God's Unbelievable Love

Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,Christ died for us".

Here we have God's unbelievable love and the great depth of Justification.This passage also gives one of the clearest definitions of God's love,agape love.It actuall shows the meaning of agape love.It is a new kind of love a love unknown to mankind.It is a godly love,a sacrificial love,a love that gives itself for those without strength,for the ungodly,for sinners,and for the enemies of God.It's God's unbelievable love.

God's great love is seen in this unbelievable act.We were without strength; we were weak,worthless, useless, helpless,hopeless,destitute,powerless, we were spiritually unable to help ourselves.We were ungodly,not like God,different from God,profane,having a different lifestyle than God.We were on our way to Hell in a hurry, and in due time, in God's time, He sent His Son to die for us.See mankind had to be prepared for Christ before God could send Him into the world.We had to know that we were sinners in need of salvation.Even now we must come to the realization that we are lost before we will began to look to be saved.Christ died for us,for our benifit, because of our sins.Christ didn't died for those who  were righteous or holy,but God commended His love toward us that while we were yet sinner, still in sin, enemies to God, Christ died for us. 

It is impossible for the carnal mind to fully comprehend all that God did for man that man might be reconciled back to his loving creator.So Jesus told us to only believe.Let us take God at His word and accept on faith this unbelievable love He has given us.Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Who Is Your 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".

God is love,and love is the foundation of God's character.God's love in us should transform our character and we should bear a resemblance to our Father.We should be patience with one another as our Fathers love is longsuffering.We must be kind,not envious of one another;seeking to do harm one to another.That is not the character of our Father which art in heaven.See God's love seeks good and to do good in all circumstances and rejoices with the truth;bears all things, believes all things,hopes all things, endures all things.God's love never fails. No matter what the situation God's love will be just that ,God's love.We are not just to love our friends and family,but we are to love all that Christ died for and he died to save the whole world.We must with God's love,overcome evil with good. Let us be known as a child of God by portraying the fruits of God's Spirit

Magnify The Lord

Philippians 1:20 "According to my earnest expectation and my hope,that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness,as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,whether it be by life or by death."

If there ever was a man who lived a life of total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ it was Paul.Now remember he was in prison facing a capital crime with his deliverance looking almost hopeless.Death was staring him in the face.Yet Jesus Christ and Him crucified remained the focus of his life.We all have only one great expectation and hope, to magnify Christ in our body.

Paul said his earnest expectation,meaning he was aiming all his attention,at one object with total concentration,eagerness,and intensity.He turned his eyes and thoughts away from everything else and focus on one thing and one thing alone, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and magnifying Him in his life that all might be saved.This was his expectation and his hope.Here he is in prison and yet his thoughts and hope was not on his own freedom or his impending death, it was on allowing others to be able to see Jesus that they might be saved.Paul knew the human body has a tendency to lean towards doubt,self centerness, pride boasting etc.But he also realized there was only one way Jesus could be seen by a dying world and that was if he was magnified in his own body.So Paul gave his body to Jesus Christ, he surrender himself for the masters use.

We to must surrender our bodies to Christ for Him to use as He sees fit.The life we now live in the flesh ,we live, not we but Christ lives through us.We must surrender ourselves that we become His instrument unto righteousness. He is the light that we must let shine, that all in darkness might be saved. Magnify the Lord in your body that a lost world might see the good news of salvation...

Unconditional Love

Hosea 3:1 " Then said the Lord unto me,Go yet,love a woman beloved of her friend,yet an adulteress, according to the Lord toward the children of Israel,who look to other gods,and love flagons of wine."

God's love for us is unconditional.He loves us inspite of, and Jesus tells us to love one another as He has loved us.See we are to love each other regardless.Not so much because of who we are, or who they are ,but because of whose we claim to be and who they belong to.Jesus died to save the whole world. All souls belong to Him and He shed just as much blood for the least of them as He did the greatest of them.

Here in our text God tells Hosea to go marry a harlot or a prostitute.See he wanted Hosea to feel what He feels when those who claim to be His go a whoring around with other gods.See we claim to be part of the bride of Christ ,yet we fornicate and committe adultry,as we play footsy under the covers with the enemy.With our lips we tell the Lord we love Him yet our actions show a love for another.In our story after Gomar was taken from a beautiful woman down to a as we say today a skank,God told Hosea to go and buy her back and love her inspite of.After sin has taken us from being in the image and likeness of God, down to something born in sin and shaped in iniquity,God sent His only begotten Son to redeem us back and He loved us inspite of.

