Abiding

Keys to Approaching God [podcast]

Paula White Exposed [video]

THAT’s My King! Pastor Lockridge [video]

Powerful Prayers from Children-This Will Shake You [video]

The Fear of the LORD is to Hate Evil: Pride, and Arrogancy #shorts [video]

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. … O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:18, 24

The cross reveals your sin, and God’s love, not how wonderful you are! Repent!

David, the only man in the Bible called by the LORD “a man after mine own heart”, knew God and knew how to approach Him! Let’s take a tip from beloved king David:

“But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy MERCY: and in thy FEAR will I worship toward thy holy temple.” Psalms 5:7

In light of our own utter depravity and unworthiness, we must approach God on the basis of His sheer mercy.

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5-7

WE approach our God on the basis of His sheer mercy He shed on us through the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ!

When Jacob was being approached by an enemy army, in fear he approached the LORD…..

“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant…” Genesis 32:10

May God instill in the depth of our being His holy fear – that we might love and know and seek our LORD all the days of our lives.

Your prayer life will grow as your knowledge of God’s Word grows. Knowledge is power! (Proverbs 24:5) Praying God’s Word is praying God’s will!

“The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.” Psalms 18:20

“The first cry of true prayer is the cry for mercy, pardon; and until this is spoken, until we step up by faith into the child-position, we do but offer vain oblations. Nay, even in the regenerate heart, if there be a temporary lapse, and unholy tempers brood within, the lips of prayer become paralyzed at once, or they only stammer in incoherent speech. We may with filled hands compass the altar of God, but neither gifts nor prayers can be accepted if there be bitterness and jealousy within, or if our ‘brother has aught against’ us. The wrong must be righted with our brother, or we cannot be right with God. How can we ask for forgiveness if we ourselves cannot forgive? How can we ask for mercy if we are hard and merciless, gripping the throat of each offender, as we demand the uttermost farthing? He who can pray for them who despitefully use him is in the way of the Divine commandment; he has climbed to the dome of the temple, where the whispers of prayer, and even its inarticulate aspirations, are heard in heaven. And so the connection is most close and constant between praying and living, and they pray most and best who at the same time “make their life a prayer.”

“Jesus teaches that character is an important condition of prayer, and that in this realm heart is more than any art. Words alone do not constitute prayer, for they may be only like the bubbles of the children’s play, iridescent but hollow, never climbing the sky, but returning to the earth whence they came. And so when the scribes and Pharisees make “long prayers,” striking devotional attitudes, and putting on airs of sanctity, Jesus could not endure them. They were a weariness and abomination to Him; for He read their secret heart, and found it vain and proud. In His parable (Luk_18:11) He puts the genuine and the counterfeit prayer side by side, drawing the sharp contrast between them. He gives us that of the Pharisee, wordy, inflated, full of the self-eulogizing “I.”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

5 “I”‘s of Lucifer Isaiah 14:12-15

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15

“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” James 4:6

All I have to do to find the man most in need of God’s saving grace and mercy, is to look in the mirror (Romans 7:18, 24; James 1:23-24). As long as we neglect to look in the mirror, honestly, we will continue to be self-righteous as were Jesus’ most evil enemies, the religious frauds, the pharisees of His day (Matthew 23). Are we pharisees or humble, broken, honest disciples of Christ? (Matthew 18:3-4)

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23

Notice that the prophet Jeremiah could have hope, knowing that God is merciful. Wow. Read that passage again above.

Are you going to Heaven or hell? Making Peace with God Now, Before it’s too Late

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“Two Men Went Up into the Temple to Pray" [podcast]

WHOSE PRAYERS DOES GOD ANSWER? AND WHOSE DOES HE REJECT? If we don’t understand this truth, taught by Jesus in His story of the 2 men who went up to pray, we can not prosper in our relationship and prayer life with the LORD. Father, please grant Your people eyes to see Thy kingdom for what it truly is and what it is not, in Jesus’ name, amen. Read Luke 18:9-14… One Man’s Prayer Was Answered and the Other Was Not Answered Why? The following teaching from the Son of God is of extreme importance as pertains to the disposition […]

G.O.D. = Game Over Devil [podcast]

Ousting the Enemy! WHO’s READY FOR SOME VICTORY? Your issue is with the God you have sinned against, and not me, a mere messenger of His. Blaming everyone except the sinner who caused your separation from your Maker will only dig yourself deeper in misery. The sin you are living in has given full control of your life to Satan who has come “to steal, to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). The following information will equip you to know what the LORD requires of you to be back into His graces, in a vital union with the Savior. Sin […]

Living a Blessed Full Rich Successful Life in Christ [podcast]

Psalm 34 9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. 11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The […]

Abiding

“Buried with Him by Baptism into Death” [podcast]

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

Every person “hid with Christ in God” is saved and under divine grace, saved by Christ.

