Contending for the Faith

Jude 1:3
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

This verse has struck me more than usual recently. Or I might say that I believe God has recently struck me with this verse. Some details of this verse just keep ringing louder as I look at it.

"Dear friends" or in Greek "agapetos" from the word "agapao" which of course means a serious form of love. It was for the love of these that he urged them to "contend". The author, Jude, considered these friends very close to his heart.

"although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share"
It is wonderful to know that we share salvation in Christ. Salvation, this word means so much to me in my soul. I have been saved from the power of the sin that had chains on this soul. Saved from the darkness that kept me from intimately knowing God the Father and kept me from all hope. I was on the road to hell just as the rest of mankind without grace. I recall the days before my salvation and my soul fills up with great gratitude, praise, and thanksgiving to the One who mercifully died in my place so that I could know the undeserved joy and eternal wonder of Heaven. Heaven is Jesus! Why did He have such mercy on me? I was so filthy inside and He decided to cleanse me. He began this process of sanctification or being set apart for Him and this work of His will continue until His appointed day for me. I am far from being perfected yet (unless my day is soon) but if you could see a before picture of my soul (as seen from Heaven) and then the present after picture you wouldn't see the same person at all. I still have trouble with sin and am learning by grace to overcome. But I am a new creature in Christ behold old things have past away and all things have become new! If you do not know this cleansing, you must see your need to turn from darkness to His Light. You are a sick and sinful creature as I have been for we have all sinned and fallen short of God's demand for holiness. We can not "act", "think" or "talk" our way to Heaven in the "eyes" of men. It will not work this way for only being in Christ through His Life Sacrifice on the Cross and the same Power that raised Him from the dead can credit to you the holiness that God commands and demands of us in order to live with Him for eternity. If you stay close to Him, abide in His Vine, and draw from His Grace alone to help you overcome and stay clean then you will truly be a part of the edifying of His Body in Love.

Putting your confidence in mere men looking into your eyes to see your sin is not the best way to have conviction of the truth of your failures. How would you be sure that their veiw is not skewed by their own sin or deception more than you may know? Just because they claim to have it together doesn't make it so. Go to the "Perfect One" Christ Himself through His Words for your mirror and look intently with sincere prayer. For if you put your trust in fallable men you will "surely" be misled and put yourself in spiritual danger. There is no other way but Jesus Christ for there is "no other name" given among men whereby we must be saved. PLEASE, DON'T TRUST ANY MAN WHO SAYS OTHERWISE! IT IS THE IMMACULATE INCARNATION OF CHRIST ALONE WHOM WE TRUST! AND HE IS IN HEAVEN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. HE IS NOT ON THIS EARTH EXCEPT VIA HIS HOLY SPIRIT AND "NONE", "NO, NOT ONE" CAN CLAIM THEY ARE PERFECTED IN HIM SO MUCH SO AS TO DOMINATE OTHERS! THEY ARE CERTAINLY DECEIVED TO SPEAK OTHERWISE IN THEIR "CLAIMS"! DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY ANY MAN!

"I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints"

I believe this is vital to the True Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wolves, vipers, impostors, false prophets/teachers, hypocrites, liars/deceivers, spiritual hucksters, charlatans, and the like are rampant like bad weeds desiring to take over the garden of what we call Christendom. Although these weeds are not actually a part of Christendom they certainly "talk" and "act" as though they are. This is what Satan has intended all along. To the natural senses these weeds look very much like the good plants sown by the Heavenly Father and will often "claim" some special advantage or "revelation" from God. This is why looking into the eyes of men fails. We MUST LOOK UNTO JESUS (ALONE) THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR "FAITH". This is the faith we contend for. The Body is intended primarily by God to remind us to abide in the Vine and keep our eyes on Him and in "all" of His Words. This is our true fellowship in Christ, to know Him. NOT some other beings dwelling on earth acting like they're the ones to receive the attention and thereby promoting idolatry of the Body. But the Truth is God has permitted the weeds to test our obedience and willingness to do what He has said in this verse. "CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH!" You will know them by their "fruit".

I wish to expound upon one of the words above. The word "charlatan". It means: A person who makes elaborate, fraudulent, and often voluble (marked by a ready flow of speech) claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or fraud. According to one explanation, charlatan goes back through French to Italian ciarlatano, "mountebank, fraud," from the word ciarlare, "to chatter."

