Sunday, June 20, 2010

Illegal in 52 Countries and Counting!

Why do you think that The Message you are about to receieve is illegal in 52 countries...so far?
The answer is simple, this world is under the direct influence of Satan, the most evil being ever.
Satan knows that The Word of God is clear, if you die in your sin you will pay for that sin in hell for
eternity. Satan wants you in hell with him. The devil cannot be redeemed, there is no forgiveness
to be had for him. However, although you and I deserve hell just as much because we have broken
God’s Law, God provided a Way for our “sin debt” to be paid. God’s Word says that if we have broken
just 1 Commandment, we are guilty of all....lying, theiving, lusting, coveting, and blaspheming
(just to name a few) will condemn you forever. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God, if you believe that, and you feel the heavy hand of conviction right now...You are ready for
the Good News. If you do not see your need for a Savior, then you are not prepared to be
introduced to The Savior. However, if God is drawing you to His Son, it is time for you to know Him.
God The Father sent Jesus to the Cross of Calvary to die a brutal death. God The Father poured out
His Wrath on His Son....the very Wrath that you and I deserve, Jesus willing took upon Himself
to be the payment, the redemption, the finished work to crush Satan and sin. If God, through His
Holy Spirit has given you the understanding to believe this Good News, you are ready to pass from
spiritual death to spiritual life. When you surrender your life to King Jesus and call out to Him
for forgiveness and confess Him as your Lord saying, “no longer my will Lord, but yours be done
in my life”, that’s when you become Born-Again. Don’t buy in to the lies of this world that discredits
the term “Born-Again”....Jesus said that unless you are born-again you will not see the Kingdom of
God. This means when we receive Jesus as Our Lord He fills us with His Holy Spirit and we become
a new creation, born of The Spirit....Born Again! We will no longer desire to say, think and do things
that are not according to the will of God. When we walk, live and practice sin the Bible calls this
walking in the flesh. When you are born-again the desires of your heart will change and you will
no longer “walk in the flesh” , but in The Spirit instead”

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

New Heart with New Desires

There is no greater evidence of being born again than seeing the desires of your heart changed. You can not argue with a changed life. I had a guy arguing with me about not using the Bible to prove my faith.....well....that's it.....He has changed me....the desires of my heart are different.

Collin Smith wrote a great article on this:

The Problem of the Petrified Soul
By Colin Smith

"I will take away your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV) Think about it. God says your problem is that the capacities of your soul have been petrified: "You have a heart of stone, but I will give you a heart of flesh." How does this happen? How can the hardened soul be made alive again? One soul, fully aliveThink about the incarnation-God becoming man. The Son of God took our flesh, but His becoming man meant more than taking our flesh. It also meant that He assumed all the faculties of a human soul: Think about the mind of Christ, a mind that learned the Scriptures. Think about the heart of Christ that was moved with compassion. Think of the will of Christ setting his face to go to Jerusalem, submitting His will to the will of the Father as He prayed in the garden, "Not my will, but your will be done." Think about the conscience of Christ. We usually think of conscience working retroactively. You do something wrong, your conscience tells you afterwards. Jesus never knew that because He never sinned. Conscience also works proactively-like a spider's web alerting us to approaching danger. Think of the imagination of Christ, how He used parables to bring the things of heaven down to earth. Think of the memory of Christ, how on the one hand He could forgive, and how He kept affirming the goodness and faithfulness of God. How your soul can be made aliveThat is the greatest promise of the gospel-that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ comes to your soul. Think of it, the Spirit of God comes into the boardroom of your soul, and occupies that vacant seat at the table. When He comes, He comes as the Chairman of the Board. He comes to preside. When He comes, He summons the other members of the Board: "Mind," He says, "we need to get you renewed.""Heart, we need to get you changed.""Will, we need to get you redirected.""Conscience, we need to get you educated.""Imagination, we need to get you focused.""Memory, we need to get you trained." The new chairman begins to direct the members of the Board. There will still be battles in the boardroom. The Spirit of God can be grieved, but He comes as the chairman, not as the dictator. Where He is welcome, change will begin. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory..."(2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Hey Dads! Pay Attention

