Is God Angry?

It is a fearful thing to be in the hands of an angry God!

Yes…….God  can be angered.  His righteous fury can burn!

He is an all consuming fire.  Pity the person that deserves His anger! 

What man can stand against the wrath of a Holy God?

 

Make no mistake.  No one rebels against Him or mocks Him and goes away unscathed.  You may think there is no reprisal.  You are sadly mistaken!

God is not mocked!

What is rebellion against God?

Not believing that He exists.  Believing in false gods.  Not believing the Bible is truth and the word of God.  Not obeying God and His laws.

The One True Living God created the universe and everything that exists in it.  Everything in the world belongs to Him.  Not to you or me.  He is the Ruler and King.  Since the beginning of time, people haven’t liked that concept.  They want to do whatever they like.  People want to please themselves, not some “god”.  There is a problem with that thought process.  God is real and He will rule the universe whether you like it or not!

The Lord God has a desire to love.  That is His first thought.  He created mankind to love and have fellowship with Him.  He wants to be merciful and kind.  That is His nature.  God is ever patient and full of grace towards every one of us.  He does not want anyone to come under His wrath.  But just how much do you think He is willing to tolerate?

God sent His son, Jesus, to die for our sins.  What does that even mean?  Sinners must be punished.  The punishment for sin is death.  This is a very real truth whether you like it or not.  God ordained it to be so.  He is righteous and cannot live around sinners.  He wants to dwell with us for eternity.  That simply isn’t possible unless we have been made “innocent” again.

Jesus, the Son of God,  came from heaven to die in our place.  Each one of us.  He literally paid for our sins when He died on the cross.  (You can learn more about Jesus by clicking on all of this sentence).  Jesus did this to give us all a chance to be made “innocent” in God’s eyes.

The only hope of escaping God’s wrath is to believe in His Son Jesus and obey Him!

See what is written in the holy scriptures by John.  John was a disciple of Jesus and knew Him personally.  Jesus taught Him many things.  Listen to what John has written:

I John  Chapter 1:

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

Living in the Light

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

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I John  Chapter 2:

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

A New Commandment

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

I am writing to you who are God’s children

because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

I am writing to you who are mature in the faith

because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

I am writing to you who are young in the faith

because you have won your battle with the evil one.

I have written to you who are God’s children

because you know the Father.

I have written to you who are mature in the faith

because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

I have written to you who are young in the faith

because you are strong.

God’s word lives in your hearts,

and you have won your battle with the evil one.

Do Not Love This World

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Warning about Antichrists

Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also

So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

Living as Children of God

And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.

Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.

 

Here is another excerpt from the Scriptures:

Ephesians 5: 3-13

Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible.

You must accept this truth.  To deny this truth is to call God a liar!

Do you really want to infuriate the One True God?  Why not believe His words?

Stop rebelling!  Your future is at stake here.  Rebelling will incur God’s anger against you.  Here are more quotes from the Holy Scriptures about the future of rebels against God:

Romans 2:5-8

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

Matthew 10: 28

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

Mark 9:42-48

“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.  And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.

The person that rebels against God

will spend all of eternity

(living forever) in hell. 

Do no rebel and incur God’s wrath!

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2017 Message for The Church

Repent!

       Repent!

              Repent!

The Lord God calls His people to repent in 2017.  He alone is holy.  Our God is a jealous God and He will have no other gods worshiped by His people.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Father’s blessed son.  Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We who belong to Him must love Him with all of our heart and soul.

The Lord’s message to His people in America and all over the world is to repent……..fall on your knees and confess your sins.  Let the blood of Jesus cleanse your sins and know that you are truly forgiven.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to obey the Father and to flee from sin.

Religion will not help you in 2017!

Traditions of men will not help you in 2017!

Only the true living God can keep you from the perils that are coming!

 

Phillipians 2:6-11

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Church is sleeping……..

Yes, there is a small remnant of God’s people that are awake and listening to His voice.  They are only a few.

Most of the Church isn’t listening for their Father’s voice.  You are serving a god of your own choosing.  You have your traditions that have nothing to do with the word of God.  You like to have your ears “tickled” and believe what you want to believe.

You are interested in money and things.  You are interested in lust and your own selfish desires.  You have the impudence to call yourself a Christian, but rarely give Jesus Christ a thought.  Many of you don’t even go to church or read the Bible or pray.  Oh……yes…..you pray when you want something from God.  That is all!

