SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES

The Bible says very clearly that “The wages of sin is death…

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

If you look at the footnote in your Bible, you’ll find that Romans 6:23 takes you back to Genesis 2:16-17, which is where…

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

So the penalty for sin is death, meaning eternal estrangement and separation from God, who is the Source and Author of each one of our lives.

Whereas this temporary “tent’ (as Paul describes our flesh and blood bodies in 1 Cor 5:1) will eventually expire and return to the dust from which it came, the essence of our being is Spirit – created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26) – and so our spirit-man will live for eternity, either with God (in eternal fellowship with Him) or we will live eternally separated from Him, depending on whether we obey the gospel message and receive Jesus as both our Lord and Savior.

Matthews 7:13-14 tells us to,

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

In other words, only a few will ever find the narrow road that leads to life as many have willfully chosen death due to their love of sin and evil doing.

And the reason few are on the narrow path is because unlike the wide gate, the narrow way is not as accommodating as the broad way is, as you just can’t do as you please or live however you want.

And for all those who either ignore or reject the gospel message and Jesus’ propitious sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross for the remission of our sins, they will have to stand before the White Throne Judgment of God without the benefit of a Savior.

This is the gospel message in a nutshell:

So in summary, this is the situation that every human being is facing, that we only have from the time we first are born into this world, and the time when we depart it to make this decision about Jesus.

God is not going to force on anyone, in eternity, what they have rejected all of their lives, and so if you die separated from Jesus, then that decision will be set in stone for eternity.

So this window of opportunity for each individual gets more narrow with the passing of each day, and the truth of the matter is tomorrow is not guaranteed to any man, as every breath we take and every beat of our heart is only by God’s grace; and so there is a sense of urgency here that you should not put off for another day.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we are told,

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; and behold, all things have become new.

At this point we become disciples (followers) of Jesus and we enter into the School of the Holy Spirit, where we learn to walk as Jesus walked.

1 John 2:6

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

In Luke 9:62, we’re told, “And having set our hand to the plow, don’t look back.”

What applies to us individually also applies to us as a nation.

And the one thing, more than anything else, that will guarantee our Liberty, as a nation, has nothing to do with politics or the economy, but it has everything to do with our covenant relationship with God.

This is why we need to pray, more than anything, for individual and national repentance!

In the following scripture, God tells us how to respond when our nation is going to hell in a handbasket:

2 Chronicles 7:14
The Message

“If my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.”

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Monday, Nov 7
Worthy Brief

DON’T LOOK BACK!

“Remember Lot’s wife.”
— Luke 17:32

When Yeshua (Jesus) was describing the societal atmosphere of His return, he said these peculiar words … “Remember Lot’s Wife.”

It was a warning … especially to the generation of believers just before His return.

In Genesis 19, we read of God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and specifically of how Lot’s wife turned to look at the destruction and was turned into a pillar of salt. [Genesis 19:26]

She turned around … and the warning to us is … don’t look back!

While traveling in the States, we’re in the midst of election season once again, remembering President Trump’s theme in the 2016 election, “Make America Great Again.”

This powerful slogan, reminding many Americans of the nation’s dramatic decline since their youth, inspired them to vote in hope of witnessing a restoration of former glory.

For some, this was a nostalgic longing; for others, a passion for something that seemed almost irretrievably lost.

However, one recalls or defines it, America’s greatness does seem to be irrevocably fading, and our view is that looking back and longing for its recovery is looking in the wrong direction.

While some call this nation modern “Babylon” or even “Sodom,” what we see is a nation of paradox, full of tremendous blessings and, sadly, real wickedness.

But however you view her, we believe it is unwise and even dangerous to look back to America’s past in hope of that kind of restoration.

Since the “Days of Noah” are again upon us, we’re not expecting or focused on political solutions but looking toward the Kingdom that is soon coming!

When I worked for the Christian coalition, I began to realize that the real issues America faces could not be remedied by politics.

Political realities simply reflect a nation’s and its people’s internal moral and cultural climate.

In their drive for power, most politicians are simply responding to or manipulating the current passions of the populace.

Laws can be changed, but they will reflect the mores of the people, shaped by media, music, art, and culture.

Those influences reveal a nation’s true soul.

While some leaders are morally superior to others and may seem to offer hope, the real problems which plague society are internal and reflect the deeply rooted sin in human nature.

The Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the only path and hope for any degree of national restoration.

Anyone who has studied revivals can see this.

So nostalgically looking at the past with a view toward political transformation might not turn you into a pillar of salt but may seriously deflect us from the real hope and task of transformation: the Gospel, which points to the coming Kingdom and the coming King.

Any reclamation of greatness, individual or national, will depend utterly on the transforming power of the Messiah and the profound inner work of His Holy Spirit.

Let us not look back as Lot’s wife did toward whatever the “good life” was in Sodom or America; [Luke 9:62].

Any “greatness” that’s worth regaining will come from looking UP, not back!

Our calling is to make disciples, anticipating the coming Kingdom where politics will not be “as usual” but everlasting righteousness in the presence of our King Yeshua.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Going to Christian College in Dallas, Texas)
Melbourne, Florida
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Read Romans chapter 3

WHAT IS FAITH?

Romans 1:17
The Message

16-17 Paul speaking: “It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else!

God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along:

‘The person in right standing before God by trusting Him really lives.’ “
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Faith is a word with many meanings. It can mean faithfulness (Matthew 24:45).

It can mean absolute trust, as shown by some of the people who came to Jesus for healing (Luke 7:2-10).

It can mean confident hope (Hebrews 11:1).

Or, as James points out, it can even mean a barren belief that does not result in good deeds (James 2:14-26).

What does Paul mean when, in Romans, he speaks of saving faith?

