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. Living
Hope Fellowship Church Newsletter
Newsletter
Article Archives
2001
A Call to Unity
At Ease in Zion
Round To It God
Unforgiveness
Thou Art Peter, (Part 1)
A Heart Check
Thou Art Peter, (Part 2)
Blessed Israel
Living Victoriously In Hard Times
Take Him Off of the Cross
Through the Fire - To Victory
Why Do People Choose Hell Over God?
Godly Mothers & Their Children
Repent
No Opinions
Are You at Peace?
Danger of Hell, [Get the Sin Out] (Part 1)
Danger of Hell, [For Our Children's Sake] (Part 2)
Can God?
Hatred
Danger of Hell, [Heaven Is Worth It] (Part 3)
Life is Fragile
Isaac and Ishmael
God Has Prepared
The Power of the Truth
A Holy Calling
You Need a Bath
Shake Thyself From the Dust
“. . . The Date of Pentecost”
Broken
A Spirit of Jealousy
God's Mercy
Forsake Not One Another
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January
A Call to Unity
by Gail Redman
As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we are called
out of the world into a new and better way of living. When
we put God first, thirsting after His divine presence, blessings
and victory overtake us. Today is the day to get serious with
God, because delaying a personal relationship with Him only
hardens the heart of man. NOW faith is what we need!
The Spirit of God is sweeping through the world drawing men,
women, and children to an altar of repentance. The enemy of
our souls knows his time is short so he is going about as
a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (See 1 Peter 5:8.)
Overcoming believers are aware of the devices that he uses
to sidetrack, bring division, and cause confusion. However,
even Christians who have been serving God a long time can
become ensnared in a scheme of the devil.
Do not associate with fault-finding, gossiping, or murmuring
Christians. When someone is murmuring about you, avoid the
trap of murmuring against the other person. The enemy uses
negative thoughts toward fellow believers to bring division
into the church. Do not play into the devil's hand!
Our primary goal should be to glorify God and exalt the name
of Jesus. Ask yourself, "Are my thoughts and words negative,
or do I glorify God through what I do and say?" Lay aside
petty differences, unite with fellow believers, and go forth
in victory, taking back what the enemy has stolen.
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At Ease in Zion
by Sharon Cromwell
We received a news article saying that three states in Malaysia
have passed laws forbidding Muslims to convert to Christianity,
or they will be beheaded. It was not yet enacted at the federal
level, as of December, 2000, according to the source, but
those laws are there. This is only one of the many persecutions
taking place right now.
Some say that this could never happen to us in the United
States. Why not? Our nation as a whole is wicked, and Psalm
9:17 says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and
all the nations that forget God." Amos 6:1 speaks about
woe coming to them who are at ease in Zion. Zion represents
God's people.
Job 21:23 says, "One dieth in his full strength, being
wholly at ease and quiet." It can happen.
WHAT IF? What if this kind of persecution came to our land?
Would you be able to stand for Christ Jesus? 1 Corinthians
10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such
as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able
to bear it."
The Bible warns us to be sober and vigilant because the devil
is seeking whom he may devour! 1 Peter 5:9-10 says, "Whom
resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But
the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while,
make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."
Grasp what the Bible says here. The devil is out to get anybody
he can, so resist him. The SAME problems you have are experienced
by other Christians. Are you praying for them? They are our
brethren. Matthew 23:8 says, ". . . for one is your Master,
even Christ; and all ye are brethren."
I am thankful for the mighty blessings of God. God warned
His people in the Old Testament not to forget Him when they
were full of blessings. Ezekiel 16:49 says, "Behold,
this was the iniquity . . . pride, fulness of bread, and abundance
of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she
strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
Do you find time to pray? You know you can, even if you have
to sacrifice something else! 1 Samuel 12:23 says, "Moreover
as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in
ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and
the right way:"
We are commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to, "Pray without
ceasing." The Word of God is plain, and cuts like a sword.
James 4:17 says, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do
good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." When we hear
God's Word, we receive it and obey it, or we turn it away
and reject it.
Let's forsake our laziness and the easy chair and press toward
God for revival.
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Round To It God
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 01/30/91)
Our God is not a God of convenience. He is a God of sacrifice,
and He requires sacrifice out of your life! It is a sacrifice
to serve the Living God in this world. You are going to have
to give up some things before you can serve Him. 1 Timothy
6:7 says, “For we brought nothing into this world, and
it is certain we can carry nothing out.” NOTHING!
The devil got thrown out of heaven, because he had the blessing
and the power of God, and he rejected it for his own will.
Men now are doing that daily. When I get around to it, God,
I’m going to pray! When I get around to it, God, I’m
going to fast! When I get around to it, God, I’m going
to serve you. When I get around to it . . . When I get around
to it. . . . Satan could have you bound if you are continually
saying, When I get around to it. . . .
Paul was talking to a king about the things of God. Acts
26:27-28 says, “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?
I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost
thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” He waited too
long. Agrippa is now in hell, because he was almost persuaded,
but he never got around to becoming a Christian.
Acts 24:24 tells us that Felix heard Paul concerning the
faith in Christ. Verse 25 says, “And as he reasoned of
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled,
and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient
season, I will call for thee.” After two years of fellowship
with Paul, he used up his opportunities. He, too, is in hell.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, “procrastinate”
means to put things off. It means to do things later, or to
postpone something that you are supposed to do. You may say,
Tomorrow I’m going to come clean with God! Yet, if you
die tonight, it will be too late.
Every time you say “No” to God, so you can go do
something else, and then tell Him that you will get around
to it, it becomes more difficult the next time to get around
to it! Try missing church a few times, and see how hard it
is to get back. You give God your leftovers, when God said
that He wanted your best for your sacrifice, not your “Round
To It” offering. God has not been getting our best!
Jesus wants to be in your life. If you have to get up an
hour earlier to get a hold of God, then do it. The Bible said
that God spoke to the world through His prophets, rising up
early, and speaking. You might miss your breakfast, but you
had better not miss God!
Haggai, Chapter 1, tells us to consider our ways. That means
to get into your prayer closet and pray! Man works all of
his life, and struggles, and sweats, and finagles, and deals
for the things that are temporal, but hardly even glances
to the things that are eternal. Check your budget! Some of
you will find that the vast majority of your money is going
for luxuries to please your flesh!
Oh, that God’s people would serve Him! Heed Isaiah 55:1-2
which says, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat;
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and
your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul
delight itself in fatness.”
Some work like a dog, and run to and fro, and yet they are
not satisfied! Paul says in Philippians 3:19, “Whose
end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory
is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”
Hell is filled with people who have served the “Round
To It” god, people who have procrastinated, and wouldn’t
come clean with the living God. Instead of serving the “Round
To It” god, lets get AROUND TO IT and serve the Living
God!
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Unforgiveness
by Colleen Colbroth
Unforgiveness is a vicious circle, but can be stopped by praying,
and asking God to take away the hate and the hurt. Wholeheartedly
give it to God. Let Him erase it. This article was written
by Colleen Colbroth as a requirement for Bible Study class
at LHF.
I know there are many people around with unforgiveness in
their hearts. If God spoke to me and told me to go to someone
and tell them to forgive so they could be forgiven, I would
pray and ask God to guide me.
I would go to them and tell them that God loves them. I would
tell them how good God has been to me and how He changed my
life. I love God with all my heart. I would tell them God
is my comforter, my healer, and He is my strength in time
of trouble. God is always with me. I am never alone. I have
love, joy, and peace in my heart. I live by faith. I know
God answers prayer. I know He will never leave me.
I would read some verses from the Bible. Matthew 5:44 says,
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
Mark 11:25-26 says, "And when ye stand praying, forgive,
if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which
is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do
not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive
your trespasses."
Luke 6:37 says, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged:
condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye
shall be forgiven:"
After reading these scriptures to them, I would ask them
if they would like for me to pray with them.
Mark 11:26 is clear. If we do not forgive, neither will God
forgive our trespasses. Unforgiveness will keep us out of
heaven! <
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February
Thou Art Peter, (Part 1)
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 06/08/97)
The most awesome man who ever lived is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He still lives! Ephesians 4:13 teaches us that we are to come,
“. . . unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fulness of Christ.”
However, sometimes our lives actually line up with Peter,
one of the most spastic individuals you’d ever meet!
We need to see ourselves as we truly are, and understand what
God can do in spite of it!
In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus said to Peter, “And I say
also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.” That rock is the testimony
that Jesus is Lord. Peter was not the only one who got the
keys. We can receive this, because we believe upon the Lord
through the disciples’ word (see John 17:20).
Eight incidents in particular show how in the beginning,
Simon Peter, the Apostle, was very unstable.
(1) Matthew 16:21 says, “From that time forth began
Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the
third day.” Jesus spoke of His death on the cross.
Peter was the very first man whom Jesus chose for a disciple,
yet when Jesus began to show him these things, Peter took
Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying, “. . . Be it far
from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Peter,
who was anointed of God and knew whom he is talking to, tried
to change the prophecy of God. Think of the magnitude of his
foolishness! Peter’s pride and arrogance was recorded
in the Bible for our admonition. Some today, who once were
moved of God, now think they can replace God’s way with
their own.
