Faith

We Have A Living Redeemer

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Job was a man of many sorrows, and he felt as though God was forsaking him; yet, through the reading of Job’s many speeches, we discover a man of faith. It is so as we look at the following verses.

Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Job 19:23-27

First, Job desires that his words were written down, and rolled into a scroll, and sought to be vindicated later. Even written on a rock that would last as long as that rock stood.

Jesus Christ is the Rock that led the children through the wilderness, out of Egypt (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Secondly, Job makes a statement of faith. He is expecting a man or some kinsman to come and redeem him. However, these words in this statement is far more than just a  kinsman of sinful men; Job must be seeing the Almighty’s Redeemer that was coming at sometime much later. He confessed that he knew his Redeemer lives, and that on the earth He would stand. Job must also have believed that in order to be redeemed that the Redeemer would give His life to redeem him.

Third, Job confessed that he knew when he died, his body would decay and return back to the dust from which it came there would be resurrection, because he said, “Yet in my flesh I shall see God.” Even going on to say, “Whom I will see for myself, and my own eyes shall see, and not another.” His heart (reins) are consumed, probably with excitement in knowing that one day he would see God, and have a new body too.

Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of all who will come to Him, believing that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, and confessing Jesus as Lord.

Our Redeemer lives. He has redeemed us. He Himself paid our sin debt by taking our place on the cross, and taking the wrath of God for sin that was not His, but was mine and yours. This was God’s gift, and is received only by God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Will you call on His name today for salvation?

Job: A Faithful Man

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So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
Then said his wife unto him, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.” But he said unto her, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job 2:7-10

Who is a faithful man? It is a man who, like Job, when he is tried through trouble, not of his own making, is faithful to God and His word, no matter what is thrown at him. This would be so of a woman as well.

Notice Job was a very wealthy man with seven sons and three daughters. He also had many animals for working his fields, crops, and hauling wares or food. Job lost it all in a single day. His children, all ten, were killed by a strong wind. Yet through all of this Job says,

Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Job 1:21

Then, he is stricken with boils cover the entirety of his body, and is suffering great pain, yet Job is faithful.

In the New Testament Job is named only one time as the picture of patience (James 5:11). Being patient is a great part of faith.  Faith is believing in the unseen, due to the evidence provided us by God. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen”  (Hebrews 11:1). There is something that some ignorant of what faith is said, “A leap of faith,” and by the authority of the previous verse we can say that “Faith is a step into the Light.” That would be the Light of Jesus Christ.

Even though Job’s wife even seems to lack in faith, he maintains his. He hangs on to faith. Why would a man or woman do that? It could only be because they believe what God says. The world will tell, and culture will tell you that believing in this someone you cannot see, or touch is crazy. They will tell you things such as “Believe in yourself,” but they need to realize that believing in one’s self is what leads to destruction, not to life.

Let all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ hang on to your faith, and the faith will hang on to you.

This faith is only available through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was sent to earth to die for our sins. Come to Jesus, by calling on His name.

When The Kings Of God Face Trouble

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Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; and he said, “Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, ‘Thus saith the LORD unto you, ‘Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.’ ” (20:14-17)
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.”
2 Chronicles 20:14-17, 20

Jehoshaphat was king who did right in the eyes of the LORD (2 Chronicles 17:1-4), by  following the ways of David. He called on the people of Judah to seek the LORD God with all their hearts. Please read all of chapter 20.

This king of Judah was warned of an approaching army, an enemy, yet descendants of Lot (Genesis 11:27 and 12:4). The Moabites and the Ammonites; who are descendants of Lot’s sons Moab, and Ammon (Genesis 19:30-38). When he hears of a great encroaching enemy he is fearful, and does what  any godly king should do when their people, their lives, and nation is at stake; and that is he prayed to the Creator of heaven and earth – the One true God.

When he had prayed the Spirit of God came upon a Levite by the name Jahaziel and told  the king, and his army, “You do not need to fight this battle. The battle is not yours but God’s”

The people of Israel went out to the battle singing and praising the LORD. The enemy attacked the people of Seir and defeated them, then turned against each other, leaving a mass of corpses  on the ground.

When an enemy comes against us as followers of Jesus Christ we too must do what King Jehoshapht did. We must humbly approach the LORD God, seeking Him with our whole heart. We also need to remember that His enemy is our enemy, and that He hears the prayers of those who are faithful to do His will.

All of those who know Him will be kings and priests unto the Lord our God (Revelation 1:6; 5:10). We are in training, through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit at work in us as we live here, before we are glorified with Christ Jesus.

If you do not know Him you are yet His enemy. Christ died for us while we were yet His enemies (Romans 5:10), and if He loved us enough to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God, then the power of His resurrection is even greater.  Through the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ an evil man or woman can be changed through His power. The changed one becomes a person that loves and respects others, and becomes a servant to them.