Be ware……… God is not mocked!

Yes……His mercies endure…….He is longsuffering and patient………

But for how long will He endure your indifference?

How long will He endure your worshiping other gods?  (yourself, money, things, sex, entertainment, even trying to combine other religions with faith in God)

Tremble and know that He alone is God!

He is a jealous God!

Our God is an all-consuming fire!

Let those that have an ear to hear listen and obey!

 

God Hates Abortion!

We have blood on our hands…………

And it cries out to God!

We have sacrificed our babies on the altar of abortion.

Their blood cries out for vengeance!

Will God turn away and not listen?

Abortion is murder.  It is taking an innocent baby and killing it.  Why do we do this?  Because we want to enjoy sexual immorality and not pay any price for it.  A baby is inconvenient for us and we don’t want it.  Therefore…….we murder the baby!

Does God really take interest in a baby in the womb?  Does He really care    about this child?

Psalms 139 13-16   You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

What does God think about murder? 

He hates murder.  He hates abortion!

Genesis 4:10-12   But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

Proverbs 6:16-19   There are six things the Lord hates—- no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

Exodus  21:22-25  “Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve. But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.

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Here are the statistics on abortion:

1,281,401,884    abortions worldwide since 1980.

57,000,000     abortions in the U.S. since 1973

Click here to see live chart on abortions occurring around the world.

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God will judge a people that kill their children……born or yet in the womb!  Do not think for a minute that He will turn away from the cries of these babies.   He is a holy God and will avenge innocent blood. 

We must repent of this horrible sin.  Our nations must turn away from the practice of abortion.  God will surely punish us if we continue to kill babies!

Pray for these precious ones!

Pray that people stop abortion!

 

Jesus Prayed this Prayer for the Church

Jesus Christ is our High Priest.

He is in heaven and intercedes for us to the Father.

Jesus prayed many times to the Father when He was on earth.

This is the prayer Jesus prayed for everyone that would ever believe in Him!

Be blessed!

John 17

 After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

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Christian Martyrs

Everyday a Christian Suffers

for the Cause of Jesus Christ

Somewhere in the World a Believer is Being Martyred

Right Now……..Today

 

Several hundred thousand Christians are killed every year. More followers of Jesus Christ have been killed in the 21st Century than all the other centuries combined. These people are precious to their Heavenly Father and to their Lord Jesus Christ!  They have given the ultimate price of faith and love.  Christians around the world MUST pray for these dear brothers and sisters!

Jesus asked His followers to pick up their cross and follow Him.  Most of us have never experienced the sort of hatred that is capable of murder.  We don’t think we will ever  be imprisoned for our faith or beaten for loving Jesus.  These dear  people HAVE BEEN imprisoned, beaten, run out of their homes, their business destroyed, their churches burned……..and sometimes even their very lives taken.  Why?

The world hates Jesus Christ.  He warned us that the world would hate us also…….if we truly follow Him.  We shouldn’t be surprised.  Especially in these last days we live in…….true believers in Christ must understand.

                         

Jesus warned the first believers who followed him that they would be hated for His sake.

Mathew 10:17-21  “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.  When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

Matthew 24:9-14  “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”

Stephen was the first Christian martyr.  He preached the true gospel and was hated for it.  His testimony convicted the people and they wanted him dead. 

We begin with Stephen preaching to the people:

Acts 7:51-59  “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”  Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

The Early Church had many martyrs.  The early believers were burned at the stake, crucified like Jesus was and fed to lions at the Roman Coliseum.  It is hard to believe, but it is true!  People are capable of horrific things.

Many suffered under Communism and other dictator regimes.  Thousands were killed by the Nazis during WWII.  Throughout the ages…..believers in Jesus Christ have been someone’s enemy simply because of their faith.

A true believer in Jesus Christ knows that nothing is more important than believing in the Lord.  We must NEVER deny him.  Christians in many countries are refusing to deny Jesus…..even at a great cost. Their reward will be great in heaven! 

Jesus said if we confess Him before man, He will confess us before the Father. 

Matthew 10:32-33  “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”

We are living in the last days.  No one knows the day or the hour……but tribulation is coming quickly!  All Christians must realize this and strengthen themselves in the Lord!  We must put our trust in our dear Lord Jesus and be willing to live and/or die for Him!

