The Love of Christ (pt 5) Wide+Long+High+Deep

Ephesians 3:18-19
"...may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." nkjv

We already know, Paul's words here are actually God's Words. And Paul's prayers recorded in the Scriptures were in line with God's will and therefore always accurate and answered. John backed this up by saying "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."1 John 5:14-15 nkjv. Knowing this, we can see that Paul was praying for every single Christian saint, truly elected and born of God. This means we have been granted the power by God to comprehend how wide and long and high and deep is the Love of Christ as a result of the Apostle Paul's prayers for us. Yet as Paul also writes here, no matter how wide and long and high and deep we know the Love of Christ, we will never come to the end of it for His Love is as eternal as He Himself is for God is Love.

Jeremiah 31:3
"The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.'"


We often speak of the fact that Christians are born of God. It may bless us even more to ponder from God's Word the fact that we were first conceived of God long before we were born of Him. The Scriptures make it clear to us that God had conceived, through His Love for us, our planned birth in His Spirit from the foundation of the world. God foreknew the sinful and rebellious course of mankind and He already formed the idea within the fellowship of His eternal Son and Holy Spirit that the Son, Christ Jesus, would come as a pure man, give His life for our sin, and be raised to Life again to save us from eternal separation from Him, which is Hell. Christ the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world and you were on His mind at that eternal moment. We are all now living out what God has conceived from eternity. As Paul spoke to those worshiping "THE UNKNOWN GOD" he said "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. "Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings," (Acts 17:24-26) nkjv

Ephesians 1:3-14
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." nkjv

How wide, how long, how high and how deep is the Love of Christ? Can you see all the space and planets in the heavens above? Can you fathom eternity, picturing our planet earth's existence encapsulated in time as a tiny spec in eternity? The Alpha, the Omega yet He is the Great "I AM". Loving you from the plans of Creation yet existing in this very moment for you. As close as your heart gently beating in the flesh of your body and growing in strength as you sense the Loving presence of His Grace in your soul. And He will never leave you or forsake you. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His Love never fails you. He has cast your sins as far as the east is from the west, never to speak of them again. As much as Satan hates you, Christ’s Love conquers it all so never fear his attacks. They are meant to produce in you His likeness.


"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor 4:16-18) nkjv

You are Christ's Love and He is yours. His lovingkindness drew you to Him and the same will keep you to the end. His Love is better than this life so praise Him with all that is within you. Bless His name in the sanctuary of your heart, His eternal abode. Let only His Life with all His Grace, Mercy, Truth, and Love convict your heart to keep you humble, pure and repentant before Him and Him alone. And let His Spirit reign in your mortal body so others may see this Light of Jesus in your eyes so that God may grant they realize their need for this worlds only Savior, Whom you have living within.
"And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God." (2 Cor 4:13-15)nkjv

Come to know, encourage, exhort, edify and administer the forgiving Grace to all those who faithfully call upon the name of the Lord out of a pure heart in Spirit and Truth where ever you meet them. For they are of the same Lord, Spirit, Faith, and Baptism into the Body of Christ as you are. This is all just the beginning of "Knowing the Love of Christ" which passes our finite comprehension.

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?"
"Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?"
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.
Amen." (Rom 11:33-36) nkjv

DISCLAIMER

The Kingdom of the Cults

I wish to pause in my look at Paul’s prayer for the saint’s ability (God granted) to comprehend the Love of Christ so that I may share something I have been researching lately...


"The Kingdom of the Cult’s" by the late, very respected Christian apologist Walter Martin. Visit the website: http://www.waltermartin.org/

Unless you are aware of this book, I believe it will do you well to read through all I have placed on this post, for the thoughts presented here are vital to understanding cults, how they work, and how Christians can deal with them.