Nobody forces us to profess Christianity,so it is the profession of our own faith.So if you profess to be Christ like, live Christ like and love like Christ loves.We must love inspite of.We must love even the worst of men,after all in Gods eyes at one time we were all the worst of men.And no matter who you are,when it comes to salvation we are all the same, lost in need of a savior,and all must come to Christ the same way.Let us love one another unconditionally.

If I Hold My Peace

Deuteronomy 1:30 "The Lord your God which goeth before you,he shall fight for you,according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes".

The battle is not yours it is the Lords.As we travel in this wilderness, the land between the sinful life in Egypt and the and the land of promise before us, we will be faced with many challenges and obsticals. There is still an enemy out to destroy us,and the thing is he is not only on the outside.See our battle now is not with flesh and blood, but with God's will and our fleshly desires.We battle with the desires of the flesh against the will of God for our life.But God promises to fight our battles.

Jesus rose with all power on heaven and earth,He said He has power over all flesh.But we must deny ourself in order for Jesus to excersise that power in us.The only way God can fight for us we must get out of the way and let His will be done.We have seen the goodness and power of the Lord when He brought us from the bondage of sin in Egypt.Rather your Egypt was a life bound to drugs, alcohol,sex or you were just a slave to the ugliness of this old world, it was the power of God that set you free.It is that same power of God that promises to go before you and fight for you on this wilderness journey as we are being prepared for this prepared place we are headed .

We must now walk in the promises of Gods word for it alone is all that we have.We have stepped out on faith that Jesus is the Christ whom we have died and rose again with,and that faith is what we must hold to as we face all that life might throw at us.We must be of good cheer for He has over come the world.

But Look What God Did

Eph. 2:4-5  But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ,(by grace ye are save).

The most astonishing innterruption in human history is the word "but". Man dead in sin and trespass, on the party train to hell "But God". God intervined in the destiny of man. He interruped the doom of death and gave him a path to eternal life.

 Because of the nature of man, he was in a miserable condition,but by the love of God there was a glorious change brought about by the grace of God. See in times past we were dead in sin, we walked, talked, and lived according to the ways of the world.We persude it's persuits, did it's deeds, believed its philosophies, sought it's values,had joys with it's toys, and lived a life which was in opposition to the word, will ,and way of God. We were sinners in a dead state, lacking the principles and powers of spiritual life, bondslaves to satin and the lust, will and desires of this old flesh.But it was Gods love for us that saved us, God himself orchastrated this great and happy change.His great love rich mercy, and never ending grace alone saves all who will believe.Gods response to our sins, through his rich mercy and great love God called me to life with Christ. By his grace we are saved, because he lives even though I deserved hell, through Christ I can obtain heaven.Once a dead rebellious sinner, now a living soul. God by his grace gave me salvation, his grace unlocking all that death had locked up and letting in all that sin had blocked out.God gave me Jesus Christ, the very best He had to overcome the very worst I could be,Jesus the power of God unto salvation.

If God had not shared Jesus with me,had he not revealed Him in my life I would be dead in sin and on my way to hell. But he loved me and only asked that I believe and share the good news with all I see. Let us share Christ in all that we say and do to all that we see.Jesus shed His blood to save the whole world, so let the world know the good news.That we were lost,But look what God did.Thank God for Jesus.

Walking Worthy

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

We are children of the most high God,members of His household of faith, part of the body of Christ and as such, there is a way inwhich we are to live.There is a way we are to carry ourselves in our day to day living.There is a way that our position in Christ works itself out in our lives.There is a way Christ helps us deal with the trials,problems,difficulties and sufferings of the day to day living we face.The way He helps us to deal is in the way we walk as believers.

We owe God more than we could ever pay,He has honored us way more than any creature can be honored.He has made a way for us to sit with Christ in heavenly places.What can we possibly do to show our gratitude?We must walk worthy of our calling.We must walk in a way that shows He is God and that He has all power in heaven and earth.Our walk must be one of lowiness and meekness as it is nothing we have done that allows us this great favor with God.All that we do must bring glory to our Savior.It is not about our salvation but it is about the Savior of the world who came to save all.We must live a life of patience,and bear the shortcomings of one another in love ,as we love one another as Christ loves us.Remember when you were lost in sin and Jesus still loved you and was patience with you.This is how we have unity as a body,and can be on one accord.

There is one body but many members,and as one body we all must walk the same way.It is Gods salvation so it must be obtained His way, with His word and by His will.There is only one spirit that guides us,one hope that substains us,one Lord that died for us,one faith that saves us, and one baptism that seals us to the one and only God who is the Father of all. 