Everyone not “hid with Christ in God” is going away in judgment (Colossians 3:3; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:19-21, 24). When we are “hid with Christ in God,” we are safe, secure, and under the blessings of His divine grace instead of His condemnation.

“Of the doctrine of baptisms” Hebrews 6:2

Baptized into Jesus Christ and Baptized into His Death

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” Romans 6:3

Jesus defeated death, hell, sin, and satan by dying (Hebrews 2:14)…. whereby He was then resurrected and redemption was completed. Redemption culminated, was finalized in the resurrection of Christ.

In the same way, God calls us to die downward with Christ so that He can raise us upward into His victory…. letting go and letting God, not a striving or struggle but rather a surrender, we are to let Christ consume us, as we surrender (John 3:30).

“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Luke 23:46

Are we willing to declare today to declare with our LORD Jesus that we are submitting our spirit into His holy hands?

“death is swallowed up in victory” – death results in God raising us upward, into His full victory, ultimately into final, eternal victory, glory with the Father, Son, and the saints of the ages.

We can be sure, completely confident that as we die downward and are buried with Christ, God is going to raise us up into His victory God’s answer to death and burial is resurrection.

The resurrection is the victory and in order to experience His resurrection life, we must be dead and buried and ultimately raised up into eternal glory with Him.

“Thou fool, that which thou sowest (plant downward) is not quickened (made alive), except it die:” 1 Corinthians 15:36

“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:54

Romans 6

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

v3 – “baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death”

v4 – “buried with him by baptism into death”

v5 – “his death … his resurrection”

Notice that death and buried, being immersed into the death and burial of Christ must of necessity precede, must come before the resurrection we experience with Christ through the daily cross life.

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

When He saves us we are baptized with Him “into his death” …. “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20)

“When a person is saved, he is baptized into Christ Jesus in the sense that he is identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. This is not the same as the baptism in (or of) the Spirit, though both occur simultaneously. The latter baptism places the believer in the body of Christ (1Co_12:13); it is not a baptism into death. The baptism into Christ means that in the reckoning of God, the believer has died with Christ and has risen with Him.

When Paul speaks of baptism here, he is thinking both of our spiritual identification with Christ and of its portrayal in water baptism. But as the argument advances, he seems to shift his emphasis in a special way to water baptism as he reminds his readers how they were “buried” and “planted together” in the “likeness” of Christ’s death.

The NT never contemplates the abnormal situation of an unbaptized believer. It assumes that those who are converted submit to baptism right away. Thus our Lord could speak of faith and baptism in the same breath: “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mrk_16:16). Though baptism is not a requirement for salvation, it should be the invariable public sign of it.” Believer’s Bible Commentary

Baptized into the body of Christ

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13

“1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized, etc. – As the body of man, though composed of many members, is informed and influenced by one soul; so the Church of Christ, which is his body, though composed of many members, is informed and influenced by one Spirit, the Holy Ghost; actuating and working by his spiritual body, as the human soul does in the body of man.

To drink into one Spirit – We are to understand being made partakers of the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost agreeably to the words of our Lord, Jhn_7:37, etc.: If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink: this he spake of the Spirit which they that believed on him should receive.
On this verse there is a great profusion of various readings, which may be found in Griesbach, but cannot be conveniently noticed here.” Adam Clarke

“Baptism is more than just getting wet! When we go down into the water it signifies we are now dead and buried and our “life is hid with Christ in God.” Col 3:3. Coming up out of the water is our resurrection life! We are then raised up into newness of life! Our old man is crucified and we no longer serve sin but we have a new Master! Jesus Christ is the new Master of our lives! We now serve God and not sin. And should be bearing fruit of rightness and holiness! Romans 6. When we embrace the crucified life we are given overflowing rivers of new life! New life is breathed into us. Walking in the flesh only makes our soul sick with sin! And sin kills and destroys! (Romans 6:23). Rotting us from the inside out! But the way of the cross brings life to our flesh! (Proverbs 3:8, 4:22). Our flesh meaning our whole spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23. We cannot be a whole person until we are completely given over to the Lord! And this can only happen through the cross. When we are dead and buried and raised up in the newness of life Jesus offers us! Then the joy of the Lord will fill our hearts!” Karen Cochran

What some don’t realize is that just because they were saved in the past in no way means they are still in Christ. This is why we read things like this throughout Scripture:

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5

We must judge ourselves against God’s Word.

