November 2015 – SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES

The bondslave, as it relates to Jesus being nailed to the cross as a substitutionary death for us…

The process for becoming a bondslave, as it relates to Jesus being nailed to the cross as a substitutionary death for us…

The instructions for making a regular slave into a bondslave are laid out twice in the Torah: in Exodus 21, and in Deuteronomy 15.

It is highly interesting that right after the Ten Commandments are given, when God gives us His law, the very next thing He covers is the process for becoming a bondslave.

All of this “bondservant” business does seem slightly strange, but as often happens in the Bible, if you scratch a little beneath the surface, there are all manner of truth treasures to be found. It’s a matter of asking the right questions and steady observation.

Take the principal ideas to start with:

Nails driven through flesh?

Blood on doorframes?

Permanent piercing, with holes and scars forever?

Does this sound at all familiar?

Paul in the Bible talks about scars, marks, and stigmas in his own body that mark him out as a bondslave to Jesus.

But Jesus also has permanent scars, and His scars also came about from having his flesh pierced on wood, as a result of love, and a willing submission to serve.

“Not my will, but yours”, is what He said in the garden of Gethsemane.

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45).

Jesus is the ultimate “servant,” whose glorious scars, which He took in His body, over shadow all other scars; and they were the price for our salvation!

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.” (John 20:19-20)

He still has those scars on His hands, His feet and His side, even to this day, and forever – and they each represent a permanent mark on His body, as an eternal testimony of His great love and willingness to serve us, His beloved creation, and His sacrifice goes far beyond any conceivable call of duty.

This whole concept of bringing your servant to a door, in order to carry out the whole operation of becoming a bondslave, is quite interesting.

The New Testament word for door appears 39 times, and is a fascinating study in itself.

Jesus says twice, “I am the door”…

John 10:9

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep”, and ag ain, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

[Note: A door is a passageway; a portal. It presents an opportunity to move from one environment to another.

Isn’t that exactly what all of this is about? As a metaphor, a door can used to signify opportunity, and

“The door of the kingdom of heaven” is said to denote the conditions which must be complied with in order to be received into the kingdom of God.]
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What are the essentials of the gospel message, and what must I do to be saved?

Answer: The word gospel means “good news,” which is the message of forgiveness for sin through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

It is essentially God’s rescue plan of redemption for those who will trust in His divine Son in order to be reconciled to a just and holy God.

The essential content of this saving message is clearly laid out for us in the Bible.

In the apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he lays out the content of the gospel message,

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.

Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:1–4).

In this passage, we see three essential elements of the gospel message.

First, the phrase “died for our sins” is very important. As Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

The reality of sin needs to be acknowledged by all who approach the throne of God for salvation.

A sinner must acknowledge the hopelessness of his guilt before God in order for forgiveness to take place, and he must understand that the “wages of sin is death” (Ro 6:23).

Without this foundational truth, no gospel presentation is complete.

Second, the person and work of Christ are indispensable components of the gospel.

Jesus is both God (Colossians 2:9) and man (John 1:14).

Jesus lived the sinless life that we could never live (1 Peter 2:22), and, because of that, He is the only one who could die a substitutionary death for the sinner.

Sin against an infinite God requires an infinite sacrifice. Therefore, either man, who is finite, must pay the penalty for an infinite length of time in hell, or the infinite Christ must pay for it once.

Jesus went to the cross to pay the debt we owe to God for our sin, and those who are covered by His sacrifice will inherit the kingdom of God as sons of the king (John 1:12).

Third, the resurrection of Christ is an essential element of the gospel.

The resurrection is the proof of the power of God.

Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the grave’s (1 Corinthians 15:54–55).

Further, unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a Founder who transcends death and who promises that His followers will do the same.

All other religions were founded by men and prophets whose end was the grave.

Finally, Christ offers His salvation as a free gift (Ro 5:15; 6:23), that can only be received by faith, apart from any works or merit on our part (Eph 2:8–9).

As the apostle Paul tells us, the gospel is “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Ro 1:16). The same inspired author tells us,

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Ro 10:9).

These, then, are the essential elements of the gospel:

The sin of all men,

The death of Christ on the cross to pay for those sins,

The resurrection of Christ to provide life everlasting for those who follow Him, and

The offer of the free gift of salvation to all.

