Month: February 2021

Take Up Your Cross…

Jesus ~ Amazing Grace!

Matthew 10:38 “And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.“

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me”.

Mark 8:34 Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me”.

Luke 9:23 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me“.

Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple“.

How do we deny ourselves?  Are we being told in this verse that we should give up everything in this life that offers us pleasure?  I don’t think so, however, we’ve all heard the…

View original post 1,157 more words

What is Evangelism?

Evangelism is the communication of the gospel message that includes a warning, an explanation, and a call to Salvation at the Cross by the blood of Jesus. Evangelism warns people about sin and it’s consequences.

John 16:8 When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment:

Acts 24:25 Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I find time I’ll call for you.”

Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.13 Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

It includes an explanation of God’s remedy for sin—the gospel

Acts 8:29-35 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”30 When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth. 33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him.
Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.

God’s Righteousness through Faith

Romans 3:21-26 But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed—attested by the Law and the Prophets 22 —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

And it includes the clear call to REPENT (to turn from sin and to turn toward God) and believe the gospel, by faith.

Repent or Perish

Luke 13:1-5 At that time, some people came and reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And He responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well! 4 Or those 18 that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed—do you think they were more sinful than all the people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well!”

Acts 17:29-31 29 Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

Romans 1:17 For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

Romans 10:9-13 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 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, 12 for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

WE PLANT THE SEEDS! GOD MAKES IT GROW!

The principle of Evangelism is to bring our fellow man to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior. We must not be complacent…sometimes I think that Americans are the most complacent people on earth. We need to wake up as the day will come when His mercy will end, so we must not take His mercy for granted, share the Gospel while there’s still time!

The entire chapter of Matthew 10 tells the disciples of their commission to go out and preach, He warns them of the pitfalls…

Matthew 10:16 Jesus said…”Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves… so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Matthew 4: 17 And as ye go, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

As the a member of the body of Christ I’m blessed…I know Jesus died for me and that when I repented (turn away) from my sins and put my trust in Jesus, that by His intercession, He will save me from God’s wrath. 

Here’s the Hitch!

There are many living on this earth, in this country and even in our town that don’t know Jesus. They don’t realize that they’re dead in their sins, because they don’t recognize what sin is.  They may have heard of someone named Jesus, but they have no idea of what He did for mankind or the consequences of their thoughts and actions, because they’ve never heard the Good News. 

The Ten Commandments EXODUS 20: 1-17 (NIV)

And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

 “Now once a man has thus been humbled by the Law (10 Commandments) and brought to the knowledge of himself, then he becomes truly repentant for the true repentance begins with the fear and with the judgment of God.  He sees that he is such a great sinner that he cannot find any means to be delivered from his sin by his own strength and effort of works.” (Martin Luther)

Martin Luther, O.S.A. 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. Wikipedia

The Bible teaches that as the church, we are the body of Christ. “We are to love the people of the world.  We are here for this very purpose – to go into the nations and proclaim the Gospel to all who will hear.” (The Gospel Project, Vol 2, p.96) 

***The Gospel Project is an adult Sunday school study program with teacher’s guides and student workbooks.

Creation Glorifies the Creator

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Isn’t it amazing that even in this fallen world, we really don’t have to look hard to see the GLORY of GOD’S CREATION! When I see something that I consider to be beautiful, whether it’s a newborn baby or a glorious sunset, I’m astounded when I realize that without sin and without the fall of man, just how glorious this earthly existence could be! NO misery of any kind: no pain or death, no deformed and sick babies, no crippled, no thorns or weeds an on and on it goes!

***In my heart and mind, I believe that’s why mankind will never leave this planet and as hard as we try to explore beyond our planet and solar system, He will not allow us to bring our sinful nature into the Heavens. Okay…enough of me trying to make sense out of the state of this world, it’s time to bring Scripture into the equation. I’ll be using the KJV – King James Version for Scriptures.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

If you read Genesis 1, you’ll discover that God created everything with mankind in his plans. He declared it all good and perfect before He breathed life into us.