He will not fail to complete what He has began in us (Philippians 1:6). The Lord’s personal invitation to you today is “Come to Me.”

When Kings Trust The LORD

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And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.  And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing with Thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee.”  So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before His host; and they carried away very much spoil….
2 Chronicles 14:9-13

Asa was now the king of Judah and Benjamin. He is the grandson of Rehoboam who is the son of Solomon.  Solomon was not faithful to the LORD, yet He loved him, and had mercy on him.

Asa was one that the Lord says that he did right in the eyes of the LORD, and we see it in the verses above, in his prayer tho Him. The prayer comes seeing the massive army from Ethiopia with a million man army. According to verse 8 of this chapter, King Asa has only an army of five hundred eighty thousand (580,000). The enemies numbers are almost twice the number, but King Asa prays to the LORD. The LORD hears Asa’s prayer, and He wins the victory.

Would it not be wonderful to have kings, presidents, prime ministers, and all leaders trust in the LORD God Almighty. If they would trust in the Lord through hearing His word, commitment, and faithfulness to God, then there would probably be less war mongering. Trusting in only the One true God who is the Creator of all that is – heaven and earth, and all that is therein.

The One true God sent His only begotten Son into this world to redeem all who would come to Him, by God’s grace through faith. If you do not come through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you do not come at all. The crucifixion of Christ Jesus is the only sacrifice for sin. If you know the Son, you know the Father; if you know the Father, you know the Son.

It would be wonderful too if you would call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, turning from sin to Jesus, and putting your full confidence and faith in Him. Do that right now.

According To the Word of the LORD

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Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which He spake by His servant Elijah. So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
2 Kings 10:10-11

Jehu is a character of contradiction. I say that because he is chosen to be the next king of Israel, and he is ordained by God’s word to rid the population of Israel of their king Joram, a son of Ahab, an family that was doomed by the word of he LORD. Jehu does everything just as the LORD has told him, of the destroying of Ahab’s wife Jezebel, and his heirs. Just as the LORD had said.

I say Jehu is a character of contradiction due to the fact that he was also a man who never turned away from the path of Jereboam, who had set up golden calves in Bethel and Dan (2 Kings 10:31).

Nevertheless, he did do the will and word of the LORD in his actions, but no heart for God. How is this possible? That is the part I cannot grasp.

The point I want to make with this post is that there  is not a word which the LORD God has spoken, that will fail to be fulfilled. Not one. There are many, and many may be reading this and thinking that the Bible is not the word of God, and there is no way you can prove that it is. How about the issue of these prophecies?

The LORD had spoken through Elijah in First Kings 21:17-26, all that He would do to Ahab and Jezebel, and now we read that it happened just as Elijah had said. Do you realize that there are prophecies that have been spoken by God, that have not yet been fulfilled? There are probably hundreds that are yet to come to pass. They will in the LORD’S own time.

Many of those are of the second coming of Jesus Christ; His return to Jerusalem (Zechariah 14). Jesus said, “I will come again” (John 14:3). He said this before they crucified Him. His death did not stop Him from returning, it gives greater meaning to His coming again. Why? Because He did not stay dead. He rose from the grave with a new body that can never die. That is also what happens to everyone who has repented of their sins, by turning away from sin, toward Christ Jesus. When this body of flesh dies we too shall receive a new body that shall never perish.

Since the promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled, yet many of them have not been; then we must believe that they are being fulfilled, or they will be fulfilled just as GOD has spoken. The prophet Isaiah wrote,

“So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11

If we trust the LORD God, then we will trust His word, and His Son Jesus Christ.

O Altar, Altar

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And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; ‘Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.’ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, ‘This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; ‘Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.’ ”
1 Kings 13:1-3

This introduces us to an unnamed prophet who has gone from Judah to Bethel with a word from the LORD, to Jereboam. Jereboam his sinned grievously by setting up two golden calves; one in Dan, and the other in Bethel.

Jereboam is there offering sacrifice, and this prophet comes with the word of the LORD, which includes a prophecy of the birth of Josiah, a much later king of Judah. As a sign that this word from the LORD was the truth he says, “Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.”

In the verses that follow we see that is exactly what happened. God still proves His word to be true. As is said by Jesus many times, “He that has ears to hear; let him hear.” The problem with many who do not believe in God is they have no desire for Him. They love the life they have, and think all is well; but they are perishing in their self deceiving minds. They do not want God to tell them how to live their lives. So they do not want to hear.

I really imagine the Jereboam did not want to hear the word of the LORD from this Judean prophet. But he heard it whether he like it or not, and there was no change except in his rebellious hand, as he ordered the prophet to be arrested.