[http://www.gotquestions.org/gospel-message.html]
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Come join the Adventure!

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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Let us not violate heaven’s hierarchy of authority…

Faith is not foolishness and the sin of presumption will never take you where God wants you to go…

Let us rightly divide the Word of Truth (the Bible) so that we not enter into error (2 Tim 3:16).

We enter into deception and give the enemy a stronghold in our life when we believe that something is right, when it is wrong and is not supported in Scripture!

One example of this, found in the Bible, is when Paul warned the Christians at Ephesus not to let the sun go down on their anger, least they give a foothold (stronghold) to the enemy in their lives (Eph 4:26).

We must ALWAYS maintain a balance between the Spirit and the Word because Jesus Christ is our ONLY true North, and His written Word is the ONLY means by which we are able to constantly monitor our spiritual course and heading.

We must always keep in mind that God NEVER contradicts Himself!

Let us not then find ourselves giving too much attention to and focusing upon the lesser powers of darkness that exists in the world – those principalities and powers of darkness, who rule over this world, by controlling spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:12).

Rather let us keep our focus centered ALWAYS upon Jesus Christ and let us follow the biblical chain of authority and rules for engagement in spiritual warfare, as it is outlined in the Bible and as it was exemplified and demonstrated through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, here on the earth!

In ALL things Jesus Christ, whom the Bible calls the “Last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45) is our model, our Chief Rabbi and our example of how we, as God’s covenant children, are to live and minister in the earth (1 John 2:6).

In this video, recorded back in 2013 – on the Jim Bakker TV program – John Paul Jackson talked about the “Needless Casualties of War;” where he explains how we as Christians sometime get ourselves into trouble, when we step outside of our lawful position and authority in Christ.

I believe this to be an important teaching and a proper warning for us ALL to be mindful of, least we get ourselves into trouble; but with that said I have one correction I would like to make.

At the beginning of John Paul Jackson’s message and then later on again he makes reference to:

Psalms 8:4-5

“What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him (man) a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.”

Let us look very closely at both of these passages.

We read here that, “God has made man a little lower than the angels,” and David proceeds in the next verses to show that man has received dominion over the animal world (verses 7-8).

However in the margin of the New King James Bible, it is stated that in the word translated as “ANGELS” is “Elohim,” which means “God.”

(Compare the footnote in the Elberfelder Bible and the Schlachter Bible.)

While translations such as the New International Version and the Living Bible render it, “angels,” the Revised Standard Version, the English Revised Version and the American Standard Version say, “little lower than God.”

[So it is also in the revised Luther Bible (“Gott”) and the Menge Bible (“Gottheit”)]

The truth is the ONLY time in the entire Bible where the word “Elohim” is translated as Angels is here in this verse; but the correct rendering is that God has made MAN a little lower than himself.

However with that said, our problem and where we often can get ourselves into trouble is when we presume to take authority, without God’s leave or allowance, in areas that have not been granted to us in His Word, and therefore were not exemplified and demonstrated in the life of Jesus, in His earthly ministry.

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Let us remember ALWAYS that the Written Word, the Holy Bible, is our ONLY plumbline that keeps us from error; and faith is always action that we take based on God’s Word, and NOT on our feelings and/or natural impulses!

Jesus, who is our example and model for ALL things in life and in ministry, said that He only did the things He saw the Father do; and that he ONLY even spoke the words He heard the Father speak.

In another words Jesus, in His earthly ministry, never took any rabbit trails, and He was always operating under God the Father’s authority and direction, through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit.

And then Jesus tells us in another place, that as the Father has called Him, so is He calling us.

So come join the Adventure!

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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America, you are being warned…

America can you not see the handwriting on the wall…

Video link
God’s warning is being repeated today:

Daniel 5:24-27
Living Bible (TLB)

24-25 And so God sent those fingers to write this message:

‘Mene,’ ‘Mene,’ ‘Tekel,’ ‘Parsin.’

26 “This is what it means:

“Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign, and they are ended.

27 “Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed in God’s balances and have failed the test.
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Listen to Jonathan Cahn’s message given at the 226th Inaugural Anniversary of President George Washington which took place on April 29, 2015.

Members of Congress, Christian leaders, and people of faith joined together in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall to honor Washington as a man of Christian faith:

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Question is, is anybody paying attention?

