We Have an Adversary

We Have an Adversary
by David Brenneman

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,  casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.  Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.  After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." 1 Peter 5:6-10.

There are none in this world who are not influenced by the enemy of God, Satan.  We read here that in coming to Christ for salvation, he becomes our adversary as well.

Regardless of your personal preferences or feelings on the subject, you have to know that in your training in righteousness that the Spirit is going to be teaching you, you're going to have to suit up in the whole armor of God for a fight.

You are in the thick of the battle because the battlefield is within you.  Satan's minions try every subtle method they're permitted in order to change the course of your thinking on life. 

As someone in history once said...know your enemy. 

Know this, my Dear Reader, you may sleep at night, your enemy does not.  Your physical body requires sleep, food, water.  Those in the spiritual realm do not.

You are an object of study to those in the spiritual world.  Both as witness to those angels of God and to the fallen angels who became demons.  Those demonic forces that the Scriptures speak about are against anyone or anything to do with the will of God. 

They study everything about all Believers.  Discovering things about us that they hope to use against us should they be permitted to do so.

Yes, permission must be sought because Jesus said that we are held in His hands.  'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.

We read in the opening chapters of the book of Job concerning this sought after permission.

And make no mistake, they will try to thwart whatever purpose under Heaven that Jesus has in mind for you. 

The part that ought to make you really consider things differently is that many many professing Christians unknowingly are aiding and abetting the enemy of God. 

They do so sometimes out of ignorance of the schemes of the devil.  They attribute the work of these demons to anything but them.  They dismiss their actions as physical or psychological.  They call them mistakes.  They call them nothing more than bad choices or judgments. 

We...are...at...war.  The whole of humanity is at war.  Only those saved in Christ Jesus alone are those with the light of Jesus Christ to see, know, and understand what's truly going on. 

Or did you think Paul, through the Spirit, wasn't speaking to all generations when he said "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete." 2 Corinthians 10:3-6?

Prayer is what Jesus went to before the day began for Him.  Paul constantly was referring to prayer.

Your prayers, while living in obedience to God's Word and will for you, are absolutely unhindered communication between you and Jesus Christ your Savior. 

One of Satan's best tactics, is to get people to think they don't NEED to pray.  That our situation isn't going to be important enough to pray about it. 

Not long after entering the Promised Land, Joshua at first talked to the Lord before doing anything.  He didn't think to ask about a group of people and to this day they're a problem to the children of Israel. 

Nothing we bring to Jesus in prayer is to big or too small.  Nehemiah shot very short prayers to the Lord.  We read many of the prayers of King David in the Scriptures. 

Knowing that you are not stepping into your day alone, pray before anything you plan to be doing.  Assume nothing. 

Your enemy will also entice you in whatever ways possible to stay out of your Bible.  Causing you to replace the importance of being in God's Word with anything or anyone else instead. 

Then there's all the excuses. 

I can't memorize the Bible.
I can't read for long periods of time.
I can't find enough time.
I can't...(fill in the excuses).

Many many true Christians self-sabotage their walk with Jesus.  Many true Christians have physical or maybe mental challenges that don't allow the mainstay methods of learning from the Spirit of God to work.  I know my own limitations and regardless of my inability to to many things that I know others in the faith can do...as Paul said...I press on towards the upward call of God for me in Christ Jesus. 

We can do whatever we can to the best of our ability.  Colossians 3:23-24.  Whatever you do...do as unto the Lord for it is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 

Find your own path towards learning more about Jesus and His will for you.  Ask Him for help.  As Him to do something with what you've hidden in your heart from the Scriptures.  We read that David said: your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. 

Get it into you however you can.  The Spirit WILL do something with it and you with it once it's there.

Moses tried many excuses with the Lord.  None were effective or enough to deter the Lord’s plan for him.

Your enemy wants you to believe that you're of no consequence, you aren't important enough with Jesus so you don't have to be ready for any fights in the spiritual realm.  He laughingly also wants Believers to think that he doesn't consider them important enough to fight against them.  That he will leave them alone. 