The word of the LORD from this prophet was to Jereboam, reminding him there was the LORD God who was in control, and had given him a promise to have a kingdom as long as he obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and having a heart for Him. He did not obey, and his family was destroyed (read 1 Kings 15).

Our message for today is that the word of the LORD is trust worthy, faithful, and true from the smallest letter to the largest. When God says  it; it will be done. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My word shall never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). In Psalm 119 and verse 89 the psalmist wrote, “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven,” and it does not do harm to the word of God if we do not believe it; it is still the truth of God and stands sure.

The word of God is all about Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but has everlasting life” (John 3:16).

You are a sinner condemned to an eternity of torment. We were all born in a sinful  body, condemned to hell, and without some work of God, we would certainly go there. But God who is rich in mercy for His great love which He gave us in His Son Jesus will give light, and life eternal to all who will believe Him. In Him alone is the only way of eternal salvation.

Will you believe today? Will you call on His name? He is waiting.

When Things Get In The Way

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And the children of Joseph said, “The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.” And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, “Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only: but the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.”
Joshua 17:16-18

It sounds as though the children of Joseph were not pleased with their part of the land as it was divided among all the tribes. It was not enough and the people who lived in the valley had weapons they did not feel like they could defeat.

Joshua had another idea though, and that was they could have the woods of the mountain, cut down those trees, and clean up the ground. Joshua gave them what they needed to take the land, however, they had not fully obeyed the LORD, in driving out the Canaanites out of that land (17:12-13),  and when they became stronger the made servants of the Canaanites. Joshua was telling them since you are strong use what land you have been given, drive out the giants, and God will give you victory even over iron chariots.

As the people of God we often let things get in the way of doing God’s will, and being obedient to Him, His word, and turn from the path He has laid out for us. There are spiritual leaders, pastors and deacons, and even other brothers and sisters in Christ who come into our lives to give us a word of exhortation, and encouragement, and plain ole rebuke and correction. When it cuts to the heart, it is probably a right word from God.

Like Joshua told the children of Joseph – Ephraim and Manasseh – “You are a great people and have great power…” and so are those who are in Christ Jesus. We let things get in the way of obedience, and faith in God’s ability to deliver us and give us the victory.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then you will not even know what I am saying. If you will confess to Him that you have sinned against Him, and turn from your sins to Jesus Christ who died on a cross being the sinless sacrifice for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again to life, and when we put our faith in Him He gives us a new heart, and begins changing us into the likeness of God’s Son.

Let us not live with things in our way; preventing our victory over our enemy, which is the enemy of GOD.

A Chosen People

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For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the LORD loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not be slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face.  Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
Deuteronomy 7-11

They are called an “holy people” and a people who have been chosen to be a “special people unto Himself, above all people on the face of the earth.” What makes these people a special people? It is not because they are good, or holy, or righteous, or because they are worthy. It is because God says He loves them. Who are these people?

They are the descendants of  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people are not holy because they are good, but because they have been made so by God Himself. They are a people who that the LORD is their God. That He is the faithful God, and that He keeps His promises, and is merciful, and He loves all who keep His commandments. Who are these people?

They are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are not special by their own works; they are special because the LORD keeps His promises, and He declares them a special people. God does not love them because they are worthy of His love; He loves them because He keeps His word.

Where does the Bride of Jesus Christ fit into this? We are part of the Body of Christ because we have been born again through faith in Christ Jesus, and His death on the cross of Calvary, His burial, and His resurrection. Jesus Christ is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and through Him we are a special people, a holy people, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10

We were not chosen because we were good, righteous, or holy. We were dying, condemned transgressors of the law of God, yet He loved us, and called unto Himself (Romans 5:8). We also keep His commandments, because we love Him; Jesus said, “If you love Me keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

There is a reason to fear what the end may be for one’s life. It is certain that you will die. It is just as sure and certain, that we will all, one day stand before the Lord, and will be judged by what we did with Jesus Christ. If you refuse Him you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe Him, trusting in Him and loving Him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and all your strength, then you will spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven.

Trust Him today, believe His word, His promises, and call on Him in repentance of sin.

In His Anger He Struck The Rock

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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
“Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.”
And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron,
“Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”
Numbers 20:7-12

What did Moses do wrong? The people of the congregation of Israel came to Moses and Aaron complaining again of having no water to drink, for themselves or their animals. Of course water is a necessary element for living of anything on this earth that breathes air.

The people had already witnessed one other time when God provided water from the rock, and Moses was told by God to “Strike the rock,” and Moses did and water came from the stricken rock (Exodus 17:6). This time, however, God had said, “Speak to the rock,” and instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck it twice; evidently in anger by the phrase He uses, “Hear now, you rebels…” I have a sneaking suspicion that Moses at that moment, in anger, had tunnel vision, and did not fully hear what God said, and remembering the last time he struck the rock, he did so again.

