Don’t be Discouraged

This is from David Hyles Fallen in Grace Ministry: Please Don’t Be Discouraged
If there is one battle that most people who have fallen fight the most it is discouragement. I realize that every Christian faces this battle, but it is especially prevalent among those who have fallen. Satan knows how to discourage us and he will do everything he can to stop us from moving forward.
Recently many of our regulars here in FIG have been battling discouragement. I have sensed it in your words or in some cases the lack thereof. I have sensed it in some of the posts and comments. I have sensed it in some of your absences. I decided today that I needed to address this matter of discouragement. I do understand the struggle. Satan fights me constantly to be discouraged in the work that I’m trying to do. Let me tell you what I do to battle discouragement
1. I try to encourage someone else. Maybe I am even battling discouraged because I sensed discouragement among those who work with me in this group. That’s why I’m writing this article today. The truth is whenever I feel a tinge of discouragement I try to find someone to encourage. There is someone who needs YOU to be their encourager. When you give them courage you will find it for yourself.
2. Stop thinking too much. Whenever I think too much about the things with which I struggle the more discouraged I become. The Bible says to think on certain things and reliving the past is not one of them. Compare your thoughts to Philippians 4:8 and make certain that you are not thinking too much about the struggles in your life, but rather the blessings and victories. Especially think on the promises of God.
3. Stay on a schedule. This is critically important. People typically get discouraged when they get off of the schedule. It’s interesting that holidays are often a discouraging seasons for people because they get off of the regular schedule. Summer, likewise often throws us off schedule. Whenever I am discouraged it is usually a time when I am not living by a schedule. We need to be scheduled in our lives. Discipline is a part of defeating discouragement.
4. Recognize the fact that weakness comes from losing our joy. The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. David spoke of joy restoring his strength in his prayer of repentance. If you are feeling zapped of strength is may be because you are lacking in the joy of the Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say rejoice.” The reason God wants us to always rejoice is because we need to rejoice in order to keep our strength. Your discouragement maybe from a lack of strength which may be from a lack of joy.
5. Don’t entertain thoughts of quitting. Never never never never consider quitting. Don’t think about those things. Don’t think about giving up. Don’t think about retreating. Just think about how to keep going. Recommit yourself to go forward and never consider retreat.
6. Think of others. The greatest cause of discouragement is selfishness. When I am most selfish I am most discouraged. Life was meant to be lived for others not self. Are you living for someone else? Are you serving others? Are you encouraging others? Are you trying to help others who are hurting? I know that my strength is at its greatest when my life is being lived for others, and not for myself.
7. Don’t get under the weather. I mean this literally. Sometimes the heat of summer makes us lethargic and when we are lethargic it is easy to become discouraged. Be instant in season and out of season. Do not let the weather have an effect on your spirit.
I worry about you folks. I am worried about some of you right now because I know that discouragement has crept into your life. Take these words and apply them. Don’t let discouragement make you a casualty. Don’t let Satan win. Be not weary in well doing. I promise, no God promises, that in due season you will reap if you faint not. (DH) This Helped me today.

4 TYPES OF CHRISTIANS

As we read through the New Testament we find at least four types of Christians.

1) The Dead Christian

“I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” – Revelation 3:1

The first type of Christian we find is one who is a Christian in name only. The Dead Christian may go to church, and may even claim to follow Christ, but hasn’t truly come to Him for forgiveness.

Jesus addressed the Dead Christian in Revelation 3:2-3 when He told them, “I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.”

What is the work of God He found to be incomplete? John 6:29 tells us that “the work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent.” And what is it we’re to believe? We find the answer to that in 1 John 5:11-13, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Once a person believes in, and calls on Christ to forgive them, they are forgiven and are “made alive” in Him (1 Cor 15:22).

2) The Bound Christian

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature… serve one another in love.” – Galatians 5:13a

The next type of Christian we want to look at is the Bound Christian. This is a Christian who is alive in Christ, but is bound by sin, and this hinders his relationship with the Lord.

Romans 6:16 warns that “when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness.”

And Galatians 5:17 tells us of a battle that wages between the Spirit and the flesh. “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

We follow the Spirit when we “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires” and produce the fruit of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-24)

We’ll stumble in our walk, but when we do, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

We don’t have to be slaves to sin. We can be slaves to righteousness if we follow the Lord’s ways. Romans 6:17-18 gives “thanks to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” 　

3) The Loner Christian

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:22-25

The third type of Christian is the Loner Christian. The Loner Christian is alive in Christ and enjoys fellowship with God. His life is full of blessings but the Loner Christian is keeping his blessings to himself.

Jesus said He came so that we “may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Christianity is a faith that should be lived through both our words and our actions.

Jesus told Peter in John 21:17 that if he loved Him he would care for His followers. We’re all blessed with some sort of gift. Some are good at encouraging, some are able to teach, some love to pray, others have the gift of compassion. There are many different types of gifts but what they all have in common is the gifts God gives us are designed to serve others. This stands in sharp contrast to the world which put its emphasis on serving yourself.