We must be very careful to understand faith as Paul intends because he ties faith so closely to salvation.

It is not something we must have in order to earn salvation—if that were true, then having faith would be just one more deed, and Paul clearly states that human deeds can never save us (Galatians 2:16).

Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 “For by GRACE (unmerited favor) you have been saved through faith, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. “

It is God’s grace, not our faith, that saves us.

In His mercy, however, when He saves us, He gives us faith and a relationship with His Son that helps us become like Him.

Through the faith He gives us, He carries us from death into life (John 5:24).

Hebrews 11:6
J.B. Phillips Translation

“And without faith it is impossible to please him. The man who approaches God must have faith in two things, first that God exists and secondly that it is worth a man’s while to try to find God.”

The Basis and Terms of the Gospel (3:21–31):

3:21 We now come to the heart of the Letter to the Romans, when Paul answers the question:

According to the gospel, how can ungodly sinners be justified by a holy God?

He begins by saying that the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the law.

This means that a plan or program has been revealed by which God can righteously save unrighteous sinners, and that it is not by requiring men to keep the law.

Because God is holy, He cannot condone sin or overlook it or wink at it.

He must punish it. And the punishment for sin is death (eternal separation from God).

Yet God loves the sinner and wants to save him; there is the dilemma.

God’s righteousness demands the sinner’s death, but His love desires the sinner’s eternal happiness.

The gospel reveals how God can save sinners without compromising His righteousness.

This righteous plan is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.

It was foretold in the types and shadows of the sacrificial system that required the shedding of blood for atonement.

And it was foretold by direct prophecies (see, e.g., Isa. 51:5, 6, 8; 56:1; Dan. 9:24).

3:22 Verse 21 told us that this righteous salvation is not obtained on the basis of law-keeping.

Now the apostle tells us how it is obtained—through faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith here means utter reliance on the living Lord Jesus Christ as one’s only Savior from sin and one’s only hope for heaven.

It is based on the revelation of the Person and work of Christ as found in the Bible.

Faith is not a leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence, and finds it in the infallible word of God.

Faith is not illogical or unreasonable.

What is more reasonable than that the creature should trust his Creator?

Faith is not a meritorious work by which a man earns or deserves salvation.

A man cannot boast because he has believed the Lord; he would be a fool not to believe Him.

Faith is not an attempt to earn salvation, but is the simple acceptance of the salvation which God offers as a free gift.

Paul goes on to tell us that this salvation is to all and on all who believe.

It is to all in the sense that it is available to all, offered to all, and sufficient for all.

But it is only on those who believe; that is, it is effective only in the lives of those who accept the Lord Jesus by a definite act of faith.

The pardon is for all, but it becomes valid in an individual’s life only when he accepts it.

When Paul says that salvation is available to all, he includes Gentiles as well as Jews, because now there is no difference.

The Jew has no special privilege and the Gentile is at no disadvantage.

3:23 The availability of the gospel is as universal as the need.

And the need is universal because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Everybody sinned in Adam; when he sinned, he acted as the representative for all his descendants.

But men are not only sinners by nature; they are also sinners by practice. They fall short, in themselves, of the glory of God.

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Sunday, Nov 6
The Winning Walk
by Dr Ed Young

WHO NEEDS SAVING?

Imagine you are a sales representative with a big presentation to make.

You’ve prepared. You look your best.

You have all your ammunition ready. Landing this account could mean the difference between success and failure for your fledgling company.

Before you arrive in your potential client’s office, you make one last check in the restroom, only to discover an ink stain the size of a Frisbee on your crisp, white shirt.

Water won’t remove it. You don’t have another shirt. You try to hide it with your tie, but to no avail.

You are hopelessly, horribly stained, and there is nothing you can do to remove the mark.

Every single man and woman alive is sin-stained.

We are not able to remove the blot of sin on our lives, no matter what method we try.

But many people resist the idea that they need to be saved from sin.

“Saving” is for other people-people whose marks are more obvious than their own.

But the Bible says all of us have sinned, and fallen short of the mark of perfection required by a holy God.

There are four realities that sinners like you and me need to know.

First, the stain of sin is permanent. It will not improve on its own, nor be removed by human effort.

Second, inspection day is coming. You have an appointment with the Lord God Almighty who judges sin, and there is no escaping that appointment.

Third, there is only One who can remove the stain of sin. Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God is equipped to cleanse it.

Finally-and best of all-Jesus is in the cleaning business! Jesus’ clean-up procedure is called salvation, and it takes place when a man by faith receives Jesus Christ into his life.

“Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe. Sin had left its crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”

Memory Verse

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
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Give Me Jesus…

Jesus says “Come to Me and learn with Me:

Matthew 11:28-30
The Message

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?

Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
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Jesus says it is the narrow Gate AND the narrow Path that leads to Life, and only a few will find it.

There is a Path that you must walk, and the Path is a process that Jesus calls “discipleship.”

Discipleship is not an optional extra to people who are already born-again.

I don’t believe that you can make Jesus your Savior, and later on, at your discretion and at your convenience, make Him Lord.

I believe He must be Lord OF all, or He isn’t Lord AT all.

In Luke 6:46, Jesus said to His disciples “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Matthew 7:21-23
New Living Translation

True Disciples
21 Jesus speaking: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

ONLY those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’

23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
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Many people just want to trust in Jesus to save them from their sins and take them to heaven when they die, but they don’t want the process of discipleship.

They are willing to enter into the Gate, but they are not willing to walk the Path.

That’s what it amounts to. Many Christians have entered the Gate, but very few of them are actually walking the Path.

There they are, sitting just inside the Gate, rejoicing in a future hope, rejoicing in a future heaven, rejoicing in a future reward, but they don’t realize that being a disciple of Jesus does not simply mean praying a prayer or believing something or joining something.

