sgys banner books

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

Sign up for free email devotional HERE... The Moments with My Master email devotional is sent out for the edification of the body of Christ.

~STEWARDSHIP FEST: Examining Ourselves Honestly |  “Depart in Peace, be ye Warmed and Filled” | 1 Timothy 6 | Wealth Wasted on the Worship of Self! | Token Tips

Sign up here to begin receiving the Moments with My Master email sent out to edify Christ’s saints.

Support | STORE | Podcasts | The Return of Christ | Stewardship | Where to Give and Where Not to Give | Fruit Abounding to Your Account! | Victory in Jesus | Discipleship | The Glorious Grace of God | The Restoring Love of Our God | God’s Mercy | Spiritual Warfare | Justification | Grace and Good Works [podcast]

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Abiding

The Death before the Death [podcast]


Gethsemane Preceded Calvary

“And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:42-44

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30

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

“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. 25  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Luke 9:23-25

Shall We Freshly Declare the Cross to be Front and Center in our Personal Lives?

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 

Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison MinistryMexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | Prayer | Manhood | The Conquering Cross of Christ [podcast]The Cross VictorySin – Man’s Core Problem

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Continue Reading

Abiding

“Rend Your Heart, and Not Your Garments” [podcast]


Who Does God Look to? Who Does God Dwell in?

Beware of any man pretending to represent Christ who isn’t praying and preaching for you to be possessed by a humble and contrite heart.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

“‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:3). A low condition.  ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted’ (Matthew 5:4). To mourn over our sin and our utter wickedness before a holy and righteous God. Those are the ones who will receive the comfort and ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’ (Romans 14:17).” Karen Cochran

Abandoning Our Own Sin, Our Own Way, for God and His Better Way!

To “rend your heart” is a biblical phrase meaning to tear open your heart in radical sincerity, true humility, and genuine repentance.

The phrase comes from Joel 2:13 in the Bible: “Rend your heart and not your garments and return to the Lord your God.”

One source notes the following:

“Context and Deeper Meaning:

  • Cultural Background: In ancient times, the Jewish people would tear (rend) their clothes as a public, highly visible display of grief or repentance.
  • The Spiritual Message: God is warning that outward rituals (like ripping clothing) are meaningless if the heart remains unchanged. Rending your heart implies breaking through your pride, letting go of excuses, and being completely vulnerable and authentic before God.
  • The Reward: The verse goes on to say that God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” Tearing open your heart allows you to experience His forgiveness and restore your relationship with Him.”

To see an example of rending one’s physical garment in representation of rending their heart, see Acts 14:11-18.

Where is the LORD Looking?

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God” Joel 2:12-14

“What a gracious invitation is contained in these words. How tenderly the Lord reasons with his people. And what an encouraging assurance it folds up with. Reader! do not fail to observe that this call of the Lord, the accompanying grace to incline the heart to the observance of it is implied. It is most blessed ever to remember that when the Lord thus comes forth in his endearing invitations, he is secretly inclining the heart to accept them. Grace must first enter the heart, or there will be no inclination to obey.” Robert Hawker

“Jeremiah’s message was never meant to leave the heart in despair. Every warning from God carried an invitation to return. The Lord does not expose empty religion to shame His people, but to heal them. Repentance is not the loss of hope, it is the beginning of hope. Christ still receives every soul that comes with humility, and He gives living faith where there was only habit, peace where there was only fear, and joy where there was only emptiness. The call remains the same today, to draw near to Him with a sincere heart, trusting that His mercy is always greater than our weakness.” Dan Blincoe

A Fresh Start with God Always Begins with Humility and True Repentance

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?” Joel 2:12-14

Concerning rending our hearts before the LORD, one source notes:

The classic Bible passage on this concept is Joel 2:13, where God commands: “Rend your heart and not your garments”.  In ancient biblical culture, tearing (or “rending”) one’s physical clothing was a customary, visible display of extreme grief, despair, or repentance. Through the prophet Joel, God is essentially telling His people: Stop doing the empty, outward religious ritual of tearing your clothes to show everyone how sorry you are. Instead, let me see true, inward brokenness over your sins.

Examples of Rending Physical Garments

In the Bible, the physical act of tearing clothes was used as a dramatic expression of deep emotion in several well-known narratives:

  • Joseph’s Brothers (Genesis 37:29, 34): When Reuben realized Joseph was not in the pit, and later when the brothers brought Joseph’s blood-stained coat to Jacob, they tore their clothes in grief and despair. 
  • Job (Job 1:20): After hearing that he had lost all his wealth and his children, Job stood up and tore his robe as an outward sign of his overwhelming sorrow.
  • King David (2 Samuel 1:11-12): When David received news of the deaths of King Saul and Jonathan, he and his men tore their clothes to mourn.
  • The High Priest (Matthew 26:65): In a dramatic display of hypocritical outrage, the high priest tore his own garments when Jesus declared He was the Son of God, falsely accusing Him of blasphemy.

