The Bible – Page 9 – Recovery In Christ Ministries

August 18, 2013June 18, 2014

Where there is smoke…….there is fire

Lately, I have seen a lot of smoke. This smoke tells me that there is a fire. And, from experience, I know that when a fire gets out of control, it consumes everything and everyone in its path. This tells me that we are in danger, and we need to prepare.

The fire I am talking about, is the fire of Christian persecution.

The fire of Christian persecution rages in Muslim nations, where Christians are, at best, second class citizens, and, at worse, beheaded in public. The fire of Christian persecution rages in China and North Korea, where Christians risk imprisonment in a labor camp for worshiping in underground churches, because they refuse to go to a state sanctioned “church” that only teaches state-approved doctrines. The fire of Christian persecution rages in Europe and Canada, where Christians are labeled as ignorant and intolerant bigots, and arrested for hate speech for preaching the Word.

Christians in these countries know full-well that the very same message that made them friends of Yahweh, made them enemies of the world system. This is why the worldly prosperity gospel is not preached in these countries. When these people bow their knee to Yeshua, they become enemies of the state or second class citizens. These people expect persecution and loss, and accept the possibility that they and their families could be killed for their faith. These people do not accept the Gospel with the expectation of obtaining wealth in this world, they accept the Gospel with a willingness to lose everything in this world, including their own life.

This reminds me of this Scripture: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:24-26

Historically, the situation has been very different in the United States. Christians founded the United States. Christians wrote the documents that have guided our development as a nation. Christians drove public policy and accumulated wealth. These Christians built universities and hospitals for the betterment of our nation, and sent missionaries to the ends of the earth in order to expand Yahweh’s Kingdom.

The Untied States once looked to Yahweh and trusted Him, but now that He has blessed us, we have become “too big to fail” and we trust in our dollar and our military might. Our Leader announced to the world that we were not a Christian nation. Our elementary schools have banned Yahweh and His commands, and our universities teach that He does not exist. Many of our preachers preach a worldly, self-centered prosperity message and claim that they are establishing Yeshua’s Kingdom on the earth, so that they can line their own pockets. Many of our churches care more about expanding their membership (and their revenue base), than they do in expanding the membership of Heaven. As a nation, we have abandoned Yah.

This reminds me of this Scripture. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wast cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19

In the United States, it was once normal for people to believe the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, but today smoke from a smoldering fire is distorting this normalcy. If you look, you can see clouds of smoke that indicate that the fire of Christian persecution could erupt at any moment and sweep through our land.

Where is the smoke?

Well, here is a puff. On 4/9/13, The Blaze reported that a Colorado Sheriff reported that the Colorado State Police were training officers to view people who believed the Bible literally and took it too seriously with suspicion…. the same way that they would view dangerous motorcycle gangs with suspicion!

Here is a puff. On 4/5/13, WND reported that Soldiers in the U.S. military have been told in a training briefing that evangelical Christians are the No. 1 extremist threat to America – ahead of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, AL-Qaida, Hamas and others!

Here is a puff. On 3/23/13, Captain Terry M. Hestilow, United States Army, Retired, wrote a letter to his Senator. In this letter, the Captain demanded that his Senator see that Homeland Security surrender the billion rounds of ammo and light armored tanks that they recently acquired because they could only be used on American soil, against Americans, who the government classified as domestic terrorists. (This would include fundamentalists, who took the Bible literally, and clung to the right to bear arms!).

Here is a puff. On 4/13/13, Conservative Byte.com, posted an article that discussed the possibility of the government placing fundamentalist Christians on a watch list so that they could not buy firearms. This sounds crazy, but it is possible.

Our leaders are pushing for stricter gun laws and they know that their demands must seem reasonable in order for the people to accept them. In the new background checks, anyone who has been declared mentally unstable will not be able to buy firearms. This seems reasonable, because no one wants a crazy person to own a gun. But what happens when the psychologists classify religious extremism as a mental disorder, and say that anyone who believes the Bible literally is mentally unstable?
There are other puffs too. Racial tensions are becoming greater. Class warfare is becoming greater. The U.S. is spending itself into collapse. A few weeks ago, a European country took its citizen’s bank accounts to pay down their national debt.

The Beast kingdom (Yes, I take the Bible literally!) is taking control of the whole earth by modulating the money supply. Here in the U.S., we have unknowingly elected representatives of the Beast kingdom and given them the power that they need to destroy our Constitution and force us into submission.

Once the modulation of the money supply brings every nation under the power of the Beast kingdom, the Beast government will come out into the open. After that, a smooth talking man will come to power and demand to be worshiped by the whole world. He will control the money supply so that no one may buy or sell unless they bow their knee to him and worship him. He will behead those who rebel against him.

The smoke is all around us!

