Tag: sin

 

John 3:16

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One day when I was about 16 I was sitting in a dance hall drinking some bear. You see in Honduras when I was a young boy if you are old enough to buy it you are old enough to drink it. Well while I was sitting there drinking and day dreaming there at the door stood the most beautiful Woman my eyes have every seen. In my mind I was thinking to my self, man I wish she would walk over here and sit down with me. It was about then I seen her looking at me and boy my heart started to beat a little faster. Then she headed my way and all I could feel was the blood in my body moving faster. When I looked again she was standing right in fount of me asking me something but by then all my blood was in my feet and I could not say a word. It all happened just like I dreams it would but I became dumbfounded.

You see my cousin knew her and gave me a letter to give to her while I was there getting a transmission repaired. So she wanted to thanks me for bringing it and told me something to tell my cousin when I went back to the Island I lived on.

Well that was about it, but man I never could forget that first time I seen her. Then a year or so later, she came to visit my cousin and when I saw her aging I was not drinking this time. I told myself I need to get to know her so I hung around with my cousin in hope to get a date with her that night. Well that night we all went to the dance hall and I got to hold her close to me, then I walked my cousin and her home but before letting her go we kissed and man it was like no other kiss I every had.

LoveWell about a year later we got married; wow is all I could say. In my prayers at night I always prayer asking God to send into my live a good woman and boy He did just that. We have been married now for just over 40 years, we have our up’s and down’s but we love each other with a love that can withstand the problems of life.

God loves us with a love passed understanding, let’s search the Bible and see what it has to say about the love God has for His children

 

Let us Pray!

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Let’s go to the Bible to find the answer about Love and exactly what is true love.

I have seen a lot of people who get married and just a few years later get devoiced. Sometime they have children who must suffer because of the parents not being able to live with each other. What went wrong, a few years before they were in love and now they hate each other; were they truly in love? The problem today is that people don’t understand the true meaning of what love is. To most people it is a love at first sight and then a few months later it is fight.

When you truly love someone you look over there faults and none of us are born with out faults. This is what makes the different in a marriage lasting 5 years and one lasting 75 years; being able to love and forgive each other as many times as it in needed.

So what about God, what about His love for mankind, the bible tells us in Genesis 1: 1 that In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Then in Genesis 1: 26 it tells us, Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Wow did you read that, we mankind male and female were created in the very image of our God and creator.

Now take a look at John: 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

What does that mean, for God so loved the world He gave His only Son, and by believing in Him you will never perish but will have everlasting life.

When God first created man He created him perfect and without a defect, without sin. So what happened what changed, did God stop loving mankind. Let’s go back to the Bible and see if we can find a reason.

Look at Genesis: 2

7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8: And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9: And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God in His love for mankind did everything He could do so that His newly creation could enjoy the blessing of his maker. But there was one condition that God told them, one little test that God made to see if Mankind would love his creator back for all the blessing and care that He God was giving to them daily.

16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17: 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.

This one tree was a test of Mankind obedience, will mankind love and give his creator God his full allegiance or no.

Before the entrance of evil, there was only peace and joy throughout the universe. All was in perfect harmony with the Creator’s will. Love for God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,–one in nature, in character, and in purpose,–the only being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.

By Christ, the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By him were all things created, that are in Heaven, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers;” [COL. 1:16.] and to Christ, equally with the Father, all Heaven gave allegiance.

     The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness.

gods-love[1]God desires only one thing from all his creatures and that is the service of love,– homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of his character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all he grants freedom of will, that they may render him voluntary service.

     But there was one that chose to pervert this freedom. Sin originated with him, who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God, and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of Heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled.

“Thus saith the Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering.” “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” [EZE. 28:12-15, 17.]

     Lucifer might have remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all the angelic host, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to glorify his Maker. But, says the prophet,

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” [EZE. 28:12-15, 17.]

Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for self-exaltation. “Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.” “Thou hast said: . . . I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation.” “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” [EZE. 28:6; ISA. 14:13, 14.]

So instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of his creatures, it was Lucifer’s endeavor to win their service and homage to himself. And, coveting the honor which the infinite Father had bestowed upon his Son, this prince of angels aspired the power which it was the prerogative of Christ alone to exercise.

Lucifer allowed jealousy of Christ to prevail, and he became the more determined. Pride in his own glory nourished the desire for supremacy. The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as the gift of God,

Lucifer now wanted nothing more then to have this new world as his own, to cause mankind to sin and to drought the love that God so freely gave to all.

Genesis: 3:

1: 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?

2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Right here is where all the problems started, it is the same problems we have in our world today, who do you believe; God or what someone else tells you. God said that if you eat of this tree you will Die, life will not go on. Then Satan steps in and said well you shall not surely die.

Do you know how many of the worlds great Religious Leaders today don’t fully understand what happens to a person when they die? Many will tell you when you die you keep living in Heaven or Hell, but that is not what Gods word says. The Bible tells us that when you die you do just that you die you stop living.

Jesus Himself called death a sleep, as I always say if God says it; stop believing in anything else and believe God.

Look at John:11:

11: These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

12: Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

13: Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

14: Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Jesus the Son of God who is God called death a sleep so why would some Religious Leaders want to tell you anything different, maybe because they are still hearing Satan speak, well they are not surely dead.

Now listen as Satan tells some truth, and this is a problem. Satan does not always lie, what he does is to mix a little lie into truth.

Genesis: 3: 5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Oh yes our eyes were open alright and we knew about Good & Evil, also about sickness and pain, about suffering and dying, in that way yes we were like God. But that is what God did not want for us to ever know, He wanted us to know only good, only Love, only happiness, only peace and security with a God of Love.

Time and time again all through the Bible we see a God of love doing all He can to bring His wayward children back to Him. Just like a good Mother or Father telling there children not to touch a hot stove because it will burn you. God is telling us that He and He alone is the God who created us and wants our love back to Him so that He can give us what is good.  

6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Just like today’s world people are always looking for more, looking for something better, looking to get ahead of the next door neighbors. We are never satisfies with what we have we always want more of something to make us wiser, richer and better then others.

7: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

So they believed what a devil told them rather then what there creator God told them. God said if you eat it you will die and that is what happens we die we don’t go on living in heaven or hell, God said we Die, believe what God has said not man.

Now can you understand what John: 3:16 is all about, it is about a love story that is beyond mans imagination. About a God of love who did not want to see His beautiful creating die. But because there was a law that said in Ezek:18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. God the Son stepped in and took mans place, He God came to live as a man so He God as a man can die for every one of us.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

It is only by what God the Son did in behalf of mankind that we can live again in the last days when God the Son comes back to call all who died believing in Him to life once again

John:6:40: And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

When did Jesus say, He would raise up all who believed in Him, I will raise him up at the last day. Now just like Eve, you can believe what God said or you can believe what some pastor or priest told you. Me I am going to believe what God is saying

Now let’s look at the book of Revelation 20:5: But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.6: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

According to the Bible when you die you are dead, you are not living someplace else. The Bible is saying the dead who are not a part of the first resurrection will not live again until after a 1000 years. Where will they be, still in the grave still sleeping, but when Jesus comes back then and only then will he call the Unrighteous back to life.

Why is this, read again in the Bible, not what I think but what the Bible is saying.

Rv:20: 11: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Here is describe a judgment sean in Heaven look at the next verse

12: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

So here all the unrighteous are called back to life, this is called the second resurrection. Why; for judgment of what was done in the flesh; the righteous are already living they were all part of the first resurrection. Look at verse 13

13: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

So no matter where you died or how you died when God calls, you will come back to life for the judgment. After the judgment comes the punishment, it is there that all evil will be destroyed forever.

14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Here is where Hell, Death, Evil, the Unrighteous, and Satin will all be casted into; the Bible calls it the second Death. This is a very hard time for God because He did everything He could do to save everyone of us, He gave us a choice believe what He tells us or what someone under the power of Satin tells you. The Truth is all in the Bible so no one has an excuse that they did not know.

Now all who believed in Jesus and what He did to save them, and all who did as Jesus told them to do. John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments. Will live forever in Heaven, where there is no more pain, sickness, no more suffering, and no more death.

Look at Revelation:21: God is telling us a little bit of why we can expect when we get to Heaven.

7: He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Friend God the Father and God the Son and the Holy Spirit loves each and every one of us. There is nothing more that could have been done to save mankind, God the Son even gave His life and endures the shame and brutal death of being nailed on a cross by the people he came to save.

Luke:23: 34: Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

Jesus Praying for UsEven while hanging on the cross, Gods love did not stop, even there came the words of forgiveness to all of us

John: 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

Friend remember there is nothing that can separate you from the Love of God except for you to choose to separate yourself from Him, and even then He will be waiting for you, to forgive you and take you back as if you never left.

Elder Tim McNab

Restoring Gods Truth

 

Time is Running Out!

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About 12 years ago I was having a lot of problems with nose bleeding. So Jesus holding a man prayinglike anyone I went to see my doctor about it who sent me to see an ENT. What he said was not what I was wanting to hear, that nasty word that we all fear, sorry but you have Cancer. Cancer who me I am only 46 years old in great health, I don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t due drugs, doc there must be a mistake. No there is no mistake he said, now comes the hard part how do I tell my family and what will my future be like. Time for me was running out right when I was in the prime of my life. Read More…

If God is so good why ?

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My son came home yesterday and told me about his friend whose wife Jesus holding a man prayingwas pregnant and only two days passed the baby’s due day when the baby stop moving and died, Why, why, why did something so terrible like this happen to this young couple, they had prepared everything expecting this child to come into the world and fill there home with joy and love, But now there is only emptiness, pain, sorrow and hurting, God where were you, how could you just stand there and let something like this happen, Why God why.

My friend Larry was a good Christian man who I met on Cancer Survivor Network. We did a lot of talking by e-mail then one day he said I got some bad news, my cancer is back again. We talked about it and doing treatment again, but when he started the treatment is did not work. Larry was a faithful Christian he lived helping other and was the kind of person who you would love to be around. He died, Why God why did you let Larry die he was a believer and a good man so why did you let his cancer come back and kill him.

I had another friend who lived in Freeport Texas, a good man who did not hurt anyone he had a beautiful wife who loved him very much but one day he got a little sick and they found out his Lymphoma was back again. He lived in pain and finally passed away after a long hard fight.

My brother Jesse also had a cancer called Lymphoma the doctors tried all they could do but his heart just could not take all the damage for the Chemo, it killed him.

My Mother at the age of 49 got colon cancer, she did all she could do to fight it but as time went on she died.

A few weeks ago there were some very bad tornados up north, some people died others lost there homes, cars, and all there possession.

This week I see in the news about wile fires taking and burning to the ground people homes and everything they had.

And all we can say is what is going on, where is God, why is He not stopping stuff like this from hurting people.

I had a very bad time growing up because dyslexia, it was not until I grow-up and got married that my wife helped me and it disappeared. Now it is back again but I just say it not the grammar or spelling that is important it is the massage.. Then at the age of 46 I was told I had NPC this is a cancer in the sinus. Who me, cancer, no way it can’t be true, I just don’t understand it, how could God do something like this to me. After all my Chemo and Radiation treatment to the head it came back worse then ever.

So If God is so good why is there so much pain, sickens, and Death. Why God why what did I do that was so bad that I got cancer right in the prime of my life, could you not stop it.

I am sure that there are times in our life we all question God as to why He gave me or my love one this problem, this pain, this sickness, this suffering and sometime separation by Death.

Let us Pray!

In order to answer the question if God is so good why is there so much Pain, Sickens, Death and Destruction. We will need to know who God is and to do that we have to use the only book that tells us about Him. I ask you do not take my word for what I am going to tell you about God, but to get your Bible out open it and follow along with me to see if what I am telling you is the truth. You see what I say does not mean anything it is what the Bible said that means everything. I don’t want you to believe what I say I want you to believe what the Bible is telling you.

Let’s go to the Book of Genesis 1 and start on verse 1.

1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3: And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4: And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.

The Bible tells us that God is the creator of all things; it is He who made the heavens above and the Earth beneath, lets go on to verse 26.

26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

So God then created Mankind, He creator man in His own image and likeness and gave to him dominion over every thing He created and He looked at it all and in verse 31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Albert and Amanda Acorn

Picture taken by Benjamin Bruce

God saw that is was not just good but very good, ok so what happened why did it all change. Let’s look a little more

Let move to chapter 2 and verse 9: And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God did not make us robots, God made us to have freedom, freedom of choice, freedom of will. Freedom to serve Him or not to serve Him, He wanted a creation of people who could show love back to Him for what He has done for them, and to do that He made a test and simple little test of freedom to choose God or not to choose God.

