Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 30, 2019 at 04:30AM

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via IFTTT No provision, none, for the desires of flesh. Strong words indeed! And a command that flies in the face of the common thought. What does it mean, "make no provision"? Similar concept to "lead us not into temptation" from the Lord's prayer. It is the thought of staying as far away as possible from that which our flesh desires. Not only rejecting, but avoiding all situations that may tempt us. Purposefully providing no opportunity to be tempted and stumble. What does it mean "desires of the flesh"? Basically everything that you want aside from what God's word wants for you. The desires for fame, pleasure, fun, wealth, food, sensuality, appearances, all those things that make us feel good but are contrary to God's will for us. Does God not want us to enjoy life? Of course He does, but there is a difference between enjoying something that is a result of righteousness, and enjoying something because you want to enjoy it. The latter leads to sin and error, then death and destruction. If we follow our desire to "feel" good, we fail to please God . It is not what we do but why. If you give to the needy because it makes you feel good and you wish to feel good in that way, that is feeding your flesh. If you do good because you wish recognition of others, to be noticed, rewarded, then that good you do for you is feeding your flesh. If you pursue a relationship or activity because you enjoy it , that is feeding your flesh. Seem extreme? How so? Are we not dead to our own wishes? Are we not crucified with Christ so that He may live in us? Are we not to commit our every moment and breath to serving God? Did He give you the day off to go enjoy yourself instead of serving others? We say the phrases, but do we live them? Are we truly considering all of our own dreams, goals, wants, desires to be dead? Do we set aside everything of our life to exclusively live for Christ? We recently had a river baptism. Beautiful ceremony, exhilarating experience. As the new saints came up out of the water, the old stayed below and "all things are made new". How then can we return to spending any time enjoying the desires of the flesh? Life is no longer ours ! At baptism we "gave our life to Christ", so what desire do we have left but to please him with every heartbeat we are granted? There is no vacation from being Christian. It's a life long 24x7 and 365 1/4 day per year commitment. We dare not pick up those old desires and act on them, ever. Life no longer belongs to us. But what if we do, what If we stumble? God is grace and mercy, but that is not an opening to sin! We dare not sin because we know forgiveness is coming. The agony! God will discipline His children! There will be consequence for open disobedience. There is a price to pay! God will ensure that the pleasure of sin is outweighed by the pain of Justice. He must, for this alone is love. Do not give any provision for sin. Do not justify sin. Do not accommodate the desires that rage within you. Instead give them to Jesus. Cry out to God how weak and depraved your flesh is, how you seek deliverance from all those fleshly desires! Give it to Him and do what you can to flea from every situation that tempts you to "feel good". Flee before the feelings arise, before the flesh rises up and the desire is overwhelming. Flee while you are far enough away from sin to avoid the pull it has on you. Flee to the church, to the Bible, to His presence. He will not leave you nor forsake you. You can behave right, by giving to Jesus all those desires to feel good. Rely on Him. Seek His presence. Not because He makes you feel good, but because He is worthy. Everything we do is to please Him because He and He alone is worthy to serve. Once again, it's all Jesus, He is the only answer .

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 26, 2019 at 04:30AM

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via IFTTT The remnant. "A small remaining quantity of something". Both beautiful and powerful! Never loose hope. Never think you are the only one left. Never think all have fallen away except for you. There is always a remnant. There are always many more righteous then you can see. The remnant. All through this world history, for over 6000 years God has preserved a remnant of people. At one point the remnant was incredibly small, a single family. But it was still a remnant. God will not let his creation fail! People today tend to panic, tend to loose hope. Things are just too bad this time. Whether it's this cause or that cause, both Christian and non Christian alike tend to think things are worse than it has ever been. And this is true! But not because things have gotten out of hand. Not because there is no future. The Christian who is in tune with God knows that this is all according to plan. God is totally and forever in control. And He has a remnant! A set of people of unknown number, dedicate at heart to serving the Lord regardless of circumstance. People who will not bow the knee to modern day idols. People who will not enjoy the pleasures of illicit sin. People who love God more than self. Why is there a remnant? The scripture says "God's gracious choice". He has done this! God has preserved a remnant of people, not because the people were special, but because he CHOSE them! He kept them clean. Wow! What a revelation! God can keep you clean from this world. God can keep you from sin. God can keep you holy. It is not up to you to make yourself holy, God Himself will! All you must do, is submit to His hand. Being a part of the remnant is not something you do, it is someone you are, created by God. He has chosen those who shall be. And let me say this. If you feel a tug at your heart when you read these words, He has chosen you! The very fact that you are here, reading this right now, shows His power to draw you in. God arranged you life so that you would read these words and realize that you are called to be one of the remnant. That's the good news that changed the world. God did, through Jesus, what you could not do, and now He calls to you. Will you step away from your life and live His life? Will you put your trust in Him and Him alone? Will you turn to Him in your time of need? The remnant is a beautiful and a powerful thing to behold. The world can not degrade beyond God's power to keep those clean whom He wants. He is still God, and still in control.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 23, 2019 at 04:25AM

