GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION

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LET'S LEAP INTO THE NEW YEAR 2011 KNOWING THAT

One GOD IS ENOUGH!


Not God and…but GOD!  God is enough. God alone.
If I have all else my heart would desire, and have not Him, I have nothing.
If I have Him and nothing more, I have everything.
My heart must be convinced of this. Only then can I live in peace.

Otherwise, there will always be something else I need urgently, desperately.
And this lack, this urgent need of filling this lack,
will forever drive me to distraction and destroy my rightful peace and rest,
my quietness and confidence in the Lord.

This doesn't mean I don't recognize other things that might be considered needs.
It's only that, while I may see them as good or desirable if within
God's will and purpose for me, I won't see them as ultimate needs,
because God, and God alone, is my only ultimate need.

And what He gives me, in the way and time He gives it, is fine with me.
For He alone is ultimately enough.  Enough for me.

Yes, I have what humans view as responsibilities.
But only those that are God-given are truly mine.
And they are not so much responsibilities as opportunities.
Opportunities to serve and please and give pleasure to the One
who is Himself all I need, and is increasingly, by His grace, all I want.


'The man said when we say, 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.'  Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear..
I  wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish  you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
He then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.
Share this with the people you will never forget.

TAKE  TIME TO LIVE.....
To  all my friends and loved ones,

I WISH YOU ENOUGH.

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Accepted in the Beloved
By Pastor John McKay


"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6).

Alfred the Great was made king of an ancient division of England known as Wessex. Early in his reign he suffered devastating losses at the hands of the Danes. His men scattered and he was reduced to hiding in the cottage of a simple herdsman. Dressed as a peasant, Alfred did chores for the family, and once was scolded for letting the bread burn.  Although the humble family did not know who they were scolding, Alfred displayed patience and humility. After he regathered his forces and went on to victory over the Danes, he returned—we are told—to thank and repay the herdsman for the kindnesses shown to him. Needless to say, he was fully received and treated as their King.

In a much more significant way, the Lord Jesus Christ "came unto His own, and His own received Him not." The princes of this world did not know the hidden wisdom of God, "for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." He was "despised and rejected of men," and still is by this present world-system. Although the Lord Jesus is now in glory, the world continues to reject Him. The principle that we are being rejected because He is being rejected is found in John 15:20.

Ephesians 1:6 brilliantly shines peace, patience, and comfort unto us. The Heavenly Father "hath made us accepted in the Beloved." When faith is in the Son of God and His death for our sin, grace makes us immediately acceptable to God because of the infinite merit of Christ, and His righteousness to us by that faith! O one day, we shall be manifested as sons of God.

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ADMINISTRATION OF THE CROSS
By Miles Stanford

"For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3, ASV).

It is futile for us to attempt to curb our sins while we ignore their source, the indwelling principle of sin. In trimming the branches (sins), we strengthen the root (self). Rather, as we count upon the finished work of Calvary, the Holy Spirit will apply the Cross to the old life. And as that death cuts deeper and deeper into the root, the branches will wither and fall away.

"The Lord Jesus has been waiting for us to come to the end of our own efforts. He sends the call, 'Come back to the Cross.' At last we can see we have been standing and working on the wrong ground, and we hear Him say, 'It is you who are in My way. I can do My work myself. I simply need empty vessels. You parted with your sins, but you kept yourself. Come now, part with yourself, take your place where I put you. When I died you were in Me on that Cross.'  'Now I see! What next, Lord?' 'Now you pass to another sphere where you become aware that you are joined to Me as your life.' "

"Our identification with Christ in His death was a death unto Sin--- the principle of Sin as a master and a tyrant --- Sin, not sins. The Holy Spirit is ready to apply that finished work of death to the depth of our self-life, until Sin loses its mastery at point after point. It goes deeper than the cutting off of visible and external things. Cause, not symptoms."

"Christ, who is our life" (Col. 3:4).

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HOPE IN CHRIST
By Pastor D. Bekemeyer


Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 15:19

It has been said, "Even if there was nothing beyond this life, I would have no regrets that I lived for the Lord Jesus." While such a statement may sound noble, it can only be made with disregard for our text which says, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Please notice two things concerning the truth of this verse.

First, notice that we do have hope in Christ during this life. But on what is our hope based? Evidence that demands a verdict? Archaeological discoveries? Personal experience? No! Our hope is based on what God's Word says about Christ. In this life, we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and with our eyes of faith, we look on that which is not seen (2 Corinthians 4:17). Because of this, we know that our lives have purpose and meaning. We run with certainty and we fight successfully (I Cor. 9:26).