I’ve had the 1997 version of "The Kingdom of the Cult’s" for many years. Even before I was involved with the small cult known as "THE Church in Indianapolis" for a few weeks before I came to my senses in Christ’s grace and truth. Unfortunately, I did not read much of the book prior to my entrapment there of which Christ has long since set me free. Had I paid some serious attention to the likes of this book, I may never have been there in the first place. After recently reviewing the first 3 chapters of this book, I went directly to Amazon.com and purchased the 2003 revision which was edited by Ravi Zacharias and the daughter of Walter Martin, Jill Martin Rische. This book has insight that no Christian should be without if you wish to contend for the true definition of genuine Christian faith as handed to us by the original penmen of the Holy Scriptures.

You too may see why I say this from just a few brief excerpts of "The Kingdom of the Cult’s". A large part of the text on this post is from his book. Please consider its importance and relevancy.

In Walter Martin’s book (1997 pg. 14) we find:
"It has been wisely observed that men are at liberty to reject Jesus Christ and the Bible as the Word of God; that they are at liberty to oppose Him; that they are at liberty to challenge it. But they are not at liberty to alter the essential message of the Scriptures, which is the good news that God does care for the lost souls of His children, and so loved us as to send His only Son that we might live through Him."

As Jesus, Paul, Peter and other Holy men of God have made it clear in Scripture, we should not be slack in our being aware of and watching out for those who would come in the guise of "a messenger of God" and twist the words of God from the original meanings to fit their twisted "new revelation" version of the original truth. As Walter Martin says, though we can permit liberty (as we pray for salvation) for those who reject, challenge, or oppose Jesus as Lord and Savior (for God will judge the outsiders), we should not have any tolerance for such outright lies/practices regarding the Christian faith coming from pretenders who twist and pervert the original Truth given from the first Apostles and Prophets and early church leaders of our Christian faith.

Jude 3
"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."

It’s DONE! We don’t need any more additional so-called truth. For this makes a lie when we add to or take away from His Holy Words. The Apostle Peter, who was with Christ in the flesh, said to the first believers "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," (2 Pet 1:3-4)
This is a fact forever and the promise includes "EVERY WORD of GOD" needed for salvation and preparation for heaven has already been given, period.

Prov. 30:6
"Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."

Job 13:7-11
"Will you speak wickedly for God, And talk deceitfully for Him?
Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God?
Will it be well when He searches you out? Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?
He will surely rebuke you If you secretly show partiality.
Will not His excellence make you afraid, And the dread of Him fall upon you?"

A few other telling quotes from "The Kingdom of the Cults" (1997):
"The Biblical perspective then, where false teachers and false teachings are concerned, is that we are to have compassion and love for those who are enmeshed in the teachings of the false prophets, but we are to vigorously oppose the teachings, with our primary objective the winning of the soul, and not so much the argument. It must never be forgotten that cultists are souls for whom Christ died."

"Within the theological structure of the cults there is considerable truth, all of which, it might be added, is drawn from Biblical sources, but so diluted with human error as to be more deadly than complete falsehood."

And from the chapter called "Scaling the Language Barrier", Mr. Martin brings out the importance of knowing how any particular cult ascribes new definitions to words to fit their own format of conditioning and controlling their followers or potential followers and keeping them from seeing the true meanings which could set them free:

"On countless occasions the author has been asked, "Why is it, that when I am talking with a cultist, he seems to be in full agreement with what I am saying; but, when we have finished talking, I am aware of a definite lack of communication, almost as though we were not talking the same language?"

"...proper usage of definitions as a practical tool will rob the cultist of at least two of his advantages: surprise and confusion."

"There is a common denominator then, and it is inextricably connected with language and the precise definition of terminology. It is what we might call the key to understanding cultism" emphasis mine

"The average non-Christian cult owes its very existence to the fact that it has utilized the terminology of Christianity , has borrowed liberally from the Bible, almost always out of context, and sprinkled its format with evangelical cliches and terms wherever possible or advantageous...... On encountering a cultist then, always remember that you are dealing with a person who is familiar with Christian terminology, and who has carefully redefined it to fit the system of thought he or she now embraces." emphasis mine

