Monthly Archives: March 2010

Christian, What’s your problem?

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~Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

~Matthew 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

~Matthew 13:50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

~Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

~Matthew 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

~Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

~Luke 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

The Lord spoke on the topic of Hell often in the New Testament. He made it clear that it was a place of darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth! One ghashes his teeth when one is angry, in anguish or in pain. In these seven verses we can see that all these feelings will be evident in the one who is cast into Hell.  An endless burning of the body, yet not consumed, and in total darkness!  Not just for a minute … but for all eternity!

Even when I was not born again, I thought about the “after life” and wondered if my catholic upbringing would be enough to get me into Heaven. However, the mere fact that I had these thoughts was evidence enough that I did not have the assurance that salvation brings. No earthly father wants his child to wonder if he is part of the family or if he will be cast out of the family. All the more with the Heavenly Father. Along with salvation, our Heavenly Father gives us an assurance that we belong to Him. Praise the Lord for that blessed assurance! But to the unbeliever and to the scoffer, there will be no second chance.  It’s now or never!

Today’s devotional is not about Hell, directly. It is a reminder to the Christian to keep on pressing forward and not to be discouraged with the trials and tribulations you are experiencing. If you get up this morning and you don’t have a warm house, it could be worse … it beats Hell. If you are having health issues, it could be worse … it beats Hell. If your spouse has left you, it could be worse … it beats Hell. If your family has abandoned you because of your faith, it could be worse … it beats Hell!!

My friend, take your eyes off your circumstances and place them on eternity! Heaven awaits us and our faith will be made sight! Joy will be with us through all of eternity. God will personally comfort us for all the trials and tribulations of this lifetime.

~Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Life here is short in comparison to eternity! Be encouraged, brethren! We are almost there! Christ is ready to make His appearance in the clouds and once He does, we are Heaven bound! No more tears … no more pain … no more struggles! Praise His Holy Name!

~Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

We are in those times that Christ talked about in Luke 21. Read the chapter again and be encouraged!

Sinning Habitually?

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~Psalm 119:59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

God’s Word teaches no Christian is sinless. However, His Word also teaches that we should not be participating in habitual sin.  The believer should be thinking about his walk with Christ and evaluating his life through the Word of God.

~1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

It is also clear that God expects the true believer to not sin habitually.

~1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Our sinning is by choice and it need not be. To practice sin as a way of life is living as the unsaved. This is a normal practice for the lost. However, a true believer should not be living in habitual sin. The true believer may sin from time to time but will not make it a normal practice.

Peter exhorts the believer to live holy lives:

~1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The word holy here means to set apart to God. Believers are set apart for God by the Holy Spirit which is given to us at salvation. We enjoy a unique relationship with God because of Jesus Christ and we have an obligation, as Peter says, to live holy!

To “practice” sin is to sin as a way of life. An unsaved person lives a life of habitual sin. The sin of unbelief is a normal thing for the lost person. A true believer does not live in habitual sin. He may commit occasional sins but he will not make it a habitual practice because he has a new nature given to him by God through the Holy Spirit.

At the time of salvation, we are given a new nature. This is evidenced in that the new Christian changes – it’s an ongoing change through sanctification. Yesterday’s devotional spoke of sanctification and how it should be an every day occurrence for us.

~2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Are you changing? Are you in the process of sanctifying yourself daily? Are you getting better through Christ?  Does your life look more like it’s Creator or the devil?  Are you an habitual sinner? If you are continuing in sin with no remorse for that sin, you must ask yourself if your salvation experience was a sincere one or was it seed which had fallen on rocky ground.  Granted, it is not by anything that we have done in our lives that we can achieve salvation.  It is all because of Jesus Christ and His work on that cross with the shedding of His blood that we can be righteous. However, this does not give the believer an open forum to sin – this life style is not imitating God and His righteous nature.  The Word of God does not lie. If we are His, we will have remorse for our sins and not be so desirous to continue in them. We are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ – that is grace! Our bodies – our flesh – continue to desire to sin but our spirit should convict us of this through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. We should never be “comfortable” in our sin.

Are you comfortable in your sin?

Sanctification? What’s that?

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~John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Noah Webster defines the word sanctify here as:

To cleanse from corruption; to purify from sin; to make holy by detaching the affections from the world and its defilements, and exalting them to a supreme love to God.

