06/05/23 GOD'S WONDERFUL PROVISION

06/05/23 GOD'S WONDERFUL PROVISION

Thanks to the loving care of other folks, Martha and I are abundantly blessed with a home, which we enjoy and share with loved ones and fellow travelers on the Kings Highway. Martha stays busy, taking care of me, the house and other needs. Her love and dedication is inestimable.

Also, praise the Lord for the wonderful help I get from others. The giving of their time, treasure and talent makes it possible for me to teach, preach, counsel, lead and train folks in the will of God.

We all need each other in these trying times, as we face political, financial, social, health and aging issues. God's plan is for us to function as a loving family, a vibrant local body of believers. Each one ministering to one another.

Read and heed God's word for victory and success in life.
(don't confuse the reality of trusting God for His protection and provision with the false idea of "name it claim it." God always provides what we need, but what we need is not always what we think we want.) 

Matthew 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Philippians 4:19
19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

2 Peter 1:3
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 

Galatians 6:1-10
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Hebrews 10:22-27
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

06/05/23 STILL DOESN'T EXIST

06/05/23 STILL DOESN'T EXIST

(from 6/23/19)
I missed the verse that says God's moral standards change to accommodate the immorality of a changing world.

(today's comment)
I still have not found that verse. Of course, I have only been studying His word intensively for 58 years. However, God's word has been studied by scholars (believers and skeptics) for thousands of years, and still no one has found Biblical support for pride of any kind.

As I have said, make your boast in the Lord (and I did get this from the Bible).

06/03/23 PRIDE IS NOT A SIGN OF EXCELLENCE

06/03/23 PRIDE IS NOT A SIGN OF EXCELLENCE

Pride Month makes perfectly good sense for those who love themselves, whether it is race or gender or whatever self oriented reason.

But we must never forget, PRIDE was at the root of Lucifer's fall, Adam's fall and the rebellion of every sinner since the beginning. Pride is inordinate self esteem.

If a Christian is going to boast in anything, let him boast in the Lord.

06/03/23 KNOW YOUR ORIENTATION

06/03/23 KNOW YOUR ORIENTATION

It is one thing to live with the idea that this world is your final destination or this world is your own personal amusement park; it is another thing to live with the idea that God has assigned you (as a soldier of the cross) to a ministry post, to be cared for and exploited for the purpose of reaching the lost and building the Body of Christ.

06/01/23 HONEST ASSESSMENT

06/01/23 HONEST ASSESSMENT

If you cannot think of one sin that God has delivered you from, through forgiveness and behavior, then you have not been saved.
If you cannot apply Biblical deliverance to other known sins in your life, then you are not saved now.

Our deliverance is God's salvation in our lives. He saves us from our sins, not in our sins.

05/31/23 BUILD ON THE ROCK

05/31/23 BUILD ON THE ROCK
(understanding infallibility)

BUILD ON THE ROCK
(understanding infallibility)

All teachings of all Christian leaders and all Christian groups (movements, denominations, conventions, assemblies, synods, conferences) must be considered as no more than human attempts to understand God and His word. All men, their teaching, their organizations and their followers are fallible. They can and do make mistakes and sometimes deliberately promote that which is clearly contrary to God's word.

This does not mean that all men deliberately promote that which they know to be error. But all men are fallible, that is they are subject to error. This includes the Prophets and Apostles who were infallible while they were inspired, guided supernaturally by the Holy Spirit, as they communicated the revelation of God. However, these men (including Moses, David, Solomon, Matthew, John, Paul) were subject to error when they were not being infallibly guided by the Holy Spirit. Since no one (other than the Bible Prophets and Apostles), is beyond or above the possibility of error, and in fact should be expected to make error; we should not hold to them or their teachings as if they are God's infallible word. Infallibility is possible only to the all wise, all knowing God and it is communicated only to those holy men of old, at God's appointed time, for God's appointed purpose. 

None of the Church's extra Biblical leaders have ever been infallible and therefore it is expected that they have made mistakes. Entire portions of God's revelation, which had been lost or rejected by the post-Apostolic "Church," needed to be rediscovered. This has been an ongoing reality throughout the history of the Church. Many great Biblical truths were rediscovered during the Reformation, but the leaders of the Reformation were not infallible. Other Church leaders, preachers, theologians, Biblical scholars have rediscovered great truths, but it is a mistake to think they recovered and rediscovered all that had been lost, or that they articulated eternal truth infallibly.