Freely Given

Romans 8:32 "He that spared not his own Son,but delievered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things".

Members of the early Church often referred to themselves as those who followed "the way".Paul refers to their way of life as "the way of the Lord" and "The way of God".In other words,the early Christians, directly taught by Christ apostles,were recongnized by their deeds and action.The way they lived, separated them from those of the world around them.It was called the way because they lived the way Christ lived.They followed his example,they obeyed His instructions.The way was then,and still is, a way of living and thinking that is different from that followed by those of this world.

When Christ came to earth He explained that this different way of thinking would through the power of the Holy Spirit, produce the fruit of righteous actions and deeds.He taught that God's way is the way of giving rather than the normal selfish human way of alway getting.The key to living a way of life different from the way of the world is to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us so we think like Jesus Christ. Through His spirit,God not only leads us in a different way of thinking,He helps us change the motivations that govern our actions.This focus on unselfishness rather than the self-serving approach produced by our natural way of thinking brings,in turn a dramatic change in the way we live and everything we do.God ask that we reorder our priorities,allowing his spirit to change our thinking, serving God by doing his will and seeking his kingdom.When we put God first ,he promises to provide ways for us to meet our needs.He will with hold no good thing from us.

Living a godly life is much more than merely calling on God's name as though that alone will excuse us for doing whatever we please.Living a godly life is doing what pleases God.It is practicing what he commands us, and living a way of life defined by his word.Jesus taught a way of life based on observing God's commandments from a heart of love that willingly makes personal sacrifices for the sake of others, focusing on giving rather than receiving.A true Christian cannot base his way of life, his new way of living on his own ideas about right and wrong.God's law and Christ example of perfect obedience to those laws, set the standards for the genuine Christian way of Life.Our new life is based on giving,a free gift given by God to all who will receive it."For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son",Giving is the way of God and the foundation of His love to mankind.Let us use this same foundation as we give to a lost world that which God gave to us,His only begotten Son.

A Matter Of The Heart

Romans 10:9 "That if thou halt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,thou shalt be saved".

The relationship with God that is of salvation is a matter of the heart, and here in this 10th chapter of Romans it is revealed how a man can be saved from sin and death and be made the righteousness of God. The righteousness and salvation of God is right before man,it lies within his heart and only need be confessed with his mouth.

The gospel demands that man only believes and confesses that Jesus has both died for his sins and have been raised from the dead, for him to have everlasting life with the Father.All that man desires,perfect peace, righteousness,and salvation, are found in mans mouth and in his heart.Man only needs to do three simple things to be saved from sin, death and hell, and enter into the rest of the Lord.Man must confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus.He must confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord from heaven,the only begotten of the Father.He must believe in his heart. Believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. He must believe that Jesus died for man,and was raised from death because he perfectly satisfied God's demand for justice.God was perfectly satisfied with Jesus dying for the sins of man,taking the sins of mankind,and his punishment upon His back, therefore God raised Him from the dead.Man must believe with the heart,and then confess with the mouth as you can't confess that which you don't believe.

When we believe with our hearts that Jesus is the Christ who accepted for all mankind the wage paid by sin,God takes that faith and counts it as righteousness.Then the man confesses Christ unto salvation, that is he is saved by openly confessing Christ,no man can deny Christ and be saved by Him.It is a matter of the heart.

Not What Your Mouth Say

Mark 7:6b "This people honoureth me with their lips,but their heart is far from me.

We have all confessed to be children of the most high God.We talk a great game.We praise Him with our mouth, we say all the right things when approached by those who are lost,and we are quick to give Him a hand praise,but do we give Him a heart praise?Is our worship of Him from the heart, or is it just lip service?

Here Jesus tells us that with our mouth we do praise Him , yet our hearts are far from Him.See we talk one way while our walk leads us in a different direction.We say the right things but we often fall short when we are called to do the right thing.The word say, we must worship God in spirit and in truth, yet we fool ourselves into thinking we are worshipping God, when we are in fact in a carnal state of mind. It seems the things closest to our hearts, are the material things of this world.We have begun to love things more than we do people,spending more time and energy caring and planning for the things of the carnal man than they do preparing for the spiritual man.We might feed the carnal man 3 or 4 times a day while the spirit man is lucky to eat once a week, and then we want to feed him junk food, sweets, stuff that taste good but is not really good for us.Some of us are on a spiritual diet,seeking a low calorie gospel,scared we might become spiritually over weight. Some of us are physical giants,carring around spiritual midgets inside.