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

He not only created us, but He designed us in His image, therefore, we ALL belong to HIM! But keep in mind, that He loved us so much that he only puts HIS WILL upon us when we ask and pray for HIM to do HIS WILL such as David does in Psalm 23 when he recognizes that God leads us in paths of righteousness…we’re the ones who choose to take another path. In the Lord’s prayer taught to us by Jesus Messiah – Yeshua Hamashiach, He teaches us to pray for the Father’s will to be done and for Him to deliver us from evil.

Ultimately, right from the beginning of creation, He gave us total freedom to choose to obey or disobey Him…today, we still have the choice to exercise that freedom and our choices yield consequences…whether they are good or bad consequences…only you will know the answer.

He gave us the WORD so that we have ALL the knowledge we need to make right choices. He gave us the HOLY SPIRIT to guide us with wisdom and revelation through the WORD and therefore make it possible to navigate through this life, so that our existence could be as peaceful as possible on this fallen Earth. As we can see from what happened in the Garden of Eden, mankind didn’t trust God to be truthful. When Jesus – Yeshua – the Son of God came to earth in the form of a man, he proclaimed that He is the way, the truth and the life…so we’re all at a crossroads again as to whether or not we choose to believe and obey. I mentioned consequences earlier…to be exact, we’re talking about Heaven or Hell…He leaves it up to us to decide. https://jesusamazinggrace.com/2020/03/23/lets-not-soft-peddle-hell/

Throughout Scripture, it’s made very clear that Heavenly Father is our Creator, but He will also be our judge…Believe, Repent and Obey and the Blood of Jesus will cover your sins and you’ll become white as snow in the eyes of God! But that’s not the end of it, when you accept Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit enters into you and your body becomes the Temple of God. The Holy Spirit will guide and you and help you learn God’s will for you.

https://jesusamazinggrace.com/category/the-plan-of-salvation/

Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

“LOVE” & “HATE”

The two most powerful, yet polar opposite words on the face of this earth!

The word “LOVE” is appears 310 times in the King James Bible, 348 times in the New American Standard Bible, 551 times in the New International Version and 538 times in the New Revised Standard Version. KJV Bible, which was translated from the Greek, has the word LOVE mentioned the least of any other translation. For the sake of this blog, we’re going to use the KJV – King James Version of the Bible.

The word hate is mentioned in the KJV of the Bible 87 times (3.5 times fewer than the word LOVE) and so far from my reading of scripture it doesn’t say that Heavenly Father hates mankind, however; He does make it clear that he hates the actions and deeds of mankind that proliferates evil and idolatry.

I’m starting this blog today to “focus on Biblical LOVE”. The 2nd half of the blog will focus on “Biblical hate”

“LOVE”

It’s pretty obvious to me that Love is a ceaseless conviction and theme throughout the Old and New Testament. And if you believe that Jesus is the WORD made flesh then you must also believe that HE was the ONE who perpetuated this theme called LOVE. The fact that Jesus – Yeshua came to this earth and died for us because He Loved us that much should make those of us who wish the worst for our enemies hang our heads in shame. I’m so sad to say that in today’s world, Christians seem to make more noise about hate than they do LOVE! I believe that some of us have forgotten that Jesus said:

Matthew 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

The Bible translates the Greek word Agape (agapo) for LOVE. It’s a selfless word that originates from God to mankind, it’s meaning is unconditional and springs from a heart of charity. It’s all about seeking to find the best in others and not putting yourself first, but always putting others ahead of yourself. In some ways it truly makes the world go round, because when we “love one another” as Jesus tells us to do when he’s with his disciples in the Upper Room for the “Last Supper”, like when we share the Gospel (GOOD NEWS) we are fulfilling another of God’s great commissions.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

*** PLEASE NOTE: the day after Jesus told His disciples these things, Jesus Messiah – Yeshua Hamashiach laid down his life for us – for ALL sinners – so that if we believe and trust in HIM we may inherit eternal life with HIM and our FATHER in HEAVEN! Through faith, we become brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s our commission to share that Gospel so that others have the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Savior.

There are 4 other Greek words that translate to a type of Biblical love.