Anger can keep one from hearing God. Moses’s anger may have been justified, but was not good when he did not obey what God said.

I know what being angry and having tunnel vision is like. When I was a teenager we were at a cousins house, and the oldest boy in that family did something to me, while we were outside playing, that made me very angry. It was summer time, and in my anger all I could see while I was chasing him, was him; there was nothing else around me only my cousin in front of me. There was a pickup truck with a hay elevator laying over the tail gate of that pickup, sticking out six to eight feet out, and my cousin ran under that elevator. Well, with my eyes only on him I did not see the elevator, and I did not make the journey under the hay elevator. The elevator stopped at the bridge of my nose, and I went down. Today, I am very thankful for that elevator being there. My anger was not good. Neither is tunnel vision. To this very day I do not remember another time I have lost sight of what is around me.

Paul the apostle says that this rock is Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). First the Rock was struck showing us that the Messiah who is Jesus Christ would be smitten. In the second event speaking to the rock was what GOD had told Moses to do, but he struck it not once, but twice, and Christ was to struck only  once, and then He can be spoken to.

Because of this event of anger the LORD tells Moses and Aaron that they will neither one enter the Promised Land. God tells them “Because you did not believe Me.” It is very important for the child of God to believe God, and believe His word. God’s word concerning Jesus Christ in the Old and the New Testaments is true. He tells us clearly that Jesus is His only begotten Son, whom He sent into the world to redeem all who would come to Him, and give them eternal life.

Jesus, the Rock, was stricken one time, dying on the cross, He was buried, and He rose again. Jesus told us, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself…” (John 14:1-3). Are you ready? If not call on His name in repentance, and ask Him. He will hear, and He will deliver you from sin and death.

How Big Is GOD?

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And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.  If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.”
Numbers 14:6-9

The title of this post is “How Big Is GOD?” He is as big as His word; in that not one word He has spoken will fail. He keeps His word.

Joshua and Caleb knew how big the LORD is. When they went with the other ten men to survey the land, and check it out they saw the Promised Land. The other ten saw trouble. Joshua and Caleb believed the LORD, and were full ready to go into the Promised Land. Their GOD, was a big GOD, fully able to conquer the people’s of Canaan.

Those of us who are in Christ Jesus we are not working for victory, but working in the victory Jesus Christ gave us in His death on the cross,  His burial, and resurrection. We know the enemy has already been defeated, so what do we have to fear. The victory is already ours

Do not rebel against the LORD, but believe Him and trust Him from the victory that is His. Do not look at how big the trouble, the problem, the sickness, or whatever you are facing is. Look at God, and remind your enemy how big God is.

Jesus Christ came in love, mercy, and grace to accomplish our salvation, by becoming sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God, in Him. In becoming sin for us He died on the cross, being a perfect, sinless, sacrifice for sin. When He was dead they laid Him in a tomb, and three days later He walked out alive forever more. Believe Him and call on His name.

Build Up Yourselves In The Truth

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The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. 2 John 1:1-2
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. 3 John 1:11
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  Jude 1:20-21

When They Go Out From Us

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Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
1 John 2:18-19

I Believe God

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But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, “Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.  And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, ‘Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.’  Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.”
Acts 27:21-26

The Children Of Abraham

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“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, ‘They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.’  For this is the word of promise, ‘At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.’ ”
Romans 9:6-9

The Work Of Faith

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Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Facing The Schemes Of Evil

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Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; wherein was written,
“It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.  And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah:’ and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.”
Then I sent unto him, saying, “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.”  For they all made us afraid, saying, “Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done.”
Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.”  And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”  And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.
Nehemiah 6:5-14

Standing By Faith During Troubled Times

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Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; “All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.”  And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.
Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, “Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.”
So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Esther 4:10-17

Facing the Enemy

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Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O Thou most High.
What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity? In Thine anger cast down the people, O God.
Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book? When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
In God will I praise His word: in the LORD will I praise His word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto Thee. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Psalm 56:1-13

From Corruption to Life

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Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited His people in giving them bread.  Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.  And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.  And they said unto her, “Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.”  And Naomi said, “Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?  Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;’ would ye tarry for them till they were grown? Would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.” And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
Ruth 1:6-14

I Will Not Go Away From You

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And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.  And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.  And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.  And it shall be, if he say unto thee, “I will not go away from thee;” because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.  It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
Deuteronomy 15:12-18

We Are Well Able To Overcome

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And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.  And they told him, and said, “We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.”
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
Numbers 13:25-30

The Light of God

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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  “Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, ‘When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.’ ”   And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.  And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
Numbers 8:1-4

Revealing the Children of God

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Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1 John 3:7-10

Free As Servants of God

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Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.  Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.  For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.  Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
1 Peter 2:11-17

These things speak…

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For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Titus 2:11-15