We say God is the head of our life ,yet He gets the tail end of our service, the last part of our day and the end of our week end.The spirit man is not concerned about carnal things, no the spirit man is moved by the love shared one to another.Let us surrender our hearts to Christ,spend more time with the spirit man that we might be a better, more effective witness to a dying world,and give more than just good lip service.

The Place Of God

Genesis 50:19 "And Joseph said unto them,fear not: for am I in the place of God".

On this road we have been called to travel,there are going to be times when we find ourselves in some uncomfortable situations.There will be times when we will ask"why me Lord" and "why here Lord". There will be times when we will question and doubt if we are still walking with the Lord.But rather we like it or not, we will endure trial and suffer unjustly on the walk we have embarked upon.Contrary to the popular message being proclaimed today, the pathways of righteousness will take you through the valley of the shadow of death.But fear not, for God is in control.

See here Joseph was a man of great integrity and character.He was one who walked with the Lord.Yet on his journey he was sold into slavery by his own brothers,he was thrown in prision because of a lie that was told on him.But all along the wayGod was in control.Each trail that came upon him, was preparing him, and elevating him into a position to accomplish God's will for his life. There are some roads we must travel to get  us to the place God has for us.We must be like Joseph and remain faithful knowing that God is always in control and He always has our best interest at heart.He never promised us a walk through the park,but He did tell us to "be of good cheer for I have overcome the world", and that he would never leave us nor forsake us.God's will is that none should perish,so he will use us as He will, to accomplish His perfect plan of salvation.

So when you find yourself in a uncomfortable position don't focus on you, but look to what it is in the situation that can bring God glory, and salvation to one that might be lost.We must remember it is not about us, or about us being saved, it is about a Savior who can save anybody,we are just tools in His garden of salvation.So when the world put you in a situation intending evil,know that God meant it for good, for we know "all things work together for the good to them that love the Lord,them who are the called according to his purpose."

But to Steal,Kill,And Destroy

Genesis 39:10 "And it came to pass,as she spake to Joseph day by day,that he harkened not unto her,to lie with her,or to be with her".

Rather we know it or not there is an enemy out to destroy us.From the time we are born, before we know anything or anybody,before we have made a friend or foe,there is one who is set out to destroy our lives.He is persistant, relentless and will use anything and anybody to accomplish his mission. Nothing is off limits to him,and he plays by no rules.His tools are mans own weakness and faults,the lust of the eye,the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.The same tools he used in the garden,the tools by which he tried to tempt Jesus with, are the same tools he uses to temp man in an effort to destroy his character,his witness and his testimony.

Here in our story today we see first hand the wickedness of the enemy.Joseph was a slave given great authority over all his master had,except for his wife.Now the enemy in an effort to destroy the character of Joseph and to get him to turn from God,tries to tempt him with the one thing which has been kept from him.The enemy will always try and get us to focus on what we don't have in an effort to turn us against God.But the word says,"contentment with God is great gain". The scripture says she "spake to Joseph day by day"; the enemy is not going to take a day off, he will speak to you personally,he truly believes you will give in before he gives up.But Joseph "harkened not unto her,to lie with her or to be with her";see we cannot listen to the enemy,when we give him our ear ,then he will began seeking our hearts.We must resist the devil by turning to God and he will flee. But if you notice the enemy might flee but he won't give up,as our story tells.It says that when all were out of the house,she grabbed hold of him to make him lie with her,and he ran off and left his cloak.

When you are all alone the enemy will grab hold of you by telling you,"nobody will know you can get away with it".But remember God sees all,and you are a walking recomendation to the grace and mercy of God.So what ever the enemy grabs hold of to get you to lie with him,leave that with him and flee.The bible says if the right hand offends you ,cut it off,it is better to go to heaven with one hand than to hell with two.

If I Be Lifted Up

John 3:14 "and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,even so must the Son of Man be lifted up:"

Jesus said "and I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me".When we elevate Christ   lost soul will be saved.It is the lifting up of Christ that saves.We must not just talk about the goodness of God,but we must live the goodness of God.Our whole life must be one that elevates the goodness of God over the trials and tribulations of this world.Remember Jesus tells us to be of good cheer ,for He has overcome the world.

Here is the glorious invitation to all mankind,to come to the Lord and be saved.Here is God calling His people to assemble themselves together from among the ways of this world and lift up Jesus that those in darkness might be drawn to His marvelous light.His desire is that all turn from sin and return unto Him.He is both a just God and a willing Savior to all who will come.Here we have the way for all to come,If we lift up Jesus,that will draw all men unto Him.He and He alone is God's perfect plan of salvation .There is only one who can save.And as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness to save all bitten by the firery serpents,Jesus saves all who have been bitten by sin and look up to Him for salvation.