I appreciate godly men who have focused on specific areas of truth (Theology, hamartiology, soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology, linguistics, history, culture, hermeneutics, missiology, angelology, etc.), but they have only been fallible men commenting on God's infallible revelation. Seek and accept truth, but always stand on the Bible.

All other ground is sinking sand.

05/30/23 LET GOD BE TRUE...

05/30/23 LET GOD BE TRUE...

This is a quote from a letter, which Martin Luther wrote to Philip Melanchthon (Luther's theologian).
"...It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins?..."

In fact, Luther also made the comment, "sin boldly."

Regardless any attempt to explain this comment, it still says what it says and unless Luther corrected this at a later date, it is a license to sin. Sadly, what should have been the Reformed Movement by returning to the Bible, became the Deformed Movement because if followed mere men.

It is not only unfortunate that he made such a blasphemous statement, it has been the confession of faith for millions of people who were led astray by his false doctrine.

Never exchange Divine truth for human "wisdom."
Never follow a blind man, no matter how popular or educated or respected he is by other people.

05/30/23 GUARD YOUR TREASURE

05/30/23 GUARD YOUR TREASURE

If someone tells you God does not love all sinners,
If someone tells you Christ did not die for all sinners,
If someone tells you God does not save whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord,
If someone tells you God does not save and cleanse from all sin in this present evil world,
If someone tells you believers, followers of Christ cannot be and live a life of purity, holiness, righteousness, 

Then you should not listen to that person, since he is denying the clear revelation of God and replacing it with corrupted human religion.

False teaching has always been around, but false teaching, false teachers, false prophets and false Christs are going to be the most telling sign of the end times.

Now is the time to get out of false religion. Don't let someone convince you that their "knowledge" of God's word is greater than God's clearly revealed word itself.

Salvation that does not save from sin is not salvation; it is counterfeit.

05/30/23 BIBLICAL BASICS TO SALVATION

05/30/23 BIBLICAL BASICS TO SALVATION

God sets the standards.
God provides the means.
God reveals our need and His provision.
God convicts of sin.
God calls us to repentance.

We choose to accept or reject.
God chooses those who believe.
God regenerates, justifies, forgives, cleanses, enlightens, leads, empowers those who believe and follow.

We either continue in the Lord, continue in faith, continue in grace, stand fast, walk in the light, abide in the vine, build ourselves up in the holy faith, keep ourselves in the love of God, separate ourselves from the world and separate ourselves to God,
or
We will fail of grace and fall from grace, we will become entangled again in the pollution of this world, we will be deceived and we will become a slave to sin again.

God gives us growing grace and knowledge as we read, pray and obey, which enables us to make our calling and election sure.

05/29/23 CHOOSE WISELY

05/29/23 CHOOSE WISELY

The fully convinced pagan follows his god fully, eagerly exterminating the children of the Living God.

The fully convinced Christian follows the True and Living God fully, 'til the extinguishing of his own life, in serving God and loving our enemies.

Then there are the people who love themselves, love pleasure, love the praise of men, love worldly position and honor, love the world and the things of the world but do not love God.

Jude refers to them as...
Jude 1:12-14
12 ... spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Jude tell us that Enoch, in the days before the world wide flood, prophesied of the people with misplaced love:
Jude 1:14-16
14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,
15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

We have a choice today. We will either be committed to the god of this world or committed to our own advancement or committed to the will and work of God.

Choose ye this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, will serve the the Lord.

05/29/23 IT IS A WARNING AND A PROMISE

05/29/23 IT IS A WARNING AND A PROMISE

God did not call believers, the Church, to take up the arm of flesh, to fight with carnal weapons, to kill our enemies, but neither do we cower back, pretending to be valiant warriors (waving a sword of steel), while our children are being offered to the god of this world.

But the enemies of righteousness should seek and surrender to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, because when He comes back, as King of kings, He will tread the winepress of the wrath of God, and justice will finally reign.