Look at Genesis Chapter 3 verse 1
1: 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?
2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

So now satan come in to the picture, the only place that he was allowed to work was with in the space of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He did not have dominion over the Earth he was limited to only one little area and that is where Sin interned into all of mankind.

Look at what happened

6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

The sad part here, Eve was deceived by satan to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil but Adam when he realize what Eve did could not see himself without her and he offer up dominion of this world to satan by taking and eating of tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Did they get knowledge of good and evil, you bet they did and it’s been down hill from then on.

7: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

This is where it all started, this is where satan told the biggest lie there is. God said if you eat of this tree you will die, satan said you will not surely die.

Our Creator God wants us to obey His law, why because He knows it will keep us happy and living in peace even while living in a World of sin.

Let’s go on and see what happened when God found them after they ate of the Tree He told them not to eat of. Again look at chapter 3: verse 9

9: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10: And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11: And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12: And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Look at the first thing that sin did, Adam loved Eve so much he did not want her to die so he ate of the fruit, what love we would say right, now he is blaming her for everything, what happened to his love for her.

13: And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Now we see Eve blaming the serpent for what happened; is that not just like sin, everyone blaming someone else for what they did.

14: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

So the Lord put a curse on the serpent from this day on he would scroll on his belly, but what about the Man and Woman, let’s see what God told them.

15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

What a promises God gave to mankind, this tells me that God knew of the possibility that man might sin that man might of his freedom of choice eat of the tree. God had a plan, it was not His will that sin should enter into this world but if it did He had a plan in place to rescue man. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Just what is God saying here enmity between who and what seed

16: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17: And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18: Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Question: What was it that God wanted from the being that He created in His image and likeness? Only one thing and that was for Man to believe what his maker told him was best for him by obeying his master Law. Was it too much to ask of Adam & Eve to stay always from the one tree

Now can you understand why we suffer, why there is so much sickness, it is not God. God gets all the blame, it was Man that did not choose God, man Chose Satan instead of God. When Adam choose to obey Satan by eating of the tree he gave up ownership of this world, look at what the Bible says

Rom:6:16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Adam not Eve gave up ownership of this world when they chose to obey and yield themselves a servant to Satan.

What they told God was this: OK God I am going to do it my way from here on out so please back off and get out of my way I don’t need your help.!

So it’s not Gods fault that sickness, death and bad things, came into this world. God did everything possible to show mankind that He loved him, God put mankind is a paradise home with only one little restriction.

Now I ask you; is God wrong for what happened to mankind and for sin coming into this world. Is God wrong because you or I or a love one of ours is dying of some terrible sickness? Or that we are living in pain and suffering each day. God loves us each and every one of us, we were made in His image and in His likeness.

Christ and Family

Christ and Family

 

Romans 8:
35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39: 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.

Oh my brother I hope you are starting to see bad thing happen to good people everyday, but it is not God who causes it to happen. It was because we choose to believe a lying devil over what God told us.

From the beginning all God wanted was the same that we as parents want from our children. For them to be obedience to us and do what we tell them to do, not because we are tyrants over them but because we love them and we know what is best for them.

Remember what we read back in Genesis 3:15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Look at John:3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God so loved the world, that he gave his only beloved Son, that any one believing in him should not perish. God again does all He can do to bring back as many as possible of His falling children. Even if He Himself must come and die in there place to save them

God the Father did not spare His only Son Jesus but sent Him to this world to show mankind that He God still loves us and wants to be a part of our life if we will only turn from our sinful condition and be obedience to His Law

Look at what Jesus told the religious leaders when He was here on earth Matthew 5:
17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

The Last time I looked out side heaven and earth did not pass away yet, so God’s Law must still be in effects. That is what Jesus said not me, so if the earth is still here Gods Laws are here for all who love Him and obey His teaching.

But the problem we have today is that people don’t want to do what God told them to do, that was Adam & Eve problem too remember. They too wanted to do it there way and God will just have to except it that way. But here is the problem God does not except it and will not, if He would not change His Law for His own Son He will not change it for you or me. Look at the Romans 6: 23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Not obeying or doing what God said will lead to not just death but eternal death. God does not want that for anyone Jesus came to save us from our sins and eternal death to show us how to live by God’s law.

The world we live in now would have been so different if only man would have learned to obey and keep God’s commandments. But rather then choosing God we chose Satan; it is not God but Satan who brings all this suffering on mankind.

Read the book of Job chapter 1 & 2 and see God does not cause evil on any on it is the works of Satan, but people like to blame God for it.

Look also at Revelation 12
12: Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Satan is mad because he knows his time is short and he wants nothing more then to destroy the people God loves and those who were made in the image and likeness of the God of creation.

We tend to all blame God when we get sick or when something bad happens but like I said it is not God who causes it, it is the devil. He was a deceiver from the beginning.

Read Revelation 12:
7: And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8: And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9: And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

So you see even in Heaven satan was at work causing trouble and problems for God until the day came when God had to cast him out of heaven. So where did he go, to the only planet in all of the solar systems that he was ruler over, and he has done nothing but cause trouble and problems here on this world; and then he has people who God loves blame God for it.

Look at what one of the disciples told the Religious leader when they commanded him not to speak or preach in Jesus name. Acts:5:29: Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Who should we obey

In our world today people like to play Christian, they want to serve God but they want to serve Him there way. My friend when God tells us to do something he expects us to do it just like He told us to do it, with no deviation. Anything apart from that is sin and sin is what separates us from God.

A lot of Christians like to tell me oh those Laws were for the Jew’s not for us today. But then I ask why God gave the Jews those laws, why because they were God’s people. Ok so if they were God’s people back then and we are Gods people now and God does not change, as Gods people we need to be doing what God say to do and not what man or satan said to do. Am I right or not?

We need to be keeping the Laws God made for His people, right.

Our Father who is in heaven does not want for any of us to suffer because of sin but we live in a world full of it. But soon and very soon the Bible tells us that God will put an end to satan and all his evil angles. At the same time He will put an end to sin in this world. He will put an end to sickness, suffering, pain and an end to death.

Look at Nahum 1: 9: He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.

Bad things happen to good people all the time. I am an Elder in my Church and I had cancer and the cancer came back in the same area in my sinus three times. I treated it the first two times but when it came back the 3rd time I said no more and so the doctors gave me 6 months to maybe a year to live if I am lucky. Luck I don’t believe in but God I do believe in. My brother found a place where they did only natural herbal treatment for people like me who are sick with cancer. That was in June 2006 and God blessed it so that I am still here some 8 years later. I live with a lot of problems but it is all from the treatment not the cancer. I don’t know the reason why God healed me and not others who were better men better Christians then I am.

All I can do is to thanks Him for what de did and pray for all my others friends who are still in treatment or just found out that they or a love one of there has some life threaten disease. Remember God did not do it nor did He cause it to happen, it was because of sin in out world and satan because he is the father of sin. From the day our cells conceive in our mother’s womb we start the process of dying. Why because of sin for God did warn Adam & Eve saying in the day you eat of it you will surely die.

Don’t despair my friend, because there is hope and that hope is in Gods Son who came to die in our place. For the Bible tells us

Look again at John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John:3:36: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John:6:27: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Rom:6:22: But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Even thoe that had sinner and rejected God, God did not reject us who had choosing to accept what He did in our behalf, die for our sins. The God we serve is a God of love a God who would do anything for His children who believe and trust in Him and do what He has told them to do in order to have everlasting life with Him.

It’s so simple just like the test in the garden of Eden, Jesus said in the book of John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments. Gods commandments don’t save you; His commandments only shows the world who you love, then Gods extends His grace because you have choosing to obey what He told you to do. You see what I mean it is so simple. In the Garden of Eden the test was one tree don’t eat of this one tree, today the test is will you obey by keeping my commandments. If you do, it will tell the world you love me and that I love you.

You will have trials in this life you will get sick in this life and you will die in this life but it is not about this life, it is about the next life. Read with me what God is saying in the book of Revelations

Look at Revelations 20
10: Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

We are going to suffer just like non believers and as we get close to the time of the end. Satan will put into the heart of evil men to cast some of us into prison but we are told to be faithful even unto death and God will give us a crown of life.

11: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Here is where a lot of Churches get confused because they don’t understand what the Bible is saying about a first and second death.

Rv:20:6: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The first resurrection will be for Gods true believing people who have died, that is the first death, you understand we die from this world only once.

Rv:20:14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
The second Death: it is for all who have chosen not to follow what God said to do. It will be for evil men and women, who never believed in God. It will be for Pastors who lead people away from God truth, and for fake Christians who wanted both this world and heaven too. But sorry the Bible said in Luke:16:13: No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

1Pt:4:17: For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

My brother you might be hurting, suffering, in pain or maybe close to death or maybe some love one or good friend is having problems.

Don’t blame God put the blame on the one who caused all this, the one who lied to our first parent. Then read the Bible it is a book about God working with man trying to lead man back to His truth. When God says to do something, we must learn to do it exactly like God said to do it. No cutting corners

God said to keep Him commandments, then keep them, don’t worry about others who tell you, you don’t need to, do what God said not man. Acts:5:29: Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

I live in this world with a sick body from Cancer; I can’t do or enjoy all the things I once did. Some days or good some are bad, some are more pain some or less pain.

Here is the key: one day the life I live in thissick body will be over, one day I will stand face to face with my God and friend. That is where it will all matter, that is where God will judge upon the things He says to do and keep and the thing He did not say to do or keep.

Rv:21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

God is merciful because God is love; He wants that no one has to die the second death. But if someone by choice does not want to believe or do as He ask them to do, He God will not force you against your choice

God Bless you my friend; and if you are sick or someone you love or know is sick pray and ask God for His protection, His blessing, His guidance and understanding. Then move by faith knowing it was not God who did this it was because of a devil that hates you because you were made in the image of your creator God. Then except His will and follow His ways, just read about what Jesus did and how Jesus lived. Always doing the will of His Father, always helping someone else, always keeping the Commandments and always showing love to those who was hurting.

Elder Tim McNab
Restoring Gods Truth Ministry

Miracles are they from God or Satan

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Have you even seen a miracle, how did you know it was a miracle. In our world today there is a lot of counterfeiting and so if it is in the world it is also in the Church. Are all Miracles of God (answer) can the devil also do miracles.

sick-childdanisfoundationorg[1]Let’s open the Bible the word of God and see what the Holy Spirit has to say about Miracles, let’s look at Revelation 16:  

13: And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.                                                     

14: For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

So Elder Tim you are saying that some of the miracles I have seen in my Church may not have been done by Gods Holy Spirit and that it was done by a devil. No I am not saying that the Bible is saying that, read it again in Revelation 16: 13-14, spirits of devils, working miracles. That is why we must study the Bible and not go by what we hear some preacher saying. The word of God can be the only truth that we can be sure is truth. Look at what the prophet Isaiah said while under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

Isa: 8:20: To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. If what you hear in Church, in your Home, or in a bar room, if it does not agree with all that the Bible said from Genesis to Revelations there is no truth in it.

Come with me as we travel through the Bible God’s Holy Word to see how God lead the early Disciples in aiding the Gospel commission. 

Let us Pray!

Open your Bibles to the book of Acts and turn to Acts Chapter 20 verse 9-10

Acts 20: 9: And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. 10: And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

Satin is always at work he does not sleep, he wants nothing more then to take as many people who were made in the image of God and destroy them. He know we are very special to God we are a one of a kind race living here on Earth. But instead of reflecting the image of God we are more likely reflecting the image of Lucifer. So what went wrong, our first parents believed what the Devil said over what God told them. Although this was not in the planes that God had for the people who was made in his image; He God did not leave us alone to die in our sins.

lesson07-16God had an emergency back-up plane, He loved His creation too much to just stand-by and watch them die.

After the young man fell out of the Church window it made no little disturbance in the meeting. Paul could see that the devil was at work and wanted to draw the attention from the words Paul was preaching; to the young man who just died 

Acts 20:

10: And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. 11: When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.  12: And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.

Wow what a Miracle and right there before everyone. What satan tried to destroy, God used as a blessing so that many other would believe!

How could Paul have done this, again we look to the Bible for the answer and to help us understand.

Corinthians: 12:

1: Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

Paul wanted to show the Church how much God loved them and that He would add them in there faithful walk with Him by these gifts God has giving to His true believers

4: Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5: And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6: And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7: But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8: For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9: To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10: To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

11: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

12: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13: 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.

14: For the body is not one member, but many.

So here we find that God gave to His people gifts, why to add them in the spreading of the Gospel. May times as Christian we want to shove down people throat the Gospel and make instance Christians out of them. But that is wrong, you never see that in the Bible, God people spoke the word and the word that was with God in the beginning the Holy Spirit refreshes the person. So you see we must first take care of the need and when they are ready and healthy again then bring them Jesus and they will be open to receive Him. Why because they will see in us the works that Jesus did.