In Verse 23 Jesus, “. . . turned, and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for
thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men.” Jesus had previously surnamed Peter Cephas,
which means a strong one, rock solid, and unmovable. Then,
because of his instability and fleshly ways, Jesus called
him Satan! Peter had received a tremendous experience and
promise of the Lord, but he used his position sinfully. We
need to understand and discern ourselves as we look at Simon
Peter. Peter is an excellent example of a carnal Christian.
He was saved one minute and lost the next. He was standing
in the presence of the Lord one minute, and devil possessed
the next. He had to pray back through. Don’t you know
that Simon Peter was a real pain for the other disciples?
He was an embarrassment, he was a big mouth, and he knew it
all!
(2) In John 18:10-11 we find that Peter used a sword to cut
off the ear of Malchus. In his zeal, he was trying to physically
defend Jesus. Jesus had just told him in the garden to, “Watch
and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. . . .”,
but had found Peter sleeping! Peter tried to kill a man right
in the presence of the Lord! Peter had been walking with Jesus
for about three and one half years. We can have deep experiences
with God and then become so carnal, as Peter did, that we
end up trying to hurt or murder someone. 2 Corinthians 10:4
tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
(3) In Matthew 14:26 we find that the disciples saw Jesus
walking on the sea, and they were troubled and cried out for
fear. Jesus let them know it was Him, and Peter went out on
the water to go to Jesus. However, Peter began to sink, because
he got His eyes off of the Lord. I wonder if Peter was looking
back to see if anybody in the boat was watching him! Verse
30 says, “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save
me.” Peter was an example of what human nature, with
just enough anointing to be dangerous, can do. However, when
he called on Jesus, He saved him.
(4) On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter and two other
disciples saw Jesus’ face shine as the sun, and His raiment
was white as the light! When they saw this, and Moses and
Elias talking with him, Peter tried to help heaven out and
build them each a tabernacle! God doesn’t need our help,
but He wants our commitment.
Sometimes we have crazy ideas, and we try to mingle the flesh
and the Spirit together. God wants us to straighten up and
listen to His Son. That is basically what God was saying in
Matthew 17:5 when He spoke out of the bright cloud and said,
“. . . This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye him.”
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A Heart Check
by Gail Redman
Oh, how glorious it is to enter into the presence of God!
Several years ago I taught a Sunday School class on, “How
To Enter The Presence And Blessing Of God”. This teaching
was taken from Psalm 24 with Psalm 15 used as a supplement.
These are awesome Psalms.
Until we are pure in heart, we will not see God. (See Matthew
5:8.) Psalm 16:11 says, “Thou wilt show me the path of
life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand
there are pleasures for evermore.”
Psalm 15:1 asks, “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” Then the psalmist
answers by listing things that an individual can do that would
cause him to never be moved. These same qualities cause an
individual to enter into the presence of God. Four characteristics
of an individual who receives the blessing of God are listed
in Psalm 24. This individual must have clean hands, a pure
heart, not lift up his soul unto vanity, or swear deceitfully.
Maybe it is time for a heart check. If we do not have the
blessing of God in our lives, it is not God’s fault.
How much do we really desire the presence of God? The presence
of God always brings a revelation of God’s holiness and
our uncleanness. If we do not desire the manifest presence
of God in our midst, then our hearts are not pure before God.
True repentance is the only remedy for any sin. Let’s
love and forgive one another, and believe for the presence
of God in our lives.
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March
Thou Art Peter, (Part 2)
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached preached 06/08/97)
(5) In Matthew 18:21 Peter asked the Lord how often he should
forgive his brother. He tried to get the Lord to agree with
him that forgiving only seven times was sufficient. Do you
see yourself at all in Peter? He wanted a limit on how forgiving
we have to be. Verse 22 says, “Jesus saith unto him,
I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy
times seven.” Jesus tried to get across to Peter that
no matter how many times someone sins against you, you have
to forgive them anyway.
(6) In John, Chapter 21, we find that Peter, with all his
years of experience and knowledge of the fishing industry,
had trouble catching fish. Jesus told him to go out there
and cast his net on the right side of the ship, and he would
find. That wasn’t because he always fished on the left
side, but because he had been casting out on the wrong side,
without God.
(7) Have you ever been untrue or not loyal to Christ? When
Judas and the great multitude from came to take Jesus, all
the disciples forsook Him and fled. Peter had promised in
Matthew 26:33, “. . . Though all men shall be offended
because of thee, yet will I never be offended,” but Jesus
prophesied that Peter would deny Him thrice. Later that same
night, because of pressure by just a look and words from somebody
else, Peter cursed and swore that he did not know Jesus!
(8) In John, Chapter 13, Peter told Jesus that He was not
going to wash his feet! Peter needed his feet washed, just
like the other disciples’ did. Some will say they don’t
need to pray through, because they’ve been in this thing
long enough that they know what they are doing, but Jesus
told Peter in Verse 8, “. . . If I wash thee not, thou
hast no part with me.”
Then Peter allowed Jesus to wash his feet, but suddenly he
got spiritual, because everyone was watching. He wanted to
be cleaner than everyone else! There is that pride again.
Verse 9-10 says, “Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not
my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to
him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet,
but is clean every whit. . . .” No matter what, we have
to do things God’s way to please Him.
***
In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus had warned Peter what the devil was
going to try to do to him: “And the Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may
sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
The time came when Peter, the ex-cussing fisherman, got the
Holy Ghost. In Acts, Chapter 2, Peter was the first one to
start preaching. What a wonderful transformation! He got 3,000
people saved, and at the next meeting 5,000 people were saved.
Do we ever get to where we can RELAX? Many years after Peter
got the Holy Ghost, Paul found him in carnality. Galatians
2:11-13 says, “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I
withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For
before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles:
but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other
Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas
also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I
saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth
of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, . . . .”
He corrected Peter. Peter had made tremendous advances, but
he was still capable of failure, big time.
It doesn’t matter what kind of anointing you have, if
you are not walking with God today, you still are capable
of sin and great mistakes. 1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “But
I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that
by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should
be a castaway.”
We are like Peter in so many ways that it makes us very uncomfortable,
but think about the love God had for Peter, and the love He
has for you and me!
1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
2 Peter 1:4 says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust.”
We are not exempt from the carnality in the life of Peter.
We are very much like him, but we must also realize where
God put him in these last two verses. Let’s believe God
today that there is hope for every one of us, and understand
that all of us must pray. Even trying to do what we can for
the Lord, we find that there are many devices that men work
from their own minds.
Carnality can never be spiritual. Peter had to pray through
again and again, even after being saved and filled with the
Holy Ghost, and after being a tremendous minister. We know
that the day finally came when he was able to become a partaker
of the divine nature one hundred percent. Pray that God will
help us all get there.
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April
Blessed Israel
by Sharon Cromwell
The Bible is centered around the nation of Israel, and around
the first and second comings of Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Genesis 12:3 gives us a foundation for believing that God
blesses those who bless Israel. God was speaking to Abraham:
"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him
that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth
be blessed."
Numbers 23:21 says, "He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. . . ."
Numbers 24:9 says, ". . . Blessed is he that blesseth
thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee." God told this
to the prophet Balaam to speak to the king who wanted Israel
to be cursed! Malachi 3:6 says, "For I am the LORD, I
change not. . . ." God has not changed His mind about
it.
In the New Testament, Romans 2:28-29 says, "For he is
not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly. . . ." God will save anyone who will accept
and obey God's will. Romans 10:12 says, "For there is
no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."
Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth. . . ."
Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor
female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
God has promised blessings to the obedient and cursings to
the disobedient. When God's people sin, God chastises them.
Because Israel rejected the Messiah, Jesus Christ, they have
suffered terribly.
Read Chapter 11 of Romans. Verse 23-25 speak about the Jews
and the Gentiles: "And they also, if they abide not still
in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff
them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree
which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature
into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be
the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness
of the Gentiles be come in."
Concerning modern Israel, Christians should be joyful that
Israel has returned to being a nation because it is a sign
of the Second Coming of Christ.
For 19 centuries the Jews (the people of Israel) were scattered
throughout the earth. However, Ezekiel 37:21 foretold the
gathering again of Israel: "And say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from
among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them
on every side, and bring them into their own land:"
In Luke 21:24 Jesus prophesied this about Jerusalem: "And
they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led
away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."
Teaching about the restoration of Israel since the last part
of the 19th century has prospered in both Christian and Jewish
cultures. Ezekiel 37:11-12 speaks of restoring of the Jews
to their home land. What happens to the nation of Israel in
these last days will influence the entire world.
Remember that the news media is not the "final word"
on any situation, but God's Word is true and forever settled
in heaven.
In Psalm 122:6 is a promise: "Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee."
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Living Victoriously In Hard Times
by Gail Redman
Our desire should be to walk in the joy and peace of our salvation
as overcomers. It is very easy to be happy when good things
are happening to us. However, the real test is how we respond
when everything looks bleak and nothing is going in our favor.
I believe that we can praise our way out of any situation,
but praise is usually far from our lips when adversity hits.
Faith in our God is required before we can press through bad
times in victory.
When we talk about "victory now", we are not talking
about being in a place where adversity, sickness, trials,
and temptations never come our direction. We are talking about
being in such a close personal relationship with our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ that our circumstances do not move
us. Our flesh is weak and cries out for relief in times of
trouble. These times should draw us closer to God, because
this is where our deliverance will come. I believe this is
just where God wants us, in a place where we have done all
that we know to do and only a miracle from the throne of grace
will bring relief.