We are so much today like the Laodicean church, spoken of in the Book of Revelation; where Jesus himself is on the outside, knocking and asking to come in.

Revelation 3:14-22
Living Bible (TLB)

14 “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea:

“This message is from the one who stands firm,[a] the faithful and true Witness of all that is or was or evermore shall be,* the primeval source of God’s creation:

15 “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!

17 “You say, ‘I am rich, with everything I want; I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

18 “My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire—only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won’t be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. 19 I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.

20 “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me. 21 I will let everyone who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on his throne when I had conquered. 22 Let those who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
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Wake-up America, as our nation stands at the crossroads of decision!

This is not a time to turn a deaf ear to God; we have but one choice and that is to repent!

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Let us call upon the Lord while it is still called today, while He is near and while He may be found!

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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Desire and passion, verses discipline…

Desire and passion, verses discipline…

Psalms 37:4
Delight yourself also in the LORD; and he shall give you the desires of your heart.

[Note: the word in Hebrew, used here for “delight” (h6026. עָנַג ‘ânag)̱ is a primitive root and it means to be soft or pliable.]

“We are the clay and God is the Master Potter.” (Isa 64:8)

The above scriptures are analogous to and speaks to any Christian who has spend plenty of time meditating and focusing upon God, and therefore has been baptized (immersed and washed) in the water of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit (Ps 1:2; Jos 1:8), to the point that we passionately want to do the things that please God (Php 2:13).
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Brilliant Perspectives

Why Desire Is Better Than Discipline
By Graham Cooke

I was talking to a friend of mine in Dallas and he said “I really can’t crack the discipline of prayer.”

My question for him was a simple one: “Why try to crack discipline in the first place?”

All discipline is rooted in desire. This means you shouldn’t be asking the Lord to give you the discipline of prayer. You should ask Him to give you the delight of praying.

We shouldn’t be asking for the discipline to stay pure in our behaviors. We should be asking to delight in purity.2

If you are going to ask God for anything, ask for passion.
Ask for a passion to pray. Ask for a passion for the lost. Ask for a passion for the prophetic. Whatever it might be, ask for passion for it. Then, simply follow your passion.

And to all those that say following your desires is dangerous, I’d say this.

God is extremely passionate for you, so you can be extremely passionate about your desires.

We’re learning to see everything that He sees and we’re learning to agree with his mindset. The law of life in Christ is always about permission for our passions. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says,

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

That means that we have a green light until God turns it red. Go until God says no. Don’t sit here waiting for God to say yes. Go until He says no. Go for it!

Seriously, go for it!

God is with you. You have permission. Everything is yes and amen. If He wants it to be a no, He will show up and tell you. Until then, assume “yes.” Get over your bad self. Everything’s yes. Permission is granted.

You have permission to desire, so pursue your passions! Allow your circumstances to come under God’s passion for you. If I am in Christ then so are my circumstances. If I cannot ever be separated from the love of God then surely my circumstances cannot be separated from the power and intention of God.

I love to close my eyes and imagine the Father and Jesus chatting about my life issues. The smiles, the easy going conversation, the delight in their agreement over me.

Does it change my situation? No! It relaxes me. I feel peaceful, I have confidence in who God is for me. All circumstances are firstly about my transformation. I am the Beloved. His love proves that to me. My trust in His love proves it right back. Another day in the Kingdom.

I digress.

God is more interested in your desires than your discipline.1
He calls us to live in a place of delight in Him. From that secret place He gives us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). Because God is always first, He delights to initiate and we delight to respond to Him. It is called being led by the Spirit.

The Christian experience is not about discipline. It’s about pleasure. When we see this life as being about discipline, we are convinced that we don’t have what we need to live it and it will be hard to get it. That’s not true. We have everything in Christ Jesus!

The trick is to stop asking God for help trying and start asking Him for help wanting.

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PS. For more on the subject, check out “The Art of Thinking Brilliantly.“

PPS. What is one thing you’ve been passionate about but waited on God for the green light to pursue? What would you do today if you knew God has given you the green light on all of your passions?

[http://www.brilliantperspectives.com/desire-not-discipline/]
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Come join the Adventure!

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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Why American Pastors will not unify against Obama…

Why American Pastors will not unify against Obama. Here’s what would happen if they did.

