It has been said, that one of the darkest hours in history, was when The Great I AM, had to turn HIS back on HIS Holy Son... For that moment on the Cross when HE took on my sin, it darkened and blemished HIS Holiness in the sight of GOD... Jesus, took every disgusting, vulgar, horrendous, foul, wretched sin of ALL Humanity upon Himself so that NO MAN; that's right, so that NO MAN would have to be judged by The Just and Righteous God... BUT; NOT Every Man chooses to accept this priceless eternal gift of Almighty God… That CHOICE; is then their eternal damnation… HE Took It For All, but in all of Humanity counted since Adam, only a FEW have & will actually accept…
To truly understand read beyond verse 16 !!!
John 3
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
The GIFT is FREE; BUT, the cost is huge… You must be willing to carry the Cross of Christ, in the broad, searching and revealing LIGHT… In obedience, out of Love, Humility and Thankfulness, we are to FOLLOW Jesus, following HIS Example, HIS Righteousness, HIS Service to others and HIS Love & Compassion for the needy and low in Spirit… We are to die to self, becoming more like HIM, in that process becoming less self focused, and HE becomes more of our focus in life, in our walk and in our Witness to WHO HE IS… THIS ALL – comes from God thru the Holy Spirit, it can NOT be imitated in any sustained manner… THUSLY; we know the Fruit of the Spirit and can discern it… We must constantly examine our own Hearts prior to offering any counsel to a Brother or Sister in Christ… When offering a word of Counsel, we are well advised to speak the TRUTH in LOVE… We are not The Judge, we are simply to be an encourager, to build up the brethren and further the Kingdom of God…
The Word instructs us to test ourselves for the authenticity of the Holy Spirit that is to dwell in us…
Do you Possess the Correct Spiritual Attitudes?
The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
Matthew 5
1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Do you Possess the Fruit of The Spirit?
Walk by the Spirit
Galatians 5
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
THIS IS VERY, VERY, HELPFUL: rchall
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http://counselingoneanother.com/2011/09/01/10-tests-of-genuine-faith/
10 Tests of Genuine Faith
September 1, 2011
by Paul Tautges
By God’s grace, I’m a husband, father, grandfather, and one of the pastors at Cornerstone Community Church east of Cleveland, OH. I love Christ because He first loved me.
Romans 8:16 says, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. In other words, part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to believers is to give assurance of salvation. Since the Holy Spirit is the divine author of Scripture, and since He wrote at least one New Testament book just for the sole purpose of helping believers discern the reality of their faith, the tests of genuine faith found in the book of First John must be seriously considered.
Scripture exhorts us to test our faith (2 Cor. 13:5). The reason is that our hearts are naturally deceitful and, therefore, we can even deceive ourselves. Jesus said that on the Day of Judgment there will be many people who thought themselves to be Christians, but are in the end condemned (Matt. 7:21-23).
Many years ago, I created a 2-page worksheet for use in counseling, personal Bible study, and small group discussion. It draws out of the book of First John ten tests of genuine faith and suggests questions for self-examination.
1. The Test of Conscience: Is my conscience sensitive to sin? (1 Jn 1:5-10)
2. The Test of Obedience: How obedient am I to God’s Word? (1 Jn 2:3-6; 5:2-3)
3. The Test of Worldliness: Where do my affections lie? (1 Jn 2:15-17; 5:4-5)
4. The Test of Anticipation: Deep down, do I long to see Jesus? (1 Jn 3:1-3)
5. The Test of Holiness: Am I progressing away from sin toward holiness, or am I still
in bondage? (1 Jn 3:4-10)
6. The Test of Love: Do I love other believers and long to be with them?
(1 Jn 3:11-18; 4:7-12)
7. The Test of Prayer: Does God answer my prayers? (1 Jn 3:21-22)
8. The Test of the Holy Spirit: Do I experience the power of the Spirit in my life?
(1 Jn 4:13)
9. The Test of Persecution: Have I ever suffered because of my testimony for Christ?
(1 Jn 3:10-13)
10. The Test of Confessing Christ: Do I have Jesus Christ as my own?
(1 Jn 4:1-5; 5:1, 10-12)
Pray before looking up the Scriptures and filling in your chart. Ask God to confirm the genuineness of your faith through the passing of these tests, or to confront counterfeit faith is that is indeed the case.
