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- John 14:11-15
I have been updating a lot of stuff on the site so I have been slacking on writing for the blog, I have welcomed a new brother into my ministry with me, Nicholas West, and this is a short blog post he has wrote.
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"Sayonara Satan! Let Our Eyes Be Opened!" Are we allowing Satan into our lives without even knowing it? During my times of rebellion I allowed Satan to have a field day with me. I allowed him to use me to cause people to stumble and fall away from God. It is essential if you claim your faith as being Christian you live up to this blessing! This blog entry is going to talk about a few different things and will hopefully help your walk with Jesus Christ! It is long but worth the read. Are You Being Deceived?Stop being DECEIVED! Galatians 6:7 (KJV) "7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." During my rebellion time away from Christ, I was CONVINCED that I was unforgivable and that I was going to Hell. Satan had me convinced that to get back to where God accepted me was near impossible. I fell into his trap and plundered into a life filled with sin and rebellion. If you have read my testimony this included drugs, sexual immorality, cursing, coveting, rebellion, and the list goes on and on. I let Satan have a field day in my life and it affected the loved ones in my life who most cared about me. Satan placed a pair of spiritual blinders on my eyes. I knew the result of the path I was walking ended in Hell. My mindset was that if I died during that time I would have went to Hell, which is for ETERNITY. This is the first definition of eternity from dictionary.com: "infinite time; duration without beginning or end." Revelation 12:9 (NLT) "9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels." Satan is a master of deceiving, and convincing us of lies or half-truths to cause us to stumble, taking others with us, and trying to pull us into the pit of Hell. The Bible makes it very clear that ALL sins (other than blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, will go into this later) are forgivable. God forgives us for idols in our lives (is God number ONE in your life, this means over your spouse, children, EVERYONE and EVERYTHING!), for using the Lord's name in vein, for not honoring our parents (whether we think they are right or wrong we must obey! UNLESS they tell us to do something that goes against what the Bible teaches us!), for sexual immorality (any perverse sexual behavior is forgiven), for murdering, for stealing, for lying, for coveting, for ANY sin we commit! The most awesome thing is not only does He forgive us, He forgets about the sins once we repent and ask forgiveness! 1 John 1:9 (NLT) "9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." Acts 3:19 (NLT) "19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away." Isaiah 43:25-26 (NLT) "25 "I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." 26 Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case to prove your innocence." " Romans 8:1 (NLT) "8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." Isaiah 1:18 (NLT) "18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." " Ephesians 1:7 (NLT) "7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins." The first definition of repent on dictionary.com: "to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience stricken about a past action, attitude, etc." It is true that even if we continue to do a sin and ask forgiveness and mean it with our heart we are forgiven, but don't use this to justify your sin. It is impossible for us to be neutral when dealing with the spiritual realm. We all have a master--either sin or God (Romans 6:19-22). Is is unthinkable that we would continue to allow sin to be our master when we have turned our life over to God (Romans 6:1-3). Nevertheless, our God is merciful! Not one of us is so good that we don't need God's help: not one of us is so bad that we are beyond the reach of God's loving help and forgiveness! Look at sin like a credit card with an endless credit limit. When we sin it's like swiping the card and when we repent and ask forgiveness God clears off our debt. The debt can pile up and up but in the blink of an eye we can be forgiveness and repenting we are debt, sin, free. As we grow in Christ, our credit card should be used less and less. Are you wanting God to show you this mercy and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? Are you sick of living in sin and realize you are utterly helpless without His help? In the blink of an eye, your life can be changed and your eternal destination can be changed, to learn how to accept this FREE GIFT CLICK HERE! Let us take off the spiritual blinders Satan has placed on our eyes and remember this lifetime doesn't compare in any way to a very real eternity that we will face one day! It's GUARANTEED, HELL'S FLAMES or HEAVENS GATES, the choice is YOURS! Don't be deceived by the new movement of "Universalism" either, a doctrine stating that because God loves everyone that the people who disobey and don't follow Him will be allowed into Heaven after a certain amount of suffering in Hell. This is a DANGEROUS doctrine being taught now by Rob Bell in his book "Love Wins". Among the unsaved, who wants to