Ro 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.

For someone to say that "we are not to be thinking so much about or be on the alert for the spiritual charlatans", "Jesus and the disciples didn't spend their time looking for heresies and exposing them" may very well indicate that they are a charlatan themselves. For the Holy Spirit chose to use strong words in the Scriptures regarding this matter. It is all to clear in the Scriptures if you have been in them with prayer. Don't believe me, look for yourself Bereans. Here are just a few...

Jesus said it in no uncertain terms:
Mt 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

Mt 10:17 "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues."
(Could this fit with those who say they are a Christian and yet threaten to sue other believers and hand them to the local counsels before going to wise Church members for resolve?)

Mt 16:6 "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(Just add one very small pinch of man-made legalism and you have the whole infected...)

And in the words of the Apostle Paul:
Php 3:2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.
(This could apply to those who would inflict "any form" of legalism on others in the name of Christ)

2Ti 4:15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
(If they oppose the message of the working Power of the Grace of God alone to keep us, they fit here)

Our security is in Christ Alone. If you fall for some idealistic, legalistic imitation then you have fallen from Grace.

Acts 20:27-32
Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. "Now I commit you to God and to the WORD of HIS GRACE, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

And the Apostle Peter:
2Pe 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

We are members of His Body if we have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit through the work of Christ. Does it not seem very silly and ignorant for some to think that God has restarted His Church after thousands of years from the Churches birth? This FAITH "was once for all entrusted to the saints". It is ludicrous, absurd to think Christ has failed, knowing Christ has been faithfully building His Church, preparing His Bride for many centuries now. Someone coming in trying to convince others that Christ was not powerful enough to hold to His promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church is utterly and plainly spiritually stupid. Not to mention an offense against His Body. This Body contains centuries worth of redeemed saints from all cultures and places of earth. What ant could come along and scream out to God that He has failed and now they must redo everything from the start again? It is sickening to hear this one and that one say "I am the chosen one for this hour". But Jesus used severe language again regarding this matter for He did say:

Mt 24:4-5 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no-one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

I leave all of you with this question:
DO YOU BELIEVE JESUS WORDS HERE ARE TRUE AND NEED TO BE HEEDED TODAY? ARE YOU DOING WHAT HE SAID: "WATCH OUT"?

DISCLAIMER

Humility vs Pride

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

I get the sense ahead of time that I will be seriously convicted by this study. I know that I have fallen far short of the quality of true humility found only in Christ. I believe that false humility (true arrogance) is far to prevalent and deceptive and many naive Christians who follow do not know which one they see when they look at those who claim to be "a minister", "in ministry", or even "a servant of the Lord" in this age.

If we are to contrast humility and pride, I believe we need to see the good quality of humility in the best form possible and of course this is in Christ Jesus Himself. It is said that bankers or bank tellers are taught first to study long and recognize the genuine dollar so much so that they will know a counterfeit when they see it. The more they study the genuine the less they will be fooled even when the fake is so very close in appearance.

As we all know, the "real" value of a counterfeit dollar bill is worthless. It has no real authority from the managing government to back it in its "apparent" value for monetary or material exchange. Only those who have been fooled by it may temporarily grant the fake some authority in their minds only so that it may take something valuable from them in exchange. And consequentially they are left with a loss.

How we describe true humility is how we describe Jesus at His Heart. He said of himself "I am gentle and lowly in heart". Getting back to the need for us to study the genuine, we see this quality of humility is something "in heart" and not just "in appearance" . Who "alone" knows the heart of a man thoroughly and without being fooled by a residing sinful nature?

Jer. 17:9-10
"The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

And it was said of Jesus when He was dwelling in His human form on the earth that He "knew their thoughts". The specific thoughts of the Pharisees as in Luke 6:8 and Mt 12:25 were known by Christ. And John 2:24-25 says:
But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

1 Cor 2:11 says "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?.." And Paul said of himself in 1 Cor 4:4, "For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord."

