Sunday's on the way

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! Psalm32:11. Not because it’s Friday, but because no matter what this week has brought…good, bad, or indifferent…Sunday’s on its way!

Healing Through Christ

For in Him the fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Colossians 2:9-10. Healing of any kind, comes through Christ alone…anyone who would encourage you need submission to anything else is teaching and leading falsely. Other things may apply (meds etc…) but Christ is first

Sin

And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of hearts, and said to the man, “stretch out your hand.” Mark 3:5…Make no mistake regarding the heart of God. His heart holds both anger and grief towards sin and those who walk there in.

Thoughts on Isaiah 6:1-3...

In Isaiah 6:1-3 it is written: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Do we in the church today understand or even begin to grasp the majesty of God? “Sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple…” Have you ever imagined the train of his robe filling the sanctuary of your place of worship? How would your worship change on that day? What would be an appropriate heart response to this supreme majesty of God? What effect would this have on the way you approached God, or His Word spoken in service by way of sermon?
I often wonder what the church today as a whole has gained with this great desire to come so casually into the presence of God. Perhaps it is our lack of understanding in His written Word, or the lack of obedience lived out in our lives that drives us to that place of casual comfort. Attempting to down play His majesty our casualness allows us to feel less guilt in His temple. If this be true then how can we come confidently into the presence of God without falling into the sin of irreverence?

The seraphim said that the whole earth is full of God’s glory. Does this correspond to your perspective of the world? When you look around your world today, are you inclined to sing the same song? Tough questions…and in transparency I must admit I to have gotten caught up, side tracked, and a bit to routine. Much to repent of, much to pray on, and much to recognize to be thankful for…

Weekend Quote

“Before God uses a man, God will break the man.” ~ A.W. Tozer

Weekend Quote

If persecution should arise, you should be willing to part with all that you posses – with your liberty, with your life itself, for Christ- or you cannot be His disciple. ~ Charles Spurgeon

Who Do You Say He is?

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”…Luke 9:20…When was the last time you heard someone reference Jesus with such power and authority? Someone who’s authority is far greater than the supplier of fire insurance!

More of What???

Why is it that you can find a church on every corner, a conference of some type every weekend and yet folks don’t appear to stand any better today than they did this time last year? I continue to meet and talk with people who want more. They bounce from church to church looking for more. What is the “More” they are looking for? Is it more of God, more out of Worship, more power within their lives?
It seems to me that what is lacking…is a true biblical understanding and or belief in the scriptures, and the discipline to apply it in their daily lives. People attend church like it’s a fix all to the problems they faced over the past week and desperately looking for the “magic” that will get them through the next week. It’s this mentality that has folks so interested in chasing signs and wonders. I would love just once to have someone…ANYONE who walks around boasting of how prophetic their church/pastor is to have enough understanding of what they are talking about; to have the ability to give a clear scriptural and biblically sound reference to support that which they are speaking of. How do you justify a modern day Prophet? When was the last time someone was called out on a false prophesy? People run around talking about revival...Pastors are calling for greater commitment of prayer, commitment to serving within the church…”we need revival in the land”…etc. Are we to understand that revival is that which is going to bring the “more” everyone seems to be looking for?
How about REPENTANCE! How about taking a stand and calling out one another to live in holiness and Godliness…setting an example to the unbeliever. Revival will never occur in a selfishly stained church.
Did it ever occur to anyone that revival must begin with repentance from within? That all these folks that fail to live out their lives separated from the world can pray until carpets are warn, and serve in every ministry the church has to offer; but without Holiness and Godliness their prayers for revival go unheard. The time is long overdue to throw away the spotlights, and uncover the cross.
You want drama…follow me into the streets and witness to the addicts, drunks, and spiritually dead. Send the band back into the pews and let’s learn to WORSHIP God by glorifying Him in song and praise rather than mimic the top ten of what God can do for us as heard on the local radio station. You have an alcohol problem...REPENT and apply God’s Word in life. You have a drug problem REPENT and apply God’s Word in your life…Is your marriage falling apart… REPENT and apply God’s Word in your life. Finance’s a mess… REPENT and apply God’s Word in your life.
The only way anyone is going to find more is to seek less of anything outside God’s written and Holy Scripture. REPENT…Submit to Christ as both Lord and Savior…only then will one find the “More” they are so desperately seeking.

Repent!

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. Repentance should come almost as easy as breathing…Both are life sustaining!

Weekend Quote

Instead of exhorting sinners to repent, evangelicalism in our society asks the unsaved to “accept Christ.” That makes sinners sovereign and puts Christ at their disposal. ~ John MacArthur

Weekend Quote

Sanctification, unlike Justification, is not a one-time, legal declaration. It is an experiential separation from sin that begins at salvation and continues in increasing degrees of practical holiness in one’s life and behavior. ~ John MacArthur

Forgiveness

But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses…Matthew 6:15…Take in every opportunity to practice forgiveness today. Letting go of those things of yesterday is a good place to start.

It's Just that simple!

And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and said to him, “Follow me”. And he rose and followed Him…Mark 2:14…Yes…it’s just that easy...simply surrender to Savior and Lordship!

Weekend Quote

As a sinful, unregenerate person cannot help manifesting his or her true character, neither can the regenerate person. So it is impossible to be alive in Christ and still be alive to sin.~ John MacArthur

Weekend Quote

Human effort cannot bring salvation. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. When we relinquish all hope except faith in Christ and His finished work on our behalf, we are acting by the faith that God in His grase supplies. ~ John MacArthur

Victory is Yours!