It is a process. It is the Path, in fact, that leads you to Life.

The Gate does not lead you anywhere – it is only the beginning of the journey, it is not the destination.

1 John 2:4-6
New Living Translation

4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.

5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.

6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
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“God does many many miracles but the greatest miracle that He does is to change a human being— and that happens as we study His Word and get to know Him!”
— Joyce Meyers

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Even if your faith is as small as a mustard Seed, it can move mountains…

Jesus heals a boy with epileptic seizures:

Matthew 17:14-27

The following events happen right after Jesus came down from His mountain top Transfiguration.

Life is not all mountain-top experiences.

After moments of spiritual exhilaration come hours and days of toil and expenditure.

The time comes when we must leave the mountain to minister in the valley of human need.

At the base of the mountain, a distraught father was waiting for the Savior.

Kneeling down before Him, he poured out his impassioned plea that his demon-possessed son might be healed.

The son suffered from violent epileptic seizures which sometimes caused him to fall into the fire and often into the water, so his misery was compounded by burns and near-drownings.

NOTE that the Greek word for seizures (used only here in the New Testament) means literally, “to be moon-struck.”

The similarity between the backgrounds of the Greek and English words reveals the belief, common to many cultures, that insanity waxed and waned with the phases of the moon.

The symptoms described by the boy’s father were similar to those of epilepsy, but the context makes it clear that the boy’s self-destructive behavior (falling into fire or water) was due to the influence of a demon (17:18-19).

This is a classic example of the sort of suffering that’s caused by Satan, the cruelest of all taskmasters.

Where does sickness and disease come from?

Satan works in three major ways to bring sickness and suffering on people:

1. Satan causes sickness directly.

An obvious tactic is demonization. For example, approximately 25 percent of Jesus’ healings as recorded in the Gospel of Mark involve demons.

The direct influence of the devil is explicitly demonstrated when Jesus healed a crippled woman and was scolded by a synagogue leader for doing it on the Sabbath.

Jesus said, “Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16).

Satan’s direct role is also explicit in the case of Job.

What percentage of sickness is directly caused by Satan we do not know, but unquestionably much is.

2. Satan indirectly uses the natural results of the Fall to cause sickness and suffering.

He uses bacteria, viruses, malnutrition, accidents, fights, poison, old age, rapists, murderers and on and on.

In all probability most sickness falls into this category.

3. Satan tempts people to fall into sin, and God at times uses sickness to punish them for it.

There are many examples in the Old Testament of plagues, which God sent on His own people to punish them for sin.

When some Israelites rebelled against Moses and Aaron, God sent a plague and killed 14,700 (see Num. 16:45-50).

Then God killed another 50,070 Israelites at Beth Shemesh when they disobeyed Him by looking into the ark of the Lord (see 1 Sam. 6:19), just to cite two examples.

In the New Testament, God made Elymas the sorcerer blind as part of a power encounter (see Acts 13:6-12).

In Corinth some believers were sick and some had died as a result of abusing the Lord’s supper (see I Cor. 11:30).

No matter what the immediate cause, the usual outcomes of sickness are pain, suffering and death, all the works of Satan.

In this incident in Matthew 17, the father of this epileptic boy had gone to the disciples for help, only to learn that “vain is the help of man.”

They had been powerless to cure him.

And in verse 17 Jesus said to His disciples,

“O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?”

They did not have the faith to heal the epileptic, but in that respect, His disciples were but a cross section of the Jewish people of that day—faithless and perverse.

As soon as the epileptic was brought to Him, Jesus rebuked the demon, and the sufferer was instantly cured.

Puzzled by their powerlessness, the disciples privately asked the Lord for an explanation.

His answer was straightforward: unbelief!

If they had faith the size of a mustard seed (the smallest of seeds), they could command a mountain to be cast into the sea and it would happen.

Of course, it should be understood that true faith must be based upon some command or promise of God.

Expecting to perform some spectacular stunt in order to gratify a personal whim is not faith but presumption.

But if God guides a believer in a certain direction or issues a command, the Christian can have utmost confidence that mountainous difficulties will be miraculously removed.

In his desperation, the father had come to Jesus saying if you can do anything please help my son.

To which Jesus answered no you have it wrong, it’s not a matter of if I can, but rather it’s a matter of whether you believe I can, because…

Nothing is impossible to those who believe!

This was also the lesson regarding the fig tree, found in Mark 11:20-24, where Jesus said to His disciples after the fig tree had withered:

The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree
“Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

The point being that God doesn’t tell us to ask Him for things He doesn’t want us to have; so if you can find a promise in God’s Word regarding whatever need you may have, then just hang your faith and the entirety of your circumstances on that promise until you receive your breakthrough!.

NEVER GIVE UP!

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Tuesday, October 31
My Utmost for His Highest
by Oswald Chambers

THE TRIAL OF FAITH

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work.

Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself.

God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings.

The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness.

Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried.

And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds.

Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation.

Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive.

Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says,

“I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.”

The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is—

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
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If you are a born-again child of God, then your life is no longer your own to live as you choose; but you have been bought with a price, which is the precious blood of Jesus that was poured out on Calvary’s Cross…

We each initially invite Christ into our life as a guest, until we make Him our Lord.

My Heart, Christ’s Home (part 1)

My Heart, Christ’s Home (part 2)

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We much each learn to say as Paul said.

Galatians 2:20

20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Romans 6:9-14
The Message

6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands!

What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.

We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end.

Never again will death have the last word.

When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.

From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word.

You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives.

Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life.

Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things.

Sin can’t tell you how to live.

After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.
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The Gospel’s Way to Holy Living (Romans 6)…

What Paul had said at the close of chapter 5—that grace superabounded over all man’s sin—raises another question, and a very important one.