Second, notice that we do have hope in Christ beyond this life. What if we suddenly realized that there is nothing beyond what we now have? Everything would change. As believers in Christ, our plight would be the most miserable of all who are in the world. Our belief would be in vain, our labor unrewarded and our eternal destiny insecure. After death, anything could happen.

Our hope depends on the Lord Jesus Christ being all that He claims to be. Praise God, we need not doubt that!

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THE UNITY OF THE BODY
By A. A. Sandoz


Scripture Reading: Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:4

David in the Psalms wrote concerning his physical body that he was, "fearfully and wonderfully made." The human body is a marvel when we think of how the brain being the control center controls all body functions. I could not move my arm unless the brain (the instrument of spirit or mind) first signaled the arm to move through the muscles and system of nerves. I am totally dependent upon the brain. The brain is probably the last unexplored frontier of medical science. The average brain weighs about three pounds and contains twelve billion cells. One scientist has stated, "The human brain is the most complex arrangement of matter in the universe."

The members of the human body bring before us another amazement, that each member is dependent upon other members. My fingers cannot function apart from my hand, likewise my hand cannot function apart from the muscles and tendons in my arm. If I close the fingers of my right hand in a door my left hand is quick to the rescue to free my injured hand. My left hand is ready to comfort my injured hand by holding it until the pain is relieved. Other parts of my body are affected as well, I may feel weak in the legs or experience pain in my arm, this being because the body is one.

Remembering what we have said about the human body, as we turn to the Scriptures, Paul refers to the Church, the Body of Christ. This one body (Eph. 4:4) being a living organism is made up of believers which constitute the members. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Body or control center and all members must look to Him for wisdom, knowledge, guidance and counsel through the Pauline Revelation (Col. 2:3). The Apostle declares, "We are members one of another" (Rom. 4:5). When one of the members of the Body loses a loved one and is sorrowing we all sorrow and would seek to comfort. When one is newly saved and rejoicing in the Lord we as members rejoice as well. There is a mutual dependence upon one another which constitutes the, "Unity of the Body."

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THE MIRACLE OF LOVE
by Robert Hanna

JESUS Christ, who is very God, thus addressed His disciples: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12,13). The magnitude of the love of God is beyond the scope of human comprehension. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
 
Obviously, the world is anything but lovable! Ergo, the evident meaning is that God showed forth such great love toward the world, that, despite their unregenerate condition, men might, upon believing, obtain eternal life. "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:7,8 ). How can we possibly conceive of such love! It would be impossible for us to generate equal love. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins .... We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:10,19).
 
The central figure of the entire Word of God is Jesus Christ. And the total remedy for all of the ills of the world was effected by Him in the offering of Himself at Calvary, to suffer, bleed and die as the spotless lamb of the once-for-all sacrifice required to satisfy the demands of God's standard of justice. All this was accomplished by the exercise of God's love. The supreme teaching of the Scriptures must surely be the doctrine of love.
 
How appropriately does our Apostle so emphasize: "And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE" (1 Cor. 13:13). Our motivation--our driving force--as saints of God, is His love. "For the love of Christ constraineth us ... " (2 Cor. 5:14). By the power of His love we are assured of ultimate victory. We are destined to suffer for Him in sundry ways, as members of His body ."Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). There will be losses and defeats and pain and trials. But "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37).
 
The Apostle's personal testimony should be emulated by every saint of God. He passionately affirms, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith [fulness] of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).
 
Our Apostle clearly defines the spiritual responsibility of the saint of God in testimony and witness. "Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned" (1 Tim. 1:5) Having enumerated the proper behavioral characteristics of the faithful believer, Paul sums up with these words: "And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. 3:14).
 
We must continually reassess our compliance with the stipulations set forth by our Apostle. Are we preoccupied with our intellectual knowledge of Scripture? Do we present ourselves to others as superior and complacent and above reproach? Do we arrogantly contend for our personal opinion and demean those with whom we do not agree? We are admonished to avoid such behavior. "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. .. "(2 Tim. 2:24).
 
The Apostle Paul prays for us as members of the body of Christ, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3:17-19).
 
