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"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." Titus 2:11-15

Have you accepted God's grace? If not, what are you waiting for?


Your friend and brother

The Crusader
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"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is One Body, and One Spirit, even as ye are called in One Hope of your calling; One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." - Ephesians 4:1-7.

Have you accepted God's grace? If not, what are you waiting for?


Your friend and brother

The Crusader
<:))))><

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Romans 12:3-5

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Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; I Timothy 4:1

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(Colossians 1:3-12 KJV) We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, {4} Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, {5} For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; {6} Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: {7} As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; {8} Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. {9} For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; {10} That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; {11} Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; {12} Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
 
We have an opportunity to reign. God is going to fill positions of rank and authority in heaven. If you are to fill one of those positions then you must be an approved workman, rightly dividing the word of truth, so that your works are not in vain.

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2 Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

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Act 16:31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness," — Romans 4:4,5

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (God breathed) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect (complete) thoroughly furnished unto all good works"    

2 Timothy 3:16, 17    

II Cor 4:16 Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

These are some wonderful verses, Crusader.  thank you for doing this.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).

"Now to him that worketh is the reward NOT RECKONED OF GRACE, but of debt" (Rom. 4:4).

"And if by grace, then is it NO MORE OF WORKS; otherwise grace is NO MORE GRACE" (Rom. 11:6).

GRACE AND WORKS CANNOT MIX FOR SALVATION. Note also: Rom. 3:24; II Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5.

DITTO ;D

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN

"Wherefore comfort one another..." (I Thes. 4:18).

"Be not soon shaken in mind, or...troubled..." (II Thes. 2:2).

"Let no man deceive you by any means..." (II Thes. 2:3).

Oklahoma Howdy to The Crusader,

Thanks Brother! Meditation on beautiful portions of Scripture is the very best medicine.

Psalms 113:3  From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Heb 12:1  Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.
Heb 12:2  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.
Heb 12:3  When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Heb 12:4  In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through--all that bloodshed!
Heb 12:5  So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.
Heb 12:6  It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.
Heb 12:7  God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training,
Heb 12:8  the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?
Heb 12:9  We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live?
Heb 12:10  While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best.
Heb 12:11  At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
Heb 12:12  So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet!
Heb 12:13  Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

[The Message Bible]

Gal 1:1  I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches. My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. I'm God-commissioned.

Gal 1:3  So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace!
Gal 1:4  We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God's plan is that we all experience that rescue.
Gal 1:5  Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!
Gal 1:6  I can't believe your fickleness--how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message!
Gal 1:7  It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head.
Gal 1:8  Let me be blunt: If one of us--even if an angel from heaven!--were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed.
Gal 1:9  I said it once; I'll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed.
Gal 1:10  Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave.
Gal 1:11  Know this--I am most emphatic here, friends--this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism.
Gal 1:12  I didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ.

[The Message Bible]

Thanks Shylynne and Tom

(Col. 1:19).
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

(Col. 1:20 ).
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

(Col. 1:21).
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

(Col. 1:22).
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
4. We are complete in Christ. (Col 2:10):
Col. 2:10

We are complete in Christ. (Col 2:10):

Amen!  :D

Col 2:2  I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery.
Col 2:3  All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery!
Col 2:4  I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the Secret."
Col 2:6  My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him.
Col 2:7  You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
Col 2:8  Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ.
Col 2:9  Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him.
Col 2:10  When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
Col 2:11  Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in--insiders--not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin.

[The Message Bible]

You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him.

I like that!  :D

Hebrews 12:2. Says. 'Looking unto Jesus the originator and perfecter of our faith--and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.' Jesus said on the cross . ' It is finished.' John.19:30. When we accept the salvation that God freely offers us, we are accepting a work that God has been completely satisfied with. Gods holy righteous demands have been fully met by Christ's one offering for sin. Hebrews 10:14 says ' For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.