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Showing posts from May, 2017

The unbelieving "Christian." By God's grace, let's not be found here.

Many of us think that those who call our Saviour Jesus "Lord, Lord" but will face eternal damnation are those who are still sinning. Not so. Christ died for us to redeem us from EVERY lawless deed according to Titus 2:14 "who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." How could our Saviour Jesus Christ ever use the presence of the very things He came to redeem us from (our lawless deeds) as an excuse to not save us from them? This would be akin to a doctor refusing to heal a person (that he loved enough to die for) because the person is sick! It is the Great Physician, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's once for all medication of "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more." Only in Him do we have victory over sin. See the sin that prevents a person from being saved in Christ's words concerning the Holy Spirit in

God's grace is the antidote to sin!

Believers, did you know that your sins and shortcomings cannot stop the grace of God from flowing in your life? Rather, God's grace stops sin. Christ came to redeem us from EVERY lawless deed. Check out the profiles of those that received from Jesus when He walked the earth - adulterers, social outcasts, prostitutes, sick people who had done everything to be healed with no success and the tax collectors who were held in such low esteem that they were a sin category by themselves! Our Saviour's "Neither do I condemn you" is what makes us "go and sin no more." Many people will tell you that it is sin that cuts one off from Christ. This could not be further from the truth! If this is your mind-set, then you don't need Grace. You don't need Jesus! He came to die for sinners not those who can keep the Law (no one can.) So what cuts one off from Christ? What can stop His grace from flowing? Self-righteousness of course! Our trying to keep the

Ambassadors of Christ!

Believers, did you know that the lifestyle/resources available to ambassadors in their host countries do not depend on the resources available in the host country? This is because their provisions come from their home country. For instance, an ambassador who is from a rich country will still live an affluent lifestyle in a host country that is poor. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul described believers as "Christ's ambassadors." As the righteousness of God in Christ, our resources and provisions (including good health, peace, wisdom, mental rest and financial comfort) come from the Kingdom of God and not from this world. As citizens of the Lord's heavenly Kingdom and ambassadors of Christ here on earth, we also have diplomatic immunity when it comes to the Law of Moses. We are not under Law but under Grace. But God’s grace is not a license to sin. It is the key to overcoming sin and addiction. Those who think they are "okay" because of their efforts at keepi

Our Saviour Jesus Christ is forever faithful

Believer, have you been let down or betrayed by someone you trusted lately, even something akin to Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery or the cup-bearer forgetting him in prison or even Potiphar's wife bearing false witness against him? BY GOD'S GRACE ALONE (so tell Him alone about it) don't fret or wonder "how could they do this to me?" This is human nature: very fickle. Sometimes, people forget; or they get too embarrased to tell you that they don't have the power to do whatever it is you asked or begged them to. At other times, people are just plain mean and really want to see you fail for whatever reason. Anyone of us could be at the receiving or giving end of any of these situations at any time but for the grace of God. "The arm of flesh will fail." Not "might fail," but "will fail." Even yours:) Only in Christ do we stand firmly. Whatever it is you are faced with, believe Jesus (know that He has finished

"He will never leave you nor forsake you"

Believers, remember Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer and chief baker whose dreams Joseph correctly interpreted in Genesis 40 while he was in jail courtesy of Potiphar? Joseph said these words to the cup-bearer whose dream interpretation was restoration to his former position by Pharoah: 14 "And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.” Joseph was looking for help and favour from man (the cup-bearer and Pharoah) and what a disappointment he received. Here's what happened after the cup-bearer was restored and the chief baker hanged just as Joseph predicted when he interpreted their dreams: "23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought." Two full years passed and the cup-bearer forgot about Jose

In Christ, we have everlasting righteousness

Believers, in Christ, we are not righteous until our next sin. In Him we don't become unrighteous or "lose our salvation" because we sinned, much like how a child does not stop being the child of his father because he was disobedient. Christ offered one sacrifice for sins forever. In Him, our sins, past, present and future have been righteously put away forever. See Hebrews 10: 11 "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." One sacrifice for sins forever. As the righteousness of God in Christ (See 2 Cor. 5:21,) we are everlastingly righteous and irrevocably saved in Him. We didn't/can't ever work for or earn this right

God the Righteous Judge is satisfied with our Saviour Jesus' payment of our sin debt.

When payment is made to a creditor on your behalf, who must be satisfied? You? The creditor of course! Believers, we were all (sin) debtors to God until He lovingly gave up His Son as payment for ALL of our sins. He is satisfied with this payment. With Jesus, He gives us all things FREELY. Romans 8:32- "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" In Christ, we are His beloved and He is well pleased with us, not because of what we do but because of what Jesus did. Doing good (our righteousnesses = filthy rags) in order to be close to our Lord or please Him or get from Him is looking for justification in the Law. This makes Christ of no effect in the lives of whosoever lives by the Law (do good, get good; do bad, get bad) - including "believers." Galatians 5:4 -  "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.&quo

"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

Believers, Isaiah 30:15 says "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not," See the MSG version:  "God, the Master, The Holy of Israel, has this solemn counsel: “Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me— The very thing you've been unwilling to do" Glory be to the Lord who has called us to Salvation in Christ and leads us to depend solely on Him. On our own we would not, so in His grace and mercy, He has caused us to see the Light! Is there any situation that puts a weight on your shoulders today, even fear? Let go and let Him deal with it for you. Our strength comes from total dependence on Him. But how does one just let go and stop worrying when the problem is still looming large? We find our answer in

Christ our Shepherd

Many of us have made the decision to severe our relationships with people that do not "add value" to our lives, even our fellow believers. We want to surround ourselves with those that can "add value" so that we can move ahead in life. So many quotes, even by men of God, advocate this. But how do we even know who will add value to us without trying them out first? Do this category of people have haloes above their heads? Even though we've all heard that " the arm of flesh will fail, " we still get disappointed when these "people of value" fail us. We find that they are just as fallible as those ones that we deliberately cut out of our lives. The truth is we tend to hate in people what we have in ourselves. Jesus shows us in this in Matthew 7:3-5: 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and lo

See the simplicity that is in Christ!

The battleground of our warfare, the Accuser's weapons and the weapons with which we overcome. Believers, our warfare that Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 isn't fought in some coven, church building or some mountaintop. The battleground is our minds and we overcome not through carnal means (human effort such as attempting to break generational curses or curses of lack, sickness, stress, depression, etc, by 40 days' dry fast when Christ already hung on the tree to redeem us from the curse of the Law;) we overcome by bringing the weapons of the enemy (accusations of the Accuser) into captivity to the obedience of Christ, according to the same passage - “3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedie

Looking to Jesus

Believers, remember when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21?) The children of Israel had just won a victory over the Canaanites by the Hand of the Lord as they journeyed to the Promised Land. They soon forgot their God-given victory and started complaining, longing for Egypt and despising the manna that the Lord provided for them, much like many of us unwittingly do today with our "If only I hads:)" But He loves us still! So the Lord sent fiery serpents among them. The serpents bit them and they died. They confessed their sin and Moses prayed for them. 8 "And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." 9 "And Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of bronze (attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze), he lived." This faith pict