The best preaching is "We preach Christ crucified." The best living is, "I am crucified with Christ." The best preparation for a useful life is to love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Obedience to God's words throughout the week is the best of worship. The best way to serve Christ is to serve Him right now. The best way to witness for Christ is to witness. To sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him is the best education in the world. The best educated unregenerate mind on earth can never understand the Gospel without the help of the Holy Ghost. The best mind set to be in is the mind of Christ.
The best proof of your love to Jesus - "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." One of the best things that happens to a new Christian is when his old worldly companions forsake him. The best way to get rid of sin is to turn the Gospel light on and watch the roaches run for cover. Those who love Jesus, love the Best. The best decision you'll ever make is to let Jesus rule your life and lips. The best of men at their best are still just men. The Holy Bible heeded is the best heart purifier. *Psalm 119:9*
A selfless life is the best of arguments. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the best assured fact in all of human history. The best way of preaching is with your feet and hands. The best way to still your mind is to think on the presence of God. The best company you can possibly have is the Holy Ghost. Personal communion with Jesus is the best way to prepare to face another day. The best honor we can give to Christ Jesus is to receive Him, to trust Him, to feed and live upon Him. Utter inability yields the best praying. The best way to hear the word of God is to obey it.
The best private time is made of us searching the Scriptures where God speaks to us, and then by praise and prayer in which we speak to God. When we feel faint, the best strength comes from the word of Christ, and the Christ in the word. Private purity is the best policy. The best prayers take God's promises to Him - "Do as Thou hast said." One of the best medicines for a depressed spirit is obedience to Jesus, just keep close to Him. The best way to know a truth is to practice it. The best way to tell a sinner the way of Salvation is to tell him.
The best is good enough for me, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Best of the Best. The best offering you can bring Christ each day is yourself. The best directions for a lost man is for him to reverse his course of life and come to Jesus. The best praying pleads God's promises and blood. The best way to live a really useful life is to exalt Jesus practically with your life. "For Jesus' sake" is the best motive. Gratitude is the best attitude. The best help you can give a man is to communicate the Gospel to him. The best Christian is the man who does not mind what happens to him as long as God is glorified. The best way to rid yourself of care is to cast yourself entirely upon the Lord. A change of your inward nature is the best proof of your conversion.
The best thing to do is to stop loving and serving sin and to start loving and serving Jesus. Read in the best Book, the Holy Bible, with the help of the best Teacher, the Holy Spirit, about the best person, Christ Himself. The atheist's best hope is that he will die like a dog, and that that will be the end of him. Obedience to Jesus is the best humility. The best part of the Gospel is Jesus. The best view of Christ Jesus is from Calvary. The best kind of service is this - "If any man serve Me, let Him follow Me. And where I am, there shall also My servant be; if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour."
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Best Things 5
The best thing about Christ Jesus is Himself. The best understanding is an obedience to the word and will of God. The best of all is, Christ liveth in me. The best Christian truly follows Jesus. The best way to kill your sin is to sprinkle the blood of Jesus on it. You will hate sin the most when you realize what Jesus went through in order to freely forgive you. The best garment for the soul in this cold, cold world is Christ's Righteousness. Personal dealings with Jesus Himself is still the best proof of His power to save from the love of sin. The best preparation for a coming trouble is always prayer. The best remedy for a depressed spirit is nearness to God, not a pill.
The best indication of the Holy Spirit's work within us is our implicit faith in Jesus' Blood and our hatred for our sins. The best questions you can ask are these - "What must I do to be saved?" and "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" The best of all sights is the The Lamb of God. Behold Him! The best plea is "O Lord, in wrath remember mercy." The best praying consists of "groanings which cannot be uttered."
The best promoter of morality is the Gospel. The best thing is to do something today in the power of the Holy Spirit for Jesus' sake. The best preacher raves about Jesus. The best peace plan for this world is the love of God in Christ Jesus. The best thought you can have is about Jesus.
The best of prayers is "Lord, remember me." The best prescription for your sin-sick soul is the Blood of Jesus Christ. Plenty of communion with Jesus is the best preparation for soulwinning. The Bible is the best guide for your family. Sowing the seed of the word of God will give you the best return for your labor. The best way to get in contact with Jesus is through His blood.
The best time to go to the doctor is when you are as bad as you can be, and the best time to come to Jesus is when are so bad that you cannot be worse. A pure life is still the best sermon ever preached; we must win souls by our life and our words. The best thing that can be done for any man is draw him nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ. The best church is a praying church. The best thing you can do to give God glory is to trust Jesus now.
The best indication of the Holy Spirit's work within us is our implicit faith in Jesus' Blood and our hatred for our sins. The best questions you can ask are these - "What must I do to be saved?" and "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" The best of all sights is the The Lamb of God. Behold Him! The best plea is "O Lord, in wrath remember mercy." The best praying consists of "groanings which cannot be uttered."
The best promoter of morality is the Gospel. The best thing is to do something today in the power of the Holy Spirit for Jesus' sake. The best preacher raves about Jesus. The best peace plan for this world is the love of God in Christ Jesus. The best thought you can have is about Jesus.
The best of prayers is "Lord, remember me." The best prescription for your sin-sick soul is the Blood of Jesus Christ. Plenty of communion with Jesus is the best preparation for soulwinning. The Bible is the best guide for your family. Sowing the seed of the word of God will give you the best return for your labor. The best way to get in contact with Jesus is through His blood.
The best time to go to the doctor is when you are as bad as you can be, and the best time to come to Jesus is when are so bad that you cannot be worse. A pure life is still the best sermon ever preached; we must win souls by our life and our words. The best thing that can be done for any man is draw him nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ. The best church is a praying church. The best thing you can do to give God glory is to trust Jesus now.
Thanksgiving Day Facts
In 1620, the ship "Mayflower" brought the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was a 4-masted ship. It was 25 feet wide, and 100 feet long, and weighed around 180 tons. It had three main decks: upper, lower, and cargo. Steering was done from below deck in the Steering Room.
The passengers lived in the lower deck and rarely went topside. The "Mayflower"' was built to transport cargo and supplies, not people. But on September 6, 1620, 102 passengers and 26 crew members left Plymouth, England bound for America. There were 51 men, 21 boys, 20 women, and 10 girls onboard. The average age onboard was 32 years old. The oldest passenger was 64 years old, and the youngest passenger was a baby boy who was born onboard the ship during its voyage; they named the little boy Oceanus.
The Pilgrims were originally headed for the Hudson River in New York, but they were blown off course by storms. On November 11, the ship dropped anchor. It took 66 days to complete their 2,750 mile journey to Cape Cod, MA. Their average speed during the trip was less than 2 mph. They spent their first winter onboard "Mayflower" while they built their homes. The Pilgrims later settled near Plymouth Harbor.
Only 53 passengers and half the crew survived the first winter. When the weather improved, they established Plymouth. On April 5, 1621, the Mayflower sailed back to England. The colony grew from less than 100 to over 3,000 people over the next 70 years. John Adams, FDR, and Clint Eastwood are all direct descendants of the Mayflower passengers.
To most Americans, the Pilgrims of Plymouth, MA, are the inspiration for today's Thanksgiving feast. After the winter of 1620 killed almost half of their people, the colonists formed a relationship with the neighboring Wappanog tribe who taught them about fishing, planting, and hunting. By autumn of 1621, the colonists had collected enough food to feed the community for the coming winter. The Wappanog tribe joined the colonists for a three-day feast in honor of their bounty. The feast probably did not include our traditional turkey, more than likely the colonists and Wappanogs dined on roast goose and venison, along with corn, squash, pumpkin, nuts, carrots, codfish, clams and lobster. The Indians killed five deer as gifts for the colonists, so venison was on menu as well.
The first Thanksgiving dinner took place in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, in October (not November) of 1621. Fifty English colonists and 90 Wappanog Indian men attended the dinner. Very few women, if any, were present. The meeting lasted for three days. It was the harvest season in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the Puritans threw a harvest festival to celebrate. The men went ‘fowling,’ that is, hunting wild birds. A large group of Wappanogs brought five deer to the feast. They ate and shot guns.
This 1621 harvest meal is now commonly thought of as the first Thanksgiving. The colonists did not repeat this festival every November. George Washington advocated for Thanksgiving to be an official holiday on October 3, 1789, and the first National Thanksgiving holiday took place on Thursday, November 26, 1789. Thanksgiving did not become an annual tradition nationwide until the 19th century.
Yet for later generations of colonists, New England days of Thanksgiving had little to do with the 1621 harvest festival. Theirs was a religious holiday descending from Puritan days of fasting, prayer, and giving thanks to God. Every autumn, the governor of each colony would declare days of Thanksgiving for bountiful harvests, victorious battles, or drought ending rains.
In 1777, the Continental Congress decreed that all thirteen of America's colonies celebrate a national day of thanksgiving that year in celebration of their victory over the British at Saratoga. By the mid-nineteenth century, many states celebrated the holiday; however, the date could vary by weeks or even months. The modern Thanksgiving holiday would not exist if it were not for a young lady name Sarah Josepha Hale. She was a determined magazine editor who set about establishing the national Thanksgiving Day where all Americans could collectively give thanks to God. She was inspired to do so after reading a diary of early Pilgrim life and wanted to recreate that first Thanksgiving feast.
Sarah Hale passionately believed that such a day would help unite a nation headed towards civil war. Hale began a one-woman letter writing campaign urging politicians to establish an annual day of thanksgiving. Beginning in 1827, Hale waged a nearly 30-year campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. She also published recipes for pumpkin pie, turkey, and stuffing. These are now main parts of today's Thanksgiving Day meals.
The holiday didn’t become official until Abraham Lincoln declared it so in 1863. He might have been inspired to do so by magazine editor Sarah Josephna Hale, who suggested that Thanksgiving become a holiday. Sarah Hale's efforts were finally rewarded by Abraham Lincoln who saw the unifying potential of the holiday. In 1863, four months after the victory at Gettysburg, President Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November to be "Thanksgiving Day". By the way, Sarah Hale was America's first female magazine editor, and she also authored of the famous poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
By the 20th century, Thanksgiving was a welcome day of leisure from a six-day work week. In the 1920's, the National Football League was formed. In an effort to boost attendance, the fledgling Detroit Lions devised the concept of a Thanksgiving Day game and the rest as they say is history.
Parades also became a Turkey Day tradition and department stores quickly saw their value as a kickoff to Christmas shopping season. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade began in 1924 and year after year millions of New Yorkers brave the cold to watch the festivities. Thanksgiving Day is now the traditional start to the Christmas shopping season. This month-long shopping spree is crucial to American businesses. So crucial that in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the Thanksgiving holiday up a week to increase the shopping season and boost the economy. The people did not like this, so in 1941, Congress declared the official Thanksgiving holiday to be the fourth Thursday of November.
One of the strangest traditions of Thanksgiving began in 1989 when President George H.W. Bush granted the first official pardon to a turkey. So every November since then, the President has granted a pardon to one or two turkeys sending them into a safe retirement at Mount Vernon.
In case you were wondering, an average of 650 million pounds of turkey is eaten in the U.S. during Thanksgiving. Minnesota leads turkey production, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and Indiana. The Detroit Lions have been playing football on Thanksgiving since 1934, and the Dallas Cowboys since 1966. The total average caloric intake on Thanksgiving Day including snacking, main event, dessert and drinks — is about 4,500. For a 180-pound man to burn off the roughly 2,000 extra calories consumed, he would need to walk for five hours, so you better get moving on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the
Lord Jesus Christ,
and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Do You Have Your Boarding Pass?
* Your BP has a great deal of information on it: Destination, Gate, Flight Number, Date&Time of Flight, Boarding Time, Seat Number, Seat Zone, Frequent Flyer Number. Ensure your name is correct on your BP prior to leaving the airline ticket counter. The name on your BP and your ID card will need to match when you attempt to access the security ID Checkpoint and your gate.
* Always remember to bring a copy of your flight itinerary with you just in case the airline computers are not working. Allow 60 minutes for check-in with no bags, 90 minutes with bags, and two hours for international flights. Seats next to the wings provide the smoothest ride. Don’t forget your rental agreement in your rental car. To have a safer flight, remember to pray for your pilot and the plane.
* After you check your bag, make certain you stick your ‘checked baggage’ sticker to your BP stub. If your baggage is misplaced, the ‘checked baggage’ sticker will help you when dealing with the airline baggage office. Also, before the airline ticket agent places your luggage on the conveyor belt, make sure your bag has ‘your’ tag on it with the correct destination.
* Always have your BP and your Driver’s license, Military ID, or Gov’t Issued ID readily available for the ID and TSA security checkpoints.
* Once you’re inside the airport gate area, remember to check the flight status monitors to ensure your gate hasn’t changed. When you arrive at your gate, check your BP for boarding time and listen closely for the Seating Zone noted on your BP.