How very true it is, that the love of Christ "passeth knowledge!" Our reciprocal love toward Him can never compare with His love to us. That kind of love is far beyond our capacity to understand or express. But we can pour out the love of which we are capable of returning from a heart full of the joy and peace bestowed by God's grace.
 
Lest we be tempted to be caught up with the illusion of self-worth, may we be ever mindful of these humble words of Paul: "Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not  love, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2).
 
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and WALK IN LOVE, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Eph. 5:1,2).

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FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST OR
THE FAITH (OR FAITHFULNESS) OF JESUS CHRIST
By Jack Trumm

It is amazing how a little two letter word can change the meaning of a statement and yet this is exactly what happens when we use the phrase (faith IN Jesus Christ) or (the faith OF Jesus Christ.)
 
It is also amazing that so few of God's people understand the simple significance of one of the most precious phrases in the Pauline epistles, "the faith of Jesus Christ". (Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 20; and Philippians 3:9) A King James version of the Bible will help tremendously in seeing both the distinction and significance.
 
First let us look at what it means to have "faith in Jesus Christ". Whether we realize it or not, we all put our faith in a person or thing every day of our lives. For example, everyone of us at some time during the day sit down in a chair and do we ever question whether the chair will hold us up? For the most part, the answer to that question is No, we just sit down. We believe that the chair will do what it is meant to do, hold us up. That is a demonstration of objective faith. Another example of objective faith is: everyone of us put our faith in people or a person every day of our lives. If we are told something by someone and we believe what they say is true, we exercise objective faith (or in the Greek "pistis").

And so it is, if we put our faith (belief) in what God tells us from His word (the Bible) concerning His Son Jesus Christ. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: By which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 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." (I Corinthians 15:1-4)
 
Do you believe this truth? If you do, then you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, and what he has accomplished for you. Then, you are saved. Sad to say, there are those who have perverted this truth, by saying the way to be saved is to say:
 
1. I make Jesus my Lord and my Savior.
2. I make Jesus Lord of my life.
3. I ask Jesus to come into my heart.

How far from the truth can these statements be in light of what was said above. No place in the Bible are these statements made, much less a requirement for salvation. We don't make Him Lord and Savior -- He already is. We don't make Him Lord of our lives -- He already is. We don't have to ask Him into our hearts -- He does that the very moment we believe (FAITH).
 
God's Word tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9, "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." According to the dictionary in Strong's Concordance, the word grace means "divine influence upon the heart" and the word faith means "reliance upon Christ for salvation". This salvation that we have is a gift from God and when he convicts our hearts of this gift (grace), then we have a choice to make. We can either reject it or accept it by FAITH, and it is only by faith because there is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to earn it. (NOT OF WORKS)

It also says in Romans 4:5, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Here we are told again that it is not by our own self-righteousness (not of works) that one is justified, but rather it is his faith (belief) in what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us that we are justified and only then does God count it to us for righteousness. This is the objective aspect of faith, (believe) or trust in another or in what another has said or done. This is what is meant when Paul writes of faith IN Christ.
 
Now let's consider what is meant when God's word speaks of the faith or faithfulness  OF Jesus Christ. Here,the word translated "faith" comes from the Greek word, "pistos" and is defined in the Strong's Concordance as follows: "Trustworthy, trustful, faithful, sure, true", An example of this would be when a man and a woman get married, they make their marriage vows and one of them is that they be faithful to one another. In other words, each one of them can believe what their spouse has just said concerning their marriage vows is "trustworthy' or what they just said was "true".
 
And so it is with the faith OF Jesus Christ. We can rest assured in what God tells us in His word concerning what it is that Jesus Christ has accomplished for us by his death, burial and resurrection. It is trustworthy and it is sure. This is the faith OF Jesus Christ. This is what is called, subjectives faith.

Another example of the FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST is found in Galatians 2:20. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

How believers need to learn this blessed truth! We are kept, while in the flesh, not by "our faith" but by His faithfulness. Our God given faith is but a channel through which we appreciate and enjoy His never--failing faithfulness. Our "faith" would be vain (or useless) were it not for "the faith (fidelity) of the Son of God". The best of us would utterly fail were it not that "he ever liveth to make intercession for us" (Hebrews 7:25) and "now appears in the presence of God for us". (Hebrews 9:24)

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JUDGMENT IN THE KINGDOM CHURCH
By the late Pastor Bob Hanna



Scripture Reading: Acts 5: I-II

We who are saved and are living in the age of the dispensation of the grace of God---we who are sons and heirs of God, secure and heaven-bound---can hardly conceive the magnitude of our liberty and blessings. As members of the Church which is the Body of Christ we will never experience those things identified with the kingdom church. But we are shown a foretaste of the form of judgment to be rendered in the Messianic kingdom---swift and sure, irreversible and final.