Lies and deception...all at the heart of Satan and his minions. 

He is prowling around seeking someone to devour.  All his minions are.  Get the whole armor of God on and keep it on.  Pray for yourself, pray for those in authority over you. Pray for those whom God has caused to cross paths with you. Either in thought or in person.  There's no coincidences with Spirit matters.  The Spirit brings both the Word of God to mind as well as the names of those needing prayer.

Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight.  The same goes for you and I.

The battle is real. 
The enemy of God is for real.
The battle belongs to the Lord.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.  
La Habra, CA All rights reserved
www.lockman.org

For Sure

For Sure 

by David Brenneman 

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." 1 Peter 5:6-10.

The Bible is a riveting book of realism. It never denies or ignores our troubles; it simply reminds us of the transcendent truth of God's presence and power during our frequent bouts with difficulty. We may have many dangerous roads to traverse and obstacles to overcome, but with the Savior's enabling, we can endure. He keeps us strong when we are weak, gives us His peace when we're troubled, and directs us when the path ahead grows dim. And whatever our current lot, we can be sure that the suffering we now bear is not forever and that the Lord will ultimately

lead us to a magnificent victory. His plan is so exceedingly good that words can't justly describe it.

So today, be confident that God will come to your aid. He will sustain you when you're at your breaking point. He will revive you when your body and spirit are exhausted and spent. And He will give you wisdom when you don't know what to do, and hope when all seems lost. So put your faith in the Lord and accept His help because He will see you through these difficult days perfectly.

Jesus, thank You for being in this with me, I need You, my

Savior. Amen.

------ Mainly taken from Trusting God with Today by Dr. Charles Stanley. 

I went back a few verses to include more at the beginning of this particular devotional. 

Realize, my Dear Reader, regardless of any particular situation in which you find yourself, Jesus is there with you in it.  

There's an element of truth in that now famous poem "Footprints". The harder part for us at times is our forgetting that Jesus permitted the course change in our lives and He will see it through. Whatever Satan means for our detriment, God will turn for our good. 

Nothing can get to us that hasn't been vetted by Jesus Christ our personal Lord and Savior.  

My season in life isn't unique. Millions of people in the United States alone are looking for employment. God will place me in a new job when that job is ready for me. It's on me, during this time, to keep at whatever He's put before me to be doing. I more than fulfill my obligations to keep searching through opportunities. I also have been given short-term things to be doing that help others by Jesus. It's the Spirit of God who places each one of us in the body as He sees fit.

My prayer is the same as what Dr. Stanley wrote at the end of that devotional.  

The Spirit points me to the Word of God. God is the God of the impossible. Abraham was sent from his family to be the father of many nations and he wasn't even a father of a single child. Abraham was waiting over a year for the promise of God for a first child to be fulfilled in an extremely old age. 

Daniel was cast into a den with some seriously hungry lions who were turned into docile big cats until the time when the Lord drew him out. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all were cast into a severely lit up furnace and walked around in it with Jesus as if nothing was amiss, not even the smell of being burned was upon them. King Nebuchadnezzar...once the most evil of people ever to breathe, a man worse than any other in human history, was turned to become a child of God.  

Oh my God knows how to deal with the impossible. A storm brews while Jesus is in the boat...and He opts to take a nap. The storm wasn't going to dictate His well-being.  

We find ourselves in storms because that's how roots get deeper. Trees with shallow roots never can withstand the true storms of life.  

I pray daily and do indeed pour out my heart to my Savior and my God.  

He has His plan and purpose for me. It may not look like what I am wanting it to be but He does have it worked out. What all He's done in my life won't be wasted. He's been training me my whole life for His purposes.  

Keeping pace with the Spirit is where it's important. As my friend has said on many occasions in any race, the Spirit will always win. We have a race to run and it should be us keeping pace with the Spirit. Learning whatever He sees we need to learn. Anyone who's seen the movie The Karate Kid knows of the scene where Daniel needs it explained to him just what the exercises were for that he was doing.  