By Mario Murillo

Every day someone asks me “Mario, we hear your message warning America but what can we do?” Here is something so doable—it is a vexation of epic proportions that we do not do it. You deserve to know why we will not do it.

We have 500,000 ministers in America who—if they spoke out as one voice—could reverse our moral landslide in 72 hours. Think of that! We could end the insanity of the White House before the weekend.

Every Sunday they speak to the largest voting bloc in America: 40+ Million. They have a captive audience. They could do it—without even being political—just by being Biblical.

Half a million pulpits thundering truth at the same time would be the death of the secular progressive agenda. Waking up the sleeping giant and arming them with truth would cut off the air supply of the God-haters.

There is too much at stake for me to try to save reputation and avoid controversy. Let me say it plainly: It is time for a non-violent revolution; a firewall against the onslaught of evil. This is the only way this nation will be spared.

Satan has done a number on our Christian colleges, seminaries and denominations. The enemy has sent a neutralizing counterfeit in the seeker model. He has used fear to paralyze prophetic preaching. He has used false doctrine to deceive many into immorality. He has used seduction to create widespread compromise.

No way will I be like Elijah did in the cave. I don’t believe I am the only one left—there are thousands of true men and women of God in our nation who are faithfully preaching the word and opposing the godless agenda. However, there are not nearly enough and time is running out.

It is a hair-pulling irony that the greatest threat America has ever face is also the most curable threat. So why won’t they unify against Obama? Here are the reasons listed in order of importance.

Fear of losing non-profit status. In the 1950’s, Lyndon Johnson caused the church to make a deal with the devil. The deal is known as the 501C3 designation. Frustrated by pastors who were telling their people not to vote for him, Johnson introduced legislation that silenced the church. In exchange for IRS status, churches agreed not to endorse political candidates. The church did not need this designation because they were already tax exempt in the Constitution.

It makes no sense to say you fear losing your status. Unless we speak out, churches will be illegal. What use will your nonprofit status be to you when you are an underground church?

Lifestyle: 50% of all preachers who were polled said that if there was another way for them to make money they would leave the ministry. That means that for many preachers the ministry is just a paycheck.

If speaking out against Obama will cost them tithers, if standing for marriage and the unborn will offend some, they will not risk losing their lifestyle.

Racism: In a spirit-filled church, during the memorial to the Gospel legend Andrae Crouch—who did more than anyone before him to cross racial lines with Gospel music—Stevie Wonder said, “The only reason that people have rejected Obama’s policies of inclusion is because he is black.”

Not only was this breathtakingly inappropriate—think about what he is saying: If you disagree with Obama you are racist—and that statement, my friend, is truly racist.

Ignorance of Scripture: Preachers today do not know the Bible. Many no longer believe it is the inspired Word of God. They say nothing about hell, The Cross, The Blood or the Second Coming of Christ. They get their sermons from motivational speakers and secular music lyrics. They do not pray and search the scriptures. They search for buzz words.

They cannot protect the flock of God from atheists and secular humanists because they have no ammunition from the Word of God.

Ignorance of America and revival: Many do not value revival because they do not know how God worked in our history. They do not understand that past moral awakenings have rescued the United States from certain doom. Ignorance of revival is why they do not see it is life and death.

Apathy: Two extremes create apathy; one is self-sufficiency and the other is total discouragement. When ministers have too much or too little, they say, “What is the use in trying anymore?” One has given up because they don’t need the drama. The other has given up because they believe it is hopeless.

Even though the causes are totally opposite, the result is the same: A nation dies because leaders cannot muster the necessary outrage to take appropriate action.

Competition: Many preachers do not see their fellow ministers as brothers in arms. They see them as competition. They see them as predators of their people. Wanting the biggest church has blinded them to the fact that we are all in the same army; that we are on the same side. Some preachers actually relish the idea that their competitor is losing members and suffering loss.

Make no mistake. I am not anti-church and I am especially not anti-pastor. I am loyal to my fellow preachers. I am committed to the local church…but we must unify and speak out.

Millions of American Christians need marching orders not another breathy chat about how special they are. If you really believed they were special you would equip them for special ops!

So here is the bottom line: If the guilty parties refuse to repent of all of these excuses— it will cost us the nation.

Yes we can wipe out the insanity of the White House in no time if we would stand together. If we do not, we will be remembered as the worst preachers in American History.