* If another passenger is sitting in your seat by accident, locate a stewardess to help you; your BP is also useful in locating your seat and verifying it.
* After you’re seated, keep your BP stub handy just in case you have to deplane and reboard for some reason (i.e., security concern, maintenance problem, flight cancellation due to weather, etc.) The Bar Code on your BP can also be used to quickly identify you and book another flight if needed. Your BP can be accepted by other airlines if your flight is cancelled for some reason.
* Don’t leave your BP laying around: There is important personal information contained on it that identity thieves can use against you.
Airline boarding passes are critical when traveling, but there is another boarding pass that is more important than any other. One day you will Depart this life and go out into Eternity, an Eternal boarding pass will be required. Only Sinners that see their need and humble themselves can be issued an Eternal boarding pass.
When you fly, your boarding pass is absolutely required to gain access to your flight. Likewise, you absolutely need an ‘Eternal’ boarding pass to gain access to Heaven. You need it because you’re a Sinner. Maybe you don’t see your need for a boarding pass when you die. Let’s see if you need one: Have you ever lied or stolen anything? If so, that makes you a liar and a thief? Have you ever taken God’s name in vain? If you have, that makes you a blasphemer.
Have you ever looked on someone with lust? Then that makes you an adulterer in heart. Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already with her in his heart.” *Matthew 5:28* The Bible says, that all liars, thieves, blasphemers, and adulterers cannot inherit the kingdom of God and will have their part in the lake of fire. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. ‘Good’ in the Bible means moral perfection in thought, word and deed. Only Jesus was truly Good. In the Bible sense, Sinners are not good. Every time you have sinned, you sinned with knowledge of right and wrong – your conscience warned you repeatedly, but you sinned anyway.
If God judges you by the Ten Commandments, will you be innocent or guilty on Judgment Day? Will you end up in Heaven or Hell? Here’s some Good News: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; He died for the ungodly, and now whosoever believeth in Him hath everlasting life. It’s not God’s will for you to go to Hell. Heaven’s ticket counter is at Calvary’s Cross where the Lord Jesus Christ died for you. You must go to the Cross by faith to pick up your Free boarding pass. JESUS paid for your ticket in Full when He bore your sins in His own body and suffered and died to pay the death penalty due to your sins. The Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect, sinless life for you and shed His Precious Blood for your sins, so He could Give you His perfect Righteousness, and save you from the Hell fire you justly deserve.
You cannot earn a boarding pass to Heaven. The best works you can do are all in vain and useless in the sight of God. You’ve sinned in the past, and all your good works can never take away your sins against God. Your good works don’t impress God; only JESUS’ perfect, finished work pleases God. Heaven’s boarding passes are not for sale - they are Absolutely Free to all who will Repent of their sin, admit their need of a Saviour, and place their entire trust (faith) in the bloody death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to pardon and pay their sin debt. Ye must be born again. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
God is Holy and Just and demands absolute, perfect Righteousness to enter Heaven. Do you have it? If you’re just the like the rest of us poor sinners, You Don't. The Bible says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. We have all come ‘way short’ of God’s perfect Righteousness. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. *Isaiah 64:6* Are you a sinner? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Do you need a Saviour? If you sense your need, inability, sinfulness, and imminent danger, then call upon JESUS’ name right now and ask God to save you by His blood and grace. Dear God, please be merciful to me a sinner and save my sinful soul for Jesus’ sake.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
The Best Things 4
One of the best ways to praise Jesus is by trusting and obeying Him more. The best Antidote for your sins is Christ in your heart. The best thing to seek is God's wisdom, for true wisdom is to depart from evil. Give Jesus the best of your thoughts, works and affection. Jesus' Rest is the best mental medicine around. The best sermon is holy living. Jesus is better than the best; He is altogether lovely. The best evidence of your love for the Savior is your struggle to quit your sins. The best prayers contain thankfulness to God. The best Repentance is to hate your sins enough to quit them; and remember - Repentance is a gift from the Holy Spirit.
The best way to bring sinners to Christ is to simply explain the Gospel of the Grace of God to them. To know Christ is the best of all sciences. The best company are those that keep company with Christ. The best way to get back your joy is to go again to Jesus. Give JESUS the best of your thoughts, your words, your actions, your time and substance, for He is the Best of all. The best time to repent of sin is now. The best of beggars are those who are in most need; and the best pray-ers are those who must have Mercy. The best path to take is this shortcut to the Cross - God be merciful to me a sinner! The best promoter of purity in our lives is God's forgiving love toward us. The best morality is love to Jesus out of gratitude for His free pardon, grace and mercy. The best way you can praise God is your own personal, private purity. The best proof of God's divine love is the Cross.
Here is the best news - Christ died for the ungodly. The best man is but a man at his best. Jesus is Optimum Maximus - The Best, The Greatest. Do the best thing; do something for Jesus today. The best men in the world are usually the worst spoken of. The best disciple hates his sins and loves the Savior. The best way is the Gospel way - Free Forgiveness through Precious Blood. The best resolve is to go and live a useful, gracious, generous, thankful, consecrated life for Jesus' sake.
The best esteem is Christ-esteem, not self-esteem. The best evidence of your Salvation is your helpless dependence on Jesus. To be prepared to die is the best way to be prepared to live. The best and wisest thing in all the world is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. The best "Yes" is this - "Yes, Lord Jesus, as bad as I am, I believe you can save even me, and now I trust your Precious Blood can take every sin I have committed against You." The best of all blessings here on Earth is the free forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of the Lamb of God. The best proof of your love to Jesus is your own personal purity and a sincere effort to win the lost.
The best way to bring sinners to Christ is to simply explain the Gospel of the Grace of God to them. To know Christ is the best of all sciences. The best company are those that keep company with Christ. The best way to get back your joy is to go again to Jesus. Give JESUS the best of your thoughts, your words, your actions, your time and substance, for He is the Best of all. The best time to repent of sin is now. The best of beggars are those who are in most need; and the best pray-ers are those who must have Mercy. The best path to take is this shortcut to the Cross - God be merciful to me a sinner! The best promoter of purity in our lives is God's forgiving love toward us. The best morality is love to Jesus out of gratitude for His free pardon, grace and mercy. The best way you can praise God is your own personal, private purity. The best proof of God's divine love is the Cross.
Here is the best news - Christ died for the ungodly. The best man is but a man at his best. Jesus is Optimum Maximus - The Best, The Greatest. Do the best thing; do something for Jesus today. The best men in the world are usually the worst spoken of. The best disciple hates his sins and loves the Savior. The best way is the Gospel way - Free Forgiveness through Precious Blood. The best resolve is to go and live a useful, gracious, generous, thankful, consecrated life for Jesus' sake.
The best esteem is Christ-esteem, not self-esteem. The best evidence of your Salvation is your helpless dependence on Jesus. To be prepared to die is the best way to be prepared to live. The best and wisest thing in all the world is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. The best "Yes" is this - "Yes, Lord Jesus, as bad as I am, I believe you can save even me, and now I trust your Precious Blood can take every sin I have committed against You." The best of all blessings here on Earth is the free forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of the Lamb of God. The best proof of your love to Jesus is your own personal purity and a sincere effort to win the lost.
The Best Things 3
The best weapon against temptation is prayer. Covet earnestly the best gifts - purity, humility, charity. The best way is to leave it all with Jesus. The best educated man spends much time at Jesus' feet. The best proof that you have been with Jesus is that you are seeking and saving that which is lost, fishing for the souls of men. The best cure for pride is the Cross of Christ. God Incarnate's Precious Blood is the best Remedy for your sin problem.
Living for Jesus will give you the best returns in the end. The best thing to do is to behave yourself in the midst of a trial. The best food for faith to a fainting soul is Christ's words and presence. The best way to believe is in Jesus' Blood. The best way to truly know about Christ is to try Him, take Him, trust Him to forgive your sins, and then experience Him daily by obeying His words. The best evidence of Salvation is that you are resting upon Christ Jesus' Finished Work alone. Christ Jesus is the best Physician for the broken-hearted. The best way to live is wholly on God's grace.
The best of Heaven's blessings is being with Christ. Your very best motive is always for Jesus' sake. The best preaching magnifies the Cross and exalts the Lamb of God, all the rest is mostly religious hot air. The best thing is to do Right and leave the consequences to God. The best business is the Lord's business - saving the lost and exhorting the saints. Living for the Redeemer is the best way to redeem the time. The best news is that, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The best way to simplify your life is to quit your sins. Silence is sometimes the best response. The best cure-all for your depression is Christ-esteem, not self-esteem.
The best system of theology is Christ Jesus Himself, if you learn of Him *Matthew 11:28-30*, you will have not missed a thing. The best and grandest thing a man can do is to have faith in Jesus, not himself. The best evidence of you being born again will be the discovery of your sinfulness in the sight of God. A good conscience is the best sleeping pill. The best cure for your doubts and fears is to lean on Christ the more. Humbly resting upon Jesus is your best position. The best thing you can do is come directly to Christ by trusting to His Atoning Blood. Your best abilities without Humility are disabilities. The very best thing is to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ in your body daily. You will love the best if you love Christ.
Living for Jesus will give you the best returns in the end. The best thing to do is to behave yourself in the midst of a trial. The best food for faith to a fainting soul is Christ's words and presence. The best way to believe is in Jesus' Blood. The best way to truly know about Christ is to try Him, take Him, trust Him to forgive your sins, and then experience Him daily by obeying His words. The best evidence of Salvation is that you are resting upon Christ Jesus' Finished Work alone. Christ Jesus is the best Physician for the broken-hearted. The best way to live is wholly on God's grace.
The best of Heaven's blessings is being with Christ. Your very best motive is always for Jesus' sake. The best preaching magnifies the Cross and exalts the Lamb of God, all the rest is mostly religious hot air. The best thing is to do Right and leave the consequences to God. The best business is the Lord's business - saving the lost and exhorting the saints. Living for the Redeemer is the best way to redeem the time. The best news is that, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The best way to simplify your life is to quit your sins. Silence is sometimes the best response. The best cure-all for your depression is Christ-esteem, not self-esteem.
The best system of theology is Christ Jesus Himself, if you learn of Him *Matthew 11:28-30*, you will have not missed a thing. The best and grandest thing a man can do is to have faith in Jesus, not himself. The best evidence of you being born again will be the discovery of your sinfulness in the sight of God. A good conscience is the best sleeping pill. The best cure for your doubts and fears is to lean on Christ the more. Humbly resting upon Jesus is your best position. The best thing you can do is come directly to Christ by trusting to His Atoning Blood. Your best abilities without Humility are disabilities. The very best thing is to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ in your body daily. You will love the best if you love Christ.
The Best Things 2
The best works are sprinkled with the blood of Christ. The best company is Christian company. The best thing to listen to is the word of God. The best answer in an argument is often silence. The best definition for Humility is to think rightly of yourself, that is, to remember your nothingness, and Christ's Greatness. The best place to begin in the Bible is with Christ Himself; you will learn better and surer with Christ. The best possible way to keep from falling is stay flat on your face at the feet of Jesus.
The best evidence of Salvation is an inward conflict with your sins. The best way to strengthen your faith is more communion with Christ. The best of men are afraid of little sins. The best sermon is the one which is the fullest of Jesus. The best safety is soul Safety in Christ Jesus - Safety is of the LORD. The best thing to fight with is your sins. Prayer through the blood and name of Jesus is the best means of drawing near to God. The best of prayers is only a beggar's cry at the throne of Mercy, asking for God's charity, for Jesus' sake. The best soil for the word of God is an honest and good heart which hears the word, keeps it, and brings forth fruit with patience. The best commentator of the Word of God is the Author, the Holy Ghost.
Christ Jesus is the Best of the Best. The best good you can do is trust Jesus Christ with your soul, and then take up your cross, deny yourself daily, and follow Jesus, for this glorifies God. Your best birthday is when you are born again - the New Birth. Scripture is the best defender of Scripture. The best time to trust to Jesus' Blood is always right now. A tender heart is the best defense against sin and the best preparation for Heaven. Most times the best prayers are sighs and groans. The best delight is in the Lord and His word. Your sinfulness and misery is your best argument for God's Mercy. The best hope is that Jesus is coming again. The best way to die is in Christ, for then you will be with Christ, which is far better.
The best evidence of Salvation is an inward conflict with your sins. The best way to strengthen your faith is more communion with Christ. The best of men are afraid of little sins. The best sermon is the one which is the fullest of Jesus. The best safety is soul Safety in Christ Jesus - Safety is of the LORD. The best thing to fight with is your sins. Prayer through the blood and name of Jesus is the best means of drawing near to God. The best of prayers is only a beggar's cry at the throne of Mercy, asking for God's charity, for Jesus' sake. The best soil for the word of God is an honest and good heart which hears the word, keeps it, and brings forth fruit with patience. The best commentator of the Word of God is the Author, the Holy Ghost.
