Pleasant Grove Baptist Church September 02, 2019 at 04:25AM

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via IFTTT The kingdom of God is not about rules and regulations, it is about joy, peace, righteousness. People get very hung up on rules. Do this, don't do that. A "good Christian" does not do this. A "saved" person would not do that. "You can't be a member of our church unless you follow our rules." Then on the other side you hear "let everyone do whatever they want, it's all just love!". Or " I can do anything I want, I'm saved". Or even "God accepts everyone in His love". Both extremes are lies, because they focus on laws, rules and regulations. One side demands the following of rules, the other demands the extinction of rules. Rules rules rules. But the law kills, the spirit brings life. Lay the rules aside and realize what Paul says here. Rules only have the authority that the individual is convinced they have, but the following or breaking of rules must be driven by a deep desire to portray Christ to the world. If we break rules because WE want to, we sin by those rules. It was our want, our preference, our desire to break the rules and that is sin. Doing anything for our own benefit is sin. But, if we pretend that following rules makes us more holy, we also sin. The only thing that can make us holy is the blood of Christ and work of the Holy Spirit, not man's efforts to follow rules. So, you see, the law, the rules, are beautiful. They show us God's heart. They are the instructions book for man in how to live long, healthy, at peace. But they do not in any way make us more holy and we can not judge someone's holiness by the following of the law's letter. We hold each other accountable for sin, we cry out to the world over activities of sin that breaks God's heart, but we do not ever think that the absence of acts of sin brings holiness. Complex? Contradictory? Not really. Not when you see that God's kingdom is not about rules, but about "love your neighbor as yourself" and "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength". If we do those two things in spirit and truth, we will follow the law and enjoy living according to His rules. Not because we have to, but because we finally can ! You see, if you follow the rules because you must in order to avoid punishment, you missed it altogether. No parent wants their child to "do as little as possible to avoid punishment". Parents want the child to mature to the point of "how can I help?" Instead of "what must I do". It's all in the heart. God is love. So much love that He gave law to follow that shows us what life should be like. He wants us to live at joy and peace while following the law, because our heart is washed clean from sin by His Sons blood. Law does not bring us closer to God, the desire to follow law shows us how close we ourselves are.

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

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2zxMQmh
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.