Look also at the book of James 5:

James:5:16: Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Wow the prayers of God’s righteous servants availeth much that is wonderful to know. The pray of faith by a righteous man who walk and talks to God, so the pray of faith is trusting God.

A number of years ago when I first came to understand Gods truth I was working as a Port Engineer taking care of 12 Offshore Supply Vessels. Some times I would have to drive all night to get to the Dock where the Ship came into. This one night I remember more then any because it was very foggy and I had a 6 hour drive ahead of me. The big problem was that the Supply Vessel was only going to be at the dock for 7 hours, so that say to me I need to hurry and get there.

As I drove I had my CB radio on trying to drive as fast as I could with all the fog. One of the problems I was having is I was getting tired because I worked all that day; I told my self I need to get there and did not have time to sleep. I got onto the back roads because I could get there faster but the fog there would only be worse. I did not know what to do so I said a prayer, why not, it was just a little while after I said that prayer that the fog lifted and it was a clear night. Wow I said but then I thought oh that was not my pray that the fog was lifted. But the more I listen to my CB radio and the people who were driving on the Main road I wondered, they was talking about how bad all the fog was. I called and asked them where they were on the highway because I am on the back road and I don’t have any fog. No one believed what I was saying, so I drove the next 5 hours with no fog until I got to the dock where the vessel was. I told them about how the fog lifted and I drove all the way here in less then 6 hours. They too did not believe what I told them.

But I knew it was God and he knew I needed to get to the ship and get there safe. This same thing happened to me many of times after and I would just thank God for it each time.

Take a look at Hebrews: 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

A few years after that I was working as a shore side mechanic for a company called AMR in FreeportTexas. When the big refineries in that area needed to shut down they would need to rent some big air compressors from where I worked in order to keep pressure on the lines to keep them from shutting down. There was 4 of us mechanics and we would rotate weeks of going out at midnight to fuel up the compressors.

I remember one night I got into the fueling truck and headed off to get a load of Diesel before going into the refineries. I had notices that the lights on the truck were not all that bright but like everyone I just wrote it off in my mind as nothing. I was going up a high bridge and just as I got to the top the engine stop running, I tried to start it but there was nothing. So I coasted off the bridge and pulled over on the side of the road to see what the problem was. When I turned the key switch all I could hear under the hood was a clicking sound, and I knew what that that was bad. The reason my lights were going so dim was because the battery was not charging and going dead. Oh boy what do I do now was all I could think. I was not in the best part of town and there were two bar rooms up a block or so but I did not need help from anyone who was drinking all night. I found a phone and called every number to my office trying to get help but no one answered. I needed to get moving because those big air compressors were getting low on fuel by now. I call my wife and told her what had happened, but she was at home sick. Anyway I walk back over to the truck and tried the key one more time and the same thing. I remember sitting there and then I ask God, Lord I am in a bind and don’t know what to do. I need to get fuel into the compressors and soon but I am hear in a truck with a dead battery and no one will answer my call for help.

It was about then in my mind I could hear a voice saying try the key again, I wrote it off as me just thinking foolishness but I kept hearing it so to satisfy my mind I turn the switch and the truck started, wow I could not believe that. I did not want to turn the lights on for fear it would finish draining the battery, but I could not drive in the darkness. So when I turned the lights on wow I said I have never seen them so bright. I went back to the office and fill up with fuel from the storage tank but left the truck engine running. After I filled it I looked and said Lord keep it running so I can fill the compressors, and I did just that I ran into all three refineries and filled all the compressors up and drove back to the office and parked the truck. The lights were still as bright and the engine was still running good. So I thought to myself, you know it might have just been a loose connection. So I turned the engine off and tried to start it again and there was nothing. I turned the light switch on and the battery was so drained it look like a cigarette butt for brightness. I knew then what I just had was a miracle, God sent an angle to power up my battery until all my work was done. The next Moring when I came into the office I seen one of the mechanic working on the fuel truck so I walk over and said what are you doing. He looked and said man do you know who drove the truck last night, yes it was me. He looked at me and said you are one lucky guy, why I said, he said the alternator is burnt up and the battery is 100% dead. How did you use it last night, oh I said that was easy, angle power I told him as I walked away.

A Praying FatherMiracle, God hears his people in our time of need we are never along, He is right there listening to out prayers and needs. 

But remember not all miracles are from God, because satan can also do a deception that would look like a miracle to us human. Go to the Bible, as we read the bible this is what God said about satan, for they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, why to deceive. God is truth and Satan is a counterfeiter liar, what ever God does Satan will have one almost like it. Satan wants nothing more then to deceive you and lead you away from the truth and he will stop at nothing to do just that.  

Rv:22:2: In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

God is love and He wants to show you that you can trust Him, but to trust someone you need to get to know them. And how do we get to know God, by studying about Him, and the more we study the closer we come to Him. The closer you are to God the more you want to do His will because you will see in Him a God of Love and mercy. Jesus said John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Jesus goes on to say in John:15:10: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. All God asked from the beginning was for His people to obey what He told us and believe in His word. Satan wants nothing more then to get between you and God and keep you from knowing the truth. So he has a counterfeit for everything that God wants to give us. God has a Religion; Satan has a Religion almost the same as Gods. God have commandments so does Satan but taking just a few words out in God commandment and changing them. You see, that way hardly anyone will see the change satan made. God said worship me on the 7th day of the week, Satan says why not worship God on the 1st day of the week because that is the day everyone else is doing it. All counterfeits to Gods truth.

As we get closer to the time of the end we see Satan working even hard to get as many people as possible to believe his lies. Look at Revelation 13:

11: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12: And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Who is this end time beast power that Satan is working through that is exercising all the power of the first beast before him, and will cause the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast power, whose deadly wound was healed.

13: And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

14: And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Please don’t miss what the Bible just said (deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power)

15: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

So the second beast will make laws to worship the first beast, and anyone who does not obey will be killed: read the book of Daniel chapter 3

Look with me at the description of this power and notices that he is lamb like in the beginning. A Lamb in the Bible represents Jesus, look at John:1:  29: The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Who was this Lamb John was talking about Jesus that is correct.

So this 2nd beast power will start off as a Christian Nation, but then something happens, it starts to change. It takes on more of a dragon influence and who does a Dragon represents in the Bible. Lets look at Revelation:12:9: And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The Bible calls the Dragon the Devil and Satan, so this end time power that was once a Christian Nation will set aside it christianly and become the Devil’s tool working his will, not Gods. How does he do that by being a counterfeiter and making it just a little easier for people to do what he wants and not God!

Look at the book of Genesis and start with chapter 3

1: 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?

2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Did you see it, did you see how satan mixed just enough lie with Truth. For God said if you eat it you will surely die!  satan said “Ye shall not surely die” When God gives a command we must follow it to the very dot and tee of the letter.

5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Here satan told the truth, yes we will know good & evil but look at the cost to all mankind. God in his love for man wanted nothing more then for man to just trust Him God, but He gave us a free will and we chose to believe what satan said over what God said.

Rom:6:16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

 He does not replace all of the Truth with a lie that would be too easy to catch, so what he does is to just mix a little lie in with the truth

Look at 2nd Corinthians: 11:

14: And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

15: Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

What, did you just read that for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light and if he can impersonates an angle or Jesus doing Miracles what do you think the people of this world will do? They will all rush out to see and hear him and be healed by him.

Look at Matthew: 24:

23: Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25: Behold, I have told you before.

26: Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

 

God told us ahead of time that these things will come, so that we can be prepared and not be deceived by satan. Who are Gods true believes all who obey His voice and do the things He said to do. They will know the truth from the fake because they love the Lord and study and live there life in accordance to His commandment, that is why Jesus said if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Who ever you are reading this please study your bible, but not the way some preacher or some church do. Open your mind and forgot what you heard from others, let the Bible talk to you, listen for God Holy Spirit who will lead you into all truth.

Remember what God told to John to write in the book of Revelation 14:

Rv:14:12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Mother letting Jesus take the wheelMiracles still happen everyday, and God blesses us everyday and when we are sick we can go to Him in prayer for healing, but we should always add in our pray; thy will oh Lord be done. God is in control; sometime we need to step back and let Him do the driving, He will saftly get us home.

I still live with many problems from the Cancer I had, but the Cancer is not the problem anymore it is the treatment I had. You know what they say if the Cancer doesn’t kill you the treatment will, how very true. But this I always say and this is the way I look at my life. I would rather die at the hands of a God that loves me then to be healed by a devil who hates me.

I pray that you too will study the Bible and the bible only and let the Bible lead your life and not a Church that claim they are following the Bible but don’t do as Jesus said. Miracles happen when Gods true people pray and I believe I am a living Miracle because of the many prayer of God true people

 

Bless you all for the miracle of life that God give to us everyday

Elder Tim McNab

Restoring Gods Truth Ministry

Lock, Stock and Barrel Christians

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Several years ago two ships collided. It happened far out in the calm quiet Atlantic Ocean on a dark foggy night. The smaller ship with two hundred and six people on board sank within thirty minutes. Immediately the larger ship put out life boats to retrieve the passengers who were floating in the calm sea.

Only thirty four were found!? They were all picked up and saved. At first it seemed a great mystery why a hundred seventy two people were lost and so few were saved. The problem was not a lack of life jackets or life boats.

**  I don’t know if any of you have ever been in a collision, things happen so fast that you don’t always get time to think about them or think about what to do. You just do them.

I was once on a ship that had a collision with another ship many years ago. We too did not have time to think, We knew that our ship was going down and we needed to get off and off fast. So when the Captain gave the order to abandon ship that is what we did, with in fifteen minutes the ship sunk, but all of our lives were saved, only because everyone followed the order giving.

But there was a different problem here on this ship, the people heard the Captain order, but many did not want to go when the call to abandon ship was giving. Why?

What in this world would keep you on a sinking Ship? The order is giving get off, Abandon ship and save your life. What’s keeping you from getting in the lifeboat?

Later it was found that the primary reason so few were saved was that most if not all of them had busied themselves during those last thirty minutes in seizing their gold and silver and securing it to their clothes or belting it around their waist.

They were weighted down and unable to remain afloat until the rescue boats could reach them. They lost both their life and their money. They were Jeopardized by greed.

 

What hinders you from giving Christ your all?

 

Cast off the carnal things that weigh you down. Many of good Christians are like a waterlogged raft, they are just barely afloat. They have soaked up so much worldliness and are so absorbed with little sinful traits that it is almost impossible for them to be towed into the heavenly harbor.

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Sorry: but you can’t have your pie and eat it too. No heart can mature two crops at the same time. We must decide which is more important.

Immerse yourself in Jesus. Lighten your load of temporal doodads. Give Jesus your total heart and sole and stop living your life in a world that is dying because the temporal reward looks great.

 

Just remember the word temporal means just that.   “temporary, brief, short lived”.

When an immigrant comes to America, before He or She can become a citizen they must renounce all commitments and allegiance to their former homeland and pledge one hundred percent allegiance to America. Then and only then will the U.S. Government grant citizenship

That’s the way it is with Jesus. When you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, you renounce Satan completely. You can’t “split time” by serving Satan part-time and Christ part-time.

 

For a Christian there can be no moonlighting with the world.

 

It is impossible to have one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Very quickly you would have to do the splits because the path of the church and the world are zeroing in at two very different destinations. One is eternal Life the other is eternal destruction.

Like a boat leaving the dock, you can’t have one foot on the boat and one foot on the dock for very long or you will end up in the drink.

An individual who divides his heart between God and the world will eventually be wholehearted for the world and fainthearted for God! You can’t dine at the Devils table on Friday and at the Lord’s table on Sabbath. You can’t sing “All The Way” in the pew and swear at the fax machine at work.

 

Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

We must be willing to give up everything. You can’t hold onto the world and its knickknacks with all your strength and equally hold onto Jesus.

You can’t get your high from Jesus on Sabbath and get your “High” from drugs on Saturday night.

Brown-nosing with Satan when you are with the crowd and pretending at church makes you a hypocrite!

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants us one hundred percent, Completely, Totally, All or nothing, Lock, stock, and barrel Christians! Loaded up and ready to fire.

I remember as a boy in Honduras we drove across the country to visit some friends, I reckon we hadn’t gone a stone’s throw before we came to a vacant lot. The problem was that it had not been empty long, just a few days before a family had lived there in a home. My Uncle said, “Boy, they moved out Lock, Stock and Barrel!” The clothes-line was gone, the mail box, and even the dog house was gone they were out of there completely. I said man it looks like they took everything.