In a sense we know our own heart but not without some trouble due to the sinful nature that "all" of us Christians have until death or ascension through our final physical transformation.
As the Scriptures declare people can sear or reject their conscience (1 Tim 1:19, 4:2) , harden their heart (1 Sam 6:5), have a defiled mind and conscience (Titus 1:15) and the list of our inherent imperfections go on. Though the bondage of sins power is broken when we are saved through Christ’s death, we will continually need to be renewed in our minds as we are transformed by the Power that raised Christ from the dead. If we dare say we are without sin we may unknowingly be committing the sin that the Pharisees were deceived by as stated in John 9:40-41
Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

1 Jn 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

In other words as Prov. 20:9 says:
Who can say, "I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin"?

The only one that was (and is) in human form without any trace of sin is the incarnate Deity Christ Jesus who is the only Lord and Savior of man and the God of all Existence . He alone has a perfectly clean and pure Heart and Mind. He alone possesses true and undefiled humility. How is this that the One who is the Most Highly Exalted over all and the Creator of all and everything possesses perfect humility? No arrogance or foolish pride ever dwelt or could dwell in the Being of God. He has all Power and Authority and does not need to fight or deceive to keep it. The Scriptures declare that
With Him are strength and prudence.
The deceived and the deceiver are His (Job 12:16).

After seeing this we should realize that one reason why Christ has perfect humility is that His Place can never be and will never be taken by another.
Is 14:12-15
"How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

Jesus witnessed this casting down of Lucifer from Heaven as He said in Luke 10:17, And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

The Most High was not at all threatened by Lucifer but He was offended by this creature's pride.
If Lucifer was considered the most beautiful and a very powerfully created archangel of all the highest Heaven and then lost this position through sin, he now strongly desires to inflict others with this pride that destroyed him.

In contrast to the humility of Christ we could see that God’s created beings (including you and me) have been influenced and deceived by Satan through our fallen nature to some degree by pride. One can subdue most of their sinful urges for things of the flesh by getting so used to being watched by others and may (by hypocritical practice) appear to others to be very holy as it was with the Pharisees. But in the heart, which Christ witnesses from Heaven, there is dwelling great and deceptive pride that "only" God sees and knows. A person who appears to be holy to others, who may actually interact with others seeing and hearing them, who may be highly respected in their eyes, often can be so full of self and pride while they put on the airs of being something else for God. This is the worst form of hypocrisy with pride. I’ll end for now as by giving a warning to all of us. May we all be very prayerful and careful that we are not one of these hypocritical people or that you are not fooled by one of them.

Christ alone deserves all of the glory for true humility for He alone can supply it as He alone is the Vine. Even this is not of our works lest anyone should boast.

Please take this with the concern for our souls as was intended.

In Christ Alone,
Denny

DISCLAIMER

2 Tim 2:7 "Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this"

This promise from Paul to Timothy applies to all believers who know Jesus Christ. Think through these words of Scripture as well and you too may be encouraged in the Lord:

Ps 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

Ps 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Jer 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.

Col 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Ps 77:11-12
I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.

Ps 104:34
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord.

Ps 119:11
Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You!

Ps 119:15
I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.

Ps 119:148
My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word.

Joshua 1:8
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

1 Tim 4:15
Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

Phil 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Col 3:2
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

James 1:25
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.

I have found it very interesting to see that the meaning of the word "meditate" in the OT is: to moan, utter, muse, mutter, devise, speak.

Consider these English words:

moan: a low mournful sound, usually expressive of suffering

Gods Word is our comfort in times of suffering

utter: make (a sound) or say (something)

When God’s Word is boiling over in your heart it tends to reach the lips even when you don’t intend to do this.

muse: be absorbed in thought.

We should be consumed by the Words of Life.

mutter: a barely audible utterance.

But certainly something spoken loudly in your heart.

devise: plan

Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
And oh how wonderful it is if you have submitted your heart to His Words for direction.

speak: say something

And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? (Rom 10:14)

And in the NT the word meditate means: to care for, attend to carefully, practise

practise: perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly in order to improve or maintain proficiency in it.

Do this with fervent prayer for understanding and obeying God’s Word and you will be encouraged, corrected, directed, and certainly Blessed!

DISCLAIMER

Covering your ears?

Are you refusing to hear the Truth? Do you cover your ears when the Truth is spoken and encourage others to do this also?

Considers Stephen’s final words after reminding some hard hearted fellow Jews with a summary of their heritage:

Acts 7:51-58
"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, "who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

1Tim 4:3-5
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Some have been trained to be hardened from receiving or even simply hearing the Truth. It offends them. You probably have heard the saying "the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay". When God’s Truth comes to your ears does the wax in your ears begin to melt? Or, does the clay from your earthly nature (that you call spiritual) harden in your ears? May God give you ears to hear the Truth and the heart to receive and understand it.