Ananias and Sapphira desired the best of two worlds, to "have their cake and eat it." Peter's declaration that, "Thou conceived this thing in thine heart" leaves no doubt that the offense was a deliberately planned plot to become respected and admired for their philanthropy while partaking of the apparently idyllic way of life enjoyed by the communal church.

The temptation of material gain is the undoing of many a mortal soul. But in the case of these two deceivers it brought on a dramatic demonstration of kingdom judgment, which deals neither with hesitation or indecision. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of sin and were therefore immediately punished for commission of that sin.

You and I, as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, are not under this economy of kingdom judgment but under grace. Kingdom judgment is according to prophecy: "And He shall rule them with a rod of iron ..." (Revelation 19:15.) But our church "was kept secret since the world began" (Rom. 16:25).

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DEFECTIVE BEGINNING
By Miles Stanford


"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

Are we aware of the importance of a personal assurance of salvation? Healthy spiritual growth is founded upon it. Many Christians seem unable to enter Romans Six and Eight simply because they are not truly established in Romans Three, Four and Five. Full assurance as to our eternal security in the Lord Jesus is the basis for the ever-deepening experience of our identification with Him.

"The defect in souls in general is the incompleteness of their conversion. It is pardon that is apprehended and not acceptance. Acceptance embraces God's side ----how He feels, and this should be chief, for we as sinners have offended Him. The offender has been removed from His eye by a Man --- the Lord Jesus Christ, and He can receive us on the ground of the Man who glorified Him in bearing our judgment.

"We cannot enjoy acceptance but in the way in which it was acquired or effected for us, and if we are in the acceptance we know that no improvement of the flesh could commend us to God, and that we cannot be before Him but in Christ. But if we are in any degree dark as to the crucifixion of the old man, we are not in acceptance experientially, we are not in the daily benefit of it, and our liberty by the Spirit can never go beyond our conscious acceptance." -- J.B.S.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2).

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THE SHUT DOOR AND THE CLOSED GATE
Part 1  of  2
By Mel Flogel

CLOSED. How many times have you arrived at the store or office to find this word greeting you as it's posted on the door? We know what it means. We are too late and we may have missed the boat, literally. We may see people inside with the lights on, carrying on their business, but all you can do is watch from the outside.

As our Lord Jesus Christ ministered to Israel preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, He predicted this same scenario. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the master of the house, rising up to shut the door in the presence of late-comers. They appeal to Him as Lord, but He replies to them as their judge. "And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not, where are you from? Then shall you begin to say, 'We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you I know you not whence you are, depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." (Luke 13:22-30)

This pictures the scene for unbelievers as they stand before God at the great white throne judgement, where they have been resurrected to appear before Him. (See Revelation 20: 11-15) What a lesson we should glean from this. The door of access to God, His presence, His blessings and His life, closing before their very eyes. Their pleas and appeals now being denied. They denied Him when the door of opportunity was availed to them, and now comes the recompense of their denial. This will be the scene for unbelievers of the ages in that day. How this should motivate us to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ in faith while the door is open, while we are living and breathing and have our mental faculties about us, believing not only His claims to be God in the flesh, but also believing what He accomplished in His cross for us. How active we should be in preaching to and warning every man as Paul did, knowing that "if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them." (II Corinthians 4:3-4)

 Our Lord Jesus Christ was on His way to Jerusalem, teaching as He went, when someone asked Him, "Lord, are there few that be saved?" (vs. 23) His answer was that many are lost and will be shut out to their dismay. Many who ate and drank in His physical presence, many who heard Him as He "taught in their streets" will be sent away and turned away for good. Many of these people were content with their own ideas of what makes a person good or bad to consider His message. Others considered His message but felt the cost was too dear to become one of His followers, for the nation of Israel was sharply divided over His claims.