"The solution to this perplexing problem is far from simple, but once the Christian realizes that for every Biblical or doctrinal term he mentions, a redefinition light flashes on in the mind of the cultist, and a lightning-fast redefinition is accomplished, thus allowing the cultist apparently to agree with the doctrine under discussion, while firmly disagreeing in reality with the historical and Biblical concept. Then the Christian is on his way to dealing effectively with cult terminology. This amazing operation of terminological redefinition works very much like a word-association test in psychology.
It is simple for a cultist to spiritualize and redefine the clear meaning of Biblical text and teachings so as to be in harmony with the historic Christian faith. However such harmony is at best a surface agreement, based upon double meaning of words which cannot stand the test of Biblical context, grammar, or sound exegesis." emphasis mine

Lord willing, I will be sharing more as I go through this book in the next few weeks. For now I wish to say a few pertinent things to some of you.

Just considering the few quotes I have above, we see the importance of knowing the language of a cult. Walter Martin usually referred to the larger and established cults like Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christian Science. But you can see in those three examples common characteristics found in most any American cult, be they large or small. I plan to go into more details about this in a later post.

As a personal note to some of you who are aware of the relatively new (20 years) smaller (a few hundred people including affiliates in other cities) cult in Indianapolis known as "THE Church in Indianapolis" I say the following.

I can not agree completely in the statement I have heard: "Those who were in a cult should never speak out against the cult they were a part of for this will appear to other as having an ax to grind or being a disgruntled ex-member". While I see the concern, it is the risk (as well as other risks like the slander they may endure for leaving the cult) they must take for the truth to be known to others that they may be warned. Of course it is vital that they should have their minds renewed in the freeing grace and truth from God’s Word and that they themselves are not yet affected by the false teaching they were once entangled in as a yoke of bondage. They should be very careful not to mutate into another false teaching by avoiding being a Berean and living by Every Word of God through prayer. Their mind and soul should be cleared completely of this virus known as a false teaching as come to fully understand and stand upon the "Truth of the Gospel" in its genuine and balanced form so as to avoid the potential of it mutating into another form of a false teaching coming from within themslves. And, they should be sure they have cleared their hearts of ill will towards their former cult leaders. After this is sure, these very people are the key to making the grace-freed, Holy Spirit empowered Church of Jesus Christ aware of the new language that they have learned while being a part of this particular "new teaching" they have known.

I myself can know from God’s Word what the genuine is as far as Truth goes and I can therefore discern from this some of the error of a cult. And yet, being a part of this cult, for the little time that I was, limits my understanding of the language of "THE Church of Indianapolis". I have learned much of what I know from others who have been in there and escaped the deception and shared with me while I was yet living close to them in the city. And of course from "Families Against Cults".

However, there are many who have exited and prayerfully will exit this cult, who have many years experience of learning the new language of Mike Peters and his men, who can, after some time of renewal and recovery, help others beware of their language and what it REALLY means so that we aren’t taken by surprise or confused, as Walter Martin has said could happen if we are unprepared. It may be for this purpose that they have endured this cult and it’s abuses to them and their families for the time that they have. No one can do as they can do in exposing this false teaching/practices. Please be in much prayer for this responsibility you may have here. You may be instrumental in saving other souls from this affliction of a false and perverted teaching and practice in the future, as God continues to tear down the building standing on a false foundation.

I look forward to sharing more on this revealing book "The Kingdom of the Cults" exposing present day cults, how they operate, and what we can do about them as Christians of the only and original "Truth of the Gospel".

Get the book! You won’t regret it. But be sure you don’t find yourself regretting not reading it like I did in my earlier years of life.

God Bless!

DISCLAIMER

The Love of Christ (Pt 4) "Rooted and Grounded"

The Scripture that I have been watching here with prayer is in Ephesians 3:14-21

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." -nkjv-

I have come to what I see as one of the most beautiful metaphors in the Bible for what it refers to, and that is of course "the Love of Christ".