4) The Complete Christian

“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10

The final type of Christian we want to talk about is the Complete Christian. We call him complete because he alive in Christ, has a strong relationship with God and is a blessing to everyone around him.

We are encouraged in Matthew 5:16 to “let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

We should live our lives in a way that when people see us, they see Jesus, and God is glorified. When we came to Christ we took all the blessings that go along with it. Forgiveness from sin, freedom from sin, fellowship with God and the honor of representing the living God to the dying world.

Bible Verses About Hope

Bible verses related to Hope from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance

Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Romans 15:13 – Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Romans 5:2-5 – By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.   (Read More…) Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Psalms 39:7 – And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope [is] in thee. Mark 9:23 – Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth.

The lectures of Moses Secrets of a happy life with God

Lecture 4

How to be happy in every situation of your life

PART I

Today I want you to tell about the secret of one prayer. If we constantly use it, we will feel good, spiritually elevated, and even happy. In order to tell you the secret of how to be happy with the help of this prayer, I need to show and tell you something.

Lord made man in His image, after His likeness...Then God said: “Let Us, make man in Our image, in Our likeness,…” (Genesis 1. 26) 

So we think: “How are we created in God’s image and after His likeness?

After His likeness; that means if our actions are good, then we are like God, if our actions are bad, we are like Satan. If the nature of our soul is good, we can love, forgive, be patient, help others, then we are like God. Jesus Christ Himself appealed to us and said:. “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Matthew 5:48: & Luke 6:36

But, how are we made in God image?

God is triune and a person is also triune.

Let’s draw a circle and this is the first essence and the manifestation of God as the wise Father who has created the Universe.

Then we draw a second circle outside the first. This is the second essence of God which was revealed for us 2 thousand years ago in the physical body of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Then we draw a third circle around the other two, this represents the third essence of God, the Holy Spirit who descended upon the Apostles on the 50^th day after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and continues to descend upon us, now.

Since man is made in God’s image, what does that look like? And how is the triune image of God expressed in man?

Again, let’s draw a circle. This represents the first essence of man, his soul.

Then we again draw a second circle outside the first. This is the second essence of man, his body.

And finally, we draw the third circle. This represents the third essence of man which is his spirit.

So you see, God is triune, and a man is triune.

The soul encompasses the mind, senses, knowledge, and habits. And our soul is situated in the body. It lives in it; the soul controls our body, does good or bad doings through it. And by the spirit man can be lifted to God or fall down, down to the evil spirit. If this happens to a person, he feels bad, he loses heart. And when he loses heart, he starts to communicate with the evil spirit; he starts to feel bad energy, bad influence. And if he does not pray, he allows his spirit to fall downward and then be influenced by the vibrations of these low energies of the evil spirit. And he starts to vibrate along with this low energy, just like them. The result is that the person degrades.

For example, (picture) if the spirit of someone goes down, and he accepts the spirit of laziness, afterward he feels that he does not want to work. Because he becomes lazy, he will become poor. He doesn’t know survive without money, and he starts to be afraid of tomorrow. So he then accepts the spirit of fear. The senses and desires of a person are filled by this bad energy, so the body starts to exhibit this illness in different ways. And if the man does not correctly communicate with God, he simply continues to lose heart. There are churches that even say that losing heart and becoming cynical is considered a deadly sin. Additionally, the man who has lost heart, because of circumstances of life, will see more and more troubles because misfortune never comes alone. It leads to another misfortune, and to yet another misfortune, and perhaps even more, the compound one upon another.

This secret prayer, which I am going to give you, will protect you from the second misfortune and compounded ones too, but only if you use it. If you do, you will start healing, both spiritually and physically. And if a man does not pray this prayer when he encounters misfortune or trouble, he loses heart; he descends to unite with evil energy, energy which causes man’s spirit to vibrate with bad spirits. The soul also vibrates in sync with these bad spirits. This forms illnesses in the body and eventually kills the man. When this happens, the soul goes in the Kingdom of Satan, the Kingdom of evil for a long time.

PART II

If you are able to rise with your spirit to the Lord and unite with His Holy Force, then you will be happy. Thanks to this prayer, you will be able to raise up your spirit. You will unite with the Holy Spirit, with His high energy, his vibration; because every spirit has force, has energy, has vibration, and has essence.

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God, of Love. And when the Holy Spirit unites with your spirit, He goes into your spirit. He fills and clears your soul from all these unwanted harmful energies. So, you see, He cleans it from these bad vibrations, from all evil. And your soul, if you pray this prayer, will be filled with calmness, good energy and later with love. You will experience «Glory to You, God! You will recognize how good it is to live in this world, which everything happens according to this pattern». And due to this, due to glorifying of God, your soul stimulates your spirit to unite with the Holy Spirit. It means that the Holy Spirit touches your soul through your spirit. It is like touching your hand to a live electrical current. The electricity that goes into your body gives a vibration. But the energy from God is different. It is spiritual energy. The result of the Holy Spirit’s energy is that He gives a feeling of love which fills up your soul. The soul is then able to be filled with divine love, that you may feel calmness and happiness. (Galatians 5:22-23.) This love and happiness comes from the Holy Spirit due to prayer. And I am going to show you this prayer that you may feel happiness from God and be healed.