We may not always get to know the why's behind what we are learning but we are to obey the Lord in everything.  

Jesus takes the billions of chess pieces called people in this world and moves them all according to His purpose and plan for each one as well as the future of mankind. Add to all if this...He knows each piece personally.  

Trusting and obeying is on each who claim that Jesus is their personal Lord and Savior. We may not know this side of Heaven why we went down many roads we have but we are to trust the One who leads because He loves us.

Keep that prayer we read earlier in mind. Keep your walk with Jesus personal. He surely takes it personal with you. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org 

Focus, Must Keep Focus

Focus, Must Keep Focus 

by David Brenneman 

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2.

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons," 1 Timothy 4:1

"fall away from the faith." Those who fall prey to the false teachers will abandon the Christian faith. The Greek word for "fall away' is the source of the English word "apostatize," and refers to someone moving away from an original position. These are professing or

nominal Christians who associate with those who truly believe the gospel, but defect after believing lies and deception, thus revealing

their true nature as unconverted." study notes from Pastor John MacArthur on 1 Timothy 4:1, NASB.

We live in a world where seeking personal perfection is being taught from the youngest of ages. Seek your truth, seek your definition of your life. Seek whatever makes you happy. Seek what you want, leaving yourself open to continuous improvement. Get more, want more, check your status, repeat. 

All the while the focus of such people is never on God, never on a right relationship with Jesus Christ.  

As the runner in what Paul wrote about, that individual releases from his or her person anything that's going to slow them down. Be it baggage, be it stray thoughts, be it anything that takes their eyes, their mind off winning the prize. 

We can allow things to creep in unnoticed into our lives that build up into these things that will slow us down. 

Our world here in at least the United States, there's the ever present push towards success at all costs. Have to have daycare while we push careers rather than stay at home and raise children themselves. The whole concept of keeping up with the Jones's. Seeing neighbors make choices that look better and a race begins to keep a little ahead of these people. Bit by bit our days are shortened to leave less and less time to spend with Jesus. 

There's a cartoon that I saw yet again this morning that is supposed to be Jesus talking to someone about the review of their lives. The first frame shows the person smiling when Jesus says that those were the times when He carried them. The second frame the person wasn't smiling because Jesus said that those times where they see long lines in the sand were when He had to drag them a bit.

The apostasy that Paul talks about coming is here. This falling away from true faith. It's roots are in the details of everyday life where focus on a right relationship with Jesus falls to the wayside. Bit by bit focus gets blurry. 

It's on us to set the pace of the race in which we ARE running in Christ. 

Be sure you understand that regardless of where you think you are or what you think you are doing you are in this race that Paul speaks about. So what are you going to do in order to race to win?

Compromise is inevitable when we begin to lose focus on keeping our pace, in our lane, running as we are. A little here, a little there, next thing we know we are weary from the extra baggage we are carrying and have a much harder time trying to keep moving.  

Setting our minds on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world is crucial, critical even. The crown of righteousness we're to receive is based on what we did in the body our person for Jesus in this race in which we are running right now. Not on what successes we achieved in this life for anyone from family to the company we work for.  

All who are saved in Christ Jesus have been given several things that when nurtured will enable a successful race to win this prize. We are freed from sin that entangles us. We can ask for forgiveness of sins. We are given spiritual gifts to fulfill our mission in this life for Christ. We are given the greatest coach of all time, the Holy Spirit of God. We are given every opportunity to grow in Christ to that end that the character of Christ shows through us to the world. We are to loom forward to the return of Jesus Christ and to pray for it to come.

Focusing on these things helps us to know what to let go of and what to keep firm hold of.  

Many fall away from the faith because of all these varied schemes of the devil as well. Stealing our time, bit by bit. Entrapment in sins that he convinces us we can't get out of. 

Pushing worldly opinion above the Word of God. 