“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” 1 Corinthians 11:31-32

Prayer: Father please penetrate my heart with Your holy conviction, granting true repentance and obedience. LORD, I want to be dead and buried with You. I am crucified with Christ and I know You are raising me up and will ultimately raise me up with You into eternal glory… I am not planted together in the likeness of His death and burial and I know You are raising me up into the victory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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THE ESSENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTOLOGY [podcast]

WHO do WE say that Jesus is? “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8), and He is asking us the exact questions today that He asked His disciples while on earth. “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Matthew 16:13 “But whom say ye that I am?” Matthew 16:15 Jesus is asking each of us “What are others saying of Me and Who do you say that I am?” In other words, perhaps He’s asking us “In a world of many swirling ideas about Me, who do you say that […]

Judgment to Come Necessitates the Crucified Life [podcast]

“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Corinthians 9:27 In light of “eternal judgment” (Hebrews 6:2), the apostle speaks here of his preparation for it. Paul knew that eternal damnation awaited him if he dared not keep under his body, to crucify the deeds of the body to “bring it into subjection” by the daily crucified life. Keeping under our bodies speaks of a continual essential. Keeping under means subduing the old man by crucifying it daily. “For […]

"Raised Up" by Christ [podcast]

Chapter 4 from the book Raised Up (narration) Chapter Four “Raised Up” Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 2 Corinthians 4:14 In the context of this passage, the Holy Spirit is speaking through His servant Paul to those who are “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.” The promise of being “raised up” in verse 14 (above) is to those whose lives are “dead” and who are therefore “hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). The “remnant” are specifically […]

Articles

Is Romans 7 Before or After Paul’s Salvation?

“The truth is that while Christ dwells in the believer’s new nature, He has strong competition from the believer’s old nature. The warfare between the old and the new goes on continually in most believers.” AW Tozer

The law of God is “holy, and just, and good.” (Romans 7:12)

The holy law of God and the depraved nature of fallen mankind could not be further apart – the righteousness of God inherent in His law vs the “old man,” the iniquitous fallen nature of mankind (Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9).

Nothing but a caustic reaction, explosion could be the result of the 2 colliding (Romans 7). One or the other must reign.

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:17

In what tense did the great apostle speak in when addressing this “old man” that wars against the Spirit in us?

“O WRETCHed man that I am! (presently) who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24

Paul’s flesh was and our flesh is a constant reminder of the ever momentary need for the cross, burial, and resurrection grace of Jesus (Romans 6:3-10; 8:11; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20, etc.). Read Romans chapters 6-7 each morning this week.

It really is true that Jesus “saved a wretch like me” when He mercifully saved me.

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 7:18

No, the apostle wasn’t admitting to living in sin but rather that that “old man” – the flesh – was present and must be crucified with Christ daily. Is that not exactly what Jesus taught?

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his CROSS DAILY, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:23-24

I believe Romans 7 applies to both before and after one is saved …. Because if the saved person departs from the daily cross walk, that same “old man” will take center stage. “O wretch man that I AM (present)” (Romans 7:18) ….. we are born again children of God, saints of the Most High and yet that potential to evil, that “old man” must be crucified and “put off” by the daily cross so the “new man” can reign with Christ in this life and eternity. What Paul calls the “old man” must be “put off” and so we can conclude that there IS an “old man” to be “put off” otherwise no such instruction would have been given. We are not to deny the “old man” – the sinful bent – but rather to crucify it (Romans 6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9).

Charles Pray writes: “So many want to hide their sins, especially those who like to appear Holy on the outside while inside they are dark, unholy ministers of the flesh. They have become a product of their own desires. Dear Lord, please bring them back to their first Love–Jesus! Amen.”