Let’s take example from my experience of prayers with patients in the Beaumont Hospital in Troy Michigan; doctor was test there blood before, and then test again after our prayer before surgery, the doctor would notice that patients’ blood has changed. It would have changed a great deal. Because thanks to this prayer, more good blood cells start to appear, thousands of them and healing can begin.

So what do we need to do to raise our spirit up so that we can touch and experience the healing energy of the Holy Spirit? How do we not descend down instead when faced with misfortune or trouble?

We need to pray!

“But how should we pray?”, you ask. “I don’t know how.”

This is a very simple prayer, it is easy to remember. In this prayer you can concentrate your thoughts feelings and love to the Lord with all your heart. Because you are not able to have a prayer book with you everywhere you go, the prayer must be short so that you can use it at any time, even all day long. You can use this prayer even when you drive a car, in whatever situation you find yourself.

Are you ready, to hear this prayer?

This prayer is giving God glory!

The words are: «Glory to You, God»! That’s all. «Glory to You, God»! Glory to You, God»!

To glorify God, this is the most important thing in life.

Most of us are always asking God for something, we want something from Him.

We don’t want to live with troubles; we don’t want to suffer for our sins. This is quite natural for us. And God does help us. In fact according to 1 Corinthians 4:7

He gives us everything we have. But we rarely glorify God. And this prayer cannot only be said once. To feel the understanding, the power, of this prayer, it must be said: «Glory to You, God»! «Glory to You, God»! «Glory to You, God»!

Repeatedly one hundred times, two hundred times, three hundred times. Especially when unpleasant situations happen in your life. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us,

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Suppose you have an accident with your car. Instantaneously you think: “Oh God, a tragedy has happened. I have broken my car”. This situation can cause you to go spiritually down very deep. And because your spirit touches the bad spirit’s vibration you become angry, confused and unhappy. You say to yourself, “I feel badly. I have broken my car; I need it to earn my living. I won’t be able to keep my job without it.”

Am I right?

This situation would be awful for you, and you likely will become ill. You will feel that you do not have a desire to live. You will really lose your heart. However, in this moment you must pray: “Glory to You, God! Glory to You, God! Glory to You, God!” A bad angel will say into your mind: “Why should I glorify God? What a foolish thing to do. Such misfortune has happened to me, why would I glorify God?” Do not accept his thought. You must not listen to him. But you continue glorify God. “Glory to You, God!” (Psalm 91:14-16)

You’re probably not going to feel that you want to glorify God in this situation. You only glorify Him with your mouth. But eventually your spirit gradually starts to rise to the Holy Spirit from this situation. It is unnoticeable for you, but it could happen in a short time. In some 5-10 minutes or couple hours, if you continue to Glorify God? Do you understand?

Thankfulness in prayer will unite your spirit with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit as a result of your attitude toward God gets permission to enter you. We have a free choice to glorify God or to damn, to do good things or evil ones. Here in this example we see a tragedy, an accident, and we still glorify God in it. And as a result the Holy Spirit fills you, because you are open to Him. He fills your soul with awareness as to why you glorify God. You will start to say: “Thank you God, that only my car is broken, that I am alive and my children are ok, because for my sins or for the sins of my parents and grandparents I could be hurt or my children could be hurt”. You start to understand: Glory to You, God, that I am alive, and then your start to feel how your soul is filled with happiness, because God’s love is poured into you.

And you simply feel good. Do you understand?

PART III

You will become more calm and balanced; you will not shout and lose your heart. You will feel that God loves you. There are dark fallen angels who try to convince you to do their bad work. And their evil chief who stands above them – Satan, who helped to bring your problems, also tries to deceive you to do his work. Their mission is to create the troubles that provoked you to blame God in the first place, so that you’ll take the name of the LORD in vain. This is one of the ten commandments: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,…” (Exodus 20: 7.) When you do not blame God you glorify Him. And due to this prayer you have a weapon, like an arrow, to shoot at the evil one. When he is hurt, he says: “O! O! No! No!” it means he loses, he disappears for a time. Because you chose God. And in this moment God does His work with, and in you. He fills you with His awareness and peace. And the bad feelings disappear.

If you did not glorify God, then Satan would have the right to afflict you with a second tragedy, and after the second it could be a third, do you understand? It’s dangerous if you will start blame God.

“Oh God! Why did You sent me such trials? I have crashed my car. I was in the church one a year ago; I prayed and confessed and even gave five dollars, and is that how you thank me? Oh Lord, maybe you do not exist? Why do you not see that, it is unfair? That I have been working to buy this car so long. I have to cheat people, to steal so much, to do so much…”

But the law of God works. “You shall not steal.” If you stole, it has the wings and goes back to the sky. “Oh God, it is unfair”, the man cries.

And many people act this way, because man treats everything subjectively. But the evil angel in this situation has a right to inflict another tragedy to this man and at this moment the evil one rubs his hands and says: “All is done. These men are foolish. Nobody taught them how to live with God, how to glorify God. That’s all; I will inflict the second tragedy.”

What is the second tragedy?