Jesus was made in the image of sinful man that man could once again take on the image of a Holy God. We who know the goodness of God,must lift up Jesus to a dying world.All who are saved owe their salvation to the work of Jesus on the cross.We are then obligated to elevate Jesus, it is because He lives that we can have life.Let us lift Jesus and save a lost world.

Real Haters

1John 3:15 " Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

He who hates his brother hath not the love of God in Him.We who profess Christ must have the love of God within us.When you profess to be Christ like, you have given up your choice as to if you can hate someone or not.You don't have a choice in the matter,you must love others as Christ has loved you, inspite of.

Many believe they have the right to hate someone because of their views ,what they believe and even the lifestyle in which they live,but the truth is you don't.You can hate the sin but you must love the sinner.After all what if God hated you for all the things you did and still do.There is none righteous, no not one.All have sinned and come short of God's glory.If any were good Jesus wouldn't of had to die.Even Noah and Job whom both the bible called perfect,still had their faults and shortcomings.Jesus died to save the whole world,and contrary to what many might thjnk and the picture that float across the social network,God is neither white or an American.He love and died for the whole world. And if we truly love Him we will love those He shed His blood for.

Here we are told they who hate his brother is a murderer, and eternal life does not abide in him.Let us who profess Christ be an example to a lost world and reach out in love one toward another.We can disagree,but let us not be disagreeable to the point of malice and hatred.Remember the world is watching us.Let us show them the Love of the living God........

He Wants To Save You

Revelations 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock:if any man hear my voice,and open the door,I will come in to him,and will sup with him and him with Me".

" He came unto His own,and His own received him not.But as many as received Him,to them gave he power to become the sons of God,even to them that believed on His name". Jesus suffered, bled and died on an old rugged cross to save the whole world.But to be save you must accept His death as your own,you must believe Jesus died for you.You must let Him in to your life.Is Jesus still knocking or have you opened the door to your heart and let him in?

Jesus says "I stand at the door and knock".Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts and He is knocking. He came to seek and to save the lost.He is humbling asking to come in,For if any man hears His voice and open,He will do the rest,He will come in.He said "the day that you hear my voice harden not your heart".See today is the accepted day of salvation,so open your heart to receive Him,and open your mind to believe Him.He will come in and sup with you and you with Him.Feast on the bread of life,O taste and see the goodness of the Lord.He is no respect of person he said if "any man" hear My voice,So he is standing and knocking on the door to the hearts of all men, and all women.he is calling out to you, let him who has an ear hear Him and open the door that he might come in.

Jesus came from heaven to earth to show us the way to salvation.He did everything that was needed for us to enjoy everlasting life with the Father.All he ask of us is just to believe and let Him in.Let receive the free gift of salvation and everlasting life with our Savior.

Saved by Faith

Mark 5:34 "And He said unto her,Daughter thy faith hath made thee whole;go in peace,and be whole of thy plague".

We are saved by faith.But what is faith,I maen true faith?I know the biblical answer but what is it in the real lives of real people.See many say they are saved which means they have faith in the death ,burial and ressurection of Jesus Christ.It means that they believe He died and rose again on the third day with all power in heaven and earth in His hands.Yet many continue a life of sin ,believing that in the flesh they have to sin.Well I ask is this having real faith?

Now I know we can never be glorified in the flesh,but I also know that Jesus rose with all power.He said  He has power over all flesh.And He also told the lady in the bible go and sin no more.So I have to believe that true faith is believing that through Christ you can do all things.The key is to realize you can't do it,but the Christ that now lives in you can.It means denying yourself and taking up your cross daily;actually dying to the lust will and desires of the flesh, to let go and let God.We all believe that God can make us rich,but that is not why He died.We believe we can speak things  that are not, as though they were, and thats not what He died for.He died to save us from sin, yet we doubt that we can live this life that He died to give us.Now I ask, is that true faith?How do you have faith that He has all power,yet live a powerless life.

Here Jesus tell a woman to go, her faith has made her whole,and to be free of her plague.See it is by faith that we are to be made free of the old life of sin we once lived.We must believe that the old man is dead and we now live new in Christ.Surrendering our whole hearts over to Him,and in all our way acknowledge Him and let Him direct our path.So let us now walk in the newlife and worthy of the name which we bear.

Only Believe

1John 5:5 "Who is he that overcometh the world,but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God?"