Yahweh grafted us into the commonwealth of Israel. Soon, the fire of Christian persecution will erupt and engulf the United States. For it is written, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13

Since the U.S. has turned her back on Yahweh and put her trust in money, He will allow money to bring her into bondage and destroy her as a nation. Since much of the Church in the U.S. has put their trust in worldly prosperity and fed their own lusts, Yeshua will allow the fire of persecution to purify Her. It has happened all throughout history, and it’s happening today in almost every other nation on the earth. We think that it cannot happen in the U.S., but it can, and it will.

Make no mistake, the fire is coming, because where there is smoke…..there is fire.

July 18, 2013June 18, 2014

When we Sin

What is sin? Sin is missing the mark. What mark? Yahweh’s instructions.

Yahweh tells us what is good, and He also tells us what is evil. Yahweh wants us to trust Him, and to prove that we trust Him by doing what He says is good, and not doing what He says is evil. When we fail to do what Yahweh tells us to do, we sin. When we do what Yahweh tells us not to do, we also sin.

When we sin, Yahweh records it in a book. On Judgment Day, Yahweh will open His book and judge us according to our works. Yahweh will find us guilty, and sentence us to the Lake of Fire for our rebellion. Yahweh’s angels will take us to the fiery lake and leave us there with the Devil and his crew to be tormented forever.

How could Yahweh do such a thing?

Yah did not do anything, but honor our free will. If we end up in the Lake of Fire with the Devil, it will be because we chose to. See, we were born into the Devil’s kingdom, and, over the course of our life on the earth, Yahweh gave us many opportunities to escape from the Devil’s kingdom and enter His Heavenly Kingdom, but we refused. So since we chose to remain in the Devil’s kingdom, we will remain in it throughout eternity!

Will it be bad in the Lake of Fire? Yes, it will be very bad. There will be nothing good in it. There will be no mercy, grace, love, peace, joy or presence of Yahweh in it. Pure evil will rule in the Lake of Fire.

On earth, sin is pleasurable for a season, but eventually, that season gives way to torment. For example, when we take drugs, we experience pleasure, but eventually, the drugs enslave us (take away our free will) and torment us. The depth of this torment is a place called “Rock Bottom.” In the fiery lake there will be no pleasure with sin, only torment that never ends, that is, a rock bottom that never ends!

How can we avoid the Lake of Fire?

As we hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of Yahweh, (the good news of the Kingdom of God), we can choose to believe it and receive it. What is the Gospel of the Kingdom?

Here is the Gospel of the Kingdom: If we believe that Yeshua was crucified for our sin, and that He rose from the dead on the 3rd day, and confess Him as Lord, we will leave the Devil’s kingdom, and enter Yahweh’s Kingdom to live with Him forever!

As we bow our knee to King Yeshua, we submit to His authority. Since we submit to Yeshua’s authority, we enter His Kingdom. Consequently, the Devil no longer has authority over our life. Then, as we continue to submit to Yeshua’s authority, He delivers us from our old sin patterns so that we can live the abundant life on earth.

The hallmark of someone, who has been released from the Devil’s kingdom, and given citizenship in Yahweh’s Kingdom, is the putting off of his or her past sins. A person, who has truly been born from above (born-again), will struggle against sin.

The struggle with some sin patterns will be light and brief. The struggle with other sin patterns may be heavy and protracted. The struggle against the Devil, the world and the flesh will go on until the citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom goes Home.

The goal of a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom, who is passing through the Devil’s earthly kingdom, is to mature, that is, to break free of every old sin pattern and live a life that is not continually controlled by the Devil, the world or the flesh.

Notice the words, continually controlled. As long as we live on the earth, inside a body of flesh, and use a partially renewed mind, we will not mature to the point that we are completely immune to the influence of the Devil, the world and the flesh. At times, the Devil, the world and the flesh will get the better of us, and we will sin.

When we sin, we must know that Colossians 2:14 says that Yeshua took our sin record and nailed it to the execution stake to do away with all our trespasses. How did Yeshua accomplish this? Well, the Scriptures say that Yeshua became our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and Yahweh judged our sin and punished it “in Him”. (1 Thes 5:9)

When we sin, we must know that Yeshua destroyed our sin record, and that consequently, Yahweh can no longer count our sins against us. (Romans 4:8) Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are “In Christ”. (Romans 8:1)

Yahweh is not counting our sins against us!

What then, shall we continue in sin? No! When we sin, we submit to the Devil and invite him to put us in bondage, and destroy our lives. (Romans 6:16)

Moreover, when we go Home, we will stand before the Bema Seat, where Yeshua will judge our works. If our works were good, Yeshua will reward them by giving us an important assignment in His Eternal Kingdom. However, if our works were evil, Yeshua will burn them up and give us a lesser assignment in His Eternal Kingdom.

In sum: When we sin, Yahweh is not counting it against us, but we are diminishing our eternal reward and allowing the Devil to enslave us and destroy our lives.

