Free At Last

Romans 8:1

New King James Version (NKJV)

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Hallelujah.  

We are often tossed and driven by life and circumstances and one of the temptations is to look at ourselves and how we continually fall short.  We hang our heads and feel as though we no longer have access to the thrown of grace because of our feelings of unworthiness.  The enemy of our souls also known as the accuser of the brethren is ready to pounce on any he can devour in a moments notice. 

It is important to know and believe that the work Christ did was a complete work.  We are no longer bound by sin. And when we sin we have an advocate who's blood was sufficient for all of our sin.  You are not condemned nor can you be.  The veil has been torn and there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God.   Have all confidence that you can approach the thrown of God, not in pride for the works you completed but in thankfulness and humility accepting the work that Christ has completed for you. 

Hebrews 4:16

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

True Rest

Romans 13:14

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

 Ephesians 5:17-19

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 

Life can be taxing. Many times I have sought rest on my own, movies, fishing reading a book and all the while neglecting the true rest, Jesus.  Many things threaten to choke out the Word of God in our hearts and cause us to be unfruitful. We are often drawn away by things that satisfy our flesh, but do nothing to bolster our spirits.  When we indulge our flesh, we feel no more rested, refreshed or filled then when we first started. Often times as we feed our flesh it becomes hungry for more. 

Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus to be filled with the Spirit.  This is what our spirits truly long for communion with God.  He is our rest our Sabbath. Wait on Him let Him fill you and refresh you and: 

Isaiah 40:31

New King James Version (NKJV)

³¹ But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Kingdom Living

Matthew 6:33

New King James Version (NKJV)

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Jesus preached the kingdom of God.  He showed by example what the kingdom of God was truly like.  He commanded His followers to go and do the same.   He gave power to them to do so. 

My question to you is this: are you doing it?

Are you obeying the Lords command? Are you building His kingdom or your own?

Matthew 28:19

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Soul Winning

Romans 2:4-6

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴ Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Dear saints we are indeed called to stand for righteousness, truth and justice without compromise; however, we are to do it in love.  For these things all stem from love and in turn from God.  The world doesn't need us cursing the darkness, but spreading the light. 

Jesus prayed to the following to the Father: 

John 17:23

New King James Version (NKJV)

²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

The world (people) need us to display the love of the Father for them (John 3:16) and the love of the Father for each other (John 15:11-13).  

Show the kindness of God and let's win souls for the Kingdom. 

John 15:11-13

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹² This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

God Has No Equals

Genesis 1:1

New King James Version (NKJV)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

God created all things. Heaven and Earth and all that is in them. Unfortunately there is a belief that satan is equal with God and that they are caught in a balance of power. Some religions even teach that satan was Jesus' brother.  This is nothing short of heresy. 

God created satan. Can the thing created be greater than its creator? Certainly not! While there is a battle for the souls of men in the end the victor has been declared.  satan will be cast into a lake of fire and all of God's enemies will be defeated with a word. 

Have no doubt there is none like our God. Victory is His! 

 

Romans 8:31

New King James Version (NKJV)

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

What's Holding You Back?

Ephesians 1:3-6

New King James Version (NKJV)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In the passage above Paul tells the followers of Jesus in Ephesus that they have been adopted and every spiritual blessing is theirs and that it was to Gods pleasure to do so. The Ephesians needed this exhortation and I believe the Church still needs it today. 

We as believers don't often live as we are called because we forget who we are and the work that God has already completed in us, through us and for us.  We are new creations, something the world has never seen before.  It is up to us to live like it.  LIVE LIKE YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD WHO HAS BEEN BLESSED WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING AND CHOSEN OF GOD AND ACCEPTED. You need not fear or be dismayed.  God has saved you all to His pleasure and His glory.  Live not because you want God's favor, but because you are His child and have His favor in Christ. 

A Great Treasure

James 4:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...

As a husband and father I find that my time (really the Lord's time) seems to be spoken for even before I wake up. Working, investing in my marriage and investing in my children, spending time with other believers and reaching out to the lost does not leave much time in the day. 

I find that there is a danger here in the business of life.  Things that are important and justified even commanded of by the Word of God can distract me from what is most important and that is the Lord Himself.

