savior,be glory and majesty, dominion and power,both now and ever.Amen".

We must beware of wolves in sheeps clothing.Jude wrote a short but powerful letter about the problem of false teachers,swaying Christians from the Gospel. He told believers to remember the words of Jesus concerning the last days.See the ungodly teachers of the false faith promote a make believe religion,full of immoral living standards which defile and deny the things of God.They practice feeding off the flock instead of feeding the flock.They often tear down and destroy rather than build up and restore. But let us look to Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.

Let us have mercy for the doubters:True believers should build each other up,so we must  hold tight to the true Gospel and continue to move forward in the faith.The sincere convert humbly bows in prayer and ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance and influence.  They eagerly expect the mercy of Christ now and in the life to come, and we must show mercy to them and thus save them from the fires of hell.The who have received God's mercy  needs to be compassionate to doubters who stumble and straggle behind. Be patient with those who are hesitant about the faith.We who have been born again of  Christ must be kind hearted and tender, not prideful, pushy, or harsh.Our faith should result in us having a desire to live a holy life. We  should be repulsed by sin, even while trying to rescue those that have fallen into it.We must hate the sin but love and show mercy to those that have been trapped by it.We all have opportunities to respond to people with encouragement. When they come let us leave them with hope, and confidence by sharing with them what God shared with us,Jesus.

Jude's final word was, don't worry about falling.God is more than capable of keeping you standing blameless and tall in His presence. Able to keep you joyfully shouting, singing,and praising Him for sending His son, Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.It is Jesus who deserves all glory, power,majesty,and authority now and forever.Let us look to Jesus and be saved........

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A Hallelujah Life

John 15:8 "Here in is my Father glorified,that ye bear much fruit;so shall ye be my disciples".

We bring glory to God, and give Him real praise, when we live a life before men that bears fruit,real fruit that will last.God's spirit working within us helps us change and begin producing right fruit in our lives.Galatians 5:22-23 list the fruit of God's Spirit, which becomes increasingly evident in us as we grow spiritually. Producing the fruit of righteousness is important,it is also important for us to understand that the credit for that fruit goes to God.We must strive to be acceptabled to God, not by our own righteousness,but with the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God.We must trust God to produce righteousness in us,for "it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure".Yet there is a part we must also play.

When God calls us to be His children,He initiates a change in us from our formerly proud, and selfish, disobedient ways.He transforms us by renewing, or changing of our mind,a process to which we must surrender to. Paul said "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God"(Rom. 12:2). Transformation is not instantaneous,it requires ongoing changes in our thinking and outlook that permanently affect the way we live.We become "a living sacrifice,holy,acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service". To bear good fruit we must have the mind of Christ, being like minded, having the same love, being on one accord, of one mind.Doing nothing out of selfish desires, or conciet, but with humility, esteeming others better than oneselfs.We must not look to our interest, but the interst of others.having this mind of Christ makes the  miracle of a transformed fruit bearing life possible.The symbolic meaning of baptism, represents both forgiveness of sins and newness of life in Christ.It should change our lives forever, especially when we recall that these blessings have come at a great price.
 
Jesus Christ sacrificed His own life so we may gain ours through the forgiveness or our sins.We who accepts this truth are to live a fruit bearing life thus glorifying the Father which is in heaven.Let us worship him with our life and praise him with our living, that a lost soul might seek out the salvation of the Lord.Let our life say Hallelujah!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Christ and Him Crucified

1stCorinthians 1:18"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;But unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

The Gospel of Jesus Christ,good news to a dying world.Jesus Christ and him crucified,the foundation of belief for every christian,the food we feed on,the nurishment we grow on,and the source of life the believer lives on.If we are going to build better a relationship in the body of Christ,it must be built on Christ and him crucified.The good news from upon high, which brings about a change in the lives of all who by faith embraces this truth.

It is these truth which reunites us to God.The Gospel don't need any additives, it is good just as it was given.The gospel calls us out of the darkness into Gods marvelous light,and its' success lies in the plain doctrine of a crucified Savior and a risen Lord.The prosperity message sounds good,and might be easy to swallow,and might change a mind, but it dosn't have the power to covert a heart.The faith message feels good on the outside,but holds no power to make you good on the inside.The simple truths of Christand him crucified alone, has the power to turn a sinner to a saint, it is the power of God unto salvation.But who will believe our report.The Gospel:The birth of Jesus; born of a virgin in a feeding tray, to be fed on by a dying world.The death of Jesus; as he accepted for mankind, the wage paid by sin,that we might recieve the gift of God.The resurrection of Christ;to conquor death, and him that had power of death,rising with all power in heaven and on earth in his hands:Who will belive our report.To them that perish it is foolisness,they can't understand the nature and character, of this christian message.

The gospel,a message of a lowly man hung on a tree, for the salvation of the whole world,to them that perish it is but foolishness,but unto us which is saved,it is the power of God.Salvation to every one who who believes,for the power of God works by it.Paul said "woe with me if I preach not the Gospel",for it was the Gospel that called him, the Gospel converted him, the gospel saved him, as it took a sinner named Saul, and made him a preacher named Paul.So proclaim the gospel, Jesus Christ and him crucified, the power of God unto salvation.