 

Then I came here to the US and found out that when people here move our they take the Very light bulbs out before leaving.

So what does it means to be a Lock, Stock, and Barrel Christian. It means being ready that if Jesus would call saying “Who could we send”. Being able to jump up and say here am I Lord send Me.

 

I can do all things through Christ who strength me.

Isaiah 29:13 God says, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me

We sing songs like “I’ll go where you want me to go Dear Lord… I’ll do what you want me to do…

But don’t ask me to sing in the choir or play the hand bells, or teach in the little kid’s department or help with VacationBibleSchool or sit on a committee. I just want to sit among the saints. I don’t want to be involved to much, I just don’t have the time!”

God’s yardstick is total devotion or none at all. We modern Christians come to the celestial check out lane and when we reach the cash register we say,

 

“I would like to buy about three dollars worth of God please.

 

  • I don’t want enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep.
  • I don’t want enough to make me love people I don’t like.
  • I want gladness but not transformation.
  • I want the warmth of the womb, but not the new birth.
  • I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
  • I want a sprinkling but not an immersion.
  • I want a taste of God but not a total meal.
  • I want to sample Jesus but not be over involved.
  • I want to do God’s will as long as it doesn’t interfere with what I am doing.

 

David eventually became a man after God’s heart by going all the way with total commitment.

Psalms 119:2 David says: Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.

Those who seek him with all their heart!

 

I’ve had a lot of people come and say, I just can’t get victory over sin. I’m trying to be a good Christian and I just can’t do it. How do I get strength to live the Christian life?”

 ( Stop Trying)

I’ll tell you how to get Christian strength. You seek it with all your heart. You’re going to get what you’re really seeking.” If you go at it with all your heart you will find it.

God is there waiting, reaching out to take your hand.

Pray and when you finish praying pray somemore. Jesus is not tired of hearing your pray, or your request, he is willing to do what every it take to help you, he proved it by dying for you on the Cross.

Do you know what God’s minimum requirement is?

He is the celestial Teacher, we’re the students in the classroom. As our Divine Teacher, in the great schoolhouse of life, passing is not 70%. Passing is not even 90%. Passing is 100%.  And he will give you the strength, the courage, and the will when you ask for it and believe it by Faith.

Revelations: 3

14: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 

God wants your heart, the whole heart, and nothing but the whole heart. He wants all of you or he doesn’t want you at all. Lock, stock, and barrel commitment is what God is looking for in His people in these last days.

Unless you love Him totally, you do not love Him at all. There is no such thing as lukewarm commitment. If you don’t crown Him Lord of All, you really do not crown Him at All.

Notice that our heavenly Father does not expect what He is not willing to give. Does God give totally? Does He? Yes, He does.       

Does He give half-way? Do we have a part time daddy? Our awesome God gives totally! The bible is full of examples of how God give totally.

 

Let’s look and see!

 

Luke 8:48 (KJV). And He said unto her, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”

 

 Does God heal us half-way? No. He heals us all the way. Her faith had made her whole. She was not healed half- way she was healed completely by her faith in the one who could give healing.

When Jesus died on the cross, He totally paid for all my sins. His forgiveness is absolute. God’s healing power is unbounded. When we all get to heaven, we will be given access to the immeasurable universe.

He’s not going to say,

“Well, I’ll just give you a little bit of heaven.

I’ll give you just a touch of it.” No!

Does He give us just a sample of heaven? No!

He gives us the whole thing. It’s ours completely, Lock, Stock and Barrel, all of it!

 

We will be able to fly. We don’t need to have reservations. We just go to all these other worlds. Every corner of the universe is yours to explore. He doesn’t hold back. Total freedom to go and come, to observe it all.

We can obtain a knowledge that exhaustively takes in the alpha to the omega of the universe. We can fly at more than the speed of light and picnic in a far off corner of the universe. We have unlimited access.

But to completely experience the joys of heaven then, you need to be totally committed to Jesus Christ today. Without that total commitment you won’t be there.

 

Now you could say, “Well, I attend church on Sabbath morning. I’m here. I’m sitting in the pew. But when I go home, I don’t dress like I dressed here. In fact I put on some of the world, you know. I start acting like the world. Swear words occasionally come out. That’s not total commitment is it. When you are total committed you are committed 24hr a day.

Let’s suppose you are going to get Married but before getting Married you’re soon to be tell you 

I’ll be true to you ninety nine percent of the time.” That would be pretty good, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t that be great? “Ninety nine percent of the time I’ll be true to you. I will.” How many of you would accept that? And yet we expect God to accept that, don’t we?

 

Ephesians 6:11. Put on the partial armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

 

Is that what it says? “Put on the whole armor of God.”

 

The young David was able to slay Goliath because the giant did not use the whole armor. Where did that little stone find its mark? It sank into his forehead.

Where was his shield that came over his face, or his helmet? Where was the shield that his shield-bearer should have had? They were missing.

He was not wearing one, he did not feel the need to put it on, after all Davit was just a little small boy, not very big at all, what could he do to a Giant like Goliath  

Goliath didn’t have the whole armor and so he died, you cannot become a Christian today without the whole armor of God or you too will die.

One little loophole was all it took for David’s stone to transform the mammoth monster into a dead dwarf.

 

Don’t ever think satin is not taking aim! He wants nothing more then to keep you from a total commitment to Jesus. Satin does not care if you have a 70%, 80%, 90% or even a 99% commitment to Jesus. He just wan to keep you from having a 100% commitment

 

Ellen White speaks of Spiritual dwarfs: “Many professed Christians are in a fair way to lose both worlds. To be half a Christian and half a worldly man makes you about one-hundredth part a Christian and all the rest worldly.” Testimonies, Vol. , p.264.

 

There is no such thing as half-and-half unless you get it at Wal-Mart. In Christ there is a hundred percent or nothing.

A Hog and Chicken sets a good example.

Visualize a chicken and a pig vacationing together. They travel for many miles and many hours. Finally they get hungry. The sharp-eyed chicken spots a restaurant. Approaching the door, they read a sign which says, “Ham and Eggs: Our Specialty!” “Hold it!” oinked the pig. “What’s the matter?” clucked the chicken. “Plenty,” said the hog. “All they want from you is a little compromise. They are asking me for total commitment!” That’s exactly what God wants.

How do you become a lock, stock and barrel Christian? By total commitment to Jesus!

 

How do you have a great marriage? You are totally committed to it. These are marriages that last seventy-five years, those people are committed to it. Commitment! That’s what we need to pray for.

When a little trouble come to a great marriage, when both of them are committed to it, they’re going to stick with it. They’re not going to run.

 

Mark 8:34-36  Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

 

That’s what happens.

 

A few years ago a super fast concord jet was zooming off the runway in Paris, France, with its load of passengers. Everything was going fine. Do you realize that the pilot of a jet aircraft comes to a point of no return on that runway.

It gets going so fast that you cross a line where you have to decide to “fly or stop”. Once you cross that line you have no choice but to fly or to crash. The pilot of that fast jet came to that line. It seems that when he came to that point, a tire blew out and large chunks crashed into the fuel tank. The plane took off in a fireball and crashed in an explosion.

 

Unfortunately, churches are filled with many members who have never left the ground. They have been sitting on a spiritual runway for years and years gunning their spiritual engines but they never really reaching the point of total commitment, that line that you must cross as a Christian or you are not going to make it.

You cannot stay on the runway and reach heaven at the same time. You’ve got to get committed and get off, take off.

 

Paul was an accountant. I think he was a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). He worked in the business office at Southern Adventist University, probably, because he has a profit an loss statement here.

 

Philippians 3:7,8. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

 

Praise God for Paul! That’s beautiful!

 

Man’s greatest possession.

What is man’s greatest possession? I would submit to you that man’s greatest possession is a relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s the greatest thing you can have all else is rubbish.

 

Jesus wants you totally: Hook, Line, and Sinker and that is another Sermon.

Do you want Him with all your might?

Just pray this little prayer: “Dear God, you be the needle and I’ll be the thread. You go first and I’ll follow wherever you may lead.” That’s what thread does.

 

*****   In the beginning of this sermon I ask you a question!

What in this world would keep you on a sinking Ship? The order is giving get off, Abandon ship and save your life. What is keeping you from getting into the gates of Heaven?

An old song goes like this: “I Surrender.. how much? All.” Yielding totally to Jesus. Another song says – “All The Way My Savior Leads me!” Are you willing to go all the way with Jesus?

 

The ship is sinking and there is not much time left, what are you going to do!

Think about it, but don’t take too long are you might find yourself drowning with sin unable to keep afloat

 

God Bless

Elder Tim McNab

McDonald Road Church

The Prophet and the Donkey

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Numbers 22: 31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

 

Do you sometime feel you are standing in your own way?

60-wrong-way[1]Have you ever wanted to go some where and all most went to the wrong place, because you found you were going in the wrong direction.

 

I missed my plane at an airport in Paris once, I wanted to get on a plane going to Brussels but somehow I was waiting at the gate for one going to Brazil. Has this ever happen to you while you are traveling, don’t feel you are all alone. We are born going the wrong way because of sin, and it is Jesus who puts us back on track.

 

How many time do we miss the Signs that God has giving us to direct and guide, all because we become careless as Christians.

 

In the Bible we are told that there is only one thing that is importance, and that is to follow Jesus. There is nothing else that Matters.

 

But it is so easy to become careless, when place ourselves on satanic ground

 

We sometimes try to get things that God know it not good for us, because it will not lead us closer to Him; but father away from him.

 

The world strive for more everyday, everyday you see people who are court up in a world of making more, weather it is more Cars, more Houses, more Land, more Crops, more Investments, More, More, More, MONEY. 

 

I once asked a rich man how much is enough, he look at me for a while and then said, until, I said until what, he said until I have it ALL.

 

So I then asked, when you get it all, what are you going to do with it.  Try to get more?

 

Mark:8: 36:

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

 

As Christ representative how are we supposed to look each day? How are we supposed to act each day?

 

Many times a person life may be determined just but the way we act or look in a giving situation.

 

One day the Pastor told me that there was a complaint about me, I ask him what is was, he told me that a cretin Man who told him he will never come back to Church again because of the way I looked at him. I was floored by what he said; I don’t understand I told him.

 

He told me that one Sabbath after study service was over; I was coming down the hall getting ready to go up and start the worship service with the other Elder. This Man was standing in the Hall and he looked at me and said I looked back at him, and he could read the expression on my Face “by the way I looked back at him” that I did not want anything to do with him, that I through little of him.

 

This all happened a few years ago while I was in the middle of Radiation and Chemo treatment the second time.

 

I know I was not the best persons to be around at that time in my Life, even my Children moved out of the house. Most days I should have not even came to Church, but I did because it made me fell better then just sitting at home. But I wish now that I would have stay home that day, because of an expression of my face there is a person who may never come to know Jesus.

 

It is hard, but it is true; that it does not matter if the expression on my face was because of Pain, Sorrow, Sickness, Suffering, or just Contempt. He read something in my Face that should not have been there, and a soul may become lost because of it.

 

How about with doing Gods will, do we sometime jump the gun, and take off running with our fully listening to what Gods is saying.

 

How easy is it to misinterpret what Gods real plan is when we are bent on doing something we want to do. I am sure that no one here has that problem.

 

 Lets go to the Book of Numbers  Chapter 22: and see if any other Christian had this problem

1: And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

 

We find here that the Children of Israel had not yet intern into the promise Land, for we are told that they were still on the other side of the Jordon in the plains of Moab.

 

Now if you were the King of that country and all of a sudden a large amount of People just showed up and camped in your back yard, how would you fell about it?

 

To make matters worse, you hear all kinds of stories about them and how there God goes before them. In fact you hear stories about how they have walk through Rivers of water on dry-land, how they eat food that come down from the Heavens, and how there God goes before them into battle.

 

This would make you pretty up-set would it not?   Balak was indeed up-set!

2: And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

 

The Amorites were a strong people in the Land, but were powerless to stand before the Children of Israel when God was with them.  Notice: I said when God was with them

This is a good lesion for us today, we should only fight the battle for God when he is with us, don’t try and do it on you own

 

3: And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

 

They were afraid and they were scared because they have seen what had happen to the Amorites and figure it will also happen to them next.

 

4: And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.  And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

 

Normally when an approaching army comes and besieges a City, they pretty much eat off the Land and do what ever they want. Because there were no re-enforcement in those days

 

But this was not Balak main concern, his main concern was that Israel was going to defeat all the Kings round about them, and it would only be a matter of time before he to would have to defend his kingdom.

 

Now let me ask, was God fair in his dealing with these Kingdoms?

Did they have the opportunity to know who God was?

Did they have the knowledge of the great God of Creation?