We are living in perilous times. As we watch the beginning
of sorrows unfold before our very eyes, we need to be drawing
closer than ever to the Master's hand. Now is not the time
to be having a pity party. Now is the time to be vigilant
and clinging to the unchanging hand of God.
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Take Him Off of the Cross
by Danny Beggs
Jesus went to the cross and was bruised and beaten beyond
recognition. He gave his life's blood at Calvary for each
of us, but Jesus is NOT still on the cross. He is NOT dead!
He is alive, and sitting at the right hand of the Father,
and makes intercession for you and me. Worship Him as the
risen Savior that He is.
Your life as a Christian begins with His resurrection! We
are not to keep Him on the cross or in the grave. Remember
that He went to the cross for us, but see him as a RISEN SAVIOR
and see the victory that we have because of His resurrection.
In Isaiah 1:18 it says, "Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool." My sins have been forgiven, made
white as wool. It takes the blood of Jesus to wash the stain
of our sins away! A defeated Savior who is still on the cross
couldn't do that for our sins.
In Joel 2:32 it says, "And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:"
Your deliverance, and salvation, and healing are in the risen
Savior! He now sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession
for you and me. Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved."
Jesus had to die, but he rose again. Loved ones who have
died and gone to heaven give us another reason to remember
the resurrection. My dad died and sometimes I miss him so
badly that I can hardly stand it. However, because of the
cross AND because He has risen from the tomb, I will see my
dad again and talk to him.
Sometimes it takes more to live than to die. Anybody can
give up and die, but it takes something in us to stand up
and live! We can say that we are never going to make it, and
just die and go to hell. Some think that would be easier,
but hell is forever! Sometimes it's not easy to serve God,
but we have to make the decision to stand by God even when
it seems we might get hurt. We have to realize it is worth
the fight. It is worth holding on or giving up things so we
can push through and live for Jesus, because people are watching
us.
Many heroes have given their lives for this country or for
different things, but there is no salvation through those
dead bodies. Only Jesus gives salvation.
It says in the Bible that God gave Solomon a new heart, so
I asked God to give me a new heart. He told me that He had
already given me a new heart, and to quit trying to put old
things back in my new heart! We need to lay down those old
things, just like Jesus laid down his life. Just like Jesus
was raised up in His resurrection, we need to raise up in
His resurrection, and be counted as Christians who are alive.
Don't just slide through in your daily walk. Let's show that
we have a resurrected Savior through the resurrection of our
own lives!
Friends and people who know you well, also know what you
were before you got saved. Because of that, you are their
best witness of a godly life. If you shine forth with resurrection
through Jesus Christ, then they are going to know that there
is truly something going on. They will see that your old life
has been laid down at the feet of Jesus.
We have a resurrected Savior who is a comforter and a refuge
for our souls. When things get tough, we can get down on our
knees before God and get filled back up with the love of God.
Then we have the strength to go on. Philippians 4:13 says,
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me."
Sometimes we get to feeling so beaten down, and so worn out
that we don't think we can make it. Just realize that Jesus
is alive and dwells in us. The kingdom of God is within us.
We are going to make it, because Jesus made it.
If Jesus had died and had not risen again, we wouldn't have
a hope or a chance, but He lives and has become our hope.
Our living Savior knows what is going on in our lives and
in the world. He is on top of everything, and no matter how
bad things get, we have a Savior who is alive and who is with
us. He knows about us, cares about us, and is going to provide
for us.
We should show forth a living Jesus to a dead world every
day. The world is dead around us, but we are alive. We should
be dead to the world, because the sins of the world can't
touch somebody who is dead in Christ. The world is dead in
sins, and we are dead in Christ; there is a difference. Because
we are dead in Christ, we have life through Christ.
If you don't have that life, find an altar and ask Jesus
to forgive you of your sins, and wash you, and make you clean.
Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved."
He promised that just as He was resurrected, He would resurrect
a new life in you. If you are a Christian, and have done something
wrong, pray through. He washed you once when you were bought
by the blood, and he is willing to keep you clean.
All have sinned, and come short of God's glory, but if you
ask God to forgive you, you can live in newness of life because
He is alive. Don't keep Him a dead Christ on the cross. He
isn't there, He has risen. Let us worship Him and serve Him
every day as a Risen Savior!
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Through the Fire - To Victory
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 12/20/92)
A living sacrifice is a perpetual sacrifice; think about
it for a minute. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will
of God.”
Sanctification is “on-going.” However, many are
our wrestlings because we don’t yield to God. Our minds
must be transformed, because Romans 8:6 says, “For to
be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace.”
Nebuchadnezzar wanted the three Hebrew children AND the whole
world to conform to his image and religion he had set up.
In Daniel 3:15 he said, “. . . who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands?”
God is able! When Satan finds out that you won’t budge,
he turns up the heat, but God will still deliver as he did
the three Hebrew children. They had to go through the fiery
furnace. God allowed them to be bound, persecuted, and put
in the fire, yet Jesus met them there, and the bonds were
burned off.
Jesus will never forsake you, so don’t bend your knee
to the devil. The trial of your faith is more precious than
gold. In the fire, the crud comes to the top! Don’t stir
it back to the bottom; skim it off and get rid of it.
People were gathered together and saw these men upon whose
bodies the fire had no power. Daniel 3:28 says that Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, “. . . yielded their bodies, that
they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own
God.” In Verse 29 the king confessed that their God was
greater, saying, “. . . there is no other God that can
deliver after this sort.”
Be willing to go through the fire. At the same time, realize
that our deliverance is not for our ease in Zion. After their
deliverance from the fire, the three Hebrew children were
promoted. God desires to make us usable in higher places in
Christ. Renew your mind through prayer and yielding to God.
God’s grace is sufficient to bring you through to great
victory!
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May
Why Do People Choose Hell Over God?
by Gail Redman
When someone falls in love with Jesus, their desire is for
everyone else to experience the joy and peace that comes from
that relationship. However, not everyone is going to accept
Jesus as Lord of their life. God did not create robots. He
created mankind with a free will to choose blessing or cursing.
It is hard to comprehend why anyone would refuse the grace,
mercy, and salvation of God.
We have all observed people walking in the blessing of God,
and then they turn back on God, preferring a life of sin.
I have heard people say, "I'm not finished sowing my
wild oats!" Many times these same people lose everything
God blessed them with: marriages, children, homes, jobs, health.
Backsliders are drawn away to the things of this world. They
exchange a life of happiness serving God, for a life of confusion
and turmoil, bound by sin. Many times compromise is involved,
and they blame God for the Christian life not working.
Stubbornness and rebellion are involved in rejecting god's
ways. Some might say, "I'm my own man. I don't serve
Satan." According to the Bible, there are two kingdoms—light
and dark, good and evil, God and Satan, heaven and hell. There
is no kingdom of "I'm doing it my way!" No, everyone
is not going to choose God's way. Our responsibility as believers
is to continue to pray for those going their own way in rebellion
against God.
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Godly Mothers & Their Children
by Sharon Cromwell
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should
go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
I read a story about a five-year-old who was unrestrainedly
trashing a doctor’s examination room. The mother offered
a mild sort of apology, but the doctor’s reply was, “.
. . he’ll quiet down in a moment or two when he gets
to the poison cabinet.”
Nobody likes the discipline process, but we must learn obedience,
and you can’t have one without the other. Our Creator
knows all about us, and He warned us that children are too
young for self discipline.
Proverbs 22:15 says, “Foolishness is bound in the heart
of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from
him.”
Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby.” This verse applies to all
ages!!!
Robert Strand, in Mini Moments for Mothers, said, “The
man who remembers what he learned at his mother’s knee
was probably bent over at the time.”
True love of a child includes utilizing godly correction.
Let’s follow God’s example of love as we teach our
children. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth. . . .”
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Repent
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
In Mark 1:14-15 we read, “Now after that John was put
in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of
the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the
gospel.”
I want to zero in on these words Jesus said: “. . .
Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Many people go around
saying, I love God. I believe the gospel.
I believe the Word of God. However, they are liars, because
they have not repented! The Bible says we must repent and
believe the gospel. If you have repented and have ceased to
do your old works and wicked ways, then you have believed
the gospel. When the gospel is preached, men are convicted
in their hearts. Then they have the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ and faith to repent, turn from their wicked ways,
and follow God. God does not want his people to be hypocritical.
Now, if a man says, “Well, I’ve repented, but I
still do certain sins,” this man is a liar; he doesn’t
believe God’s Word.
Do you know how God judges us? He doesn’t check first
whether or not we believe the gospel. James 2:19 says, “Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble.” He doesn’t check first
whether or not we know the Word of God. He doesn’t check
us first to see how much information we have, or how religious
we are, or what church we go to, or who our preacher is, or
how much money we give, but rather he checks to see if we’ve
repented.
God wants us to repent and believe the gospel, because the
kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is almost ready to come on
the scene, and you may not live through this day. God has
declared that we must repent — not tomorrow, not when
it is convenient; not the next time the church is open, not
the next time you feel like it; not by a preplanned schedule
of your own, and not by just repeating a sinner’s prayer.
A repeated prayer means nothing unless God’s Spirit is
dealing with you.