come to Jesus Christ if in the end they will be brought to Heaven regardless of what they do on earth? I wish this was true, I would love to see everyone united with Jesus Christ and in Heaven, I don't wish HELL upon ANYONE. It is wrong to rejoice upon seeing death of even the most evil people. God is very loving (1 John 4:8-10), gracious (Exodus 33:19, 1 Peter 2:3) and merciful (Exodus 34:6, Psalm 67:1; James 5:11). But God is also holy (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8) and He is just (Nehemiah 9:32-33; 2 Thessalonians 1:6), and hates sin (Psalm 6:5-6; Habakkuk 1:13). God punishes the sinner (Jeremiah 50:31; Ezekiel 44:12; Matthew 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 2:9; Hebrews 10:29). This paragraph revised from: http://carm.org/hell-eternal. "Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole"Are you Living a lie? Many come in the name of Christianity, but many don't practice it. Are you walking the walk that you so righteously talk? Before I rededicated my life I claimed to be a Christian but the only way people would have known that I was by the place on Facebook you put your religious views at. You can not be a Christian and also be part of this world. Christianity is something you must live on a daily basis! I want to point out a few things to people who aren't willing to evaluate Christianity from a proper perspective. The people who claim "God hates fags", the people who blow up abortion clinics in the name of Jesus, the people who kill or do totally wrong things in the name of Jesus, have NO BIBLICAL BACKING! Does God hate the sin of homosexuality and call it an abomination, YES (Leviticus 20:13). Pride, liars, a false witness, wicked thoughts, murders who kill innocent, people who run to mischievous things, and people who cause strife among believers are also abominations (Proverbs 6:16-19)! Does God hate the person committing the act, NO. He loves them very much and wants to see them turn from their sins and everyone be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 1 John 4:8). Am I claiming these people don't have Jesus Christ in their hearts, NO. I am claiming however they are NOT following what the Bible teaches which saddens me, because they lead so many people astray. Everyone needs to also strongly consider what it says in the Bible about leading children into sin and the consequences. Matthew 18:6 (NLT) "6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea." I also want to point out to people to stop giving things expecting to get riches back from God! Stop listening to preachers telling you that if you give in faith you will receive a large sum of money back. Give money freely out of your heart because you want to bless someone. Although I enjoy this radio station, K-Love right now is on their pledge drive, I have no problem with them fund raising. However, I don't like how they ask people who can't even pay their bills to donate by faith and God will bless them. By this reasoning, shouldn't they just have faith in God and not ask for donations? If you are financially capable and feel blessed and want to donate to K-Love, by all means do it! But if you are donating out of obligation when you don't have money to do it, DON'T DO IT! If you pray about it and God tells you to donate on faith than do it, but get His confirmation before doing it. People are losing faith and falling away from God donating money to K-love and other places because they are donating money they need to pay their bills without asking God what they do in the situation. Donating money is great, but if you are having trouble paying your bills make sure you confirm with God before donating! This does not apply to tithing, which means " One tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy." This was the law of the Old Covenant and we are now under the New Covenant. Under the New Covenant we are supposed to give generously, but giving at least 10% of what you earn is a good guideline to follow. I personally feel your tithe should go to the church you attend, and any other money you want to give elsewhere is your decision. We should all financially support the church we go to! 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (NLT) "6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” Proverbs 11:24 (NLT) "24 Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything." This will be hard to take in because I know people work extremely hard for their money, but everything you think you own and all your money is God's. If you are a good steward with God's money and are obedient to what He asks you to do with it, He will bless you and you will never have more to worry about anything financially! You will only get more financial responsibility. Deuteronomy 10:14 (NLT) "14 Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God." Psalm 50:12 (NLT) "12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it." Haggai 2:8 (NLT) "8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies." Now, does being a Christian mean we won't sin or will become sinless? Not at all! The Bible makes it very clear that we all sin, it's probably hard for any of us to go ONE day without sinning. Again, don't use this to justify sinning! Don't let the guilt of Satan deceive you when you do to trick you into thinking God won't forgive you though. The last time I checked I became a Christian because I was broken, and needed Jesus Christ to pick up the pieces and put me back together! We are not perfect! 