Cast off whatever is entangling you. Yes it's going to mean not pursuing some things in life. The key is to determine what is really your priority. Is it to receive a well done from your personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or to receive the accolades and acceptance by those in your life? Whatever we pursue that isn't in God's plan and purpose that He has for us is GOING to be burned up into nothingness when we stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives before Him.  

All of it. 

Keep your focus on running the race set before you. As Daryl Waltrip said a few decades ago as an announcer for NASCAR, a driver slipped up n lost almost a whole lap. He saw what the driver was beginning to do to get caught up. He told all listening that he, the driver, was running his own line. Not paying particular attention to the others on the track. Finding his own groove. Inevitably he did get back on the lead lap and did work his way back up to a top ten finish. 

You, my Dear Reader, are in this race that Paul speaks of. What are you doing to run your race well in Christ? Are you so busy that you have little to no time to pray? To read your Bible? To meet up with others in Christ to both encourage them and to be encouraged by them? Is work or family activities so consuming your time that Jesus is an afterthought? You squeeze in a rushed, mindless, repeated prayer that you truthfully didn't mean?

Run with your focus on that prize. That crown of righteousness will only contain what you did in this life through obedience to God's Word and His will for you. Will there be anything?  

So what that you can't menorize like others. So what if your short term memory isn't all that good. Press on and read anyway. The Psalmist said that your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. I lack these abilities myself. I can also successfully say that I really have no idea how many times I've read through my Bible. Yet while I can't ruminate on it like many other Believers, it's in there, in my heart because the Spirit brings it out in my conversations with others. This is part of how my race is being ran. I set aside whatever time is necessary each evening to read through almost a half dozen devotionals and four study Bibles with all the notes. It was a challenge at the start but now I can't see myself not doing it.  

You must make your race that you are running in Christ yours to win. Seeking that prize to the best of your ability. Keeping your focus on what the Spirit says is right, pure and true. So what that you will miss out on something in this world. Is anyone or anything more important to you than being who Christ Jesus means for you to achieve and be in Him?  

Focus, focus, focus. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

Busting Down the Walls, Kicking in the Doors

Busting Down the Walls, Kicking in the Doors 

by David Brenneman 

"He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart." 2 Chronicles 25:2.

"Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly." 1 Chronicles 29:9.

"I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart." Jeremiah 24:7.

“Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly." 2 Kings 20:3.

"How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart." Psalms 119:2.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7.

"O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds." Psalms 7:9.

"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You." Psalms 139:1-18.

Oh to count the verses that speak of the heart. The truth of the story of the Bible as a whole is the love story between our God and humanity.  

It begins and ends with the heart.  

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37.

"After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” Mark 7:14-23.

But what of that title that you began this post with? Where does that come from?

My Dear Reader...Jesus wants your whole heart. Not the goody two shoes version that we display for others let alone what we think we are giving to Jesus to use as He sees fit. All of it. Every secret room, every hidden box, every...single...part.  

To get that in the hearts of men and women requires our everything every single day. It involves retrospective looking. That is, looking back on or dealing with past events or situations. We can deceive ourselves into thinking Jesus has our all. We can look at the battles we face that we don't seem to gain any victory in. We can look at the relationships that are still a puzzle to us. We can look at what the real underlying truth is about us as to why we aren't growing in Christ as we should have been by now. 

It calls for us to pray that Jesus does whatever He deems necessary to know Him more. This means praying for that which Jesus wants. All of our hearts. Not the spit n polished parts that we offer but all those places where sin still is doing a number on us.  

Pray for Jesus to bust down the walls and kick in the doors of those places in our hearts to destroy that which still has a hold on us. 

Scripture says that our lives are not our own, that we were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. If we say we belong to Christ then He should get all of us.

This prayer for this busting down walls and kicking in the doors way of saying it came to me a few days ago in dealing with some things that have confounded me and frustrated me my whole Christian life. It was personal when Jesus went to the cross to die for us, to go through all of that, to rise from the dead conquering all sin. He set the standard of obedience.  