In the world,"those who achieve are those who receive." In the Christian faith, the phrase is "those who believe are those who receive."Those who try to pull themselves up to God by their own bootstraps find that they have no boots. We are born into the Kingdom by faith.Not only that,faith is also the means of growing and overcoming. When we come to our heavenly Father,all he asks is that we take him at his word.God has ordained that all of us enjoy spiritual realities through faith,simply believing and trusting in God.Those who truly believe that Jesus is the promised delieverer,will experience a spiritual rebirth,for you must be born again.Also, those who truly believe that Jesus is God's Son are those who conquer the magnetic pull of the world.

We are witness for the Son.John calls for the witness of heaven and earth to verify the reality of Jesus' mission of redemption.Using the accepted principle that two or three witnesses are needed to establish truth,he proceeds to support his case.Our power comes from our faith in God's only begotten Son,Jesus Christ.Imagine an irrigation pipe leading from a spring to a barren field.On it's own the pipe can do nothing to bring life to the field,It needs to tap the source of life which is the spring.Once it taps into the spring, then the pipe can become a powerful tool for feeding the land and bringing new life.Christians are like that irrigation pipe.Our faith opens the door of God's power to work through us to channel His saving power to the world, like the pure spring water nurishing a desert.There is one important difference,however.In time the pipe will rust through and become useless.Faithful Christians,on the other hand,can grow stronger in their ability to withstand corruption and can remain strong through faith in Christ.

 We need the power of our faith in Christ, working daily in our lives so we can defeat sinful influences and overcome the decifulness of this world.If we place our confidence in anything other than Christ to overcome sin,we will be disappointed, for only He has defeated sin and offers the power we need to gain freedom from sin and escape the threat of sinful influences.It is in Him and through Him that we shall overcome.



Come Back To God

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: his 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.Repent and come back to God.

Consider Christ

Hebrews 12:3 "For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."

Have you considered Christ? when there is a problem,when you are troubled or burdened.When you are anxious, consider Christ, cast all your cares upon Him and let Him govern your life.As a man He set the perfect example of how we can live a worry free life as He trusted in the word ,will and way of the Father who promises to never leave us nor forsake us.

As a man He was kind even when others were not.He was compassionate,as a man He suffered as we suffer.He suffered so we don't have to suffer.So when life gets heavy,consider Christ.When your friends turn their back on you consider Christ.His friends sold Him out,abandoned Him and denied Him.When the world begans to hate you consider Christ as the world hated Him and He came to save the world. Consider Christ,He died on a cross on a hill called calvery that all in sin might be saved.All that God has for man He gave to man when He gave us Christ.

When you feel like you just can't make it ,when it seems that everything is against you and you want to give up,remember Jesus lest you get weary and give up.Consider Jesus and hold on to God unchanging  hand.Consider Jesus and walk in His victory.Consider Jesus and be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world.

Our Love For Him

John 14:15 "If you love me keep my commandmets"

We all know that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die while we were yet sinners.It is His love for us that gets us through each and every day.But the concern is in our love for Him.It is His love for us that salvation is offerd ,but our love for Him accepts this free gift from God.

Do you truly love the Lord?Now we will all most likely say yes when ask this question.But Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments.Yet many will say they love Him,and yet they don't keep His commandments.Now don't get me wrong,I realize that none of us are perfect.I know that we all have shortcomings,that will cause us to go against God's word occasionally.But sin in the life of a christian should be the exception and not the rule.To many live their lives expecting to sin like it is ok with God, because He knows our heart.God's grace is not a licence to continue in a life of sin.Jesus died to save us from sin ,not to save us in sin.He told us to deny ourself take up our cross daily and follow Him.We must choose daily whom we will serve.Be it God or the desires of our flesh.

Jesus told the woman in the bible to go and sin no more.If we lived our life based more on our love for Him instead of living base on His love for us we would be better servants for the Lord.Let us make a sincere effort to walk worthy of the name that we bear ,and lead a lost world to the salvation of the Lord.

A Servant Of Jesus Christ

Romans 1:1" Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,called to be an apostle,separated unto the gospel of God."

In our need for self gratification, it is easy for us to lost in regards to the mission which we have been called to.God called us into His ministry, that we might be His servants to do His will in building His kingdom.It is not about who we are ,but whose we are.The title we wear means nothing,it is the work that we have been called to do that will change the world.

