From Sharon Avery's Facebook:
"Comment by bro Jimmie Lee Robbins>>> The Sabbath simply means the ending of activity, the cessation of effort. God was not tired by his creative work, he did not need to rest to restore strength. He did not stop because he was fatigued; he stopped because he was through."
"The true Sabbath, is not the keeping of a special day but the ending of a specific effort. That is what sabbath means. "So God rested from all his work which he had done in creation" (Gen 2:3). This is the last account of any creative activity.""
"The true sabbath is a rest; the Jewish sabbath is a shadow, a picture of that rest. All the Old Testament shadows pointed to Christ."
"We need to understand this and stop trying to live in shadows. These Old Testament shadows were looking forward to the coming of the One who would fulfill these and thus end them. When the work of Jesus Christ was finished the shadows were no longer needed."
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Willing to Lose all for Christ!
Are you
a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?
If so,
are you willing to lose all your friends and family to follow Christ?
If you
are living in comfort fixated on having friends and family always in your life,
then you will not be able to honor and obey God as He has commanded.
Matthew
10:37-39
"37
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who
loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not
take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his
life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."
A Picture of Our Culture Today Perhaps?
Could this be a picture of our culture today?
And, it is also a picture of how the Lord responds to it.
Zechariah 7:8-13 "8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:"
Zechariah 7:8-13 "8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:"
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
The Devil's Kind of Love
I hate the phrase "the children are our most valuable resource." They are not "resources", they are human beings to be protected and nurtured, whether or not they have anything to offer us.
God loves the little ones, unlike our secular culture. OH, they think they love, but their love is not love at all.
We base our love for the children on what they can offer us, when they are no longer good for our status we throw them away, through abortion and day care centers.
The public schools we send them to, teach them to hate God and live for themselves, this is not love but loathing. The powers that be have convinced the people that the hate of the devil is actually love.
Matthew 18:10
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
Psalm 127:3
"3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Mark 9:42
"42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
God loves the little ones, unlike our secular culture. OH, they think they love, but their love is not love at all.
We base our love for the children on what they can offer us, when they are no longer good for our status we throw them away, through abortion and day care centers.
The public schools we send them to, teach them to hate God and live for themselves, this is not love but loathing. The powers that be have convinced the people that the hate of the devil is actually love.
Matthew 18:10
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
Psalm 127:3
"3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Mark 9:42
"42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
We are not Born Again by Not Sinning
It is vitally important that we understand what it means to
be born again.
Too many people place particular sins as the bench mark for
salvation.
Not committing a particular sin does not save us, any more
than committing any particular sin sends us to hell.
We must understand that we are sinful through and through.
James 2:10
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all."
All sin is rebellion against God and all sin sends us to
hell! We are not capable of keeping all
or any the commandments, God knew this, which is why He made salvation very
easy for us . Only one thing is required to become born again, and that is
faith in the finished Work of Christ on the cross. He paid for our sin, nothing
more is required from us to receive His forgiveness.
1 John 1:9
King James Version (KJV)
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
When we understand that Christ paid the price for sin on the
cross through the shedding of His blood, then and only then can we become born
again. It is Christ who is the perfect
sacrifice!
Hebrews 9:22
"22 And almost all things are by the law purged with
blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
There are those who are saying that divorce and remarriage
is a matter of salvation. This is clearly wrong, it is the preaching of a
gospel by works. No man is born again by
not committing a particular sin and no man is lost by committing a particular
sin. We must all come to Christ the same way, through faith in what He did on
that cross.
When we have trusted Christ, He then cleanses continually all
through the rest of our lives. We are
dirty, filthy and vile, only Christ is clean and only He can cleanse.
It doesn't matter what your sin is, He will discipline His
children. The following passage is clear that God's children do sin, it doesn't
matter which sin it is, no sin is greater than another in the vast scheme of
things, all sin is disobedience.
When we become born again we immediately enter "boot
camp" so to speak. God begins His training and cleansing of us. We do not automatically become sinless, God
has His ordained process for our training. Training teaches us, we do not learn
good lessons without experiencing life through God's training.