Here are four types of biblical love separate from AGAPO:

1. Phillia Love – A love that is affectionate but not romantic. This love is usually shared between family and friends.
2. Eros love – A love that is romantic between a man and woman.
3. Philautia Love – Is a love and respect we should have for ourselves and the Holy Spirit indwelling within us.
4. Mania Love – This is a love in which we are obsessed. This love leads to false idols and putting things on a pedestal higher than God.

According to Christian thought, Charity is the highest form of love. It’s the love between God and man that is made manifest in unselfish love of one another.

Paul’s description of charity is found in the New Testament (KJV):

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

The apostle John, a faithful disciple of Jesus, thought to be the youngest and one of the original 12 disciples had a lot to say about LOVE:

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:20-21 If any man say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for how can he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we of him, that he that loveth God, should love his brother also.

“HATE”

I can only find one place in the Bible that it specifically names a person that God hates; When it came to twin brothers, Jacob and Esau, God makes it perfectly clear why he loves Jacob and harbors a hate for Esau.

This is what God had to say:

Malachi 1:1-3 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Hebrews 12:16-17 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Along with the disrespect of his birthright and blessing, Esau had many other vices. He went against the wishes of his parents, Isaac and Rebecca, and married pagan Canaanite wives which Scripture unmistakably forbade. There’s actually not one little bit of good light shown upon Esau in terms of his relationship with God or family (although according to Scripture he was Isaac’s favorite). Many years later, it appeared that he had let go of his anger and his desire to kill his brother for what he considered to be trickery by Jacob when he lost his birthright and blessing.

In Genesis 33 when Jacob (now renamed Israel by God) returns to his homeland of Canaan from Haran where he found his wives, he is wary of Esau and even after their meeting and with the embrace of Esau and the refusal of Esau to take the offering of animals from Jacob as an apology, ultimately Jacob settles in Canaan some distance away from his brother. It’s the generations after Esau, that the Edomites (the descendants of Esau) who are in constant conflict with “ISRAEL” (the descendants of Jacob). The Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Jehoram, Amaziah, and Uzziah all had conflicts with the Edomites.

However, God says to the Israelites as they are entering the Land of Canaan after their captivity in Egypt:

Deuteronomy 23:7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.

For more reading about the Edomites and God’s judgement read the book of Amos. For anyone today who harbors a vendetta against the nation of Israel, they need to spend more time reading the Old Testament. Keep in mind, Heavenly Father hardened the hearts of Israel so that there would be time to share the Gospel with the Gentiles, so that we may be saved from His wrath to come.

***In my opinion, God makes it plain that we are not to hate one another for any reason…but that’s not to say that we can’t hate the things that people participate in…

Heavenly Father does make it plain in the Old and New Testaments, exactly what he does hate.

Abomination is the word that we find most that exemplifies what God hates, and some say that’s the improper translation of the Hebrew. I do have a “modern Tanakh” that I use for reference and in most cases, it’s translated the same as our KJV. If you’re not sure what you’re reading in a verse, then put it into context…then it will become VERY clear as to the meaning. If a physical or spiritual death penalty is tied to it, it is definitely something that you shouldn’t be doing.

Deuteronomy 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 1.Haughty eyes, 2. a lying tongue, And 3. hands that shed innocent blood, 4. A heart that devises wicked plans, 5. feet that be swift in running to mischief 6.A false witness that speaketh lies, 7. and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Isaiah 1:13-14 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Zechariah 8:17 17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.

In the New Tesatment, there’s a couple of verses in particular that makes it perfectly clear that Heavenly Father hates certain behaviors and practices:

1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind (reference to homosexuality),

Garlations 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

As Christians, we have a choice…we can either have a heart filled with “LOVE” or a heart filled with “hate”! We can pray for our brothers and sisters who don’t know Heavenly Father and haven’t accepted the Grace of Jesus – Yeshua and in doing so, we might have the opportunity to plant the seed that changes one heart. We can take the time to gently and lovingly nudge someone to seek God, OR WE can allow the “state of the world” to blind us from what God’s plans are for mankind. We can tear out our hair and scream for God to rain down fire and brimstone on people who practice things like abortion (murder) or homosexuality! However, in doing this, how does this answer the call of Jesus in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies? God tells us in Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30 Vengeance is Mine! He will take care of it all according to His timing.