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via IFTTT God's man is not always a good man, and not always someone that should be supported. This is a great paradox! Consider pharaoh. Scripture says God Himself raised him up God appointed Pharaoh, leader of Egypt. God chose him and set him in power as the most powerful man across the Earth. God blessed him with riches and power beyond everyone else on Earth at that time. God's chosen man! Why? To create unprecedented opposition to Moses over the Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh was an evil man, drunk on power and riches, considering himself God. He keeps the Hebrews slaves and fought Moses and God through the plagues. Wait .. pharaoh was God's chosen leader, to fight against God? Yes. Let that one sink in. This wasn't the first time either, several times God says that He raised and enriched a nation or ruler specifically to conquer an errant Israel. God raised up an anti God ruler and nation to discipline and correct Israel. So, flash forward to today. When a nation like the USA walks away from truth, God may bring a strong successful but proud and abusive leader to achieve the goal of someone who will oppose God's errant people. Someone who will expose apostate beliefs and lives. In today's world, do we vote for that chosen man? Pharaoh was obviously an evil man, worshipping idols and abusing slaves. Yet God had his finger on this man for winning any election. But do you vote for a man who opposes God and God's law? If you do not vote for him, you are voting against God's chosen man. Voting against God's plan! If you do vote for him, you are voting for an evil man to be ruler and bring misery. What to do? How can you vote if you know God is raising a pharaoh to do evil? And herein is wisdom. A vote cast is our personal obedience to scripture. Who wins is up to God, not our vote. God alone appoints rulers, for blessing or curse. Our vote then, is our personal obedience to scripture. If we were in Egypt voting it would be wrong, even sin, to vote for the pharaoh God was raising up to win the election. God's chosen man, can just as well be evil as good. Our job is to discern which and vote according to scripture principles. Our vote is a statement, a prayer, telling God who we think meets biblical qualifications for public service. Who wins, is in His sovereign hands. Pharaoh was indeed God's man. He was brought to power by God himself. And through the pride and evil of this man God destroyed the nation that supported him. It is quite conceited for us today to think that God's chosen man would bring blessings only. Throughout history God punished errant nations through leaders who represented what was wrong with that nation. God chose and raised those men specifically to demonstrate His greater power and crush the people that praised man over God. America is unique. We have the ability, the responsibility to choose civil leaders. But we must realize that God's chosen winner is just as likely to bring curse as blessing, death as life. Our vote must be according to God's principles of faith and evidence of proper fruit. But the winner of an election, good or bad, is always God's chosen man or woman. He alone appoints authority. Think back over each and every elected official during your lifetime. God chose them for the time, to bring blessing or curse. God is sovereign. He is God. He chooses who He wants to work out His purpose. It is not the place of the church to tell anyone who to vote for or not, but is absolutely the place of the church to speak clear Bible principles of how we should decide who to vote for. Our chosen candidate must meet clear minimum requirements for civil servants as laid out in scripture. Only then can we consider casting our vote. Not from fear, but from faith. Faith that God is in control and appoints each leader. Our job is to choose who to support wisely according to scripture and not be driven by man's fallible wisdom nor fear of any outcome. We stand on principle and relax, leaving the outcome to God. And if God raises up another pharoah, so be it. We do not support such an evil man, we oppose him, even though we may know that God chose him. How do we know that God chose him? Because he won. How do we know not to support him nor vote for him? Because he is evil and does not meet minimum qualifications laid out in scripture. Vote according the scripture. Faith, not fear

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 18, 2019 at 07:41AM

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via IFTTT Reminder, if you would like a ride to church this morning from Rosebud, call before 10:00am at 951.662.8477 We will pick up at second and main in rosebud at 10am, return at 12:30 Come as you are!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 16, 2019 at 04:04AM