Christ Jesus is the Best of the Best. The best good you can do is trust Jesus Christ with your soul, and then take up your cross, deny yourself daily, and follow Jesus, for this glorifies God. Your best birthday is when you are born again - the New Birth. Scripture is the best defender of Scripture. The best time to trust to Jesus' Blood is always right now. A tender heart is the best defense against sin and the best preparation for Heaven. Most times the best prayers are sighs and groans. The best delight is in the Lord and His word. Your sinfulness and misery is your best argument for God's Mercy. The best hope is that Jesus is coming again. The best way to die is in Christ, for then you will be with Christ, which is far better.
The Best Things 1
Secret prayer is one of the best tests of sincere Christianity. Home purity and piety is the best proof of Christianity. The best way to witness is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. The best place for the words of God is in your heart. Resisting your sins daily is the best practice. The best ambition is to be a servant of the living God - Christ Jesus.
The best way to clear your mind is to ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your mind with the Scriptures. The best of books is the King James Authorized Version - AV1611. The best life of Christ is a living biography in the actions of Christians. The best way to publish the Gospel is with life and lip - both are needed to be a good witness. Christ died for the ungodly is the best message for sinful men.
The best of all is that Jesus died for me. The best advice any man can give you is to seek more of the Spirit of God, for that is the only way you will become more Christ-like in your daily behavior. The best prayer is always for Mercy. The best habits - spend more time adoring Jesus, reading the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly; watching your life more carefully for pride and self-righteousness; living nearer to God; letting your heart be affectionate for men's souls.
Faith in Jesus is the best medicine for the soul. The best old prayer is "O God, hear me, for Jesus' sake." The best test for a Christian is trouble. I will follow Christ for He is the wisest, the greatest, and the Best. Jesus is the Best Friend a sinner ever had.
The best way to clear your mind is to ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your mind with the Scriptures. The best of books is the King James Authorized Version - AV1611. The best life of Christ is a living biography in the actions of Christians. The best way to publish the Gospel is with life and lip - both are needed to be a good witness. Christ died for the ungodly is the best message for sinful men.
The best of all is that Jesus died for me. The best advice any man can give you is to seek more of the Spirit of God, for that is the only way you will become more Christ-like in your daily behavior. The best prayer is always for Mercy. The best habits - spend more time adoring Jesus, reading the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly; watching your life more carefully for pride and self-righteousness; living nearer to God; letting your heart be affectionate for men's souls.
Faith in Jesus is the best medicine for the soul. The best old prayer is "O God, hear me, for Jesus' sake." The best test for a Christian is trouble. I will follow Christ for He is the wisest, the greatest, and the Best. Jesus is the Best Friend a sinner ever had.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Your Sins, Your Soul 2
Does God Himself now you are saved from the love of sin? How can you go on from day to day with your sins unforgiven? Within a moment you could be dead and in Hell, beyond all hope. In a single instant, your soul could be eternally lost. Your body will soon be in the graveyard; and your soul will be in Eternity at the will of the Judge of all the earth; you need to wake up before it's too late.
You may lose your job, or your income, or your health, but you do not want to lose your immortal soul by dying in your sins without Jesus Christ. In a second, your heart could cease to beat, your breath could stope, and instantly this brief life would be over for you. You are Christ's implacable enemy, because you love your sin so. Sin has made you mad and careless. Never rest until you are clear from your sins. Come now to the Cross by faith, and see what your sins did to the Incarnate God. Learn at the Cross to hate your sins which crucified the Lord of glory with a perfect hatred. Sin will slowly steal your soul away. Your sins are your worst enemies.
Are you sleeping in your evil with a false security? You delight in sin, you live to sin, and you love your sins. You are steeped in sin. You have willfully refused to trust Jesus Christ; this has stirred up the wrath of God towards you. *John 3:36* God has given His dear Son to die to save ungodly men like you. The one way of Salvation is through God-given faith in the Precious Blood of the Son of God. Refusing the Savior, slighting His Blood, and doing despite to the Holy Spirit will damn your soul. The best of all is that Jesus loved you, and gave Himself for your sins and soul. You had a need, and He had love, and so He came and bled for you. Hate your sins which crucified God Incarnate.
The best thing to do with your own righteousness is to get rid of it, for it will damn your soul. It's an awful thing to be an enemy of God, and live on rejecting Christ and then to be Anathema Maranatha - Cursed at His Coming. If you die without faith and love to Christ, you will be accursed on Judgment Day. Jesus gives rest to your soul only through faith in His Blood. *Matthew 11:28; Romans 5:9* Stake your soul for time and Eternity on the Blood and Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The atheist and religionist both work hard to ruin their own soul. Come to the Cross and feel the burden of your sins, hear the cries of the Lamb of God, see God's wrath against sin. Do not trifle with your sins or your soul. Beware - greedy, self-righteous religionists prey on superstitious, idolatrous sinners.
Best of all - Jesus died for me. God can turn the worst thing into the best thing. It is an awful thing for a sinner to die unforgiven, and stand before the Judgment bar of God without a Mediator. Immediate forgiveness of every sin, and instantaneous Salvation through the power of His Blood is now available to you at the feet of Jesus. The frail thread of your earthly life will soon snap, you will take your last breath, your heart will stop, and in a single instant you will enter into the eternal world, without God, without hope, and without forgiveness. O sinner, stop and think before it's too late. Trustfully commit your guilty soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on Him unto Everlasting Life.
You may lose your job, or your income, or your health, but you do not want to lose your immortal soul by dying in your sins without Jesus Christ. In a second, your heart could cease to beat, your breath could stope, and instantly this brief life would be over for you. You are Christ's implacable enemy, because you love your sin so. Sin has made you mad and careless. Never rest until you are clear from your sins. Come now to the Cross by faith, and see what your sins did to the Incarnate God. Learn at the Cross to hate your sins which crucified the Lord of glory with a perfect hatred. Sin will slowly steal your soul away. Your sins are your worst enemies.
Are you sleeping in your evil with a false security? You delight in sin, you live to sin, and you love your sins. You are steeped in sin. You have willfully refused to trust Jesus Christ; this has stirred up the wrath of God towards you. *John 3:36* God has given His dear Son to die to save ungodly men like you. The one way of Salvation is through God-given faith in the Precious Blood of the Son of God. Refusing the Savior, slighting His Blood, and doing despite to the Holy Spirit will damn your soul. The best of all is that Jesus loved you, and gave Himself for your sins and soul. You had a need, and He had love, and so He came and bled for you. Hate your sins which crucified God Incarnate.
The best thing to do with your own righteousness is to get rid of it, for it will damn your soul. It's an awful thing to be an enemy of God, and live on rejecting Christ and then to be Anathema Maranatha - Cursed at His Coming. If you die without faith and love to Christ, you will be accursed on Judgment Day. Jesus gives rest to your soul only through faith in His Blood. *Matthew 11:28; Romans 5:9* Stake your soul for time and Eternity on the Blood and Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The atheist and religionist both work hard to ruin their own soul. Come to the Cross and feel the burden of your sins, hear the cries of the Lamb of God, see God's wrath against sin. Do not trifle with your sins or your soul. Beware - greedy, self-righteous religionists prey on superstitious, idolatrous sinners.
Best of all - Jesus died for me. God can turn the worst thing into the best thing. It is an awful thing for a sinner to die unforgiven, and stand before the Judgment bar of God without a Mediator. Immediate forgiveness of every sin, and instantaneous Salvation through the power of His Blood is now available to you at the feet of Jesus. The frail thread of your earthly life will soon snap, you will take your last breath, your heart will stop, and in a single instant you will enter into the eternal world, without God, without hope, and without forgiveness. O sinner, stop and think before it's too late. Trustfully commit your guilty soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on Him unto Everlasting Life.
Your Sins, Your Soul 1
The hardest thing to do today is to get a sinner concerned about his sins and his soul. Your sins must be forgiven freely, and your soul must be saved eternally by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. There is no other way under heaven to saved from sins but by simple faith in the Precious Blood of God Incarnate. Be wise now, trust Jesus with your sins, your soul, your evil nature, your sin trouble, your temptations. Lay hold on Christ Crucified with real living faith that is a gift from God the Holy Spirit. Cast your guilty soul at Jesus' dear feet today, take Him to be your own personal Savior from the bondage and love of sin. Sin is expensive; it will cost you your soul.
Jesus is the great Forgiver, Sanctifier, and Preserver of the soul. Come and take Christ for your own, or you will die in your sins. Put no reliance upon the external of religion, quit your hold on sin. Lose what you will, but lost not your immortal soul. Your sins or your religion or not worth going to Hell over. Your soul is perishing and in utmost jeopardy and risking eternal destruction; outside of Christ, you are in a sad state of affairs. Unburden your soul at Jesus' feet. Hazard not your soul upon a worldly or religious lie. Wake now from your deadly slumber, your fatal sinful stupor!
Get Jesus Christ into your inward parts, your heart, spirit, mind, and soul. Cast off your works of darkness, and dress your soul with the robe of Christ's Righteousness. Don't play the fool with your soul. Believe on Jesus unto life eternal. Stop running risks with your never-dying soul. The wages of your sins is eternal death in the lake of fire. Endless ruin and misery will be your portion in Eternity if you die unconverted. With Jesus, sins become bitter, purity becomes sweet. If you defy and reject, you will face a ghastly death and horrible Eternity.
One day in the future, your frail body will play out, you will lie on your death bed distressed and terrified with heavy breathing, clammy skin, pale and languid, glassy-eyed, enduring death throes, weak pulse, and the darkness of death will slowly close in upon you. Remember your soul is immortal, you shall not die when your body dies, but you shall live again forever and ever in some place. Oh Eternity, Eternity without any Mercy, in a Lake of Fire which has no bottom or shore.
You have neglected Christ, therefore your sin remaineth. As you keep on rejecting and neglecting Christ, your conscience is seared, your soul unimpressible, your heart hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Human nature seeks after the approval and applause of man. Don't turn your back on the God of bleeding love. There's only one way to escape the divine justice of the Most High. Flee to the Cross for Refuge. Only the Holy Spirit can illuminate your soul, and lead you to flee to Christ for Safety. This cry is the distinctive mark of the newborn living child of God - God be merciful to me a sinner! The only meeting place between a sinner and God is the Cross of Christ. Depart now from sin and self, come to Christ by faith in His Blood. Quit righteous Self and evil Self both. There is no peace in the ways of sin. Care for your own soul, put it into Jesus' care, just like you would do so with your body with a Physician if you were deathly ill. Arise from your sinful state, hasten away from your peril, eternal damnation threatens your soul each moment you live on without Christ. Your love for sin will damn you.
The sum of the whole matter - Acknowledge your sinfulness to God. Come to the Savior just as you are, and trust His Atoning Blood to put away your sins. Leave your sins behind. Seek after purity and Holiness from Christ Himself, not from man-made convictions. Have done with your own ways and thoughts. Seek the meek and lowly heart of Christ. Jesus took all your sins upon Himself, He took them, so now you don't have to have them. He suffered for your sins in your place. If you trust to Him, you will not have to suffer for your sins.
This is the wonderfullest thing ever heard by a sinner's ear. God became a sinless Jewish man and loved you to death, and then rose from the for dead especially for you; His name was Jesus of Nazareth. Trust Christ Jesus only, wholly, now and forever. Look now to Jesus and live. Cleave to His Cross, plead His Blood. Free grace, rich mercy and bleeding love are available now at the Cross for free. Only the simple free Gospel saves sinners. Believe on the sinner's Substitute - the Lamb of God.
Lord Jesus, I believe the Gospel. I want to make You are mine. I claim you as my personal Sin-Bearer, Substitute, Redeemer, God and Atoning Sacrifice of my sins. My sins are loathsome to me, my guilt is foul, and I fear eternal death that my sins deserve. Forgive me for rejecting and neglecting You all through my life. In the past, I have trusted that I would get to Heaven by myself and a little bit of you, but now I am placing and my entire trust in your Atoning Blood today. Save my soul, forgive all my sins past, present and future. Take over my life, change my inward nature and my outward behavior, make me like You. Please Give me Your free everlasting life. Thank you for bleeding and dying and rising from the dead for me. Now, I receive You into my heart, please fill me with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the great Forgiver, Sanctifier, and Preserver of the soul. Come and take Christ for your own, or you will die in your sins. Put no reliance upon the external of religion, quit your hold on sin. Lose what you will, but lost not your immortal soul. Your sins or your religion or not worth going to Hell over. Your soul is perishing and in utmost jeopardy and risking eternal destruction; outside of Christ, you are in a sad state of affairs. Unburden your soul at Jesus' feet. Hazard not your soul upon a worldly or religious lie. Wake now from your deadly slumber, your fatal sinful stupor!