Does the teaching of the gospel (salvation by grace through faith) permit or even encourage sinful living?

The answer, an emphatic denial, extends over chapters 6–8.

Here in chapter 6 the answer centers around three key words: know (vv. 3, 6), reckon or consider (v. 11), and present (v. 13).

It will help us to follow Paul’s argument in this chapter if we understand the difference between the believer’s position and his practice.

His position is his standing in Christ. His practice is what he is or should be in everyday life.

Grace puts us into the position, then teaches us to walk worthy of it.

Our position is absolutely perfect because we are in Christ.

Our practice should increasingly correspond to our position.

It never will correspond perfectly until we see the Savior in heaven, but we should be becoming more and more conformed to His image in the meantime.

The apostle first sets forth the truth of our identification with Christ in death and resurrection, and then exhorts us to live in the light of this great truth.

Because sin brings death, we need new life through oneness with Christ.

In this chapter, Paul assures his readers a second time that God has broken sin’s power.

We have joined Jesus Christ in baptism (6:3) and have been united with Him in His death (6:5).

Paul uses relational terms in describing how we grow closer to Christ as we transfer from the old life to the new.

When we were united with Christ in his death, our evil desires and slavery to sin died with Him.

Now, united by faith with Him in His resurrection life, we have unbroken fellowship with God and freedom from sin’s hold on us.

The power of sin over us, as well as the penalty for sin, died with Christ on the cross.

Our “old sinful selves,” our sinful nature, died once and for all, so we are freed from its power.

The “power of sin” refers to our rebellious, sin-loving nature inherited from Adam.

Though we often willingly cooperate with our sinful nature, the desire to do so comes from our old nature.

And it is this power of sin at work in our lives that is defeated.

Paul has already stated that through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, having been declared not guilty before God.

Here Paul emphasizes that we need no longer live under sin’s power.

God does not take us out of the world or make us robots—we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin.

The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Christ (see Galatians 2:20).

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, His followers need never fear death.

That assurance frees us to enjoy fellowship with Him and to do His will.

This affects all our activities—work and worship, play, Bible study, quiet times, and time spent caring for others.

When you know that you don’t have to fear death, you will experience a new vitality in life.

“Consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin” means that each day we should regard our old, sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin.

Because of our union and identification with Christ, we are no longer bound to carry out those old motives, desires, and goals.

So let us consider ourselves to be what God has in fact made us.

We have new life through oneness with Christ, and the Holy Spirit will help us become all that Christ has declared us to be.

How can we keep this command to not let sin control the way we live, to not give in to its desires?

We can take the following steps:

(1) Identify our personal weaknesses,

(2) Recognize the things that tempt us,

(3) Stay away from sources of temptation,

(4) Practice self-restraint,

(5) Consciously invest our time in good habits and service,

(6) Lean on God’s strength and grace, and

(7) Let the peace of Christ fill our hearts.

The Greek word translated “instrument” can refer to a tool or a weapon.

Our skills, capabilities, and bodies can serve many purposes, good or bad.

Sin makes every part of our bodies vulnerable to attack. But when Christ controls our new nature, every part can be an instrument for service.

The one to whom we offer our service is what makes the difference.

Give yourself completely to God, asking Him to put you to good use for His glory.

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)

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Saturday, October 29
The Winning Walk
Dr Ed Young

BOUGHT AND PAID FOR

If you belong to Jesus Christ, you are not your own. The Bible says you have been bought and paid for with a price: the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Let’s say you invite me to your home for lunch.

You clean up the house, cook a fabulous meal, and put the Bible out on the coffee table, since the pastor is coming.

I arrive in a paneled truck with a crew of workers, all of us in blue jeans.

We get out with paint cans and brushes, and we paint your house a rainbow of colors.

I also decide a wall or two needs knocking down, and your living room furniture needs re-arranging.

Then I ask you for the menu, and when you say we’re having spaghetti, I suggest pizza instead.

Finally you say to me, “What do you think you’re doing? I only invited you for lunch. You’re acting like this is your house and not mine.”

If you have been to Calvary and received Jesus Christ as your savior, the “house” that is your body does not belong to you any more.

It is not your house. It is God’s house. His Holy Spirit takes up residence in you. And He is well within His rights when He says things like,

“That ego has to go,” or “Those words don’t match what you say you believe.
Change them.”

Jesus Christ has paid the price for you, and you are not your own.

Memory Verse

I Corinthians 6:20
For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
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What does it mean to walk by faith?

Faith will always make a way…

Hebrews 11:1-3
New King James Version

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
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Faith brings a confidence in God’s promises and shows trust in His character.

Eyesight produces a conviction about objects in the physical world.

Faith produces the same convictions for the invisible order.

Faith shows itself by producing assurance that what we hope for will happen.

Faith also provides an insight into realities which otherwise remain unseen.

A person with faith lets these unseen realities from God provide a living, effective power for daily life.

These verses present two illustrations of the use of faith.

First, faith enabled the heroes of the Old Testament to receive a good standing with God.

God gave His approval to the faith of these saints.

Second, believing that God created the world involves a leap of faith.

Faith points to an unseen power who made the world we see.

The universe involves more than the physical world. It includes the ages that God had planned, beginning with the act of creation and extending to the consummation of all things in Christ.

By faith we know that all we see around us and all that takes place on earth came from one we cannot see.

By observing creation we may learn of God’s power.

We learn the manner of God’s creation only by responding in faith to the statements of Scripture.

Faith provides us with the only factual account of creation.

God is the only One who was there; He tells us how it happened.

We believe His Word and thus we know.

McCue states: “The conception of God pre-existent to matter and by His fiat calling it into being is beyond the domain of reason or demonstration. It is simply accepted by an act of faith.”

By faith we understand.

The world says, “Seeing is believing.”

