It Is Love That Is The Greatest.

Many believe that others truly do not care for them, therefore, they do not care for others. This is not a life complete in Christ. After experiencing the love of Christ that comes with no conditions, in turn, we love deeply all others despite their distorted view of what true love is. We must imitate our Savior who showed His love by giving His life for us even though we were still sinners. There is no greater love you will ever find than the love of Jesus Christ, who at the cross poured out His blood to cover the sins of those who repent. He looks at the Father and says, “You see that one, I will pay their debt. I want them with me, so I will go in their place and receive the punishment. Crush me, not them, for I love them so dearly”. Christ is love. A love that is so deep it came flooding from before time was, showed on the cross, and into the hearts of all who receive Him. But here’s the thing, He loves those who do not love Hm in return. This shows that His love requires nothing on our part; we can do nothing to earn it, and we can do nothing to cause Him to love us less. He loves us with an everlasting love. There is a love that is so pure, a charity that is given freely without conditions, for it is by grace through faith we receive salvation because of the exchange made by the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us share that love freely because it was freely given to us; “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love–but the greatest of these is love” (1Corinthins 13:13,CSB). Grace be with you all.

Strait Is The Gate and Narrow Is The Way.

Do you know someone who is so blinded by their misinterpretation of Scripture that they truly believe they have constructed a new, easier Gospel to follow? In fact, they do not even read the Gospel fully but they listen without discernment to others who they themselves are misled. They preach of blessings and provision, but do not teach that it is the Kingdom of God we must first seek before all these other things will be given to us. My heart is broken for those who say Lord, but they do not follow Him, let alone know Him. When things get hard, that prayer they said when they asked Jesus into their hearts no longer holds them because there is much more involved than just inviting Jesus into your heart. They were not taught that holiness must be practiced, and when times begin to toss, it is faith in Jesus Christ that sustains us. Did not Jesus Himself say that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Notice He did not say to just come to the gate, but enter into it, and not only is the gate strait, but the path is narrow that leads to life. Jesus also states that there will be many that call Him Lord, yet will not be permitted to enter into the kingdom of heaven, instead Christ will say to them, “I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work inequity” (Matthew 7:21-23). I am not typing these things to be harsh, but to display a loving heart for those who need to begin living the life that is pleasing to God. For we will all stand before the throne of Christ alone, and no excuse we have made now will be able to be given. Be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and be sanctified; be brought into the truth of the blood shed by Christ for you. By doing so, when you stand before Him, His righteousness will be your covering; a covering that is given to all who have repented and has been cleansed by His blood. Grace be with you all.

Be Not Faithless But Believe.

In Matthew 14, we read the account of Jesus walking on the water and Peter walks on the water to go to Jesus. Peter begins to sink when his attention moves off Jesus, but Peter quickly calls out to Jesus to save him and when Jesus pulls him up He says, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14: 25-31). When considering doubt among the disciples we mostly tend to think of Thomas; he is one we all can relate to because we have all faced doubt and may be facing it now. Thomas witnessed the miracles of Christ up front and heard His teachings first hand. He saw Jesus feed 5000 and even passed the food out; he witnessed Jesus heal leprosy, walk on the water as previously mentioned, raised a man from the dead, and much more, but when it came to it he doubted that his Lord when He was dead could raise Himself. You see, doubt causes a person to withdraw from others, and most of all draw away from God. In our doubt, we should not do such things; honesty in a relationship builds that relationship, so too does honesty in our relationship with God. With that, voice your doubt to God and do not hide it from Him, for He is God and see’s it anyway. Thomas let his doubt be known, but Christ did not condemn him for doing so. Granted, Jesus may rebuke us for our doubt as He did Peter, but He will not turn us away because of it. Instead, Christ will come to us despite our doubt when we are honest. He is our Lord, and He will not discard us for being open and honest to Him about the things we think and feel, for as mentioned, He already knows. But recall, when Jesus came to Thomas He told Him to not be faithless, but believe, and Thomas, despite being the greatest doubter, gave the highest praise when he said, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). If you have doubt about anything, make it verbally known to Christ, and in the midst of waiting for His answer, your faith will be strengthened. Grace be with you all.

Strength To Conquer Through Pain.

