Pleasant Grove Baptist Church September 18, 2018 at 03:01AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2QySfAJ
via IFTTT Things are not always as they seem! Identity theft! Jesus warns of false prophets and teachers in this passage. But those false prophets are performing miracles! Wait... How can that be? How can one doing "good works of God" be a false prophet? People are often swayed, attracted by exhibitions of power and success. We tend to flock to someone "doing" something. Once enthralled, we place trust into that person or organization. We become blinded by the notion that "he must be special". We assume that power comes from purity. But Jesus says no. Look closely, these false prophets do miracles in the name of Jesus! Yet, Jesus never knew them. How can this be? Stolen identity. Identity theft! They use Jesus name and authority to "do thing" when they are not actually connected to the person of Jesus at all. Just like a common thief today, they pretend to be someone they are not. They practice lawlessness. They are working for their own desires not God. They do their own will, not the Father. How can we tell? They look so real! I mean, miracles even! Answer? Fruit. What is the end result? Don't look at the miracles, nor the words. Look at the fruit! Are they humble? Kind? Loving? Forgiving? Patient? Generous? These are fruit. Those that they touch and influence, do they exhibit good fruit? Are they people surrounding these becoming more like Jesus or more like the world? Are they giving more than receiving? Is their heart yearning to reach a lost and dieing world? Or are they seeking for comfort for themself? Do they sell all that they own to follow Jesus? Do they visit the widows, orphans, jailed? Do they feed and clothe the poor? Are they growing more humble? Fruit. Falsehoods can not produce good fruit. But fruit takes time. You can not always tell the fruit of a plant before harvest season approaches. We must be careful, slow to jump on board, cautious and watchful. The Holy Spirit will lead us in all truth, when we are listening to the still small voice of wisdom.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church September 17, 2018 at 03:15AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2Ng7vEy
via IFTTT Boast about weakness? That seems completely foreign today! Who brags on how weak they are? Today we live in an age of pride, a day of celebrating our own abilities, relying on strong capable men and women with proper training, skill, experience. We praise education, seminars, self help, specialists, professionals... Pretty much everything but God! How far we have drifted from the truth of the new testament! In what part of life today, do you praise weakness? In what arena is weakness a sign of positive strength? Yet here Paul talks of the power of Christ dwelling in us because of weakness! Without weakness, how can Christ dwell in us? Confused? Only because we have been lied to. We have been sold an alternate gospel that trusts in man's wisdom and strength. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can actually do something! NO! Anything done of man's strength is worthless! Strength comes from realizing our utter weakness, from our humility. Power, God's power, flows only when we get ourselves out of the way. When we stop trying to do it ourselves and let God's spirit move. When we are "doing the right things" in the eyes of the world, we are missing out on God's power! How could the world ever approve of doing it God's way? Is the world suddenly holy? No! The world only approves of doing it the world's way, man's way. If the world approves, God does not. This is why the church today is so ineffective. This is one reason God's power does not move. How can He? We are not weak today! We pride ourselves in our own strength, and thereby reject God's power and presence. Walking in God's power requires man's weakness. Let that sink in for a minute. Let the Holy Spirit reveal this great truth. Walking in power, seeing God move, being at peace requires weakness. Seek Him and Him alone, He is our strength.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church September 11, 2018 at 03:44AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2N2VulD
via IFTTT Many a sermon has been preached on HOW to properly fast based on this scripture. But... The real question for today is... DO you fast? It seems that few people today have ever experienced the cleansing hunger of fasting. Few incorporate this age old practice into their life. It is just not something that"we do" in modern America. Have scriptures been rewritten? Has God changed? No! Jesus did not say here "if" but rather "when". Like it or not, Jesus expected us to fast regularly! That seems an unpleasant truth for most of us. Yet it is exactly that unpleasantness that makes fasting so valuable! It is the denial of what we want, the deprivation of a basic bodily need, where we find much of the benefit. In the denial, we grow power over the flesh. We practice putting the spiritual first, denying our flesh those earthly desires. But... But... I get so hungry! Exactly! That is why we are called to do it! If we can not deny food for a time, who is in charge? Our spirit or our body? If we can't not deny food for a time, what other earthly pleasures can we not deny? How will we stand firm resisting temptation if we can not even skip a meal? Among other things, fasting builds strength of spirit over body. It places our very being in order as God intended. It allows us the ability to refuse to indulge in sin, to resist the devil. "When you fast" is an expectation of Jesus disciples. How long has it been for you? Have you fasted and prayed over that issue you are waiting and seeking God about? How important is it too you, if you are not willing to skip a meal to find time to pay over it? When you fast... Do it properly, but first... Commit to fast!