Many believe that we won’t go through tribulation.  The Great Tribulation will be something that Jesus Christ protects His church from.  However……that does not mean there won’t be ANY persecution.  Just ask your brothers and sisters that are already suffering.

Jesus said this about the persecution of His followers:

John 15:18-26  “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

All believers in Jesus Christ should remember the reward their Heavenly Father has for them in heaven.  We will reign with Jesus!

Revelation 20:4-6    Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.

Christian believers need the Holy Spirit to fill them in order to walk with Jesus through whatever may come.  The Holy Spirit is the Comforter and He gives us power and strength. 

Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life

in a deeper and stronger way than ever before. 

You need Him in order to be a faithful witness

to Jesus in these times we live in!

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• The Child Martyr (zenaszone.wordpress.com)
• A Resolution for Life – I Have Decided to Follow Jesus (frommyheart2u.wordpress.com)

The Laodicean Church Age

We live in the Laodicean Church Age

The Majority of Christendom is a Lukewarm Church

That Has Forgotten Her First Love!

 

Many Christians today attend churches that barely teach the real gospel of Jesus Christ.      The preachers teach a “feel-good” message that makes everyone feel good about themselves.  This is allowed to replace true preaching about Jesus dying on the cross.  Sin is rarely mentioned.  The people are led to believe that they can give mental assent to Jesus and they will go to heaven.  No true salvation experience has occurred.  No repentance from sin is taught.  No confession of sin is taught.  It is a “watered down” gospel!  This belief system can eventually lead to horrible outcomes.  The truth must be taught in our churches!

Romans 1:18-32   But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

Woe to the church that actually allows sin without repentance!

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Everything is done to attract people to attend the church service.  Coffee bars, casual attire, rock bands,  celebrity speakers or musicians, etc. have become the normal experience in many churches.  Other churches remain more liturgical.  However, sin is tolerated.  The person attending the church service is never made to feel “uncomfortable” in any way.  No mention of sexual sin or any other sin at all.  The message is all about feeling good and finding “your calling” or gaining self-esteem.

These churches evidently feel that they are responsible for getting people to attend their services.  That is not scriptural.  No one can come to the real living God unless the Holy Spirit draws them.  If a person “seeks” God on his own without the help of the Holy Spirit…….that person finds a god of his own making…..not the real living God!

John 6:44-45  For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

John 14:16   You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

Many churches teach that many of the scriptures aren’t actually true, but are only parables.   This simply is not true.  All of the holy scriptures are inspired by God!  Adding to scripture or taking away from scripture in any way is a very serious offense to God.

II Timothy 3:16-17   All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Even when the invitation to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior is given………no one is required to come to the front and make a public testimony of faith.  Everything is geared to make the person feel comfortable.  Many churches don’t even bother inviting people to accept Jesus!

Christianity is NOT a comfortable belief system!  We are commanded to die to self and follow Jesus Christ!  We are commanded to have a brave confession of faith and to strive to obey our Lord and Savior.  His death was a dear price that He paid for our eternal salvation.  We should be grateful and love Him dearly for this sacrifice.  Surely we should be willing to “inconvenience ourselves” enough to worship Him in spirit and truth rather than make attending church like going to some social event.

Matthew 10: 32-39  “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.  I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  Your enemies will be right in your own household!’^l

“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

Furthermore…….expecting a non-believers to be comfortable in church is ludicrous.  They should be encountering a living God who is presenting His Holy truth.  THAT would not be comfortable for a non-believing sinner!  Even believers that are living in sin knowingly should not be comfortable.  Both types of people should be feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ had a great deal to say about this type of church.  He accuses the Church in Laodicea of being lukewarm.  See below what He has to say about this church!

The Message to the Church in Laodicea

Revelation 3:14-22   “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’

And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich.

Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the church.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is making it clear that He does not approve of the Laodicean Church.  We must come out of that type of church and seek a church that is pleasing in God’s sight.  The Church of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) is that church.

Each Christian has the responsibility to live their Christian walk as a member of the Church of Philadelphia.  Jesus made His approval very clear and gave wonderful promises to that church!

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Amazing Grace

What is Grace?

Grace is the Free Unmerited Favor of God

We are saved by grace!  Jesus Christ gave Himself freely on the cross to pay for all of our sins.  He paid the price……..so we don’t have to pay.  Grace is a free gift.  You only have to receive it!