A hard heart will prevent you from hearing the Truth. A proud heart is the same. Many people who believe that they have the Truth may actually have a Lie that appears as Truth. In many cases, I believe that God’s genuine Truth will so offend them that they will continue in the process of becoming hardened the more they hear it. How can we be sure we are not there? How can we be sure we have not been accepting a Lie?

Have you witnessed people who will spiritually scream and yell and spiritually stop their ears when the Truth is spoken to them? Especially those who claim they already have the Truth as certain Jewish leaders did in the time of Stephen. They will scream out loud false accusations or untruths just to keep the painful Truth from entering their hearts and causing them to think that they must give up this Lie they have accepted so strongly for so long. That they must change and yield to the Being of Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Thoughts of giving up and considering that something else is really the Truth, rather than what they have been taught by leaders who have misled them for so long, is a difficult matter because it means killing their pride. They were set in their ways by the teachings they were swayed by that sounded so good to their itching ears. They must ask themselves, "Is my pride more important than my conscience or the souls of those I influence in this way of error?"

I believe that much of this can come from individuals giving up on the Church as it appears so messed up and "feeling" so good about this breeze of a doctrine that blew over them some time ago. Be careful about feelings! This is actually what some are being led by if they are seriously honest with themselves. Hardened from hearing the real Truth (and therefore from being freed) they accept what someone has placed before them without honestly and diligently taking the time to see if they are actually going in the path that God has designed through Jesus Christ Grace and Truth. They have let someone besides the Holy Spirit show them "the way". The following is something we can know for sure. As we speak the Truth, God is working in the hearts of those who hear us. Some will be moved by God to conviction through the work of His Holy Spirit. Some will be "cut to the heart and gnash with their teeth" with great resistance. You will know them by their fruit in this. I truly believe as I write this that God will potentially be speaking to someone (is it you?) reading this at present. You know what God is saying to you. You know what He has been saying to you for a while. I don’t have to give details. He did!

Be careful that these word don’t apply to you in the negative way. For Jesus did say this:
"For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him." (Luke 8:17-18)

You can continue to let the Devil steal from you what that means by accepting the Lie you have been taught. Or, you can find out for yourself what the Truth is by looking unto Jesus in the Spirit and Truth as He is speaking to your heart in the Light right now. Satan has stolen so much from your soul. When will you consider this and see the Power of Christ to set you FREE! I pray that this is happening in the presence of your conscience right now. Will you let yourself accept the teaching from deceivers or will you be open to the real Truth of Grace in Christ Jesus? Test and see that the Lord is good. Are you refusing to hear the Truth? Do you cover your ears when the Truth is spoken and encourage others to do this also? You must choose.

In Love for you in Christ,

Denny

An exceedingly great and precious promise: "For if you do these things you will never stumble"...

2 Peter 1:1-11
"Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

This is a wonderful passage from God's Word and I am encouraged by it every time I hear it. God has provided the way through grace for believers to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. He has provided everything we need for life and godliness. First comes the eternal life; then the same divine power provides the means to live godly.

I found this from the Believer's Bible Commentary to be an interesting way to meditate on this passage with famous people in the History of God's Word:

"Add to your faith the virtue or courage of David; and to the courage of David the knowledge of Solomon; and to the knowledge of Solomon the patience of Job; and to the patience of Job the godliness of Daniel; and to the godliness of Daniel the brotherly kindness of Jonathan; and to the brotherly kindness of Jonathan the love of John."

In this passage, "add" means to include or furnish, not to stack one on the other. We must yield to God's Grace so that He will furnish all of these gifts of His Grace as He has promised to provide all of them to us. His Power saved our souls. His Power keeps our souls. We have this Power through "knowing" Him and by it Grace and Peace are multiplied not just added to our lives.

Some who lead others out there would rather you were shortsighted, even to blindness, so that you may forget that you were cleansed from your "old sins". Practicing bringing up other sins that were washed by The Blood of Christ is an offense to the Grace of God in Christ Jesus. Move on! Let those "old sins" that were long confessed and forgotten fester and magnify in the minds of your accusers, NOT in the Blood bought souls of the children of God. You are freed! The influence of the "accuser of the brethren" has no power over you. Take Joy in your Freedom and let Christ now use you for His Glory.