Get Jesus Christ into your inward parts, your heart, spirit, mind, and soul. Cast off your works of darkness, and dress your soul with the robe of Christ's Righteousness. Don't play the fool with your soul. Believe on Jesus unto life eternal. Stop running risks with your never-dying soul. The wages of your sins is eternal death in the lake of fire. Endless ruin and misery will be your portion in Eternity if you die unconverted. With Jesus, sins become bitter, purity becomes sweet. If you defy and reject, you will face a ghastly death and horrible Eternity.
One day in the future, your frail body will play out, you will lie on your death bed distressed and terrified with heavy breathing, clammy skin, pale and languid, glassy-eyed, enduring death throes, weak pulse, and the darkness of death will slowly close in upon you. Remember your soul is immortal, you shall not die when your body dies, but you shall live again forever and ever in some place. Oh Eternity, Eternity without any Mercy, in a Lake of Fire which has no bottom or shore.
You have neglected Christ, therefore your sin remaineth. As you keep on rejecting and neglecting Christ, your conscience is seared, your soul unimpressible, your heart hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Human nature seeks after the approval and applause of man. Don't turn your back on the God of bleeding love. There's only one way to escape the divine justice of the Most High. Flee to the Cross for Refuge. Only the Holy Spirit can illuminate your soul, and lead you to flee to Christ for Safety. This cry is the distinctive mark of the newborn living child of God - God be merciful to me a sinner! The only meeting place between a sinner and God is the Cross of Christ. Depart now from sin and self, come to Christ by faith in His Blood. Quit righteous Self and evil Self both. There is no peace in the ways of sin. Care for your own soul, put it into Jesus' care, just like you would do so with your body with a Physician if you were deathly ill. Arise from your sinful state, hasten away from your peril, eternal damnation threatens your soul each moment you live on without Christ. Your love for sin will damn you.
The sum of the whole matter - Acknowledge your sinfulness to God. Come to the Savior just as you are, and trust His Atoning Blood to put away your sins. Leave your sins behind. Seek after purity and Holiness from Christ Himself, not from man-made convictions. Have done with your own ways and thoughts. Seek the meek and lowly heart of Christ. Jesus took all your sins upon Himself, He took them, so now you don't have to have them. He suffered for your sins in your place. If you trust to Him, you will not have to suffer for your sins.
This is the wonderfullest thing ever heard by a sinner's ear. God became a sinless Jewish man and loved you to death, and then rose from the for dead especially for you; His name was Jesus of Nazareth. Trust Christ Jesus only, wholly, now and forever. Look now to Jesus and live. Cleave to His Cross, plead His Blood. Free grace, rich mercy and bleeding love are available now at the Cross for free. Only the simple free Gospel saves sinners. Believe on the sinner's Substitute - the Lamb of God.
Lord Jesus, I believe the Gospel. I want to make You are mine. I claim you as my personal Sin-Bearer, Substitute, Redeemer, God and Atoning Sacrifice of my sins. My sins are loathsome to me, my guilt is foul, and I fear eternal death that my sins deserve. Forgive me for rejecting and neglecting You all through my life. In the past, I have trusted that I would get to Heaven by myself and a little bit of you, but now I am placing and my entire trust in your Atoning Blood today. Save my soul, forgive all my sins past, present and future. Take over my life, change my inward nature and my outward behavior, make me like You. Please Give me Your free everlasting life. Thank you for bleeding and dying and rising from the dead for me. Now, I receive You into my heart, please fill me with the Holy Spirit.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Come to "Sinner's Anonymous"
Today in America there is a program for almost every addiction that man is in bondage to – For alcoholism, there is ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’; for drug addiction, there is ‘Narcotics Anonymous’; for food addiction, there is ‘Overeaters Anonymous’; for tobacco, there is ‘Nicotine Anonymous’ for pornography, there is ‘Sexual Addicts Anonymous,’ for gambling, there is ‘Gamblers Anonymous’ and the list goes on and on.
The people that attend these programs have to admit that they are powerless over their addiction and that their lives have become unmanageable. They must believe that a “Power” greater than them can restore them to sanity. They then must make a decision to turn their will and lives over to the care of that “Power”. These are programs devised by this world that try to solve the deep cancers of the soul of men and women with the band-aid of self-help. The reason any man drinks alcohol or take dope is because, he wants to stop thinking and listening to his conscience; he can't bear to think about reality, his sinful past and his dreadful future.
However, the “Higher Power” in these programs cannot save anyone from their real problem and that is the Addiction to Sin. They need the "Highest Power" - His name is JESUS. No matter how many steps a program offers you or your loved one, those steps can never help you one inch out of your root problem - Sin. Every man and woman on face of the earth is born into this world with an addiction to Sin. If you play with Sin, Sin will win in the end, and you will lose your soul. Habits such as smoking, drinking and pornography are just the fruits of our Sin-full nature.
God has His own plan for freedom from the addiction to Sin – it is called ‘Sinners Anonymous’. The initial meeting and all follow-up meetings are held at the foot of the Cross of Christ. Jesus is always there waiting for you. Do you feel hopeless today and burdened down with guilt and shame? Is your heart filled with pain and loneliness? Please turn to JESUS today and trust Him – He alone can set you free from your Sins – He died your freedom, peace and forgiveness to gain. God’s program is absolutely Free – the only thing it will cost you is your Pride. Please follow God’s steps to the Cross where JESUS loved you to death:
Step 1 – You must admit you are lost, hopeless, helpless and powerless over the addiction of Sin. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. *Romans 3:23* There is none that doeth good, no, not one. *Romans 3:12* For by grace are ye saved. *Ephesians 2:8* Be willing to turn from your sin and ask God for His help and to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. If you are truly willing, God will help you. Christ died for the ungodly. *Romans 5:6*
Step 2 – You must believe that God’s power through the Blood of Jesus Christ alone can save your soul. Salvation will restore you to sanity and give you a sound mind. Christ died for our sins…and He was buried…and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. *I Corinthians 15:3-4* Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. *Acts 16:31* The blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanseth us from all sin. *I John 1:9*
Step 3 – You must come by faith to the Cross of Calvary with your load of Sin where Jesus died and receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your Heart as your personal Savior. Jesus will only meet and receive Sinners at one place and that place is the Cross of Calvary. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. *Romans 10:13& Ye must be born again. *John 3:7*
A man reads the Ten Commandments, and he says, “I have done my best to keep these, and I am not as bad as my neighbor;” but he is told, by Christ himself, that every commandment contains within itself a great deal more than appears on the surface; as, for instance, “Thou shalt not kill,” is a commandment which is broken by anger. “He that hateth his brother” so that he wishes that there were no such person, is, in heart, the perpetrator of the crime of murder. Then take the command, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Oh!” says a self-righteous man, “I never sinned in that way,” and some high-class woman says, “I could not bear even to think of such a thing.”
Yet every person has had filthy desires, lustful glances, depraved thoughts, immoral imaginations; and the commandment in Matthew 5:28 covers all those. Sin sees the bait, but is blind to the hook. We do not need to go into the details of each command, it will suffice to sum all up as that “certain lawyer” did in Luke 10:25-29. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Did you ever do that? Has any one among us come anywhere near to doing that? Only one person ever obeyed it perfectly: the Lord Jesus Christ. Quit trying to justify yourself and lay down at Jesus’ feet – Submit. *Romans 10:3*
Here’s the Good News – The Gospel Story: You are guilty of sinning against God your Creator, and God must punish sin. He cannot be a just God, and not demand the penalty for your sins. But Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and He has stood as the Substitute for sinners, bearing your sins in His own body upon Calvary’s tree; and there He endured the wrath of God against sin for you, “being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”
You ask, “Did Christ bear my sins?” Yes He did. Will you trust him as your Savior? Will you trust your everlasting destiny into His dear hands? Will you abandon your self-righteousness (self-efforts and goodness), and will you rest in Jesus’ Precious Blood and finished work only? Will you take Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to be your soul’s only confidence? If you will truly say, “I will be glad to have such a Christ to trust in,” then I can assure you that He did died for you, and that your sins are pardoned, and shall never be remembered against you any more for ever. None but Jesus, none but Jesus, can do helpless sinners good.
If you trust in God manifest in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, today, you can go in peace, and be justified by faith in His blood. *Romans 5:9* Remember that glorious promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation by them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” *Romans 8:1* You can go away singing the song of “Substitution”, the richest word in the English language. Christ standing in my place, that I may stand in Christ’s place; Christ on the cross for me, Christ in the grave for me, Christ risen for me. Just trade places with Christ: You only have to take His Righteousness, and He will take your sin. God has provided the Savior, and now you must provide the Sinner. If you’ll just take off your sinful worn-out shoes, and let Jesus step into them, Jesus will give you His Royal Shoes for Free and fill your empty pockets with His eternal riches.
You are not saved unless Christ has saved you instantly and forever. You need Christ living in you, and His truth ingrained in your very nature, or you will die in your sins. If you would like to be born again right now, seek the Lord the best way you know how by trusting with all your heart in His Blood, call upon Him, send out a distress signal to the Most High; be willing to turn from your sin (repent), ask God for help and strength, and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Substitute and the Sin-Bearer of your Sin. Ask God to throughly wash your sins away in Jesus’ precious blood.
Step 4 – After you are born again, daily go to the word of God and the Cross of Christ and turn your life over to God (die daily). Yield yourself to the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer and by reading God’s word. If you are willing, the Cross will give you victory every day over the power of your Sins.
The people that attend these programs have to admit that they are powerless over their addiction and that their lives have become unmanageable. They must believe that a “Power” greater than them can restore them to sanity. They then must make a decision to turn their will and lives over to the care of that “Power”. These are programs devised by this world that try to solve the deep cancers of the soul of men and women with the band-aid of self-help. The reason any man drinks alcohol or take dope is because, he wants to stop thinking and listening to his conscience; he can't bear to think about reality, his sinful past and his dreadful future.
However, the “Higher Power” in these programs cannot save anyone from their real problem and that is the Addiction to Sin. They need the "Highest Power" - His name is JESUS. No matter how many steps a program offers you or your loved one, those steps can never help you one inch out of your root problem - Sin. Every man and woman on face of the earth is born into this world with an addiction to Sin. If you play with Sin, Sin will win in the end, and you will lose your soul. Habits such as smoking, drinking and pornography are just the fruits of our Sin-full nature.
God has His own plan for freedom from the addiction to Sin – it is called ‘Sinners Anonymous’. The initial meeting and all follow-up meetings are held at the foot of the Cross of Christ. Jesus is always there waiting for you. Do you feel hopeless today and burdened down with guilt and shame? Is your heart filled with pain and loneliness? Please turn to JESUS today and trust Him – He alone can set you free from your Sins – He died your freedom, peace and forgiveness to gain. God’s program is absolutely Free – the only thing it will cost you is your Pride. Please follow God’s steps to the Cross where JESUS loved you to death:
Step 1 – You must admit you are lost, hopeless, helpless and powerless over the addiction of Sin. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. *Romans 3:23* There is none that doeth good, no, not one. *Romans 3:12* For by grace are ye saved. *Ephesians 2:8* Be willing to turn from your sin and ask God for His help and to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. If you are truly willing, God will help you. Christ died for the ungodly. *Romans 5:6*
Step 2 – You must believe that God’s power through the Blood of Jesus Christ alone can save your soul. Salvation will restore you to sanity and give you a sound mind. Christ died for our sins…and He was buried…and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. *I Corinthians 15:3-4* Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. *Acts 16:31* The blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanseth us from all sin. *I John 1:9*
Step 3 – You must come by faith to the Cross of Calvary with your load of Sin where Jesus died and receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your Heart as your personal Savior. Jesus will only meet and receive Sinners at one place and that place is the Cross of Calvary. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. *Romans 10:13& Ye must be born again. *John 3:7*
A man reads the Ten Commandments, and he says, “I have done my best to keep these, and I am not as bad as my neighbor;” but he is told, by Christ himself, that every commandment contains within itself a great deal more than appears on the surface; as, for instance, “Thou shalt not kill,” is a commandment which is broken by anger. “He that hateth his brother” so that he wishes that there were no such person, is, in heart, the perpetrator of the crime of murder. Then take the command, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Oh!” says a self-righteous man, “I never sinned in that way,” and some high-class woman says, “I could not bear even to think of such a thing.”
