The tears are not a sign of weakness, they are merely a stress reliever, after the relief there is greater strength than before.
Follow the Link:
Saturday, March 18, 2017
The Joy is Endless
We may not have "happiness" in the worldly sense all the time, but the joy never leaves us.....ever!
Ecc. 1:17-18 "…17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain."
James 1:2-3 "2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.…"
Ecc. 1:17-18 "…17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain."
James 1:2-3 "2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.…"
Resting in Christ Brings Transformation
So many people are deceived into believing they are keeping their own salvation by not sinning. This is heresy, denying that Christ did it all on the cross, He said; "It is finished."
Eternal Security is truth, not heresy. It is heresy that anyone can earn their salvation to get it or to keep it.
Ephesians 1:13-14 "13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."
When we have trusted Christ He does all the work in us, any of our work is nothing to Him, how could it compare to the shedding of blood of the Perfect Lamb. It's silly to think we can do anything to maintain our salvation when it took the shedding of blood of a Perfect Lamb to cover the sin. Are you a "perfect lamb?" Are you a propitiation for your own sin? NO, no man can take away sin as the Savior did.
Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
If someone is trusting in the themselves to keep their salvation they didn't earn, they are not trusting in Christ but in themselves.
Psalm 40:4 "How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood."
God says not to trust in man, we are man, if we trust in our own flesh to save ourselves or keep ourselves saved, then we are violating the very scripture that says not to trust in man.
There is a serious lack of faith for those who must worry continually about whether or not they are "doing" enough to be good. No man can be good it is only Christ in us Who is good. On the other hand those who think they are doing a good job of keeping their own salvation are walking in monstrous pride, often looking down at believers who have stumbled, calling them unsaved because they do not "appear" as perfect as the one who is doing a good job, in their own minds.
Many who think they are keeping their own salvation by works have never trusted Christ, they were not born again and need to go back to God and ask Him if they have ever been saved.
People, please stop trusting in your own fleshly goodness for your salvation, and begin to trust Christ to change you, redirect you and counsel you.
Proverbs 3:4-6 "…4 So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.…"
We must acknowledge Christ as the source and not ourselves. Stop trusting in your own version of goodness which God calls filthy rags. The day you ask the Lord to change you, is when you will be freed from the works salvation and begin to see Christ working in you.
Isaiah 54:6 "6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
Philippians 2:13 " 13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure."
When we stop trusting ourselves and we begin to trust Christ, then we will see a dramatic change in the way we view everything, our old ways leave us as we desire the new ways.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! "
Are you a new creation in Christ? If you have been trusting yourselves to keep a salvation you aren't even sure you have because you never know if you will sin again, then you are not saved, you have never trusted Christ and you must make that step to repent from your own self righteousness and begin to ask the Lord to make you what He wants you to be, then read His Word and let Him speak to you.
The best place to start is confessing that you have been living pridefully and need to be cleansed from the willfulness of maintaining your own self-rightousness.
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 f we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
1 John was written to believers, believers do sin and it does not lose them their standing with Christ. Only those who are born again have an advocate with the father.
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
Christ atoned for our sin and is continually going before the Father proclaiming, "this one is mine, this one is mine." God disciplines those who belong to Him, He does not revoke His promises.
2 Timothy 2:13 "…12 if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 14 Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words; this is in no way profitable, and leads its listeners to ruin.…"
2 Timothy is not telling believers "if" we do our own work, He is saying if we remain that is the evidence that we were in Him. Those who walk away from Christ without conscience over it, even becoming more hostile than in the beginning, then that is the strong evidence that they never knew Christ in the first place.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
Our job as believers is not to decide who is saved and who is not, our job is to be discerning and warn those who may not be saved, to check with God and to bring the gospel to the lost, as well as feed believers with truth so they do not become fooled by false doctrines.
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 "5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you — unless you actually fail the test? 6 And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.…"
Don't take on the views of others for your doctrine, ask God, He will tell those who want to know.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
Eternal Security is truth, not heresy. It is heresy that anyone can earn their salvation to get it or to keep it.
Ephesians 1:13-14 "13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."
When we have trusted Christ He does all the work in us, any of our work is nothing to Him, how could it compare to the shedding of blood of the Perfect Lamb. It's silly to think we can do anything to maintain our salvation when it took the shedding of blood of a Perfect Lamb to cover the sin. Are you a "perfect lamb?" Are you a propitiation for your own sin? NO, no man can take away sin as the Savior did.
Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
If someone is trusting in the themselves to keep their salvation they didn't earn, they are not trusting in Christ but in themselves.
Psalm 40:4 "How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood."
God says not to trust in man, we are man, if we trust in our own flesh to save ourselves or keep ourselves saved, then we are violating the very scripture that says not to trust in man.
There is a serious lack of faith for those who must worry continually about whether or not they are "doing" enough to be good. No man can be good it is only Christ in us Who is good. On the other hand those who think they are doing a good job of keeping their own salvation are walking in monstrous pride, often looking down at believers who have stumbled, calling them unsaved because they do not "appear" as perfect as the one who is doing a good job, in their own minds.
Many who think they are keeping their own salvation by works have never trusted Christ, they were not born again and need to go back to God and ask Him if they have ever been saved.
People, please stop trusting in your own fleshly goodness for your salvation, and begin to trust Christ to change you, redirect you and counsel you.
Proverbs 3:4-6 "…4 So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.…"
We must acknowledge Christ as the source and not ourselves. Stop trusting in your own version of goodness which God calls filthy rags. The day you ask the Lord to change you, is when you will be freed from the works salvation and begin to see Christ working in you.
Isaiah 54:6 "6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
Philippians 2:13 " 13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure."
When we stop trusting ourselves and we begin to trust Christ, then we will see a dramatic change in the way we view everything, our old ways leave us as we desire the new ways.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! "
Are you a new creation in Christ? If you have been trusting yourselves to keep a salvation you aren't even sure you have because you never know if you will sin again, then you are not saved, you have never trusted Christ and you must make that step to repent from your own self righteousness and begin to ask the Lord to make you what He wants you to be, then read His Word and let Him speak to you.
The best place to start is confessing that you have been living pridefully and need to be cleansed from the willfulness of maintaining your own self-rightousness.
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 f we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
1 John was written to believers, believers do sin and it does not lose them their standing with Christ. Only those who are born again have an advocate with the father.
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
Christ atoned for our sin and is continually going before the Father proclaiming, "this one is mine, this one is mine." God disciplines those who belong to Him, He does not revoke His promises.
2 Timothy 2:13 "…12 if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 14 Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words; this is in no way profitable, and leads its listeners to ruin.…"
2 Timothy is not telling believers "if" we do our own work, He is saying if we remain that is the evidence that we were in Him. Those who walk away from Christ without conscience over it, even becoming more hostile than in the beginning, then that is the strong evidence that they never knew Christ in the first place.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
Our job as believers is not to decide who is saved and who is not, our job is to be discerning and warn those who may not be saved, to check with God and to bring the gospel to the lost, as well as feed believers with truth so they do not become fooled by false doctrines.
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 "5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you — unless you actually fail the test? 6 And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.…"
Don't take on the views of others for your doctrine, ask God, He will tell those who want to know.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)