Hi Everyone!I just got done with Lesson #12 in the Full Armor of God Study with the kids. Sometimes they will complain a little bit about having to do the study at, what they think, is an inconvenient time. So, I wanted to point out to them Ephesians 6 and it inspired me to post it as well. When we belong to Christ, God expects us to raise our children in the instruction of The Lord. This is not a suggestion! If you have a desire to be obedient to God and you have been blessed with children, you NEED TO BE TEACHING THEM GOD'S WORD! Are you doing that, Dad? Maybe you don't know God's Word enough to be able to teach it...fine....learn it together. The Full Armor of God at theonebridge.com might be a place you want to start. The Hands to the Plow Ministry has amazing studies. John MacArthur has a fantastic study Bible you could use. If you do nothing else, commit yourself to raising your kids in the instruction of The Lord....that is God's Will!Steve

Monday, October 12, 2009

God Opposes the Proud

God Opposes the Proud
By Colin Smith

"God opposes the proud..." 1 Peter 5:5 (NIV) It is worth taking a moment to let these words sink in. God opposes the proud. If God opposes me, I'm finished. What hope is there of doing anything useful for Him if He stands in our way? If God be for us, who can be against us? But if God is against us-what hope do we have? God opposes the proud. He cannot bear to see it in is His children. Arrogance will bring me under His fatherly discipline. God gives grace"...but God gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5 (NIV) We sometimes use the expression, "Money makes money." You have to have some before you can make some. Well, it's the same principle here. Humility is a grace that attracts more grace. Pride closes the door to spiritual growth. But humility opens the door of your life to more of God's grace. To the humble, God gives patience, and peace, and gentleness. The fruit of the Spirit grows in the soul of humility. Humility is the key to spiritual growth: "God gives grace to the humble." God will lift you up"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6 (NIV) This is a marvelous promise. God leads each of us on a path that has many twists and turns. When you are faced with surprises, disappointments, and upsets that God allows in your life, humble yourself. Accept what He allows. If you do that God will lift you up. God cares for you"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) This is one sentence with v6: "Humble yourselves... casting all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you." The proud person feels that he or she has to make things happen. The root of all worry lies in the idea that what happens is ultimately in my hands. If you think that what happens is ultimately in your hands, that's pride. None of us can add an inch to our height or an hour to our life by worrying about it. What happens is finally in the hands of God. There is a powerful insight here. If I want to deal with my anxiety, I have to start by dealing with my pride. Humility is the ultimate release from anxiety. Pride says, "What happens is up to me," and that leaves me anxious. Humility says, "Lord, everything that concerns me is in your hand," and that is the beginning of peace.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

What Trials Show About Your Faith

What Trials Show About Your Faith
By Colin Smith

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith... may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6,7 (NIV) If you have something that might be of great value, you want to know if it is authentic, and you will seize any opportunity to prove it. This is why the Antiques Road Show has been such an outstanding success. The experts arrive in a city and people bring their antiques. They have one question: "What is this worth?" And they seize the opportunity to find out. "I think this might be a Ming vase. Could you tell me if it is authentic?" Your faith is of far more value than a Ming vase or a Rembrandt painting. Your faith is "of greater worth than gold." (v6) Gold, like every other created thing, will eventually perish. But your faith, if it's genuine, will last for eternity. The question is: How do you know that it is genuine? How do you know that it is not a passing phase? Peter tells us "When you suffer grief in all kinds of trials..."
1 Peter 1:6 (NIV) When you suffer you will have all the evidence you need that your faith is authentic. Here's why: If your faith were just a human decision or a passing phase, then as soon as you began to suffer, you would renounce your faith. You would turn away from God and spend the rest of your life saying, "I can no longer believe in God." Or you would smolder away in bitterness and resentment against Him. You must know people like that. The big question is: "Why isn't everybody like that?" Why is it that there are people hearing this who struggle with unanswered questions, disappointed hopes and dreams, lost loved ones and lost jobs, have suffered illness, or violence or some other personal catastrophe... and yet they still believe! They still love Christ! There's only one explanation"These have come so that your faith... may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:7 (NIV) "Your faith is a miracle! It is a living seed of the life of God planted in you. It is like a bulb in the ground that is buried in the dirt, but it does not die! You have gone through all these trials. You have faced all these unanswered questions. You cannot see Him and you cannot work out what He is doing. Yet, "You love Him. You believe in Him." (v8) There can be no greater evidence of the authenticity of your faith than that. And just so you know, that faith which has been proved genuine will result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. One day He is going to wipe every tear from your eyes, and you will hear His voice saying to you: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your Master's happiness."