Simply put...we all have pride issues in thinking that there's some things in our spiritual battles that we're going to handle. So these places in our hearts become snares. Traps. 

Jesus should have all of your heart. King David was known as a man after God's own heart. Much of what we read in the book of Psalms is the struggles, the battles, of David's surrender of his heart. 

In the Old Testament we read stories of people who figured out how to give themselves prestige by securing a place in what once was a storeroom in the house of the Lord. The prophet came back and found such happening and threw all their stuff out. The whole Temple belongs to God. We are to be the temple of God in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God resides in each and every single Believer. But...it is still upon us to surrender all.  

There's a great hymn by that name. I Surrender All. As someone once said all means all and that's all that all means.   

My Dear Reader be truthful with yourself. To be honest, until that way of saying it, that is in the title of this post, I had places in me that I had stubbornly kept trying to figure out how to fight on my own and time after time kept losing. Sometimes in ever increasingly worse ways.  

Pray that Jesus has your whole heart. Even if you think you have given Him all of it, pray for that anyway. Pray for Him to destroy any part of your heart that you might have deceived yourself into thinking that He didn't need to deal with. Pray that you surrender all to Jesus.  

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,

Truly know that Thou art mine.

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power,

Let Thy blessing fall on me. 

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

All to Jesus I Surrender, 1896. Judson W. Van DeVenter.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org

A Costly Mistake

A Costly Mistake
by David Brenneman

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?  But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test."  2 Corinthians 13:5-6.

"For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete." 2 Corinthians 13:8-9.

"But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another." Galatians 6:4.

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13.

It wasn't the first that I have seen in short videos, but the truth of them points to the errors of many people.  Paul admonishes, exhorts, pleads even, that his readers be sure of their salvation in Christ Jesus alone. 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10.

We are saved by grace alone through Christ alone.  Once saved always saved.  Sealed in the Spirit of God.  Marked as His own possession.  He did all the work because we were dead in and of ourselves.  In Jesus Christ alone are all things finished and complete.

This apostasy that has began across the world decades ago is certainly surging in ways that it hasn't beforehand.  This falling away as the Scriptures say that it is are people celebrating their own works unto a false salvation.  People who are not taught of God.  They have accepted, literally, the doctrines of demons.  False teachers proclaiming a different Gospel than that which was delivered by the Apostles...and it is being embraced worldwide. 

Those who do examine themselves and do find themselves truly in the Lord are those finding persecutions in various places and in various ways.  Satan's doing what he can and has been permitted to do only in accordance with God's plans as written in the Bible.

Be sure of that my Dear Reader.  Nothing that is transpiring is happening outside of the will of God.  The Holy Spirit restrains Satan's schemes until the Church of Jesus Christ is complete. 

In those videos that people have created they show supposed churches crying out that Jesus is here and only some of them leave with Jesus.  Those left behind crying out for Jesus to come back. 

While partially accurate they don't convey the suddenness of that event.  Great masses of people will not understand nor believe that the instantaneous removal of the true Church of Jesus Christ was what it was.  In a split second of time global disasters will strike in a moment.  There will be no warning.  Nothing to show anyone that it's Jesus and to be able to cry out to Him in joy or in disbelief.

The greatest most costly mistake anyone makes is thinking they are saved when they never truly came to Christ for salvation in the first place.  If your church isn't preaching that Jesus is the only way to be saved.  Run, don't walk, until you find one that does.  If your church is being lead by anyone but a solid in the faith man of God, run, don't walk from that place.  Jesus never compromised in all that the Father told Him to say and do.  Neither should the man of God who is to preach the whole counsel of God.

"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;  for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13.

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,  who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13-14.

You, my Dear Reader, need to be sure of your salvation.  Then, you need to be sure that you are walking in the Lord daily.  No excuses.  Once you have invited Jesus to be the forgiver of your sins and the leader of your life, you shouldn't stand in His way to transforming you into His character.  Pray that He busts down every single door in your heart and mind that has sinful deeds tucked away in it.  Things that you had been a slave to before coming to Christ for salvation.