Next time he drives another car and those cars is also crashed, but now his children, or his mother die, do you understand? Or the children set on a fire in the house, because they played with matches. And if after that the person does not glorify God, but complains, he goes into depression. This now makes it possible for a third tragedy. I’m sure you’ve often heard people say: “Two of my family died this 

year, or their car was damaged and their house burnt. Where is that God? Where is He? How could He give me such trials?”

Is it true? Has it happened among you?

The soul of a man, who does not glorify God, goes down very low, and it loses heart, it becomes spiritually dead. The church proclaims it a deadly sin, because the soul of such a man becomes cynical, spiritually dead.. Such a person does not believe in good things any more. He has no love any more. He is cynical. There is only a desire to have money, personal glory and to lead a corrupt life. These are the things such a soul will aim at, do you understand? Understand that people with such souls live among us, they are dead for God. They are dead people that live only in their bodies. They are far from salvation and will probably not be saved, because they have killed their soul.

What Jesus said about theme? “Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God.” ( Luke 9: 60)

Such people sometimes rule our country. How do they rule it? What do they want? And we can’t blame them, because they did not know that it was needed to glorify God. And you also until now did not know and did not realize why we need to be glorifying God.

If you glorify God – you unite with God, and this way you are fighting against the bad energy. And the second misfortune will not come, but can come. Why? Because evil spirit could think, that you are not sure in this new knowledge and determined in your decision to glorify God.

“I will hurt him the second time and he will say, that the lessons of this teacher are useless. They are just empty words. It does not work”.

No, it does work! But the evil spirit will give you a second tragedy to test you. Again glorify God. Later the Lord will give you back even more than you have lost. It could be even an attempt to give a third tragedy. Through it all glorify God, as pious Job glorified God, and then God gave him all back:, his wife returned to him, ten children were born to him and friends returned bringing ten times more gold than he had before. Also remember, if God loves you, He will test, how strong you are. And sometimes we have to pay for our sins. Through it all we have to glorify God, but not blame Him. When we glorify God, we raise our spirit to Him. And the Holy Spirit fills us with calmness and awareness of why we glorify God, and we feel love.

Exemple #1 It is so, you know, when a father loves his child. And a child does not obey dad, sometimes. And father looks at the child and says: “What have you done? » He takes a small strap and spanks the child a little bit. And the child cries, because it hurts, but he comes to his father, takes his hand and kisses it and says:

“Father, forgive me. Thank you, that you for teaching me that you teach me to be wise, that it is bad to do things like that”. And what father will say? “Yes, my dear. It is bad to do so, you will lose yourself, and you will make troubles for yourself and for other people. Do not do so”. The wise child thanks his father. And what does a good father want to do at that moment?

To take a small strap and to beat him again or to hug and to kiss?

He wants to hug, to kiss, to treat kindly and to heal these wounds. It is what the Lord does for you, when you thank Him. He treats us kindly, He has this force to heal the wounds quickly, to heal the broken bones very quickly, and your broken life is improved quickly. But God improves all to a certain extent for us not to become arrogant or start thinking only about material things again, but for us to live with love to God, with gratitude to God. God gives and returns everything to us, like a loving father who loves us, but million times more. Because indeed the soul of a man who does not redeem will eventually end up in hell and a soul of a man who is redeemed will one day go to Heaven for everlasting life.

Here on Earth we are just for a short period of time. So, we need to build strong and bright spirit, when it is time for us to come back to Heaven.

Man has to glorify God during and after trials to survive and become stronger spiritually. Then he will rise up further spiritually in understanding of the God’s nature and approach to God.

And that is why for this we need glorify God; because we are being filled with joy and Divine love which starts to heal our soul, and our body.

Jesus said to us: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in Heaven… .”   (Mathew 5:11-12)

Joy will come after glorifying the name of God: “Glory to You, God!” When you do this you will feel that your soul is calm, and stays in happiness, because your soul unites with God. Also your soul knows that nothing bad will happen tomorrow, nothing that you are afraid of will happen, because you are afraid of nothing if you with God. You are not afraid if somebody deprives you of something material. The Lord says: “And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mathew 10:28)

Do you understand?

Fear evil. Fear sin in order not to go into hell and to suffer there. For that you should glorify God always, every day. And you will see how you start to be healed spiritually; your spirit, your soul and your body will become healthy. It is very important, for every person to have a healthy soul, a strong spirit. For this reason you should glorify God.

Look here, it is one simpler example. It looks like such a simple prayer of glorifying God. How can it work so greatly?

It works because we are glorifying God. For all good, for all love, for such great love that you can’t even imagine that He gave His one Son for the sake of us all. And He takes care of us. And He even sacrifices Himself for us according to the Law of Justice so that we do not sacrifice ourselves, so that we do not have to suffer.

