Convert Our Souls.

Desired more than gold… the law, the testimony, the statutes, the judgments of the Lord.

Sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

 

The keeping of them brings a great reward- Salvation through our Savior.

 

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 

Joh_14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

 

Can you imagine desiring something MORE than gold? Sure you can, though the desire for money is paramount in our lives. We live in a society where to survive you need an income of some sort. Those who do not possess an income are left destitute on the streets, reliant upon the charity of others. Is it any wonder we don't want to be without an income? We don't want to be left on the street.

 

To desire the Lord and all that entails- more than gold is in truth admitting all the riches of the world mean nothing without God, nothing.

 

The law of the LORD is perfect.

The law of the LORD coverts the souls.

The testimony of the LORD is sure.

The testimony of the LORD will  make the simple - wise.

 

We need the law written in our hearts.

We need the testimony of our LORD.

 

Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Psa 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Psa 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Psa 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Psa 19:11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

 

Psa 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Psa 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

 

We need to be cleansed from- SECRET FAULTS.

 

We need to be kept from- PRESUMPTUOUS SINS.

 

Our words, and the meditations of our hearts need to be acceptable in the sight of the LORD, our STRENGTH, our REDEEMER.

 

Secret faults and presumptuous sins are known to God, we can hide nothing from Him, nothing. Any time we would break the royal law we are held accountable. Every sin is a breaking of the royal law, every single one. There doesn't exist a sin that isn't a breaking of the royal ten commandments.

 

1Jn_3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

 

To love God and to love others- this is what sums up the entire law. When we fail to love God and fail to love others- we transgress the law.

 

Do you realize that there is no commandment to love ourselves more than others? That is what we do so often and in so many ways, sinning self-serving. God help us, cleanse us, keep us from the sins we commit presumptuously as we live our lives focused on self-serving over serving You, or others.

 

Please.

 

 

 

Hate Sin - Love the Sinner.

Unfeigned love- loving with a pure heart fervently.

 

Do we?

 

Do you love this way--

 

Unfeigned love- sincere, real, genuine, heartfelt, authentic, truthful, honest- do you love this way?

 

Is your love fervent--

 

Fervently- passionately, ardently, enthusiastically, eagerly, zealously, excitedly, intensely- is your love fervent?

 

Who exactly are we supposed to love this way? Others. What others? ALL OTHERS.

 

Let's get ONE thing clear right now, we are to HATE SIN, NOT THE SINNER.

 

People have deluded themselves deeply by the misconception that we are to hate those who are different from us, those who have different beliefs, different values, different ways. We have separated ourselves into various classes of people and in doing so we have erected barriers of hate against those not in our particular class.  The rich despise the poor, the poor despise the rich. Those of different ethnic backgrounds have separated themselves from each other and again, in doing so the hatred grows. This world is a huge powder keg of misunderstanding, of blind hatred, incomprehensible abuse for one another on so many levels. We who are Christ followers will hate sin passionately just the way our Savior hated sin. We also must LOVE the sinners. We must LOVE in truth with the love that is of God.

 

Rom_5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

We must LOVE OTHERS while they are what they are, no matter what they are, no matter how different from us, no matter what their sins are, no matter anything at all whatsoever. We can HATE the sins they may blatantly revel in, while loving them and longing for them to be convicted of their sins so they may repent of them and find eternal salvation in Christ Jesus.

 

LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY.

LOVE EVEN WHEN HATED.

 

We need to LOVE unfeignedly and fervently- LOVE in truth, in sincerity with great passion- ALL others, not just those we deem worthy because they please us in some way, or are friendly to us, or are family, or share common interests. ALL OTHERS means no exception to any.

 

Satan will spread discord wherever he can in whatever way he can through gross deceptions that fuel the masses. We cannot be a part of that deception. If you are a Christ follower then you must LOVE without secretly hating others, God knows the hearts of His people. God is giving every single person alive an opportunity to know His love and to belong to Him. We must do all in our ability to only reveal the love of God so we hinder NO ONE from choosing God.

 

Help us, LORD help us be YOURS, wholly YOURS! Help us to love unfeignedly, fervently all others! Please… please.

 

1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

 

1Pe 2:17  Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 

 

1Pe 3:8  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 

1Pe 3:9  Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 

 

1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 

 

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

 

Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another. 