Yet every person has had filthy desires, lustful glances, depraved thoughts, immoral imaginations; and the commandment in Matthew 5:28 covers all those. Sin sees the bait, but is blind to the hook. We do not need to go into the details of each command, it will suffice to sum all up as that “certain lawyer” did in Luke 10:25-29. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Did you ever do that? Has any one among us come anywhere near to doing that? Only one person ever obeyed it perfectly: the Lord Jesus Christ. Quit trying to justify yourself and lay down at Jesus’ feet – Submit. *Romans 10:3*
Here’s the Good News – The Gospel Story: You are guilty of sinning against God your Creator, and God must punish sin. He cannot be a just God, and not demand the penalty for your sins. But Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and He has stood as the Substitute for sinners, bearing your sins in His own body upon Calvary’s tree; and there He endured the wrath of God against sin for you, “being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”
You ask, “Did Christ bear my sins?” Yes He did. Will you trust him as your Savior? Will you trust your everlasting destiny into His dear hands? Will you abandon your self-righteousness (self-efforts and goodness), and will you rest in Jesus’ Precious Blood and finished work only? Will you take Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to be your soul’s only confidence? If you will truly say, “I will be glad to have such a Christ to trust in,” then I can assure you that He did died for you, and that your sins are pardoned, and shall never be remembered against you any more for ever. None but Jesus, none but Jesus, can do helpless sinners good.
If you trust in God manifest in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, today, you can go in peace, and be justified by faith in His blood. *Romans 5:9* Remember that glorious promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation by them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” *Romans 8:1* You can go away singing the song of “Substitution”, the richest word in the English language. Christ standing in my place, that I may stand in Christ’s place; Christ on the cross for me, Christ in the grave for me, Christ risen for me. Just trade places with Christ: You only have to take His Righteousness, and He will take your sin. God has provided the Savior, and now you must provide the Sinner. If you’ll just take off your sinful worn-out shoes, and let Jesus step into them, Jesus will give you His Royal Shoes for Free and fill your empty pockets with His eternal riches.
You are not saved unless Christ has saved you instantly and forever. You need Christ living in you, and His truth ingrained in your very nature, or you will die in your sins. If you would like to be born again right now, seek the Lord the best way you know how by trusting with all your heart in His Blood, call upon Him, send out a distress signal to the Most High; be willing to turn from your sin (repent), ask God for help and strength, and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Substitute and the Sin-Bearer of your Sin. Ask God to throughly wash your sins away in Jesus’ precious blood.
Step 4 – After you are born again, daily go to the word of God and the Cross of Christ and turn your life over to God (die daily). Yield yourself to the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer and by reading God’s word. If you are willing, the Cross will give you victory every day over the power of your Sins.
Psst! Have You Heard?
Here's the best kept secret in the whole world. People talk about the love of God and the God of love, but have you rarely ever heard anyone say, "God is really angry at you for your sins." Human nature doesn't think about God being furious or wrathful. This is Satan's strategy – Satan doesn't want you to find out that you are in serious trouble with God, because then you just might cry out to God for mercy and pardon. There is a danger facing all of humanity - it is the wrath of God. There is a side of God Himself in the Bible that people would rather not discuss - is the severity of God. God is a God who loves; He is also a God who hates. While He is a God of mercy; He is also a God of justice. God created an eternal Heaven and an eternal Hell. Hell is selfishness on fire.
American society defends sin and the sinner; it applauds deviant behavior; it brags about tolerance for perverse acts; it justifies inventions of evil; it encourages manifestations of pride and ego; it gloats about infidelity, selfishness, and brutality; it says greed is good and deceit is acceptable, as long as you do not get indicted; it encourages materialism as the new religion and makes possessions the new gods made of wood, stone, plastic, chrome, and steel. But whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Sin always brings consequences, and there are severe, eternal consequences for those that continue in sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall die an eternal death.
The lost sinner that has never heard the Gospel Message will still stand condemned before God. The unbeliever that has rejected or neglected the Gospel will still stand condemned before God. The moral man who has heard of religion and believes that he is somehow impressive to God because of his works, nevertheless, he will also be condemned. Somehow moral men think they are good enough to get in and stand before a holy God, but they are deceived, they will be condemned.
There is none righteous, not even one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. All of humanity is condemned and defenseless before God's wrath and His righteous anger and His terrible fury. The furious and holy God of the Bible is a rather unpopular subject today here in the 21st century.
The world's gospel today is, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," or "Come to Jesus, and He will solve all of your problems." Today, the world's religions try to woo sinners in with their 'incentive' programs. You will get this and that if you will only come to Jesus. Today's religions adapt their message to the needs of the audience. They are more sensitive to people's felt needs, rather than their deepest need – salvation from the love of sin and the wrath of God.
Many so-called preachers today believe the people in the pews are sovereign, and that the Gospel Message can be changed to suit their needs. The most important thing is the Gospel of Christ, not you. The most important is not relating to the audience, but the most important thing is that the audience relate to Jesus Christ. The important thing is not that I know a lot about you; it is that you know a lot about Jesus Christ. In Christ all your needs are met, you just don't know enough about Him to satisfy your needs. Jesus suffered the wrath of God for you.
Satan seeks to silence the truth of the Gospel which is first, "Bad news," before it ever becomes Good News. Unless you understand God's holy justice, you will never need a pardon. Until you understand God's holiness and righteousness, you will never understand your unrighteousness. The Gospel Message is first that you are a sinner condemned to an everlasting Hell, because of the penalty of your sins. BUT if you will come to Jesus Christ as a sinner begging for mercy and trust alone in His Precious Blood, He will freely pardon you by His grace. Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, was crucified and bled for your sins. Christ bore all the penalty of God's wrath, Christ paid the penalty of Hell on behalf of you personally. The fury and holiness of God doesn't hinder evangelism, it enables it. Only the Blood of God can save you from the wrath of God.
The nature of man does not want to hear of the wrath of God because man wants to be able to behave in any way he wants. In the same way, the religion of man does not want to hear of the wrath of God because man wants to believe anything he wants. In other words, people want to behave any way they want to behave, and believe anything they dream up from their vile imagination.
If you talk of judgment today, this means that you imply the existence of a Judge. So men think it is better not to believe in a God that is a Judge, otherwise He might do what a judge normally does, that is, render a verdict. So religions today instead talk about the love and compassion of God alone, they emphasize the positive parts of the Bible. Let's memorize the golden rule, let's memorize the Lord's Prayer, but they will never mention Revelation 20:15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." This is a horrible verse about God's judgment and wrath. There is a coming judgment by the way. Hebrews 9:27 says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
So men today try to get rid of God, if they can get rid of God, they can get rid of God as a Judge, and if they can do that, then there is no enforcer of their sins. And if there is no enforcer of their sins, then there really isn't a real standard of truth, and if there is no standard of truth, they can do whatever they want. There is no right, there is no wrong. You can do what you want to do, and whatever is truth for you is truth. Man wants to get rid of God's judgment, sinful man desires to get rid of God as a Judge, as a Holy Judge, as a furiously angry Judge over his sins. If they can do that, then they can ultimately land where they can live any old way they want to live.
But the honest sinner knows he is guilty by his conscience - the intuitive, God-created knowledge of good and evil. However, enslaved sinners cannot admit that they are anything other than free, lest their guilt should penetrate their shield of unbelief. Their guilt cannot cause them to bend their knee before a Creator God who will judge them. The world is running at a frantic pace of unsatisfying sin, and as they rush into more and more sin, it only produces more and more guilt and shame in their souls.
Remember, if you have never received Christ as your personal Savior, you are lost and ruined; ruined utterly, helplessly, and hopelessly. So far as you yourself are concerned, there is no hope of your salvation. But there is HELP for you only in One Person and He is mighty to save, even Jesus Christ the LORD. Look completely out of yourself to Him alone, and you are saved. Cast away all your self-confidence and repose and rely on Jesus and your soul shall live eternally. The soul-quickening gospel words are “Believe and Live.”
Oh! Trust Jesus and you shall be saved. The minute you look to the Bleeding Incarnate God on Calvary's Cross alone for forgiveness, the sin-covered black and heavy garment that covers your soul will be cut loose and cast away by God’s free mercy. The lost sinner that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved, but he that believeth not on Christ shall be damned eternally. Christ died for the ungodly, not for the good and honest.
The Gospel is a matter of life and death. Come now, as guilty as you are, and rely upon God’s Blood to take away your sin and its guilt. Confide in Jesus, and in Him alone. He died in your place, trust in Him, and you shall never die. Christ gave up His life and poured out His blood for your sins — it is His blood alone that gives pardon and peace to lost sinners. If you will but look to Him — you can have a free pardon now, complete pardon, pardon for ever.
Look away from all other confidences, and rely upon the sufferings and the death of the bleeding God-Man, who has now gone into Heaven, and who lives today and is willing and able to save you to the uttermost. Come to Him now, just as you are, and seek His mercy, plead His most-precious blood. If you feel your need of Jesus, if you are “weary and heavy-laden with sin,” take the Savior even now, and He will be yours forever.
You have a personal right to JESUS for you are a sinner, bring nothing with you, simply come and take Him, His grace is as free as the air you breathe. Take the Water of Life, drink of Him, no one can deny you, drink even to the full and be satisfied forever, and you will be saved immediately and forever. Trust in the bare naked promise of God – Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
American society defends sin and the sinner; it applauds deviant behavior; it brags about tolerance for perverse acts; it justifies inventions of evil; it encourages manifestations of pride and ego; it gloats about infidelity, selfishness, and brutality; it says greed is good and deceit is acceptable, as long as you do not get indicted; it encourages materialism as the new religion and makes possessions the new gods made of wood, stone, plastic, chrome, and steel. But whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Sin always brings consequences, and there are severe, eternal consequences for those that continue in sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall die an eternal death.
The lost sinner that has never heard the Gospel Message will still stand condemned before God. The unbeliever that has rejected or neglected the Gospel will still stand condemned before God. The moral man who has heard of religion and believes that he is somehow impressive to God because of his works, nevertheless, he will also be condemned. Somehow moral men think they are good enough to get in and stand before a holy God, but they are deceived, they will be condemned.
There is none righteous, not even one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. All of humanity is condemned and defenseless before God's wrath and His righteous anger and His terrible fury. The furious and holy God of the Bible is a rather unpopular subject today here in the 21st century.
The world's gospel today is, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," or "Come to Jesus, and He will solve all of your problems." Today, the world's religions try to woo sinners in with their 'incentive' programs. You will get this and that if you will only come to Jesus. Today's religions adapt their message to the needs of the audience. They are more sensitive to people's felt needs, rather than their deepest need – salvation from the love of sin and the wrath of God.
Many so-called preachers today believe the people in the pews are sovereign, and that the Gospel Message can be changed to suit their needs. The most important thing is the Gospel of Christ, not you. The most important is not relating to the audience, but the most important thing is that the audience relate to Jesus Christ. The important thing is not that I know a lot about you; it is that you know a lot about Jesus Christ. In Christ all your needs are met, you just don't know enough about Him to satisfy your needs. Jesus suffered the wrath of God for you.
Satan seeks to silence the truth of the Gospel which is first, "Bad news," before it ever becomes Good News. Unless you understand God's holy justice, you will never need a pardon. Until you understand God's holiness and righteousness, you will never understand your unrighteousness. The Gospel Message is first that you are a sinner condemned to an everlasting Hell, because of the penalty of your sins. BUT if you will come to Jesus Christ as a sinner begging for mercy and trust alone in His Precious Blood, He will freely pardon you by His grace. Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, was crucified and bled for your sins. Christ bore all the penalty of God's wrath, Christ paid the penalty of Hell on behalf of you personally. The fury and holiness of God doesn't hinder evangelism, it enables it. Only the Blood of God can save you from the wrath of God.
The nature of man does not want to hear of the wrath of God because man wants to be able to behave in any way he wants. In the same way, the religion of man does not want to hear of the wrath of God because man wants to believe anything he wants. In other words, people want to behave any way they want to behave, and believe anything they dream up from their vile imagination.
If you talk of judgment today, this means that you imply the existence of a Judge. So men think it is better not to believe in a God that is a Judge, otherwise He might do what a judge normally does, that is, render a verdict. So religions today instead talk about the love and compassion of God alone, they emphasize the positive parts of the Bible. Let's memorize the golden rule, let's memorize the Lord's Prayer, but they will never mention Revelation 20:15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." This is a horrible verse about God's judgment and wrath. There is a coming judgment by the way. Hebrews 9:27 says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
So men today try to get rid of God, if they can get rid of God, they can get rid of God as a Judge, and if they can do that, then there is no enforcer of their sins. And if there is no enforcer of their sins, then there really isn't a real standard of truth, and if there is no standard of truth, they can do whatever they want. There is no right, there is no wrong. You can do what you want to do, and whatever is truth for you is truth. Man wants to get rid of God's judgment, sinful man desires to get rid of God as a Judge, as a Holy Judge, as a furiously angry Judge over his sins. If they can do that, then they can ultimately land where they can live any old way they want to live.