I am totally convinced that the born again Christian who keeps claiming “grace” for his continued sin struggles with this verse. How can one who continues to act like the world say he is sanctified?  Is that Christian cleansed from corruption?  Is he purified from his sins?  Is he making himself holy by detaching himself from the affections from the world and its defilements?  I’m not talking about Christ’s blood covering our sins and salvation.  I am talking about the on-going process of our spiritual walk after salvation.  God is the Potter, we are the clay.  He molds us into Christ’s image through sanctification – through our continued growing process as we read His Word.

Sanctification is a process. When we read God’s Word, the Holy Spirit wants to prick our hearts with conviction. When we respond to that conviction, we begin the process of sanctification.

Mr. Webster further defines this process of sanctification as:

The act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God’s grace by which the affections of men are purified or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God.

It is no wonder that today’s “church” is struggling!    They are no longer in the act of making their lives holy.  Instead, they are busy with distractions and not digging into God’s Word.  This produces a church that does not separate themselves from the world – they act like the world – they talk like the world – they dress like the world!  All because they look at God’s grace as though He looks the other way when they act like the unsaved!  Christ took His salvation to the people, yes.  He ate with them, He told them truth and He led them to truth.  He always had a purpose and that was to lead them to truth.  He didn’t compromise that truth by “acting” like them.  The world sees Christians like this and they do not desire what they have for there is no difference between the two in their eyes. The Christian’s salt has lost its flavor!

Sanctifying ourselves means that we must daily strive towards being more Christ like. Would Christ use the Lord’s name in vain? Would Christ have a cursing mouth? Would Christ gossip? Would Christ get drunk? Would Christ have a temper tantrum?  Would Christ steal?  Our lives as Christians should be an on-going process of spiritual growth.  Granted, we’re not going to be sinless – but we should sin less!!  The more we hang out with the world and act like them, our standards will lower.  How can one grow unless one sets himself apart from sin? How can one grow if one doesn’t make himself holy?  Just because we are saved does not grant us the privilege of sinning!  If this is what you are thinking, then something is not right with your spiritual walk.

Church today is big on God’s “grace” but they miss out on the half of it. They want His understanding and forgiveness but they do not want to purify themselves and alienate themselves from sin and the world. Sin brings pleasure and they are not so willing to part with it.  This is the basis of our struggling church today. Man’s heart is desperately wicked and deceitful says Jeremiah 17:9. Why would we trust our own heart to make decisions when we are not sanctifying ourselves?

Granted, our salvation is not in question here. Christ’s blood covers us and we are assured Heaven because of HIS work, not ours. However, the process of allowing the Holy Spirit to be the Potter (and we the clay) who will mold us into Christ’s image is the process of sanctification. Surely we cannot be so brazen as to think that we can be saved and yet continue to live in sin. If that is the case, we are sorely mistaken. The Word of God is a “living” Word – it cleanses and purifies! Just as water cleanses our bodies, so is God’s Word to our spirit!

~2 Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

We walk on dangerous grounds when we trust our own heart to lead us down the Christian path!

~Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

God wants to show us where to go and how to live. He does not want us trusting in our own thoughts and desires but in Him! He wants us to lean on His understanding, now our own. How important it is to read His Word and allow His Spirit to guide us!

~1 Thessalonians 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

How do you possess your vessel? Do you protect yourself from the temptations of this world? What are your weak areas? Do you have a pet weakness? Honor God with your actions. Honor God with your mouth. Honor God by sanctifying your life – set it apart from what the world does. Grace has nothing to do with us continuing to sin and act like the world. Grace has everything to do with salvation! Once we have received salvation, we must train ourselves to turn to God’s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us and sanctify us! Wake up Church!

Forget the Past

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~Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Pity parties – the devil absolutely loves them! How do these pity parties come about in our lives? I truly believe it is because we dwell on what has happened in our lives and not what is going to happen. The Lord knows our future – He has been there and is most qualified to guide us. To depend on Him to take care of what is going to happen is what we must train ourselves to do.

Dwelling on past sins, mistakes and life’s hardships is not going to help us press toward our Heavenly reward. In fact, it causes us to take our eyes off that mark. Ole slew foot knows what he is doing. He knows that if he can get us to focus on our daily circumstances then we will be useless for the cause of Christ. The unbeliever will see us struggling and will not want what we have. The believer will see us struggling and will not be challenged by our testimony.