God says, “Believing is seeing.”

Jesus said to Martha, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see …” (John 11:40).

The Apostle John wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe … that you may know” (1 Jn. 5:13).

Faith is a way of viewing all of life, what lies ahead as well as what is in the past.

It involves accepting God’s viewpoint as He has revealed it in His Word.

This extends to how the universe came into being (cf. 1:2-3) as well as how it will end.

“Belief in the existence of the world is not faith, nor is it faith when men hold that the world was made out of some preexisting ‘stuff.’

(In the first century there were people who did not believe in God but who held to some kind of ‘creation.’)

But when we understand that it was the Word of God (‘God’s command) that produced all things, that is faith.”

Notice that the writer did not say that God created the universe out of nothing (creation ex nihilo), an idea that the Greeks rejected.

He simply said that the universe did not originate from primal material or anything observable.

His description does not rule out creation ex nihilo, but neither does it affirm it. Genesis 1:1-3 and logic seem to indicate that God did indeed create the universe, something visible, out of His word, something invisible.

In spiritual matters faith precedes understanding.

The worlds were framed by the Word of God.

God spoke and matter came into being.

This agrees perfectly with man’s discovery that matter is essentially energy.

When God spoke, there was a flow of energy in the form of sound waves.

These were transformed into matter, and the world sprang into being.

The things which are seen were not made out of things which are visible.

Energy is invisible; so are atoms, and molecules, and gases to the naked eye, yet in combination they become visible.

The fact of creation as set forth herein Hebrews 11:3 is unimpeachable.

It has never been improved on and never will.

As Covenant children of God, our faith rests in the God who created the entire universe by His Word.

God’s Word has awesome power.

When He speaks, do you listen and respond?

How can you better prepare yourself to respond to His voice?

Faith is more than a belief in God. It is also a way of life.

The heroes of faith, which we read about in Hebrews 11, although they were imperfect, they trusted God and gave their lives to Him.

Hebrews 11 can also encourage us by telling about people’s faith in the Old Testament.

These examples encourage us.

What are you doing to encourage others? Who will you tell?

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Monday, Oct 24
The Berean
Daily Verse and Comment

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
— Hebrews 11:3

This verse is rather difficult in most of our modern English translations. It literally says, “By faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing” (Young’s Literal Translation).

The key to understanding this verse is the word translated “worlds” in modern Bibles.

In the Greek, it is aioonas, which primarily means “ages” or long periods of time whose sum is eternity.

For modern translations to understand this to be “worlds” distorts what the author was trying to explain.

He is not talking about physical creation of the earth or matter, which “worlds” implies, but about God’s sovereignty over the ages of mankind’s civilizations.

“Framed” is the Greek kateertisthai, meaning prepared, arranged, constituted, set in order—generally, to put a thing in its proper condition.

The Bible speaks of three distinct ages:

1. The time before the Flood,

2. The present, and

3. The age to come (see II Peter 3:6; Galatians 1:4; Matthew 12:32; Luke 18:30; etc.).

Other periods of time can be divided into distinct ages:

The Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, the Roman, the Medieval, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Modern, the Postmodern, etc.

The author is telling us that the word of God “prepares,” “orders,” or “arranges” the ages of mankind—in other words, God is sovereignly guiding the affairs of men to bring about His ultimate purpose.

As is said to Daniel, “The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whoever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men” ( Daniel 4:17).

We know this by faith—that is, if we truly believe and trust God, that He is almighty, that He is bringing us to perfection, and that He has a purpose He is working out, we know that He is in control.

We understand by what we read in His Word that He is working toward His ends, and what goes from His mouth (in terms of law, direction, and prophecy) will come to pass (Isaiah 55:10-11).

When God speaks, things happen: It was by God speaking that the earth and everything in it was created (Genesis 1).

The same is true of the migrations of nations, their rise and fall, the installation and removal of leaders, as well as the circumstances of His people in the church.

God is on His throne, and He is governing His creation.

The last half of Hebrews 11:3 is our “proof”:

What we see going on in the world (during our age) has not been brought to pass by men but by the invisible God.

Men think they are movers and shakers; they think they are in control. But God says here that events on this earth have their ultimate design in the invisible God; He rules over the kingdom of men.

There is an unseen hand manipulating events so that the person of faith can understand that history is not an endless cycle of repetition; it is going somewhere. God is drawing things to a conclusion.

We are coming to the end of an age, and God is framing and manipulating events in preparation for this age to climax and end so a new and better age can begin.

This verse tells us that we can see the hand of God working, not only in the big events of this world, but also in our lives if we are living by faith (II Corinthians 5:7 ).

— Richard T. Ritenbaugh
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And He reigns also over each one of our lives…

Read Psalm 33

This psalm of declarative praise calls the godly to praise the LORD for His dependable Word and His righteous works, specifically His creative activities in nature and human history.

The psalmist also assured the readers that He will be faithful to those who trust in Him.

“If the purest form of a hymn is praise to God for what He is and does, this is a fine example.

The body of the psalm is occupied with the LORD as Creator, Sovereign, Judge and Saviour, while the beginning and end express two elements of worship: an offering of praise, doing honour to so great a King, and a declaration of trust, made in humble expectation.”

The Hebrew text does not identify the writer of this psalm, though the Septuagint translators believed he was David.

Perhaps they concluded this because other psalms that David composed surround this one (cf. Ps. 72:20).

The occasion of writing appears to have been a national victory.

A person’s words are measured by the quality of his or her character.

If your friends trust what you say, it is because they trust you.

If you trust what God says, it is because you trust Him to be the God He claims to be.

If you doubt His words, you doubt the integrity of God Himself.

If you believe God is truly God, then believe what He says in His Word!

