Case Dismissed!

Sometimes I try to imagine what it's like at the Bar of God in Heaven, when that old dragon, Satan, our wicked enemy, comes to the Throne with an accusation against one of us as believers. (Rev.12:7ff) I can almost imagine, & I trust this is not wrong to do, but using "sanctified imagination" I can almost picture Christ answering to the Father for the specific sin that Satan has brought against us, that it is useless since we are as righteous as our Savior is before God! (1 Jn.2:1-2) I can almost see the holy smile on Christ's Face as He points out to that old enemy that the debt is paid in full, & that we are declared perfectly righteous, & the Father also with a holy grin calls the case dismissed! I don't really know why I thought about this except that I have lately been seeing how filthy & evil my old heart is (Je.17:9) but how thankful I am that I am now in Christ & credited with His perfect righteousness instead! If you're a believer in Christ, I trust that you are reveling in this grace as well! May the Lord bless you!

Saved Again!

What in the world kind of heresy is this guy promoting, you ask? Before you deblog me, or take me off your list, please hear me out. I certainly do NOT mean that I or anybody else for that matter has lost their salvation & then regained it! The Holy Spirit has gone out of His Way to make it clear that salvation is eternal. Also, if it were possible to lose it, of course it is not, but for the sake of argument, if it was, then the Bible is also clear that it could never be regained. But all this is for other times. What I mean here, is that the Lord delivered me (saved!) from a very real spiritual battle recently, & this is not the first time He's done this in my life, hence the title! I won't go into the details here, but let's just say that 1 peter 5:8 was in play. I truly felt like I was being swallowed up in fear & dread, the enemy seemingly trying to destroy my faith. Then, a verse I had not thought of in awhile popped into my head, & it was just what I needed! Almost like the Father was right there, & said, "Here is what you need." Of course, I heard no voice, just His word from Isaiah right then when I desperately needed it! In case you are wondering, that verse, or the portion that came to my mind was this: "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him." Then, my mind went over to Rev.12 & the picture of Satan & the woman there, & the flood out of his mouth designed to swallow her up, & the earth helping her by swallowing it up! Again, the contexts of these texts are for another time, but no doubt, the text He brought to my mind just when I needed it fit my situation to a "T" like we say down here in NC! God is so good! He should have thrown me out years ago, but because He is good & faithful & magnificently merciful & gracious, He has not done so (Jn.6:37). I just had to "say so" about my Redeemer's work in my life! (Ps.107:2) How about you?

In Praise of My Savior

I just wanted to post a few lines to do as the great text in Psalm 107:2 says, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy..." I'm "saying so" right here & now! My Savior certainly is patient & kind with me, not giving up on me but rather completing that good work that He began in me the day He saved me! There is nothing good in my flesh, but neither is there in any son of Adam on this green earth! (Ro.7:18). But thankfully our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, has shed His precious sinless blood so that we can have eternal salvation & can be washed perfectly clean in an absolutely holy God's searching eyes! There is no doubt that we who are simply trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ & His death on the cross will one day be in glory with Him forever. But, we will be there, not because of anything we have done, but because of what HE has done! (Ti.3:4-7). I just had to post a few lines in praise of my wonderful Savior Jesus Christ because His love is more wonderful than anything in Heaven or earth. If you have come to believe in Him as your Savior, why don't you drop by & just share a few words from your redeemed heart in praise of your Savior as well! I'll be delighted to listen, but far more importantly, so will He. May the Lord bless you.

Remember..........

I am thankful that this is Memorial Day, a day set aside that we especially remember our fallen heroes who have made it possible for us to sit here in the freedoms we have, to write posts like this, & for you to read them. These were men & women of integrity who loved freedom themselves & were willing to die for it. I cannot even imagine the bravery & character that would cause someone to do that. I thank God for them, I really do, & I know you do too.

Now, that being said, let me say that there is a FAR MORE important remembering that we ought to do, we who are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ from sin & the hell I know I deserve! Paul said it to Timothy, "REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel..." (2 Ti.2:8, NASB; Emphasis Added)

As much integrity & character as these brave men & women posessed, it is only fading leaves compared to the perfect holiness that our Lord Jesus possesses! He is holiness, light & Life! One of my favorite verses, John 17:3, says it so well. Jesus Himself says, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

So, today as we enjoy remembering our fallen heroes who bought our freedom to worship & assemble & speak what we believe, freedoms, by the way, that can be lost, let's thank our God & remember Jesus Christ, who bought our freedom from sin & hell, freedoms that cannot be lost. And, by the way again, if you know Him, praise God! If not, then right now, if you realize your need, believe in Him Who died in your place, taking the penalty that our sins earned us before a holy God & then you can praise Him as your Savior too. May the Lord bless you all.