But the honest sinner knows he is guilty by his conscience - the intuitive, God-created knowledge of good and evil. However, enslaved sinners cannot admit that they are anything other than free, lest their guilt should penetrate their shield of unbelief. Their guilt cannot cause them to bend their knee before a Creator God who will judge them. The world is running at a frantic pace of unsatisfying sin, and as they rush into more and more sin, it only produces more and more guilt and shame in their souls.
Remember, if you have never received Christ as your personal Savior, you are lost and ruined; ruined utterly, helplessly, and hopelessly. So far as you yourself are concerned, there is no hope of your salvation. But there is HELP for you only in One Person and He is mighty to save, even Jesus Christ the LORD. Look completely out of yourself to Him alone, and you are saved. Cast away all your self-confidence and repose and rely on Jesus and your soul shall live eternally. The soul-quickening gospel words are “Believe and Live.”
Oh! Trust Jesus and you shall be saved. The minute you look to the Bleeding Incarnate God on Calvary's Cross alone for forgiveness, the sin-covered black and heavy garment that covers your soul will be cut loose and cast away by God’s free mercy. The lost sinner that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved, but he that believeth not on Christ shall be damned eternally. Christ died for the ungodly, not for the good and honest.
The Gospel is a matter of life and death. Come now, as guilty as you are, and rely upon God’s Blood to take away your sin and its guilt. Confide in Jesus, and in Him alone. He died in your place, trust in Him, and you shall never die. Christ gave up His life and poured out His blood for your sins — it is His blood alone that gives pardon and peace to lost sinners. If you will but look to Him — you can have a free pardon now, complete pardon, pardon for ever.
Look away from all other confidences, and rely upon the sufferings and the death of the bleeding God-Man, who has now gone into Heaven, and who lives today and is willing and able to save you to the uttermost. Come to Him now, just as you are, and seek His mercy, plead His most-precious blood. If you feel your need of Jesus, if you are “weary and heavy-laden with sin,” take the Savior even now, and He will be yours forever.
You have a personal right to JESUS for you are a sinner, bring nothing with you, simply come and take Him, His grace is as free as the air you breathe. Take the Water of Life, drink of Him, no one can deny you, drink even to the full and be satisfied forever, and you will be saved immediately and forever. Trust in the bare naked promise of God – Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Simple Gospel Truth 3
The Gospel is the simplest fact to understand and believe as long as you don't love your sins. I have nothing to declare unto you but the Gospel of the Grace of God. No one but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself can save a man from the love of sin. You must trust wholly, entirely and exclusively to the Blood and Righteousness of God Incarnate. Behold the Lamb of God's Precious Blood.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; His Precious Blood must be all your confidence and hope. Forsake your own righteousness; renounce your love for sin - that is Repentance. Ask the Holy Spirit for Repentance. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and free Everlasting Life is yours. I am resting, resting wholly in who Jesus is, only on His Precious Blood, not in some baptism or sacrament.
You are devoid of all that is Good, for you are a sinner. There is within your nature a propensity to sin which you cannot conquer. Your best works are unholy; ye must be born again within; you must be saved through the merits of Another, by the free, undeserved favor of God. Faith in Jesus makes you righteous through His Righteousness, accepted in the Beloved, and perfect in Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus Himself is my Medicine as well as my Physician. An earthly physician may save your physical life for a few months or years, but only the Son of God can save your soul eternally. Take the divine Medicine of the Gospel for your sin-sick soul. Childlike Faith in Jesus' Blood alone is the best Remedy for your fears and doubts. The Precious Blood is the true and only Remedy for the ills of your soul. Your trust and hope must be fixed on Jesus, the Substitute for sinners. Whosoever believeth in Jesus shall not perish, but have Everlasting Life.
Listen closely; hear the good news from the better country: Free salvation for lost sinners; complete forgiveness for the guilty; and acceptance for the ungodly. Christ died for the ungodly; He loved His enemies to death; He is willing to receive the wretched and miserable; He is full and grace and truth; He justifies the unrighteous through His own merits.
Sin's penalty is eternal death; Jesus paid that penally for you on Calvary's Cross with His own life's blood. The Holy Spirit through the work of the Law and Divine Justice must break your righteousness down, so that you will quit trusting it. Now understand - Jesus must have all the glory for your Salvation. If you attempt to mix your own doings with Christ's Righteousness, you are deceived and doomed. Appeal only to the Precious Blood for pardon and to the Holy Spirit for power to overcome your sins. God delights in mercy for Jesus' sake.
Whosoever believeth in Jesus shall be saved from the love of sin. True prayer and Faith is a gift of God. The shortest and sincerest prayers in Jesus' name reach God's ear. Loathe the very thought of self-righteousness. Once you begin to feel your sins' guilt and evil, you will begin to pray to God for His mercy through Jesus' Blood. The Reconciliation of a sinner to the Creator can never be achieved by a sinner, for this is the work of Christ alone, and to Him must be all the glory. The strongholds of sin within your heart and mind can only be overthrown by Christ Jesus.
O God, I have offended you over and over; I have sinned greatly and followed my own will; I have no goodness of my own; I am so guilty and undone; I need your Mercy most of all; save my defenseless soul for Jesus' sake; please change my heart and appetites within; I am so sick of myself; give me your Holy Spirit; you have given Jesus to die for sinners; I am a sinner; I put all my trust in His Precious Blood; God be merciful to me a sinner for Jesus' sake. Let all the Glory be ascribed to Christ Jesus Himself.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; His Precious Blood must be all your confidence and hope. Forsake your own righteousness; renounce your love for sin - that is Repentance. Ask the Holy Spirit for Repentance. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and free Everlasting Life is yours. I am resting, resting wholly in who Jesus is, only on His Precious Blood, not in some baptism or sacrament.
You are devoid of all that is Good, for you are a sinner. There is within your nature a propensity to sin which you cannot conquer. Your best works are unholy; ye must be born again within; you must be saved through the merits of Another, by the free, undeserved favor of God. Faith in Jesus makes you righteous through His Righteousness, accepted in the Beloved, and perfect in Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus Himself is my Medicine as well as my Physician. An earthly physician may save your physical life for a few months or years, but only the Son of God can save your soul eternally. Take the divine Medicine of the Gospel for your sin-sick soul. Childlike Faith in Jesus' Blood alone is the best Remedy for your fears and doubts. The Precious Blood is the true and only Remedy for the ills of your soul. Your trust and hope must be fixed on Jesus, the Substitute for sinners. Whosoever believeth in Jesus shall not perish, but have Everlasting Life.
Listen closely; hear the good news from the better country: Free salvation for lost sinners; complete forgiveness for the guilty; and acceptance for the ungodly. Christ died for the ungodly; He loved His enemies to death; He is willing to receive the wretched and miserable; He is full and grace and truth; He justifies the unrighteous through His own merits.
Sin's penalty is eternal death; Jesus paid that penally for you on Calvary's Cross with His own life's blood. The Holy Spirit through the work of the Law and Divine Justice must break your righteousness down, so that you will quit trusting it. Now understand - Jesus must have all the glory for your Salvation. If you attempt to mix your own doings with Christ's Righteousness, you are deceived and doomed. Appeal only to the Precious Blood for pardon and to the Holy Spirit for power to overcome your sins. God delights in mercy for Jesus' sake.
Whosoever believeth in Jesus shall be saved from the love of sin. True prayer and Faith is a gift of God. The shortest and sincerest prayers in Jesus' name reach God's ear. Loathe the very thought of self-righteousness. Once you begin to feel your sins' guilt and evil, you will begin to pray to God for His mercy through Jesus' Blood. The Reconciliation of a sinner to the Creator can never be achieved by a sinner, for this is the work of Christ alone, and to Him must be all the glory. The strongholds of sin within your heart and mind can only be overthrown by Christ Jesus.
O God, I have offended you over and over; I have sinned greatly and followed my own will; I have no goodness of my own; I am so guilty and undone; I need your Mercy most of all; save my defenseless soul for Jesus' sake; please change my heart and appetites within; I am so sick of myself; give me your Holy Spirit; you have given Jesus to die for sinners; I am a sinner; I put all my trust in His Precious Blood; God be merciful to me a sinner for Jesus' sake. Let all the Glory be ascribed to Christ Jesus Himself.
Friday, November 15, 2013
He Is
But without Faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. *Hebrews 11:6*
You must believe that there is but one God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one and only true and living God. Do not try to fashion a god such as you would prefer, for that is sheer idolatry. You must accept God as He is made known in the Scriptures, and especially as He has manifested Himself in the person of Christ Jesus, for the practical purpose of reconciling sinners back to Himself. If you wish to come to God today, you must come by the way in which God has come to you - that is; through the person of Jesus Christ. And you desperately need the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
When you pray, believe that God is right where you are. Remember - God Is. God is everywhere, and with awe and reverence of God, we ought to spend every day of our life. There is no place to sin in, for God is there. There is no place to gossip, for God is there. There is no place for blasphemy, for God is everywhere present. Don't be so arrogant to blaspheme God to His face. There is no place for rebellion. This makes all places you may be most solemn, and all time truly sacred. Every spot of ground is holy ground, and every bush is a burning bush. While you worship in church, it is holy, but it is no more holy than your house or workplace or car.
For a Christian, one place is as sacred as another, for God's presence consecrates it all. The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Your workbench or bedroom or prayer closet where you kneel in prayer is as sacred as the Tabernacle's Holy of Holies or Solomon's Temple. Every spot where God is worshipped with humble gratitude through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ is holy ground.
For a Christian, one place is as sacred as another, for God's presence consecrates it all. The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Your workbench or bedroom or prayer closet where you kneel in prayer is as sacred as the Tabernacle's Holy of Holies or Solomon's Temple. Every spot where God is worshipped with humble gratitude through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ is holy ground.
Recognize distinctly that there is a God, and He is always near to you: that He is real and true, and that you are living in actual nearness to Him. To have a real God is the backbone of true character, and to keep company with God day by day, moment by moment, is true godliness. Most men live as if God is a nonentity, a religious dream, a theological fable, a respectable fancy on Sunday morning, and nothing more. But the fact is, God surrounds you at all times.
"Thou God seest me!," is the great sanctifier; the awareness of God's presence should check and curb us from our secret sin and impure thought life. Walk before Him, and be thou perfect. Walk before the Lord in the land of the living. God should be the companion of your thoughts and doings - JEHOVAH is our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Best Friend. God is always good and true and right, and therefore He is always to be acknowledged, regarded, trusted, thanked, confided in, and praised.
"Thou God seest me!," is the great sanctifier; the awareness of God's presence should check and curb us from our secret sin and impure thought life. Walk before Him, and be thou perfect. Walk before the Lord in the land of the living. God should be the companion of your thoughts and doings - JEHOVAH is our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Best Friend. God is always good and true and right, and therefore He is always to be acknowledged, regarded, trusted, thanked, confided in, and praised.
When any man begins to suppose that one place is more sacred above another, he will begin to go there to that place with superstitious reverence. This is sheer idolatry, religious nonsense, and nothing better. The right thing is to look upon every place or street or path as too sacred for you to sin there, for God is everywhere watching and listening to you. God is omnipresent and omniscient. God is in all places, therefore you must not offend Him anywhere.
If you would come to God, you must believe He is everywhere. When you pray aright, you speak directly into God's ear - into His very heart, for God is wherever there is a praying soul. When you truly praise and thank God, God is there, and He hears you. Always realize God's presence. Be conscious that God is there, and commune with Him. Really draw near to Him in prayer. "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?" (Jeremiah 23:23) We should pray as if we really believe in God's presence with us.
There is a God always at your work and your play, and He is always watching and listening. If there is a place where God is not, you may go there and sin, but there is no such spot in the whole universe. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? God exists, He is everywhere present, and He knows what you are doing at all times, and He perceives the wishes and cravings of your heart. God is always aware of all that you think or say or do. God counts the hairs on your head, and He notices the falling sparrow to the ground, He paints the lily in the field, and He orders the orbits of the many planets in the universe.
There is a God always at your work and your play, and He is always watching and listening. If there is a place where God is not, you may go there and sin, but there is no such spot in the whole universe. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? God exists, He is everywhere present, and He knows what you are doing at all times, and He perceives the wishes and cravings of your heart. God is always aware of all that you think or say or do. God counts the hairs on your head, and He notices the falling sparrow to the ground, He paints the lily in the field, and He orders the orbits of the many planets in the universe.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3). God is everywhere and He can see all that is done in every part of the universe. God is, and in Him we live, and move, and have our being. God is not a Being confined to one or two places, but He is everywhere; He is there, and there, and there - He fills heaven and earth. God sees you everywhere you are. God is all around you, He is always beside you, and behind, and before.