Saints, we cannot possibly begin to appreciate this “so great salvation” that is Christ until we understand how lost, helpless, and alienated we were in our sin (Ephesians 2:1-10; Hebrews 2:3). We must study to understand the biblical doctrine of inherent sin, fallen mankind, and the holiness of God …. in order to begin to be able to appreciate the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.

What to “Put Off” and What to “Put On”

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation THE OLD MAN, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on THE NEW MAN, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24

“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off THE OLD MAN with his deeds; 10 And have put on THE NEW MAN, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” Colossians 3:9-10

“When we embrace the crucified life we are given overflowing rivers of new life! New life is breathed into us. Walking in the flesh only makes our soul sick with sin! And sin kills and destroys! (Romans 6:23). Rotting us from the inside out! But the way of the cross brings life to our flesh! (Proverbs 3:8, 4:22). Our flesh meaning our whole spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23. We cannot be a whole person until we are completely given over to the Lord! And this can only happen through the cross. When we are dead and buried and raised up in the newness of life Jesus offers us, then the joy of the Lord will fill our hearts!” Karen Cochran

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Man's Problem - God's Redemptive Solution [podcast]

The Biblical Doctrine or Story of Redemption The story of God’s creation of mankind and mankind’s descension into sin. Man chose to sin. God chose to redeem and not ditch. Man’s Dilemma, Sin – God’s Solution – the Savior, Jesus Christ Here’s fallen mankind’s issue—sin, sin nature: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. … O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:18, 24 “The […]

No Inherent Sin Nature?

No Inherent Sin Nature? Born Okay the First Time? After the Fall: Is Mankind Inherently Good or Evil? SELF-RIGHTEOUS DEVILS will be in hell first according the Christ! (Matthew 21:31) There are lots of novices acting like they have the answers because they learned their heresies from now-in-hell wolves like Mike Desario and Charles Finney. Beware. These are the vilest of devils. Those who claim man has no inherent sin nature deny the presence and power of sin and are just another group of enemies of the cross of Christ (Romans 7; Philippians 3:18-19). Some deny that there is a […]

Sin: Man’s Core Problem [podcast]

People don’t have a “mental health” problem, they have a SIN problem and sin is what gives way, gives full access to Satan! “When people hear voices telling them to harm themselves or others, that’s not a chemical imbalance, it’s demon possession.” Rachel Gould “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 Jesus taught us that man’s sin comes out of his “desperately wicked” heart (Jer17:9; Mark 7:20-23). The devil and his agents have created a million ways to divert us from stopping our lives, getting honest, taking personal responsibility, humbling ourselves, […]

Articles

What Does it Mean to Follow Christ? [podcast]

“Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 3

THE LORD is calling for an immediate release of the WHOLE counsel of HIS WORD!

DO you have a 20/20 vision? Read Acts 20:20 and get it!

Just like fake news TV, wolves only give you a small part of the whole story – in order to manipulate you! Half truths kill!

YOU know when you are right with God when you are running TO the cross message and not AWAY from it! “Enemies of the cross” of Christ “mind earthly things” and not the things the LORD commanded (Philippians 3:18-19).

The cross is a dethroning, unseating of self and the enthroning of Christ!

The Crucified Life

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Walking with Jesus [podcast]

There are two parts of the cross—the atoning death Jesus alone accomplished on the cross— “It is finished,” and the cross He commanded us to take up daily as we are “crucified WITH” Him. In this second part of the cross, we have died to our old nature and buried it so that we can partake of Christ’s divine nature, as He raises us upward in His grace and power into full victory and fruitfulness in pleasing Him. His divine power which works in us keeps us from the things that displease Him, which He calls sin (John 19:30; Romans 6-8; Galatians […]

Though None Go with Me, Still I Will Follow

Feel Alone Sometimes? The lady who was most instrumental in leading me to Christ, who invited me to the meeting where I was saved, later departed from Christ. The man who preached that night when the LORD saved my wretched soul also departed from Christ, committing heinous crimes. So, who saves us saints? CHRIST! Why would we ever blame our dear LORD and Savior for what mere sinful men do? We must continue to choose God – to love Him with all our being, heart, mind, spirit, and strength. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God […]

A Stranger will they not Follow [podcast]

“Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:23 To hear the voice of God, simply read HIS Word. So many today in the false flake “prophetic” movement talk about “hearing the voice of God” repeatedly and yet the WORD is never mentioned! Delusion! Run! “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” John 10:4-5 IF you are […]