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith…1 John 5:4…Daily we face worldly battles. Win, lose or draw in your battle never forget that your faith; even as small as a mustard seed has the power to overcome the world. VICTORY IS YOURS!

Once Saved Always Saved ~ Part 2

Continuing with “Once saved always saved.” Christians are not supposed to live like unsaved people. Sin that was unheard of in the church a generation ago is now common place today. Churches claiming to be Evangelical have no moral conviction offering the right hand of fellowship to unmarried couples openly living together, practicing homosexuals, simply because they affirm their faith in Jesus.

3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear" (Matt. 13:3-9).

In the parable of the sower the problem is not with the sower, the seed or the composition of the soil. The problem lies within the condition of the soil.

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart (Matt. 13:19).

Think of the heart of the hearer as the spiritual equivalent of the soil receiving a farmer’s seed. Four conditions of the heart:
1) Unresponsive Heart
This heart knows no repentance, no sorrow over sin, no guilt, and no concerns for the things of God. It is unresponsive, unconcerned, inattentive, indifferent, negligent, and often hostile towards the gospel.
2) Superficial Heart
This heart is enthusiastic but shallow. It responds positively but not with saving faith. There is no thought involved, no COUNTING THE COST. It is quick, emotional, euphoric, instant excitement without any understanding of the actual significance of discipleship. That is NOT genuine faith.
3) Worldly Heart
For a while they look just like the rest of the church. They come to church, identify with the people of God, even show signs of growth. But they never bear spiritual fruit. They are uncommitted and preoccupied with the world’s pleasures, money career, fame, fortune, or the lusts of the flesh. They claim to be Christian, but care nothing about a pure life.
4) Receptive Heart
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty" (Matt. 13:23).

Fruit bearing is the ultimate test of salvation (Matt.7:17-20). If soil doesn’t produce a crop, it is worthless ground, symbolic of an unredeemed heart.
Good soil = Believer.
Weedy & Shallow soil = Pretenders.
Soil by the wayside = Rejecters.
Fruit, not foliage, is the mark of TRUE salvation.

You will recognize them by their fruits (Matt. 7:16)

Once Saved Always Saved? Part 1

I am chewing on a statement implied that one can “accept Christ” thus becoming a Christian and then live a life style separated from God in sin, and that sometime later in life can “come back” to Christ as a Christian. I disagree with that logic inherently as that would ultimately place Salvation on man’s terms or merit.
Faith is wholly leaning on Christ-for redemption, for righteousness, for counsel, for fellowship, for sustenance, for direction, for His Lordship, and for all in life that can truly satisfy. It is impossible to live a life in sin and have faith in God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:
Cheap Grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares…Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness that frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, and incarnate.
Paul Writes, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Eph.2:2-3)
Because we were born in sin we were born to death. People do not become spiritually dead because they sin; they are sinners by nature, and therefore born without spiritual life. Because we were born dead to God, we are dead to truth, righteousness, peace, happiness, and every other good thing, no more able to respond to God than a cadaver. “Trespasses and sins” and “transgressions” that Paul speaks of are not specific acts. They describe the sphere of existence of the person apart from God, the realm in which sinners live called Total Depravity.
Total depravity does not mean that every person’s life style is equally corrupt and wicked, or that sinners are always as bad as they can be. It simply means that man is corrupt in every regard. They are depraved in their minds, their hearts, their wills, their emotions, and their physical beings, and are utterly incapable of anything but sin. It doesn’t matter if they perform humanitarian, philanthropic, or religious deeds; they do them for their own glory not God’s. People are not “all God’s children,” Those who have not received salvation through Jesus Christ are God’s enemies (Rom. 5:10; James 4:4). At one time we were once like that, but by God’s grace we are no longer like that. Because of His saving work in us, we are presently and eternally redeemed. Therefore, one cannot “accept Christ” then return living a life style in sin and spiritually dead.

Sunday's AM Quote

Those with true faith will fail – and in some cases, frequently – but a genuine believer will, as a pattern of life, confess his sin and come to the Father for forgiveness. ~ John MacArthur

Saturday's Am Quote

The gospel demands surrender, not only for authority’s sake, but also because surrender is the believer’s highest joy. Such surrender is an extraneous adjunct to faith; it is the very essence of believing. ~ John MacArthur

Repentance...

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose…Psalm 25:11…Repentance reminds us who we are before a Holy God. It brings about His Grace and allows us to follow in his Direction.

Are You Bound By Lack?

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…Ephesians 3:20…Often times we miss out on the greater things of God, the “abundant” that God has to offer because of the lack that binds within us.
What is the lack that binds us? Some may think it’s a lack of faith. Others may think that circumstances of their past, or the way they were raised growing up that has brought wounds, and dysfunction within their lives is the lack that binds. But the truth is God is able; able to overcome anything lacking or binding in your life. The truth will set you free (Jn 8:32). The reality is the lack that is binding you is the lack in Truth of God’s Word stored up and written upon your heart. That is where the power comes from that will eliminate ANYTHING binding in your life. Stand upon His promises, and walk in His strength, and live your life in the power of knowing He is able.

Discipline or Just Life?

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life…Proverbs 6:23…Often times we are quick to blame the circumstances in our lives on life rather than recognizing it as a Fathers correction; failing the lesson in learning maturing and growing in our Faith.