The Spiritual Meaning of “Rending the Heart”

The concept of “rending the heart” contrasts an outward show with inward reality.

  • Genuine Repentance: Tearing your heart means being vulnerable, acknowledging your brokenness, and deeply repenting of sin before God. 
  • Prioritizing Relationships over Rituals: God desires a sincere heart—true sorrow and a desire to change—more than he desires traditional religious pageantry or dramatic, public displays of grief.
  • The Promise of Forgiveness: In Joel 2:13, the command to rend the heart is immediately followed by the promise of grace: “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love”.  

God sees beyond our external habits and religious actions, requiring instead a humble, contrite heart to fully experience His mercy.”

God’s Mercy

“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14  Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?” Joel 2:12-14

In God’s Word, where we see men who tear open their garments…. This holds the illustration of rending our hearts before the LORD.

Don’t render outward tearing, no, rather, tear open your inner man, your heart—be honest, sincere, exposed, and vulnerable to the LORD whom you trust.

Let’s attempt to get at, to ascertain what God is commanding of His beloved people to do in this “rend your heart” passage.

“Joel 2:13: Rend your heart—Let it not be merely a rending of your garments, but let your hearts be truly contrite. Merely external worship and hypocritical pretensions will only increase the evil, and cause God to meet you with heavier judgments.

For he is gracious—Good and benevolent in his own nature.

Merciful—Pitying and forgiving, as the effect of goodness and benevolence.

Slow to anger —He is not easily provoked to punish, because he is gracious and merciful.

Of great kindness—Exuberant goodness to all them that return to him.

And repenteth him of the evil—Is ever ready to change his purpose to destroy, when he finds the culprit willing to be saved. See the notes on Exo_34:6, Exo_34:7.” Adam Clarke

“Joel 2:12-14: III. DIVINE APPEAL TO JUDAH TO REPENT (2:12-14)
Even now, the LORD calls the people to repentance. It is not too late to return to Him. But it must be more than outward ritual. Their turning was to be with all their heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Believer’s Bible Commentary

To rend our hearts is the consistent message, mandate of God to His people of all ages and eras.

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalms 34:18

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalms 51:17

In Joel 2 the LORD reminds those who are backslidden that He “is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? …”

They must meet His stated conditions to receive His blessings ….

He promises that He will forgive them as they…..

“Joel 2:12-27: THE AVERTING OF JUDGMENT
To rend the garment is easy, but a broken and contrite heart can be imparted only by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The love of God should bring us to repentance. He takes no pleasure in our miseries and if men repent and turn from their sin they find an immediate and loving welcome to the Father’s heart and home. Joel had called for the trumpet to announce war; he now directs the trumpet blast to summon the people, from the highest to the lowest, to plead for help. Prayer and true repentance and faith bring an immediate answer. As the husband yearns over his erring but repentant wife, and is indignant with those who have maltreated her, so will Jehovah remove from us, when we turn to Him, those who have cruelly oppressed us.
The great things Jehovah did against Egypt and Babylon are an earnest of what He will do again. The earth (and all  the creation  of God) … have good reason to rejoice in what awaits them. God promises not only to forgive sin, but to make us happy and well provided as if the locust and cankerworm had never settled upon our lives.” FB Meyer

Religious hypocrites, counterfeits, emphasize the outward to cover their inner darkness, rebellion.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.   Matthew 23:23-25

“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” Mark 7:6

 

Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison MinistryMexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | The Return of ChristStewardshipThe Importance of Keeping Our HEARTS before God

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Continue Reading

Articles

God and His Word are Unchanging [podcast]


Because God is Unchanging, So is His Word

“For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”    Malachi 3:6

“Which keepeth truth for ever” – Is the Bible “Archaic”? No. Divine truth is everlasting. Has no expiration date. You cannot escape accountability to it, to Him. It’s an open book test. The Savior says “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (Mark 13:31). Divine truth is eternal, unchanging, and binding upon all men (Psalms 146:6; Malachi 3:6, etc.).

Every time you open God’s Word and begin reading, you are hearing the voice of God.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1 (the devil questions God’s Word, questions what God says in His Word.)

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall NOT surely die.” Genesis 3:4

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:2

“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:17

“Ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.” Jeremiah 23:36

“all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:” Jeremiah 26:2 

 

Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison MinistryMexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | ParentsFamily | Godly Manhood | WomenChristology | Because You Care Page | The Greatest of these is CharityBe Ready in the Morning [podcast]The Sure Mercies of David [podcast]That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached [podcast]At His Feet | Prepared to be Used of God The Damning Myth of Unconditional Eternal Security [podcast]The Essential of Fearing God | The KING is Coming [podcast]Lukewarm is Hell Bound!

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Continue Reading

Categories

donate button round
sgys-books01

Trending