However, if God IS dealing with your heart, even right now,
repent; ask God to forgive you. Ask God to set you free, and
then give you power to not sin again. Ask Him to help you
turn your back on wickedness, and reject everything that you’ve
ever been into that is contrary to God’s Word. Every
organization, every work, or anything at all that can stand
between you and Jesus, you must renounce.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33, “Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me
before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is
in heaven.” We must do these things openly, as God has
told us to do in his Word. It is an act of faith, and then
we begin to walk in God. We cannot have a fulfilling of God’s
promise of salvation and heaven until we begin to obey God’s
Word in our lives.
As we go forward living for God and yield to His Word, more
faith is added unto us. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” As
you obey God’s Word you get more hearing. As you get
your hearing, you can have greater faith.
You must repent, and believe the gospel, in that order. It
is impossible to live your way and God’s way at the same
time. God sent Jesus to cleanse, wash, and purge you from
your old ways. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
God will not accept you until you have accepted his Son.
God draws you by His Spirit. Ask forgiveness for your sins
in the act of repentance, and Jesus will wash you clean in
the Blood of the Lamb. Obey His Word as he deals with you
by his Spirit. Then you can come to God, your faith will increase,
and you will believe for greater things. You will be a child
of God who is walking in His Holy Name!
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June
No Opinions
Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 04/30/93)
Most people have an opinion about something. Let’s go
into the Word of God and consider the opinions of the people
found in 1 Kings 18:21. “And Elijah came unto all the
people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if
the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him not a word.”
The prophet Elijah stood before God’s people and asked
them this question: “How long halt ye between two opinions?”
Halt means to stumble, or to be crippled by, or fall down
because of.
The people stumbled and backslid because they were divided
in their thinking. The Bible says in James 1:7-8, “For
let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of
the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
A person who is double minded cannot pray with faith, and
without faith it is impossible to please God.
There is so much confusion in the church, because they have
opinions. They haven’t pressed in for Jesus Christ, and
determined in their hearts that they would not forsake the
way of the Lord. They have opinions about God, but they don’t
have a confession or a walk before God.
The Bible declares that two opinions about the same thing
will make you stumble. Many are halting between two opinions.
Well, I believe in holiness, but I believe that God will let
me ‘slide’ over here, or he will let me ‘get
by’ over there. There is a “yes” and a “no”
at the same time!
Preachers today will many times preach against something,
and yet do it themselves. This is hypocrisy. Jesus spoke of
some like this in Matthew 23:1-3. Jesus told the people to
obey their words, but not to copy their example.
There are many opinions in the land about God. One of the
biggest lies of religion is, You go your way, and I’ll
go mine. Some say, Our religion is older than yours. Some
will say, We have a different heritage. However, Jesus said
in John 14:6, “. . . I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Opinion is formed by the minds of men. Just because something
sounds good does not mean it is right! Romans 8:7 tells us
that, “. . . the carnal mind is enmity against God: for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
It is at odds with the things of God.
An opinion about God may cause you to go to hell. An opinion
about what the Bible says can have you totally deceived. Some
people know just enough about the Bible to be contentious.
Some have never read it, and some have read it very little.
Most have not begun to read it through, yet they have opinions
about it. Some have formed their own doctrines. You can tell
them something about the truth of the Word of God, and some
will scoff; some will get angry; some will say that you are
crazy; yet they haven’t even read it themselves. That
means that they have an opinion, not faith.
Matthew 6:24 says, “No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he
will hold to the one, and despise the other. . . .” You
will serve one or the other. Are you going to walk around
believing that something should be a certain way, or are you
going to search out the truth? When you find scriptures in
the Bible that don’t match up with your opinion, what
are you going to do? The Bible gives you the facts. God’s
Word is the Truth. John 8:32 says, “And ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
What you think, your opinion about something, and even what
you believe about the things of God, are not of God if they
do not line up with the Word of God. Satan will tell a hundred
truths and then bring in a lie that is enough to destroy any
of the truths that he said to you. 1 John 2:21 says, “.
. . no lie is of the truth.”
God doesn’t have an opinion; God’s Word is law.
God sent forth His truth, and we must either abide by it,
or we will die and go to hell. There is no middle ground or
gray area.
Jesus says in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know thy works,
that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold
or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” You have
to really make a decision for God. If you are not sure, your
answer is still “no” to God.
There is power in the truth of God’s Word, but some
try to change it to fit their opinion. Man’s opinion
is not of God. Because you hear someone talk about Jesus does
not make them godly. Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9, “But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed.”
As we walk without forming opinions, but rather obeying God’s
Word, God will be glorified.
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Are You at Peace?
by Gail Redman
We live in a world that is fast-paced with the majority of
people lacking inner peace. Even Christians are living in
turmoil, confusion, depression, worry, and strife. Why would
this be so when the Bible promises a peace that passes all
understanding? (See Philippians 4:7)
I believe that God’s will is for His believers to be
at peace in body, soul, and spirit. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:23)
A body that is oppressed with sickness and disease is not
at peace physically. A mind that continually worries and wrestles
with inner conflict is not at peace in the soul. A spirit
not at peace with God will be tormented.
I believe the keys to inner peace are found in Hebrews 4:1-11.
Many in the Church are still wandering in the wilderness.
The word has been preached over and over but victory does
not come because of unbelief. Until we cease from our own
works, we will not enter into the rest of God. Peace is not
dependent upon our circumstances, because everyone can be
at peace when everything is going great. True peace is when
all hell is loosed upon your life like the example of Job,
and your faith does not waver as you rest in the arms of Jesus.
Only Joshua and Caleb entered into the Promised Land. The
events that happened to Israel were for an example and warning
to us. Let us take heed so that we are not doubting, wilderness
children falling short of God’s plan of victory for our
lives in this present world.
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Danger of Hell, [Get the Sin Out] (Part 1)
by Danny Beggs
In Mark 7:20-21 Jesus was speaking: “And he said, That
which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:”
Verse 23 says, “All these evil things come from within,
and defile the man.” You never thought your heart was
big enough to hold all of that did you? We are going to have
to get rid of that stuff. We think that we are real good Christians,
but we need to examine ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:
who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins,
even to give every man according to his ways, and according
to the fruit of his doings.”
Galatians the 5:19-21 says, “Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Christians are bought with Jesus’ blood, but if you
have sin in your heart, the Bible says that you are not going
to make it to heaven. It is scary to think about, because
we think all along that we are going to make it! There are
little sins that so easily beset us that we don’t think
amount to anything. Jesus didn’t have sin in His heart
when He walked here, or when He hung on the cross, and He
was a human being who felt pains and temptations.
There is no way that I can “rationalize” the idea
that I can go through life without sinning. In my mind I could
never be holy or perfect and able to stand before God. However,
He washed me and set me free of my sins by His grace because
He loves me.
Galatians 5:22-24 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.”
Now, just for a moment, stop and examine yourself. Which
abounds in your heart most of the time? Is it the fruit of
the Spirit that you just read about that abounds most of the
time in your heart, or is it the other found in Mark 7:20-21?
We should be to the point by now that we have the fruit of
the Spirit abounding in our hearts, not the works of the flesh!
We are not going to change unless we believe God for it,
because we can’t change ourselves. You’ve heard
the saying that a leopard can’t change his spots. Our
spots are sin stains, and they will be there for eternity
unless Jesus Christ washes us from them!
Jesus can save and forgive us of every sin , so why can’t
we believe Him to make us without spot or wrinkle? Matthew
7:21-23 says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.”
Even if you have cast out devils or have helped cast them
out, you are going to go to hell now if you are not living
for God any longer. God is pleading with His people before
it is too late. Some confuse God’s approval with His
mercy. We are supposed to be a peculiar people, not a presumptuous
people. Some think, Surely God wouldn’t cast me into
hell, but God will cast you into hell, as surely as anything,
if there is sin in your life.
Some of us don’t see the sin, because we’ve hardened
our hearts. It’s in that little shell like an “M
& M” with the peanut inside and the hard candy shell
over it. We’ve made excuses so long that we’ve sugar
coated it. Some think they are all right, and everybody in
the church is wrong. Some let sin stay, because they refuse
to battle it. Too many times when God tries to talk to us
we push it aside and think that it is just our imagination.
We push God’s Word aside, knowing it’s not right
to do certain things. Too many times we turn our backs on
God and listen to the devil.
Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for
they shall see God.” We have to allow God to purify us.
God is an all consuming fire, and it takes something really
hot and pure to cleanse us. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me.” When God gets through with
us, all that’s left in us is Christ. If we don’t
get the sin out of our lives, we cannot expect to draw anyone
else in.
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July
Danger of Hell, [For Our Children's Sake] (Part 2)
by Danny Beggs
Don’t expect your children to grow up and have godly
lives if they see sin in your life. If you love your children,
get in the altar and get sin out.
I had a dream which I believe came from God. I saw young
children of different ages marching in gray military uniforms.
They had almost no expression on their faces, and they were
just marching aimlessly like they had no minds of their own.
They were in service, but not for God. The devil had taken
them. It was like during World War II when Hitler took the
children and made soldiers out of them.
That is what Satan is doing today. He is taking our children
right out from under our noses, because we are too lazy to
get on our knees and pray through. When sin is in our lives,
we can’t get the power over the devil, but Jesus gives
us power over all the power of the enemy when we get on our
faces and seek God! (See Luke 10:19.)
It isn’t just a “fad” that the children are
taking guns to school and shooting each other. They took a
9mm automatic away from a child in kindergarten! When I was
a kid that wasn’t even heard of. What’s going to
happen in another 25 or 30 years if the Lord tarries?
I see young people every night when I’m out working
in the ambulance. At 2:00 in the morning twelve and thirteen
year old kids are out running up and down the streets. Half
the time the kids are filthy, and at 3:30 in the morning they
are still up watching T.V. Beer is setting all over the house,
and Mom and Dad are complaining with the belly ache. He has
a huge bowl of popcorn and two six packs of beer setting where
he can drink it, and we wonder what’s happening to the
kids!
These parents are led of the devil. We Christians are supposed
to be led of Christ who is in us, the hope of glory. We are
to be the bright and shining light that draws these people
in, but look at us! It’s our responsibility to pray through.
My children know words in school now that I didn’t know
until I was in High School. They got it in the classroom,
and it all comes from sin. What do you expect when they take
God and discipline out of the school? The church has allowed
it. What do you think would happen if all the Christians in
the world would just band together and pray for 24 hours?
If we don’t turn back to God, our children are going
to go to hell. Hell is such torment! I can’t imagine
opening my eyes, and seeing my son standing in flames in front
of me, and the devil saying, It is your fault that he is here!
You can’t blame the devil for it, because the devil can’t
make you go to hell. He can’t make you sin if you’re
bought with the blood of Jesus. We are drawn away of our own
lust when we don’t obey God, but He makes a way for us
to overcome temptation! (See James 1:14 and 1 Corinthians
10:13.)
Philippians 3:12 says, “Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus.” We are supposed to forget those things
which are behind and press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He said if we were
otherwise minded, He would reveal it to us.
We’ve not attained to perfection yet, so God tells us
to press toward the mark. He wants us to believe Him and act
upon it. Realize that Jesus can talk to you today. I know
He’s alive, and I’ve talked to Him. Jesus has healed
me of many things. That same Jesus saved me and washed me
with His blood. I was devil possessed, and God delivered me,
so there is hope for you.
Hell is for eternity, and its torment never lessens. In prison,
at least you’ve got something to count on if you have
a sentence of a few years. In hell you don’t even know
what time it is. There is nothing else but torment, and that’s
where some of you are headed. There is no need in anybody
going to hell. It wasn’t prepared for you or your children;
it was made for Satan and his angels.
I work with emergencies on my job, and I see gun fights and
kids with their guts spilled out on the highway where somebody
stabbed them and dumped them out of the car. I see them when
they are eaten up with drugs or alcohol. One lady told me,
I’ve been drinking. I wouldn’t lie to you about
that. I’ll tell you the truth. We may as well tell the
truth. God can see sin on us, and it is a foul smell in His
nostrils.
When are we going to wake up? What’s the price that
you put on your own soul? Is your child’s soul worth
turning away from temptation now and always? We’ve all
been in the position where we could turn away from it, or
we could turn toward sin. The next time you start to sin and
God says, “Where are you going?”, don’t make
up some lame excuse or lie to yourself. Reject the temptation.
On the other hand, if you know to do good and you don’t
do it, that’s counted as sin. Satan wants to do anything
he can to destroy us.
The devil wants you to back off, lull you to sleep, and keep
you from getting cleaned up before God. He knows that when
you get sanctified you have power over him, and he’s
scared to death of that. He’s afraid of Christ in you.
The devil doesn’t want you to see temptation and sin
for what it is. If he can keep you in ignorance he can keep
you in bondage!
Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
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Can God?
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 06/02/91)
Psalm 78:19-22 says, “Yea, they spake against God; they
said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he
smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams
overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for
his people? Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth:
so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up
against Israel; Because they believed not in God, and trusted
not in his salvation:”
Jesus said in Matthew 21:22, “And all things, whatsoever
ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Can God furnish a table in the wilderness for those who call
out to Him? YES. However, somebody has to prepare that food,
send out invitations, and set the table. There are a lot of
restaurants with crosses on them, but most churches aren’t
seeking God like they should! We need true revival in this
wilderness of sin to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord.
When it is time to eat, most of you see that you have something
in store for future meals. However, God does things somewhat
differently. I’m talking about things of faith, blessings,
and promises of God. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7,
“(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
There is something else that I have to tell you. You have
to eat your spinach, and you have to eat your beans and broccoli!
Don’t pick on the barbecue and the chicken only. If you
don’t eat whatever God puts on that plate, you aren’t
getting another meal! God has prepared a table in this wilderness,
and the plate is sitting in front of you! How long has He
been calling you to supper? If your food is cold, it is because
you waited too long to eat it.
You may not like everything on that plate, but you don’t
“order” at God’s table. He gives it to you,
and you eat it or die. You say, Well, I’ll eat everything
else, but I won’t eat the broccoli. You wait for the
next meal, but there is nothing coming down! You say, Lord,
I don’t feel you. He says, Eat your broccoli. You say,
But, Lord, I don’t like broccoli. He says, Quit smoking.
Eat your broccoli. Quit chewing. Eat your spinach. Quit cussing.
Eat your beans. You say, But, God, I want to be healed. I
want to be blessed. I want the Holy Ghost. He says, First,
eat the broccoli and the beans. It is all good for you!
There are certain things that you are going to have to (eat)
believe and do out of the Word of God, in order to get saved,
healed, and delivered. This is before you can expect the steak
and the ice cream! I’m talking about spiritual things.
The devil watches what you eat! You might like steak and
ice cream, but not white beans. However, let’s say the
bean category will make you strong in not backsliding. Some
believe that once you are saved, then you are saved no matter
what you do. I just picked one doctrine out of many. You can’t
play around with God, and expect to keep His blessings! You
won’t eat those white beans, and you say they give you
gas! Hell is not short on gas! The devil says, He won’t
eat white beans, so let’s just go get him. However, if
the man will go ahead and eat them, he will wake up and get
strength and understanding in that area!
We get a little touchy and even angry when things don’t
go along with our timing, but God’s clock stays perfectly
in time. God will take care of you. Trust in Him, and you
will never go hungry. It may get dry sometimes, but we are
taught of God to be instant in season and out of season.
Eat from God’s table, and go out, and do the works of
Christ! Matthew 22:1-2 says, “And Jesus answered and
spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage
for his son,” The Father has prepared a marriage feast
for Jesus, not a potluck! I’m talking about anointing!
I’m talking about when devils go out at the spoken word,
there are healings and cancers drop off, and God manifests
His great power.
The Bible says that he sent out servants, but the people
would not listen. They made light of it and went their ways,
so God told them to get somebody else to come. Matthew 22:9-10
says, “Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many
as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went
out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as
they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished
with guests.”
God will take the whores, the drunks, and the dope addicts.
He’s going to save them and fill them with the Holy Ghost.
They will love Him much, because they have lost the much that
they had of the devil. They will serve God with a whole heart.
They that were bidden at first were not worthy.
In Psalm 23:5-6 King David said, “Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest
my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will
dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Many times
God will bless you right in front of your enemies. He wants
the devil to know that He’s willing to bless His people.
God’s table is spread at the altar. The only way that
you can receive of His table and blessings is to sacrifice
yourself on His altar. God lets you trade your old self and
sins for the life of Christ in your vessel. God sacrificed
His Son. The only way that you are going to receive of His
sacrifice is to give yours. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.”
If you believe God and meet His conditions, He will meet
your needs.
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Hatred
by Sharon Cromwell
Hatred can affect you, no matter what your age. The Bible
teaches us that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaks. You can’t hate someone without other people knowing
about it. You may try to hide it, but it comes out.
You can’t love God and still hate your brother. The
Bible says so. As Christians, every part of us is supposed
to be surrendered to God’s will, including our hearts
and our tongues.
James 3:5-8 says, “(5) Even so the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter
a little fire kindleth! (6) And the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth
the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell. (7) For every kind of beasts,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is
tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: (8) But the tongue
can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
You have to pray and ask God to help you not to sin with your
tongue.
Did you ever fight some hateful feelings, and didn’t
want to give them up? You may have thought you were right,
even though you knew hate was not of God. God does not want
us to hate anybody; because God is love. He even tells us
to love our enemies. We are supposed to pray for them. If
you have hatred against someone, remember that Jesus sees
your heart, and we must be clean hearted if we want to go
to heaven. The Bible teaches us in Revelation that nothing
that defileth enters heaven. Remember that the tongue can
defile your whole body. I don’t want to go to hell because
I didn’t watch what I said!
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August
Danger of Hell, [Heaven Is Worth It] (Part 3)
by Danny Beggs
Sin will keep you out of heaven. Sin in our hearts will keep
us from raising the dead, healing the sick, and casting out
devils. We always think that we can cut it off before it gets
too big, and we can stop any time we want to stop. Then why
haven’t we stopped? People usually think they have plenty
of time.
Some of us have sin in our hearts and we don’t even
know it. It is dangerous that people don’t want to know
it! If you have children, you are in an all out war to keep
the devil from taking them, and there are no truces and no
days off! If you let your guard down one day, he will take
them and do with them as he pleases. You are the only thing
standing between the devil and your children. I would hate
to think on judgment day that God would tell me that my son
went to hell, because for a while I quit praying! Don’t
turn your children over to the devil.
If you have sin, don’t refuse to get rid of it. We argue
with God when He tells us that we have sin in our lives. We
say, That’s not really sin, but there will be no argument
on judgment day. Then it’s going to be too late. Tomorrow
it may be too late. Midnight may be too late. But it’s
not too late now. The only thing that you are promised is
this instant, this moment, right now.
People are watching and depending on you. When people see
you do something, they think it’s okay for them to do
it too. You cannot be a pillar of God’s church if there
is sin in your heart.
We need to get in the altar and ask God what it is in our
lives that we can change, to make us better servants for God.
After all He has done for us, that should be our first concern.
Our breath is in His hands. It is dangerous to provoke wrath
in somebody who holds your breath in their hands. . .
God has given us the laws to live by in the Bible. We either
live by them, or we are not going to go to heaven. What don’t
we understand? There won’t be any excuses, because God
gave us everything that we need to know. What argument are
you going to present before God?
If you don’t make it to heaven, the devil will say,
You are really stupid. You had the chance to come clean. You
were even saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, and what did
you do? You backslid. You had a chance to come up to the altar
and get it under the blood, get forgiven, and get back in
God’s graces, and you still didn’t do it. If Satan
could get back in God’s graces, don’t think he wouldn’t
be up at the altar. Every demon in hell would be up in the
altar, but God won’t let them.
There will come a time when you can’t come to the altar.
I can’t convict you. Man cannot convict man and get him
to come to God. You can only get saved when God the Father
is dealing with you and drawing you. We can preach God’s
Word and tell you what God has put on our hearts to tell you.
The anointing of Jesus Christ can come upon you, and God can
call you, but it is still up to you. If you refuse to come,
your blood is upon your own head. The blood of your children
is on your head.
If we just come clean with God we will have the power to
say, I rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus. Devil, take
your hands off of them! Then he has to. The Bible says in
James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.” He will flee!
The devil can’t change God’s Word!!!
What is your soul worth to you? What are the souls of your
children worth to you? Think about it.
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Life is Fragile
by Gail Redman
Recently we experienced a tragedy that took the life of my
father-in-law. Accidents happen suddenly, without any warning.
No matter what our age, accidents can happen to us or someone
we love. Suddenly our lives can be changed. During times such
as this, it is important to remember that God is in control.
Sometimes it is extremely difficult to understand why bad
things happen, but there is a divine plan and purpose behind
everything.
God is so good to us and His plan is always for His purpose.
(See Romans 8:28.) However, we live in a place where Satan
is the god of this world (See 2 Corinthians 4:4.) Many people
are blinded by the lies of Satan and do not believe or obey
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Life is so fragile! We need to be walking in the power of
a risen Savior. Divine favor is something we desperately need.
Our confidence should totally rest in God. He is Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord who provides.
When tragedy strikes, things that seemed important no longer
make that much difference. The most significant decision that
we make concerns accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior. Without
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our eternity will
be spent separated from God.
Heaven is a place of victory for those who have confessed
their sins, accepted that the shed blood of Jesus alone covers
those sins, and then turned from their wicked ways. Yes, heaven
awaits those who are ready!
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Isaac and Ishmael
by Sharon Cromwell
God called Abraham to leave his home and to go to a land of
promise. He also told him he would have a son. Abraham did
not wait fully on the promise of a son by his wife Sarah,
and he had a son by a bondwoman. Several years later he received
the promise from God and had a son named Isaac.
In the Bible, Genesis 2:10-13 says, “Wherefore she said
unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the
son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even
with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight
because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not
be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of
thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken
unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And
also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because
he is thy seed.”
God promised to bless both Isaac and Ishmael, because they
were both the sons of Abraham. Ishmael was the first son of
Abraham, but Isaac was the son God promised him. The Arabs
are the physical descendants of Ishmael.
God promised blessing to Abraham’s seed. Many times
God’s people have gone into captivity and have suffered
terribly for their sins. God hates sin and chastises His people
that they might return to Him. This is why Israel has not
kept control of the land that was promised to them.
The wars now between Israel and the Arabs is because they
both claim the promises that God made to Abraham’s seed.
The religion called Islam deliberately removes Israel from
being the chosen nation historically and theologically. The
Islam Arabs replace Isaac with Ishmael as the Promised Seed,
thus claiming historical possession of the land God promised
to Isaac and his seed. Israel as a nation rejected Christ
Jesus as the Messiah.
Islam also rejects Jesus as the Son of God, and they dispute
many basic truths of the Bible. However, Islam, through their
proclamations and conquests have been widely accepted as rightful
owners of the promised land. Islam claims Jerusalem as one
of THEIR holy places.
For further description, in the Bible in Deuteronomy, Chapter
11, you can read some of the dimensions of the land promised
to Abraham’s seed IF they would obey God. During fourteen
hundred years, the Moslems took Jerusalem from the Byzantine
Christians, and Jerusalem was dominated by Europe for about
100 years. Most of that period of time, Islam controlled Jerusalem.
In the twentieth century the Jews have endeavored to return
to their promised land. Watch Israel. The Bible is true, and
God’s prophecies never lie.
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September
God Has Prepared
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 02/06/94)
1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written, Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
him.”
The Bible also declares in Isaiah 64:4, “For since the
beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by
the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what
he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”
Every one of us have things come upon us that we don’t
like! We know that sinners, transgressors, and the backslider
have this, but to think that the Christian has to endure suffering
is certainly something beyond our desire.
Jesus said in John 14:2, “. . . I go to prepare a place
for you.” Jesus has prepared for us wonderful and marvelous
things there (in that place), but we are supposed to go get
it! Jesus provided a way. He said in John 14:6, “. .
. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.”
Look in Jonah 1:1-3. It says, “Now the word of the LORD
came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness
is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and
he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof,
and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from
the presence of the LORD.”
Jonah fled to Tarshish to get away from the presence of the
Lord (like God didn’t dwell in Tarshish?!). Where are
you fleeing to? Where have you gone to flee from that voice
that keeps nagging you to fast and to pray? You need to push
that plate away from you, so that you will be able to also
push the devils away from your children.
The Bible declares that you can make your bed in hell, and
God will be standing there looking at you! Psalm 139:8 says,
“If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make
my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
God has prepared some things that we won’t want. You
are going to inherit either blessing or cursing, because God
says in Joshua 24:15, “. . . choose you this day whom
ye will serve. . . .” Many know to do right, but they
just don’t do it. Luke 12:47 says, “And that servant,
which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither
did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”
Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. He had a calling
in his life, and the Spirit of God dealt with him.
Jonah ran, and then he found out that there is another preparation.
God prepared for Jonah a fish. He spent three days and three
nights in the belly of a great fish. Have you ever puked up
something that was several hours old? Notice how much better
you felt after you barfed? If people would start “throwing
up and out” the works of the enemy and get free, they
would feel better!
God prepared a fish. In Matthew 12:40 Jesus called it a whale:
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth.” If you disobey God,
He has got a “fish” prepared for you. God can prepare
something bad! Jonah hit the water, and the fish swallowed
him! Jonah wasn’t in that whale playing hand ball like
you see on some movie. He was in there with the slime and
whatever that whale ate. He ate and drank whatever was in
that mess! If he wanted some air he was going to have to breathe
that!
NOW he is laying in the fish, and NOW he is getting real.
He is going through a lot. Just as soon as he got real, the
fish puked him out! Jonah walked the streets of Nineveh as
a “preachin’ puke”! He was half digested, and
most of his hair was probably gone, and you talk about pink
and wrinkled . . . ! Jonah finally prayed through after going
through the thing that God had prepared for him as a chastisement,
and the whale spit him up. He looked terrible, but he got
some people saved! You can pray through and get out of that
mess that you are in and get a hold of God again. God can
still use you, so get up and obey God!
Jonah had the greatest revival in the history of the Bible.
The whole city of Nineveh got saved. Jonah came to them broken
and humbled. He told them the facts, and they saw what God
could do to even a holy man of God, if they didn’t pray
through.
We look on the outward appearance of everything. We don’t
see past the ends of our noses. God has mighty things in store,
and He has them prepared for us, but if we kick against the
pricks, He has other things prepared.
He has some other things prepared! 1 Peter 4:18 says, “And
if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly
and the sinner appear?”
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The Power of the Truth
by Sharon Cromwell
The truth has the power to make you free. John 8:32 says,
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.”
We are admonished in Hebrews 3:13 to, “. . . exhort
one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of
you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Jesus is the truth, the life, and the way. If you have sin,
search out it’s source in your life and get rid of it.
If there is evil in you, admit it. James 3:14 says, “.
. . lie not against the truth.”
1 John 3:20-22 says, “For if our heart condemn us, God
is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved,
if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we
keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing
in his sight.” 1 John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith.” We have faith
when our hearts are clean.
When you are free of sin, there is no condemnation ,and your
confidence level goes UP. You find yourself believing God!
His Word declares that HE cannot lie (see Numbers 23:19 and
Titus 1:2). You can get victory over the devil in your life
and prayers.
1 John 2:21 says, “. . . that no lie is of the truth.”
The POWER of the truth makes you free. Jesus Christ is the
truth, and He has given us power over all the power of the
enemy (see Luke 10:19). Face the truth and wipe out all deceitfulness
and lies from your heart.
Are you afraid of the consequences you may face because you
tell the truth? Luke 12:5 says, “But I will forewarn
you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed
hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”
Proverbs 16:6 says, “By mercy and truth iniquity is
purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
Be made free by the POWER of the truth!
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A Holy Calling
by Gail Redman
Let’s look at 2 Timothy 1:9 which says, “Who hath
saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
God has a special plan for each one of us. How many people
actually finish their Christian walk and boldly proclaim as
Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”? Satan
tries to get our eyes on anything but God’s plan for
our lives.
Our calling is a holy calling and is according to God’s
purpose, not our plans and desires. There are so many devices
the enemy uses to get us to focus our attention on worldly
things that sap us of spiritual strength. We must forsake
the enticements of this present world and get our eyes on
Jesus. God’s desire is to set captives free so that His
people can go forth in victory proclaiming the truth of the
gospel. We are His army, His warriors, His servants!
Put on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-18) so
that you will be an overcomer. Do not let the lies of Satan
discourage. We serve a God of blessing. Determine deep in
your heart to walk out God’s plan regardless of the lies
the enemy whispers in your ear to distract you. Feast at the
table of God feeding upon the bread of life and you will experience
VICTORY NOW!!!
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October
You Need a Bath
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 02/06/94)
We have a choice of blessing or cursing. Many know to do
right, but they just don’t do it. Luke 12:47 says, “And
that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes.”
God’s people need a bath. Then they need to get busy
for God. Have you ever sat in the tub too long? Have you ever
watched your toes turn into prunes? It takes a long time,
even after you are out of the water to get them back to normal!
You know that you have been in there too long. Some have sat
in mire too long! Once you have been washed you have to get
up and go!
I remember as a little kid my mother would put me in the
washtub and get me washed! I didn’t like that number
three washtub, but I wasn’t big enough to fight her on
it! She put me in that tub, and would grab me by the nap of
the neck, and just churn me like butter! That was about all
the room in there you had! Thank God it was square, and I
had a place to put my toes, but that galvanized was kind of
rough sometimes!
Anyway, she got me in there, and got to washing and working.
She had plenty of soap, and all the dirt starting coming to
the top. Later on when we had a nice white tub, you could
really see the dirt. Then Mom would come in and say, "Are
you ready to get out now? I know you are clean, because you
have been in there awful long." Sometimes a kid will
say, "No", I like playing in this dirty water. "I’m
still getting washed."
In other words, we will make an excuse and say, "God
is still working on me. Oh, I’m still getting sanctified.
I’m not ready to step out yet and do anything for God.
You know, I don’t understand." You understand perfectly,
you just don’t want to do it, and you are playing dumb!
If you continue to play in that dirty water, pretty soon you
can’t see the bottom, and a big ring starts forming around
the tub. When someone finally comes in there and pulls the
plug, you put your foot over the drain! My Mom would be in
the other room and yell, "I can hear the drain from in
here, so get your foot off of it!" There you are sitting
there in all your dirty slime!
Let God clean you up. People will say that they are just
trying to get ready. Why don’t you go out and do what
God says, and quit worrying about it, because . . . you are
getting a ring around you! Once you have been washed you have
to get up and GO!
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Shake Thyself From the Dust
by Danny Beggs
Romans 8:33-34 says, “Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us.” It is the devil that
condemns us. God justifies and saves us by His Son’s
death on the cross of Calvary.
Romans 8:35-39 says, “Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
No one and no thing can change God’s promises to us
as long as we believe God, and go on in the ways of righteousness.
If we fall, then we ask forgiveness and get back up. We don’t
give up because we have sinned, but we must confess it and
get it under the blood of Jesus. Then we continue on through
His grace.
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” You may have done something you don’t
think that you can be forgiven for, but Jesus died on the
cross so we could be forgiven. He is our advocate with the
Father, and by grace we are saved. If you are beaten down
by the devil, or by other people, or anything else, pick yourself
up, tell the devil that he is a liar, and go on!
Isaiah 52:1 says, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength,
O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem. . . .”
God has supplied the church with robes of righteousness. We
aren’t supposed to walk around in filthy rags that we
had on before, but we are to walk righteously. We walk through
a filthy world, and we are going to pick up filth. The blood
is ever refreshing, ever cleansing, and ever washing us. If
we do get filthy or stumble and fall, His blood is still fresh
and available to wash us and to keep us clean. That is how
we keep our beautiful robes white!
Isaiah 52:2 says, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise,
and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of
thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” Some who have
been beaten down just want to sit. The devil wants us to think
that you can’t get back up, but we can dust ourselves
off and go on.
The devil tries to put bands around us to control us. He
wants to keep us from feeling liberty, joy, and the love of
Christ. It is pitiful that the church is captive, when Christ
has made us free. Jesus has called us to stand up and fight!
We are supposed to be warriors. He has washed us and made
us pure and holy, but it is up to us whether or not we put
on that beautiful robe and wear it!
God knows our frame. He knows that we fail, but He works
with us continually. The devil wants us to feel so condemned
that we can’t have any part of God. I don’t care
how good children are, they get dirty when they go outside
sometimes. Then you have to wash them back up again. We are
like that, and God realizes that we make some stupid mistakes.
Jesus’ blood can continually wash, refresh, and make
whole so that we can have communion with God through His Son,
Jesus Christ.
If there is anything wrong between you and the living God,
ask God to forgive you. Jesus knows what it feels like when
you are carrying those sins, because He carried them on the
cross to Calvary. When we sin we feel condemned until we get
it under the blood. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Jesus committed no sin, but He carried the weight of sin.
If we get our eyes upon Jesus and we keep our minds stayed
upon Him, we can’t help but become more like the first
church in the Bible!
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“. . . The Date of Pentecost”
by Sharon Cromwell
(These excerpts are taken from The Mystery of the Date of
Pentecost by Thomas S. McCall, Th.D., printed originally in
the July 1995 Levitt Letter.)
For believers in Jesus the Messiah, the dating of Pentecost
is one of the most exquisite examples of type and fulfillment
in the Scriptures. Pentecost means fifty, and is actually
fifty days from another feast, First Fruits. These calculations
are explained in Leviticus 23:10-11, 15-17. The feast of First
Fruits was to occur on the day after the Sabbath (verse 11),
which was always the Sunday of Passover week. Pentecost, then,
was the day after the seventh following Sabbath (verses 15-16),
which would be the fiftieth day after First Fruits and also
on a Sunday.
The fulfillment of these feasts is striking. Jesus died the
Friday of Passover week and had to be buried hastily before
sunset, which was when the Sabbath began. His body remained
in the borrowed sepulchre throughout the Sabbath day, but
on that Sunday morning, when the priest was to offer the First
Fruits offering in the Temple, Christ arose from the dead,
the first fruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20).
For forty ensuing days, the Lord appeared to His disciples
in His resurrection body, and then ascended into Heaven. Ten
days later, the Sunday of the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy
Spirit descended upon the believers in Jerusalem and created
the ekklesia, the called out body of Christ, the church. These
fulfillments were obviously no coincidence, but were part
of the overall plan and purpose of God in verifying the powerful
meaning of the death and resurrection of Christ, and the establishment
of the new body of believers.
From then on, the Jewish believers in Christ must have repeatedly
informed the people of Israel about the nature of the fulfillment
of Passover, First Fruits and Pentecost. It must have made
a great impact on the Jewish people who lived between the
resurrection of Christ and the destruction of the Temple in
70 AD, a span of about forty years.
. . . the great weight of evidence is that First Fruits and
Pentecost were always intended to fall on Sundays, without
regard to the day of the month they occurred. As for the New
Testament record, it is clear that Jesus arose from the dead
on Sunday, the First Day of the Week, the day after the Sabbath,
as the fulfillment of the feast of First Fruits. What day
of the month was this that year? We believe that Thursday
was Nisan 14, the day the Passover lambs were sacrificed.
Jesus ate the traditional Passover and died on Friday, Nisan
15, and arose from the dead on Sunday, Nisan 17. This would
mean Pentecost fell that year on Sivan 7.
It has been suggested that a change was made to the dates
by the rabbis some time after the resurrection of Christ and
before the destruction of the Temple to obfuscate the calendar,
thus making the connection less clear between Passover, First
Fruits, and Pentecost and their fulfillment in Christ and
the Holy Spirit. Apparently it worked, because most Jews see
no connection between the Feasts and the Messiah.
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November
Broken
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 11/19/93)
This message is about being sorry. We can have sorrow over
things that we have done wrong. We can sorrow over the fact
that we should have done something, and we weren’t in
time, or just didn’t do it at all. We can be sorrowful
for other people, or sorry for our selves, and yet not do
anything about it.
Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
If you are going to sacrifice and give your all to God, you
must be sorry for your current state of mind and condition.
Be sorrowful enough to quit doing wrong and do what God says.
A thief, for example, can be sorry that he’s caught,
but not sorry for what he was doing! Many people are sorry
they got caught in their sins, but they are not sorry for
the fact that they were sinning!
Sorrow humbles us. The Bible declares that God abases the
proud, but he gives grace to the humble. If you want your
prayers answered you must be broken and humbled by sorrow.
The Bible declares in Isaiah 53:3 that Jesus was a “.
. . man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. . . .”
We can look at Christ’s life, and see that there were
many times great sorrow filled his heart, yet He had compassion
and forgave those who caused His trouble and torment.
When God sees a heart that is humble and broken (not head
knowledge sorry, but heart felt, fear of God sorry for what
they have done) He will forgive that person. The rich young
ruler came to Jesus, asking him what he should do to inherit
the kingdom of God. Jesus told him to obey the commandments,
and the young man told him in Matthew 19:20: “. . . All
these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”
The same instance was recorded in Luke. Luke 18:22 says,
“Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him,
Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute
unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and
come, follow me.” The man’s reaction was sorrow,
but not after a godly sort. He was sorry that he had even
asked God what it would take to get the greater things of
God in his life!
Read this from 2 Corinthians 7:10: “For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but
the sorrow of the world worketh death.” The rich young
ruler that day had the carnal sorrow of the world in his mind
that he was not going to go any further than he had gone.
The Bible will tell you what it takes to go deeper in Jesus,
but James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to
do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
God doesn’t want us to just be sorry in finding out
that we are far below what we need to be, but he wants us
to be sorry that we haven’t done something about it.
When God begins to reveal the cost to people through godly
preaching or as they search the scriptures, some suddenly
realize that the cost is more than they are willing to put
out, and they turn sorrowfully away.
God does not want us to be sorry and say, I need to change,
and then walk off and do nothing about it. You cannot grow
if you do not press on and become crucified with Christ. You
must be sanctified before the Lord. If you disobey the Lord,
you can expect the devil give you more trouble. You can even
be afflicted in your body or in your mind.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death;. .
. .” When you know to do good, and you turn away, it
is a form of unbelief and rejection of the things of God.
When you got saved, you asked God to forgive and save you
so you could serve Him and go to heaven. This is the whole
point of the gospel and the Christian walk, but it doesn’t
end there.
You have to grow in grace day by day and endure to the end.
You don’t grow in grace by asking God to forgive you
every fifteen minutes for something that you aren’t free
of! You grow in grace as you give up the things of the world
more and more.
The Bible declares in Job 33, that when God begins to deal
with a man, he often allows trouble to come upon him. It is
so that he will see his condition, and be sorry for what has
allowed him to get there. It is so he will be sorry for his
sin, or negligence, or foolishness that has opened the door
to the devil. Then, you’ve got to go beyond that. You’ve
got to say, God, not only am I sorry, but I will serve you.
Set me free so that I can.
Many say, I’ll keep my bondage as long as I can have
a little bit of God. If I can squeak in, I’ll make it.
You can’t set a standard for what it takes to squeak
in, because when you get to the judgement seat of God, you
will suddenly find out that it wasn’t enough. Then you
will go to hell.
First, we must be sorry for what we have done, and God will
forgive us and give us power to not do again that which we
used to do. Some people say, I can’t quit, but they haven’t
prayed through (long enough to get a hold of God). Sometimes
deliverance takes a little while, so search your heart while
God is dealing with you.
Many times God will deliver us from things that we find near
and dear, though we have not realized that it is damning and
destroying us. Yielding these to God shows the humbleness
that God is looking for in His people. That is the godly sorrow
that works repentance to salvation. Just to be sorry for your
sins, and not really care whether or not God keeps you from
doing them again, is a carnal sorrow that you got caught and
are suffering for what you have done. That is not godly sorrow,
and God will not bless you in that state.
When our heart is broken before the Lord, then God can create
in us a new heart and a free spirit by the power that is in
the name of Jesus.
If God is dealing with you, ask Him to forgive you from a
heart that doesn’t care what other people think or say,
but rather cares what God wants in your life.
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A Spirit of Jealousy
by Gail Redman
I believe that all people have dealt with envy or jealousy
sometime during their lives. Scripture supports that there
is a spirit of jealousy that will attack homes and churches
to destroy unity. (See Numbers 5:14,30.) Jealousy is also
a work of the flesh. (See Galatians 5:20-21.) Therefore, we
need to recognize jealousy as an attack of the enemy or as
a work of the flesh.
Manifestations of the spirit of jealousy include envy, murder,
anger, revenge, hate, suspiciousness, coveting, competition,
selfishness, and division. Christian friendships can be destroyed
by dwelling on suspicious thoughts about another person, and
then becoming offended. Do not fall victim to the snare of
the wicked one and become bitter against or alienated from
a fellow believer.
Individuals in bondage to this spirit usually are very insecure
people. They might feel that others do not love them. Feelings
of insecurity, inferiority, and unworthiness plague their
minds. We must resist these thoughts, confess this as sin,
meditate on the word of God, and ask God to deliver us. God
wants to deliver and set free, but we must be willing, yielded
vessels to the path of righteousness set before us.
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December
God’s Mercy
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
(preached 03/26/95)
Psalm 103:8 says, “The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” Verse 9-10 says,
“He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger
for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded
us according to our iniquities.”
God has not come close to pouring out the judgments that
we really deserve, so we praise God for His mercy! Verse 11-12
says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so
great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the
east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us.”
Wait a minute here. The north and the south have a “place”.
You can go north so far and then you start going south again
when you get to the north pole. You can go south so far and
then you start going north again when you get to the south
pole. However, the east and the west are forever!
You will never run into those old sins again. The devil will
bring them around to you, because he is the accuser of the
brethren (see Revelation 12:10). However, if you are saved,
and the devil brings old sins to your remembrance, just tell
him that he is a liar, because John 8:36 says, “If the
Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Psalm 103:13-14 says, “Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” The mercy
of God drew you to Jesus. The mercy of God brought you conviction
whereby you felt the tremendous guilt of sin. The Lord convicts
of sin or dryness in your soul. It is the great mercy of God
that He sends the Holy Ghost to deal with anybody!
All of us have failed God, but His mercy is still there,
and God is ready to wash you and make you every whit whole.
He is ready to do a work in your life and lift you out of
the miry clay. He wants to set your feet on the rock and put
a praise on your lips!
All sin will send you to hell, but God sent forth His only
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.
Lamentations 3:33 says, “For he doth not afflict willingly
nor grieve the children of men.” He doesn’t want
to whip you, but sometimes He has to. When I was little, I
jumped in a water puddle once when my Mama told me not to.
I knew I shouldn’t have done that! My pants were soaking
wet. My Mama asked me why my pants were all wet and if I did
what she told me not to do. I told her yeah. I couldn’t
lie to her; the evidence was against me. My pants were all
wet! She got an old wooden handled scrub brush and paddled
me hard against those wet pants. With each “whop”
she let it set a few seconds! That is the way the Lord will
do you. He will whip you right in the middle of your mess!
However, he wants us to get up out of the mess, and be changed
by reading the Word, and through prayer and fasting. Then
watch those mercy drops come down from heaven on sinners,
saints, and backsliders alike.
We have to learn to pray for our enemies just as hard as
we do our children. Without Christ you are without hope and
lost in this world. You don’t have to refuse God to go
to hell. Just don’t accept Jesus as Savior, and you will
go to hell. John 3:18 says, “He that believeth on him
is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.”
John 6:37 says, “All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out.” Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that it is the mercy of
God that we are saved. Romans 12:3 says, “. . . God hath
dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Nothing is
too hard for God.
Matthew 5:44 says, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you;” Your enemy may have gossiped and talked about you.
Some of these might not even be in the church . . . .!
You want me to pray for my enemies, the ones who did this,
and this, and . . .?! What about the people you did things
to? God saved you and me!
God’s mercy endureth forever. If your enemies pray through
at the altar, they are no longer your enemies, but brothers
and sisters in Christ Jesus.
Mark 2:17 says, “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto
them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but
they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.” Jesus came to save whosoever
will come to Him. There is no devil that God can’t cast
out!
Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Christ died for the ungodly while they were still ungodly
about 2000 years ago. The door was opened for all to come
to Christ. Can God save anybody? Yes, God can! Romans 5:20
says, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might
abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”
You can look at your enemy and say they are “so”
bad, but they would make better Christians than enemies! They
are devoted to the devil, and he hounds them and pounds them,
but God by His mercy can touch them and give them peace and
joy and righteousness!
God is dealing with Christians to deal with the most wretched
and vile refuse of human beings. You’ve got an opportunity
to see God save souls, and they need the love and mercy of
God applied to them. Seek God that He will not judge them
according to their iniquities. Pray that He will bring mercy
and righteousness and wipe away their judgment, just like
He did for you and me.
Don’t limit God to a number! Claim your whole area for
God. Get down and bind the devil off of them, and praise the
Lord for it. When your enemies come before you, pray for them,
even if you have to do it through clenched teeth! Then you
will see great miracles.
No person is born mean. When you get the devil out, they
can be as good a Christian as any, if they will walk with
the Lord. Are you ready for the mercy to start falling? Are
you ready for revival? Maybe the first load will be all of
your enemies!
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Forsake Not One Another
by Gail Redman
Loyalty is a quality missing in our society. People are not
loyal to their spouses, children, employers, and some Christians
are not even loyal to their churches. Loyalty means faithful
to those persons, ideals, etc. that one stands under an obligation
to defend or support. Christians have a responsibility to
find a church that they feel God has directed them to attend.
Then there is an obligation to support and be loyal to the
leaders in that church.
Many do not realize it but there is a deep pain experienced
by those in leadership positions when there is rebellion against
authority. Moses experienced this when leading the Israelites
through the wilderness. Paul let us know that Demas forsook
him because he loved this present world.
A body of believers should bind together in unity towards
their leadership and one another. Time is too short to allow
petty differences to bring division and strife. This is nothing
but the work of the enemy or the flesh. Be loyal to one another,
do not murmur, and support leadership through prayer. There
will never be a perfect church. Do not be a Judas!!! Be known
as a church of unity, peace, and love one to another.
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Webmaster: Lynetta Johnson
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Living Hope Fellowship, Inc.
E-mail livinghope@hughes.net
Phone 618-634-2541
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