The Bible is reliable because, unlike people, God does not lie, forget, change His words, or leave His promises unfulfilled.

We can trust the Bible because it contains the words of a holy, trustworthy, and unchangeable God.

Psalm 33 contains a poetic summary of the creation story found in the first chapter of Genesis.

God is not just the coordinator of natural forces; He is the Lord of creation, the almighty God.

Because He is all-powerful, we should revere Him in all we do.

“The LORD’s plans stand firm forever.”

Are you frustrated by inconsistencies you see in others, or even in yourself?

God is completely trustworthy—His intentions never change.

The Bible promises that good and perfect gifts come to us from the Creator who never changes (James 1:17).

When you wonder if there is anyone you can trust, remember that God is completely consistent.

Let Him counsel you, and then rely on His plans for your life (see Jer 29:11).

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Confusion Turns to Truth…

Read John 16

John 16 is the last chapter of Jesus’ teaching to the disciples in this Gospel.

In His last moments with His disciples, Jesus…

(1) warned them about further persecution;

(2) He told them where, when, and why He was going; and

(3) He assured them that they would not be left alone but that the Spirit would come.

Jesus knew what lay ahead, and He did not want the disciples’ faith shaken or destroyed.

God also wants you to know you are not alone.

You have the Holy Spirit to comfort you, teach you truth, and help you.

At this point Jesus had already mentioned the Holy Spirit twice, and now He explained in detail how the Holy Spirit would teach and lead the disciples.

The Holy Spirit is not some supernatural “influence” hovering in the clouds above.

He comes to us, and through us, and He carries out His ministry to the world.

He is a significant part of the communication process when Jesus speaks.

In addition, the Holy Spirit reminded them how important it was that they listen to Jesus because when He spoke, important things happened in the lives of those who heard.

It’s inevitable that persecution comes to those who faithfully stand up for Christ.

The Book of Acts barely gets underway as two of these disciples (Peter and John) are arrested for their proclamation of the resurrection (Acts 4:1-3).

So the promise of the Spirit also warns that those who are filled with the Spirit will suffer for their faith.
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16:1-4. These verses prophesy the conditions that the church endured in varying degrees from Pentecost to A.D. 313.

Obviously, the early years of persecution were made more difficult by the absence of the Lord, and He made that point in these verses.

The purpose of the Lord’s teaching was to counteract the temptation these men would face to go astray as they faced two major types of persecution.

The first was excommunication: they will put you out of the synagogue.

Peter and John were arrested at the temple; Paul, Barnabas, and Silas were thrown out of numerous synagogues; Martin Luther was exiled from the Roman Catholic church.

These verses spin directly from John 15:18-20 where the Lord had predicted persecution because of hatred by the world.

The second dimension is murder: anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

From Stephen to the thousands of modern martyrs, witnesses for Jesus have always faced the possibility of death.

Like the Pharisees and Sadduccees who pursued Christians in the New Testament, people today still persecute followers of Jesus for religious reasons.

In fact, there were more martyrs for the Christian faith in the twentieth century than all previous centuries put together.

Hughes quotes Bonhoeffer’s challenge from 1937 during Hitler’s rise in Germany:

“Suffering… is the badge of true discipleship. The disciple is not above his Master. . . Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true church. . .

Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer” (cited in Hughes, p. 83).

The practical application of these warnings is in verse 4.

These disciples would experience persecution in a matter of weeks, certainly months. And the Lord wanted them to recall this quiet night of teaching when chaos later broke out on the streets of Jerusalem.

Some have puzzled over the sentence, I did not tell you this at the first because I was with you, especially in view of the prediction of persecution in Matthew 10:17,21,28.

But this was personal instruction linked with the role of the Holy Spirit, something absent from Matthew 10.

16:5-7. The Lord told the disciples He was leaving them and going back to the Father.

This caused them deep sorrow. But in fact, the glass was half-full rather than half-empty.

If Jesus did not leave, the Counselor (Holy Spirit) could not come, and He had important work to do in the world.

Jesus did not say why the Holy Spirit could not come until He went away, but we understand from the New Testament that the Son’s return to glory was a condition for sending the Holy Spirit to work in the world.

But that is our perspective. We dare not let our understanding, derived from the text of the entire New Testament, detract from the fear and confusion the disciples must have felt on this dreary night.

Imagine a mother of two children whose husband has been away on business.

She must go to the airport to pick him up.

She informs the children that they will be alone at home for three or four hours while she makes this lengthy trip across the city.

They do not want her to leave; they fear what might happen to them; they want to go with her.

But for a variety of reasons she must go alone. She assures them that all will be better for the family when she returns with their father, whom they have missed.

The anticipation and reluctance of those children can be magnified many times by the sadness of the disciples on this occasion.

16:8 When the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

This is generally taken to mean that the Holy Spirit creates an inward awareness of these things in the life of the individual sinner.

While this is true, it is not exactly the teaching in this portion.

The Holy Spirit condemns the world by the very fact that He is here.

He should not be here, because the Lord Jesus should be here, reigning over the world.

But the world rejected Him, and He went back to heaven.

The Holy Spirit is here in place of a rejected Christ, and this demonstrates the world’s guilt.

16:9 The Holy Spirit convicts the world of the sin of failing to believe on Christ.

He was worthy of belief.

There was nothing about Him that made it impossible for men to believe on Him. But they refused. And the Holy Spirit’s presence in the world is witness to their crime.

16:10 The Savior claimed to be righteous, but men said He had a demon.

God spoke the final word. He said, in effect, “My Son is righteous, and I will prove it by raising Him from the dead and taking Him back to heaven.”

The Holy Spirit witnesses to the fact that Christ was right and the world was wrong.

16:11 The presence of the Holy Spirit also convicts the world of coming judgment.