Look at the church in Ephesus: 

Revelation 2:4

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Good works are important and every believer should be concerned with doing the works that God has ordain for us to do; however, our eternal motive must be a love for God.  He is our great reward. Draw near to Him. 

Father in Heaven

Matthew 6:9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁹ In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

It is no small thing that when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray He began with our Father. We believers in Jesus as the Messiah have been adopted and are now sons and daughters of God.  Unfortunately for many the thought of God as a father is foreign to them or even scary, because of the relationship or lack of relationship they have or had with their earthly father. 

Whether your father was the best father in the world or whether he was the biggest jerk or if he was just plain absent he is nothing like our Father in heaven.  We only need to look at Jesus to see the truth about our Father in heaven. 

The life of Jesus shows us exactly what the Father is like. Study it. Meditate on it and know the Father's love.  He is with you always. He will never leave nor forsake you.  There is no condemnation in Him.  He is a God who gives. He will not abuse you our use you.  Trust Him. 

Something to Boast About

2 Corinthians 12:9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

There are many days where I just feel I can't make it.  Where temptations threaten to overwhelm me. No matter how hard I try to resist the devil or flee from lust they bombard me on every side.  Days I don't FEEL joyful and I don't FEEL at peace or I don't FEEL like rejoicing or being kind or loving or patient. The cares of this world threaten to choke out the very Word that has been planted in my heart. 

Then God's truth steps in.  His Spirit brings to remembrance the verse above and what joy feels my heart. He reminds me that I have a High Priest who can sympathize (Hebrews 4:15). All I need to do is wait on Him and He will strengthen me. He will deliver me. He will give me peace. I can walk in the Spirit and bear fruit worthy of repentance.  He is good and His mercy endures forever.

A Life Worth Imitating

John 5:19

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁹ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.


Jesus, our Lord and example, knew exactly who He was and what authority was given to Him. Yet He always kept His eyes on the Father mimicking Him as a child does a parent.  We can do no less.  God desires us to see what He is doing and do that.  Watch the Son through the gospels. See how He deals with the poor, the sick the lame.  See how He disciples His followers, teaching them the word, showing them through example, listening to their questions.   See how He deals with the religious leaders and those who oppress others.  Imitate Christ dear saint. 

  

Shared Passion

Hebrews 12:2

New King James Version (NKJV)

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.

The writer of Hebrews encourages believers to look to Jesus, the express image of God the Father.  I would like to draw to your attention His passion for people.  His endurance of the cross was because of His great love for us. (see John 3:16).  His life was given for all men that they may know His love. Because of His love and passion He endured, not just the pain and suffering of the cross, but rejection, shame, ridicule, beating, sleeplessness, the loss of comfort and persecution.  He believed that you and I were worth the suffering. He believed that the value of one soul was worth it. 

As believers God desires us to share the same passion and care for the loss.  He desires us to forgo our comfort and be willing to endure ridicule, rejection, shame and persecution for others.  Share in the passion of Christ my brother, my sister and preach the gospel.  The lost person is worth more than anything you might experience as a result of sharing your faith.  

Because of His great love for you, love others.  

1 Thessalonians 3:12

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,

A God Who Weeps

Luke 19:41-44

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴¹ Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

There are so many religions out there, but there is only one true God.  His name is Jesus.  In this passage of scripture we see the true heart of God.  He is not a distant being unable or unwilling to engage in human affairs.  He is not a God that is not concerned with the plight of men.  He is a God who looks at the condition men and weeps. 

But unlike the powerless gods that are worshiped all over the world, gods that make man fix himself and work to clean themselves up and earn their love; Jesus paid the price for our sins, because of His love.  While we were His enemies he died for us.  He is a God ever moved with compassion. GOD loves!



Thank you for your prayers saints.  I had the privilege of sharing the gospel while in the hospital and I am recovering well.  All love in CHRIST JESUS our LORD!

Encounter with God

John 4:10

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

I would encourage you to revisit this chapter of John.  Think about the life of this woman.  Her life is not unlike many women today. I know some of what I have to say is speculation, so please bear with me. 
  