If you have truly left the Devil’s kingdom, then you will struggle against sin. If you have truly left the Devil’s kingdom, then you will not end up in the Lake of Fire. So, examine yourself to be sure you are in the faith, and work out your salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that your lifestyle either proves or disproves your faith.

June 18, 2013June 18, 2014

Hyper-Grace

Often, preachers and teachers will use the word “hyper-grace” to describe, what they feel is, an unbalanced message about grace. But what does this word mean?

One of the meanings for “hyper” is to be extremely active. The word “grace” means unmerited favor or kindness. So hyper-grace means unmerited favor (or kindness) that is extremely active. Is this a fair characterization of our relationship with Yah?

In the fourth chapter of Romans, Paul says that Yahweh justifies the ungodly, when they place their trust in Yeshua, and He counts their trust as righteousness. Paul goes on to say that the ungodly person, who places their trust in Yeshua, is blessed because their iniquities are forgiven and their sins are covered, which means that Yahweh will not count their sins against them!

Does an ungodly person deserve for Yahweh to forgive them and remember their sins no more? No, of course not. Well, this sounds like favor that is extremely active.

After a person places his trust in Yeshua Messiah, he becomes a saint (a holy one). The Scriptures call us saints because Yah has set us apart (separated us) from the ungodly through regeneration. Once we become saints, does Yahweh expect us to be perfect and never sin? Once we become saints, does Yahweh count our sins against us so that He can judge us and condemn us for them, and take away our eternal life?

In Romans chapter 5, Paul says that justification, that is, being declared not guilty and given the legal status of being righteous, is a free gift. Paul goes on to say that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Yeshua Messiah our Lord. Consequently, in Romans chapter 8, Paul says that when we become saints Yahweh will not condemn us. Why not? Well, because Yeshua became our sins, past, present and future, and Yahweh condemned Him and punished Him for our sins!

Some object to the concept of Yeshua becoming our past, present and future sins. They say that Yeshua became our past sins, but not our present or future sins. They say Yahweh has forgiven our past sins, but not our present or future sins. In order for Yahweh to forgive our sins that occur after our regeneration, that is, our present and future sins, we must first repent from them and confess them. This is not true.

About 4,000 years ago, Yahweh reached out to Abraham and cut the covenant of Redemption with him. Now, Yahweh knew that Abraham could not hold up his side of the agreement and never disobey Him, so Yahweh put Abraham into a deep sleep. As Abraham was in a deep sleep, Yahweh walked through the blood alone and cut the covenant with Himself. Yahweh was saying that He would uphold both sides of the covenant of Redemption, that is, He was saying that He would keep His promises to Abraham or die, and He would also die on Abraham’s behalf to fulfill the covenant.

About two-thousand years ago, Yahweh became a man. This Jewish man was named Yeshua. When Yeshua Messiah died on the Roman execution stake, He fulfilled the Abrahamic Covenant (the covenant of Redemption) in His flesh. In Yeshua, Yahweh died for man in order to uphold his side of the agreement. This is why Yahweh is just, when He justifies us and declares that we are righteous and gives us eternal life.

Now, was our father Abraham’s justification and righteousness contingent upon his future repentance and confession? No, Yah put him in a deep sleep and gave him the gift of righteousness. Likewise, when we put our trust in Yeshua, we enter into His death and die with Him (Yah puts us into a deep sleep) and He gives us the gift of righteousness. Our righteousness is not contingent upon our future repentance and confession. As the writer of Hebrews says, we receive eternal redemption through Yeshua’s blood, and as John says, Yeshua’s blood continually cleanses us of all sin.

Well, that sounds like favor that is extremely active in upholding our salvation.

Yes, grace is extremely active in getting us into salvation, and grace is extremely active in keeping us in salvation.

Now,here is where some preachers and teachers fall short. When grace is extremely active in upholding a person’s salvation, that same grace is extremely active in transforming that person’s thoughts, behavior and life. This person will repent of their present and future sins because they are under the influence of extreme grace. Let no one deceive you, it is not possible for extreme grace to save a person and not also transform their life. A transformed life is the hallmark of extreme grace. If you do not see the hallmark of extreme grace, then extreme grace is not present.

Make no mistake. There is a vast gulf between eternity “past” with Yahweh and eternity “future” with Yahweh, and the only bridge between eternity past with Yahweh and eternity future with Yahweh is the bridge of sanctification. We must all travel across the bridge of sanctification in this life in order to reach our eternal future with Yahweh. If you are not on the bridge of sanctification, then you are not headed for a future eternity with Yahweh. How do we know if we are on the bridge of sanctification or not? Well, do you see the hallmark of extreme grace in your life? If you do, then you are on the bridge; If you do not, then you are not on the bridge.

So is the message of hyper-grace error? No, hyper-grace is Yahweh’s message to us. Yeshua’s very active extreme grace saves us, keeps us saved, and transforms us.

I love the message of hyper-grace, don’t you?