The fact that He is here means that the devil has already been condemned at the cross and that all who refuse the Savior will share his awful judgment in a day yet future.

16:12 There were still … many other things the Lord had to tell the disciples, but they could not take them in.

This is an important principle of teaching.

There must be a certain progress in learning before advanced truths can be received.

The Lord never overwhelmed His disciples with teaching. He gave it to them “line upon line, precept upon precept.”

16:13 The work which the Lord began was to be continued by the Spirit of truth, and He would guide them into all truth.

There is a sense in which all truth was committed to the apostles in their lifetime.

They, in turn, committed it to writing, and we have it today in our NT.

This, added to the OT, completed God’s written revelation to man.

But it is, of course, true in all ages that the Spirit guides God’s people into all the truth.

He does it through the Scriptures.

He will only speak the things that are given to Him to say by the Father and the Son.

“He will tell you things to come.”

This, of course, is done in the NT, and particularly in the book of Revelation where the future is unveiled.

16:14 The Holy Spirit’s principal work will be to glorify Christ.

By this we can test all teaching and preaching.

If it has the effect of magnifying the Savior, then it is of the Holy Spirit.

“He will take of what is Mine” means that He will receive of the great truths that concern Christ.

These are the things He reveals to believers.

The subject can never be exhausted!

16:15 All the attributes of the Father belong to the Son as well.

It is these perfections that Christ was speaking of in verse 14.

The Spirit unveiled to the apostles the glorious perfections, ministries, offices, graces, and fullness of the Lord Jesus.

Sorrow Turned to Joy (16:16–22)

16:16 The precise time-frame of verse 16 is uncertain.

It may mean the Lord would be away from them for three days, and then He would reappear to them after His resurrection.

It may mean He would go back to His Father in heaven, and then after a little while (the present Age), He would come back to them (His Second Coming).

Or it may mean that for a little while they would not see Him with their physical eyes, but after the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, they would perceive Him by faith in a way they had never seen Him before.

16:17 His disciples were confused. The reason for the confusion was that in verse 10, the Savior had said, “I go to My Father and you see Me no more.”

Now He said, “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”

They could not reconcile these statements.

16:18 They asked each other the meaning of the words “a little while.”

Strangely enough, we have the same problem today.

We do not know whether it refers to the three days before His resurrection, the forty days before Pentecost, or the more than 1900 years prior to His Coming again!

16:19, 20 Being God, the Lord Jesus was able to read their thoughts.

By His questions, He revealed His full knowledge of their perplexity.

He did not answer their problem directly but gave further information concerning the “little while.”

The world would rejoice because they had succeeded in crucifying the Lord Jesus, but the disciples would weep and lament.

But it would only be for a short while.

Their sorrow would be turned into joy, and it was—first by the resurrection, and secondly by the coming of the Spirit.

Then, for all disciples of all ages, grief will be turned to rejoicing when the Lord Jesus comes back again.

16:21 Nothing is more remarkable than the speed with which a mother forgets the labor pains after her child is born.

So it would be with the disciples.

The sorrow connected with the absence of their Lord would be quickly forgotten when they would see Him again.

16:22 Again we must express ignorance as to the time indicated by the Lord’s words, “I will see you again.”

Does this refer to His resurrection, His sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, or His Second Advent?

In all three cases, the result is rejoicing, and a joy that cannot be taken away.

What a contrast between the disciples and the world!

The world rejoiced as the disciples wept, but the disciples would see Jesus again—in three days—and rejoice.

The world’s values are often the opposite of God’s values.

This can cause us to feel like misfits. But even if life seems difficult now, one day we will rejoice.

Keep your eye on the future and on God’s promises!

Jesus is talking about a new way to relate to God.

Previously, only priests could stand in the presence of God in the Most Holy Place.

After Jesus’ resurrection, any believer could experience the presence of God anywhere.

A new day has dawned, and now all believers are priests, talking with God personally and directly (see Hebrews 10:19-23).

We approach God not because of our own merit but because Jesus, our great High Priest, has made us acceptable to God.

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Monday, October 17
Heartlight Devotions

WHAT JESUS DID!

‘The Dark Night before Dawn’
— John 16:16-22

[Jesus continued,] “In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.”

Some of the disciples asked each other,

“What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”

Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant?

I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again.

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice.

You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.

It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor.

When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world.

So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.
— John 16:16-22 NLT

Jesus knows that darkness will descend on him and those he loves.

He has tried to prepare them.

They cannot imagine what the next four days will entail.

They will go from excruciating agony at his crucifixion to inexpressible joy at his resurrection.

When we face our dark nights, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit who lives in us is our assurance of the dawn of joy, blessing, and triumph.

Today’s Prayer
Give me courage in my darkest moments, O Lord my Father and God, to trust that you are the Father of the dawn and the gracious God who raises triumph out of defeat and joy out of sorrow.

Please bless the following people who now face darkness in their lives: ____, ____, ____…

Strengthen them and bring them the dawn of joy in your grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
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The terminal condition of the heart without Jesus…

Jeremiah 17:9-10
The Message

9-10 “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.

But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.

I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.

I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be.
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The Old Testament frequently uses “heart” (Heb. leb) to identify the source of a person’s thinking and acting.

It describes the root of unconscious as well as conscious motivation.

The human heart is deceptive; we may think we know why we do something, but really we may be doing it for another reason.

It is naturally incurably sick, really totally depraved, and in need of healing.

No one really understands his or her own corrupt heart, nor do we understand why our hearts behave as they do.

Verse 9 is an unpopular (but nonetheless very true) estimate of the natural heart of man.

R. K. Harrison comments on what is translated “desperately wicked” in the KJV tradition and “gravely ill” by some:

“Unregenerate human nature is in a desperate condition without divine grace, described by the term gravely ill in verse 9, and in15:18 and 30:12, where the meaning “incurable” occurs.