#2 Let’s say: You drive a car. Let’s say, this is a car. (I show a picture) And you are sitting here. Ok. ( I draw a man in car). This is the car. And suddenly you have a blowout. What do you have to do to fix it? You have to lift the car up, someone near you has to take the tire off and put a good one on. You do not have the strength. Even if to ask a very strong man to help, it would be very difficult to do so. You can break your back. So, to fix your car, you use small jack, put it under the car, and the car is lifted up, lifted up, lifted up. You take the tire off, put the good one on and continue to drive further. In a way it is possible to call this prayer “Glory to You, God!”a little jack. Because the jack helps the car in every situation. And like a jack for a car, this prayer will help you in every difficult situation; you have to be confident and persistent in this prayer. And you will see the results very quickly, right now or perhaps the next morning. What may happen in next morning?

In the morning when you will get up after a tragedy, accident or problem, which has happened to you, an evil spirit will come visit you again and will start to disturb you. And your thoughts will be like this depending on the situation:

“… these people hurt me so much. They said so many lies against me. I did so many good things for them and they did only evil things to me”. And you start to think: “Yes, yes! They have hurt me.” And you start to experience a terrible pain inside your soul. You have to understand, in this moment, these evil ones came to you and possessed your heart and feelings. But if you want help you need to say: “Glory to You, God!” “Glory to You, God!” “Glory to You, God!” despite what has happened to you. Better do not think about what has happened, just praise God “Glory to You, God!”, and thanks to this prayer, Jesus Christ and God’s angels will come and will stand near you. When the presence of God enters your heart, He defeats the evil ones. He hugs you. Then you will feel very pleased and happy. If you suffer big trials, but nevertheless you always glorify God, you will feel such gladness and calmness, it will seem that you can move mountains.

But (we) you always have to glorify name of God. If you are always giving glory to God, you will grow up in wisdom and heal your soul as a result of it. And there will be light inside all of you. So, light yourself up from God with the prayer “Glory to You, God!”, It will give you strength to be happy. May God help and strengthen you in that life. Amen.

Salvation

The ABC’s of Salvation

A. Admit you have sinned.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)

B. Believe in the Savior.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

C. Confess and forsake your sin.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

If you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, please let us know so we can pray for you. 

WHO YOU REALLY ARE

2 Tim; 3:17

2 Cor. 12:9

Luke; 22:31

Exodus: 3:7

Isiah: 50:5

Luke: 9:51

Hebrews: 5:8

2 Kings: 17:4-11

SIN!

Blinds

Binds

Grinds

WHAT JESUS ASKS OF US

GO–D::::: GO

GO—SPEL:::::::GO

MESSAGE TO EACH OF US

REVELATION –2:4

Living in sin is bondage

I know your works

I have these things against you

Rebukes us, vomit us out

Repentance is the answer

Conclusion

If you do not obey God, you are under a curse. ( judgement)

Demons have power, but no authority

Followers of Jesus have power and authority

The 3 Steps of Repentance

To repent means to change one’s attitude towards sin and God. It’s a change that must occur in both the mind and the heart.

In Matthew 27:3 Judas repented in his mind but not his heart. In other words, he had a sense of regret or remorse, but he remained in his sin instead of turning to God for forgiveness.

Repentance of the mind and the heart leads to salvation and consists of three steps:

Step 1 – Recognize Your Guilt

The idea here is that we understand who we are and where we stand before God. 1 John 1:8 tells us that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” While Romans 6:23 tells us the “wages of sin is death”.

The first step in repenting involves understanding that we are sinners and stand under God’s judgment.

Step 2 – Trust That God Will Forgive You

In Psalm 51 David wrote, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

Repentance is not only acknowledging our sin, it’s also recognizing that God is willing and able to forgive our sin.

We’re promised in Hebrews 8:12 that God will “forgive our wickedness and will remember our sins no more.”

The second step in repenting involves believing that God will forgive us.

Step 3 – Turn From Sin, To God

Once we realize that we stand before God guilty of sin, and that He is willing to forgive us, we must then come to Him to receive that forgiveness. We come to God the Father though Jesus Christ, who is God the Son.

John 3:16 declares that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” 1 John 4:10 tells us that Christ is “the propitiation [or payment] for our sins.”

Because Christ paid for our sins, Romans 3:24 tells us that we have been “justified freely” through Him, and we now stand before God innocent.

The final step in repenting involves calling on Christ to save us from the penalty of sin. Acts 2:21 promises that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.”

Once we have repented and come to Christ for forgiveness Ephesians 2:19 tells us we are “no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

Where will we spend eternity?

The body without the spirit is dead- James 2:26

One thing we can prove without a shadow of a doubt is that there is a much higher form of life we have here on earth. We prove this is true by the choice of our free will.

Something to consider

In the beginning mankind was created to live forever, to never die.

My mother, my dad, my brother who once were alive, died. You can talk to a body but there is no response. The body is cold and lifeless. That part of them made them talk, walk, act and think has gone, only the shell is left behind.

Where did that part go? Where will my spirit spend eternity?

God gave every human being on earth he created, a free will to choose. Jesus is the only divine being who came to give life for our sins that we could live forever.

By our free will we choose, asking Jesus to forgive our sins. We are justified by our sayings and we fulfill what Jesus came to do. Our spirit goes back to our creator.

John 10:9- I am the door; if any man enter in he shall be saved.

CHRISTIANITY IS REALITY WITH PEACE,MERCY, LOVE, AND GRACE MULITPLIED FOREVER.