1 John 1:8 (NLT) "8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth." 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." Remember though, upon the Salvation we receive through our faith by the mercy and grace of God, we are called a NEW person (or creation)! 2 Corinthians 5:15-20 (NLT) "15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” Upon accepting the gift of Salvation or re-dedicating our lives to Christ, God isn't going to overwhelm us with things we are doing wrong and ask us to stop all our sins at once. God is merciful, and will never overburden us and Satan can never tempt us with more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). "Even Deeper (Reality Check)"Are you a follower of Jesus? A few bumper stickers that are on the wall of my room: "Live So The Preacher Won't Have To Lie At Your Funeral" "On Judgement day You'll Wish You'd have been A Fanatic for Jesus" Is this just for the people who are unsaved? Only a select few of people who claim to be Christians and think they are saved are. Upon Judgement day, there is going to be a very rude awakening! Is this me judging? No, this is to open people's eyes and keep them accountable to what the Word of God says. I was just as guilty during my rebellion time if not more guilty than anyone else of claiming something and living something else. 2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV) "16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" There is only one way to become a Christian, that is upon Salvation that is a free gift ANYONE can accept through faith. This gift is something that no one rightfully deserves, but is only but the mercy of God (Ephesians 2:8). Do you know for 100% FACT that you are going to Heaven? Is your eternal destination guaranteed this very moment? How is it possible for us to know we are going to Heaven? The Bible tells us we become a new person (or new creation) when we receive this gift. Upon accepting this we are to turn away from our sins and repent. We aren't expected to rid our lives in a day of all our sin. Can people only tell you are a Christian by your Facebook "religion" or do you live the life you claim? We have to take our spirit to an all you can eat buffet feeding it through the reading and studying of God's Word, spending personal time with Him through prayer, among other things. Have you limited your spirit to one item from the the McDonald's dollar menu by just feeding your spirit on Sunday at church, or are you giving your spirit an all you can eat buffet throughout the week? There will not be a SINGLE doubt in your mind or heart that you are going to Heaven. You will know you are Saved if you have become a new creation. We can only serve one master, and by serving our sin we are not serving God. It is time to think long and hard if this microscopic amount of time we are living in now is worth serving Jesus and expanding the Kingdom of God or not. Are you living for God and His Kingdom or your Flesh? Matthew 7: 21-23 (NLT) "21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ " 1 John 2:4-6 (NLT) "4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did." 3 John 1:11 (NLT) "11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God." Matthew 6:24 (NLT) "24 No one can have two bosses. He will hate the one and love the other. Or he will listen to the one and work against the other. You cannot have both God and riches as your boss at the same time." Matthew 16:24 (NLT) "24 Jesus said to His followers, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must forget about himself. He must take up his cross and follow Me." John 8:12 (NLT) "12 Jesus spoke to all the people, saying, “I am the Light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will not walk in darkness. He will have the Light of Life.” Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT) "1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God." Luke 6:40 (NLT) "40 Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher." 1 Peter 2:21-22 (NLT) "21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone." I could go on with more verses, but I think the point has been proven. Now some might say well what about the theology "Once Saved, Always Saved." This theology is just as DANGEROUS as Universalism. The Bible is a puzzle and we must put the pieces together, we have to study it. We have to make sure a piece fits exactly and not force a piece to fit somewhere that it comes super close to fitting, forcing it in place. We need to know that the OT was written mainly in Hebrew with some Aramaic. The New Testament was translated from Greek. We used the closest English word we could for a word in those languages. Realizing they had multiple words for our words "love", "war", and many others is the key to understanding the Bible. Sometimes love or war can have multiple meanings and we have to discern which one is correct. For more information on the origin of the Bible check out: How We Got The Bible. So now let us take a look at what the Bible says against "Once Saved, Always Saved" as well as the unforgivable sin. "Once Saved Always Saved" |
Kyle
Nicholas
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