Here we have Paul, now with all that he accomplished he says he is a servant of Jesus Christ.In fact he often refered to himself as a bond servant or slave for Christ.He never refered to himself as Rev. Paul or pastor Paul or even the apostle Paul, he was just a servant of the Lord.Paul realized it wasn't about him, or the position he had,but it was simply about Christ and Him crucified.He was just a unworthy vessel,called to be an apostle,separated for the purpose of spreading the good news of the gospel.Paul used every opportunity he had to proclaim the salvation of the Lord.Rather in bonds or free his message was the same, Jesus christ and Him crucified.He had to preach the gospel,for he was a prisoner of the gospel. He new it was the gospel that saved him, kept him ,protected him,and provided all that he needed.He knew it was the power of God unto salvation.

It is not about us being saved.The world don't care what position or titles we hold.The sinner can't be saved because we have fancy degrees in various religious studies that allow us to call ourselves these fancy names and hold important positions.The only thing that we have that matters, the only thing we have that can save a lost soul is the good news about Jesus Christ.Let us just be called servants for the Lord, and hear the word "well done my good and faithful servant".

Treasures of The Heart

1John 2:15 "Love not the world,neither the things that are in the world.If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him."

The word of God tells us that"No man can serve two masters" that we can serve mammon and God both.Yet there are many who try.We have come to believe that recieving things is a blessing from God. Satan don't mind you having things if it will keep you from serving God. Now yes God does bless us with the things we need and some things that we desire.There is nothing wrong with material gain.The danger is when we begin to seek the material things over the spiritual things God has in store for us.

We are not to love the world neither the things that are in the world.Yes we are to love one another,but the material treasures and pleasures that can lure us out of the will of God into the want of man we are not to love.The word of God says"contientment with God is great gain".Let us learn to be satisfied with that which God has given us.Let Him bless us in that which we stand in need of,let Him give you the desire of your heart for He and He alones truly knows what it is our heart desires.Let us not be lead by the lust of the flesh,that craving which lies in sinful man called self indulgence.That keeping up with the Jones's attitude.Don't be decieved and spiritually blinded by the lust of the eyes, covetousness,wanting everything you see cause somebody else has it.And don't be elevated upon the pride of life,showing off that which you have and bragging about what you are doing.The things of this earth are but vain and vanishing.Set your heart on the things above, for only what you do for Christ will last.

It is natural for us to want nice things,but we must trust God.His word tells us He will withhold no good thing from us.We must learn to wait on the Lord,for what someone else has might not be good for you.You might not be able to go through all that that person had to go through to get what he has.I once wanted a big house til I seen the size of the power bill that comes with the big house.I thank God for the house He blessed me with. 

A Walk Of Faith

Genesis 12:1 "Now the Lord said unto Abram,Get thee out of thy country,and from thy kindred,and from thy father's house,unto a land that I will shew thee:"

Abram chose to follow God.It challenges us to this day to obey God's call wherever He leads,what ever the cost. Why do we hesitate? Is that addiction really worth holding on to?Is living in a comfort-zone cocoon what we were made for?Is anger or indulgence or fear or pride or worldliness in the way of our whole hearted obedience?

No matter what challenges we may meet in choosing to obey God's call,there will never be lasting regrets.Why? Because God's faithfulness will prevail in our lives every time we trust His leadership.In fact even while"counting the cost" of following God,we can be assured that any sacrifices we may make along our way,whether real or imagined,will ultimately be eclipsed by the blessings of His love for us in this life and beyond. For example, turning from destructive habits to follow God's call leads us into freedom,peace, and often literally adds years to our lives.Letting go of our most prized and precious possessions in this life to follow our Lord carries with it the promise of eternal life as well as spritual blessings we never could have imagined.As we turn our hearts to follow the lead of God's Spirit, we are set free from the fear of other people's opinions, and we become courageous vessels for carrying the Gospel and speaking the truth, finding our delight in God's approval on our lives.These are just a few of the many ways God calls us to follow Him into the blessing of His presence as well as His promises.

No matter what God's call on our lives may be,rather to a physical move, to abandon sin, to boldness,to let go of something or someone we cherish, or some other challenge, when we answer as Abram did, God will faithfully lead us into the promised blessing He has in store for us.

The Name Jesus

Acts 4:12 "neither is there salvation in any other:For there is none other name under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved."

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.There is no life outside of Jesus.Only what you do for Christ will last.In this day of the great church evolution many have gotten caught up in the size of the preachers name;the size of the worship center; and the size of the financial blessing,which has caused many to be lost when it comes to slavation.But Jesus and Jesus alone is the power of God unto salvation.