WHAT SIGN IS ON YOUR LAWN

 Philippians 3:2 King James Version (KJV) ² Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers. 

International Standard Version(©2008) What I tell you in darkness you must speak in the daylight, and what is whispered in your ear you must shout from the housetops. ( lead by the spirit not by the flesh)

WHATS ON YOUR LAWN? (FLESH) Gen 3:19 Galatians 5:19-21 — Against God’s law, law of the world.

Adultery; Major issue with-in the church. Gen: 2;24, Matt:19;5, 1 Cor. 6:15, Eph: 5:27-33Fornication:——- Impurity Uncleanness:—Words and actions, Lewdness:———–Lustful, X-rated, Indecent.

Idolatry:   Not worshiping the one true God, Sorcery:—-Drugs, Hatred:——Dislike, Detest, Hostility. Jealousy: Devils word. Enrage,

THESE ARE lawn signs which need to be replaced

Pride: ——Self-Respect, Ego. Condemnation:—–Critize, Damming, Judgement, issensions: ——Bringing about division, illing of faith:—— Steal joy, kill the faith, destroy the soul. Curses: ——-lead to death (Physical and Spiritual),  Bitterness: ——-Resentful, Hostile, Nasty.

GALATIONS: 5:22-23— AGAINST WHICH THERE IS NO LAW.

Fruit of the Spirit: Romans 8: 8-11

Love:– Like God loved us. Dying to self.

Joy: In all members of our flesh and spirit

Peace: The peace of Jesus Christ, He is our peace.

Longsuffering:—enduring injuries.

Kindness:—-Compassionate, Charity,

These are SPIRITUAL signs on our lawn that everyone MUST see.

Goodness: Righteousness, kindness.

Faithfulness: -To Jesus Christ                         GOD’S KINGDOM

Gentleness:—–Meek, Kind,

Self-Control:— Self-Discipline, Self-Constraining.

Blessings:–Gives life

Humility:—- lowering oneself down. John the Baptist

These are SPIRITUAL signs on our lawn that everyone MUST see.

WE ARE TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT NOT IN THE FLESH. We are not to tempt the Lord.

NOBODY LIKES A QUITTER

How many of us have quit, a New Years Resolution, going to lose weight, a boring job, instructing our children, putting up with our husband, stop going to church, stop reading the Bible, meeting with the seniors club, the list could go on and on. I have done it so many times I can not even count them. One of the most serious was quitting the religious life. But, God working through my wife saved the day many times.

The key verse in the bible is:

Psalm 27:14, paraphrased and condensed “Stay with God! Take heart, don’t quit”.

Nobody likes a quitter. Nobody likes quitters, except God the Rejuvenator. Rejuvenator means: To renew, to breathe new life into, to refresh, and to revive.

How about men of the Bible who quit.

Think about the prophet Elijah. He called down fire from heaven and as a result of his contest between himself and 400 priests the 400 priests were destroyed. He prayed for and received a downpour of rain in the midst of a drought. Then he quit. He ran into the desert and sat under a lone scraggly tree and with an attitude of. “I have had enough, Lord. (GOD)” he said.”Take my life” (1 Kings 19:4 NIV) in other words he said “I QUIT” What made him quit? It was one woman-Jezebel, King Ababs wife. She sent a message to Elijah that she would kill him because of what he had done to her priests. Elijah became afraid for his life and fled.

However, God came to rejuvenate Elijah. He refreshed Elijah with food, drink and rest. Elijah went on to finish his ministry. The scriptures tell us that he never faced an earthly death only was taken into heaven in a chariot of fire.

Do you remember Jonah? He quit before he got started. It is interesting-God has a way about changing minds. After Jonah floated around in the stomach of the whale for a while, God stepped in to encourage him to complete his mission to Nineveh. The Bible says:

Then God spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah onto the seashore.

Next, God spoke to Jonah a second time. “Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They are in a bad way and I can not ignore it any longer. This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God’s orders to the letter. (Jonah 2:10-3, 3)

Nobody likes a quitter, except God the Restorer- maybe it’s because we get out of His way and He then can do what He intended in the first place.

These were men of the Old Testament. How about men of the New Testament. There are many and I will touch on two of them.

How about the Apostle St. Paul! He preached in Athens and then went to Corinth.  A very large and sinful city. He preached and opened a few churches. While teaching in Corinth, the Greeks who were gentiles converted to Judaism, “or God Fearers”. St Paul had one major problem when they opposed him and blasphemed saying that is he was ungodly and they shook his garments gave him a shaking and he said to them: Your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. (Acts 18; 6) in other words I quit.

Now the Lord, Yahweh spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent, In other words do not quit for I am with you and no one will attack you or hurt you, for I have many people in this city. (Acts 18; 9-10)

It shows us that even the best and holiest of God’s servants are sometimes under sad and strong fears, and are likely to be discouraged when they meet with difficulties in their duties. But, the promises and assurance of God are; I will be with you always, I will never quit on you.