The day will come and has come for many in which the door of opportunity to "enter in at the strait gate" will end. The time given to fully embrace in faith the Saviour and His message will have expired. In Noah's day, only Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives took God's message for the day seriously enough to enter the ark until the door shut and the rain came down. Suddenly, public opinion changed but it was too late. Many were preoccupied with the daily events of their lives and concerns like work, fun, recreation and pleasures to consider the warnings. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)

Jesus said that there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." Can you believe it? What a sorry picture this paints and yet how real and how very believable. They shut Him out of their hearts, minds, and lives, yet now argue that He should disregard this and let them enter. They argue as if somehow it is His fault, and that He should remember seeing them for they were "around" when He visited their cities. They were "around" as others spoke of His marvelous deeds such as feeding the multitudes, healing their sick and even raising the dead.

Many today, are "around" true believers who proclaim the gospel of the grace of Christ. They are "around" places where the gospel is preached and around believers who give testimony of the blessedness of being "in Christ" yet they themselves have not entered in. They are "around" the strait gate as in church but haven't gotten around to coming to Christ for salvation. They have failed to apply the truths of the gospel to their own heart and soul calling upon Jesus Christ through personal faith.

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THE SHUT DOOR AND THE CLOSED GATE
Part 2  of  2
By Mel Flogel


Others, are like King Agrippa in his response to Paul in Acts 26, when he replied, "You ALMOST persuade me to be a Christian." (Acts 26:28 )

The day of grace will shut also. It shuts for people individually when their lives come to an end, or when they lose their mental capabilities to embrace spiritual truth. God does not bypass our minds when it comes to communicating with mankind. But just as the "master of the house" closes the door of opportunity in this way, He will also close the day of grace to the Gentiles. The door which opened at Israel's fall will also swing shut again.

 After the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, Israel stood-by their decision not to have Jesus rule over them. God, therefore concluded them in unbelief nationally, and opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles, announcing:
"Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." (Acts 28:28 ) But with this announcement we Gentiles are warned by Jesus Christ (thru Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles) to "Be not high minded, but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches, (Israel nationally) take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity, but toward thee (the Gentiles) goodness, IF THOU CONTINUE IN HIS GOODNESS, otherwise THOU SHALT ALSO BE CUT OFF." (Romans 11 :20-22)

So here we have a stem warning to the Gentiles not to be arrogant in this matter and to continue in God's goodness (by accepting and embracing seriously the salvation offer from God thru Christ) or they will also be cut off or shut out.

Paul goes on to predict this event, revealing a mystery saying, "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." (Romans 11 :25) He predicts this again in his second letter to the Thessalonians where it says "seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them" and "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. " (II Thessalonians 1 :6,8,9)

Friend, what about you? Which side of the door would you be on if it were to shut right now? The choice is yours. His invitation to you is to enter the "strait gate" immediately. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (II Corinthians 6:2) See the need to enter, step thru the gate by trusting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and as the only way of salvation. Believe His claims to be God manifested in the flesh. Be reconciled to God by believing what was accomplished in His cross for you. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (II Corinthians 5:21)

If you have entered the strait gate by believing the gospel of the grace of God, why not join us in getting this message out? Spread the word by telling others. Devote yourself to Christ, to live for Him out of gratitude for His shed blood on your behalf. Be a good example for others in your manner of life.
 
 Become a good testimony and a good reflection upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not saved by good works, but good works result from trusting Him and should be evident in our lives. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto (upon) good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 1 0) Be among those who will be found inside when the door closes, and have lasting reward to go along with it. Remember, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. "

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EXPERIENCE SUPERSEDED
By Miles Stanford



"And they who know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee" (Ps. 9:10).


Our experiences must be judged by God's Word, never the Word judged by our experiences. Normally, the Spirit of Truth will reveal a truth to us from the Scriptures and, as we exercise faith in what we have been shown, will begin to take us into the experience of it. Abnormally, a Christian will yearn for an 'experience,' and then attempt to find corroboration for it in the Word.

"Knowledge must carry the torch before faith." Always give God's Word first place, "for the Word of God liveth and worketh, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, yea, to the inmost parts thereof, and judging the thoughts and imaginations of the heart" (Heb. 4:12, Cony.).

"A person may easily know his sins forgiven, but it is a further truth to know that he himself has 'died to sin.' He finds this conflicts with his experience. Suppose I tell you a debt of a thousand pounds which you owed was paid by someone, it would not be a question of experience, but of simply believing my statement. Just so with God. He tells us our sins are forgiven, and it is a question whether we believe Him. But when He tells us we have died to sin, we look inside and say, 'Ah, sin is still at work; how is that?' A person must be taught of God to know really the truth that he has died to sin."--J.N.D.