"being rooted and grounded in love"

What does every tree need more than anything else? Water and sunshine. The woman at the well with Jesus came for physical water and left with what she needed infinitely more than that. She came to know the "Living Water" Who gave her life everlasting. Her soul no longer thirsted for anything else, for she found the "fountain of life" which Christ promised she could come drink all she wanted forever. Who needs a fountain of youth when we have the fountain of Christ’s Love that never runs dry.

But there is one other vital thing a tree needs also to grow and be strong, fruitful, and healthy. Water, Sunshine and Nutrients from the soil. The Son of Righteousness arises with His healing brightness of Love which makes the Water of Life flow throughout your soul and spirit with nutrients from God’s good soil pulled up from within the roots found in His Love as He saturates your ground with this Water of Life. As we are rooted and grounded in the Love of Christ, we need, as Jesus spoke against Satan, "EVERY WORD that proceeded from the mouth of God". Where are you placing your roots to grow deep for nourishment? Just as one can become diseased or unhealthy physically from not receiving all the nutrients our bodies were designed to live by, so also our spirit and soul will become vulnerable to Satans deceptions through the false doctrines if we don't acknowledge and accept "EVERY WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God".

1 Peter 1 :22-23 tells us:
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,.."

Some people TRY HARD to obey what they believe they see in the New Testament Scriptures to "love one another fervently with a pure heart". They live "by the letter" in their mind or as told from the "natually" intelligent mind of someone they trust and rely on for teaching them how to do it "to a T", all the while believing God's blessing is in this. But if the Truth were known and their eyes were really open to God’s Grace, they would accept that they CAN NOT do it, even with the zeal they think they possess for the Father's house! Their zeal is misdirected as it was with Saul before he became Paul. Legalistic groups claiming they live out God’s Love but are centered around a teaching that Paul warns us of:

"They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them." (Gal 4:17)

They are so zealous for the NT way of life that they will cruelly "exclude you" (or their family members, spouses, friends) if you don’t give in to them. But Paul warned us of this as well when he said as he wrote to the Galatians:

"And this occurred (a legalistic enforcement) because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour (certainly should never be 5 week or more for those who know what I mean), that the truth of the gospel (saved, continually cleaned up, and KEPT clean and increasingly fruitful by grace alone) might continue with you. Praise God!

What did Jesus say His Father’s command was?

"And I know that His command is everlasting life."

As God commanded your election of Salvation, He will carry it with you into Everlasting Life! THIS IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST! He planted you in His good soil, located on Holy ground, purchased by His vicarious sacrificial death and resurrection, at Salvation. And, He waters and nourishes you until the Day of your death or His glorious return, where your Lord Himself will take you to the house He has built for you on that same Holy ground lot that has your name written on it, as revealed through the deed located in the Book of Life. Let EVERY WORD of God dwell in you richly. Let your roots grow deep through prayer and the Living Word! For unless you join that living "Word of God (that first saved you) which lives and abides forever" with "EVERY (living) WORD which proceeds from the mouth of God", you will not fully experience while dwelling in this mortal tent His AWESOME AND FOREVER-FREE SALVATION as He has intended. Love Him in prayer and praise and worship this way because He first Loved you.

What on earth does avoiding legalism (seeing only some of EVERY WORD) as described here have to do with the Love of Christ?

Everything!

For it is as Peter said above, "obeying the truth" is only done "through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren". YOU CAN"T DO IT AND NEITHER CAN I! Christ accomplishes this love "through the Spirit" which was primarily and foundationally done "through prayer" in the example He gave to us . Not of works unless you choose to boast as other legalistic people who already have their reward. I know of cults who think "your alone time can't be trusted because your heart is sinful and may lead you astray, you must have other brothers there to help you see your sin". Even natuaral logic, let alone the Word of God, would tell you that if you can't trust your own "alone time" with God how on earth could you trust another sinner like yourself. Absolute FOOLISHNESS! THE GALATIANS ERROR! We were "born again, not of corruptible seed (our own works are as filthy rags) but incorruptible, through the WORD OF GOD which lives and abides forever... For those to whom this shoe fits: " HE DID IT! NOT YOU OR I OR YOUR FELLOW BROTHER, WHO IS ALSO PRONE TO POTENTIAL SIN AS WELL IN SPITE OF THEIR ANTI-SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS OTHERWISE!... THEY "SAY" THAT THEY SIT IN THE SEAT OF MOSES THROUGH THEIR CLAIM OF APOSTLESHIP, DID YOU LOOK THOROUGHLY THROUGH ALL OF GOD'S WORDS FOR YOURSELF TO SEE IF THESE THINGS ARE SO? IF NOT YOU ARE GAMBLING YOUR SOUL ON ANOTHER SINNER LIKE YOU! PLEASE THINK THIS THROUGH!