Proof Verses:

“But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.’”- Acts 5:19, 20.

“A muddied spring or a polluted well— that’s what a righteous person is who compromises with the wicked.” Proverbs 25:26

“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21

“Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.” 2 Corinthians 3: 12

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19,20

https://mariomurilloministries.wordpress.com

Be still…

Be still…

And knew that “I AM that I AM” is God!

It is the quiet spaces, those pauses in between the notes of music, that in fact make the music.

Likewise it is by God’s design that we have quiet spaces in our life, in between all the humdrum activity, distractions and white noise, places where we can enter into and have communion and connection with God, that we may become God’s music and be in sync with heaven.

Let us “Be still,” and find the time to be quiet in God’s presence and cease from all frantic activity!

For God’s people being “still” would also involve looking to the Lord for their help, to be their “Strong Tower” and their Source, particularly in battle (see Exodus 14:13); and for God’s enemies, being “still” would mean ceasing to fight a battle they cannot win.

“Know that I Am God,” to “Know” in this instance means “to properly ascertain by seeing” and “acknowledge, be aware.”

How does acknowledging God impact our stillness?

We know that He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere), omnipotent (all-powerful), holy, sovereign, faithful, infinite, and good.

Acknowledging God implies that we can trust Him and surrender to His plan because we understand who He is; He is our Abba-Father, our “All in All!”

Come join the Adventure!

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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Let us run the race to gain the “Prize” (1 Cor 9:24)…

This Christian walk is NOT for wimps and nor is it for quitters either…

But it is for people who are honest with themselves, honest enough to recognize that the way they were living their lives, before Christ, totally committed to the world, was not working, and nor was it satisfying.

You see God has purposefully put a God sized void inside each of our hearts, that can ONLY be filled with Himself; and as experience has shown most of us, the world is a miserly substitute!

We each have our different paradigm views and motivations for why we commit our lives to Christ, but there is ONLY one reason that truly makes us worthy of the calling which God has placed upon our lives.
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Jesus gave us the Parable of the Sower (also known as the Parable of the Four Soils), which is found in Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:2-9; and Luke 8:4-8.

After presenting this parable to the multitude, Jesus then interprets it for His disciples in Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; and Luke 8:11-15.

The Parable of the Sower concerns a sower who scatters seed, which falls on four different types of ground.

The hard ground “by the way side” prevents the seed from sprouting at all, and the seed becomes nothing more than bird food.

The stony ground provides enough soil for the seeds to germinate and begin to grow, but because there is “no deepness of earth,” the plants do not take root and are soon withered in the sun.

The thorny ground allows the seed to grow, but the competing thorns choke the life out of the beneficial plants.

The good ground receives the seed and produces much fruit.

Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower highlights four different responses to the gospel.

The seed is “the word of the kingdom.”

The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression.

The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears.

The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it.

The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life.

The man represented by the “good ground” is the ONLY one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit (Matthew 3:7-8; 7:15-20).

To summarize the point of the Parable of the Sower:

“A man’s reception of God’s Word is determined by the condition of his heart.”

A secondary lesson would be “Salvation is more than a superficial, albeit joyful, hearing of the gospel.

Someone who is truly saved will go on to prove it.

[http://www.gotquestions.org/parable-sower.html]
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How we respond to the Gospel’s message will determine what sort of soil we are and what our true motivation is; whether it be self directed or God directed?

You see the ONLY way anyone can successfully live this Christian life, the way God intends it to be lived, is that we MUST be willing to die to ourselves, meaning we die to our own will, our own ambitions, and we make a complete paradigm shift in our life, by making a conscious decision (having been truly born-again, NOT by the will of the flesh, but by the will of the Holy Spirit), to live this life TOTALLY dedicate to God’s service!

Romans 12:1-2
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

We have seen God’s mercy and wisdom: how shall we respond?
12 1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him.

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

What this means is that we now view our Chief Rabbi and Elder Brother, who is Jesus the Christ (meaning Messiah), as our model and example for how God the Father intends us to live our life; in the way we read in the Bible that Jesus lived His life here on earth, as it is recorded in the Bible.

1 John 2:6
Expanded Bible (EXB)

Whoever says that he lives [abides; remains] in God must live [walk] as Jesus lived [he walked].

Luke 9:23
And Jesus said to them ALL, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross (the symbol of his death to self) daily, and follow me.

