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You were worth everything to Jesus. He chose to come and died for you rather than to live without you. He drank the cup of wrath without mercy so you might drink the cup of mercy without wrath. He was forsaken that you might be forgiven.

What happens to all who choose not to return the love to Jesus?

The Test of Love

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37

So many “Christians” have all the wherewithal, money, and desire to gladly and without hesitation sign a contract for cable TV, mortgages, rent, etc., to go to tanning salons, movies, buy coffees, and many other things in this fleeting world and yet, a miniscule few who name the name of Jesus care for His Gospel work enough to be disciplined in giving to further it. Unbelievable!

*** WHERE we spend out money is a direct reflection of the true priorities of our hearts and lives. It’s a fail proof way of seeing exactly where our hearts are – the true state of them. Jesus says “For where your treasure is, there WILL your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

Just “WHERE” did Jesus say our hearts Are?

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

According to Jesus, just “where” is your heart?

Wonder why you can’t seem to recover from lukewarmness and back sliding? Think about this truth above and you may find that your disobedience has and will perpetually cause you to be “lukewarm” which means you will be rejected from Christ’s kingdom in the end (Revelation 3:15-16). Those who just hear and don’t obey God’s Word, are deceived.

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22

Want to see “where” it is? – Just check your spending log and you will see exactly “where” your heart is. Your heart affections are following the spending of your money. Where ever you are intentionally putting your money, there’s where your heart is.

There is predictably a deafening silence when messages like this are sent out from the ministry. The lack of response is quite shocking actually. Why? Does this indicate that people are convicted or just don’t want to deal with this core truth, becoming truly transparent to the LORD?

Are You Factoring Christ In or Out of Your Life?

Are you factoring God out of your life like the Laodiceans who were previously saved but had since fallen away and were heading for hell? (Revelation 3:14-21)

Are you rich toward self or toward the Savior?

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15-21

What is the LORD worth to you?

Do you care that others are fed and reached for His glory – for whom Jesus bled?

Some will reason “Well, I really don’t have any money left over to give.” Why though do we not have money left over to give? First off, is that how much God is worth to us that we would only give to His work as an afterthought after all the other stuff in our life is funded? Is that seeking “FIRST” His blessed kingdom? (Matthew 6:33) Why do we not have money to give to help further Christ’s blessed Gospel by which we are saved? Is it because we have willingly and deliberately agreed to a larger mortgage or car payment or boat payment than we really need? Is it because we have rented to many God-less movies this month? Is it because we counted $4 daily coffees more important than lost souls and hungry stomachs, and the needs of the body of Christ?

Do we really think that the LORD our Judge doesn’t see this? (Proverbs 24:10-12)

The Worship of Our Giving

The worship of our lives should be that firstly, they are laid down flat before Him who bled and rose again for our sins (John 12:23-25; Romans 12:1). This is truly abiding in Christ and when we are, there will be the fruit of giving our lives to others and to His blessed work (Read John 15:1-16). Jesus sent you on a mission – the Great Co-Mission – and not to establish yourself in this fleeting, sinful world (Matthew 28:18-20).

Do we give in order to get blessed, to get more material goods for us, or because it supposedly “works”? Or, do we give as part of our life’s worship?

And yes, GIVING is a New Testament command. I never mentioned tithing so calm down please. But God so loved us that He gave, right? What shall we do in return with our lives? (Romans 12:1-2) Firstly, the giving up and over of our lives to our LORD as a living sacrifice, as we literally and deliberately lose our lives, casting them onto our LORD (that’s real faith), then He owns all else (Acts 20:35; Luke 6:38, etc.). Read 2 Corinthians 8-9; Acts 2:44-45; 4:34-35.

It seems that some only like the “no tithe” teaching due to their own greed and hoarding. The New Testament does not teach tithing but, yet it DOES teaching giving. Some pastors have certainly abused things and yet we are ultimately accountable to God Himself and no mere man.

I agree that the New Testament teaches giving, not tithing, and God should be worth not only 10% but our whole being and lives which would include the giving of our finances to His work and His people who have needs. Balance. Should we give to Him first or last? Is God an afterthought to us? Is the LORD a first or a second class citizen to us? (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Now, if we are not giving of our resources to the work of the Gospel and to those members of Christ’s body who have need, what does that say of us? Are we truly given over to the LORD? If we are spending our monies only on ourselves, just who are we imitating? Christ or His enemy Satan? Compare John 3:16 with Isaiah 14:12-15.

If we are truly given over to Christ, our lives laid down as we live for Him and eternity (not this life), will HIS work then become important to us?

“No man can serve two masters. He will love the one and hate the other, every time.  As we lay up treasure in heaven, we loosen our grip on this world more and more and, in time, we will truly grow up in Christ.  He is where our heart will be as we mature in Him.  If we have those who call themselves our brothers and who are rich in this world, but are not sharing richly to those in need and to the work of the ministry, then they are not brothers.  They are liars, hypocrites, covetous idolaters, and murderers. They will NOT inherit the kingdom of Heaven unless they REPENT. They are worse than unbelievers and will be judged most severely. Remember Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). Our God is God, and He will provide.” Stephen Michels

To those of you whom God has prepared and called out to be His workers:

If you are a wolf who preaches a selective (false) gospel that leaves out essential truth, you will be funded freely and possibly lavishly by the itching ear counterfeits who migrate to hear your lies (2 Timothy 4:2-4). If you are speaking the full-counsel of divine truth God gave us His Word, you will be shunned and shorted.  The LORD will be with you, even though you may suffer great poverty, even in the most financially prosperous nation in all history (America). Paul, Christ’s apostle, said that all men had forsaken him but the LORD still stood with him (2 Timothy 4:16-18). Yet, God doesn’t have American/money/currency in Heaven an so is limited to the willing obedience of those who name the name of Jesus. And regrettably, that is great limitation!