But our Father knows our trials and our past. If we allow Him, He will mold us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ! Let’s allow Him and be yielded to His Hand!

~Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Strengthen Thou Me!!

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~Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Some situations in life seem so overwhelming that I feel as though it’s impossible for a good outcome! My whole being cries out to the Lord for His healing hand!

He may not bring healing right when I think I need it, but He does bring me strength to go through these overwhelming times. He helps me to live each day with a positive outlook because I know that the Lord is on His throne and He will see this to the end.

Thank You, Lord!

~Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

Life’s Battles

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~Galatians 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

~Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Yesterday’s devotional briefly covered the fruit of the Holy Spirit displayed as we walk this spiritual journey. As I read today’s verses, I saw the remedy for nurturing and growing my spiritual fruit. As we practice these verses, we are training ourselves to walk in the Spirit of God. These are His qualities and characteristics. As we mimic Him, we work toward producing good fruit, not spotted with the world’s rottenness.

I love today’s photograph.  I took this at Sweet Creek Falls in Mapleton, Oregon.  Notice how the water is capturing a small amount of the sunlight through the trees.  I felt that it depicted the spiritual struggle between the flesh and the Spirit that Paul was trying to explain.  Paul tells us that our flesh (our old sin nature) is constantly battling against the Holy Spirit. But notice how Paul continues to tell us that The Spirit also battles against our flesh. When we are doing wrong, the Spirit lets us know it. We are not “comfortable” in our shoes. We are constantly battling – good against evil. Paul says that these two natures are contrary to each other and that we don’t want to do the things that we shouldn’t do (in the flesh). Do we fail? Absolutely! But the key is not continue to stay in this sin. If we are not bothered by the sin and continue in it, we should check ourselves – we should question why. The one who is not born again doesn’t even care that he is sinning. But to the born again believer, this is not so.

Paul exhorts the Corinthian church to examine themselves to see if they are living the sanctified life of a born-again believer.  He affirmed rather than questioned their salvation in 1 Corinthians as well ( 1 Cor. 1:2; 3:1; 6:11,19-20). In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 and 6:19-20 Paul referred to their carnality and yet called them “babes in Christ” and those whose “body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.”

He encouraged them to prove their sanctification to themselves.  Nowhere do the Scriptures call believers to look to their works for assurance of salvation.  Our salvation is through the Lord’s righteousness and His alone (Jer. 23:6b).  We are called to look to Christ and find our assurance in Him. However, repeatedly in the Scriptures believers are called to look to their works to find out how they are doing in their walk with Christ. Yes, as believers we are to examine ourselves regularly. The purpose is to ensure that we are doing our best in our service for Christ.   Christ provides salvation, the Holy Spirit provides sanctification – a separation between the worldly lusts and the fruit of the faith.

~2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

So, Christian, let’s do a Godly inventory of our spiritual fruit. Are we walking in the Spirit or aren’t we?  Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us, to grow us, to sanctify us to the work of the Master?

Granted we are a work in progress and the Lord isn’t finished with us. However, we should be steadily moving forward in our walk. Paul repeated this thought process when he was writing to Timothy:

~2Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

We should not be standing still for when we stand still we give the devil an opportunity to tempt us. The longer we stay still, the more likely we will be walking after the flesh and, therefore, be walking backwards!

Displaying Trophies?

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~Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If I were to neatly arrange my spiritual fruit in a showcase, would I be displaying many trophies of good fruit?

The Apostle Paul explains to us that we have evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives by the fruit that we bear. Just reading about the fruit of the Spirit brings peace to my heart. Every believer has some trophies to display in his spiritual showcase. Some more than others. We each grow at our own pace but each of us has some.

As I was looking over these wonderful fruit, I found myself lacking. I even found some of my fruit was spotted. I had to ask myself, “Have I been as longsuffering as I should have? How am I doing with my temperance (self control)? How’s my faith during times of testing?”

Thank God that He isn’t finished with me yet! As we see a spotted fruit messing up our trophy case, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and work toward producing beautiful fruit for the Lord!

Hiding Sin?

