Statements of Faith - Accepted in The Beloved

 

EPHESIANS 1:6

To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in The Beloved.  

THE BELOVED

Psalm 2:7 

I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by The LORD: "You are My Son; today I have become Your Father."

Isaiah 42:1

"Here is My Servant, Whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in Whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations."

Matthew 17:5

While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!"

John 1:32

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw The Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him."

Song of Solomon 6:3

“I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”

WE ARE ACCEPTED IN HIM

Ephesians 1:7 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 2:6-9

(6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  (7) in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not by works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

John 1:12 

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

 

    Believing on The Name of The LORD JESUS CHRIST for our salvation makes us acceptable in Him. It is the generous grace of God which has made this possible. Nothing we could ever do or say would help us to land this position in Christ. 

Ephesians 1:3 says we are "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms IN CHRIST".  

    In Christ we are made perfect though our perfection cannot yet be seen with earthly eyes. We are not 'holier than thou' people of God: we are repentant sinners, who know and acknowledge that we need a Savior to save us from the penalties of our sins. And In Christ we are forgiven: our sins have been washed away by the blood which He shed on the cross that day on Golgotha. 

    In Christ we are loved by God, for God sees His children when He looks on us, because we have Christ in us. When we come to Jesus for the salvation freely offered, God covers us with the blood of His precious Lamb and makes our souls clean. 

    In Christ we are being built up into living stones - 1 Peter 2:5 - to be God's house, His dwellingplace. Our Foundation is Christ and each believer is a living stone built upon The Living Word of God, The Rock of Our Salvation. 

    If you are not In Christ, you are not in The Word, and you will not be finding yourselves in a very happy place; in fact, it is dark in hell, it smells in hell, it is hot in hell -- with no cool water for relief --and the sounds will tear through you: not just the screams and cursings from other people in hell, but from the fallen angels who will join you on their judgment day. 

    God is to be feared and revered. His holiness demands it. No sin can be in His presence. Remember Christ on the cross and the skies got very dark (Matthew 28:45, 46), Jesus Christ out to His Father, for now He was alone upon the cross. When the soldier thrust his spear into Jesus' side, where His heart was, water and blood came out (John 19:34). for our Savior's heart was broken. Sin had been laid upon Him and He became sin for us. In light of this knowledge we remember that sinfulness cannot be in the same vicinity as God, and therefore, neither could Jesus Christ at that time. 

    Through His obedience even to the point of death, Christ surrendered Himself to His Father. And though He knew that day was coming, He also knew that He would remain on the cross and in the grave until His work was done. 

    We who are In Christ have Christ in us through our faith in God's Word, God's Son, God's Beloved. We who are In Christ are saved by grace, filled with The Spirit of God and rest in God's peace. We beg you who are not, Come to Jesus and be healed, forgiven, loved and accepted.

JESUS PAID IT ALL - Fernando Ortega 

NEAR THE CROSS 

 

I Am Christian's Soul - Part One

    I am Christian and I have a living soul. I became a living soul when I believed on The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation. Once I lived in the world according to the world's standards of living. Then I was a different creature with an old name. Now, I am a new creation in Christ and in Christ I have a new name. For I have been born again, born from heaven, born anew through the power of God's Holy Spirit working God's redeeming grace in my heart by the blood of God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 

    This new life in Christ has changed the course of my life's journey. No longer do I dwell in darkness and despair. Though I may get discouraged, I always have God's Word nearby to encourage me not to give up, but to push the spirits of fear, dismay and doubt out of my way that I might reach my journey's end. 

    My soul prospers when I grow closer to God and remain in His Word. The ground does not open up for the seedling to pop through; the seed must first germinate, then push it's way up through the ground. So, too, does my faith grow, enabling my spirit to prosper. 

    David wrote in Psalm 1:1-3 of the blessings of staying on God's pathway. That, in verse three, therein is prosperity. He was not writing of material wealth, but of the treasure that lies within the pages of God's written Word; of the wealth of wisdom which comes only from fearing God and being obedient to what He says to us. He wrote of the riches of staying near God, away from fools and their foolishness. This is true prosperity.

    My soul prospers when I remain in constant communion with God. Prayer is the breath of life in my spirit. A lack of prayer is a lack of communication between my God and myself. Therefore, I will draw near to God that He may draw nearer to me. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we are to "Pray without ceasing." There is no "later" when it comes to prayer. You want me to pray for you, we'll pray now, together. Later never comes around. 

    My soul lives forever now that I belong to God, now that my heart is filled with His love and grace and mercy. I have eternal life because I repented of my sins, of the wickedness of my words and actions, and received God's forgiveness and His grace. That's why we sing so many wonderful praise and worship songs to Him. Who wouldn't want to praise God for His merciful lovingkindness? 