CHRIST JESUS IS THE ONLY PERFECTLY PURE HIGH PRIEST YOU "CAN" TRUST TO SAVE YOU FROM SIN! He gets all the glory for saving me because "He first loved me". And, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;" Take His yoke upon you and learn of Him for He is meek and lowly in heart and you will find His "rest" in your soul and a "peace of mind" that passes all understanding.

Next time I hope to see how far these roots can grow in the Soil of Christ’s Love for His own.

I agree with Paul and pray that we "may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;."

DISCLAIMER

The Love of Christ (Pt 3) "I am sorry"

In my first post on "The Love of Christ" (Pt 1) I said things like: "It is my desire to do an in-depth expository work on comprehending the Love of God." YUK! If I were in a cult that was quick to judge motives, I would likely be condemned for life for saying it that way! Some of you unfortunately know what I mean. As far as "in-depth" goes... it won’t happen. For I could hardly begin to touch upon the magnitude of Christ’s Love. God is already convicting me about how I am saying things. Not really "what" I say but "how". I am sorry for sounding short on passion, if I do, as I do this study. I will most likely do it again and be convicted for it, for I am only so mature and yet growing up in Him who is the Head of the Church, Christ Jesus Himself. Please forgive me. I pray you may glean some good from my study here.

I think Paul said it well enough, " For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ep 3:14-19 nkjv)

Or as the NLT puts it:

"When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.."

Consider this promise: "to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;"

I say "WOW!" This is so incredible to think about! The same Spirit and His Power that raised Christ from the dead is in believing Christians to empower and endow them with grace directly from the highest of the Heavens. This "resurrection power" is available to our inner man because of Christ's death and New Life for our soul, where He has chosen to dwell there through the faith we have in Him. "Christ in me, the hope of glory". "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me". "Greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world". My "inner man is being renewed day by day". We "are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." He dwells "in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite (not condemned) and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones." I have eaten His flesh and drank His blood so I abide in Him and He in me. Because His Spirit dwells in each and every one who accepts the Truth of the Gospel of grace in Christ Jesus as Paul "faithfully" describes, we are one together in Him even as He is One with the Father. This is the faith of Christ dwelling in us.

Lord willing, my next post, I will look at "being rooted and grounded in love". I pray God will help me see this better. I do covet your prayers.

God Bless You!

DISCLAIMER

The Love of Christ (Pt 2) "riches of His glory"

I want to say up front on this post that I certainly don’t believe many people visit this blog here. To those who do I wish to say something as I have before. YOU are quite welcome and encouraged to make conversation here. If you have any thoughts you would like to share regarding the matters in any of these blog posts, please let me know by commenting. You may comment about the topic any way that you wish. As long as I don’t have conviction that it is obscene or inappropriate I will post it for you here. (I only remember one comment that I have rejected and that was someone claiming to be Christ.) I am open to comments regarding any thing I share especially if it is productive or beneficial for the readers. As far as it goes with me, I would certainly request that you let me know if you feel like I am saying something the wrong way or if you believe I am missing something important before you let anyone else know. How will I know unless you do? This is your place to comment here. Please feel free to do so.

