Statements of Faith - The Seed of Abraham

 

ROMANS 9:6-8 

It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” (Genesis 21:12). 

So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, 

but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring. 

    Like Abraham, I have not seen Jesus, The Promise, face to face. But also like Abraham, I believe God and that God's Word is Faithful and True. (Revelation 21:5).

 I believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, that He is God's only begotten Son (John 3:16) Who died on the cross for me and rose from the dead ahead of me. (1 Corinthians 15:20). I have called upon The Name of The LORD for my salvation. I acknowledged my sins and my iniquities and my transgressions to God and God forgives me and calls me His own. (Romans 10:9-13; John 1:12). 

    By grace am I saved through faith in The Name of The LORD. (Ephesians 2:4-10). 

Acts 15:11

 "On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of The LORD Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

1 Peter 1:3-5

Blessed be The God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 

    There is no better time than now to give your heart and surrender your life to God through Christ Jesus than now, today. So, we say, Come. Come to the altar upon which the sacrifice of God was laid and see Jesus on the cross dying for you and I. Come to the garden and see the empty tomb where He had lain, for He is not there: He is Risen!

    Come and be baptized into His Name and be filled with His Holy Spirit that you, too, may walk in the strength of The LORD forever. Come, let us go and see Jesus. 

I FEEL JESUS - Carman

COVERED - Planetshakers

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD  

Guard Your Heart - - Watch Over Your Fruitfulness

 

John 15:5

"I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing."

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2590

Fruit: deed, action, result, profit, gain

From the Greek word 'karpos' (pronounced kar-pos'). Extended definition: everything done in true partnership with Christ, i.e. a believer (a branch) lives in union with Christ (the Vine). By definition, fruit results from two life-streams – the Lord living His life through ours – to yield what is eternal. 

    Our fruitfulness in the kingdom of God depends on our inclination, our leaning, into Christ. Can the branch of a fruit tree bring forth fresh fruit unless it is attached to the tree? No. Neither then can a born again believer produce fruit alone. We need Jesus Christ living in us to "bear fruit". 

    Just what kind of fruit does a Christian bear when Christ (the vine) lives in us and the Spirit (the sap) flows through us?

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

I liken the fruit of the Spirit to a single fruit, like citrus, which has many segments yet remains an individual fruit.

    Galatians 5:22, 23

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

    When these things are evident in a person's life, when you can see them, then you know that there stands a fruitful Christian. From the inside (where the Spirit works on us) to the outside. 

    Sometimes though the Master Gardener (our heavenly Father) sees the need for our trees, or vines, can be made more fruitful, so He prunes us. Does this hurt? Briefly. But then after a season our branches grow heavy with even more fruit than we think we can bear. Unless the Master Gardener sees there is no fruit, then He removes a branch or two from the tree or the vine. 

FRUITFUL FAITH

    The fruit in the Father's garden is not for physical  consumption, it is the result of a single Seed: the Seed of Righteousness: Jesus Christ, The LORD My Righteousness. This seed is the result of Faith in God which Abram had when God called him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. (Genesis 22:1-19 and Hebrews 11:17 "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son). 

    It is only by Faith in the promises of God that we are able to spread the gospel of God's plan of salvation, the Seed of righteousness, in His fields. Sometimes, this seed does not take root, as told in the Parable of The Sower. Only when the Seed reaches the heart does it take root and begin to grow. 

    It wasn't just one person telling me about God and Jesus Christ, it was many. The Word says "some plant, some water, some harvest". At some point in my life, someone planted the Seed in my heart where it took root. Others watered my heart with their tears, when they prayed for me. Now the Word grows in me and I'm growing in the Word. When I am perfect, I'll be harvested by the Master Gardener. 

FRUITFULNESS

    Every time I tell you about my Jesus and what He's done for me, I'm planting the Seed. It's up to you whether or not you receive it into your hearts. The tears of my prayers water not just my plantings, but the plantings of others when I pray for their gardens/fields. 

    I grew up singing classic hymns in church, like Bringing In The Sheaves which speaks of the harvest of grain sheaves as compared to the souls which are being saved through the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Bringing In The Sheaves

~Knowles Shaw~1874~Psalm 126:6

He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

1. Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,

Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;

Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

2. Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,

Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;

By and by, the harvest and the labor ended,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

3. Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,

Tho’, the loss sustained, our spirit often grieves;

When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

(Refrain)

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves;

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

    And so we pray. We pray for the Lord's perfect will to be done, not what we want or how we want it. We pray for our families, our friends; for our spouses, our children, and our children's children. We pray for the people our children associate themselves with and for their families. 

    First and foremost, we pray for their salvation. We pray that they be filled with the Holy Spirit, that they all may walk empowered in the strength of the Lord. We pray that their hearts would be filled to overflowing with the joy of the Lord; that their fruit would be evident and sweet. 