It is written, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39). For what ever we face, whatever we struggle with, Christ is with us. I am aware that my Lord Jesus Christ conquered death, but He did not conquer it despite the scorn, the beating, the pain, the rejection, and being nailed to a tree. He conquered death through it; with this truth, He will give us the strength to conquer, not despite our pain, but through it. Like the apostle Paul, I too am persuaded that no one nor no thing, can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Who can change the word of God? What a truth that the creator would desire a relationship with us and love us. That He would be affected by our actions; grieved by our acts of disobedience, and pleased with our acts of obedience. The King of Glory has His heart on us. Who are we to deny Him? May the love, peace, and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Sons And Daughters Of God.

It is a very powerful and humbling truth that the creator of the universe, the one who spoke the words and it was, the one who’s power can not even come close to being matched, even if all the universe could be combined; that same awesome, and powerful God, desires a relationship with us. No matter who you are He is your God, but only to the believer in Jesus Christ, is He called, “Father”. You see, the belief that He is the universal Father of all is a fleshy doctrine and is not found in Scripture. it is written, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:14-15). When we accepted Christ, we received the Spirit of God and were adopted into His family, becoming His sons and daughters, His children. And we are given the right and privilege to call Him Father in a personal way which includes, “Abba”. It is clear in Scripture that all do not have this privilege to call God Father; it is written, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are family, may be not in the since of physical or natural blood relations, but by the blood of Christ and the Spirit which lives in each one of us; that same Spirit that rose our Lord from the dead, yes, that same Spirit lives in us. We are adopted into the same family, the family of God, and we are the children of our heavenly Father. Therefore, we are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord. Grace be with you all.

The Perfect Love Of Jesus Christ.

Christ does not distance Himself from your pain, nor does He turn His face from it. It was Christ who came down and underwent the greatest pain for the sin’s of the world, and paid the price with His blood. Nothing could have stopped Him from doing so because He laid down His own life. His love is unstoppable; it shatters, crashes, restores, redeems, and transforms. It drives, pulls. places, and lifts up. Christ calls out to all and say’s, “Do you not know that I am here and that I love you? I moved heaven and earth to come down to prove the love I have for you. In fact, if you were the only one, I still would have died just for you”. Jesus will chase you; He will sing precious words of life in your ear until you open up to Him. He will draw you and will never give up on you, for He does not rest nor sleep. He loves with a perfect love that is everlasting, for it is written, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). All that you face you do not have to face it alone, for all you have to do is call out to Christ. I will not promise that the struggle will go away or you will be removed from it, but I do promise that Christ will give you strength and be with you to go through it. I think of pain in this way: I would rather feel pain than nothing at all. I have went through times in my past where I felt nothing, numb to my own emotions. Now all my emotions are deepened, including pain and sorrow, but so too has my love deepened. Jesus knows your pain, sorrows, and your deepest fears. His love is never ending, perfect, and is for you; He loves you because He loves you, accept the perfect love of Christ Jesus the Lord. May His love, peace, and grace be with you all.

Are You Playing Games With God?

Who are we to play games with God? Do you know that if you live in sin, God does not hear your prayer? He will only listen to your prayer of repentance first. Do you not know that if you say you are a Christian, but walk according to the world you are a liar and do not know Christ? God is disgusted by the one that say’s they know Him, yet, does not obey Him. When many pray, they pray selfishly for things that will only satisfy their fleshly lust. A Christian who lives in sin should be approached in love and be told to repent; if they do not, bring others with you to talk to them; if that still does not work, bring the matter before the church; if they still refuse, get them out of the church because they are hurting the congregation. When these steps are taken and the person refuses to repent, it is written, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1Corinthians 5:5). This may sound harsh, but pay attention to the last statement, “the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. If you continue to put your mask on and call yourself a Christian, but still live a life enjoying your sin, God will give you over to those things and allow Satan to have his way; this will be done out of love in order to purge your flesh and bring you back to God with a repentant heart. God will allow all sorts of things to come upon you in order to bring you to Himself so that in the end, your spirit will be saved; yet, many still reject Him and His love and mercy. You may feel confident in rolling your dice with God, but one day the “game” will be over, the dice will roll no longer. Please come to Christ and stop taking a chance and using procrastination when it comes to your salvation, for today is the day of salvation; Christ is coming back, and He does NOT play games. I pray you will be ready. Grace be with you all.