Also, I wish to say something about the Christian fellowship that I have at this time. My wife and sister in Christ is the closest Christian friend that I have. Daily, she helps me see and consider spiritual things (and other things) in ways that I may not see right away for myself. And I trust she thinks the same of me as well. We are each a part of the Body of Christ. We are waiting on God and praying that He will show us which way to go in regard to sharing fellowship and communion in Christ with other local believers. We live in a rural area and we know and share with some of our neighbors but we can’t say we find rich and mutual spiritual fellowship in Christ with them as yet. Meanwhile we do have some good Christian friends at least within 1 hour of us. We have an older couple (Ralph and Phyllis) of whom we respect and enjoy fellowship. We have a couple near our age (Rick and Renee) whom also we have times of sharing together. And there are a few other local Christian friends that we don’t see often, though I wish we could. Otherwise we have enjoyed communications with a few people we know who are scattered throughout America.

One of those friends that I would like to give special mention to is Tim Szazynski. Passing through this way to see some of his relatives, he stopped here yesterday afternoon and stayed till morning. We enjoyed that Tim seemed to relax and make himself at home with us and we were glad for this. Both of our sons really enjoyed his visit as well, said he is "cool", and referred to him like a "fun uncle" type of guy. He impressed my wife as someone with excellent taste when he remarked that her cat, Toby, is a gorgeous animal. And also when he asked for seconds on her potroast. We had a great time of fellowship with him staying up through the night (and wish we could have had more time) and much of our conversation was filled with glorifying and acknowledging the sovereignty and grace of our God. I see Tim as someone who has put his trust and confidence in the Lord and believes that God will work all things to the good of God’s eternal plan and purpose. God through time may reveal why things have worked the way they have in his family situation. He has endured for 18 years an Indy cult led by Mike Peters which has great and continuously piling evidence (from many different sincere Christian people) of serious spiritual perversions such as tearing families apart, twisting truths, 1/10 truths (not even half), outright lies, and deceptions to work their very controlling spirit. This group can be understood better by listening to this mp3 recording of an old 1956 radio broadcast called Mr. Costello, Hero. In this fictional drama there are factual simalarities to this cult group like how (if people leave or question authority) they have recorded people to slander them later by things they spoke that the cult leader twists (sometimes very severely) or something is said and recorded when they were under duress from the leaders emotional pressure tactics and mental manipulations and then played back or threatened to be played. This all being done as they "use" the precious name of Jesus for their cover. Considering the cult control that Tim has escaped from (and his wife is still willingly and/or blindly subjected to) let us give this a little time and at least acknowledge God’s Word that says: "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God" (1Cor 4:5).


For now, I will briefly step back into our study on "the Love of Christ" as we move on with the prayer of Paul...

Ep 3:14-21
"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

"that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory"

It is God’s will as it was Paul’s fervent prayer to grant or give His children all things.

Romans 8:31-39
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
"For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Tell me if this is not the riches of His glory. He gave His very best, Jesus and all that we’ll ever need from now throughout eternity. In that He has granted us complete and undeserved yet unreserved justification by faith. ZERO WORKS necessary. 100% PAID BY CHRIST! Our own self-glorifying works are but as filthy rags or dung in the Eyes of a Holy God. Our works, prepared and empowered by the eternal God, are ONLY a result or evident fruit of this complete payment done from the mercy of God. This is ALL to HIS GLORY ALONE! Who could condemn those that the Almighty God has cleared? It is not possible. The condemnation falls on their own heads as they try for this is an affront against God Himself and His precious Son's work on the Cross. Christ is now seated at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for those of us who truly have faith from and in His Son that is based solely on GRACE ALONE and TO HIS GLORY ALONE. To you who lead a cult group I say, May God convict you of the severe sin and grossly offensive sin of denying the GRACE AND GLORY OF OUR GOD! If you do not know this conviction before your death, I pity your soul for its eternal reward that "you" have "worked" for!

We have yet to experience so much more of "the riches of His Grace".

To be continued...

