Friday, November 23, 2012
In The Heart Of Repentance, - Psalm 104, Study 18,
In The Heart Of Repentance, - Psalm 104, Study 18,
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS . PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
That video and song takes me back to 31 years ago when I was sleeping rough in a shelter on the sea front
Amazing is'nt it ? the roads we travel and the paths we take !
I remember the police patrols stopping some nights and saying "You had an arguement with your wife? "
I'd reply "O yeah, thats it" and off they would go on their patrol
I always remember one thing above all else at that time, (you see you never slept at night ...too cold and this was around Christmas time , you see
I always remember the sound of the seagulls at night through those long cold nights, what an eerie sound, such a lonely sound..
That sound echoed in my mind for many years and now and again that sound still comes back to remind me
So while I slept rough as a homelss person ........ one day a person walked past in the early morning and stopped as I sat there still getting warm in the morning sun, he stepped near me and then sat next to me and I could feel that he was praying, .............
You know ...Im sure God heard that prayer, but God had beeen speaking to me a long time before that except I did'nt recognise His voice
He sat there next to me for a while and then his wife called him and off he went
You know ...I remember that as clear as day
...............
When I came through the door of salvation I had nothing to loose
Just a carrier bag with a few changes of clothing
Just memories and little old me
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I still believe it was a miracle a few weeks later when I met my older brother , you know
He was a traveller and never stayed in one place for long , you could say "a rolling stone"
Madness that I should come face to face with him one morning and that he should just happen to know a Christian family at that time who would become my "new Christian family"
When I came to God I came with nothing , I had nothing to loose, and that in itself was a blessing
Praise be to God
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And so there is a Road that leads to life and few find it
Different people come into the Kingdon in fiddering ways and not all in the same way but they all come through the same door
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TAKING ONE SCRIPTURE TO EXTREMES
Now we've looked at taking one example to extremes and now we take one scripture to extremes in fact we take many scriptures to extremes
And we will see that we cannot always take things on face value and we are to be aware of this
There are many Christians within the normal Church congregation who in "Normal life" would not always be "ready and prepared" for this
There are countless websites and site on the internet that Ive seen debating certain these things which Im about to share
You see them all over the web and the debates go like eg:
"believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved"
Now there are many scriptures in the bible that speak in similiar ways
Believe and be baptised, believe with all your heart and you will be saved
Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Matthew 10:32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
Acts 16:31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
And many more scriptures
And the usual debates go us such "Is it enough to believe ? "
Well I don't believe so and I will tell you why later as you read on
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BELIEVING
You see the trouble is people take one scripture out of the bible and then take that one scripture
on its own and that is a dangerous thing to do, you must always take a scripture firstly within the
context in which it was given but mainly taking a scripture out remembering the entire bible
Taking a scripture without taking into acount the "ENTIRETY OF GODS WORD" is a mistake
And then we take that one scripture and build a whole new theology around that
And so as not to look silly we back up our belief with other scriptures and so it goes on
We must always take the entirety of Gods Word into account and not be fooled
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And so we ask the question "Is believing enough to be saved" and I stated "No I do not believe so"
You see the scripture on its own is correct but we discount or forget to include the whole of Gods
Word and this is why a little knowledge is dangerous
And so I ascertain that "beleiving MAY not be enough"
You see even the devil believes in God and even the demons believe in God
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FAITH
The next one of which spawns many debates is being saved through Faith
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is
that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given
you living water."
Acts 15:11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we
are saved, just as they are."
Romans 3:24 and are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
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Now we see that we are saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus and we ask the question can faith save me
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RELATIONSHIP
Can having a relationship with God save me ?
And I have to say "No"
In general all these things do not necessarily mean that a person is saved
I can have all the attributes of being "saved"
I can believe, have faith, be in a relationship with God
BUT even satan can do these things and does
I can know the bible better than any Christian
I can have a relationship and in that I can be seen to love God
I can have all the spiritaul giftings
Yet I may not be one "Of Gods"
And that is where the crunch comes, it flies in the face of all the scriptures that speak of belief, salvation, relationship, giftings, loving God and more
Which is why I keep underlining "ONLY GOD KNOWS WHO ARE HIS"
And that is the crunch
Someone could be a Counterfeit
This is why we can be so deceived "If that were possible" but God will save us from being deceived
Never take anything on face value alone
Matthew 22:11
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
Matthew 7:22
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
You see many and many will seem to be the same as and yet you see they can seem to believe as those who are Gods and yet some are not and will not enter
Remember that counterfeit spirits do not always get seen, eveil spirits do not advertise themselves , they hide away and do not want to leave a person, they can mimmick and seem very convincing
Also remember that although some may confess Jesus to be Lord and know the bible and have the giftings and love and be in relationship and believe and have faith , they may well be of a "cult" and mislead many down the wrong path
Still more may be misled and in so being mislead others
So how do we know that someone is of "Jesus" ? that is "Gods"
Well we shall know them by their fruit
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And now we come back to David
David was a man after Gods own heart
He had a living reltionship with God and sought after Him daily
Yet we know that David came to the end of himself many times
He may have had nothing more than himself to offer, although he was a King, before God he was naked as Adam and Eve were naked in that all was laid bear before God
Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Job 26:6 Death is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
Proverbs 5:21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
Jeremiah 16:17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.
Jeremiah 23:24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.
Daniel 2:22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
Davids own son sought to take his place and in this David comes to the end of himself
David himself seeks to murder and deceive and commit adultery and in so doing once more comes to the end of himself
David once more seeks to number the armies and in so doing count on his own strength instead of Gods and comes once more to the end of himself
God again and again displays His Kingship over Davids life and David is once more brought to his knees
Again and again David repents and reverses
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But in this is the difference as all is laid bare and Davids heart is laid before the King Of Kings
GOD KNEW DAVID BELONGED TO HIM
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Psalm 22:10
From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Lord Father God in Jesus name unto us a Child is born at salvation unto us a son is gioven and we are adopted into your family as sons receiving all the inheritance and sitting at the Right Hand
I cast all my burdons on you today that my burdons would be Light and few
Let the goverment of my life be on your shoulders as I let you into my heart to govern
Let the goverment of each day be Yours as I give each and every day to you in the Day of Days
Thankyou Lord for Your goverment in my life in Jesus name amen