Word Count Information from: https://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_WordCount.htm

What is GOD’S WILL for you?

Like Paul… are you willing to be a prisoner of the LORD?

Scriptures from HCSB – Holman Christian Standard Bible

What is God’s will for you?  Are you ready to accept His authority and fully cooperate with Heavenly Father?  Do you allow the Spirit of God to lead you and make you lie down in green pastures?  Do you walk through this world as an ambassador of Christ? Did you know that in order to follow the will of God and to walk His path, we must strive to be “worthy of God“?

As Paul said:

Ephesians 4:1-2 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to “walk worthy of the calling you have received”, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love,

Are you ready to answer the calling of the Lord to share HIS GOSPEL?

Do you only seek the Lord’s will according to your own will?

Do you walk in the freedom of your own self-will? The secular definition of freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. 

Jesus tells us in John 8:32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Like a magnet, are you drawn to things that your “heart and conscious” tell you aren’t good for you or those around you?  Do you recognize these warnings are the Holy Spirit attempting to guide you away from harm bodily and spiritually?  You truly believe this one time won’t matter when you knowingly choose a path that leads you away from Salvation? After this one time, you’ll do better tomorrow?

WOE! WOE! WOE!

Hebrews 10: 26  For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.

Has Christ become Victorious in your life?

Have you allowed the crucifixion of the old man in YOU? Do you realize that true freedom is only achieved when Christ lives in You? According to what Paul tells us:

Ephesians 2:1-5 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, 5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Hebrews 10:29-31 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the One who has said, Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay,] and again, The Lord will judge His people. 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God! 

Our daily struggle is with the powers of this world! Satan, Lucifer, that Devil of old – the prince of darkness has been leading this world towards hell from the beginning in the Garden of Eden when he seduced Eve in Genesis 3:4 convincing her that “she surely would not die”. Then Adam being seduced by Eve followed suit and disobeyed God. The first lie on earth brought us sin and more sin and today we can see the rotten fruit of it’s results. Since then, because of his pride and jealousy, Satan has wreaked destruction of mankind in every aspect of our existence; from the lies about evolution and millions/billions of years, the desire for corrupted entertainment (music, movies, etc), to wanton desires such as new cars, new clothes, new house, new husbands or wives -NEW! NEW! NEW! There are prosperity preachers today who preach wealth instead of Salvation! Sexual immorality thrives in an environment of “you have the freedom to do whatever feels good”! Murder of the helpless is accepted by the majority without even a blink! If you go on to YouTube, there’s false teachers and prophets aplenty! The USA probably has more Bibles per capita than any other country in the world and most of them are gathering dust.

For you to overcome, YOU must be willing to be restrained by Christ’s Spirit, start by reading your BIBLE and putting on the full armor of God and then PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

Please read: https://jesusamazinggrace.com/2020/06/01/spiritual-warfare/

Jesus Messiah – Yeshua Hamashiach revealed His Father to the world through His ministry on this earth.  Most assuredly, He revealed to us the Father’s LOVE for His Creation: Mankind. His willingness to allow His Son to sacrifice himself on the cross to save us from our sins it the ultimate gift of GRACE!

1 John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.

Romans 12:10-16 Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Hebrews 13:1-3 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. 3 Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.

Ephesians 3:1-4 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, 3 diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—

Isn’t it awesome that Paul loved Jesus – Yeshua and his fellowman enough to suffer imprisonment and physical pain to share the Gospel. As children of God and brothers and sisters In Christ…sharing the Gospel isn’t a suggestion, it’s a command:

Matthew 28:19-20 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It’s believed that Paul was a prisoner in Rome when he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Although, he was a prisoner of the Roman government, he considered himself a prisoner of the Lord because he was following the “will of God” to preach the Gospel of the Christ to the world.

***My next blog will expand upon Paul’s ministry.