DISCLAIMER

The Love of Christ: (Pt One) "For this reason"

I am praying that I will do this study with all of the grace God will offer. I pray that I will be as sensitive as possible to what God would have me know and convey to others through this vital study regarding the Love of God. It is my desire to do an in-depth expository work on comprehending the Love of God. As it is with any truth from God’s Word, this is only possible with God’s Spirit opening my eyes and directing me. I believe ahead of time that I must have patience as I live with the anticipation of knowing the Love of God in more depth than I ever have before. I am very excited about this study and yet know I must yield myself to His Hand of Change, as I sense ahead of time as well, that He will be working some changes that will be unpleasant to my old ways of thinking. But this is good with me as it is my God given hearts desire to be more like Him. "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Heb 12:10). "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2Cor 3:18).

The Love of God (part one)

Ep 3:14-21
"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

God willing, I will expound upon this passage in the following text and probably a few posts. But, when we get to "the Love of Christ" I am anticipating a more intensely burning heart kindled by the Holy Spirit showing to me just what Paul, through the Lord’s inspired words, has prayed that I as a believer would see. I expect this flame to have a purifying affect in my soul where my mind is also renewed as this promised spiritual growth occurs.

"For this reason..."
What was the reason for Paul being so serious before the Throne of Mercy to intercede so that other believers might also be empowered through Christ’s magnificent, merciful, and mysterious Love? Of course we see the reason as we look at what is said prior to this fervent prayer happening in Paul. Paul sees with eyes of understanding what Christ has given to all believers. Not only the mercy of sins forgiven and pardon from eternal Hell. But with this, the Omnipotent Heavenly Father has granted that any and all believers born of God are seated with His Wonderful Son. The Son of God in whom dwells all of the fullness of the Godhead in His bodily form. It is vital that we know this as a defense against the worldly temptations of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. If we know where we came from (born of God from the highest of Heaven), and that our nature is like His, there is great moral and spiritual power granted to us as children of the Highest. 2Peter 1:3 declares : "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..." This has so much more to it that I will be growing in this knowledge for as long as my soul dwells in this mortal decaying body. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day" (2Cor 4:16). Now that we have a general understanding of why Paul prays as he does we will go into his specific prayer.

" I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named"
Paul bowed his knees before the Father. He sees that "God so Loved the world that He gave His One True Son" to redeem and purify for Himself from a sick and sinful world an entire family for the Father’s own eternal glory and pleasure. And we are to be "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." There is salvation in no other, "for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved". As much as I will honor my earthly parents of whom my body was born or my childhood nurtured, I need to acknowledge that I am a part of the family of God’s unique, sinless, "one of a kind" Son, "Jesus Christ the Righteous". My sin was punished on His Cross and His Righteousness was placed in me in the Eyes of the Father. I will "do good to all men", including my unsaved relatives. I will share "the Love of Christ" with them in any way possible. As God leads, I should have "humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." For how will they know Him if I hide the light from them or if I become sinfully proud, arrogant and selfish about eternal salvation. My thoughts about that say if we act like that about this merciful salvation we should question if we are even saved in the first place. For if God was able to graft me in, He could graft anyone in. And not any other soul out there was or could be any better or worse than I was before God’s birthing me from Heaven as was planned before the foundation of the world. He alone is God! Not any one of us. He alone saves AND keeps us. There is no place for any of us to boast or be proud in this matter as this stinks in the nostrils of the Holy God who has shown us mercy (consider Romans 11:11-25). I am "in" the world just not "of" it. On the other hand I will "do good....especially to the household of faith". They have the same Holy Spirit that dwells in me. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ and will be of the same Lord and Spirit forever.

"that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory"

Lord willing, I will continue with this on my next post...

DISCLAIMER

Redemption from sin "OR" regurgitation of sin?

What is God’s Word and will on this matter?

Col 1:13-14
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Oh, how we should always thank and praise our God for His great mercy that He has shown to us through His Son! This promise applies to all who have received Christ as their Redeemer. There are of course so many references throughout the Bible that speak of this key truth in Christ (OT and NT). In fact, this is what God has desired and willed from the foundation of the world, that Jesus Christ would redeem and offer forgiveness to sinful mankind so as to give all the glory to God alone.