 

Rom 12:9  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 

Rom 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another

 

2Co 6:6  By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned

 

Eph 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

 

1Th 4:8  He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. 

1Th 4:9  But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 

 

1Ti 1:5  Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned

 

Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 

 

Heb 13:1  Let brotherly love continue.

 

Jas 2:15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 

Jas 2:16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 

Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 

 

2Pe 1:7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 

 

1Jn 3:11  For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 

 

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 

1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 

1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 

 

1Jn 3:23  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.

 

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 

 

1Jn 4:12  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 

 

1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 

1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 

 

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 

 

 

Always Our Hope.

I confess… the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead by God.

 

Jesus will return to the earth He left, calling all those that belong to Him- the living and the dead- to rise and meet Him in the air.

 

Right now we are kept by the power of God. Kept through faith to salvation. Salvation that will be revealed in the last time.

 

We continue to live our lives in a chaotic world but we live with hope. Our hope isn't in this world, our hope is in the Lord to save us. Our hope is in heaven with our Savior. In a little while He will return. It may seem like it is taking a long time- but whenever we long for something we have to wait for doesn't it almost always seem to make time slow down. When we are waiting for something so incredible it almost defies comprehension, is it any wonder it seems to be taking a long, long time?

 

With each of us given a life time of generally no more than at the most 100 years (rare exceptions to this rule live longer), and most of us with much shorter lives, 80 years, and some 70, 60, 50…. And less. With each individual given a finite number of days, we each wait for our LORD's return equally.

 

Abraham, David, Paul, Peter, all of them were given just a lifetime the same as we are and then death ended their lives and they each entered the sleep of the first death. They waited for their Lord each in their own way. Some waited for the arrival of the Messiah, others waited for the return of a Messiah they watched die and rise from the grave. We wait for the Messiah to return having not seen Him upon earth. Like those who died with the hope of His first arrival, they did not see it happen but died in hope, we wait having not seen. Our hope because we live and our hope until we enter death's sleep will be in the Messiah to return to call us home with Him. Someday there will be people who are waiting who will witness the Lord's return- we may be among them but if we are not, it is always our HOPE.

 

Hope.

 

Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

 

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 

 

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

 

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Rom 10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 

 

 

His Mercy Endures Forever.

Time to Awake Out of Sleep.

Wake up!

 

Wake up! Stop sleeping! The chaos all around us sounds the cry of wakefulness, of watchfulness. You say you are awake, does this mean you've not made provisions towards your flesh, towards your self-serving ways? Does this mean you are walking honestly? Does this mean you've put on the LORD JESUS CHRIST and no longer strive towards a life void of Him and His ways? 

 

What were His ways when He walked the earth? He HURT NO ONE. Did He show righteous anger at times? Yes. Did He reveal a deep sorrow as well? Yes. Did He know the joy of being one with the Father? Yes. Did He show pity for the sorrowful, the pitiful, the sickly, the diseased, the possessed, the wounded, the sinners in snared? Yes, yes, and yes to all. What Jesus did NOT do was harm anyone, not in any way. Jesus never raised a hand to another to strike them. Jesus never used His words to wound another. Jesus was a man of peace. In righteous anger He overthrew tables laden with wares that should never have been in the temple. In righteous anger He made a scourge and drove out those who should never have desecrated His Father's house. Did He wound any man? There is no record of it. His fury alone drove out the evil ones. Surely if he'd struck any they would have raised a cry against Him and there were plenty who wanted to see Jesus caught up in wrong doing. You can scare people into fleeing quite easily if you have need to. Imagine someone entering a store where you are shopping and they are running around with a whip, yelling for you to get out. You wouldn't stand there waiting to be hurt, you'd run. Jesus endured a lot of suffering unjustly. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies. Jesus doesn't want us fulfilling the lusts of our flesh- anything that would destroy the love we are to have for one another- the love we would want them to have for us in same situations. We are to love. To love.

Our actions speak for us all the time, more than any word we could ever utter. 

 

We need to wake up out of our sleep, knowing that no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the day, no matter how soon our Savior is to return, that we are ready always, ready now.

 

Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that NOW it is high time to awake out of sleep: for NOW is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

 

Make not provisions for the flesh.