Words to Encourage - The Gospel Way
Bringing His Word To The Laymen Thru The Pen Of His Servant...
P R A Y E R !
Friday, July 12, 2019
Friday, August 10, 2018
Fear IS A Liar - When Standing In The Life & Light of Christ...
The whispers of the enemy has
from time to time run thru my head, heart and soul… I have heard the words you are a terrible
husband, a rotten dad, a lousy person, you will never amount to anything… IF I tried to find my value in those words
and the opinions of those around me – I would most likely end up a statistic in
some police blotter somewhere…
Well, the fact is, my name is
written in a book somewhere; thank goodness it is in a set of statistics that
will live on forever. Since I met HIM,
He has placed NEW Words in my Heart that cast shadows on those old hateful
words, and HE has carried me over and thru all the hardest times of my life,
assuring me (1) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God LOVED me, me – a kid that would
not amount to anything, a man that in the past a woman committed herself to
before God & witnesses for eternity; just walked away. A dad that was too strict and used the word
NO too often, the guy with no value to this world, a lousy excuse for a human
being – He Loved me enough to sacrifice HIS ONLY SON that I might live on? Yes – even for the likes of me…
Then as I accepted that fact,
that HIS Son Jesus, came to this miserable corrupted world to live, serve,
sacrifice, endure cruel criticism, physical beating and then the Cross, (2) “Greater love has
no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The part that blew my mind, I was convinced
that I was rotten to the core, and that by the world’s standards – I was not
only worthless and unredeemable, but I was bound for an eternity of Hell &
Damnation. (3) “But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.” So in that terrible
condition and state of mind – HE still loved me enough, that even if I were the
only one here – HE would have still paid my debt and freed me from Sin and
eternal death.
I have always been a hard head to
learning – I need to practice it a few times till I get it right. So; I am prone to mistakes, miscommunications
and misunderstandings – but GOD in HIS Amazing knowledge, power, wisdom and sovereignty
– he made allowance for this simple minded soul of mine. He built into HIS Love for me a safety net in
HIS Righteous attributes; (4) “But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to
anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
So where I was once most fearful
of failure, what my failures would look like to my spouse, children, family,
co-workers and friends, was all dispelled by HIS Spirit in my Heart; fed thru
the reading and storing away of HIS Word in my Heart… (I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against
you Psalms 119) So the more I learned, the more I read and studied,
realizing that there needed to be a balance between the knowledge of salvation
and the Love, Compassion and Tenderness that needed to fill the Heart as a
result of KNOWING and UNDERSTANDING the Cost of God’s Sacrifice to pay for our
salvation… He wants our HEART knowledge
to open the doors to other’s Hearts so that we can show and prove to the World
that our Testimony and Witness of Him is real and genuine. (5) “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love
each other. Your love for one another
will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
You know, the Apostle Paul said (6) “Love must be
sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” For Love to be Sincere, there must be
a depth in that relationship to allow trust to be formed and walls to fall down
around one’s Heart. Sincere in Loving
those HE places on our path, while HATING that which is evil in the site of GOD
as revealed to us in HIS Word. We are to
LOVE one another in the brotherhood and sisterhood of Christianity, and that
Love and Honor is to go beyond anything we would reserve for ourselves. Sacrificing our wants, desires and needs for
those HE has entrusted the stewardship to us with. Sometimes – most times that takes more
internal discipline and uprightness than any of us can stomach on our own in
this day and age. We are conditioned as
Americans to look out for “number one” first and foremost. Jesus said he that is first will be LAST, and
he that is last will be FIRST… Think
about it…
(7) “He has shown you,
O man, what is good. And what does the
Lord require of you? To act justly and
to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” So folks – NOT ONLY is my value, worth
and identity defined by Almighty God – and HE has told HIS People – HIS Children
that HE holds the same regard for you too.
Therefore, to be obedient to HIS authority in my Life I must practice
what HE has revealed to me thru HIS Word, and understand that HE Died to YOU
too… Therefore; the same LOVE, MERCY,
FORGIVENESS & GRACE
HE has so abundantly shown and poured out over me, I must share with YOU
and those around me, regardless as to whether you are a Follower of HIS or NOT…
My Heavenly Father – my “Abba
Father” shows His gentle and tender Love for His children; fore HE Loves them
and encourages them to call upon HIM as a child calls upon their “Daddy”. HE Alone has the Sovereign Authority to
determine our Value, Worth and Identity…
NO Man, Woman or Child has the right to assign any of those attributes
or properties on anyone else in this world.