Ephesians 2:1-10   Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Jesus is our High Priest if we have put our faith in Him.  He understands what it is like to go through trials and temptations.  He went through them here on earth also.  Jesus didn’t sin, but He understands our weakness and how difficult it is to endure temptation without sinning.  He is full of grace and compassion for us!

Hebrews 4:14-16   So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

How amazing grace truly is!  We have the confidence as God’s children that we can go to Him through Jesus and be forgiven when we do something wrong (sin).  He is so ready and willing to forgive us and help us in our weakness. 

What an amazing God we serve!

What Amazing Grace!

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Repent..Confess Your Sin..Be Forgiven!

This is a letter to the modern Church.

The Lord Jesus Christ is calling you to

Repentance (turn away from your sin)

Confession (confess your sins to God)

Forgiveness (God will forgive you)

 

Jesus Christ is holy. 

He expects His followers to be holy.

I Peter 1:13-19   So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children.

Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

Ephesians 5:1-9  Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

Jesus Christ is coming back very soon for His Bride (the Church).

He is returning for a Bride without spot or blemish!

Ephesians 5:25-27  For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.  He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

(Also see the Parable of the Ten Virgins)

Revelation 19:7-8   Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him.  For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.

She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

Each and every one of His people

that  profess to be His followers must judge themselves.

  We all need to see our sin for what it is.

We must repent of our sin and confess it to our Heavenly Father. 

He will be quick to forgive our sin!

Lord Jesus……..your Bride longs for your coming!

 

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The Lord Our Healer

God desires to heal His children

He healed the Hebrews in the Old Testament

Jesus Christ healed the believers in the New Testament

He heals His church today!

The very nature of God is to desire that His people live healthy lives.   Sickness does not exist in heaven and in God’s perfect will…..it wouldn’t exist on earth either!

God’s nature is to create, heal, prosper, make new, save, redeem and make a way where there is no way.  Throughout the scriptures we see how He loves people and wants them to love Him and obey Him.  His heart is and has always been to give His children every good thing!

God wants to heal your body, heart and soul!

Jeremiah 3:22   “My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”

Exodos 15:26   He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Psalm 41:3  The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health.

Psalm 107:20  He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.

Psalms 147:3  He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

Isaiah prophesied about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for mankind.  He told of Jesus being pierced (crucified) for our sins and beaten for our healing.

Isaiah 50: 5-7   The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened.  I have not rebelled or turned away.  I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.  I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.  Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will.  And I know that I will not be put to shame.

Isaiah 52:  13-15  See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.  But many were amazed when they saw him.  His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.  And he will startle many nations.  Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.

Isaiah 53:5  But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.

Peter testifies in the New Testament about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for every believer.  Peter  writes that Jesus carried our sins to the cross and that we were healed by His wounds (Jesus was horribly beaten before His crucifixion).

I Peter 2:24   He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.  By his wounds you are healed.

Jesus suffered horribly so you could be healed!

God wants to heal His people!

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The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants to give us good gifts!

He loved us so much He sent His only Son Jesus.

He also desires to give the Holy Spirit

to all believers in Jesus Christ!

Jesus said that He would ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15-21  If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

Acts 1:3-5  During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The disciples waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed.  Then, on the day of Pentecost they were baptized (filled) with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:1-4  On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

When the disciples found people that had accepted Jesus as their Savior…..they prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 8:14-17  When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.

 The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of everything that Jesus told us in the scriptures.

John 14:34-26   Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

The Holy Spirit will reveal to you things that Jesus and the Father are saying.

John 16:12-25  “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

 We can trust our Father to only give us something good…..never anything bad!  When we pray to receive the Holy Spirit, we can be assured that we will receive what we ask for.

Luke 11:11-13 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

The Holy Spirit helps us to pray.  He makes intercession on our behalf, knowing the perfect will of our Heavenly Father.

Romans 8:26-27  And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believersin harmony with God’s own will.

The Holy Spirit endows us with marvelous attributes if we allow Him to work in our lives.  These are known as “the gifts of the Spirit”.

I Corinthians 12:3-11   So I want you to know that no one speaking by the    Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the     Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

(The scriptures highlighted in red are quotes from Jesus.  The other scriptures in black are teachings of the apostles.)

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