God is causing your heart to beat and your brain to think this very moment - you would die if God withdrew that power. God can see the past, the present, and He can see a thing before it even happens. God sees you as if there were nobody else in the world. You are the particular object of His attention at this very moment. God's eyes are always looking down upon you - remember that. God sees you entirely - His eyes search you through and through - your actions and thoughts and imaginations - He can read right through you. From the top of your head to the sole of your foot, God is examining you now.
God sees you constantly. You are sometimes watched by man, and then you when you are by yourself you indulge in things that you would never dare to do before the eyes of your friends. But remember, wherever you are, God's eye always rests on you. He interprets your deeds and translates your motives. God knows you more fully than you know yourself. You privately sin in the very face of justice with God's eye fixed on you.
God is causing your heart to beat and your brain to think this very moment - you would die if God withdrew that power. God can see the past, the present, and He can see a thing before it even happens. God sees you as if there were nobody else in the world. You are the particular object of His attention at this very moment. God's eyes are always looking down upon you - remember that. God sees you entirely - His eyes search you through and through - your actions and thoughts and imaginations - He can read right through you. From the top of your head to the sole of your foot, God is examining you now.
God sees you constantly. You are sometimes watched by man, and then you when you are by yourself you indulge in things that you would never dare to do before the eyes of your friends. But remember, wherever you are, God's eye always rests on you. He interprets your deeds and translates your motives. God knows you more fully than you know yourself. You privately sin in the very face of justice with God's eye fixed on you.
Every man needs a personal God, a living Person, a compassionate Being, a divine Person and Friend - He is found only in the Blessed Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth is the one and only true God in human flesh that lived, died and rose again to save sinners from the wrath of God. You must believe that God is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him through Christ's shed blood (Romans 3:23-25).
You must believe that God hears and answers your prayer (Romans 10:13). This is not the mere repetition of a certain form of words. Superstitious religious people think a particular place is sacred, and that a certain man is holy because he has certain clothes on, and reads out of a holy book, and sprinkles you with holy water, and drinks from a holy cup, and holy this and holy that. This is all a bunch of silly religious superstition which men use to dupe the spiritually naive. Religious men fashion themselves a blind god. Always remember - God Is.
You must believe that God hears and answers your prayer (Romans 10:13). This is not the mere repetition of a certain form of words. Superstitious religious people think a particular place is sacred, and that a certain man is holy because he has certain clothes on, and reads out of a holy book, and sprinkles you with holy water, and drinks from a holy cup, and holy this and holy that. This is all a bunch of silly religious superstition which men use to dupe the spiritually naive. Religious men fashion themselves a blind god. Always remember - God Is.
The Righteousness of God
There are three great difficulties in the way most men try to gain salvation. They are found in Romans 10:3. The first is, ignorance: “They being ignorant of God’s righteousness.” The next is, self-determination: “And going about to establish their own righteousness.” And the third is, out-and-out rebellion: “Have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
These are the three simple facts that "religion" will never teach you about the Bible and Jesus Christ: the most important thing about God and the Bible is the subject of God’s Righteousness. God's Righteousness is a living Person - His name is Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh. The chief problem with men is that they do not know who that Righteousness is - which God requires for salvation. Without trusting to the Righteousness of God (Jesus Christ), no man can enter heaven.
Ignorance: Do you want to be saved by your own righteousness (good works and merits)? Do you know what kind of righteousness it must be? To be accepted by God, it must be perfect righteousness. That is to say, if you have committed but one sin, you have stained your character in the sight of God, and your hope of perfect righteousness is gone. God’s law requires absolute obedience, from the first moment that you understand the law, as long as ever you shall live. Look what the law requires of you: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” Have you done that? “And thy neighbor as thyself.” Have you done that? Why, there is not one of us he has done it.
If you had kept the law of God completely, from the first command to the last, from the first day until now; even that would not save you; for, if there were to be one sinful word, deed or thought during the rest of your life, it would spoil the whole, and God could not accept your righteousness. When a man commits one sin, he is guilty of disobedience to all the commands of God; for the Bible says in James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
The law is like a precious golden chain containing many links that hold a steel trap over you. If you break one of the links, you have broken and ruined the precious chain. Just when only one of links is snapped, down comes the cage of guilt and condemnation over your soul, and you’re trapped until someone rescues you. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
If you had kept the law of God completely, from the first command to the last, from the first day until now; even that would not save you; for, if there were to be one sinful word, deed or thought during the rest of your life, it would spoil the whole, and God could not accept your righteousness. When a man commits one sin, he is guilty of disobedience to all the commands of God; for the Bible says in James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
The law is like a precious golden chain containing many links that hold a steel trap over you. If you break one of the links, you have broken and ruined the precious chain. Just when only one of links is snapped, down comes the cage of guilt and condemnation over your soul, and you’re trapped until someone rescues you. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The next problem is, that men do not know that God has provided a perfect righteousness for them freely through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God came to earth in human form in the person of Jesus Christ and was perfectly obedient to His own law: He fulfilled every jot and tittle (letter) of it. He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” And His obedience and righteousness is yours, if you only believe. Christ Jesus lived a sinless life for you and worked out ‘perfect righteousness’ for your soul to satisfy God’s justice and holiness. The wrath of God abides on you today because of your sin.
You have no righteousness of your own. Jesus Christ was “made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” You receive this righteousness as a free gift from God by looking to Jesus Christ alone; it can never be earned. A church or religion cannot save you. Who is the Righteousness of God? It is God’s only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; God manifest in the flesh; born at Bethlehem, climbing Calvary’s mountain bearing a cross and extending His arms and feet to be nailed, giving His side to be pierced, His body was laid in a tomb, that your soul might be saved.
In the wounds and blood of Jesus is salvation found; but men do not know it. Jesus’ death is the death of sin, His life gives life to lost sinners; but men do not know it. Willful ignorance is a damning sin. Do you want to truly know Christ Jesus and have righteousness He offers? Salvation simply put is a Sinner, with nothing, receiving everything from God.
In the wounds and blood of Jesus is salvation found; but men do not know it. Jesus’ death is the death of sin, His life gives life to lost sinners; but men do not know it. Willful ignorance is a damning sin. Do you want to truly know Christ Jesus and have righteousness He offers? Salvation simply put is a Sinner, with nothing, receiving everything from God.
Self-Determination: Another thing that stands in man’s way that is worse than ignorance, and that is, self-determination. Men, ignorant of God’s righteousness, are said to be “going about to establish their own righteousness;” in other words, to set up and build their own righteousness. Man sees God’s righteousness, and, instead of accepting it, he says, “I think I could match that. I will set up my own righteousness. I’ll do it my way.”
Human righteousness is a great lie: it is filthy rags. A man's self-righteousness is much more deadly than his unrighteousness. Only your self-righteousness can damn you, and only Christ's Righteousness can save you from divine justice. The Bible say they “go about” to do this: That is to say, they set about it with great zeal. You determined to do right in the past. You were going to have a perfect righteousness of your own. But you lied or stole or took God’s name in vain, and the foundation of your imaginary righteousness cracked and the structure shook. But then you said, “I’ll never do that again.” But in the next day or two, you were hateful and angry; and down tumbled your righteousness! Then you said, “I’ll turn over a new leaf, I’ll do better this time. But, sin deceives you and down tumbled your righteousness again! Ever it went; and you, all the while, tried zealously to rebuild your character and goodness.
“Going about” implies great earnestness: when a man says, “I am going about a thing”, he means that he is going to take his coat off — going to roll up his shirt-sleeves and get to work. He is going to toil at it for many hours. You may attempt to work a righteousness of your own; and you may do very nicely while it is dark. But when a little light from God’s law and Cross shines on your efforts, you will begin to see the filthiness and foolishness of it. And you, my friend, think yourself very beautiful when you cannot see yourself. But when the looking-glass of the law is held before your soul’s face, you would begin to see the spots of filth that defile the ‘very best’ of your human righteousness. The natural righteousness of man is very foul; and yet they go about to set up their own righteousness.
Human righteousness is a great lie: it is filthy rags. A man's self-righteousness is much more deadly than his unrighteousness. Only your self-righteousness can damn you, and only Christ's Righteousness can save you from divine justice. The Bible say they “go about” to do this: That is to say, they set about it with great zeal. You determined to do right in the past. You were going to have a perfect righteousness of your own. But you lied or stole or took God’s name in vain, and the foundation of your imaginary righteousness cracked and the structure shook. But then you said, “I’ll never do that again.” But in the next day or two, you were hateful and angry; and down tumbled your righteousness! Then you said, “I’ll turn over a new leaf, I’ll do better this time. But, sin deceives you and down tumbled your righteousness again! Ever it went; and you, all the while, tried zealously to rebuild your character and goodness.
“Going about” implies great earnestness: when a man says, “I am going about a thing”, he means that he is going to take his coat off — going to roll up his shirt-sleeves and get to work. He is going to toil at it for many hours. You may attempt to work a righteousness of your own; and you may do very nicely while it is dark. But when a little light from God’s law and Cross shines on your efforts, you will begin to see the filthiness and foolishness of it. And you, my friend, think yourself very beautiful when you cannot see yourself. But when the looking-glass of the law is held before your soul’s face, you would begin to see the spots of filth that defile the ‘very best’ of your human righteousness. The natural righteousness of man is very foul; and yet they go about to set up their own righteousness.
Men are naturally narcissistic and pompous, putting on a false front to impress themselves and others. The law of God removes the religious veneer of your imaginary righteousness. God will have salvation to be all of grace, and man will have to be works. Men’s pennies of self-righteousness can never pay for the righteousness their soul needs. Will you have salvation freely? If so, take it freely. But if you will buy it with your false self-righteousness, you and God can never agree.
The self-efforts of men for their own salvation are deadly efforts. God will save them only one way, and they want to be saved another. God says, “There is medicine. Take it; drink it.” Man says, “No, I will make my own drugs in my own way, and I will make it just fine;” and he goes and takes his own dose. And can he ever get well in such a way as that? God says, “I will forgive.” Man says, “I will try and deserve to be forgiven”; as if that could be possible. Some men seem to think that, somehow or other, they can deserve to be forgiven. But that would not be forgiveness at all. Come, come, ye vilest of the vile, ye lost and utterly undone! Come, come, you that have no righteousness! Come as you are to the Cross where Jesus died. There is everything you need and want in Christ. Come and have him, and you shall not be refused; but reject His terms, and salvation can never be yours.
Out-and-Out Rebellion: The third difficulty, which is the worst, namely, out-and-out rebellion. “Have not submitted themselves unto the Righteousness of God.” Do you not wonder why such a word as ‘submit’ is used? Self-righteous men refuse to submit to God’s way of salvation. They are like a criminal who is trapped in a house and surrounded by the police and must ‘submit’ to the authorities. They must surrender, drop their weapons (sins and self-righteousness) and come out with their hands up. Will you submit to the Ultimate Authority - God? You cannot escape God and His law. Don’t be a self-willed fool that will not submit before your Maker — will you not yield even to have salvation freely? Will you still hold out, and, in your self-righteousness, try to fight against God.
It will always be so: the more self-righteous a man is, the harder it is for him to bow before the Righteousness of God – the Lord Jesus Christ himself. You must yield, my friend. Submit to the fact that God is God, or else you will not submit to God’s righteousness. Man thinks that God is hard, austere, demanding too much; while God puts offers man everything (freedom from sin and eternal life) freely for nothing, yet still man says that the price is too high. Man refuses to submit to the power of God. He will not yield himself up to God to work with him, and in him, and for him. He wants to do all himself; and then, if he got to heaven, he would throw his chest out and boast and seek glory. But that will not do. It is all of grace from first to last; and the sinner must consent that it shall be so, or else the gate of heaven will never give him admittance.
But lastly, ‘submit’ it is a very delightful word. A man says,’“And is that all that I have to do — is to submit myself? Is that all?” you say. There is a feather in the cap of your pride. Take it out. You have a weapon of rebellion by your side. Throw it down. Just submit yourself there, come out with your hands up. Say, “Lord, if my soul be sent to hell, I deserve it. I submit, and I plead for mercy. I plead the precious blood. I not only submit to take that plea, but I delight to take it. You have been kicking and struggling; now submit. You have been despairing, and talking about its being foolish to believe.
Submit - give all that up. No more of your talk! Come to faith in Jesus' Blood alone! When a man submits to God Incarnate, that man has got the victory. When the Lord Jesus Christ is King, you are safe. When you take Christ to be everything, and you are nothing, then neither death nor hell shall ever divide you from the heart of God. When you are not your own, you are Christ’s; but so long as you are dependent upon self, you do not know the Lord, and you cannot know him. The Righteousness of God is a Man - His name is Jesus Christ - God manifest in the flesh who was crucified for sinners.