 

How do we know that the knowledge of God existed in that part of the world, look at verse #5, what does it say the King did.

 

5: He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

 

I just love the way this King describes the people of God, there is a day coming when the people of God will again cover the face of the whole earth.

 

6: Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

 

The King knew and understood one thing, he had a big problem on his hand and this Man was in contact with the one person who could help.

 

What he did not know was that this same God was the one bringing these people into his homeland because they had refused to acknowledge him as there Lord and Master.

 

Moab was a descendent of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. So they had ever opportunity just like we do today to know God, but they do just like we do, they choose to turn away from God and serve another Master.

 

Jesus well said in the Book of Matthew 12:

30: He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

 

The people of Moab knew who Jehovah was but they choose the pleasures of sin for a season rather then to serve the God of creation, so the cup of there transgressions had finally reached it limit.

 

We too have the same problems; we too choose the pleasures of sin, rather then to give God not only our Life, but our Time, our Money, and our, Heart.

 

The Day of Judgment will come when we lease expect it, and rather then asking God for his forgiveness the world like Balak will search and hope to find someone who can curse the people of God who dire stand in there way.

 

Now the King is sending his delegate, his diplomat, his representative, his ambassador, what every you may want to call them; on a very special mission.

 Numbers 22:

7: And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

 

So they are doing what the people of this world would do when in trouble and need a quick fix.

How many times when you are having a problem do you look for a quick fix. You don’t need to raise your hands; it is just about all of us at times, right.

 

We are always looking the fast way out rather then having to stay in for the long hall. The King of Moab was no different he needed a quick fix so he is sending now for Balaam’s help.

Now let’s take a close look at the Man of God and what he is going to say to this envoy of people from the Moab

 

8: And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. Way to go

 

As Christian we should never take matters into our own hands. Always before entering into a matter we should make it a time of prayer and seeking to know God will. Here we have a very good example of how to handle every type of situation. 

 

9: And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

 

I am sure God did not need to ask Balaam who these men were or what they were doing there. But God always gives us a chance to explain the matter in clarity, so that God and Man are talking on the same terms and we can’t say later      “I did not understand”.

 

10: And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

11: Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

 

Balaam also knew who these people were and he also knew that the Lord God was bringing them out of Egypt to possess the land before them.

 

12: And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

 

Case is now settled and the matter is closed, right.

 

13: And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

 

Now I have a problem here with the way Balaam handles this, I think he should have used better words then the Lord refused to give me leave.

 

Maybe something like; you better get home and get your house in order because the Lord God of Israel is going to give your Land to the people before you, and don’t call on me again.

 

In the way Balaam answer these men he left an opening for the King of Moab to come back. He left an opening for satin to inter, for he wanted to please God but he also wanted to please the King of Moab, who was to give him a very lard reward.

 

14: And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

Balaam just needed to find a way around God not letting him go to claim this reward; after all he could do a lot of good with that kind of money.

 

He could build a School, go on a missionary trip, and maybe even hold some evangelistic seminars right there in the mist of all these Idolatry nations.  BUT God does not need Money he needs a people who are faithful to him in every aspect.

 

15: And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.

16: And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:

 

When people are bent on doing something there way, they will stop at nothing, even selling themselves to achieve what they want

 

17: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

 

This is the reward Balaam was hoping for; if he could curse these people for the King of Moab and get paid before the children of Israel invade Moab he could take is easy for the rest of his live. 

 

But Balaam knew one thing, it was not up to him, he must inquire of God.

 

18: And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

 

Does God change his mind, do we need a second time to go and ask God it is still Not OK to go.

 

How do you feel when your Children come to you and ask?

Dad I know you said No on this; but I want to check to see if it is now OK.

 

People may change, but God does not, if God told you to go,

you need to ask what’s stopping you, and if God told you to not to go,

you need to shut it down fast.

 

19: Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.

 

Balaam knew who these people were he knew that God was with them and he knew God was going to answer him the same way.

 

20: And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

 

Now please notices what God told him” If these men come to call thee, rise up” and go with them

 

Here is a big problem with many of good Christian people of God

 

These men knew that God would not give Balaam permission to go with them and so they did not go to inquire of Balaam but broke camp and made ready to depart.

 

When Balaam learned this what did he do?

 

RidingDonkey[1]21: And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

 

Balaam did not wait for the men to come and ask, he was ready that morning to go with them; He was standing in the wrong line, waiting to go to the wrong place.

 

This happens when we know what God will is but we try and input our own will instead. Balaam did the same thing we do; and that is to try and rationalize what God said.

 

Good Christian people everyday  try and explain what God is saying rather then just paying attention to the words in God Holy Book, just read it for yourselves.

 

God was not pleased with the actions of Balaam.

 

Balaam was double-minded, pursuing a course to gain and retain the favor and honor of the enemies of the Lord, for the sake of rewards he received from them.

 

At the same time he was professing to be a prophet of God. Because the Idolatrous nations believed that curses might be uttered which would affect individuals, and even whole nations.

 

22: And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him.  Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

 

If there were every a Man between a Rock and a Hard place I believe Balaam found it.

 

23: And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

 

Any one here have a Donkey, not only are they ugly but they are about the most stubbing animal there is; the only reason to ride one is because it is better then walking.

 

I am sure in Gods eyes sometimes we are just like Donkeys

 

24: But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

 

25: And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

 

Balaam did not know what was happing, but that pore little Donkey new, and he wanted nothing to do with the Angle who stood in the path he was going in.

 

26: And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

27: And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

 

This kind of reminds us of what happen when we are in traffic and there is a slow poke in front of you and you just want to beat them out of the way.

 

Now please notice what the Lord does here.

 

28: And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

 

Balaam is so mad that he does not even realize he is talk to the Donkey,

 

imagesCA04D3WO29: And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

30: And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day?  was I ever wont to do so unto thee?  And he said, Nay.

 

As he now starts to realize what is going on by the way the Donkey is speaking to him, God open his eyes

 

31: Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

32: And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?  behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

 

The Angle told him, Because your ways was wicked before me:

 

33: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

34: And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

 

Balaam sure changes his tune now. Why do we have to wait for an Angle of God to knock us off our Donkey before we start to go the right way.  (And there is another word I would like to use in place of the word Donkey), Paul had to get knock his Hose

 

35: And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak.  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

 

Here is a solemn warning for the people of God today, to allow no un-Christian trait to live in our hearts. A sin which is cultivated becomes habitual; and, strengthened by repetition, it soon exerts a controlling influence, bringing into subjection all the nobler powers.

 

Balaam loved the reward of unrighteousness. The sin of covetousness, which God ranks with idolatry, he Balaam did not resist and overcome.

 

Satan obtained entire control of him through this one fault, which deteriorated his character, and made him a time-server. He called God his master; but he did not serve Him; he did not work the works of God

 

There are a lot of times in life we try and go our own way and do our own thing, forgetting that God is right there everyday watching his children.

 

We sometimes go where we should not go, and do things we should not, even look at someone the wrong way.

 

We as Christian must always be on guard against the attack of satin, sometimes when we know the will of God we too like Balaam want to go when God is saying stop.

 

We are sometimes just like Balaam when we want to follow our own way rather then following God way. Sometime we make excuses or try and put words in God mouth of what he has not told us to do,

 

We need to make sure we are following Jesus, following the Cross and not following the world.

 

If you follow the world it will lead you to destruction just like it did to Balaam, but if we follow Jesus he will lead us to eternal life is a land that eye’s have not seen and ear’s have not heard of.

 

 

God Bless

Elder Tim McNab

Restoring Gods Truth

 

God is Love

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 Matt:hew22:37: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with lesson07-16all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

A few months ago my Wife gave me a gift for Christmas, something I always wanted, a GPS for my truck to help guide me when I get lost coming home from work. Well mostly for when I am traveling to help find where I am going.

 

It is really cool you can set where you want to go and just kick back and do what it tells you to do.

 

But I find it has a fault with it. You see I don’t like going the same way to work and back home all the time. Sometimes I take short cuts by taking the back roads. So I have to sit there and listen to my GPS telling me I am going the wrong way turn around, then when it finally understand I am not going to turn around. It said re-calculating and shows me the way home from my new location.

Now this is really fun or it was for a while anyway. What I would do is to let it tell me the time it would take to get home from my destination, and then I would go the back way and try to beat its best time.

Now as much fun as I was having with the GPS, it did not take long before it started to get Old.

And you know I was not playing with it anymore, nor did I try to beat its time.

But what really got me the most is that no matter how many times I let it take me home on the back roads, it never learned. It was as if it new only one way, it never learned as much as I tried to teach it the back roads.

You even wander how God feel about stuff like that.

When He first created Man God did not want a robot something with a pre-formed program that will always love Him.

Can you image, I LOVE YOU, YES I LOVE YOU> with no meaning to it.

How long do you think it would take God to get board with something like that?

He wanted a being that could learn, could make decisions, could laugh, could sing and Love Him back. Someone that He could communicate with and enjoy spending time with Even at the risk that one day they might rebel and kill Him.

 

Let Us Pray:::

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Turn to the person sitting next to you and answer this question to yourself.

 

Would I die for this person sitting next to me?

More then likely if it is your Husband, Wife or your child your answer is Yes.

Not always the case but we are saying more then likely.

Let’s be Honest now;   What is that four letter word that we as Christian seldom use,

 

                                         That right “LOVE”

It is one thing to say you Love; and quite another thing to truly mean it.

 

What is LOVE?  

How does the world describe LOVE, is it a one night stand, or just sexual desire when your hormones get overworked.

In our world today there are many who look for Love in the things that this World has to offer, but it is not true Love.

  1. Beautiful; people worry about how they look, and there is nothing wrong with that we all want to look good; but wanting to look good should not be your life’s goal or ambitions. I am glad I am Ugly so I don’t have to worry about this one.
  2.  Money; there is nothing wrong with having money as long as it is not your God or that you put it before others.
  3. Things; just like money we can have a Love for the possessions we have; If you put the things you have in life before others.
  4. Love of self, being glad that you are not like other who are less fortunate then you are. Best described as a five letter word called PRIDE.

 

So how do we define true Love in a world of Sin.

You know in the old days when a Boy and Girl meet they fell in Love they got Married raised a family, the Man would work hard making a living and bring it all home to support his children and Wife.

 

They would live a long life together for 50 to 70 years and then go to rest in Jesus.

LoveSome one told me that was old fashion; we now live in the year 21 century so get with it old man.

 

Now days when Boy meets Girl they get married on the 5&10 plan

 

They meet fall in Love because they both look good and are at the healthiest point in there life. They get Married start having Children and 5 or 10 years go by and they are getting a Devoice.

 

Now let me ask you what was missing in there lives. Where did they go wrong?

They have no true commitment or true love for each other

Let’s take a look at LOVE and how it is described in Gods word.

Love is the basis of all creation; and redemption is the basis of true education.

 

This is made plain in the law that God has given as the guide of life. . . . To love Him, the infinite, and all-knowing one, with your whole strength and mind and heart, means the highest development of every power.

It means that in the whole being; the body, the mind, as well as the soul—that the image of God is to be restored in Mankind

The law of love calls for the devotion of body, mind, and soul to the service of God and our fellow men. And this service, while making us a blessing to others, brings the greatest blessing to ourselves.

John 3: 16: For God so loved the world,

That little Verse of Scripture says a lot. In the days of Creation we are told that after God had finish his act of creation he looked out and saw everything he had made

 

In the book of Genesis 1: 31: we are told And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

God did not just through us into a dead old world; every thing that came from the Master hand came with the best intensions.

God gave of the best that heaven could give in the creation of Mankind, in that we were created in the very image of the creator God. What an honor God places on Man to be made in the likens of his Creator

The Scripture goes on to say that he also gave his only begotten Son,

Not only did God love us but he had also planned ahead that in the event man would prove to be unfaithful, there would be hope for him.

 Just how would this come about; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam.

It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through eternality.Rom. 16:25

It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne.

From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate.

 

God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency head on.

He Died for YOU

He Died for YOU

So great was His love for this world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love.

 

For love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or by authority.

Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan.

This work only one being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known.

Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in his wingsMal. 4:2)

John:3: 17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

To all who have accepted Christ as a personal Savior, the Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and a witness.

The more closely believers have walked with God, the more clearly and powerfully have they testified of their Redeemer’s love and of His saving grace.

The men and women who through the long centuries of persecution and trial enjoyed a large measure of the presence of the Spirit in their lives, they have stood as signs and wonders in the world. Before angels and men they have revealed the transforming power of God’s redeeming love in the heart

 

Romans 8: 39: 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.

  In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of his creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field.