Ep 4:30-32
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

What does this word "forgive" mean? If we look it up in Strong’s we find the Greek word
"aphesis" {af’-es-is}
1) release from bondage or imprisonment
2) forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty

And the word "redeem" "exagorazo" { ex-ag-or-ad’-zo}
1) to redeem
1a) by payment of a price to recover from the power of another, to ransom, buy off
1b) metaph. of Christ freeing the elect from the dominion of the Mosaic Law at the price of his vicarious death

And finally the word "grace" ""charis" {khar’-ece}
Of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.

As Christians washed by His Blood and born of His Spirit we often forget the truth of these words and their eternal application. Just meditate on the meaning of the words above for a while.

I am speaking to those who already know our need for holiness and purity in God. To those of you who let conviction keep you from doing wrong, and quickly and sincerely repent when you have failed and have let temptation defeat you by doing wrong. Due to your sensitivity in keeping your conscience pure before God and quickly repenting you must always become aware of another who would use this sensitivity of yours for his own benefit. His name is Satan, "the accuser of the brethren" as the Bible says. Let me tell you another similar trait of Satan. He will not only regurgitate (via reminders from those he can use) the sin that you have long repented of and forsaken but will also twist and pervert the truth of it as he does everything else. You see, he knows that many sincere Christians who truly desire to practice living a pure life will miss it some way at some stage in their walk with Christ. They will let the influence of the world affect their mind with corruptions though lust or pride. Or, they will be "swayed" by the influence of legalistic "pushers" who can weaken their faith in God’s grace (to keep them) to the point where they find that they have temporarily given into the flesh and missed the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I will say this to you who do love God and desire to have His holiness which is supplied when we abide in His Vine. Satan will pursue an attack on you if you do not have the defense of the Truth of God’s Word at your side. If Satan sees that you practice carrying the Sword of the Spirit by your side, his attacks will not endure and they will have no ill affect on you but rather will work to strengthen your inner man with MIGHT and more faith in God. Praise God for this! Each time something or someone is used of Satan to attack you with the cleansed sins from your past or false accusation "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints..."

It is my prayer that God will bless the souls of the redeemed who endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Who find their lives assaulted by liars and deceivers. Blessed are you when they say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ’s sake. You can be sure that it is impossible for your assailants to have peace or a clear conscience in themselves before God. No matter how much acting ability they have God will not grant them peace. They are already suffering in their minds for their choices. You, who bear the brunt of their assaults, rejoice and be glad in Jesus for so many before you have suffered this way after the light exposed their accusers. Even as "the Accuser" will continue to do all of this, unless they come to repentance, his participants will increase in their sufferings put on themselves by their decisions to practice spiritual perversions with the intent to rule over others. Christ from His Throne in the Highest will only strengthen those who are honest in God’s sight and those who place all their faith in Him alone without guile.

And what is the definition of guile? It means "sly or cunning intelligence". We have seen this through specific individuals. Don’t let them get to you if you are a redeemed child of God! All they have is a secular lawyer's wisdom mentality guised in a pseudo spirituality to attempt to indict you of your past and forgiven sins with serious perversions thrown in by their own corrupt creativity. What you must see is that the Judge of all Creation is standing in your place as they throw out their fruitless assaults. Christ has given us authority over all the power of the enemy. And we are "seated with Him" in Heavenly places. Cast down those things that exalt themselves against this Truth of God’s propitiation through Christ. If God’s justice is satisfied then He is at peace with you. Why worry about others who are perverts of spiritual justice in the court room of this life. Let them suffer in the halls of their own consciences unless or until they, too, repent. Their suffering will increase as their sins of falsely accusing increase. They are now pricked in their conscience as they read this exposure of Truth. Let us pray for their freedom from this bondage and self delusion. But you are to know liberty in the Lord as you submit to the righteousness of God in Christ and yeild to His transforming power from Heaven to conform you to His image.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever."
Amen. Jude 24-25

I trust God’s Spirit will use these words to encourage you in Him as they have very much encouraged me. Be Blessed!

In Christ,
Denny

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