Submit - give all that up. No more of your talk! Come to faith in Jesus' Blood alone! When a man submits to God Incarnate, that man has got the victory. When the Lord Jesus Christ is King, you are safe. When you take Christ to be everything, and you are nothing, then neither death nor hell shall ever divide you from the heart of God. When you are not your own, you are Christ’s; but so long as you are dependent upon self, you do not know the Lord, and you cannot know him. The Righteousness of God is a Man - His name is Jesus Christ - God manifest in the flesh who was crucified for sinners.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Veterans Day Facts
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| 1st Marine Division, Battle of Fallujah - Iraq, 2004 |
Veterans Day was originally called "Armistice Day" to commemorate the truce signed between the Allies and the Germans in World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. It all began on a private railroad car in the Forest of Compiegne just outside Picardie, France. This railroad car belonged to Ferdinand Foch who authored most of the armistice. This was the secret location where the armistice was signed to end the war to end all wars. The fighting had ended - all was quiet on the western front.
The first Armistice Day in the U.S. was celebrated on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. All business was suspended to observe two minutes of silence beginning at 11am. Later, America also started honoring its Unknown Soldiers on Armistice Day. In 1921 on Armistice Day, the first unknown soldier was laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery. He was a casualty of the Great War, World War I.
It is now tradition for the President or one of his representatives to lay a wreath on the monument every November 11th. In 1938, Congress made Armistice Day a national holiday giving people the day off work. At 11am every Veterans Day a color guard ceremony represents all branches of the military at the Tomb of the Unknowns in the Arlington National Cemetery. In 1954, President Eisenhower changed Armistice Day to Veterans day. The name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those that served in World War I.
For seven years, Veterans Day was actually celebrated in October. In 1968, Congress moved Veterans Day to the 4th Monday in October so that government employees could enjoy a long weekend, but most people rejected this and wanted the holiday to returned to the historical date of November 11th. So in 1975, President Gerald Ford reversed the law and returned Veterans Day to November 11th due to the historical significance. Memorial Day honors the war dead, but Veterans Day honors all American veterans living and dead. The U.S Census Bureau estimates that there are over 21 million living military veterans in the U.S.: more than 16 million of these served during times of war while 5.5 million served during peace time only.
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| USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) Underway - Fort Story, Virginia |
- 9.2 million veterans are over the age of 65.
- 1.9 million veterans are under the age of 35.
- 1.8 million veterans are women.
- 7.8 million veterans served during the Vietnam War era (1964-1975), which represents 33% of all living veterans.
- 5.2 million veterans served during the Gulf War (representing service from Aug. 2, 1990, to present).
- 2.6 million veterans served during World War II (1941-1945).
- 2.8 million veterans served during the Korean War (1950-1953).
- 6 million veterans served in peacetime.
VETERANS DAY SPEECH BY PRESIDENT REAGAN ON NOVEMBER 11, 1988: Those who live today remember those who do not. Those who know freedom remember today those who gave up life for freedom.
Today, in honor of the dead, we conduct ceremonies. We lay wreaths. We speak words of tribute. And in our memories, in our hearts, we hold them close to us still. Yet we also know, even as their families knew when they last looked upon them, that they can never be fully ours again, that they belong now to God and to that for which they so selflessly made a final and eternal act of devotion.
We could not forget them. Even if they were not our own, we could not forget them. For all time, they are what we can only aspire to be: giving, unselfish, the epitome of human love -- to lay down one's life so that others might live. We think on their lives. We think on their final moments. In our mind's eye, we see young Americans in a European forest or on an Asian island or at sea or in aerial combat.
And as life expired, we know that those who could had last thoughts of us and of their love for us. As they thought of us then, so, too, we think of them now, with love, with devotion, and with faith: the certainty that what they died for was worthy of their sacrifice -- faith, too, in God and in the Nation that has pledged itself to His work and to the dream of human freedom, and a nation, too, that today and always pledges itself to their eternal memory. Thank you. God bless you.
This Veterans Day don't forget to call a veteran and tell them "Thank You" for their service to our free country.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. *John 15:13*
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Look Closely in the Mirror
The Holy Bible is God's Divine Mirror; the Holy Scriptures reflect what you really are on the inside. That's why people can't stand to have The Ten Commandments posted in public places in America. The Bible is a spiritual mirror, and when you expose yourself to the Scriptures, they show you what you really are; just like a scale, or blood work, or an x-ray does. There are two things that never lie: mirrors first thing in the morning and scales late in the evening.
Human nature doesn't want divine mirrors hanging up so they can see what they are on the inside. The Law of God is a perfect mirror that shows you that you're in the wrong, and that you can't put yourself in the right. A mirror will never lie to you, but every man is a liar. A man lies to himself and to others. Men are naturally born liars right out of the womb. The Bible won't ever lie to you. Every day you live, you look in a mirror to check yourself out. But you also need to look in God's Mirror to see what you really are, and to see who Jesus Christ really is.
Don't just glance in God's Mirror, look into it, focus and search intensely, asking God to show you the Truth about yourself, and Jesus Christ. Search the Scriptures with the Eye of Faith, with honesty and openness. The Holy Ghost will show you what you are by nature, and what you can be by God's grace. You always become what you look at, what you listen to, and what you think about every day. Does your Bible lie around your house all week undisturbed?
Human nature doesn't want divine mirrors hanging up so they can see what they are on the inside. The Law of God is a perfect mirror that shows you that you're in the wrong, and that you can't put yourself in the right. A mirror will never lie to you, but every man is a liar. A man lies to himself and to others. Men are naturally born liars right out of the womb. The Bible won't ever lie to you. Every day you live, you look in a mirror to check yourself out. But you also need to look in God's Mirror to see what you really are, and to see who Jesus Christ really is.
Don't just glance in God's Mirror, look into it, focus and search intensely, asking God to show you the Truth about yourself, and Jesus Christ. Search the Scriptures with the Eye of Faith, with honesty and openness. The Holy Ghost will show you what you are by nature, and what you can be by God's grace. You always become what you look at, what you listen to, and what you think about every day. Does your Bible lie around your house all week undisturbed?
Just for one moment, contemplate what will become of you after you die. The Holy Bible lifts up and exalts Jesus Christ, and puts down human nature and carnal pride. Jesus Christ was absolutely Perfect. Nobody can ever come close to Jesus Christ; no one is like Him; no one can touch Him. You can't blame the mirror for what you see. Human nature is drawn to what it shouldn't have, and it foolishly thinks it can escape divine justice through religiousness. Your Self is an ugly thing to look at, that's why men avoid the Divine Mirror, The Holy Bible. Men try to pretend they aren't as ugly as the Bible says they are inside - but you're proud, a liar, self-righteous, and you're stuck on yourself. The Bible is no respecter of persons. A broken mirror will give you a distorted image, and there are many broken Bibles being sold today. You won't get the right impression about yourself from a broken Mirror.
The Holy Bible will give you a straight picture every time you look into it. You have to get close to a mirror to get groomed and cleaned up. When you look into a mirror, you are looking for flaws, so you can correct them. You need to get close to the Bible. Grooming in a mirror always begins at the beginning of the day. No man in his right mind ever leaves his home in the morning without checking himself out in the mirror. You need *light* in order to see yourself in a mirror. You must have the Holy Spirit's Light in order to see yourself, and then Christ Jesus in the Mirror of the word of God. The Holy Bible is the only Mirror that can actually change us on the inside. A mirror is no good, unless you use it. Running away from a mirror won't change your looks any, and ignoring the mirror never solves a thing.
If you want to know your true condition, you will find it in the Bible. The Bible won't kid you; it will show you the Cure for your sin problem - the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. *I John 1:7* If the Bible is right, you are lost; if the Bible is right, you can be saved from divine justice. Unsaved men go straight to Hell when they die, because they reject Christ, love their sins *John 3:19-20*, and set up their own righteousness in opposition to God's Righteousness - Jesus Christ. *Romans 10:3-4* If you believe that, the world will have no use for you at all. The best a man can do will land him right in hell. If you trust to any of your own self-righteousness, it will damn you. You have to come to Christ for a Righteousness that will satisfy God holy demands, because you're not any good at all. If you're a good guy that thinks you can make it past the White Throne Judgment on your own, you're going to perish in the Lake of Fire.
Your soul must live forever in some place. If you keep your sin-sick soul to yourself, you will lose it forever. Commit your soul to the Lord Jesus Christ now for safekeeping. Have you slighted, ignored, cussed, neglected, rejected, received, or believed on Jesus Christ? What have you done with Jesus which is called Christ? You need to personally respond to the Gospel, act on what you have just read. Receive Christ into your soul now. All religions are not the same, for all their founders are not alive. Christ Jesus is alive today, He is risen from the dead, and He is alive forever more. You can't meet God's Divine Standard - only Christ Jesus did that. He is Perfect, and you're not. Human nature desperately tries to cover up sin by some type of works. Religious folks try to meet the perfect Standard of God's law by their self-righteous works, and wind up losing their soul in the end. Trust Christ's Righteousness, not your own; believe in Him, not yourself. Never trust religious humanistic nonsense that men think up to try and justify themselves in the sight of God.
Jesus is the main issue; He's always been the real issue, and He always will be. Let's get down to earth now, and talk about this real plain like. Every last sinner is going to take a side either for Jesus Christ, or against Him. There's only one thing you have against Jesus Christ - He's Good, and you're Bad; He loved Righteousness, and you love Sin; and He condemned you by the way He lived and died. Jesus loved His enemies. *Romans 5:10* He bled to death for you. He loved me, and gave Himself for me.The straight edge of the Law shows us just how crooked we really are on the inside. On your very best day, you're as crooked as a dog's hind leg. You produce according to what you are. You can't do good, until you are made good by the only One who is Good - who is The Lord Jesus Christ. Sin has warped your mind, and bent your affections. Only Jesus can make the crooked straight.
Sin is an act of departing from the right, the good, and morality. Sin is a straying from the will of God. Faith is trusting and doing the will of God. You have left the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness. You rejoice to do evil, and delight to hear perverse things spoken against God, Christ, the Gospel, and the Bible. Turn from your crooked ways, and come to the straight Way. *John 14:6* Your wisest decision will be to trust the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ to save you from Divine Justice. Only God can save a sinner. God is infinitely just, and He cannot do wrong. You cannot deceive God. God knows just what kind of person you are in private, and in your thoughts. Sin always complicates life, and living for Jesus simplifies life. Doing what God likes is true Freedom. Living like you want results in misery, and problems, and ultimately, Damnation.
The world still mistreats Jesus Christ today. You can sell religion to men, but not Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh bleeding and dying to save guilty sinners from divine justice. This is man's way - "I'm a pretty good fellow, I take care of my family, I pay my bills, I'm loyal to my wife. What's the matter with me? I'm just as good as those Christians down there at that church. You mean to tell me, I've got to get down at Jesus Christ's feet, and tell Him that I'm a poor, miserable, lost sinner, and that I ought go straight to Hell for the dirty rotten life I've lived. You mean to tell me that? Not me, nothing doing, none of that kind of religion for me, I won't have Jesus, if that's the way. That means I will I have to quit this and quit that. I don't want it, I'd rather get it my own way." The Blood of Jesus Christ is on the hands of every lost human being.
Men are not naturally good, there's not one spark or atom of goodness in any sinner. Lost men hate it when you turn the Light on. *John 8:12* If you are doing filthy things in a pitch black room, and someone comes in and flips the light on, the light is not the problem. Human nature always tries to make it seem like the light is the problem. Human nature wants you to just turn the light off, so it can go back to enjoying its sin and darkness. And this is the condemnation, that *light* is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than *light*, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the *light*, neither cometh to the light, lest his *deeds* should be reproved. *John 3:19-20* Jesus is the Light which men cannot tolerate. Religion pats guilty humanity on the back, and says, "Just do your best, but you must do it our way, and then you might get to heaven." Don't let religion fool you - You must have personal faith and contact with Jesus through simple faith in His atoning blood in order to get to Heaven. Simply accept what Jesus suffered and did for you on Calvary's Cross, ask Jesus to keep you out of Hell.
After we are born again from above by the Holy Ghost *John 3:7*, we need to continue in God's word *John 8:31*, and continue to repent, to be temperate, and to seek holiness in our personal private and public life. You'll never figure God or His words out with your own intellect, you need Wisdom from above, wisdom from God to understand Truth. Doing right after you are born again doesn't help save you, we do right after we are saved out of Gratitude alone to the Sin-Forgiving Savior. Looking into the Divine Mirror, mixed with faith, will keep your moral life in check. Ask God to change you daily into Christ's likeness and conform you to His image. You must be transformed by the Divine Mirror. *Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2* The Holy Bible will cause you to start thinking and responding to situations and circumstances with the mind of Christ, not with your old carnal mind. Keep yourself pure by looking into the Bible continually, and by correcting your flaws with divine help from the Holy Ghost. *John 17:17,19; John 15:3; James 1:23; Romans 8:13; II Corinthians 3:18; Psalm 119:140*
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