God uses life experiences to show us principles, without
understanding there is no learning. Knowing
something in our head is very different from experiencing it, which brings true
depth of understanding.
Hebrews 12:1-11
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners
against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You
have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you
as to sons: “My son, do not despise the
chastening of the Lord, Nor be
discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons;
for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have
become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us,
and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to
the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed
best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but
painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it."
Those that preach that particular sins are " a matter
of salvation" are preaching salvation by works or our own efforts. They preach a false gospel.
We are incapable of being or doing good, only Christ in us is
good! We are handicapped...we are missing what is need to be righteous. We have nothing in us that can do what is
needed to be what we should be. Christ is the One Who works in us to do good.
Ephesians 2:8-9
"8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Those who think you can lose your salvation because they
commit a particular sin, are teaching that Christ's work on the cross was not
enough, we have to also add our own works to what He did.
When we are born again, we feel the weight of the Holy
Spirit conviction on us when we sin, our hearts become heavy and our minds
become guilty, that is His work, to show us we have something more to confess
so that He will cleanse us.
If we refuse to admit our sin, and refuse to confess it,
then we will live with continual consequences until we do. Some of those
consequences will be life long, other we will be delivered from when we finally
do confess.
If we refuse to confess and forsake our sin as God reveals
them, then we will lose rewards in heaven and find ourselves ashamed in the
presence of a Holy God.
1 Corinthians 3:15 "If any man's work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
Those who defend their sin, claiming that they can sin all
they want because of God's grace, have never been born again. They still love
their sin. When we become born again we
hate our sin, we struggle with it, hopefully confessing it to avoid discipline,
but we are never ever comfortable with it.
Those who are comfortable with their sin and aggressively
fight to justify it have never been changed into a new creation, they are
imposters, pretenders who will get before the Lord on judgment day and He will
say this to them;
Matthew 7:21-23
"21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven."
"22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works?"
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
I am most concerned about those who think they are born
again, but love their sin, those who will not confess that they are wicked and
vile and in need of cleansing by Christ.
Our churches are full of many people who are in a lost
state, never having been born again, but think they are going to heaven by
saying particular words that others have told them to say.
It is not what we say or what we do that saves us, it is the
person of Jesus Christ Who saves, and He will only save one way, through faith
in Him, to cleanse us and change us.
If anyone wants to become born again, the way to do that is
to admit to God that you are sinful and helpless to be anything good. Then to
desire to be changed by Christ into a new creation.
He will do all the work in us!
Ephesians 2:10
King James Version (KJV)
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them."
Do not try to be good, trust that Christ will make us good,
a life time of continual cleansing will occur.
If you have trusted Christ and He has made you into a new creation, then
your life will change, you will not see things the same way any more.
The sin you used to love you will now hate, it will be
repulsive to you. The righteousness in others that you hated, you will now love
and desire.
God does not change our outer actions, He changes our hearts
and the actions flow out of that changed heart.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
We don't Need Balance We Just Need Truth
We don't need "balance", we just need "truth."
Whenever I hear the word balance I am reminded of the Muslim man who said that in order to get into heaven they must weigh their good deeds on a scale with their bad deeds and if the scale tips in the right direction, then they are admitted into heaven.
When we are believers we do not balance things, a little of this and a little of that so that everything is equal.
We are unbalanced, our scale tips only in one direction and that is the direction of truth which is in Christ alone.
Whenever I hear the word balance I am reminded of the Muslim man who said that in order to get into heaven they must weigh their good deeds on a scale with their bad deeds and if the scale tips in the right direction, then they are admitted into heaven.
When we are believers we do not balance things, a little of this and a little of that so that everything is equal.
We are unbalanced, our scale tips only in one direction and that is the direction of truth which is in Christ alone.
Compelled by the Holy Spirit
I am convinced that we attempt to understand the Word of God in terms of our cultural mindset., rather than seeking the Lord for His meaning through instruction of the Holy Spirit.
There were no marketing gimmicks used in the time of the apostles, to lure the people to Christ. They spoke the straight truth with no parties or thrills to make Christ attractive.
