The Persecution Promise

Did you know that one of the true signs of saving faith is the fact that you will face persecution?  Consider the following:

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs— heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.  Romans 8:16-17

Are you wondering exactly what that means and how it plays out in our lives today? 

Good.  Then keep listening.

 

The following is a study on John 15:18-27.

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The Vine and the Branches, Part II

The players from John 15:

One, Jesus is the Vine... all of the Vine.  He is the roots, the stalk, the leaves... literally, He is everything. 

Two, we, as Believers, are the branches of the Vine.  We are a part of the Vine, not separate and distinct from the Vine, but connected to the Vine to serve a specific purpose.  And what is that purpose?  To bear the fruit of the Vine.  Note, we don't create the fruit for our own use, we just bear it.  And why?  For what purpose? 

Three, for the enjoyment and glory of the Vinedresser, God the Father.  

But there is so much more.  Keep listening.

 

The following is a study on John 15:1-8.

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The True Vine Stole My Heart

When the Scriptures speak about the terms of salvation, they always seem to frame the event as either right or wrong, with no wiggle room, no grey area.

For example, two roads and two paths.  One leads to destruction and the other to life.  Notice, there is no third choice.

Two fruits, one good and one bad.  Nothing in between.

And when Jesus calls Himself the true vine, doesn't that imply a distinction between a possible false vine?  Absolutely!  Listen and find out more.

 

The following is a study on John 15:1.

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The Church in America

For those of you familiar with the ministry and story of Francis Chan, I believe you will not be surprised by what he says in this video.

Ah, so true, so true... and so sad for the church in America.

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Rewards in Heaven? Oh, Yeah!

Just because we live in the age of grace doesn't mean that works do not play into the Christian life.  After all, Scripture clearly teaches that we will be rewarded for our deeds done in the flesh... or, our works. 

Oh yes, there is a Bema seat judgment where we will be judged by the Lord for our works and we will receive our rewards. 

In fact, the promise of receiving rewards from the hand of Christ was an incredible motivator for the apostle Paul and countless other heroes of the Christian faith throughout the centuries. 

What?  You think that sounds self-promoting and selfish?  Then listen on.

The following is a study on the motivation of Heavenly Rewards.

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The Marks of Saving Faith

In the 3rd chapter of Romans we see the word "faith" repeated over and over again.  Believers are deemed righteous by faith.  Man is justified by faith.  God justifies both the circumcised and the uncircumcised by faith.  God is even called the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

Everywhere we look it's faith, faith... and still more faith. 

But what exactly is this faith?  What kind of faith are we talking about?  And is this the kind of faith that saves?  Is there another kind of faith that doesn't save?  What is the difference?  How can I know? 

Are you hungry for some answers?  Then listen on.

The following is a study on the Saving Faith.

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Time to Come and Die

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, before he died at the Flossenburg Concentration camp on April 9, 1945, summarized in his book, the Cost of Discipleship, the Christian life like this:

"When Christ calls a man,
He bids him to come and die."

Is that true?  Does Christ really demand total abandonment of self to follow Him? 

Is that what was portrayed in the gospels?  Because it certainly isn't what is esteemed in current Christian circles today, is it? 

And why not?

The following is a study on the Cost of Following Jesus.

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Goin' Down!

Sometimes life is just hard.  Real hard.  And sometimes it's hard to understand why the Lord allows things to happen to His children that, well... happen to his children. 

And when they do we are often left with the nagging thought that maybe God doesn't care as much as we care or maybe we've done something to make Him not love us anymore. 

Do you ever have thoughts like that?  Maybe when the situation looks hopeless and dark?  Maybe when you feel alone and forgotten?  Or maybe when you're sure you're going down for the last time? 

If you have, you're not alone.

The following is a study on Peter and Jesus.

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Watch What You Pray For

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, then these pictures are worth much more.

Be Careful For What You Pray For

Enough said... don't you think?

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In the Midst of Lies, Listen to the Truth

The following montage communicates the most important message for this generation.  Watch it and be warned... then repent and come to Him.

Question:  What is the true test of salvation? 
Answer:  It's more than mere words.

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The Surrendered Life

This is the entry for today in Oswald Chambers', My Utmost for His Highest.  This is my earnest prayer.

The Surrendered Life

"I have been crucified with Christ..."  Galatians 2:20

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things.  Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else.  The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit.  What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin.  Actually, that is all He can take from us.  And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness.  But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.

Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next.  Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves.  Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives?  Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?

We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender.  When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ.  When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.

If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him.  And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.

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Poison in the Stew

Question:  If we cannot be saved by keeping the Law, does that mean that we are no longer under any obligation to pay attention to the Law?