“His strength setteth fast the mountains.” “The sea is His, and He made it.” Ps. 65:5&6;  It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, air, and sky, He wrote the message of his Father’s love for Mankind. 

Rom:13: 10: Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

True Love is Patient, true Love is Kind, true Love will endure, and true Love will overlook the Faults of others and endeavor to bring into others the saving grace of Jesus.

It sees no evil, wishes no evil and does no evil to someone else. Jesus said Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

If only we would follow the Master words Love worketh no ill to others, what a place our world would be.

 

Matthew 5

43: Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46: For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

Through the prophet, Jesus declares, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” He compels none to follow Him. “I drew them,” He says, “with cords of a man, with bands of love.” Ps. 77:20; Jer. 31:3; Hosea 11:4. 

 

It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the Disciples of Christ to follow Him.

They behold the Savior’s matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary’s cross, the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.  

The law of God, from its very nature, is unchangeable. It is a revelation of the will and the character of its Author. God is love, and His law is love. Its two great principles are love to God and love to man. “Love is the fulfilling of the law” Rom. 13:10

Matthew 22;

36: Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37: 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.

38: This is the first and great commandment.

The greatest of all Commandments is to Love the Lord your God, This will take in the first Four of God Ten Commandments.

The revelation of God’s love to man centers in the cross, its full significance

tongue cannot utter, pen cannot portray, the mind of man cannot comprehend.

     Christ crucified for our sins, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high, is the science of salvation that we are to learn and to teach.

 

Rom. 8:34  “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God”

Heb. 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he liveth to make intercession for them” 

 It is through the gift of Christ that we receive every blessing. Through that gift there comes to us day by day the unfailing flow of Jehovah’s goodness.

Every flower, with its delicate tints and its fragrance, is given for our enjoyment through that one Gift. The sun and the moon were made by Him. There is not a star which beautifies the heavens that He did not make. Every drop of rain that falls, every ray of light shed upon our unthankful world, testifies to the love of God in Christ.

Everything is supplied to us through the one unspeakable Gift, God’s only-begotten Son. Who was nailed to the cross that all these bounties might flow to God’s people who Love him and he will manifest his life in them who truly love him

 

  1 John 3:1   “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God”  

     The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. It is the knowledge that works transformation of character. This knowledge, received, will re-create the soul in the image of God. It will impart to the whole being a spiritual power that is divine.

     Of His own life the Saviour said, “I have kept my Father’s commandments” John 15:10. “The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” John 8:29.

As Jesus was in human nature, so God wants His followers to be, In His strength we are to live the life of purity and nobility which the Savior lived.—

When your heart is in its right place the Love for God will be first and foremost in your life. There will be nothing you will put between you and God

I hope we can truly understand that, There will be nothing you will put between you and God. It is through the transforming love of Gods grace that others will see the Love of Jesus living in you and want to know more about him.

The Second greatest Commandment is like the first; Love for others, on this hang the other six Commandments.

 

Matthew 22:

39: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40: On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets

God’s Laws are all built on a Foundation of Love for others.

John 15:

12: This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Now how would you answer the question of True Love.

It is easy to say I would die for my Spouse, I would die for my Children, my Brothers or Sisters, my Dad and Mon, and for a few good close relatives just to be on the good side.

But it is quite another thing to say it and mean it about dieing for someone else or someone you don’t even know.

True Love will look over the other Faults and still say yes I love you.

One of the reasons so many Marriage fail today is because one of the pair fail to over look the faults of the other.

And it is no different in the Church; when we get so busy looking at the faults of other we fail to see our own and when this happen it can destroy even God house.

 

Luke:6:42: Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

In take upon Himself humanity, Christ revealed a character the opposite of the character of Satan.

But He stepped still lower in the path of humiliation. “Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.Phil. 2:8.

As the high priest laid aside his gorgeous pontifical robes, and officiated in the white linen dress of the common priest, so Christ took the form of a servant, and offered sacrifice, Himself the priest, Himself the victim. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.” Isa. 53:5. 

 Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.

 

It was Satan’s purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man; but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen.

In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son.

 

He menthe what he said and he said what he menthe

I would like to share a story with you and hope it will hit home.

I’ll never forget reading the first time about a dream that the famous Scotch theologian, Alexander White. This man awoke one night in a terrible sweat of fear and torment. He was weeping; his wife, in fact, had been awakened by his cries in the night. She said, “What’s the matter Alex, what’s the matter?” “Ah,” he said, “Mary, I had a terrible dream. I dreamed I stood in Pilate’s judgment hall, I saw Jesus brought in there before the tribunal.

I saw them strip Him to the waist. I saw a cruel Roman soldier step up with a long wicked lash, and he began to beat Jesus.” He said, “I watched as that great whip came down once, and then it came down twice, and I could stand it no longer. I sprang forward, I gripped the arm of the soldier. I held on as tightly as I could, then suddenly,” he said, “this soldier turned and looked me in the face, and Mary,” he said “it was I!

I was the soldier-I was the one beating my Lord.” And Alexander White broke down and wept bitterly as he remembered that terrible dream. Ah, friends, if we could only be impressed so vividly ourselves, that it was our sins that crucify the Son of God.

May God help us to confess our sins, to accept Jesus as our Saviour, to have our sins washed away in the blood of Christ, so that they shall not stand against us, so that we shall not share in the sin which killed Him there upon the cross of Calvary.

 

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 

We can only learn how to die for others when others can see Jesus in us.

If they can’t see Jesus in us then the only person we will die for is ourselves, and that death is the eternal death from Jesus.

 Reflection of Jesus in you

When Love is in the heart the Image of Jesus will be present in the Life.

 

Love is the outward workings of the Holy Spirit in the Live of people who has made Jesus the center of there lives.

 

Love works no evil, hears no evil, and does no evil to others; remember Jesus died for ALL

Matthew:5:46: For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

 

Matthew:22:37: 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

When we learn to Love God with all of our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind; then we will have learn to the point of being willing to die for others as Jesus die for you.

 

God Bless

Elder Tim

Law & Grace

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Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.   

 lesson03-18

Sometime things are hard to see even if it is right in front of our eyes, but praise God he has giving us a Spiritual Mirror so we can not only see but understand his words. 

Story:    I once had a Boat named the Egabrag 1

You might ask what was so great about the Egabrag,it was no different then any other Vessel, but it had one of the most importance jobs in the Military working for the US Navy

Every day it preformed it job flawless, it never failed to do its job, too much was counting on it to fulfill its daily mission.

For almost 20 years it worked non stop, She was not much to look at but her Crew had great pride in running her

When she was decommissioned and I took her over, I just could not help but wonder, Who could of came up with a name like Egabrag 1 the name just did not made sense, until one of the Crew told me, people in California did not like a boat being called the Garbage 1   Egabrag backwards is Garbage         

Sometimes the Bible is like that; but just because we don’t understand a topic in the Bible it does not mean we should just skip over or pass it by, for it is by studying God word that we uncover the true meaning of the hidden truth berried deep in Gods word.

Let Us Pray

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Are law’s importance?

Do laws put us in bondage?

Have you ever lived in a place where there were no laws?

What do you thing would happen to the USA if there were no law’s to govern the people?

 

Just think, if there were no laws; you could do whatever you want and no one would stop you. Except everyone else is doing the same thing as you, and there is no one stopping them either.

 

Do you see where a problem could come from?

 

What if I don’t like stopping for red lights, there are always a pain and turn red at the wrong times. So I am going to just drive straight through them from now on. I might not live long doing that; but remember there are no laws telling me I can’t.

 

Laws are not made to keep us from something good! They are made to keep us happy and safe. So everyone knows what to expect from the other person.

 

Were Gods Law’s to be a burden or a joy to mankind?

 

What about Grace if we have Grace Do we still need Law’s?

First we must understand What is GRACE?

We don’t have to earn it. It is the most valuable gift of all. The Scripture says in Ephesians 2:8, 9:For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Salvation does not come from any human effort. It is a free gift without money and without price, or let’s says with out cost to Mankind

In Revelation 5:9, the redeemed are pictured as standing before the throne of God, both the redeemed from the Old Testament times and from the New Testament times, singing glory to Jesus, the Lamb, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

A great, fundamental truth is expressed here—the only way a sinner can be saved is through the blood of Jesus. Since the time of Adam, sinners have been saved only by believing and having Faith in Jesus.

If men are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, where does the Ten Commandment law come in?

Throughout all the ages of controversy between Christ and Satan, the devil has sought to destroy the authority of God over man by casting the law aside and by preventing knowledge of the truth about God’s law.

The enemy of Christ brings this about by rejection of the law; or a wrong concept or understanding of the dispensation of the law as opposed to the dispensation of the gospel.  This is what we call being one sided or not seeing the hold picture.

Satan could bring in the principle of salvation through works, and prevent the functioning of the law according to God’s design.

Kind of writing it out backward so that you see it but don’t truly understand what it is saying.   Do you see the ECARG & HTIAF  Grace & Faith

 

The role that the law fulfills in relation to the gospel is two-fold.

1.  First, it is God’s standard of what is right and true.  As a standard the law expresses the mind and the will of God, for in Psalm 40:8 it says, “I delight to do thy will, 0 my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.”

2.  Second the law also declares man’s duty to God, for in Ecclesiastes 12:13 we read, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

How often I have heard Christians boast that they don’t care about those old laws of God. “Why”

 Because they hide behind Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

They say that since they are saved by grace, through the atoning blood of Christ, they don’t have to keep God’s commandments at all. Have you ever heard that theory?

BUT:  You can not take just one scripture from the Bible and make a completed doctrine, that my friend is a very dangerous way to live. Because when you live your life that way you are not truly living it for Jesus, but for what fits your life style.

In Romans 6:15, the very next verse in the chapter, Paul says, What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? Paul says God forbid.” The fourteenth verse has stated, “Sin shall not have dominion over us,” or “it shall not be our ruler.”

We are not under Sin or the condemnation of the law either, when we obey God.

Why?

Because we are saved by grace, But that does not license us to sin? “God forbid.”

 

When an individual is saved by grace, he is under greater obligation than ever before to keep the laws of God.

As it says in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.”

 

Are we licensed to break the law of God because we are saved by grace and saved by faith? God forbid. “Yea,” he says, “we establish the law.” The law is firmer than ever in our lives.

Question?

Who is under the law today in your city? Those who have broken it; they are under the law, and in jail.

The man who keeps the law, is the man who is free today.

The law breaker is under the condemnation of the law and doing time in jail.

Right here let us stop a moment and read the definition of sin in 1 John 3:4. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Are we clear on this. When a man sins he has transgressed the law.

Who’s Law; “GOD”.

Every sinner has broken the law. What is sin? “The transgression of the law.” When a man sins, what does he do? He breaks the law of God.

There must be a law, otherwise he couldn’t break it. We are not under the law unless we break the Law.

 

I would fear to be called a minister of the Lord today and tell people it is ok to break Gods laws.

 

Matt: 5:19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

How does God feel about man making his own laws and rules and teaching people to live by them instead of his commandment Law’s.

 

Matt:15:9: But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

 

Is there danger in not keeping God Commandments?

 

You might say; Lord I am saved by grace I was told I don’t need to keep those old laws.

 

The governor of the state has life-and-death power. A man has been sentenced and condemned to die. He is under the sentence of death. Friends intervene; they present evidence to the governor, special factors involved in this case—contributing factors as to why this individual was caught in this particular crime.

As the governor investigates the evidence, he feels that this man deserves clemency; so he uses his official prerogative as the head of the commonwealth. He takes his pen and dips it in the ink and signs across those condemnation papers, “PARDONED,” and then signs his name.

That condemned man, my friend, has been saved by grace, not by his works or by his goodness.

He was doomed to die, and being ever so good in that death cell would never, never in this world save him. That is very obvious.

In other words, after an individual has broken the commandments of God, he cannot be good enough to save himself. The wages of sin is what? Death. We have all sinned, so are under the sentence of death. And there is only one way of salvation, through Jesus Christ.

Now the condemned man is pardoned. He can hardly believe his eyes as he sees the kindness, the stroke of generosity and love shown by that governor.

PARDONED. SAVED. FREE. You meet the freed man a little later and he says,

“Wonderful what that governor did for me, and wonderful this new freedom of mine.

Now I can break the law all I want, for the governor set me free from the law and from the sentence of death. I am saved by his grace.”

Did the governor pardon him so he could go out and become a greater law breaker? Shall we who are saved by grace continue law breaking?God forbid.” We are under even greater obligation to keep the law because we are saved by God’s grace.

Matt:22: 36-40

36: Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37: 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.

38: This is the first and great commandment.

39: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40: On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

Love the Lord thy God it is the first four of the Ten Commandments;

Love thy neighbor it is the last six of the Ten Commandments;

 

Do we find any evident of keeping the old Jewish Ten Commandment Law in the New Testament    Yes we do….