Every generation needs regeneration of the soul by the Spirit and grace of God.”

The mind of man has been so completely estranged from God’s righteousness that it conceives, desires, and undertakes, only that which is impious, perverted, foul, impure, and infamous.

The heart is so steeped in the poison of sin, that it can breathe out nothing but a loathsome stench.

But if some men occasionally make a show of good, their minds nevertheless ever remain enveloped in hypocrisy and deceitful craft, and their hearts bound by inner perversity.

Even though we cannot understand our hearts, the Lord searches them and knows our inner thoughts and motives.

“Heart” and “mind” (lit. kidneys, from the Heb. kelayoth, meaning “hidden depths”) are not that distinct in Old Testament psychology; they are virtually synonymous here and in many other places.

Together these terms cover the range of hidden elements in human character and personality.

God gives to each person what he or she actually deserves.

He judges on the basis of works because what we do reflects what we truly value, the condition of our hearts.

God makes it clear why we sin—it’s a matter of the heart.

Our hearts have been rebellious, sinful, and secretive from the moment we were born.

It is easy to fall into the routine of forgetting and forsaking God, but it is our choice whether to continue in sin.

We can yield to temptation or we can ask God to help us resist temptation when it comes.

For many of our daily tasks, there is a right way and a wrong way to do them.

Even more so, there is a right way and a wrong way to treat the people with whom we do these tasks.

Jeremiah says that people who become rich by unjust means will end up foolish and poor.

Whether at work, school, home, or anywhere else, we should strive to be honest in all our dealings.

Sinning in order to get a promotion, cheating to pass an exam, or gaining prestige by dishonest means will never bring God’s blessing or lasting happiness.

Jesus came to inaugurate a New Covenant so that sins could be forgiven and sinners could be born again (John 3:5).

As “desperately wicked” people, we cannot reform our hearts by our own effort.

The only solution is for God to make our hearts new, washed clean from sin and fundamentally reoriented toward pleasing Him.
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Max Lucado’s Life Lessons….

Jeremiah 14:1—17:27

Jeremiah prophesied drought, famine, and days of disaster for God’s people.

Sin requires judgment. Sin can distort our judgment of good and evil.

God calls us to repent and to have moral outrage for violations of His holiness.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The Spiritual Cardiologist scans our hearts and finds deep disease:

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21, 22).

He describes our problem in pandemic proportions:

“No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God” (Romans 3:10, 11, NLT).

Surely this is an overstatement, an exaggeration.

Can it be that “we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us” (Romans 3:23 MSG)?

This current generation is oddly silent about sin.

Late-night talk shows don’t discuss humanity’s shortcomings.

Some mental-health professionals mock our need for divine forgiveness….

Barbarism apparently is alive and well on the planet Earth.

Deny our sin? Quasimodo could more easily deny his hump.

Our heart problem? It’s universal. And personal.

(From 3:16 by Max Lucado)

What views about sin have softened so that they are even acceptable among Christians?

What areas of life has this affected?

Male-female relationships? Social settings? Family life?

Don’t be drawn in by the world’s standards.

Be morally pure in your dating or marriage relationship.

Be bold in keeping a high standard.

Don’t let Satan wear down your defenses.

In Romans 12:2-3 (JB Phillips translation), we are told:

“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.”

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Sunday, Oct 16
The Berean
Daily Verse and Comment

9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?

10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.”
— Jeremiah 17:9-10

Clearly, there is something radically wrong with man.

The Bible discloses the seat of man’s problem as being his heart, his inner being, including his reason.

We are full of falsehood, duplicity, and contradiction. We conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves.

Perhaps it is in this area that the heart performs its most destructive work; it conceals the exceeding sinfulness of sin and its tragic consequences and seriousness.

It deceives us into thinking that it is not so bad or that God is so merciful that He will overlook it.

Was it this kind of thinking that preceded the sudden deaths of Aaron’s sons, Uzza, and Ananias and Sapphira?

Do you suppose He can overlook an attitude that so casually takes for granted sinful acts that caused the horribly painful and ignominious death of One who was truly innocent, His Son?

Does He merely ignore an attitude that cares so little for its own life that it deliberately attempts to bring that wonderful gift of life to an end?

Does He just avert His eyes when we do something that forms a part of our character that will prevent us from being in His image?

Some people seem to think so, but is there innocence in this kind of reasoning?

Our own heart deceives us into taking sin lightly. But, believe the Bible, God is NOT taking sin lightly because He loves His creation.

Sin has caused all the emotional and physical pain and death that mankind has experienced since Adam.

Each of us is suffering to some degree from it right at this moment.

Does this bring us happiness? Do we love sin so much that we want it to continue?

Are we fully aware it may destroy us?

Do we want our sinful way of life to end?

There is only one way it will end, and that is to follow Jesus’ advice:

“Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).

When we repent and begin controlling ourselves so that we do not sin, it will not stop sin in the world.

But unless WE stop sinning, sin will never be stopped.

EACH PERSON has to come to see that he is personally responsible for stopping sin in his own life.

He cannot wait for others to stop before he stops.

The government will not do it for him. Nobody but the individual can stop his sinning unless God takes away the person’s chance to repent by putting him to death.

We cannot allow ourselves to be deceived into taking this casually as the world does.

They say, “Everybody’s doing it.” Millions cheat on their spouses.

Who knows how many have literally “gotten away with murder!”

Many cheat the government of their income taxes and never get caught. But we cannot cheat God.

How could we escape the gaze of a Being so acutely aware of what is happening that He sees even a sparrow falling?

David writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7).

God not only sees the acts, but discerns what is “going on” in the heart (verses 1-4, 23-24).

— John W. Ritenbaugh
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