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~Numbers 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Sin brings pleasure. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t be so quick to fall into its trap. In fact, the deeper we fall into sin’s trap, the less conviction we have. We stop listening to the Holy Spirit as He tries to guide us. It even gets to a point where we laugh at sin and make fun of it. It no longer singes our hearts but stirs up the desire to sin even more.

~Proverbs 14:9  Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

With that moment’s pleasure comes assurance of judgment from a Righteous and Holy God!

~Galatians 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Are you struggling with God’s punishments today? The child who is spanked by God is a child who is loved. I cherish these verses in Scriptures because the Lord shows me that He loves me:

~Hebrews 12:6-10 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Yes we are under His Grace but that does not give us a license to sin and get away with it. Do you allow your children to get away with disobeying you? Of course not! Neither does the Perfect Parent, our Heavenly Father. We are His children – we deserve His punishment when we disobey. It does not remove us from His family – it does not take away our position as His child. Just as our child is not less our child when we discipline him, neither are we less a child of God when we sin. This is the difference between religion and true Christianity. Religion adds to salvation and, therefore, removes grace from God’s gift. True Christianity reveals God’s grace and shows true change from the heart. The true child of God will be a work in action – moving forward and growing like a plant. If the child is not growing and changing, something is wrong. Question yourself – seek answers in God’s Word!

It Hurts, Lord!

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~Psalm 55:22-23 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

Have you ever been hurt so deeply that you don’t think you will ever get over it? You are cut to the very core of your soul and you think your thoughts will never see the light of day!

We have a Heavenly Father who is righteous and will pass judgment according to His righteousness. We do not need to occupy our thoughts with getting even. We do not need to be overwhelmed with being wronged! All we need to do, according to the Psalmist, is to cast our breaking heart on Him and He will keep you from sinking into despondency. He will put into our thoughts the hope of our future with Him in the middle of all of our heartaches!

Be encouraged, oh Christian! God will pass His judgment on those who have wronged us or hurt us. God will have the final say. We don’t have to do anything but surrender to Him and allow Him to heal our spirit!

The Lord is:

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I was driving to work the other day and listening to my audio Bible. At the time, I was in Psalms, and the Lord impressed upon me the words “the Lord is my.” I decided to check to see how many times this phrase is used in Scriptures and what the phrase referenced. I was so blessed by what I discovered, I had to put it down in writing. I hope you are blessed!

The Lord is my:

Strength

(Exo 15:2) The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

I do not know I need anyone, let alone God, until I am down and at my weakest. It is then that I can see God at work and His strength is made evident.

Song

(Psa 118:14) The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

God gives me a new song when I finally realize that He is the one that I need.

Rock

(2 Sam 22:2) And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

God becomes my Rock because there is no other. My salvation cannot rest on anyone else or else it rests on sand.

Fortress

(Psa 18:2) The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

When all the world falls apart around me, I know that I can run to Him and rest in His protection. No one can take away what He has given to me – that is, my salvation.

Deliverer

(Psa 18:2) The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

He delivers me from the evil around me. I do not need to succumb to temptation because He is there to provide a way out.

Shepherd

(Psa 23:1) A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The Lord gently guides me in the paths that I take but also firmly rebukes me when I am going down the wrong one.

Light

(Psa 27:1) A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

My God sheds light on His Word to light my path so that I do not walk in darkness as I once did. I can clearly see what lies ahead.

Salvation

(Psa 27:1) A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

There is salvation in no other than in the Lord. What do I have to fear if I am threatened with death if I do not bow down to other gods?

Shield

(Psa 28:7) The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

My God shields me from the devil’s darts of destruction. He helps me to recognize them through His Word and helps me day by day. What comfort and joy this brings to a child who is going through tumultuous times.

Defence

(Psa 94:22) But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

When I am mocked and wronged, my God will come to my defense. It may not be in my lifetime but this child knows that it will all be made known in eternity – and that’s a long time!

Portion

(Lam 3:24) The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

At the moment I was born again, salvation became my inheritance. God’s righteousness is over me, not my own, praise His Holy Name!

God

(Zech 13:9) And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

He no longer is just “god” but He is now my God and Lord.

Helper

(Heb 13:6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

It is appropriate that the New Testament closes out this phrase with the fact that God is our Helper. There is no way we could gain salvation on our own. After salvation, there is no way we could keep it or live a perfect life without His doing. He is my Helper.

God is all these things and more to the child of the King! Rejoice in Him this morning!