LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!
So many people are preaching that God does not love His children enough to take over their being and direct their paths. In the minds of these people He is an unconcerned task master who leave us to our own devices after saving us through His power because we trusted Him. I trusted Him because He said He would take care of my salvation, my growth, my provision and everything else that I needed. I trusted Him for everything .....and I still do!
We are holy in direct proportions to how much time we spend reading the Word and asking for wisdom. I am sorry that some are being led to believe they can lose their salvation by those who look more at outer works than they do at the price Christ paid and His promises to us.
There are many now who are apostate who are attempting to convince believers that God will not keep His promise to us, He will not help us in our walk and He will throw us away at the slightest infraction. That is not the God of the Bible.
When we cannot be saved by our works, what makes us think we can be kept by our works? God said HE would keep us, He cleanses us and He is our protector. I could never worship a God that goes back on His promises, Who leaves us to flounder not knowing if we did enough good or enough bad for Him to come down off that cross for my sins. This is not the God of the Bible.
Perhaps if these people would stop looking at circumstances and works, they might be able to see what Christ actually did! He paid the penalty for all the sins of the world. He will change anyone who wants to be changed, however not all will want it.
When God changes a person they stay changed.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
Notice the words "the old has PASSED AWAY." Yep, gone gone gone is our old nature, never to come back again!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
God's Provision is Enough!
When I became fearful a couple of weak momemnts in time, I was irritated at all this "Obamacare", nonesense. then I began to speak to God about it and He comforted me.
We have a high deductible, we pay all the bills if they are meds or office visits. I was tempted to complain a couple of times and then God stopped me in my tracks when He said in His still small voice......"I am giving you enough money to pay those bills, it doesn't matter what man does, I am in control."
So often we think we want something our way, and miss the fact that God is doing miracles all the time on our behalf. If all was the way we wanted, then we would miss the miracles. He is faithful to care for us.
Matthew 6:26 "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"
We have a high deductible, we pay all the bills if they are meds or office visits. I was tempted to complain a couple of times and then God stopped me in my tracks when He said in His still small voice......"I am giving you enough money to pay those bills, it doesn't matter what man does, I am in control."
So often we think we want something our way, and miss the fact that God is doing miracles all the time on our behalf. If all was the way we wanted, then we would miss the miracles. He is faithful to care for us.
Matthew 6:26 "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"
Who is our Family
From Dona Tucker's comments: Speaking of unsaved family members:
"Yep and if they only understood that they go through the things they do Gwendolyn because they are separated from God. Scripture tells us, even if we have a brother that is in sin and does not listen to wise counsel to put them out and have nothing to do with them. Not to even eat a meal with them. When Jesus was going to the cross he didn't give his mother to his own earthy brother James, he told John, John here is your Mother, mother here is you son. James didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Our true families are the family of God, those who are Born Again.."
"Yep and if they only understood that they go through the things they do Gwendolyn because they are separated from God. Scripture tells us, even if we have a brother that is in sin and does not listen to wise counsel to put them out and have nothing to do with them. Not to even eat a meal with them. When Jesus was going to the cross he didn't give his mother to his own earthy brother James, he told John, John here is your Mother, mother here is you son. James didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Our true families are the family of God, those who are Born Again.."
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Not of Ourselves but of Christ!
Many years ago I doubted my salvation because of my thought life mostly. I reasoned, "how can I be saved and still have these thoughts?" Then the Lord showed me that my cleansing was an ongoing thing, as a new believer I was under attack of my own flesh and the devil, leaving me to think I might not be saved. I jumped for joy on the day the Lord told me that I was born again but I was in a battle against the flesh and the devil. I have had many victories over the years as I fought the battles in prayer. When I tried to fight the battles in my own mind with shear will power, I would lose every time. But when I prayed and told God I needed Him to remove the thoughts, then I had peace and victory in a very short time.
1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Bible does not say that our victory is through our hard work in the flesh, just the opposite. If we think we can effect change in ourselves we may make some progress but eventually we will lose that battle, we become tired of the struggle. God will only give us HIS strength, not our own empowered by Him. He is the strength we need.
One day the Lord said to me, "when you are ready to stop trying so hard to be good in your flesh, then I will begin working in you." The peace flooded me and those "rivers of living water" began to flow.
Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We must stop thinking that God empowers us, He does not, He is the power that lives in us, He will be all that we need. The more we submit to Him, the greater our growth strides. He ultimately gets all the glory, we become so in step with His Spirit that we hear His voice...a spiritual hearing. Sometimes we allow our flesh to drag us down another road, but if we are in tune with the Spirit of God in us, He will bring us back to where we should be.
2 Corinthians 3:1-6 "3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."
The Spirit, Not the Letter
"4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit;[a] for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Bible does not say that our victory is through our hard work in the flesh, just the opposite. If we think we can effect change in ourselves we may make some progress but eventually we will lose that battle, we become tired of the struggle. God will only give us HIS strength, not our own empowered by Him. He is the strength we need.
One day the Lord said to me, "when you are ready to stop trying so hard to be good in your flesh, then I will begin working in you." The peace flooded me and those "rivers of living water" began to flow.
Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We must stop thinking that God empowers us, He does not, He is the power that lives in us, He will be all that we need. The more we submit to Him, the greater our growth strides. He ultimately gets all the glory, we become so in step with His Spirit that we hear His voice...a spiritual hearing. Sometimes we allow our flesh to drag us down another road, but if we are in tune with the Spirit of God in us, He will bring us back to where we should be.
2 Corinthians 3:1-6 "3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."
The Spirit, Not the Letter
"4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit;[a] for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
Do You Want To Be Cleansed?
We are already forgiven of our sins if we are born again! But in order to move forward in holiness we must confess them.
If we do not confess them, we miss blessings in heaven and have consequences on earth.
A person cannot forsake a sin or grow past the bondage of it until they admit the sin to God and if necessary, to others.
Confessing sin shows a willingness and desire to be changed by Christ Who lives in us. Confessing to a sibling in Christ shows them that we value their fellowship and companionship.
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Proverbs 28:13
"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."
When we do not confess our sins, we are in danger of physical illness. There seems to be a built in mechanism, a connection between sin and the toll it takes on the physical body. Not everyone who has illness is in sin as we see from the story of Job, but sometimes our bitterness, anger and denial cause physical ailments. We think we feel fine in our sin but the stress on the body causes illness.
Psalm 32:2-5
"2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah "
When we do confess, God forgives us and begins cleaning our hearts to free us from the bondage of that sin, creating humility in our hearts and turning us from the sin from which we could not release ourselves.
No one has an excuse that they were in bondage to sin, God will not ignore the cries of the sinful heart to be cleansed by Him.
James 4:7-10
"7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
If we do not confess them, we miss blessings in heaven and have consequences on earth.
A person cannot forsake a sin or grow past the bondage of it until they admit the sin to God and if necessary, to others.
Confessing sin shows a willingness and desire to be changed by Christ Who lives in us. Confessing to a sibling in Christ shows them that we value their fellowship and companionship.
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Proverbs 28:13
"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."
When we do not confess our sins, we are in danger of physical illness. There seems to be a built in mechanism, a connection between sin and the toll it takes on the physical body. Not everyone who has illness is in sin as we see from the story of Job, but sometimes our bitterness, anger and denial cause physical ailments. We think we feel fine in our sin but the stress on the body causes illness.
Psalm 32:2-5
"2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah "
When we do confess, God forgives us and begins cleaning our hearts to free us from the bondage of that sin, creating humility in our hearts and turning us from the sin from which we could not release ourselves.
No one has an excuse that they were in bondage to sin, God will not ignore the cries of the sinful heart to be cleansed by Him.
James 4:7-10
"7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
Monday, September 15, 2014
Our Eyes Are Bigger Than The OT Saints
We are much more blessed as believers than we realize, to live in a time such as this. We have been given insights and wisdom that the old testament saints never had. We watch today as prophesy unfolds.
Luke 10:23-24 "Turning to the disciples, He said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things you hear, and did not hear them."
Luke 10:23-24 "Turning to the disciples, He said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things you hear, and did not hear them."
God Looks At The Heart
It is not good to use our fleshly nature as an excuse for
sinful behavior or attitudes.
Even attitudes or sinful thoughts will evolve into behaviors
if they are not confessed and turned from while they are still thoughts.
James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective
prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
What does this verse say we will be healed from? If we read
the first part of the sentence it seems to say that we will be healed from our
sins.
1 Samuel 16:7 "7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not
look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.
For the Lord does not see as man sees;[a] for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
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