Expect people to not understand your life in Christ.  Unless or until they too come to Christ for salvation they're not going to understand it.  The Bible teaches that.

Pray for the return of Jesus Christ.  Paul taught that to the churches. 

Be sure that you haven't spent your life fooling yourself thinking your good deeds should make a difference in getting into Heaven.

Jesus said that nobody is saved but through Him.  Nothing that anyone does matters.

Be sure of your salvation in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. 

Oh the costly mistake that people make before they die.  Please my Dear Reader...please settle it today between you and Jesus.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.  
La Habra, CA All rights reserved
www.lockman.org

Our Reasoning isn't God's

Our Reasoning isn't God's
by David Brenneman

Last night I read the following from Experiencing God Day-by-Day for yesterday. 

"Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and
empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental
forces of the world, and not based on Christ."  Colossians 2:8.

There is a subtle temptation that encourages Christians to be "practical" and to "get results," believing "the ends justify the means."  Don't be led away by man's reasoning.  An examination of God's Word shows that the means are sometimes even more important than the results. The world tries to convince you that as long as you can accomplish something for the kingdom of God, that's all that matters.  For example, Ananias and Sapphira gave an offering to their church, which was a good thing. but they did it deceitfully. God judged them immediately, not for what they did, but for how they did It (Acts 5:1-11).

Satan tried to trap Jesus with this same temptation. Satan did not question the worthiness of Jesus' task, but simply offered "practical" solutions to accomplish Jesus' goal more quickly and at lesser cost. God's ways are not like man's ways. "Efficiency" from man's perspective is not prized by God.  It did not seem efficient to have the children of Israel march around Jericho
thirteen times and then blow their trumpets, but it brought the walls down (Joshua 6) It did not appear wise to select the youngest of Jesse's sons to become the next king, but God saw a man after His own heart (I Samuel 16:11). 

At first glance, it does not seem logical for Jesus to have picked the twelve disciples He did, yet through them God dramatically affected their world.

It is never wise to attempt to do God's work in man's way. It is an age-old temptation that seems to make sense on the surface but often is at variance with the purposes of God.
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My Dear Reader...we are speeding along this road of life, for certain heading for that day when, as the Scriptures say, the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  That day when the work of the Spirit of God towards those outside of Israel is complete and the pages turn once more in prophecy back to the latter part of Daniel and what John was writing about in Revelation.  As well as other places in Scripture for sure.

I can always tell when something significant is to be written by the spiritual battles prior to it being revealed what it is that I am to write.  Not that I count myself as anything greater than anyone else in the body of Christ, but, as things go..listening to your environment tells you much the direction of things.  You watch the horizon and get an idea on what weather is coming.  You watch those around you and can get a feel for how your day is going to be. 

This particular morning I am on the other side of a very rough night of sleeping.  However, the kernel of this message was planted and was never uprooted.

We must take great care in our walk with Jesus not to understand things only from a worldly point of view. 

God's ways are not our way nor are our thoughts remotely close to His thoughts.

We can have all the best intentions in the world regarding doing things we say are for Christ but with our twist to them.  We put our subtle conditions on them.  We will give a donation but sometimes put a hook in it.  We'll bless someone but put conditions on it.  We'll justify our terms rather than openly trusting God to handle the consequences.

A Life Principle of Dr. Charles Stanley is to obey God and leave the consequences to Him.

Just do what you're told. 

I heard that more times than I can count growing up in my parents household.

It's a great lesson to adhere to in growing in Christ.

Do what the Spirit says, how He says, the way He says, and get out of His way after you do.

It's not for us to put conditions on what God tells us to do for others to obey.  God's methods are often unorthodox in our eyes but He always always always gets the results that He's after when we obey.

We may not be the recipient of knowing what the fruit of our investment is going to be by our unconditional obedience to God's Word.

Jesus pours out His grace and mercy on us every single day, possibly hundreds of times a day, and He never stops to put special conditions on our getting these things.