The other is John Mark. This young Christian man quit while on a mission with St Paul and St Barnabus. He ran home when the going got tough. His desertion made St Paul furious. Have you already guessed what happened? You are right; God restored John Mark back to ministry. God restored the relationship between John Mark and St. Paul. Look at what St Paul wrote, “Only Luke is with me, Get John Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in ministry. (2 Tim.4:11).

So now what about you and me? Have you ever been tired of family, or sick and tired of being tired, upset with being in this place,  upset because no one cares for you- this could be family, clergy, former church members, etc.  Have you felt like throwing in the towel and shouting? I QUIT!??  I have had enough.  What ever state you are in at this given moment, you are still useful to God. He wants and needs you.   Yes!   You.

Unfortunately, I have quit more times than I’d like to admit. Yet! I know God the Refresher, the Encourager and Restorer will carry me through life. It is surprising who he puts in my path. Many times my wife.  He encourages me just as He did with Elijah, Johan, St. Paul and John Mark. He speaks to my heart. Have I not commanded you- Strength! Courage! Do not be timid (afraid). Do not get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.( Joshua 1: 9) Do not quit!listen to God speak to you. Be strong, be courageous, and keep moving on in life in which He has placed you.

My Prayer for you today:

Dear Father, Abba, God, sometimes I feel like quitting. I want to quit at where I am at present. Some days I want to quit being me and be some one else. Yahweh, God, I am asking you to encourage and refresh me on those days that I want to quit. And if I have to quit on something I should not have, I ask that you restore me. Yahweh, God, thank you for not giving up on me a sinner. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

REMEMBER THIS: God loves you and He will be with you wherever you are and wherever you go.

8 Ways God Speaks to Us Today

He conversed with Adam in the first garden. He told Noah to build an ark. He spoke to Moses in a burning bush. He promised Abraham a son. Paul heard His voice on the way to Damascus. But does God still speak to us today? If so, how? When? Where?

1.Through His Word in general.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that all Scripture is “God-breathed.” His Word sometimes gives us a warning, a word of encouragement, or a lesson for life. It’s ”His-story”–written with love as God’s guide for life, “so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”That means God is whispering, and sometimes shouting, all through His Word, giving us instructions and principles for life. As we interpret Scripture by other Scripture, we avoid the false logic and misinterpretations that sneak into our world. If someone claims, “God told me to go kill my neighbor!” would you believe him? Of course not! God never violates His own Word or principles. That “voice” does not belong to God. 

2. Through His Son, Jesus Christ The New Testament was the fulfillment of God’s special plan. It’s the gospel: the good news of Jesus Christ. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2, NIV). Comparing us to sheep and He as the Shepherd, Jesus says in John 10:27, NKJV: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Why? Because the sheep know who He is. They belong to Him, and they recognize Him by the sound of His voice. And He’s the one who will always lovingly lead them on the right path–again and again. 

3. Through Nature and God’s Creation“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse ” (Romans 1:20, NIV). Through the intricate details and magnificent beauty of all that God has made, we can “hear” His voice. How? By observing the ant’s strength to store up food all summer long, we learn about wisdom and industriousness. By studying the heavens, we understand more of God’s greatness. And through planting and growing a garden, we “hear” about miracles of death and rebirth. God designed–and spoke them all into existence. 

4. Through Other Believers:  God may use a friend, a teacher, a parent, or a preacher to convey His message of truth to us. Their words may come as a warning, a blessing, or as a prophetic truth about our lives. Whether we choose to hear it or ignore it, depends on us. Do their words line up with Scripture? Will God confirm or affirm that truth in us? “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere” (James 3:17, NIV). 

5. Through Music:  Perhaps one of the ways I can sense God’s presence the most and “hear” His voice the best is when I am praising Him through music. Maybe it’s because in times of depression and difficult trials in the past, I would pour over David’s songs in Psalms, often singing them back to God with my own tunes. Praise brings me instantly to attention, like a sergeant’s command to his soldiers. The words and the notes bring a soothing comfort, excitement, and passion that open my ears and heart and lift my spirits immediately. In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat faced a huge army of enemies who could have easily destroyed His people, but he did a strange thing. With a declaration that his eyes were on God, he sent in a choir of praise singers: “Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever’” (2 Chronicles 20:21, NIV). God “spoke” clearly. He released His power, and Jehoshaphat’s army defeated their enemies! 

6. Through Circumstances:  When others claim to hear God through circumstances, Discern the spirit. . God is a Holy God, and often uses circumstances to get our attention. But He will usually confirm it in other ways.Through Moses, God used circumstances (plagues) to convince Egypt’s leader to release God’s people from bondage. 

7. Through His Spirit:   I once heard someone teach about “minding the checks” in your spirit. Some may call it “God’s whispers,” while others say, “God’s still, small voice.” We are made in the image of God, and when we confess Jesus and follow Him as our Lord and Savior, His Spirit comes to live in us (John 14:17, 1 Corinthians 3:16). God’s Spirit speaks to us through our conscience, helping to make the right decision. When we’re tempted, that same Spirit instructs and warns us. Why do you suppose ten people can “hear” a sermon, but each person will walk away with a different truth that applies to him? In some cases, the speaker never spoke what the people say they “heard.” Many times, that may be the result of God’s Spirit speaking a personal “Rhema,” a living, breathing word of truth to our spirits. It’s when Scripture comes alive to us–because it is truly “God-breathed.” 