I want to encourage all of us not just to read and study God's Word for our minds only but rather ask for God's Grace and Peace to be multiplied as your eyes are opened to the intimate "knowing" of Him who has called you by His own Glory and Virtue. Don't just visit the secret place of the most high, dwell there. For this is what we were called to; to come and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. For our lives to overflow with Him and be effective for Him we must draw near with a full assurance of faith as we are cleansed by His Blood and freed by His Grace and Mercy. Then we meditate day and night upon the Precious Words of God that He has supplied to us in the Holy Scriptures. "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." (1 Tim 4:15-16)

Amen!

DISCLAIMER

The Body of Christ (including the Head, the most vital part)

I was sitting here before the computer tonight with my Bible software ready to go. I often sit here prior to a good study just praying a bit, longing to know what God would have me to study. I will ask Him, what do You want me to know? What are the most important things You would have me see and know from Your Words right now so that I may say and do them by Your Grace to help? What would You have me share with others that may edify them or help them in their present walk with You?

I find at times I am tempted to go down a road of study that will only partially reveal Christ and His Truth and reveal much of me because of my own emotions about some issue I'm presently dealing with. I, in myself am certainly nothing worth glorifying so I'll ask God to help me overcome this and not be so distracted by present, past, or future events. Or things people have said or done to me or could do. BIG DEAL! This is all in His Hands anyway as He will make the wrath of men praise Him and I shall accept no fear in my soul of what man could do to me. On the other hand, when it is all submitted to Him in prayer, He may use the things happening in your life to help you and others understand His will and Truth better. This is what I offer here.

The Body of Christ
Can you imagine what the Body of Christ would be like without the True Living Christ Jesus as the Head? Can you imagine men in leadership with a natural understanding reading the Holy Words of God in the New Testament and being void of the Grace of the Holy Spirit? Then trying hard to act out in human strength what is said in the NT as if they were yielding to the True Christ, yet it is a christ of the leader's own imagination? But all the while never seeing that though they read the physical form of His written Words, they don't even personally know the Living Christ full of Grace , Mercy, and Truth.

Some leaders get so very hardened in this non-Grace interpretation (after many years of seeing how profitably it works) that from sharing this false image of Christ, others do as they want as a result of their being the authority on this image which is spoken of as if it were the True Christ. The leader has produced this "christ," so he is considered nearly as good as this "christ" of his making. As he presents this image to others, he promotes and produces a controlled following all at his feet.

It would seem to me that one would definitely have to be an unbeliever at heart to do this kind of thing. Actually, I think that what they are believing in is the image in their head or the lie that Satan has instilled in them to see all of the scriptures in light of this false image. This could offer them so much control over the naive or unknowing. Who needs just money when you can actually enjoy life knowing you have indoctrinated so many people to believe this lie you zealously enforce the yielding to and manipulate the outcome of? I mean, you have people right at your feet any time you need or desire anything at all. Wow! This sounds very tempting to the carnal nature. One can appear so much more spiritual and pure to so many and yet be the most wicked and sinful of them all at the heart. But it makes those who know Christ in Truth want to vomit at the thought of this. It makes their stomach feel as if it were going to reject everything because the Holy Spirit in them is so extremely offended. Who else but Christ deserves this place of honor and respect? It is "The Sin", not just a sin, to desire and hypocritically play out such an evil thing as playing another Jesus. It takes a VERY hard heart to do this and play as if you are the greatest thing that has come around since Christ Himself. SICK! VERY SICK!!!


I want to speak of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I wish to let others know Whom I have believed and Who has persuaded me to know that I have Eternal Life in Him. I will testify to the Living Jesus Christ of the Holy Scriptures. I will Glorify His Name over everything and everyone else. He ALONE is worthy. He ALONE is GOD!