We have gotten off point with our religious message of today.We have to many preaching that we might get things instead of preaching that we might be saved.When Peter and the other Apostles preach, they preached Christ and Him crucified.They pointed out the sin and lost state of man in relationship to God and his need to repent,be baptised, and be saved.The message today seems to be one of acceptance.We don't want to judge anybody,we are afraid to run people out of the church,we want to fill the seats and the collection plates.So we let people be decieved into believing that God loves them to much to send them to hell.But just like in the day of Noah,all who was not in the ark of safety when the floods came died.When Jesus returns,all who are not in the ark of safety will perish.This calling of ours is one of saving souls.It is not about making friends,or getting people to join church,it is about leading people to give their life to Christ.Jesus is the only way by which man  can be saved.

This is God's salvation, these are His people,His souls that He died for, and they can only be saved by sharing His message. Jesus Christ, God's only revelation to mankind.The revelation to which we are to bear witness of to a lost world through our testimony.That the lost might come to know the name Jesus, the power of God unto salvation.

All Day Without Jesus

Luke 2:44 "But they,supposing him to have been in the company,went a day's journey;and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance."

We often profess how Jesus is the head of my life;Or how we take Jesus everywhere we go; and the famous line of I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus.Yet the truth is there are many who go all day without Jesus.We might be with Him when we attend service on Sunday, yet many times we leave supposing He is in our company and might go all day before we realize we have left Him.

How often have you left Jesus at the temple as you go about your day supposing He is with you?How do you truly wake up with your mind on Jesus ,if you don't go bed with Him on your mind. You can't climb in the bed with the intentions of fornacating and have your mind on Jesus.How can you truly be taking Jesus everywhere you go,when you go out on a night of drunk and disorderly behaivor.How do we make so many ungodly choices and decisions if God is truly the head of our life. Now don't get me wrong,I know we all have moments of weakness and we all have our shortcomings, but when you make plans to do wrong, that is neither a weakness or a shortcoming that is a condition of the heart, that needs to be changed.That is a day spent without the company of Jesus.He said he will never leave us,but as we see in our text we can and often do leave Him.

Here Jesus family was leaving the feast of the passover.now they had traveled a whole day thinking Jesus was with them. But after a days journey they begin to seek Him among their kinsfolk and friends. Let us be sure that we are with Jesus.Let us make Him truly the head of our life,truly wake up with our minds on Him as we go to bed giving Him thanks,and go where He leads us so we are always in His presence, and never go all day without Jesus.

Made in our Image

Numbers 21:9 "And moses made a serpent of brass,and put it upon a pole,and it came to pass,that if a serpent had bitten any man,when he beheld the serpent of brass,he lived".

In the begining we were created in the image and after the likeness of our  creator.We were without sin and lived with God in a garden paradise.But then man disobeyed God and fell from His grace.Man begin to bear fruit after his kind.Born in sin and shaped in iniquity man no longer to on the image of a perfect and Holy God without spot or blemish.Man was in darkness and in desperate need of salvation.

Much like the firery serpent was made in the image of the serpents that bit the children of Israel in the wilderness, Jesus was made in our image,the image of sinful man that He might save man.For the soul that sineth will surley die.Just as all who were bitten in the wilderness was saved when they looked to the serpent of brass,all who are born of sin are saved when we look to Jesus.Jesus accepted for all who will look to Him the wage paid by sin.Jesus said"and I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me".When Moses raised the brass serpent on the pole all who look to it in faith were saved.When we look to Jesus on the cross in faith we to shall be saved.Let us look to Jesus and live.He is our only way to salvation.

It is when we look to Jesus in faith and become born of the spirit of God that we once again take on the image and likeness of our creator.But we must be born again,and believe that we not only died with Him  but rose again a new creature in Christ born again in the image of our heavenly Father.

More Than Enough

John 10:15 "As the Father knoweth Me,even so know I the Father:and I lay down my life for the sheep".

The wages of sin is death;The soul that sinneth shall surley die.God cannot lie.If He said it in His word it must come to pass.Man because of his disobedience to God became a sinful soul,and he fell from the grace of God, and was rebellious and became an enemy to God.But God love man so much He took the best of Himself and wrapped it in the worst of man that He might save man.

We are like sheep,and God gave us a shepherd.Not just any shepherd but the good shepherd.Jesus said He will lay down His life for the sheep and that is what He did.He accepted for us the wage paid by sin.Through His death man can now be the righteousness of God.Because He was willing to lay down His life,we are able to live.His blood washed us,His stripes healed us,and His death and resurrection saved us.Christ has done more than enough.He said from the cross it is finished,all that is needed for lost man to be saved.Now the choice is yours will you accept all He has offered?

Jesus died on a cross rose on the third day with all power in His hands, that we might have a right to the tree of life.He has done more than enough. Will you accept this free gift from God?