8. Through Prayer:  Each way I’ve shared that God may speak to us today meshes into the other. God often speaks to us through His Spirit, through prayer. We may not know how to pray, but God’s Word tells us His spirit makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26, 27).

How is God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit SPEAKING to you today?

Counting the Cost of Following Jesus

Luke 9:57-9:63 INTRO: Talking about following Jesus – it’s important to understand… Have you been thinking about the cost this past week? – have you been considering whether or not you will to be a true follower of Jesus? If so – that is a good thing – what I was hoping for – what Jesus wants as well. You are realizing that to follow Jesus is a serious thing – though the cost is not the same for everyone it still costs everyone – everything they are/have Why would we even want to follow? – we are searching – fulfillment The cost has been greatly understated by “Emotional Christianity”! Following Jesus has become so Canadian – it won’t bring fulfillment!

“ A good confession”  of someone following Jesus Disciples – stoned – imprisoned found fulfillment beyond life! This morning continuing the theme of following Jesus. Look at 3 would be followers and how Jesus clarified the cost to them… Represent cross section of many who want to follow or are asked… • Things we all must be confronted with at some point in our walk – • Things that should be considered sooner rather than later. • Will you give your all for the One who gave His all? • Will you lay down your life for the One who laid His life down for you? • Will you count all earthly gain as loss to reach toward the heavenly reward? • Jesus brings those things into stark contrast for us this morning. On the run up… background – be important later… LUKE 9:51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55But he turned and rebuked them.[f] 56And they went on to another village. • Jesus set his face steadfastly – man on a mission – followers – still on a mission –you and I follow. 1. Following Jesus Supersedes Earthly Security 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” “I want to follow – I have no idea what that means – but I know that I feel exhilarated around you” – a good exhilaration Some people get hyped up– raised hand – excited – inspired – but no lasting substance. Why? – because associated belief in Christ with fellow Christians gets us hyped and excitement – if I give my life to Jesus I’ll be cool and muscular like them – this was one of the individuals who was following Him around all over the place – watching the miracles – listening to the anointed wisdom just rolling off His tongue – man it was exhilarating being around Jesus. I could do this forever – they were like groupies – as long as popularity and excitement was happening – being fed – I’m all for that! – sign me up! Then Jesus had to go and wreck it… You’re going to follow me? – where? LK 9: 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” I have nothing to offer you in the way of earthly security – animals have more than me of this worlds goods. Are you looking for a home? A place of security and comfort? • The animals have those more than I do. • This isn’t a picnic! – not all excitement and exhilaration! • Jesus is not your “homeboy” Smacks right in the face of this prosperity gospel stuff. • Jesus is saying – What your seeing is not the true picture! • Do not pity Jesus – pity yourself if can’t follow because of earthly possessions. • Earthly security takes second place to following Jesus. 2. Following Jesus Supersedes Earthly Relations LK 9: 59  To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” • Sounds reasonable – LK 9: 60And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Seems heartless… He wasn’t asking to attend the funeral – father likely still alive • He wanted to postpone the call of God. • When Christ calls it must be Him first • Following Jesus takes precedence over the highest earthly relationship! If you follow me – your father is alive not dead – no need to worry about that. “Let the dead bury the dead!” 3. Following Jesus Supersedes Earthly Distractions. 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” At first glimpse – seems a reasonable request • Again it’s a problem of priorities – His first commitment to family. • In ancient times – good-bys were parties lasting days or weeks • One for family one for friends, who will try to discourage you. I’ll follow you Jesus – just let me get some loose ends tied up first. His focus was on what he was loosing than what he was gaining. 62: Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” • Nothing should hinder even for a moment – clear and decisive! • It’s impossible to plow straight by looking back. RULES OF FOLLOWING CHRIST. A. Detachment from all that hinders progress. B. When the highest earthly love comes into conflict with my following Him let the dead bury the dead. C. When the hand is once placed on the plow don’t look back! 4. We Follow According to His Example. Jesus himself had done all these things • “No place to lay His head…” • He didn’t allow his family relationships dictate his direction! Jesus models when says “who is my mother?… MT. 12:48; MK. 3:33… LK 8:21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” We are told in scripture to follow His example in all things… 1 JN 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: 6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. • Tall order? – Yes – but by His grace He empowers us. No earthly security – “no place head…” No earthly relationships No earthly distractions Luke 9:51 “He resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem…” 9:62 …No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” The kind of following Jesus is looking for is the kind of resolute following where you set your face steadfastly toward heaven. PHP 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. PHP 3:15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. • All Jesus is asking – live up to what you have attained. – pray! 1. Following Jesus Supersedes Earthly ________________.                                              Luke 9:57-58 2. Following Jesus Supersedes Earthly ________________. Luke 9:59-60 3. Following Jesus Supersedes Earthly ________________. Luke 9:61-62 4. We Follow According to His _______________________. Luke 9:51,62; 1 John 2:1-6