I was lost...
Prior to Christ's salvation, in the deep darkness of this world I was alone and without hope. I groped the walls of my heart trying to know what this life was about. Deep depression settled in when I was a young teenager. I knew I was guilty of many wrongs. The sins of my youth were consuming my conscience and eating me alive as I inwardly longed for forgiveness and cleansing. The Holy Spirit began His work. The Devil took his side and tried to keep me in despair and unbelief as he condemned me for all the sin in my conscience. As the law of sin and death gripped my soul, I had a desire to leave this world and all of its pain, I came very near to an actual suicide at the age of 16 when I overdosed on a drug. Fear of death kept me from completing this, and therefore my stomach was pumped before the drugs could take full affect. I was placed in an adolescent ward and told that I was chronically depressed. Of course, I knew this before any one else in the world, but now it was known by my attempt to take my life. You see, no one perceived that I was depressed, not even my family because I hid this well through my shyness.

This world's doctors tried everything and so did I. Self help books, therapies of different sorts, counseling, anti-depressant drugs. It now reminds me of the feeling I spoke of above regarding someone who would usurp the role of Christ with their own imitation. The thought of those days and months I spent trying to find help from this world not realizing I needed to be free from myself, my sin, my darkness. All they could do is compound and suppress the void this troubled and wretched soul knew.

A Light has dawned...
Released from the hospital after one year, they successfully suppressed the need of my soul to the point of numbness just enough to keep me from acting on suicide. Still alone and depressed and full of the shame of my past and present sins, I went on for a few months suffering in silence and darkness through the shyness of my soul. Once again, no one knew what was going on. I don't know how to explain very well the next chapter in my life as it happened at that time. It is best for me to speak of it in retrospect while interjecting some of my thoughts as they were happening at the time. The supernatural world, as I now understand it to the degree that I do, was becoming more and more known to me. Not that I knew then what was happening but activity was obvious to my soul. I knew something was happening that never happened to me before. This is where God's Word comes in. God's angels were sent to minister to me as He promises will occur to those who will inherit salvation (Heb 1:14). At the same time Satan was working hard to keep me from coming to know the Truth about my sin. He distracted me with many false spiritual things like ESP, telepathy and the like. But when the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

2 Tim 2:26
"Then they will come to their senses and escape from the Devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants."

2 Cor 4:3-4
"If the Good News we preach is veiled from anyone, it is a sign that they are perishing. Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God."

God did have mercy on me!
He shined the glorious Light of the Good News into my soul. His Light dawned on me. Conviction of sin was very present and yet condemnation was removed as I came to see that Jesus died for my sins. All of them! He first loved me even when I was yet a sinner. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! It is conviction with God's Grace and Mercy that saves from the start. As Paul said to the Galatians, " Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away?
I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ."

It is the same throughout our walk with Christ on this earth prior to Glory as it was the very first day you received Him as Savior and Lord.

My spirit cries with the Holy Spirit as I see others living in this condemnation of their sins.
Christ was condemned for the sins prior to accepting His Grace as well as every sin you commit after receiving His Grace. He is Holy, Holy, Holy! PURE and without any sin at all. Except through Christ's imputed righteousness, NO ONE else can claim holiness like this but GOD, Jesus Christ Himself. If we have wandered from His Grace and yielded to sin or the law, then we must regain that precious and pure fellowship with Him through conviction leading to repentance. Not condemnation leading to legalistic control. There is a vast difference here and the Devil blurs the two together well in the minds of the naive. The Devil is "the accuser of the brethren". Christ is the Merciful High Priest and Forgiver of the brethren. You must see the difference or you may blindly follow the Devil, even as a Christian. I beg you to ask God to make this Truth clear to your soul. It will make the difference between life and death.

Rom 8:1-2
"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death."

And what is "the power of sin"?

1 Cor 15:56-57
" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

When you are born again you are always free from the power of sin:

Rom 6:7
"For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin."

There is no more sacrifice for sin needed. No works, no penance, NOTHING!

Heb 9:26
"If that had been necessary, he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us."

Don't be fooled by Mike Peters, the Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims, or any other trying to convince you to submit to man-made legalism to please a wrathful god. Christ completed the work of satisfying God's wrath for our sinfulness. No matter what contrary form it takes, it is not of Jesus Christ Who is FULL of Grace and Mercy for ALL of your SIN... PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE! Fear God alone, for His Great Mercy on you and this alone will truly and effectively draw you out of sin by conviction and preserve you from it. Not the power of sin or legalism which now has no more dominion over you. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ! Live this Good News for His Glory and you will know FREEDOM beyond your sweetest imagination and be a testimony to the Person, Character, and Glory of the Living God.

For He came to give you Life and Life more abundant! Don't waste it on an imitation. Live well in Christ's LIFE!

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