 

Matt:19:17: And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Mark:10:19: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

 

Luke:18:20: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother

 

Luke:1:6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

 

Over and over and over again we hear Jesus telling the people to keep his commandments.

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If you really Love the lord, and want to show him that you Love him, then do what?

Show him you love him by doing what he tells you to do.

 

I have heard some say, “Those commandments were only for the Jews.” Then a Christian can lie and steal, and murder people, and do anything else that he pleases. Is that possible?

Jesus says in ” John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments.

It was because Gods Laws were broken that Jesus gave His life. If these were to be abolished, why not abolish them before Jesus came to die? Then His death would not have been necessary.

 

John:14:21: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

John:15:10: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

 

Some people say, “Well, I can’t leave my church.” We’re not talking about church my friend.

We’re talking about following God. And if your church is in the way of you following God then you need to move out of it…….

Don’t look at the people. Look at the Light God is showing you.

We need to take one more quick glance here at what Jesus said. Matthew 7:21. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

Now notice verse 22. This is an amazing statement by our Lord. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”

Oh yes, miracle worked in the name of Jesus. Good so called Christian people who refuse to do one thing, and that was to keep God’s laws. 

Don’t you see Christ’s answer now in verse 23. “Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Oh, this is one of the most sobering passages in the Word of God, because we’re led face to face here with an understanding which we can’t escape—that it makes a difference to God what we believe and how we live.

 It isn’t enough to say, “Yes, I believe. I’m a church member.” Church will never get you to Heaven

 It’s a matter of how you live and what you believe about God that makes a difference.

Many will say, “Lord, we’ve cast out devils. We’ve done miracles. We’ve prophesied.” And yet, they will be lost.

It makes a difference what we believe. Anchor your faith firmly, my friends, to the rock of Scripture “GOD’s WORD” and nothing else.

Christian can you say you know Jesus and not keep his Commandments

 

1John:2:3: And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1John:2:4: He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

That’s not my saying brother and sister, for it is written in the book called the Bible, which is none other then God word.

1John:3:22: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

People are always looking for bargains, for special discounts. Some churches advertise, “Come to us, we will give you a bargain, 10% off of the Ten Commandments.” But will that stand in the judgment?

Just because some great churches tell you that they will make it easy and only ask you to keep nine of the Ten Commandments, is that sufficient? Will you pass in the judgment day?

Has any church the right to discount the commandments of God? How do we dare imagine that we are on the high road to heaven when we knowingly break any of God’s commandments?

Matt: 5:19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

1John:3:24: And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

1John:5:2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1John:5:3: For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

 

So now we know that it is very importance to keep God’s commandments.

If you love God then who are you enemy with, That’s right the world.

For you can’t love God and the world!

 

What are we told will happen to God people because they love the Lord their God and claim to be his people. His people who keep his Laws and keep the testimony’s of his Son Jesus Christ.

 

Rv:12:17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rv:14:12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rv:22:14: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

If the world hated Jesus then you know it will also hate you, But don’t worry He Jesus will give you the power needed to obey

Some time ago one of the items of interest in the newspaper was about a cave-in in a mine down in Pennsylvania somewhere—I think you might remember it. There were some miners trapped but there was reason to believe they were still alive under ground.

There was no way to dig down through the mine shaft that had caved in so they were hoping the miners were off to the side of the main shaft in a little room in a horizontal shaft.

So they brought in a great drilling rig and started drilling down through that solid rock trying to get into that room where they felt they were probably entombed.

Hour after hour, day after day, while the world watched, virtually holding its breath, as the news media portrayed for us the picture of how they went down there 6 inches and then another foot and down finally to three feet.

The families camped at the mouth of the mine where the rescue operations were going on.

Finally the day came when that great boring rig bore through the ceiling of that room where the miners were trapped. Rapidly it was withdrawn and they lowered a microphone taped to a little speaker down that hole.

The man who was directing the rescue operation at the top spoke into his end of the microphone and said, “Are you alright? Are you alive? Are you there?!”

 

And then a voice came back from the heart of the earth. “Yes, we’re here. We’re alright.”

 

 A great shout went up from the rescue workers at the opening of that pit. Then the director said this into the microphone.What do you want the most?” There was a pause and then a voice came back, “FREEDOM.”

Oh friends, heaven is involved in the greatest rescue operation the world has ever known.

All the universe is watching. Day after day, week after week, year after year, for the last six-thousand horrible years,

God has been seeking to rescue those of us who have been entombed by the avalanche of sin.

What must it do to His heart by our procrastination, our idleness, our spiritual postponement of eternal things.

We send back a message and say, “Oh, we’re satisfied with the trinkets, we’re satisfied with the things, but thanks just the same.”

How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation?

Have you every ask your self just what is GRACE anyway,

Jesus Praying for UsWell here it is in a nut shell

GRACE    “God’s Riches At Christ Expense”

 

 

 

 

Elder Tim McNab                                                                                 Restoring Gods Truth Ministry

It will never Happen

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Luke 17: 26: And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

 

Have you ever heard someone say!   Don’t worry that will never happen

 

And the very next day there it is right in front of your face. And then you say to them I though you say this could never happen? and they look back at you and say “Well it not suppose to happen!

 

Our world today is a different place then it was just 100 years ago,

 

Some of you sitting here today can say yes that is true. I can’t say that because I was not here 100 years ago. But I was here 50 years ago and I tell you our world is a different place then it was just 50 years ago…so what happened?

 

I hear people saying things like what is going on; is the world coming to its end…..

 

When you say the end what does that mean?

 

Well most of the time it is the way we say the last part, its over, There is no more!

 

Well I am happy to say that with God the end mean just the beginning. For you see it is the end of sin but the beginning of life.

 

The 6000 thousand year old controversy over sin will soon be over and all who have put their trust in Jesus as their savior will live forever with him in a paradise home that he has created for all of his children

 

When you look all around and see so many things occurrence, one right after the other it really makes you wonder what’s Next!

 

Well let see what is in God’s word, and let him who is the Creator tell us what is next !

 

Let us Pray!

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History has always repeats itself; it is like an old broken record that is played over and over again.

 

So if we are going to try and find out what is going to happen next we must first go to the passed and see what happened before, in order to know what will happen now.

 

Our God is not a God of confusion but a God of perfect order; let’s go to the Book of Genesis for starters.

 

Genesis 6:

5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

 

Things must have been really bad for God to want to destroy all of his creation. For sin had filled the hold world and it had corrupted everyone, everyone except Noah, he like Faithful Job stood alone with only his Faith and integrity in the God of his Creation.

 

Now I want you to imagine for just a moment God telling you something like this

 

7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

 

I think I would be about as dumb founded as I could. Lord you are going to do what? Destroy everything what precisely do you have in mind when you say that.

12: And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

 

What a sad day it must have been for God to look at the world he had just created about 1,400 hundred years before and see the corruption sin had caused. How the un-falling worlds must have also looked in dismay at those who rebelled against such a loving Creator.

 

13: And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Would it sock you, would you say well it’s about time, what would you do?

God told me to build a really big boat and get in it, so I will be safe.

17: And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

 

If you were Noah what do you think you would be doing?

 

Obeying right!

 

I want us all to look at what God said in Genesis 6: 8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

 

God knows each of us by Name, there is nothing that happens by chance. It is either God’s will that it happened or God removed his protection from us because of sin and lets us have our own way. And the natural result of sin is the destruction of a person life.

 

Luke 17:

26: And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27: They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

 

Almost 4,500 years ago God told Noah that the End was coming, he told Noah to build a boat a really BIG boat to hold all living creatures.

 

Noah himself did not know what a flood was he too had never seen a flood. But by Faith in God he knew if God said it, it was going to happen..

 

God loves and forbearing with mankind to repent and turn from sin and his sinful ways had reached its limit. The yard stick of sin was at last to its full mark about to run over.

 

No longer could God hold back the storm that was coming upon this world. Mankind had rejected God as there lord and Savior and in his place made gods for themselves of the wood, stones and the metal.

 

While faithful men preached to this world about the creator God who in 6 days made the heavens and earth, by the word of his power and rested on the seventh-day.

 

Who created our firth parents that had just died no more then a few hundred years earlier, even with the Garden of Eden still in mans sight, mankind rejected the God of his Creation.

 

It was not multitudes or majorities that were on the side of right. The world was arrayed against God’s justice and His laws, and Noah was regarded as a fanatic and a fool.

 

Satan, when tempting Eve to disobey God, said to her, “Ye shall not surely die.” Genesis 3: 4. Great men, worldly, honored, and wise men, repeated the same. “The threatening of God,” they said, “are for the purpose of intimidating, and will never be happen..

 

You need not be alarmed. Such an event as the destruction of the world by the God who made it, and the punishment of the beings He has created, will never take place.

 

Be at peace; fear not. Noah is an extremist.”

lesson09-07

The world made merry at the folly of the deluded old man. Instead of humbling the heart before God, they continued their disobedience and wickedness, the same as though God had not spoken to them through His servant. 

 

But Noah stood like a rock amid the tempest. Surrounded by popular contempt and ridicule, he distinguished himself by his holy integrity and unwavering faithfulness.

 

A power attended his words, for it was the voice of God to man through His servant. Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power.

 

For one hundred and twenty years his solemn voice fell upon the ears of that generation in regard to events, which, so far as human wisdom could judge, were impossible.

 

The world before the Flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order. Heretofore rain had never fallen; the earth had been watered by a mist or dew every morning.

 

The rivers had never yet passed their boundaries, but had borne their waters safely to the sea.

 

Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their banks. But these reasoners did not recognize the hand of Him who had stayed the waters, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.” Job 38:11. 

As time passed on, with no apparent change in nature, men whose hearts had at times trembled with fear, began to be reassured.

 

They reasoned, as many reason now, that nature is above the God of nature, and that her laws are so firmly established that God Himself could not change them.

 

Reasoning that if the message of Noah were correct, nature would be turned out of her course, they made that message, in the minds of the world, a delusion–a grand deception.

 

They manifested their contempt for the warning of God by doing just as they had done before the warning was given.

 

They continued their festivities and their gluttonous feasts; they ate and drank, planted and builded, laying their plans in reference to advantages they hoped to gain in the future; and they went to greater lengths in wickedness, and in defiant disregard of God’s requirements, to testify that they had no fear of the Infinite One.

 

They asserted that if there were any truth in what Noah had said, the men of renown–the wise, the prudent, the great men the great Religious leaders –would understand the matter. 

 

Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their evil deeds, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath, as He afterward did from Nineveh.

 

But by their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience and the warnings of God’s prophet, that generation filled up the measure of their iniquity, and became ripe for destruction. 

 

The leave walls of this sinful world could only withstand so much sin before breaking the banks and flooding the world.

 

Genesis 7:

1: And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

 

Our world is again becoming ripe for the destruction that destroyed the antediluvians world. But this time not by water but by Fire, men again will turn from truth to believe a lie

 

I have no idea how much Faith Noah had, but I tell you this every time Noah drove a nail into the Ark his Faith grew. It is today no different with us only as we exercise our faith in Gods power will we be like faithful Noah one nail at a time.

 

Can we trust God? Let’s look at where we are today

 

We are told of a time of trouble that is coming upon this world we live in. A time that we who are God people will not be able to buy or sell, a time when the whole world will hate us and blame us for the problems that this old world will be going through

 

Can you believe the things that are happing in our world today!

 

This world is saying don’t worry; things are going to be just fine there is no need to be alarmed, your government will take care of everything and take care of you.

 

Do you believe that? What is going to happen when you find yourself all alone and the whole world against you?

 

When the day comes and its seam like everyone has turned agents you, even your own Brothers, sisters, Mother, Father, your own Children and husband or Wife. Where will you go what will you do, who will help you.

 

You will not be able to look to man for help, they will be the ones condemning you.

 

Soon very soon there will be a time of trouble that the world has never seen. When God’s people will be persecuted because of what we believe and who we believe in.

The Bible said that we won’t be able to buy or sell, how are we to live! What shell we eat what shell we ware, what shell we drink.

 

Look at how God lead in the pasted and you will see how he will lead in the future

Look at Moses 40 years he lead the children of Israel, did they want for anything

 So what did they eat ?

Exodus 13:

14: And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.

15: And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was.  And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

 

God gave them what they needed not what they wanted, there is a big different between what we want and what we need. But it all takes Faith; we must learn to walk by faith and faith alone, relying upon God to lead and only upon Him.

 

Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest danger of falling under the power of satanic delusions; and the decree to compel the conscience.

 

Even if they endure the test they will be plunged into deeper distress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they have never made it a habit to trust in God.