''It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:4).

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COLOSSIANS 3:1

"If (since) ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."



NOT HOW, BUT WHO!
By M. Stanford


We never question how He works, once we know Him for who He is. When I gain the treasure of knowing Him I can well afford to trust Him.

The heart that is captivated by an object could never be at rest until it was with the one who had won it; for satisfaction you must be where He is. Love really does not think of anyone but its object until it is quite sure of its place with Him, and then when at rest about itself it studies the mind and heart of the Object.

I find that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me when I was in a most unattractive state; but He makes me suitable to Himself, and I am so assured of the permanency of His love and of my association with Him that my heart is free to study Him. The more I am in His company, the more I acquire the tastes and characteristics which answer to His mind.

There is an amazing effect of beholding the Lord's glory. You may be transformed from some old taste without even feeling it; but you are transformed!  and you cannot tell how. It is not the process that occupies you, but you are engrossed with the Lord. We are united to the glorified Lord where He is at home, and, blessed by God, that is our home, our life is there.

"Your life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)

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"BLESSED WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS"

By Robert Hanna, Pastor

Eph 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ"

When considering our positional blessings as believers saved by grace, we do well to remember how these blessings were acquired. True, it was "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5). Consider our position in its full magnitude. We are "blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies IN CHRIST." "He hath chosen us IN HIM before the foundation of the world...having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ TO HIMSELF...He hath made us accepted IN THE BELOVED (ONE) (Christ).. in whom (Christ) we have redemption.. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance (in CHRIST)" (Ephesians 1:4-11).

All this--and we are totally undeserving of it. We earned none of it "For by GRACE are ye saved .. not of works.." (Ephesians 2:8- 9 .) Note, however, that it did not all 'just happen' to come to pass. Throughout all past dispensations, man has been instructed as to what he must do to satisfy God's requirements in order to attain acceptance in His sight. In time past God had required blood sacrifice, circumcision, works of law, works of ceremonial rite, etc.

But what of today, in the age of grace? "To him that worketh not, but BELIEVETH ON HIM. THAT JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY, his faith is counted for righteousness. Through verse 11 of Eph.  chapter 1 we have noted what we are and what we have IN CHRIST. Now on to verse 12: "IN WHOM (Christ) YE ALSO TRUSTED, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation."

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Thankfulness Even Through a Drought
Dr. Bill Gillham

As you may know, this ministry is located in Fort Worth, Texas. Will Rogers said Fort Worth is where the West begins and Dallas is where the East withers away. In many ways this is a cultural truth, but lately I have found it to be a strange fact of meteorology as well.

During the past few summers Texas was plagued with drought conditions. Many farmers lost hope for a crop and kept hearing about ranchers trying to give away cattle since they can no longer afford to feed them. While I love this city and state, I don't love its weather, especially when it gets extreme like this. I tell folks that it's not so much the heat, or the lack of rain that bothers me. What really bugs me is the tease we get from watery clouds that carry their humid shadows across our parched lawns, only to dump their precious load 30 miles to the East...in Dallas! I'm not jealous, our brothers to the East need rain too, but couldn't those clouds skip the site-seeing detour over Fort Worth? Somehow knowing we never stood a chance seems easier to take than watching opportunity float gently away.

I was in what some might call a "funk" recently due to our weather, and nothing anyone could say would force me out. I guessed that bitterness at clouds would be somehow less sinful than bitterness toward another human. But during a road trip with friends I heard something that changed my perspective. Someone mention a couple who are going through some pretty tough times right now. The temptation for them to grow bitter is constant, yet they have a system for battling such thoughts. Each time they think of a blessing from God they write it down on one of those sticky notes and paste it to the back of a closet door. The blessing can be an answer to prayer, a special verse from scripture, or maybe just a memory of a special time with special people. As you might expect, the closet door gets full pretty fast, making a "trip to the closet" for some attitude adjustment very effective. I can suppose that anyone visiting such a place would be left with nothing else to say but "thanks."

We have neither enough sticky notes or door space to post all of the blessings that God has provided through around here. But I can imagine it! What a site of pastel squares we'd have covering our whole office suite as we consider what God has done!

Today's weather forecast calls for "scattered showers" and a high near 100. Already I see the spotty clouds making their pilgrimage to the East. But my view from inside the closet makes me realize that God's showers of blessing have already fallen here, and the thought leaves me with nothing left to say but thanks!

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: