Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 30, 2018 at 04:13AM

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via IFTTT The Romans who nailed the nails didn't kill Jesus. The Jews who accused him didn't kill Jesus. The Scribes and Pharisees, Pilate didn't kill Jesus. No one "killed" Jesus. He gave his life voluntarily. If we say that someone "killed" Jesus, we elevate that person or group above Jesus, above God. We should be careful how we speak of such things. Jesus death was a sacrifice. He sacrificed Himself as both the high priest and the lamb. He had no sin, and therefore was not worthy of death as we are. He lived the life Adam should have lived. He lived holy. That's why Jesus was able to die for our sins, because he had no sin of his own. Not only did Jesus have authority to lay down his life for us, but to also rise again. God the Father didn't raise Jesus from the dead. Jesus did that of his own authority! Wait... How did Jesus bring himself back to life if he was dead? We are three part beings... Made in God's image with a body, soul, and spirit. The body is what dies here on earth. Jesus body was dead. Completely. For three days and thee nights. But Jesus spirit was still alive. It was the spirit, the inner essence, that brought the body back to life. We are built the same way. Our body dies, but the spirit awaits the judgment, the second death or eternal life. We do not cease to exist upon physical death, only the body dies and decays. So Jesus allowed his body to suffer and die, that part of him which overcame sin. that part which became the sacrifice and payment for our sins. Then, when the job was done. His spirit acted on authority from the Father and gave life back to his body, becoming a full man again. A glorified man, but a man in that same body. Nail holes, spear wound, gashes from whips, everything. He lives in that same body today! So no one killed Jesus. We are all guilty of rejecting him, but humans do not, can not kill God. Jesus is a living willing sacrifice. Fully God, and fully man. And the reason we have a second chance, through the blood He shed.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 29, 2018 at 04:26AM

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via IFTTT Do you feel alone? Rejected? "Put out"? This man did. He had stood for what he knew, simply stating the facts that he was aware of, and those in charge... Those that"knew better" rejected him. They "put him out" or turned him away. No longer welcome with the crowd. But, Jesus found him. WOW! The King of all kings, the Creator of the universe, God in the flesh sought out this man and found him! So will He do for you! When we stand up for what's right, refuse to compromise, the world and even the church may disown you. They may turn you out and reject you because you do not "fit in" with their theology, their tradition. But have no fear! Jesus will seek out those who refuse to compromise! God comforts those who stand in truth! Who would you rather have stand with you? God or man? When you feel alone, abandoned, rejected... Know that if the reason for that is truth and refusal to compromise, Jesus will find you! You are never alone, if you stand in the light!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 28, 2018 at 02:54AM

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via IFTTT What has more value? Truth, or the one speaking it? The wisdom of man answers... "The one speaking". The pride of man requires truth to come through man's efforts (education, training, position, fame, wealth, success) or it is not valuable. The messenger carries more value than the message. This is a slap in the face of God, who authored truth. It is a lie proceeding from the deepest conceited heart of man. Not only a lie, but a way of placing man above God himself. Strong words? Yes. Truth is truth, regardless of the speaker. The truth does not come from man. Truth comes only from God Himself. Placing importance on the messenger above the message is placing importance on man above God. The same sin that brought death, disease and destruction into our world through Adam's actions. Now I get why people do this... It is easier. So much easier to just assume that a person speaks truth because of their background, position, etc. The listener no longer has to evaluate... No longer has to do the work of discerning truth. Just follow, assume, and life is easy. But is that what God desires of us? To become blind followers of men? NO! We are each granted the ability to see truth through the enlightenment of the Holt Spirit. We are given equal access to truth. Why would we toss that aside and start blindly following men? Jesus said " a little child shall lead them". Not an educated, trained, professional. Not a wealthy, successful person. Not a famous popular individual. A child. Why? Because the child has nothing to rely on but God and truth. You, I, all of us are equal. No one is above a sinful deceitful nature inside. No training or education or paperwork can erase a heart bent on believing lies. We are all born in sin. We all must rely on God, through Jesus' blood granting us access to the Holy Spirit to receive truth. No man warrants blind faith. We don't get the easy path. We are each responsible for properly discerning truth. Sure we help each other... That's one purpose of the church. But church is not a place of the blind, but the seeing. We are to see for ourselves, and judge everything regardless of who speaks. Judge rightly, but judge. The Pharisees here acted much like today's educated professional. They discount the voice of the layman. They put themselves up on a pedestal, above God himself, who uses the lowly things of the world, not the great. It is sad. Bottom line? Truth is truth. Anyone can speak truth. God spoke through a donkey once. We should never discount the message because of the messenger. We should never blindly assume the message based on the messenger. Listen to the Spirit, and see with the eyes that God gave us and Jesus paid for.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 27, 2018 at 03:59AM

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via IFTTT Are we so selfish to think that everything revolves around us, to think that everything is about our own life? How dare we make life about us! Here we see the disciples, again, living in this world, looking at everything through selfish eyes. They were thinking only about a persons' actions and God bringing punishment for those actions. Who sinned? That very question assumes the man's position in life is about himself or his parents. We do the same thing... We assume everything in our life is about us. We assume blessing or challenges are the result of our action. If we are "good followers of Christ" we assume everything is for a lesson to us, to sharpen and cleans us. It's all me, me, me... selfishness. Enough! Jesus answered, raise your thoughts to heaven, take your eyes off yourself. This man has spent his life blind to make this day possible. It was all part of God's plan, that on this day, he receive his sight after a lifetime of darkness, just to show Gods mercy and glory and power. It was never about him, it was about who watches what happens next. It was about this scripture about this powerful lesson living on for thousands of years! It was about the millions of people who read this story and gain great insight into how our Father works. What if the man had prayed, pleaded, begged God to restore his sight, for decades. Would God have healed him them? If He did, then the man would have missed out on the awesome blessing in store on this day. Would this man blame God for not answering his prayer? Would he condemn God for this blindness? You see, it was never about him! God gave him a great gift, a prominent place in the scripture. The necessary cost, was a first part of life in blindness. That part was a necessary requirement for the work God intended. Have you ever prayed to be used of God? Have you given Him control, ownership over your life? If so, how dare we assume anything us about us? What if God is answering your prayer, allowing things to go badly, continually, no matter what, just so that He can show the world His glory through your circumstance? Why do we assume it is about us? Decades ago my dad, self employed, fell into hardship. For years we were hanging on by a thread. Over and over he would gather the little company he started and let everyone know that "this was it". The money had run out and if something big didn't happen today, he had to close those doors. Sure enough, on those very days, last possible moment someone walked in the door and did something big, unexpectedly. We existed like this, from barely making it to barely making it, just in the nick of time, for several years. It drained him. He often spoke like Job, " why has this happened? Why won't God answer? What more can I learn from this?". But, looking back, I can tell you that this experience through the eyes of me as a young man built my faith like nothing else could. It wasn't about my dad at all, it was about those watching silently. It gave me what I needed for life as a soon to be father of 12 living a life of uncertainty. It gave me an unshakable foundation to build on. Perhaps someone is silently watching you right now. Perhaps they see Christ in you, in how you deal with adversity. Perhaps someday God will remove those challenges in a miraculous way, perhaps not. Question is, why does it matter? If we gave our life to Christ, how dare we pick that life back up and complain about the path God gives us? How dare we do anything but accept that life as is and shine Jesus through it? Who do we think we are anyway, the potter or the clay? Paul had such a challenge, and he prayed three times, then accepted it. Give it to God! Whatever it is. Trust Him. Live Jesus. Be the light to those around you. Be at peace. This man was not blind from sin. He was blind for glory. Let God's glory shine through your life today, no matter what.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 26, 2018 at 03:52AM

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via IFTTT Jesus is our redeemer, not our accuser. His whole reason for coming to earth, is to redeem us, not accuse us. Our own sin accuses us enough. This is a fascinating exchange. The Pharisees sought blood and punishment. Their goal was not holiness over sin, but death from sin. They hoped to trap Jesus between law and spirit. They were willing to sacrifice this unnamed woman to accomplish their personal selfish goal. Jesus stood on truth. Sure, the woman was guilty, He never disputed that. She was worthy of death, He did not dispute that. But Jesus brought mercy, not letter of the law judgement. He let her face the consequences of her sin, and then released her with a firm warning... Stop. She well knew further sin would end in death, but she was freed from her past. He knew that soon, her sin would become just one of the billions He would die to erase. What a powerful lesson. Not matter what you have done, no matter how obviously guilty you are, Jesus does not stand here to judge you. He invites you! Do you want to live? Stop sinning! He does not accuse us, He warns us, and if we listen, He dies in our place. He takes our punishment. Does that mean we are free to sin? Of course not! If you truly realize that Jesus died a horrible death, to pay off YOUR sin, you will not sin again. The vision of such a kind, holy blameless man hanging on a cross by nails through his wrists, barely able to breath until death finally relieves the intense pain, that vision should shock us into the gross cost of sin. Could you stand at that cross watching and say "thanks... I can go party again"? No! His eyes wrought with the pain that you deserve yet He volunteered to take would sear into your soul. Jesus died. Horribly. We say that but how often do we stop and consider that reality? How often do we see Him filled with our pain? That is the great love of God. He doesn't accuse, He takes the judgement of us on Himself. Now, remember, Jesus does not excuse sin either! Not accusing does not equal excusing, it equals mercy. Excusing, ignoring sin... That makes Jesus' death pointless. No... We are to judge and expose sin, but love the sinner that Jesus redeemed. He will not excuse us, nor accuse us. He accepted our sin, judgement and punishment. Now, go sin no more!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 24, 2018 at 03:21AM

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via IFTTT How do we walk in the presence of God? Do what is pleasing to Him. God is light, light destroys darkness. If we choose to walk in darkness, God must pull away or we would be destroyed by the light. If we choose to walk down dark paths, we can not walk in His presence. It's that simple. This isn't speaking of where we go, but rather how we walk. Our attitude, our motives, our heart. Why are you doing this , not what. The "why" is the important part. How many times in the course of a regular day do you step outside of God's presence to do something on your own? To fulfill a fleshly desire, to choose your own path? How many acts are not predicated with "what do you seek here, Lord?". The answer to that is also the answer to how much peace and power we experience. The peace of God comes from the presence of God. If we leave the presence of God, even for just an instant , we also leave the peace and the power. We are alone, because for that moment we rejected God's sovereignty over us and repeated the sin of the garden... Chooseing for ourselves. The secret to life is simple, be with God by seeking Him always. Seek His ways, His heart in every situation, every moment, every challenge, every temptation. Don't ever ask Him to "turn his back" for just a second so that you can do some pleasurable thing you know He wouldn't approve of. The secret to peace of heart is full submission to His will, every minute of every day. Do what is pleasing to Him. Walk in the light. Reject all darkness, all selfishness. And you will walk in the very presence and power of a Holy God.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 22, 2018 at 03:29AM

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via IFTTT In EVERYTHING give thanks. That's deep! This isn't talking about being thankful for being saved from the storm, not for prayers being answered, but to give thanks inside the storm, while paying for deliverance. In other words, be thankful for being in the storm! When Jesus walked on the water, in the storm, would you have liked to be there to witness that? How fabulous to have see Him calm the storm that frightened those seasoned fishermen. But... You couldn't have seen it without enduring the storm also! You had to have been in the storm to see it! Are you troubled these days? Life is difficult, overwhelming? Just too much? The answer is not in some miracle deliverance .... The answer is to become thankful. When we are overwhelmed, we need a change of heart! How dare we NOT be thankful? Think for a moment... Who is in charge? Well.... if you answer "God is in charge", then I ask, "did He fail?" Is your present sustain because He missed something? Because He made a mistake? Because someone was stronger or fooled Him? Of course not! But an attitude of unthankfulness says just that... Such an attitude says "God you messed up, you were not enough and I am suffering because of You!" Thankfulness recognizes that God IS god, and whatever happens in your life is allowed or ordained by Him personally for your own good. It is His intense love for you that brought you to where you are today. How can we not be thankful in all things? This doesn't mean we must thank him for the bag things that happen to us, but it does mean we are to be thankful for taking us through the storm. He had not abandoned us, He is allowing the storm to mature us, to purify us, to help us be more like Him. Is that not your prayer? Pray without ceasing and pray in an attitude of thankfulness. Always. No matter what. Recognize God's mighty hand in the storm. Know that He could at any moment say "peace, be still" and it would stop. But if the storm rages on, know that there is a good reason and that it is better for you or for someone nearby to be in that store for a little longer. See, it may not even be for you! Perhaps someone is watching you endure the storm and your patience, your gratitude, your thankfulness in all things is a powerful witness to them that will change their life! If we complain, that witness is destroyed! Just relax. Trust. Know that He is God,. Know that He loves you. The storm is nothing. He is everything. Be thankful that He still loves you, that He cares enough to take time to be your Father, to hold your hand in that storm. If there is breath, it should be used to speak thanks. Not because of the circumstance, but because of the ability to still breathe. We are granted days, every one is one we should be thankful for. Even this one.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 19, 2018 at 03:23AM

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via IFTTT Do you ever feel alone? As if no one supports you? No one believes in you? No one stands with you? Jesus did. Even his family, his own brothers who he grew up with, were not behind him. He had to stand alone. It is not easy, being the one to stand, but stand we must. It is an act of faith and obedience. God is looking for the one willing to stand, even if alone. The one willing to be the first, even if the only. Is that you? It is not pleasant, it is even scary. It's a difficult road indeed to stand when everyone else is against you. When you have no one to confide in, no one to share your heart with, life can seem too much. But, you have a friend. Jesus stood alone. He knows how hard it is, how frustrating, how lonely. Wait... Jesus lonely? He had crowds everywhere he went! Yes... Crowds, but no friend. No one who understood Him and His mission. He had no one to confide in except God the Father. Perhaps that's another reason He spent so much time alone, in prayer. His heavenly Father was the only one who was there for Him. He was alone. People flocked to Him for their own selfish reasons, not to help Jesus. Not to support Him. But for what they could get from Him. And in the end, they all turned away. Even Peter. So what do you do when you are alone? Lean on Jesus!. Not only does He understand, but He succeeded! He stood alone and won the battle! He never gave in, never gave up. And He wants to stand with you, now. You do have a friend! Young David stood alone against Goliath. The entire Israeli army was scared, too scared to move. But David stood up, and stood alone. And through God's grace and 5 little stones, he won. That's what Jesus wants for you, He will stand with you. But how? Two steps: First, make sure you are on the right path. Pray earnestly for direction, for wisdom, for insight. Pray for every wrong door to be closed no matter what. Pray for the right door to be opened. Seek wisdom in the word, seek wisdom by being alone with Jesus. Stop sleeping much and use that time alone in quiet prayer as Jesus did. Make sure you are standing in the right. Then, stand while leaning on Jesus. Pray without ceasing. Stay in a humble attitude, knowing that YOU can not do this. It's not about self-esteem, not about self-motivation, not about your willpower, your training, your strength. It's not even about you. It is about Him! Every minute, keep your eyes and thoughts on Jesus. He can do anything, you just need to obey. Move forward knowing through faith that He will never leave you. Stay in prayer, always, 24x7. Jesus is the answer. The problem is nothing. Forget the problem, and honor the problem solver with your time, your heart, and your obedience. Then, He will give you the strength to stand, even if alone.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 16, 2018 at 03:30AM

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via IFTTT There is one, only one. Only one reason to accept Jesus as the savior long promised in scripture. We would be wise to understand that one, so that we do not chase after false imposters. Jonah. You know the story, Jonah tried to escape God's call of him, and ended up spending three days and three nights inside some great sea creature. Then he emerged by God's power. Elsewhere in scripture Jesus clearly explains that this refers to His own journey from the cross to the grave, for exactly three days, only to rise back to life again. That is the sign. Dead and buried for three days just like Jonah, then resurrecting back to life. That is how we know that Jesus is Christ, the savior. Not because of the miracles, not because of his life, not because of his teaching... Because he was dead for three days and rose back to life. The lesson here is clear. Miracles do not by themselves validate a person as being from God. Satan performs miracles. Evil people perform miracles. Crowds do not validate a person. Satan, the world, charisma draws crowds but Is not of God. Great teachings do not validate a person. Satan comes as an angel of light, with deep teachings mostly true. It is easily deceiving. So how do we know to trust Jesus as saviour and not others such as Mohammad, Krishna, etc? Simple. Jesus is the only one who died, remained dead for three full days, and then Rose. His grave is empty, and only his grave is empty! Everyone else that claimed to be a saviour is dead now. Their body decayed. They were imposters. Historically it can be shown that the resurrection happened. Facts are facts. And that Resurrection is what tells us that Jesus was and is savior. He had no sin, so death could not hold him. He died, yes, but he could rise because without guilt, sin and death had no legal bind over him. Jesus proved He was sinless by rising to life, and that makes His death valuable to us, able to cover our sins. Jesus is our saviour. He holds the keys to death in his hand, he went into prison and conquered it. He is the one mankind had waited for since that fateful day in the garden. Three days and three nights. That is the sign.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 13, 2018 at 03:56AM

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via IFTTT Do not be afraid! Do not fear your enemies, do not fear your future! Jesus knew! He fully knew that Judas would betray him. He knew Judas was evil to the core, a tool of Satan. He knew, but Jesus did not stop him! What would you do? What if you knew someone on your team was against you, plotting to betray you? Would you panic? Would you fight? Would you remove that person from your life asap? Jesus didn't. Jesus walked by faith, and quiet strength. He was fully assured that the Father would protect and guide him. Not hope, KNEW. That is faith. Faith to love, live with, sacrifice for, share bread with a devil. There was no worry in Jesus, no uncertainty. He didn't even keep a watchful eye on Judas as far as we know. Jesus knew the Father's plan! It is that knowing that breeds faith. Knowing that Judas played a vital role in Jesus mission, knowing that the role was already dictated by the Father, gave Jesus faith to be at peace living with a devil. Knowing God's plan. That's the secret. That is the foundation of peace and faith. Do you know God's plan for your life? If you do, you can accept all that Satan throws at us, and let it roll off like Jesus did. Nothing can scare you, once you know the plan, because who can stop God's plan? If God is god, and you know his plan for you, you can live at peace. You can relax and rest, no one can thwart God's plan. If you don't know God's plan, ask him! Ask Him to reveal to you whatever He can. Trust that if He shows you, it's ok and if He chooses not to, that's ok too. Just know that He has a plan! Fear, stress... these come from the unknown. But it is only unknown when we don't walk with God daily. Not knowing is our own fault! Get alone with God and ask for a peace that comes from knowing that there is an unstoppable plan for you and your loved ones. Then relax, do not worry, no one can block God.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 08, 2018 at 03:05AM

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via IFTTT Never waste what God provides. Jesus just turned five loaves of bread and two fish into a feast for five thousand families. Clearly He demonstrated that there is no limit to His creative power. When they were hungry again, He could simply do it again, right? Why would there be needed to collect the leftovers? Why not just make more food, I mean... It was easy to do the first time... Just make more again! No. Jesus directed them to collect all of the leftover scraps so that nothing was wasted, nothing. Every crumb of bread is precious. There is a fine line between walking in faith that God will provide for our needs on a daily basis, and walking in arrogance of not valuing that sustenance. Even when God brings bread by miracle day after day, we must never become complacent, never grow wasteful of what is provided each day. It is a matter of attitude. Shortly after baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tested of satan. One of those tests was to turn stones into bread because Jesus was very hungry from fasting. Jesus refused. He would not use His own creative power on himself, even though He clearly could have. He did not waste it on hunger. But here, later, Jesus did exactly that to feed those who came to hear truth and to use that miracle as a teaching lesson. No longer wasteful, no longer selfish, but now productive. And still, after such a powerful show off creative power, Jesus still did not want any waste. We must take this to heart. God provides, yes. But He provides needs, not wants. And He expects us to respect every provision as sacred, not something lightly wasted. Not in thinking "I don't need to save the leftovers, God will just feed me again tomorrow". No! With that attitude, you sir may will find yourself hungry. Whatever God provides us, cherish, be a good steward, be thankful and grateful for each crumb. Crumbs created by the finger of God. In the end there were twelve baskets of leftovers. The number of completion, twelve. Twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples, twelve months in a year, twelve is a symbolic number. The leftovers were sacred! They were the completion of the miracle. Not only were the people fed, but God left a sign to us in the twelve baskets left. In doing His will, for His purpose, we will eat. But also there is a plan for the extra, don't waste it! Ask God to reveal to you the twelve baskets in your life, the extra, the leftovers waiting to be counted. Don't move on till you see the completion of God's mighty hand in your life. Don't live by the miracle, by the full stomach, but rather live by the truth! Be fed more on the abundance of Truth than the bread provided. Stop and collect the leftovers, cherish God's mighty hand. See the big picture. See end to end, edge to edge. Jesus didn't just feed five thousand, He did something much greater. He turned 7 (5 and 2) into 12. Let him complete the work in your life now... Go collect the crumbs, and see God's work.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 06, 2018 at 03:44AM

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via IFTTT Their heart was hardened. AFTER witnessing one of the most incredible miracles of Jesus ministry. We must be careful, so careful, forever diligent against our main enemy... Ourself! These men had witnessed Jesus feed thousands of people with only a small basket of food. He created food out of thin air and miraculous creative power. They watched, they saw, they knew. Yet they remained hard of heart and dull of mind. How can this be? The heart of man is continually deceitful. When we see miracles without submitting our heart to God to fill us with Holiness, to purge us of evil, we can be lead astray. There is great temptation in miracles! Temptation for evil. Temptation to misuse the awesome power of the Creator. Decades ago, my father walked in daily miracles of healing. For years I witnessed as a young man almost daily miracles, from small to huge. Things people say are impossible. Blind see, cripples walk, cancers melt away. Each day was not the question "will god move today" but rather "what great miracle will we see today". Then a phone call. Another well known minister, with a large following, made an offer. "Let's team up! With my anointed preaching and your miracles, we will be unstoppable! We can be blessed with riches beyond belief!". Put yourself in that situation. What would you do? It's easy to justify saying yes, think how many could be touched, saved, healed, helped. Temptation always comes in a beautiful package, but the core inside is ugly and dead. Dad said no. Wrong motive. But it was hard. He agonized for days. But in the end he knew that it would end badly if the motivation was Fame, riches, and selfish getting. We remained poor, but God blessed. Here the disciples had witnessed another miracle but still couldn't see past the immediate benefit. Their eyes were on this world. They had not yet accepted that God walked with them, that all things were not only possible, but planned. They only saw the world and miracles of a righteous man. So when storms came, they feared. When unknown came, they worried. They only saw the miracles, not the god who did them. We must be careful. God is light, He is holy. He calls us first to be like him, with him. The miracles must FOLLOW, not precede. Don't ever let your eyes fall in the miracles instead of the glory of God. We must seek righteousness, seek to be purged of all evil and walk like Jesus in pure love and service. Not just on Sundays, but every minute of every day. We must seek to have a soft heart, an understanding mind. See the deep truths of God instead of just quote scripture. KNOW the Creator. Then the miracles can follow, and they will, once we ourselves are at peace with God and life.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 03, 2018 at 04:10AM

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via IFTTT "he used to enjoy listening to him". Wow. This is deeply convicting for us today! Life changingly so! Harrod enjoyed listening to John the Baptist. He "went to church", listened to the sermons, left feeling good (although perplexed because John kept pointing out Harrods sin), and had a good time. Enjoyable. But Harrod became John's murderer. Take care friend, take great care about our reception of the gospel truth. It should not be an "enjoyable" experience unless we have already purged ourselves of all sin. If we still have any sin in our lives, any hidden struggle, any selfish motive... The gospel exposes that with intent to rip it out of our lives. That is not enjoyable. So there are two paths here. Harrods path was to enjoy listening while ignoring the reality and holding onto his own sin. He enjoyed John's teaching because his heart was cold and closed. That leaves one perplexed.. and forever sinful. The other path is perfection or the seeking of perfection. If one is perfect already, there is no conviction within true teaching. But we are not perfect! We all have sins we are dealing with. The open heart, filled with the presence of a Holy God, hates sin, seeks to rid itself of sin, seeks perfection. And then truth brings conviction. If our heart is right with God, we will experience conviction that leaves us crushed, not merely perplexed! We fall in tears over our sin, repenting openly when the Holiness of God shines light on our own darkness. That is a sign, a fruit, of a converted heart! Willingness to see our sin as sin, and a heartfelt broken repentance, is the result. It is not an enjoyable experience! After, sure, but not during. It hurts to die! Harrods example here is deep. By not allowing God into his heart, by seeing John's preaching as entertainment, as enjoyable, by attending church for the entertainment value, Harrod himself became a tool of Satan. Unrepentant sin is an effective tool in Satan's hands if found within our heart. Don't follow Harrod! Let the words of God and the godly reach deep into your heart and dig up that sin, that selfishness, that dark desire, the evil habit. Let God's power root it out! Let His forgiveness melt it away. Feel the pain of realizing our disappointment of our creator, Seek to be cleansed more every day, to be more like Jesus. Or become a tool of Satan. The choice is yours.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church November 01, 2018 at 03:24AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2qlcHsH
via IFTTT Jesus just showed up at church, and taught. People listened. People were entralled with his wisdom. But, Jesus had no letters after his name, no title, no formal training, no paper diploma, no official authority, no position. He had nothing. Yet, Jesus had everything! He had understanding, power, truth. We as humans so often cave into believing man's lies that we don't even see them as lies sometimes! Jesus had zero earthly qualifications. He sent out the disciples with zero earthly qualifications. At Pentecost the apostles became apostles with tongues of fire, not diplomas. Paul was added to their number through a godly act of blindness, erasing much of what Paul considered good with heartfelt repentance. And yet today, we respect those with papers, training, letters. Why? Because there is so little real. So few walk with true goodly authority and power. So few speak the truth. So few posses godly wisdom. So few seek god more than man. What an indictment on our generation! We praise the wisdom of man in part because we rarely see the true work of God! Today we tend to see everything as a miracle of god. We go to the doctor with a problem, take the medicine he prescribes, and call the result a miracle. Why? How often do we see one walk in the authority of Jesus.." lay hand on them and they will recover." We have reduced miracles to commonplace acts because real miracles are few and far between. Peter said "what I have I give thee, rise up and walk" Jesus asked "what is easier, to forgive sins or to say rise up and walk"? Today, in absence of true power, glory, and truth we put ritual, tradition, and man's approval in diplomas, letters, authority. But what if we didn't? What if instead of years of seminary, what if we looked for years of prayer and repentance. Years of spending time alone, in a dessert, with a holy God. What if we looked for fruit of repentance in every man's life? What if we sought the presence of holy conviction in a man's words? What if we sought after deep truth over repeated phrases? What if we watched for evidence of gods power over the death and destruction of the enemy? What if the blind would see, the crippled walk? What if? Then, papers, diplomas, letters, recognition would not matter. When someone walks in truth and power like Jesus, nothing else matters. People are amazed. It doesn't matter who you are, how old or young you are, how bad you may have lived, how little you may know, none off that matters at all. All that matters is, seeking God's face. Living daily with Jesus. Spending time alone letting the Holy Spirit clean the corners and crevices of your heart from all impurity, all selfish ambition, all self serving goals. Turning your life and heart over to the saviour and truly living for Him. Do that and God will move, through you, just so as in this scripture. Jesus promised that we would do even greater things than Jesus did. Are you ready? He is. He has waited all your life to use you. Waited for you to honor the act baptism and turn your life over to Him, die to self, life for Christ. Then you can walk unannounced into the church and spread God's truth in a way that touches and amazes people, changes hearts, and even heals the sick. Because it's not you, it's the Holy Spirit within you. Seek Him first, and all else will be added unto you.