Answer:  No.  When a person is saved or redeemed, there is never a separation between Law and grace.  Christian grace does not remove the obligation from us to obey God.

Question:  Then, can I receive Jesus as my Savior and not my Lord?  Or, can I get saved today and make Him my Lord at a later date?

Answer:  Keep listening.

The following is a study on Romans 3:20-26.

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Between Two Worlds: Heaven

In his book Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes,

"The climax of history will be the creation of new heavens and New Earth, (defined as) a resurrected universe inhabited by resurrected people living with a resurrected Jesus."

When we think of heaven, do we think of the place where there will be no more sorrow and no more tears?  Or, do we think of the place where our loved one who have died are now living? 

 Uh, I thought they were the same place. 

Confused?  Well keep listening.

The following is a study on Heaven.

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You are Not the Apple of God's Eye

Let me ask you a couple of questions: 

What advantage is there in going to church?  What advantage is there in having Christian parents?  In going to Christian school, listening to Christian music or only viewing Christian movies? 

What does it all matter if none of what we do on the outside brings an eternal change on the inside?  This was the same question Paul put to the church in Rome concerning being a Jew and having the traditions and the Law.  In fact, Paul's answer might surprise you.  He says, "Much indeed!"  Really? 

Want to know more?  Keep listening.

The following is a study on Romans 3:1-8.

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False Security

Many people put their faith and security in things that are... well, insecure at best.  The stock market, big government, political parties, their job, AIG or Bernie Madoff. 

And, in the world of investments, false security could be costly.  But in the real world, false security can totally destroy you.  Eternally. 

This is what Paul confronts the church in Rome about concerning the Jews but the lesson is also for us today.  Do we place our eternal security in (1) our knowledge of the Bible, (2) our Christian heritage, or (3) our religious ceremonies and practices? 

Woe to us if we do!

The following is a study on Romans 2:17-29.

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A Pair of All-Important Questions

The following quote by DL Moody has been in my wallet for over 20 years.  Do you think it's still true for us today?  Or, do you think that maybe we've gone too far?

"The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to Him. I will try my utmost to be that man."

How can we be that kind of man?  What soul-searching questions would we have to ask ourselves? 

And how would we answer?

The following is a study on Total Commitment.

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Moral People Skate Not

A simple summary of the first three chapters of Romans could go like this: 

Chapter One - lost, sinful pagans are deserving of God's wrath. 
Chapter Two - Lost, moral people are deserving of God's judgment. 
Chapter Three:  Lost, religious people are also deserving of God's judgment.

So where does that leave us? 

And if you preach a message assaulting the perceived goodness in lost, moral people... won't you be accused of being judgmental?  Yes.  But to quote Paul Washer, "People tell me judge not lest ye be judged.  I always tell them, twist not scripture lest ye be like Satan."

The following is a study on Romans 2:1-16.

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Dialectic or Didactic Reasoning

I the first chapter of Romans the Lord lays out for mankind, saved and unsaved, the inevitable death spiral of sin.  He says that God gives man up to the (1) lusts of their hearts, the (2) vile passions (revealed in the sin of homosexuality) and finally the (3) debasement of their very minds.  Pretty sobering stuff. 

But why does this teaching have so little effect on the church or the culture at large?  Why do we read it and, pretty much, just blow it off?  It could be that we are reading the Scriptures dialectically and not didactically which, by the way, is how it was originally written. 

Confused?  Well, hang with us just a bit longer.

The following is a study on Romans 1:19-23.

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"I Think it Means What it Says!"

A couple of quick questions: 

Are you tired of living the high points of your spiritual life on the backs of long-ago, past dead Christian heroes?  You know, we talk about the child-like faith of George Mueller, the courage of Corrie Ten Boom or the single-minded devotion of Jim Elliott... but what about us?  What about you and me?  What would you give to live the truly "abundant life" that Jesus held out before His disciples? 

Do you think a life like that is possible?  For you?  For anybody? 

And if it is, what must we do to enter into the realm of spiritual fervency that produces the kind of spiritual fruit the Lord longs for?

The following is a study on Psalm 1.

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"I have sinned against the Lord!"

When we sin, there are three people we need to ask for forgiveness. 

The first, obviously, is the Lord.  And He promises in 1 John 1:9 to "forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

The second person is, of course, the one whom we've hurt.  We are to go to our brother and ask their forgiveness for whatever we have done against them.  And, they will either forgive us... or not. 

The last person we need to forgive is ourselves.  And often this is the hardest.  But if Christ has already forgiven us and we refuse to do likewise, does that make our standards of forgiveness higher than His?  Great question.

The following is a study on Psalm 51.

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