A testimony

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Your word have I hid in my heart

How shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to your word. With my whole heart have I sought you: O let me not wander from your commandments. Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9-11

The Word of God must be hid in our hearts. Bcos Jesus words are Spirit and Life (John 6:63) they can be hidden in our spirit and become our life, our sustenance. The words of men are not Spirit and therefore cannot have power in our spirit. They can tickle our minds but not impart life.

David says here that it is the Word of God in his heart which prevents him from sinning against God. Therefore satan will do anything to try and prevent the Word of God being fused, implanted, engrafted, engraved and written into our hearts.

We teach the Word of God to many, and we pray they will receive a love for the truth and begin to really study and meditate on Scripture, and we pray that the Spirit of God will engrave the truth deep in their hearts, for this is the New Covenant:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:33-34

Rabbit trails

We can’t give ourselves fully to preaching the good news if we’re chasing rabbit trails.

See His beauty

Never does a person see any beauty in Christ as Savior, until they discover that they are a lost and ruined sinner.

~ J.C. Ryle

That feeling…

Sometimes i like to listen to certain kinds of secular music. But after i’ve listened i usually have the feeling that i’ve just wasted my time.

Worship

Worship is what should spontaneously happen just seconds after you begin thinking about who God is.

LCD?

The pressure on teachers or pastors is to not teach the NT pattern lest it offend – a sort of passive acceptance of the lowest common denominator rather than exhorting toward a higher life.

Why are you acting like you’re my enemy?

1 John 3:4

But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is done against the will of God. (TLB)

Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (KJ2000)

Sin is to miss the mark and displease God, but perhaps few today would realize that it is also an act committed against God – it is a person taking on the posture of an enemy of God by going against Him.

When a Christian sins He would say to them, Why are you acting like you’re my enemy?

Thankfulness is Worship

Thankfulness is certainly worship to God, for it means to appreciate and acknowledge the worth-ship and value of His grace and mercy extended to you in Christ Jesus, His Son.

Salt which has lost its taste

Salt is good: but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall it be restored? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dung hill; but men cast it out. He that has ears to hear, let him hear. Luke 14:34-35

Related to this truth: Character is the most important thing. It is Christ-likeness. Now, if we compromise our character we begin to redefine what character is. If we continue to compromise then we will eventually have no concept, even, of what Godly character is, and evil will be considered good. Such a person is salt which has lost its taste, and will be cast out.

Doorway to delusion

If people don’t have the character to resist making a business out of the gospel, then they could believe any wacko thing.

The Truth

For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, even as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 1:3-4

For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 2 Cor. 13:8

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim. 3:7

In John’s letters (especially) the words “truth”, “in truth” and “the truth” appear many times. Paul also refers to “the truth” many times. The Lord Jesus often taught on the subject of truth.

People often get hung up over the word “doctrine” (Didaskalo) which means teaching. The only doctrines we should get hung up over are the “doctrines of men”. Never get perturbed or cross-eyed over any doctrine of the Bible.

Look at the doctrines or teachings of the Bible as “the truth”. You would never want to get disturbed about the truth, right?

In short, the way the New Covenant text deals with the issue of truth is that it personifies truth as concerning the nature of the Son of God, who claimed to be “the truth”. Any objection to Bible truth is an objection to the Son of God, and any such thing is highly objectionable to Him.

If the truth of God’s Word is not vitally important to you it is bcos Jesus Christ is not important to you. In such a scenario such a person has “another jesus” and not the real one, IF they do not receive the love of the truth.

The relevance of Scripture truth (doctrine) is this: The truth in Jesus Christ is the ONLY truth in the entire world – it is like one little fish named “truth” swimming in a vast ocean of lies – this is the context in which God sends us the truth of His word. It is to separate you from a world of lies, and from the “father of lies”, the “father of liars”. If you don’t love the truth in Jesus you will get swallowed up by the sharks infesting the sea of lies, and this means you will believe lies and think they are the truth – it means you will accept a fake Jesus and not the One described in the Bible.

Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:31-32

Not only the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit sets us free, but primarily it is the truth of God’s Word which sets us free from sin, the world and the devil. The Holy Spirit uses the truth of God’s Word to work His mighty power in us.

Maintenance and Advancement

We walk a fine line: while Paul accepts that some have a weaker conscience and a weaker faith and thereby feel they need to observe or do things which the church, under the Apostles, did not observe – things which are not the express will of the Holy Spirit, then, yes, we need to accommodate them where they are at and not conflict with their convictions. While on the other hand, while being sensitive to where people are at, it is also pleasing to God if by wisdom we can exhort them toward a greater revelation of Jesus, and in the light of His glory see all the things which are only shadows of Him. So, there are two elements: maintaining peace, and exhorting to take higher ground – maintenance and advancement.

Survival Lessons

Depending upon Christ Jesus for your survival tends toward a progressive growth in faith in Him.

One Voice

Recently i visited a church in Hyderabad, mostly of young people, new converts, and when they sang it was heavenly, as it was like ONE VOICE unto God, you could tell it was real love for God being expressed and not a rock concert. I was moved by the beauty and the power of what the Holy Spirit does thru a group who are living clean and who really love the Lord Jesus, it was like an angelic choir. But that is extremely rare. The voice is the prime instrument, and its source of power is the heart captivated in adoration of the Lord Jesus.

Brainwashing

Yesterday i met some young American missionaries, and here’s what one of them said:

a) You can never really know what Jesus meant to say, it is so deep you can’t really understand it, and people interpret it different ways.

b) All Christians should put all doctrines aside and just love each other and then there will be unity.

My first thought was that it’s so predictable what young Christians believe now, like they all go to the same brainwashing center and read from the same script or something. It makes you release how unified the great apostasy is – it’s like an alternative kingdom of God, but fully united in deception. And this is what we are warned: ...they will believe a lie (2 Thess. 2:11).

On the second point, if we laid our doctrines (NT teachings) aside in order to have unity, do you know what would happen next? Those with false gospels and false teachings immediately try to take control and dominate. It’s exactly like that. False prophets and false teachers will never lay aside THEIR doctrine for the sake of unity.

The dear young person saying these things doesn’t even realize they are preaching a doctrine of men.

A matter of trust

It’s a matter of trust: Jesus Christ calls us to trust Him, to esteem Him as someone who is trustworthy, who keeps His word.

In love with yourself?

Love only exists between two persons, it is a relationship, therefore it is impossible to love yourself. If a person does love themselves it is not real love. When Jesus said to love others as we love ourselves He mean’t in the way that we naturally take care of ourselves. Self-love is Narcissism, and it is the reason the world is self-destructing.

Ex-Atheist

Dignity Revealed