 

The lessons of faith which we have neglected now we will be forced to learn under a terrible pressure of discouragement. 

 

We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere.

 

We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications, than to neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty, the greatest self-denial, with His approval, is better than riches, honors, ease, and friendship of this world.

 

If we allow our minds to be absorbed by worldly interests, the Lord may give us time by removing from us our idols of gold, and of fertile lands he may even allowed sickness or disease to come in and open the channel of communication again that was lost but only for a time.

 

     The young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse to enter any path except for that upon which they could ask God’s blessing.

 

 If the messengers who bear the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the blessing of God, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and in faith, as did Jacob, they would find many places where they could say:I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Genesis 32:30.

 

They would be accounted of heaven as princes, having power to prevail with God and with men. 

 

     The “time of trouble, such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too laid-back to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us.

 

The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. “Though Noah, Daniel, and Job” were in the land, “as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:20.

 

So now the Future !

 

We are just in the beginning of the little time of trouble; we are just starting to see strange things that are happing in our world today.

 

It is not going to get better?

Sorry things will only get worse !

 

Will the Lord forget His people in this trying hour?

 

Did He forget faithful Noah when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian world? Did He forget Lot when the fire came down from heaven to consume the cities of the plain?

Did He forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt?

Did He forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the prophets of Baal?

Did He forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison house?

Did He forget the three Men in the fiery furnace? or Daniel in the den of lions? 

 

“Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

 

yea, they may forget, but I will not forget thee.

 

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Isaiah 49:14-16. The Lord hosts has said: “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.” Zechariah 2:8.

     Though enemies may thrust Gods Children into prison, yet the dungeon walls cannot cut off the communication between their souls and Christ.

 

One who sees their every weakness, who is acquainted with every trial, is above all earthly powers; and angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringing light and peace from heaven.

 

The prison will be as a palace; for the rich in faith dwell there, and the gloomy walls will be lighted up with heavenly light as when Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises at midnight in the dungeon. 

 

The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and distressed, while they endure hardship and suffer for want of food they will not be left to perish.

 

The same God who cared for Elijah will not pass by one of His self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of their head will care for them, and in time of famine they shall be satisfied.

 

While the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous and supply their wants.

 

To him that “walketh righteously” is the promise: “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” Isaiah 33:15, 16; 41:17.

 

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls;” yet shall they that fear Him “rejoice in the Lord” and joy in the God of their salvation. Habakkuk 3:17, 18.

 

“The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:

He shall preserve thy soul.” “He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust:

 

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

 

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” Psalms 121:5-7; 91:3-10.

 

Mother letting Jesus take the wheelGod will be there as he is here with his people now, to guide, to lead, to save.

We have nothing to fear but that we forget how God has lead in the passed he will again lead in the future.

Put your trust your faith in him he will not leave you.

 

God Bless

Elder Tim McNab

Reflections of the Christ

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John: 15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car. In anger, the man took the child’s hand and hit it many times; not realizing he was using a wrench. At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father…..with painful eyes he asked,

‘Dad when will my fingers grow back?’   The man was so hurt and

Speechless; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times. Devastated by his own actions……sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches; the child had written ‘LOVE YOU DAD’.

The next day that man committed suicide. . .  Anger and Love have no limits; choose the latter to have a beautiful, lovely life…..  Things are to be used and people are to be loved, but the problem in today’s world is that, People are used and things are loved..

During this year, let’s be careful to keep this thought in mind: Things are to be used, but People are to be loved … Be yourself….This is the only day we HAVE. Have a nice day

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions.  Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits they become character; Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

 

Let us Pray!

 

What is the most importance thing in your life? To many it is there Silver and Gold and the things they have in Life. I use to work at a Shipyard many years ago and sometimes we had work to do on some very expensive yachts. Some of them worth many millions of dollars and right as you go in they would have a sign hanging over head saying He Who Dies with the most Toys Wins. One time I had the opportunity to ask the man who own Sandals in Lost Vegas about his sign. I ask him how much is enough, he replied back till I have it all.

 Till I have it all; what does the Bible teach about material things Matthew:16:26: For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Growing up I had to work everyday, I would go to school and right after school I would have to go to where my Dad worked to help him. He was a retired seaman and worked in a store selling discounted lube Oil back in New Orleans. One day my Mom and Dad got into an argument and ended up devoicing. Mom did all she could to teach us about God but Dad always thought that Christians were nothing but weak minded people. Dad moved back to the Islands in Honduras and Mom did all she could to keep the family together. But I was an angry young boy just about 14 years old when they separated and had no direction in life. About 6 months after my Dad left I was getting into all kinds of trouble on the streets of New Orleans and one day I decided to run away. So I planned very carefully and on Christmas Eve 1969 I packed my bags and got onto an airplane and left the USA for Utila one of the HondurasBayIslands.

 

Here I lived for the next 5 year and here it was that I learned why my Mother could no longer take living with my Dad. I loved him but he did not know how to give back love, his life was void of affection and full of hate. With the help of my older brother who was from my dad’s first wife and lived on the Island I made it until I was old enough to come back to the US and work.

 

Before I meet my Wife, my hold life was a life of nothing but living for the next day. At the age of 17 I started working in the Oil fields and moved to VeniceLouisiana. My cousin & I who was more like a brother lived doing nothing but drinking and smoking dope and anything else we could get our hands on. But I always had an empty feeling in my life and tried to fill that void with what everything I could. I got married just after I turned 18 to a very wonderful young Lady who was 21 at the time. She said that way she could finish raising me, boy she did not know what she was getting into. But guess what I did not know what I was getting either, but God knew, He planned it this way because of a pray I would pray. Asking Him Lord please bring a woman into my life that will make me a good wife and love me for what I am. I was not even a Christian then but God heard my prayers and answered them with a beautiful young Island girl who did not know the first thing about cooking.

 

A few years after we were married we had our first Child, a beautiful little girl who had my heart. I did not want for her to have a life like I had, so I decided I will make a change. I want in her little eye’s to see me as a loving father, but I did not know what a loving father was because I did not have one as a pattern. But I did remember my mother reading from the Bible about a Father God, so I started to studding about Him. The more I read about Him the more I started to change my life. I gave up drinking, smoking, dope and even started to change my vocabulary to words of a pleasant nature. I wanted to be to them what I never had a father who Loved me; I wanted them to see in me the Reflection of Jesus.

I wanted my Children to see the God I meet in me!

What are we showing others around us, do they see Christ in you or a Devil. 

The Bible is a book of love it is a love letter from the God who has created this world. But something went wrong the man God created in his image rebelled because he believed a lie told to him in the garden. From the beginning we are told that everything God did was perfect in the Book of beginning called Genesis on the very first chapter 1: we have the story of God’s creation of His love.

 24: And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25: And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 

27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30: And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good

 

But the question, with giving Man so much freedom and giving him dominion over the whole world; would he remain faithful to his creator. So God planted in the middle of the garden a tree just one tree as a simple test to see if man who He created in his own image would love him. Genesis 2:  9: And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

Genesis 2: 15: And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17: 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.

 

God told the Man and Woman who He created that everything was there, but that there was one restriction they were never to eat of this one tree. Why because God loved His creation and God knew that if man would eat of this one tree it would open his life to a life of sin and rebellion and life of pain, suffering, sickness, and death.

There was nothing different about this tree; it was just another tree in the garden that God created. But what it was was a test of obeying God word, God said not to eat of it and live or eat of it and die. It was a simple test that God took one tree and said don’t eat of it.

It had to be this way, why because God did not create the Man and Woman to serve His from force, God wanted man to serve Him out of love; the same love that God had in the beginning the same love that God has for all of us today. For freedom to be free it must be willing to let go, willing to take a chance, willing to show love in the hope of receiving love back again. The freedom of choice comes with a price and we all have been giving that freedom and we must choose whether we will serve God or man.

God knew that man might sin but that did not stop His love for man, God knew that if man sinned he would have to die, Why because one of Gods Laws were broken, But God had a plan.

Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet the handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing except the selfish heart of man that lives unto it self. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the ground, but ministers to some other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf. The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world.

The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.” Rom. 16:25: Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 

It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

     Lucifer had said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; . . . I will be like the Most High.” Isa. 14:13, 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.

 

But Christ, “being in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equality with God, but emptied Him self, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. There is no other love greater then the love that God has toward man, we have sinned we have broken our relationship with our creator we have turned our back on Him but even then He did not stop loving us. He came to save the world and the world knew Him not; He came to his own people and His own people did not except Him; but hung Him on a Cross. Why because of God’s great Love, God has never stopped loving mankind.

When man sinned by eating of the Tree that God warned him not to eat there was a Law broken and that Law said in Ezek:18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

The King of glory stooped low to take humanity. Rude and forbidding were His earthly surroundings. His glory was veiled, that the majesty of His outward form might not become an object of attraction. He shunned all outward display. Riches, worldly honor, and human greatness can never save a soul from death; Jesus purposed that no attraction of an earthly nature should call men to His side. Only the beauty of heavenly truth must draw those who would follow Him. The character of the Messiah had long been foretold in prophecy, and He desired men to accept Him upon the testimony of the word of God.

With amazement the heavenly messengers beheld the indifference of the people whom God had called to communicate to the world the light of sacred truth. The Jewish nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ was to be born of the seed of Abraham and of David’s line; yet they knew not that His coming was now at hand. In the temple the morning and the evening sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God; yet even here was no preparation to receive Him. The priests and teachers of the nation knew not that the greatest event of the ages was about to take place. They rehearsed their meaningless prayers, and performed the rites of worship to be seen by men, but in their strife for riches and worldly honor they were not prepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The same indifference pervaded in our world today. Hearts selfish and world-engrossed were untouched by the joy that thrilled all heaven.

 

In Psalms 23: we read these words

1: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

  “I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” “I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Again Jesus found access to the minds of His hearers by the pathway of their familiar associations. He had likened the Spirit’s influence to the cool, refreshing water. He had represented Himself as the light, the source of life and gladness to nature and to man. Now in a beautiful pastoral picture He represents His relation to those that believe on Him. No picture was more familiar to His hearers than this, and Christ’s words linked it forever with Himself. Never could the disciples look on the shepherds tending their flocks without recalling the Saviour’s lesson. They would see Christ in each faithful shepherd. They would see themselves in each helpless and dependent flock.

     This figure the prophet Isaiah had applied to the Messiah’s mission, in the comforting words, “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! . . . He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” Isa. 40:11. David had sung, “The Lord is my shepherd; He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young                                                                          

And the Holy Spirit through Ezekiel had declared: “I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them.” “I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.” “And I will make with them a covenant of peace.” “And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen; . . . but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.” Ezek. 34:23, 16, 25, 28

Christ applied these prophecies to Himself, and He showed the contrast between His own character and that of the leaders in Israel. The Pharisees had just driven one from the fold, because he dared to bear witness to the power of Christ. They had cut off a soul whom the True Shepherd was drawing to Himself. In this they had shown themselves ignorant of the work committed to them, and unworthy of their trust as shepherds of the flock. Jesus now set before them the contrast between them and the Good Shepherd, and He pointed to Himself as the real keeper of the Lord’s flock.

We are the sheep of His pasture and God has called us to attend His flock and to lead them by His example. We are to do this by doing the things that He did and speaking the words that He spoke.

John:10:14: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

The life of every Father on earth is to be the leaded the priest of his family, we are to show our children the reflection of Christ living in us. We are to be to our Wife, family and others living around us a reflection of the good shepherd. We must follow His example we must study and read everyday and apply to our life the things we learn about being a true shepherd so that when the world sees us they see only the reflection of the Christ living in us.

Jesus gave us two great commandments to live by

Mark 12

29: And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

This commandment takes in the first 4 of the Ten Commandments, Mans duty to his creator

31: And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

This Commandment takes in the last 6 of the Ten Commandments Mans duty to his brother.

 

What a letter of love that God has giving to man that we might know the love of the Father through His Son Jesus.

I can only pray that my wife, my children and my grandchildren see only the reflection of the Christ living in me. Salvation is a free gift to all who by faith will except it, but it was not free to God’s Son Jesus he paid the price for our sins by His death. What a beautiful story about Love, how can anyone reject pure love so freely giving is a mystery to the heavenly host.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Friend I hope and pray that you find in Jesus the love that God has giving for this world salvation. John: 15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. That is just what Jesus did, he dies to give you life, He took your sins upon Himself because He loved you with a Godly love.

 

There are many people that we meet each day in our world and you can always tell the ones that live with Jesus in there hearts. Just look for the reflection of His life in them.

 

God Bless and may your life also be a reflection of Christ living inside of you.

Elder Tim McNab

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