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via IFTTT Sin is a choice to follow the desires of the flesh instead of the righteousness of Christ. Following the flesh, is wrong. Always wrong. The flesh is against God. What does that mean? What are the desires of the flesh? Things that "feel good" but violate God's law and design. You see, sin feels good. The flesh loves feelings, good feelings. Physical pleasure, mental pleasure, physical satisfaction. These things are of the flesh. Obeying the desires of our flesh is sin. This is why homosexuality is found in the same list of sins as gluttony (eating for pleasure instead of health). It is the same thing, violating God's law and design for physical pleasure. Sin. Obeying the desires of the flesh. We are to die to the flesh in order to live for Christ, that means we must bring the flesh under submission to God's will. We must give out bodies to God for His use, not our enjoyment. Life is not about enjoyment, but about serving. Is it wrong to make food taste good? Of course not. But it is wrong to eat things you know are unhealthy because it tastes good! Is it wrong to enjoy physical pleasure? Of course not, but it is wrong to enjoy physical pleasure in a manner outside God's design of committed marriage between man and woman. But wait.... Some say "I was born this way, my sexual desires are how I was made" Yes, we were all made to crave sin in our flesh, and we must all overcome those desires through the power of the cross. Some crave one sin, some another. The sin is in giving in to the cravings and desires of the flesh, giving in to how we were made. That is sin! We are to give up pleasing ourselves, give up being slaves to how we were made. That is the whole point of the gospel! Paul says to stop doing what feels good, and start going what God's will is. We have written scripture explaining God's will in principle, and we have the Holy Spirit to teach us all things in the moment. There is no excuse! Stop living for pleasure, stop living to serve your body. Instead set all that aside and ask Jesus so set you free from the desires of the flesh. Be free to follow scripture and God's heart. Be free to live without sin. Be free!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 11, 2019 at 06:13AM

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via IFTTT Looking for a volunteer carpenter / handyman to repair this playset. This playset was donated to the church kids by a generous local couple. It is in decent shape but has a few areas that need replacement or repair. Work would be done on site at the church where it sits partially unassembled. If you or someone you know is capable and interested, please let us know. The children are waiting to use this awesome donation!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 08, 2019 at 08:30AM

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via IFTTT NOTE: There will NOT be a food delivery today (Thursday) in Rosebud. Please pass the word.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 07, 2019 at 01:04PM

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via IFTTT Homemade jam? The Pleasant Grove kids are out in front of the church selling homemade jam. Stop by and say hi if you have a minute! Corner of fm2027 and fm1048

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 07, 2019 at 04:00AM

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via IFTTT Much debate, even argument, about works and faith. Yet why? Paul is very clear here in explaining this. We are justified by faith alone, not works. That justification fulfills the law through our good works. Why? Because justification by faith clears the path for the Holy Spirit to live on us and guide is in following the law, not because we have to but because we want to. God changes our "wanter" from the inside out. The law is writen on the heart, changing the very core of man into one that desires righteousness. You see, the Gospel is not about willpower, not about following "the rules", not about acting right. The gospel is about BEING right, from the inside. Whole, complete, at peace with God. That is the gospel! And then, our heart is born of spirit and we desire to please our heavenly Father in every detail. Religion is about doing right. The Gospel is about being made right. So the proper way to look at things is, through the gospel we can finally live by and fulfill the law. Following the law is not the goal, it is the result! Salvation is through faith, but those "saved" will "do good works" for pure motives of pleasing God. Doing the works does not save you. Jesus saves you. And then you want to do only good works.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church August 06, 2019 at 03:21AM

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via IFTTT Judgement is coming. Fair and honest judgement. Judgement not based on affleuance, not on affiliation, not on membership, not on association, not on race. Judgement based on actions driven by the heart. God is impartial, all men are created equal, no one gets a free pass! Men on the other hand, tend to judge based on all those things that God ignores. Things like: Wealth Success Appearance Popularity Positions of authority Membership in organizations Educational achievement and school Awards of man These are the things we find on a resume. The things we brag on for ourselves and judge others by. These are the worthless things, misleading things, things of the world invented by men to honor man above God. Do not think for a second that your money, diploma, awards, position or popularity means anything to God. He gave you all those things! You didn't earn it! How proud we are to claim success in life to be our own! How dare we take a free gift from God and declare that it was our own doing. You see, we aren't judged by the things of this world that appear on our resume because all those things are gifts from God. He decided in His infinite wisdom to make Bill Gates wealthy. He orchestrated life to bring the fabulous success of Microsoft. It was not Bill himself, he is not some super human with deep wisdom. And even if he was, God granted that too! We are each made, designed, built by God for a purpose in life. He gave us what we have. We dare not say anything that is a free gift makes us "better" then another in other conditions of life. We dare not think that the gifts of God in this life somehow make us worthy of heaven or eternal reward. We dare not think "I can get away with that sin because I am (insert any from our resume here)" There is one thing and one thing only that we are to be judged on, our actions. Actions spring from the heart. Good deeds come from a good heart, washed clean of ambition and pride by the blood of Jesus. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" is the answer. If you seek God first and His righteousness, if you hunger and thirst after God's presence and holiness, then you will do good deeds that you will be judged by. It's not even the deeds themselves, it's the heart that seeks to do good. That is the key, the root. Doing good deeds for the wrong motive will bring harsh judgement. Bottom line? It's all Jesus. Turn life over to Him, stop trying to do it on your own. Stop taking credits for success. Start seeking Him first. Start bragging on Him. Start spending time with Jesus. Let His presence be your shining glory. His name is what will bring good judgement on that fateful day when we all stand together shoulder to shoulder. The poorest man on Earth will stand next to Bill Gates and be judged just the same. God is impartial and fair.