You see the deal is this, you can’t live this Christian life with one foot in the world and one foot in the Spirit; because you can’t serve two masters, both the world and God; for as Jesus said, “you will cling to one and you will shun the other” (Mat 6:24).

So if you find that your life is being shook to its very foundation right now, please understand that God is allowing the superstructure of your old life to be torn down to its foundation, in order that you may know what your true foundation is, whether it is in Christ, or in something or someone else?

God is teaching all of us, in this process, that we are to look ONLY to Him, as our Source, in any and ALL of our life situations.

This pilgrimage is not easy, and out of necessity it will take a total and absolute commitment of yourself, that you are going to complete this race and that you will never ever quit!

Jesus himself is our “PRIZE,” He’s the reason why we run; and the Bible tells us that since He has already won this race for us (at Calvary’s cross), all we have to do, in order to be successful, is to keep running and NOT quit… just cross the finish line!

So the question is are you game, or not?

Will you be the man or woman that God created you to be?

You see Jesus has already committed Himself to us, by pouring out His life’s blood on Calvary’s cross; and in that selfless act He gave His very best, His life, in order to guarantee our position with Him for all eternity!

The reason why God has gone through all of this, and has given so much of Himself to make all of this possible, is because of the love He bears for us.

Romans 8:35-39
Living Bible (TLB)

35 Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from us? When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he doesn’t love us anymore? And if we are hungry or penniless or in danger or threatened with death, has God deserted us?

36 No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day—we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; 37 but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. 38 For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, 39 or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.

Jesus will not ever give up on us, and so let us make sure we never give up on Him!

Come join the Adventure!

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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There is ONLY one name under heaven whereby we may be saved (Acts 4:12)…

For all the unsaved, for all those who have yet to make peace with God, who are not yet born-again and have not yet obeyed the Gospel message, you are in a very precarious position…

Every beat of our heart and every breath that we take, it’s only by God’s grace; and NONE of us knows the date and time when our ticket is going to be punched!

You may be saying that I don’t believe in heaven or hell and that you don’t care one way or another.

Well you might as well say I don’t believe in gravity, but the truth is the laws of gravity affects you just like it does everybody else, whether you believe in them or not.

No one has ever seen gravity, but we ALL see and feel its affects every day.

Do you want to know what happens after you die?

The Bible tells us that you will go to one of two places:

For the saved, those who have obeyed the Gospel message and have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, the Bible says,

“to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8);

And in 1 John 5:13 we read,

“These things I have written to you (in the Bible) who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Watch this video and listen to the story that Jesus told in the Bible about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31):

God is saying to you in this moment,

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isa 1:18)

“Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…” (Ps 100:3a)

“Seek you the LORD while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near.” (Isa 55:6)

Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY answer to what the world needs today…

If you would like to find out more information on this subject, please watch the following video:

Let us not judge one another falsely, everyone is entitled to a trial…

Let’s make love our first priority…

John 13:35
Jesus speaking: “By this shall ALL men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”

1 John 4:20
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother (or sister) he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

God is like any other loving father, He just wants His children to get along and work together!

As Christians, we are to be about our Father’s business, which is to be the Love and Light distributors in the earth; and we are NOT to just out of hand disfellowship our brothers and sisters without due process!

If ever we have a problem with our brother or sister, than we are to follow the biblical protocol (found in Mat 18:15-20); which is to first go and confront him or her privately with their wrong (whether perceived or real); and if they will not listen, then the Bible says to take two or three more with you; and if still they won’t listen, then we are to take the matter before the church.

Today we would call this Christian arbitration.

These sorts of disagreements and problems are inevitable and they will happen from time to time, because we are but men; but when they do happen, they are to be handled one on one first, and then take it before the believers to decide.

We are not to let our anger and bitterness fester and grow, resorting to gossiping and thereby poisoning people’s minds, one against another, which causes division within the church.

The Bible tells us, in Proverbs 6:16-19, that there are seven things which God hates, that are an abomination to Him; and number six and seven respectively are mentioned in verse 19, and they are “a false witness who speaks lies,” and “one who sows discord among brethren!”

Let us not risk the chance of judging one another falsely, without knowing all the facts and hearing both sides, because no matter how thin you slice it there are ALWAYS two sides to every story.