Christ is Everything!

I don't know any one particular reason why I wanted to make this post except to publicly express how wonderful it is to have the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior & my very Life! When I look at myself I become very discouraged because I see a sinner who is not really getting much better, but when I look away from myself & see my magnificent Savior, I get joyful again! Some would say that we shouldn't cling to experiences, but though I do not cling to experiences themselves, I get a sense of deep joy when I think on just how my gracious Lord Jesus has blessed my life so many times, & still does.
I may not be blogging as much in the near future, I am just "blogged out" for the time being. I need to spend more time with my wonderful Savior anyway, so I just want to close out this post with a quote from one of my favorite writers, Horatius Bonar. He said, "I am not satisfied with my faith," says one. No, of course you aren't; nor will you ever be; at least I hope not! The Bible does not say, "Therefore being satisfied with our faith we have peace with God;" it says, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God."...Now then, there is but one thing with which Almighty God is satisfied –entirely satisfied –and that is the Person and work of His Son. It is with Christ that we must be satisfied, not with ourselves, nor anything about us! When we cease from ALL our labors, and ALL our righteousness, and ENTER INTO HIS REST, pardon and peace will come without delay." Pardon my grammar, but ain't that great!! It makes me think of our theme song for this blog, "Hallelujah, ’tis done! I believe on the Son; I am saved by the blood of the crucified One." May the Lord bless you all!

The Sense of Sin

Hey y'all. I just had a thought cross my mind & I wanted to discuss it with you. My wife & I were just discussing a movie that came out a few years ago, & actually this could fit the description of likely 99.9% of all Hollywood offerings in the last 20 or more years. But the main character didn't know who his dad was & his Mom was rather a so-called "free spirit." This of course was portrayed as positive, & sin was seen as a non-existent concept. Keep that thought.

OK, now just recently I was chatting with a very cordial, but adamant, unbeliever. But there's a catch to this person. He used to be evangelical Christian! Unfortunately I fear his number is legion. Anyway, as we chatted, one thing he made clear was that he saw no need to be saved from sin. He was comfortable in his life of unbelief. Unfortunately we were not able to chat long. I hope we can chat more soon. But the point in this post (yes, there actually IS one!) is that these two incidents I believe are intimately related. I recall my own conversion to Christ was largely due to a tremendous sense of sinfulness hanging over me, & in me. It separated me from God, & it seemed to be suffocating. Thankfully soon thereafter I trusted Christ! Matthew 11:28 became gloriously true in my own life! As I've stated before, though I can't pinpoint an actual exact moment that I trusted Christ, I do know that there was that time, because though I'm still FAR from what I ought or even want to be, I still know that Christ is my Savior because I have believed in Him, actually I have grabbed onto Him as a drowning man grabs onto a lifeboat!

Anyway, back to my original point, whatever the factors were that led this man to become comfortable in his unbelief, in my mind anyway, a large part of it almost had to be the influence Hollywood has played in making sin seem irrelevant at least, & nonexistent at most. I know the ultimate source behind it all is Satan (Ep.6:12), but Hollywood is certainly a favorite tool of his. Now, I also take a large part of the blame along with the church as a whole. Yet the ultimate responsibility for the lost person is the lost himself. Oh well, I've started to ramble, & that is my sign to sign off! May the Lord bless you all.

Grace For Me, Law For You

The Gospel is Good News!! The Great News of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ, the very Son of God Himself, has died for my sin & yours as well, & this being true, He offers us eternal salvation on the sole basis of our belief in Him for that salvation! But, you may also be aware, that there are many who, though they themselves may very well have understood that & received this most wonderful of all gifts freely, yet for whatever reason, the most likely being that it is sinful human nature, they will not offer you this same opportunity! Instead, they add other oppressive requirements, such as turning from all sin, or at least a promise to do so, or maybe a full surrender of every area of your life BEFORE you can be saved by receiving this gift! And dear reader, may I come clean with you? I have been guilty of this same terrible offense myself. I have freely received this most wonderful of all gifts, but there was a time when I also made some of these same requirements for others to receive it. I no longer do, thank God, but I have in the past.
This Good Friday that traditionally has been celebrated by the church as the day Jesus died on the cross for us, let's once again focus on this greatest of all gift-Givers, & His greatest of all gifts that has ever been given to mankind & if you have not received it as of yet but would like to, know that God is at your side waiting to give it freely to you if you will but take it by faith! Don't get me wrong, there will be requirements in order to follow this greatest Person in all time & eternity as your Lord, but you can only begin to do this after you have received His gift of life & His Spirit who comes to indwell you at the moment of faith in Christ! Read John 3:16-18 as well as Revelation 22:17, God's final invitation to you in the Bible, & believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!! May the Lord bless you today & every day!