GOD and GOD ALONE has that Authority
GO in Peace Brothers and Sisters;
spread the Gospel to everyone that you meet & greet. For we are NOT to judge the soil that we sow
HIS seeds upon, we are simply to trust the Quality and Significance of the Seed
that we freely and sacrificially cast upon the soil that HE has prepared before
us. For HE shall send the Reapers to
gather up the Fruit when it is time.
Here a few other passages that
speak of HIS Great Love and that which Lives in US…
(a)
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his
wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with
good things.”
(b)
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and
sisters. But don’t use your freedom to
satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use
your freedom to serve one another in love.
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
(c)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
(d)
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who
loves another has fulfilled the law.”
(e)
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For
those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of
His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom
He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified;
and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
References:
(1)
John 3:16
(2)
John 15:13
(3)
Romans 5:8
(4)
Psalm 86:15
(5)
John 13:34-35
(6)
Romans 12:9-10
(7)
Micah 6:8
a)
Psalm 107:8-9
b)
Galatians 5:13-14
c)
Galatians 5:22-23
d)
Romans 13:8
e)
Romans 8:28-30
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Lunch Break: WHAT IF???
Lunch Break:
WHAT IF???
Sync Your Heart & Biblical Knowledge - and
think - What If???
WHAT IF
Trump’s declaring Jerusalem Israel’s Capital puts into motion the prophesy of
the Temple being rebuilt? WHAT IF movement to rebuild the temple increases
the hatred for Israel in the hearts of Muslims?
WHAT IF as prophesy tells us, the
world around Israel escalates their hatred for her and push for her
destruction? WHAT IF the clock before Eternity is about to
expire as the Middle East escalates to nuclear melt down?
What Happens Next - and are YOU ready?
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Lunch Break: Just A Thought...!!!
Lunch Break:
Just A Thought...!!!
The World embraces Christmas as a Wonderful
Holiday...
The World detests and dismisses that Cross
& what it represents… The reason
Jesus Himself said in Matthew Chapter #7 verses 13 & 14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad
is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life, and only a few find it.”
FEW are they that find The Way to Eternal Life thru HIM. Why???
Because very few of us pass the test of Matthew Chapter #19
verses 16 thru 30. WHY??? It’s not because we Can’t - it’s because MOST
of us - Won’t follow The Master - The True King as HE Requires us to. He wants us to walk away from worldly
thinking, the desire for worldly possessions, the desire for worldly prestige
and influence and walk a humble & lowly life as HE exampled for us. Yes He was GOD, but HE was Fully Man, proving
that it could be done thru the Holy Spirit.
Repent means TURN - Turn away from our ways,
desires, wants and agendas - accepting HIM as GOD, KING & LORD of our lives… That’s why FEW of us will truly find THE WAY… This is a struggle we ALL must meet and
address in our life. How you follow
Christ will speak the contents of your Heart and determine your Eternal
address. Religion, Regular Church
Attendance, Memorizing the Entire Bible - none of it means a thing if your haven’t
Yielded to Lordship, and submitted your Heart wholly to Him…!!!
Think About It - If you DO NOT, TRULY
LOVE GOD / CHRIST / THE HOLY
SPIRIT, more than anything else in your life (Wife, Children, Parents, Family,
Friends & Possessions) YOU are not understanding the reality of God’s World
and HIS Requirements for Salvation… You
can’t be a Christian in name only because you are American - You Have to be
BLOOD Born of the Spirit thru Jesus the Christ’s shed Blood and Work COMPLETED
on the Cross - and turn your back on the World System - without turning your
back on those living in the world. Can
NOT be done as a human, must have Devine Intervention of the Indwelling Holy
Spirit - and YOU TRULY KNOW if HE is there or NOT…
Closing Thought - John 10:25-30
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do
not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do
not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I
know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has
given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my
Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
The Apostle Paul told us to
Test Our Faith to see that we are who we say we are…
Thank You,
Robert C. Hall