Are You Ready for This Event?

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

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Articles

The Only Way Up is Down [podcast]


Chapter 8 from the book Raised Up (narration)

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

The Down and Up Principle of God’s Kingdom

“And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root DOWNWARD, and bear fruit UPWARD.” Isaiah 37:31

The Scriptures follow a pattern of death and resurrection, a downward death and upward life. See if you can observe such a truth in the following verses:

“The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth UP all those that be bowed DOWN.” Psalms 145:14

Do you possess the blessed desire to be raised up by the Almighty? According to His divine wisdom given us in His precious Precepts, in order to be “raised up” we must first be “bowed down.” The LORD will not raise up any person who is still alive in his own power – He only raises up “those that be bowed down” in sincere humility before His majesty (Ps. 145:14; Jn. 12:23-25; Rom. 8:11).

“Those that be bowed down” will “take root downward” and be raised up in blessed fruitfulness (Isa. 37:31).

In order to “bear fruit upward,” one must first be planted in the house (kingdom) of the LORD and “take root downward” in the rich soil of His truth. The resurrection life of Jesus and ample fruitfulness will be the result.

Going deeper in God necessitates going down deeper into death and burial with Christ! Read Romans 6. There are no shortcuts (Galatians 5:24). Christ’s kingdom is a cross economy – one of utter humility and death to self that He might reign (John 12:23-25; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3, etc.).

“And whosoever shall exalt himself (upward) shall be abased (humbled); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

“He must INCREASE, but I must DECREASE.” John 3:30

“And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat FALL INTO THE GROUND (downward) and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (upward). He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life (downward) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal (upward).” John 12:23-25

“Humble yourselves (downward heart posture) in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:10

The life of Christ will raise a man upward and this is after that man bows down his life or humbles himself under the mighty hand of God – first at initial salvation then in the consecrated life that brings God glory. Blessed resurrection life is the upward result of the life planted downward and this is the place from which ministry springs. Look at what the apostle Paul wrote in this regard:

“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-12

Jesus declared to us that He came to make captives free from sin and Satan – “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Lk. 4:18; Jn. 8:31-32, 36).There is chain-shattering, freeing power (liberty) in the redeeming blood of Christ and by the power of the Holy Ghost (Lk. 4:18; Jn. 8:36; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:12-14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 12:11). The divine promise is that when one bows down before the LORD, every yoke shall be broken by Him who is above all (Isa. 58). No stronghold or bond of Satan has power when Christ’s blood is applied in sincere repentance and by the power of the Holy Ghost! The saint who is raised up after being bowed down, will glorify God in rich fruitfulness being “changed into the same image (Christ’s) from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

It is the divine Person of the Holy Ghost who raised up the LORD who was bowed down before His Father in death in order to purchase His Church with His own sinless blood (Acts 20:28). In like manner, it is the Holy Spirit with His resurrection power who raises up those who be bowed down before His throne of grace.

“And he (Jesus) was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God… And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.” Luke 13:10-13, 16-17

There can be no resurrection until there is first a death. A seed is dead or dormant then is planted and then germinates and brings forth bud, then a stalk and ultimately fruit – but first it must be buried downward in order to bear life-giving fruit upward. The life buried with Christ will be lifted up by divine power and bear much fruit to God’s glory (Jn. 15:8).

“But if the Spirit of him that raised UP Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised UP Christ from the dead shall also quicken (make alive upward) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11

Our LORD had to first die and be buried “downward” in order to be raised “upward” by the Father in resurrection life to raise up and justify all those who would call upon Him in repentance (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 10:13). In order for fruit to be borne “upward,” the disciple must first be planted “downward” in “the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Isa. 37:31; Phil. 3:10).

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Romans 6:3-5

“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

He created man with a choice (Josh. 24:15). In the end there will be “the resurrection of life” and also “the resurrection of damnation” (Jn. 5:28-29). Each of us will be in one of these resurrections – either everlasting life or eternal death (conscience separation from God in hell). The entrance into Heaven or termination into hell will hinge upon whom we served – God or self (Rom. 6:16).

Real promotion comes only from the Giver and Sustainer of all life – from the north (Heaven).

“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” Psalms 75:6-7

That person who freely chooses to believe God, taking Christ at His Word, bowing under His infinite Majestic glory, will be raised up both now and forever and eternally glorified with the Alpha and Omega (Phil. 2:5-11; 2 Thess. 2:13-14).

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” Psalms 92:12-14

PRAYER: Please draw me deeper into You LORD Jesus. Father in Heaven, You sent Your only begotten Son to die for me in order that I might be raised up in new life in this brief life and eternally. I love You Jesus and ask You to lead me to that crucified life that you lived when here on earth and as You gave Your life blood on the cross to save Your people. Please quicken me by Your Holy Spirit and fill me afresh O LORD, that this life You gave might be fully one with You and fruitful and pleasing to Thee. Lord, I am watching and praying in light of Your soon return. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

If you truly desire to know more about how to really know the LORD, go here okay: Born Again: What is It?

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“Awesome message. Thank you for sharing it. I would like to encourage everyone to read this and to look at the scriptures in their own Bibles! Wonderful message.” Linda C.

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Mother Sings to her Baby [video]

Dare you to try to stop this from playing continually….

If we’ve given our children everything in this world and not JESUS, we’ve failed miserable and clearly prove to be lost souls ourselves.


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Love in the Body [podcast]


Read 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. King James Bible

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