Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Statements of Faith - Purchased
Monday, January 15, 2024
I Am Christian's Belly
JOHN 7:30
He that believes on Me, as The Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Some versions of this verse render the word "belly" as heart, innermost being, deep within. But the belly is where we digest what we have been reading and hearing of The Word of God. I am Christian and in my belly are the deepest places of my faith where The Word gets rooted and grounded.
For according to Psalm 1:1-3 I am like a tree planted by the waters, whose roots are nourished by the river, causing them to expand and take hold of the foundation of The Word, The Rock. As a tree of righteousness, I spread out my branches for shade, comfort and seed. My soul prospers because I have filled the deep places in my belly with The Word of God. This happens when I study and pray over The Word as I go through It.
These rivers flow through me. Water that flows does not stagnate. Nor does it dry up and wither away. It is by The Power of God, The Spirit of God, that I am able to live in contentment and peace, regardless of who comes against me. For it is not I who is being fought against, but Christ within me. Jesus was hated when He preached the gospel in His time. And He warns His followers that whoever is faithful in following God's gospel plan of salvation that we, too, will suffer for our faith. But I have a river of life flowing through me that gives me strength to withstand against all the enemies of my soul.
I am Christian and in my belly the milk of The Word was first purchased by faith in The Name of Jesus Christ. As I grew in The Lord, the meat of The Word has been supplied to me. The closer we get to Jesus Christ the stronger our relationship grows. In Him I live and move and have my being. The song that keeps resounding in my thoughts is Jesus Have It All. And I wonder, "Did I give Him my all? Have I kept anything back?" Questions each of us must ask ourselves every day. I want Him to have every part of me. Including my deep within place. Every nook, every cranny.
And when He has prepared me, out of me flows the rivers of Life. Rivers of Hope. Rivers of Joy. Rivers of Peace. Rivers of the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ. There is no other Name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). Oh, what Joy to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is Lord of my life and Savior of my soul!
Come, taste these living waters which The Lord has prepared for you today. Come, quench your thirst and fill your own belly/heart/innermost being with His Word, His voice, His Spirit. Come, sweet is the honey and wine. But take care, sometimes the meat will be tough. It's okay. The Sword of The Lord cuts right through it. Jesus told His disciples that His meat was to do the will of His Father (John 4:34). This should be our meat too.
In my belly is the remembrance of the last supper which Christ had with His disciples. They broke apart the bread and ate it in remembrance of how His body was broken and torn for our sins. They drank of the cup, the drink from the vine, in remembrance of His blood which flowed from Calvary. That blood washes away our sins when we repent of them (confess aloud to God our sins and stop doing those things of which we have confessed and been forgiven for).
Come, eat and drink with me. The Spirit and the bride say, Come. Let he who is thirsty, come. Revelation 22:17 "And The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
I am Christian and I'm calling you to come to the cross and see my Jesus. I'm calling you to walk with me and He. I'm calling you to the supper table. Come, take our hands, take up your cross and follow Jesus. It's the best hiking trip you'll ever take.
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
I Am Christian's Soul - Part Two
MAKE ROOM - Community Music
Sunday, November 26, 2023
The Lord Is - - November 2023
Saturday, November 11, 2023
The Name of The Lord
Monday, April 10, 2023
A Crucified Life - - Enriches Others
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Heart & Soul - - Enjoined
Acts 4:32
Monday, May 30, 2022
Today's Word -- Almost Persuaded
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
The Readiers - Now Is The Time
Luke 1:17 "And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Background on John the Baptist is found in Luke 1:1-16, but every time a mature Holy Spirit-filled Christian shares/preaches/teaches the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ that person becomes a Readier, too. We, the believers, are the Readiers preparing people for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 16:15 "And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
It takes power to share Jesus with anyone and that power comes from God who gives us His precious Holy Spirit who empowers us with Himself to speak the Truth of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Acts 1:4-5 "And being assembled together, He instructed them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father: "That which you heard of Me; For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
And wait they did, men and women both (Acts 1:14), for the Promise of God to be fulfilled: the outpouring of His Gift, His Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4 "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately]."
Acts 4:31 "After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."
Peter was one of those who received the Holy Spirit and He began to proclaim the gospel immediately to those who were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost. But he also shared the gospel with Gentiles (non-Jews), where the message of repentance, forgiveness and salvation was well received. And these, too, were baptized in the Holy Spirit upon their belief:
Acts 10:34-48
"Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
You yourselves know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee with the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen— not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God.
Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days."
We have nothing to fear when we believe the Truth of God's Holy Word and are filled with His Holy Spirit in these last days, last hours, before the Church is taken out of this world and this world is judged. Now is the time to believe and receive.
Now is the time to kneel before God and repent of our wicked ways, to turn away from a sinful lifestyle and live a life of grace and mercy, a life that mirrors Christ to others. Now is the hour to receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives, that He may empower us to live a godly life and share the gospel to everyone around us, just like I'm doing right now.
For now is time to rise up in worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for who He is and for what He's done for us. Now is the time to speak the name of Jesus with joy and in His love. Now is the time to bow not only our heads and our knees, but our hearts, to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now is the time to offer Him all that we have to give: ourselves: our bodies to His service, to do whatever He calls us to do in His kingdom.
Later will be too late. Tomorrow is not promised. There is only To day. There is only Now.
Monday, January 24, 2022
Activation of Faith
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God through the power of God. Anyone can read a Bible but not everyone can understand it, nor can they obtain the knowledge within its pages. We must first believe that God Is God and that He is Absolute Truth. This takes faith and this faith activates our hearts to seek the Truth of His Word.
We who once lived in darkness have been called out of the darkness of sin and wickedness into the light and love of God's grace. God called us with His love, His Word, His Son Jesus Christ. We are children of faith.
As the Word says even now, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Faith in God comes to all who believe in the Word of God, in Jesus Christ as Lord. Romans 10:8-11
8. 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 preach,
9. that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
11. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be ashamed."
That's the Word of Faith. That's my Jesus in action.
The difference between faith and unbelief? Eighteen inches. In our bodies the heart is eighteen inches from the mouth. Two imperatives for the activation of faith are given here.
1. We MUST believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is God's gift of righteousness to us.
2. We MUST confess, speak out loud, that which we believe in our hearts: that God raised Jesus from the dead.
If even one part of this is missing, then our faith has not been activated. It is not enough to just say the words, though that may fool many who hear the words of faith spoken by false prophets and false teachers; the heart must believe the truth of God's Word, as well.
For we know that God looks on the heart and recognizes lip service when He hears it. How do we know God sees the motives of our hearts and knows the thoughts of our mind? His Word tells us so. In the Old Testament in 1 Samuel 16:1-13 God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse's house to anoint one of his sons to be the next king. But after approaching each one who was brought before him, God rejected all of them because He knew their hearts (v. 7).
Job, Isaiah and Ezekiel all tell us God knows our hearts. Therefore how can we ever expect to get away with anything? Foolishness.
In the New Testament in Acts 15:8 and Romans 8:27 we see that God searches our hearts and knowing our hearts He gives us good gifts, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who leads us and guides through God's Word as we study it, that we might be approved by God.
In Matthew 12:25 we learn that Jesus knows our thoughts and what we are thinking. Before we even ask, He knows what we are going to ask. But He delights to hear us ask. God likes to talk with us. He enjoys our company, the company of walking and talking with the believer(s).
Our hearts must be right with God; we MUST believe with our hearts that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. That He died on the cross, rose from the dead and walked out of the grave. We MUST believe with our hearts and CONFESS with our mouths that which we believe in our hearts that our faith might be activated so that it will grow.
Today is your day of salvation if you have not believed already. How do I know this? God tells me in His Word that this is so. 2 Corinthians 6:2 "For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!"
Monday, January 10, 2022
Living Water
John 4:14
"But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
It is not enough to believe in God, we must also believe in God's Word. For there is but one God and in Him, through Him and by Him have all people and things been created (John 1:3). On Him we are dependent for every breath of life. He supplies our every need. In Him we have no lack: He satisfies our every need (Psalm 23:1).
We must also believe God's Word is Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11). As such, we should choose to surrender who we are in ourselves and follow Jesus Christ with our whole hearts and lives (Romans 12:1), not just giving Him lip service. It is not enough to say, 'I believe God exists' then turn around and say, 'the Bible is an ancient text and does not apply to me.'
It is like saying, 'Yes, I see the fresh water, but no matter how thirsty I am I'm not going to drink it.' Sight alone isn't enough to save our souls. Many people followed Jesus during His ministry years on earth, but not many stayed following. For the words which He spoke were hard to hear and most definitely unconventional.
Are some of us rejecting God's Word because we don't want to hear it? Yes. Are some of us ignoring God's Word because it prohibits us from having what we think of as fun? Yes. Are some of us choosing an unrighteous lifestyle because a righteous lifestyle is contrary to popular living? Yes. How do we get out of that cycle of self-destruction? Drink the water.
Drink the Living Water which the Word of God offers to those who have received His first Gift, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. How do we do that? We ask Him for it. We ask God for the Living Water which quenches the thirst of our souls. Living Water flows without end, constantly refreshing the one who asks for it. What is this Living Water? The Holy Spirit of God.
It is God's Spirit which strengthens us and fills us with power (Acts 1:8; Acts 2:4) to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) in God's Word as we travel our journeys in this life on this earth. It is God's Spirit which enables the believers to speak the Truth of God's Word to the world into which He sends us. It is by this power that I speak now. I crave the Living Water which refreshes my soul and strengthens my spirit. It is this Water I drink.
The Word tells us in Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? And again in Psalm 84:2 My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Are you thirsty? Come to the Water. Come to the Well.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
The Blessed Event
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Know Your Priorities-Most Important Relationship