As Christians, we are first a family and as such, we are to governed ourselves according to our Father’s rules, as they are outlined and explained for us in the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.

God has already spelled out how these matters are to be handled within His family.

I have seen the results of when we don’t do it God’s way, and believe me it causes far more problems in the long run!

Even in our secular judicial system, according to our organic U.S. Constitution, every man is entitled to a trial; and he is presumed innocent until he is judge by a jury of his peers.

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Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

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Our baptism in fire…

John the Baptist said that: “He who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire” (Mat 3:11)…

And the way you can know you are in this baptism is the more the Wind of the Holy Spirit blows, the hotter the fire burns.

There is a very important and crucial rhyme and a reason for all of this madness, because for us to enter into Glory we must first go through the fire of transformation.

It is through this fire baptism that we are being transformed into the image of Christ, and are being prepared for His return.

There are three things you need for fire: heat, air, and a fuel source.

God’s presence is the heat and the wind of the Holy Spirit is the air, and the more the wind of the Spirit blows, the hotter the fire.

Now, who is willing to be a fuel source for this Holy Fire?

That would be us, meaning you and me, as God’s born-again covenant children.

Fire changes the composition of a substance at a molecular level, and likewise it is through our baptism in fire that we are being changed as well.

Proverbs 17:3

The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

Are you being crushed in God’s crucible and are the flames of God’s refining process being turned up in your life?

There are two processes for purifying gold and silver, and both are used as metaphors in cleansing and purifying God’s covenant children:

Water – used to wash away sand and gravel from the chunks of metal mined from the earth.

Fire – used to burn and melt the metals to purify them.

Water and fire are both spiritually analogous to the Word and the Spirit.

The crucible is a metal refining pot and it is where the impurities are separated out; and it is used for both gold and silver, before they can be worked into fine vessels (Prov. 25:4).

These refining pots are all a part of the purifying process for both gold and silver, and they are a metaphor for how God purifies us for His service. (Prov. 17:3; 27:21).

Malachi 3:3

3 He (God) will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;

He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,

That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.

The refiner knows exactly how much heat to apply so as to purify and not to cause the metal to boil over and to be loss.

Likewise the “Master Refiner” knows our limits as well:

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

The refiner knows how valuable the gold is, and so he is extremely careful not to lose one ounce of gold in the process.

Some sources tell us that the refiner allows the silver to be refined until he can see his image reflected in the pot; and then he knows that it is pure.

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

But the LORD trieth the hearts

The heart of man, in the Bible, is likened to silver and gold.

The heart of a man is of great value to God; but also we are told in its natural unregenerated state, it is deceitfully wicked (Jer 17:9).

It is because the refiner knows the value of the precious metals once refined, that he goes through so much effort to bring about that refinement.

Likewise God knows our value, that after having gone through this refining process, that we may be used in His service.

You see the problem is flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50), and the reason is the old man of our flesh, by its very nature, is contrary to the ways of God, because of sin.

So what is this sin that has caused our separation from God?

Our sin nature, which we ALL have inherited from our father Adam, is most evident in our natural inclination and predisposition to do our own thing and go our own way, without any regard whatsoever to the original plans and purposes of God.

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.

Sin is ANYTHING that we do that goes against or is contrary to the original plans and purposes of God.

Sin is what brings disharmony into the natural order of things, as we find existed in the original creation.

In the biblical record of creation (found in Gen 1&2), after each thing was created, God said that “it was good;” and so the reason why sin is such a big problem and why it cannot be tolerated in God’s presence, is because it brings disharmony and confusion into God’s perfect order.

God created man to be in sync, communion and in fellowship with Him 24/7.

If we want to know what God’s original plan and purpose was for Adam, and therefore for us as well – as his offspring, then we have but to look at Jesus Christ, of whom the Bible calls “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45).

In first John 2:6 we are told that anyone who says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk, even as Jesus walked!

The long and short of this whole thing is that there is a process that we each have to go through, in training for our earthly service and also in preparation for eternity.

It is this very process that is our baptism by fire, and it is through the friction and heat of our earthly trials and tribulations, including the ones you are going through at this present moment, that God is in fact purify the dross from your life.

1 Peter 1:6-9

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.

Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls!

Come join the Adventure!

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ΙΧΘΥΣ
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior
—
Ps 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Sent from my
Samsung Galaxy Note® 3