If Jesus, through His Spirit, lays something or someone on your heart to pray for, just do it.

If Jesus, through His Spirit, lays someone on your heart to bless, just do it.  Don't look at what you might have left and worry about your own state of existence.  If God already so blessed you, are you now doubtful that He wouldn't do it again because you obeyed?

You could be His tool to set someone free from a burden they've carried far too long...or you will be a contributor towards it going on longer than He desires it to be.  Because now He must look to someone else to bless those whom we withheld a blessing from because of our fears.

The Scriptures say to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Be very leery of those who preach and teach that you're in a better place than God in what a person needs or doesn't need.

Our world is heading very quickly towards those days when most so-called houses of worship aren't worshipping Jesus Christ.  He's really not invited to those services.  People claiming to be preachers are false prophets and false teachers.  Biblically speaking they never were qualified to speak for Jesus from a pulpit.  The falling away from the message of truth is spreading across the world more and more each day. 

We are to hold fast to the truth of God.  Too many people are dependent upon digital copies of their Bible.  Be sure to have a paper copy.  Don't think that you're going to be ok when governments turn against the true Church. Digital anything online can be shut off at a keystroke.

Paul encourages Timothy to fight the good fight.  Stay with what he was taught.  The same goes for us.  What was taught as truth 2,000 plus years ago is still truth today from the Word of God. 

We're to be Christ to those in the world in which you and I live.  Not Christ with a twist.  Not God with our own interpretation on how obedience is to be or look like.

Don't lean on your own understanding nor take what others tell you without checking yourself in prayer and the Word of God.

God will use every obedient Believer.  He will do whatever is possible with those who twist what He said but will still achieve what's been His desire. 

We grieve the Holy Spirit when we get in His way rather than obey Him.  We quench the Spirit, pour water on the fire, when we choose to do our way over His way.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.  
La Habra, CA All rights reserved
www.lockman.org

Spiritually Corrective Lenses

Spiritually Corrective Lenses 

by David Brenneman 

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we." 2 Corinthians 10:3-7.

The less attached you are to what this world is offering the more you look for what it isn't. 

King Solomon refers to some of that sentiment in saying that people strive after the wind.  

In our lives we have the greatest opportunities yet with these come the greatest potential to be distracted from the righteous life that God desires for us. We will and are sorely tempted to miss the forest for the trees. Our society conditions each generation to be less and less of a critical thinker than the last. To push the current generation a little more at a time to brush off the older wiser generations that are still alive. 

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Thessalonians to be aware of a particular situation that will brew in the professing Church. That the wolves in sheep’s clothing will eventually be able to sway the masses away from a life in Christ to that which is solely a feel good life.

This wasn't to be a surprise to them nor should it be to us. Paul admonishes the churches he planted to be wary of a life that isn't seen through the right lenses of God in Christ Jesus. 

How often have we said or heard "It's not that bad!"? How often have we seen something not quite right in the Church and said nothing nor even asked the leaders of the church what was going on?  

Satan's schemes are meant to water-down the life of a Believer into something so weak its ineffective. To get you to see life's potential as something that can co-exist with sin rather than destroy it.

We can't go through this life with a Scripturally wrong point of view on Jesus, the Church or of God as a whole.  

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish." Psalms 1:1-6.

There is indeed a growing apostasy in the world towards God. In greater and greater numbers its seeing people loving to gather for supposed worship yet its not to the end that Jesus is worshiped.  

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake." 2 Corinthians 4:3-5.

"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Romans 13:14.

"For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Be sure of your salvation is the word from the Apostle Paul.

Stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Look at the world through the Spirit of God's revelation to you by way of the word of God.  

It matters not what you accumulate nor what successes you have if you aren't at all living the righteous life that God desires for you.  

Look at things from God's perspective before you believe that your perspective is right and true. 

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Set your mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world. 

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. 

New American Standard Bible 

(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. 

A corporation not for profit.   

La Habra, CA All rights reserved 

www.lockman.org