05/29/23 BE DOERS OF HIS WORD AND WORK

05/29/23 BE DOERS OF HIS WORD AND WORK

Someone wisely said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

A poet penned the following words,
"For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these, 'It might have been.' "
God's word says... 

Romans 2:12-16
12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.  

James 1:19-27
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

2 Corinthians 6:1-3
1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
2 For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed.

Ephesians 5:14-21
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
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,
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

05/29/23 BE SURE TO CONTINUE IN THE FAITH

05/29/23 BE SURE TO CONTINUE IN THE FAITH

In my Sunday Bible Class I pointed out that though Abraham is known as the Father of the Faithful and although the Bible refers to him three times as the "Friend of God," he was not flawless in his life.

When God called him to leave his homeland and most of his family ties in Ur, he obeyed, though he did not know where he was actually going. He must be commended for his obedience and trust in God. After he had lived for a while in Haran, God called Abram to leave his home and other family members, to travel down to the land of Canaan. Again Abram obeyed.

As he followed God, he pitched his tent, dug wells and built altars. He was living the life of faith faithfulness. Then he faced a famine.

There is no record that he sought God's will and no record that God directed him to leave the area, but Abram took his family and went to Egypt.

This appears to have been an act of fear and the flesh rather than an act of faith. In fact, the fear factor grew even greater and the disobedience became more pronounce when he got to Egypt. He lied about his relationship with Sarai. The Pharaoh knew enough moral truth from his Noahic background and/or as it was written on his heart, to not take another man's wife. He confronted Abram and Abram returned to the place God designated. He not only returned to the location, he returned to the altar and resumed his walk with God.

There were other occasions that Abram distrusted and disobeyed God. He trusted in the flesh for an heir (appointing his servant and then through Hagar having his child). And, for a second time he feared a king and lied about his relationship with Sarai.

My point is not to demean Abram, though there was no excuse for such disobedience and failure. My point is that after his failures Abram would return to a faith relationship. It was in his faith walk that God called Abraham His friend.

When faced with the greatest challenge of his life, Abraham was called by God to offer his son, his only son, whom he loved. 

Abraham not only offered Isaac, he got up early in the morning, packed up his gear and headed up the mountain with Isaac. Fully planning on making a complete sacrifice of his son, Abraham knew that God would restore Isaac's life because he told his servants that he and Isaac would return from their sacrificial errand.

My point in this lesson was to encourage folks NOT TO FALTER, but if the do falter, DON'T HESITATE TO REPENT. Though Abraham is a man among men and though he has an exalted place among the godly, the fact is that we have more spiritual benefits than he had.

We have the written word of God.
We have the heritage of Old and New Testament miracles, prophecies, teaching and the model of godly believers.
We have the record of the life of Christ.
We have the fellowship of the present day church.
We have the fullness and cleansing and constantly abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

We should walk in such a way that God is pleased with us and in such a way that He is not ashamed of us, but rather, that He calls us His friends. 

1 John 2:1-6
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 

1 John 3:22-24
22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 

Hebrews 2:10-18
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."
13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me."
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

05/29/23 NO MORE FENCE STRADDLING

05/29/23 NO MORE FENCE STRADDLING

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country by abandoning the aim of any anti-family, anti-Bible, anti-Christian Political Platform.

Renounce and Denounce

05/27/23 DON'T PUT IT OFF ANY LONGE...

05/27/23 DON'T PUT IT OFF ANY LONGE...

Even in my advanced years, I am still amazed by those who have the advantage of knowing the way of God, but choose to follow their own futile way instead. God's way is the only way of true love, joy, peace, fulfillment, success, but they choose the dark path that leads to eternal destruction.

When people wait too long to surrender to Jesus, they often are unable to surrender to Him. Years of pride, resentment, doubt, anger, failure, disbelief pile up between them and God.

It is not that God cannot forgive and deliver them, but rather, that they cannot overcome their own barriers. Rejection has an accumulative effect.

Then of course, there is always the possibility that the end of a person's life comes suddenly, without the opportunity to make things right with God.

A person will want to repent the moment he wakes up in hell, but he will regret being there. Sadly, he will be there forever because He would not recognize and receive Christ as Lord of his life.