    A tree planted by the water remains nourished. Not only does it receive life-giving resources from the water itself but the nutrients in the water sustain the tree which is planted there. Its roots extend deep into the soil and takes hold of the very thing into which it has been planted. I am Christian and my soul prospers in The Lord as a tree prospers near the water. In Him I live and move and have my being (Acts 17:28). Without Him the opposite is also true. Without Christ I existed but I didn't live. Without Christ I was stuck in the miry clay and could not get myself out of it. Such was the life of sin. But IN CHRIST I am Alive. IN CHRIST I move when He moves. IN CHRIST I am Christian. And my soul prospers.

THAT'S WHY WE PRAISE HIM - Tommy Walker

REDEEMED - Big Daddy Weave

NOW I BELONG TO JESUS - Monica McCoy

ABIDE IN ME - Andrew Marcus

    

Be Anxious For Nothing

 

This is a little ditty I wrote more than twenty years ago. I still sing it. It is God speaking to me and now I'm sharing it with you. 

Be anxious for nothing:

I will provide for you.

You are My bride, my church, my wife.

Needs have I met for you,

My table is set for you;

Tested and tried

You've come forth as gold. 

It is taken from studying The Scriptures, some of which are these two passages, and asking God (praying) to reveal Himself to me and what He wants me to know:

Matthew 6:25-35

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Psalm 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

    God tells us repeatedly in His Word to "worry not, fret not, fear not". But to fully trust in Him for everything. In every situation and circumstance in which we find ourselves we are "stand and withstand" Ephesians 6:13, "be steadfast and immoveable" Colossians 1:23. 

    He also tell us to seek Him out first. "Seek first the kingdom of God." Matthew 6:33 "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path." Proverbs 3:6 "O God, You are my God, Early will I seek You." Psalm 63:1. Great is the blessing which comes from putting God first in our lives. 

Ephesians 5:21-30 speaks of Christ's great love for His church. 

Being tested and tried is to be expected, for God sits as a Refiner of His people: Malachi 3:3. The Lord is Tester of Hearts: Proverbs 17:3. We are called to suffer and to suffer for righteousness' sake: 1 Peter 3:14. Only by going through the fire of His love can we expect to come forth as a vessel fit for use, whether we are gold or silver or wood or clay. However God wants to use us to advance His kingdom, we need to be willing partners with Him. Our hearts must align with His heart. And that will only happen if His only begotten Son Jesus Christ is living in our hearts. 

Are you ready to be tested and tried? Are you prayed up? Are you filling your hearts and your minds with The Living Word of God? No player goes onto the field without first meeting the requirements of basic game preparedness. No practice, no play. No studying of the game and how it's played, no play. No abiding by team rules and no listening to the coach, no play. If we refuse to obey The Holy Spirt, we will not be able to survive the tests and trials in which God places us for His purposes. 

Be anxious for nothing

I will provide for you

You are My bride, my church, my wife

Needs have I met for you

My table is set for you

Tested and tried

You've come forth as gold. 

REFINER'S FIRE 

The Lord Is A Mighty Warrior

 

Exodus 15:3

The LORD is a Warrior, the LORD is His Name. 

Revelation 19:11

Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.

Exodus 14:14

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Psalm 50:3

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.

YOU DELIVER ME - Selah

    In Exodus 15:3 Miriam is singing to The Lord because she has seen firsthand how God delivers His people. Are we singing to The Lord with such abandonment and joy? Perhaps we have forgotten who we are in Christ and Who CHRIST IS in us. 

    Who am I in Christ? I can say, speaking only in reference to myself, that I am His songwriter and His singer. I am His student and His friend. I am His adopted sister and His bride. I am a voice in the wilderness crying out, as John the Baptist did, "Prepare you the way of The Lord!" No matter what or who I am in Christ, the point is: I AM IN CHRIST AND I AM HIS.

    Christ in me is: Redeemer, Savior, King, Friend, Deliverer, Anchor, Hope, Peace, Strength and so much, much more. 

    I tell you now, as the voice in the wilderness, and beg you in all earnestness, today just might be your day of salvation. From one moment to the next we are sure of nothing other than: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS. And He died on the cross for you and I, taking the punishment each of us should have had. But He didn't stay in the grave. He rose from the dead and walked out of the grave...changed, changed to a new life which is what He promises each person who believes Him and receives Him into their hearts and their lives. We call this salvation and the next person who gets saved could be you.

    The next time Christ arrives on this planet Earth will be when God sends Him to fetch His bride and bring her to the place He has prepared for her. 

    Then, after a period of time, Christ will return to set up His thousand-year reign, more commonly referred to as the millennial kingdom. 

    Not until after those thousand years have passed will Christ return as The Rider on the White Horse. Then, the people who are left who still refuse to believe that Jesus Christ is LORD will perish in their foolishness and wickedness. For it is wicked to not believe God and God's Faithful and True Word. 

REDEEMER SAVIOR FRIEND