She may have been like my wife and come from an abusive home. Learning by abuse of her father or family friend that many men just want to take.  Her father could have left her and her mother alone to fend for themselves and become a scourge to society. Make no mistake thinking that the times then were much different than today.  The tragedy of men using women and then leaving them was very real then. I could easily imagine that this poor woman eventually believed that being in the arms of a man was the only way she found any value.

Maybe her first husband died and left her a widow. A first love that she kept looking for in other men.  Then husband two comes along and he is as abusive as her father and leaves her.  At this point she feels she has no worth, that men just want to take. There is no love in the world only sorrow and pain with occasional highlights of joy that soon fade.  

I know I paint a bleak picture here, but you can be assured that this happened then and is happening now in our age.  

Then Jesus comes along.  Her first response was this is another man that wants to take from me. But as they speak she finds something different in Him. Childhood stories of a Messiah awaken in her spirit.  Then He confirms her suspicions.  "I am He." 

For once in her life here is a Man that is going to give.  Jesus shows the truth about God. While the enemy of our souls and other men came to take;  He came to give. He gives beauty for ashes, gladness for mourning, life for death, joy for pain and peace.  It is the same for you, God does not come in your life to take but to give.

John 10:10

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

I have had some complications with my surgery and will be heading to the hospital today.  I should be back soon until then. GOD IS THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL GOD!!! all love in CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.  I was thinking also there may be some nurses or doctors or others in the hospital that need the gospel or prayer so pray that I might have utterance to speak the gospel boldly and power to be a witness there.  Pray that I have an opportunity to share the gospel.

What do you seek after?

Hebrews 11:6

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We seek a lot of things in this world.  Food, comfort, shelter, fame, the list goes on and on. Jesus tells us to seek ye first the kingdom of God and the writer of Hebrews tells us to diligently seek God and He will reward us.  

I find in my life that I may seek God but not diligently.  Some times my prayers are short and to the point, but not much seeking going on.  I am learning that diligence takes time, effort and purpose.  

I exhort you to seek the Lord with all your heart. 
 

Nothing for Me

Hebrews 11:24-27

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

I look back on life with not a little regret.  As I believe that I am drawing nearer to God and He in turn is drawing near to me; I feel that I have wasted a lot of time.  There is a world that is hurting, lost like sheep having no shepherd and God has commanded us to make them disciples.  He has empowered us to do so!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us make Moses our example and forsake the cares and riches of this world and seek true heavenly riches.  Let us like Jesus look on the multitudes with compassion and be moved.  

Hebrews 12:1-2

New King James Version (NKJV)

12 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.

 

Something to Strive For

John 17:20-21

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Jesus prayed this prayer the night of His victory over sin.  He was praying for all the believers that were to come, that includes you and me.  It was a desire of His heart that you and I would be one just as He and the Father are one.  It would be proof to the world that He was sent from the Father. 

So I ask you do you strive to be one with other believers?  It was a deep desire of our Lord. Let it be yours. 

Ephesians 4:3

New King James Version (NKJV)

³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

The Struggle

James 1:2-8  (NKJV)

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 

For the last four months I have struggled with intense back pain which radiated to my legs and feet.  We have had to sell our house and face the potential loss of my job.  A couple of weeks ago I finally had surgery to relieve the pain in my back, legs and feet.  Early on in this trial there were times when I could hardly walk without assistance. I can remember one of these times I was trying to go from my kitchen to my bedroom.  I couldn't do it.  I asked my fifteen year old son JB to assist me down the hall to bed and take of my shoes.  It was all too overwhelming.  When I reached my room I lost it.  I cried out to God.  "Jesus, I am so afraid". I was afraid of losing my job, afraid of the pain, and humiliated that I needed my son to help me with my shoes. It was a dark time. 

Another time came after the surgery my lungs filled with blood and I kept coughing it up which caused me an extra night in the hospital. (Glad I am here to write this).  Enough about me though. 

Jesus promised us that we would have trials in this world. Difficult and narrow is the way of the believer.  But He also said that His burden is light and His yoke is easy.  Our way into, through and out of trials is Jesus. He has promised to always be with us , that He will NEVER leave nor forsake us. Comfort and joy are ours, we need only ask and seek His face then we can face the trials and count them joy. 

JESUS loves you He really does.  Don't lose hope. Keep the faith and stay strong my brethren.