    Lastly, we pray that they would remain strong in the Lord and in the power of His might all the days of their life. That they would be a blessing not only to their Lord but to everyone they meet. That's our prayer for fruitfulness in the kingdom of God.

FRUITFULNESS MEDLEY

So Will I

Gratitude

When I Pray

No Other Name

Graves Into Gardens

Give Me Faith

Build My Life

    

Thanks Be To God - - For His Revealed Love

 

1 JOHN 4:9

This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 5319

Revealed: make visible, make clear, make known, manifest, illumine, make apparent

From the Greek word 'phaneroó' (pronounced fan-er-o'-o)

REVEALED LOVE OF GOD

1 John 4:7-10

7. Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

8. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9. This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.

10. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 1:18

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1 John 4:16

And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Romans 5:8

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Isn't it amazing how much God loves each one of us?! It's a beautiful love, too. He wrapped His Word in mere flesh, called Him His Son, and sent Him to die an ugly death on the cross, to liberate people from the bondage of slavery to sin: to set free those who would choose to believe on the only Name that could save us from the consequences of our sinful natures.

THE NAME OF GOD'S REVEALED LOVE

Matthew 1:21

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

Jeremiah 23:6

In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

John 1:29

The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

THE METHOD OF GOD'S REVEALED LOVE

A mock trial ensued after the Lord was blindfolded, beaten and mocked. Having been found guilty by those who hated Him, Jesus was then flogged 39 times across His back. 

Isaiah 53

Matthew 27:24-31

Mark 15:16-20

Luke 22:63-65

John 19:1-3

Though Pilate tried to have Jesus released, he saw that the crowds were riled up demanding that Jesus be crucified because He had said He was God. And for them, that was just too much to take.

God's method of His revealed love was for The WORD to die on the cross. Such a death as this, because He was the sinless LAMB OF GOD (John 1:29), would take away the sins of the world. Not just my sins. Not just your sins. Not just the sins of people we know in our own lives, but of The WHOLE world: from times long past, from this present time, from the times to come: JESUS died on the cross. 

It was God's Perfect Plan which had been set in motion back in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned against Him. What JESUS did on the cross was foretold to happen.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (sons of the devil [John 8:44]; generation of vipers [Matthew 3:7]) and her seed (sons of the heavenly Father [ Matthew 5:45]; generation of  the Lord [Psalm 22:30, 24:6]) . He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Dear God,

Thank you So MUCH for sending Your Son to die in my place. I could never have gotten this far in my life without You IN my heart and my life. I am Yours. May I continue to the best of my ability the work You have set before me. All the days of my life and then some I am Yours to command. 
Strengthen these feeble knees, make sure my steps, that I may walk with You without delay, for time is surely our enemy. But an eternity with You is very much better than even one moment without You.

I give You my heart: it's Yours. Make Yourself at home here, LORD. I give You my body to do with as You will. Be glorified through me. I give You my life: You gave Your Son's life so I could live beyond death, beyond the boundaries of time: in eternity with You. Thank You for this wonderful blessing of Eternal Life in You. 

O God, SAVE our Families! Deliver our children from the hands of the enemy into which they have placed themselves. Some in ignorance, some willfully, boastfully. BUT YOU O GOD can break their hearts, that their willfulness would pour out and Your brokenness be writ in. We who pray for the lost and the dying know that there is still time left for them to surrender their hearts and their lives to YOU. 

O God, You are My GOD. You are my Everything. In You I am blessed. In You I am saved. In You I am loved. In You I shine. Shine in me, LORD and through me to a dark and dying world.

In Jesus' Priceless Name, I pray,

Amen

GOD WITH US by Mercy Me

REDEEMED by Big Daddy Weave

GOD REALLY LOVES US by Crowder, Maverick City Music

Blessed Seed

This is a two-fold promise. The first promise is to all who are descended from Abraham through Isaac,  and Jacob, as confirmed in Acts 3:25.    
The second promise is to the faithful believers not of Israelite lineage, as seen in Galatians 3:8,9. 

The promise of this blessing was made manifest in another descendant of Abraham: Jesus Christ. While both Joseph and Mary were descendants of the house of David, it is through Mary's bloodline that Jesus was born, thus becoming the Son of David and, therefore, able to sit on David's throne. Galatians 4:4.
Furthermore, in Galatians 4:4-7, we who believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord, are now grafted into Him (John 15:4, 5; Romans 11:24) and have become of the seed of Abraham.  
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 
Wherefore, you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
John 15:4-5
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me. 
I AM The Vine, you are the branches: He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me, you can do nothing. 
Romans 11:24
For if you were cut off of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Ephesians 2:11-13
Therefore remember that formerly you—the Gentiles in the flesh, the ones being called the uncircumcision by that being called the circumcision, made by hands in the flesh--
that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones once being far off, have become near by the blood of Christ.

We are blessed through our faith in Jesus Christ. And as long as our faith remains in Christ, and we continue in obedience to God's Word, we will be forever receiving blessings of promise from God.