What they did do, was to open their homes and through hospitality and straight talk, to convince and reason with those who entered there, they presented the gospel.
Acts 28:23-27
King James Version (KJV)
23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
It is no wonder we have little opportunity to share with others, we have full schedules, doing pleasurable and worthless things that entertain us, to be available at home for others.
We have call waiting, if we choose to ignore a phone call because our favorite show is on, we can do that. If we do not want to be disturbed during a ball game, we can require our friends and family to call before they come, so we will not miss all our pleasures.
The devil has cleverly filled up our time with every sort of entertainment and pleasure we choose, leaving no time to develop relationship or spend long hours reading His Word and praying.
These distractions have left us seeking a "fast food" doctrine, based on our own desires, heavily colored and peppered with our cultural leanings.
How can we hear the Holy Spirit through all that noise? We muddle along attempting to use our own human minds to figure things out, when God speaks we either don't hear Him or we interpret His Words in terms of our desires, our culture and our pleasure.
There is only one cure for this, to turn off all the distractions and spend time with the Lord. Say no, more often, to those who would take up our time on useless things or even things that are good, but that God never asked us to do.
Not everything we are asked to do by people, are what God has called us to do, no matter how good the cause may be.
If God calls us to do something, we will be so compelled that doing it will not be anything we have to pray about, our soul will flood with desire for it, we will not be able to turn it down. No effort to try to obey will be necessary.
Do we have to ask to breathe? Do we have to ask to feed our bodies? When we are called to a matter, it will be as natural as these things.
Acts 20:22 "And now, behold, I go compelled in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:"
Mark 1:12-13 "12 And immediately the spirit driveth (compelled) Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him."
Compelled: Driven, get by force!
If we are not sure and agonize over whether or not to do something, then it is not the Holy Spirit. It may be our own desire or others placing pressure on us. Wait on the Lord for your instructions, He will compel us when He is giving us a command, there will be no question that it is He Who commands us.
There were no marketing gimmicks used in the time of the apostles, to lure the people to Christ. They spoke the straight truth with no parties or thrills to make Christ attractive.
What they did do, was to open their homes and through hospitality and straight talk, to convince and reason with those who entered there, they presented the gospel.
Acts 28:23-27
King James Version (KJV)
23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
It is no wonder we have little opportunity to share with others, we have full schedules, doing pleasurable and worthless things that entertain us, to be available at home for others.
We have call waiting, if we choose to ignore a phone call because our favorite show is on, we can do that. If we do not want to be disturbed during a ball game, we can require our friends and family to call before they come, so we will not miss all our pleasures.
The devil has cleverly filled up our time with every sort of entertainment and pleasure we choose, leaving no time to develop relationship or spend long hours reading His Word and praying.
These distractions have left us seeking a "fast food" doctrine, based on our own desires, heavily colored and peppered with our cultural leanings.
How can we hear the Holy Spirit through all that noise? We muddle along attempting to use our own human minds to figure things out, when God speaks we either don't hear Him or we interpret His Words in terms of our desires, our culture and our pleasure.
There is only one cure for this, to turn off all the distractions and spend time with the Lord. Say no, more often, to those who would take up our time on useless things or even things that are good, but that God never asked us to do.
Not everything we are asked to do by people, are what God has called us to do, no matter how good the cause may be.
If God calls us to do something, we will be so compelled that doing it will not be anything we have to pray about, our soul will flood with desire for it, we will not be able to turn it down. No effort to try to obey will be necessary.
Do we have to ask to breathe? Do we have to ask to feed our bodies? When we are called to a matter, it will be as natural as these things.
Acts 20:22 "And now, behold, I go compelled in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:"
Mark 1:12-13 "12 And immediately the spirit driveth (compelled) Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him."
Compelled: Driven, get by force!
If we are not sure and agonize over whether or not to do something, then it is not the Holy Spirit. It may be our own desire or others placing pressure on us. Wait on the Lord for your instructions, He will compel us when He is giving us a command, there will be no question that it is He Who commands us.
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