 

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

 

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

 

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 

Col 3:6  For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 

Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 

Col 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

 

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

 

Joh 2:13  And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 

Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 

Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 

Joh 2:16  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 

 

Do You Have A Cross?

If you believe.

 

If you believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as Your Savior you will not be conformed to the world.

 

If you pretend to believe in Jesus Christ, or are deceived into thinking you believe in Jesus Christ you will be conformed to the world. Your life will be no different from the lives of others. Your problems will be familiar to others, your joys will be similar to others, your lifestyle will fit in with the norm. You will be indistinguishable from the world in many ways. To know you would not be to know you are a Christ follower. You are conformed to the world. You are liked by many, celebrated by many, loved by many, the world has not rejected you at all. Or perhaps, the rejection of you is of the world in a secular manner. The world accepts a lot of pseudo-Christians because they are of the world conformed in enough ways so as not to upset the status quo.

 

We delude ourselves when we believe we can conform to the world and its standards- it's likes and dislikes- and still belong to Christ. We are living in a time when many call themselves Christ followers and because they are adhering to the standards of world-conformed believers and not Biblical God-standard believers they feel comfortable in their Christianity.

 

Jesus loved all but He had harsh words for many, harsh truths. Jesus never stopped loving all the while He condemned the sin in the sinners, wanting them to turn from the sin not live in it while proclaiming their false truth of belonging to God. Jesus told His followers they would need to take up their crosses and if possible live for Him only to die because they lived for Him. Jesus said that even if a person had everything in the world they ever wanted that it would mean absolutely nothing if that person didn't have Him. We are told that all material things in this life are temporary to eternity. You know darn well that if you died tomorrow that all of your earthly possessions mean nothing to you any longer. No possession you cherish will died with you, and even if someone else you love dies with you, when you're dead you are not with them. The sleep you enter is a solitary sleep. When the last trump sounds and the dead in Christ rise - only then will we be reunited with loved ones who are also raised in Christ. If we lose being in Christ we've lost everything and nothing else truly matters.

 

Following Christ means following Christ with our cross.

 

Do you have a cross?

 

Do you deny yourself?

 

Do you love the world and its possessions?

 

Daily cross bearing. Daily choosing. Daily self-denying. Daily following.

 

The cross of self-denial, of not living to selfish ends, but living for others.

 

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 

Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 

Mat 16:27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works

 

Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 

Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 

 

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 

 

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

 

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. 

 

Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 

 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

 

 

Spirit Over Flesh

Do You Have the Spirit of Christ?

 

If you have the Spirit of Christ you have the Spirit of God in you.

 

The Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.

 

The same Spirit… the EXACT same Spirit will DWELL in us.

 

Think about that for a long moment. THE SAME SPIRIT THAT RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD- WILL DWELL IN US!

 

You cannot BELONG to Christ without having the SPIRIT of CHRIST in you. You cannot be Christ follower without the SPIRIT in you.

Do NOT call yourself a CHRISTIAN unless you have the SPIRIT in you.

 

And IF you have the SPIRIT of CHRIST in you then you will…THROUGH the HOLY SPIRIT mortify the deeds of your body.

 

If you INSIST on living after the flesh you will die eternally.

 

We will suffer.

 

Christ suffered.

 

We must resist unto blood- STRIVING AGAINST SIN.

 

THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT we must live.

 

Can we recognize what is of the SPIRIT and what is of the FLESH?

 

If we can differentiate between the things of the Spirit and things of the flesh then aren't we accountable for the choices we make between them?

 

We are weak in the flesh, but Christ in us is strong to the Spirit.

 

Our hope is CHRIST, not ourselves. Our hope is CHRIST IN US, not ourselves. The HOLY SPIRIT who raised CHRIST from the dead has the power to raise us from what would lead us to eternal death. Our hope is NOT in any power we wrongly think we might possess. Our hope is in CHRIST, our hope is in the HOLY SPIRIT, our hope is in GOD OUR FATHER.

 

By grace we are saved, availing ourselves of that grace we are enabled to choose the SPIRIT over the flesh. FAITH. Never on our own can we prevail over the flesh, never. Our striving, our mortifying is all done THROUGH the HOLY SPIRIT.

 

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

 

Heb_12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.