The Secret Of Successful Giving To The Lord

Pastor’s Corner (2Co 9:7-8) (7) "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. (8) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" On the Faith Promise Slip that I handed out to you is the promise of verse (v.8) that cannot happen unless you first obey (v.7). When it comes to giving to FP Missions giving, (v.7) says that God never tells us what to give, He lets us purpose or decide the amount first. His only command is that we give it cheerfully and not because we have to with the wrong motive. Then (v.8), and only then is God free to supply our needs by His grace, making sure that we not only have enough money to give but that we also have enough for our bills & every good work. Faith can only be demonstrated by our obedience first, so that after God is then free to keep His promise (v.8). So the real question is, do we believe God and can we trust Him in 2013 to do the impossible? Then give, and pledge to FP Missions first, and then after by faith trust God to keep His Word. God requires obedience first, not last

The dispensation of Human Government

(Eph 3:2-3) "If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;" As we look backward in time, the mysteries that have been hid from generations, are now made known unto us during this present dispensation of the church age. A "dispensation" is a specific time period whereby God revealed or dispensed a new truth to the world in addition to their already revealed knowledge. For example, the 1st dispensation was that of "innocence." Adam and Eve had not the knowledge of evil until after they sinned, so they lived during a time period or dispensation of "innocence." After sin, God gave to them the dispensation of "Conscience," whereby conscience ruled men until God revealed more truth later. Later, followed the dispensation of "Human Government," where God gave man authority to rule. Followed by "Promise" to Abraham, "Law" to Moses, and today "Grace" to the church age which came to us by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Under grace, we have no excuse to not to know "all" of God's revealed truth.

Satan is no mathch for God's Word

(James 4:7) “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” All of us who know the story of Adam and Eve’s fall, know that they were deceived by the devil. Satan's tactics have not changed over the years, in fact his devices always include the words “yea hath God said.” He hates the Word of God and his temptation is always to get us to doubt it, but Christian don’t! Satan is a defeated foe! The only power that he has over us is the power that we give him when we doubt God’s Word. Jesus said, (Matt. 28:18) All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore..” And in (John 4:4) “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” In Christ, we have been given the power and backing of His Word, and His Spirit, and to not just resist the devil, but to cause him to flee. How? By our faith in the Word of God. Jesus is God, and his name powerful. We can call upon no greater, and he has commanded all who believe in him to do so when under attack by the devil. (Jn 15:5)” for without me ye can do nothing” Help is available to all who resist the devil, and stand in the power of Christ and His Word!

Not Everything That's Preached Is From God

“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;" It’s interesting in the day in which we live how many of our beliefs and doctrines are being undermined by the seducing voices of demons. You might say, well how can demons affect my beliefs? They speak through men. The above verse is written to warn us to be careful in this world of the many lies out there, so that we don’t pick up something that will cause us to depart from our faith in God's Word. Satan’s cohorts are everywhere, undermining many of the Bibles teachings, concerning our separation from sin, attendance and membership in the local church, or even to the point of taking lightly fornication, gambling, gossiping, backbiting, drunkenness, or the illegal use of drugs, etc. Christian, it’s just as wrong to add to the Word, as it is to take from it. The Holy Spirit’s voice will never take you in the direction of sin, nor will it add some new teaching to God's Word. Be careful when you hear a voice that tells you that something is ok, when God says it's not. Be careful out there, if it's not in agreement with God's Word, it's demonic !

God's Judgment In The Day Of Noah

Gen. 6:3) "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." These words were spoken by God to the men of Noah's day, after He saw first-hand their wickedness. This verse speaks volumes about how God looks at sin and how He judges men for sin. 1) God's judgment was prophesied . "And the Lord said." God's Word always warns men of judgment before he judges. In this case, he told man that he had 120yrs. to repent. 2) God's judgment was provoked. "for that he also is flesh." God knows that man is given to his flesh, but He also knows that man can also resist sin. Sin is a choice of our will, for we all know full well before we sin that there are consequences for disobeying God. That's why God places a judgment on sin, hoping to cause us to fear sin's consequences enough to reject it. 3) God's judgment was preached. "My spirit shall not always strive with man." God chooses the foolishness of preaching to save the lost in every generation. Noah preached for 120yrs., unfortunately the men of Noah's day like many in our day refuse to repent after hearing His Spirit's voice. During those days God demonstrated His longsuffering, but unfortunately for the ungodly His lonsuffering had a time limit. These things are written to teach us that we also have but little time repent.

The Principle of the Forgiveness of Sin

The story of Cain and Abel in (Gen. 4) teaches us much about the way God views forgiveness. The Lord God is very clear in His Word that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission," (or forgiveness) of sin, but thank God that He has provided us a way. Cain refused to obey God, but Abel did and "obtained witness that he was a righteous man" (Heb. 11:4). 1) Abel sought God reverently. There is a difference between men that just respect God, and those that truly reverence Him. A reverent man obeys God's every command, and word. 2) Abel had a repentant heart. A repentant man does not get mad at or argue with a Holy God. He humbles himself under His every command and submits. 3) Abel found restoration. Through Abel's obedience, and by his offering, his sin was covered & his transgression forgiven. Today in Jesus, we too can be forgiven for all our sin, if we by faith trust in Jesus' blood offering for our sins

Sin Brings Forth Death

(Jas 1:15) "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." In the above verse the warning is the same regardless of our sin, "sin bringeth forth death." In the Garden of Eden, Satan planted into the mind of Eve the temptation of lust, but it was Eve that decided to bring sin into her life. 1) Sin begins in the mind. When we give ear or sight to any temptation, we reason with the idea of disobeying God. Eve chose disobedience, therefore she brought upon herself the judgment that God warned her about. 2) The result of sin is always destructive. Both Adam and Eve immediately hid themselves from God and His "voice," both lost their fellowship with God, both began to cover up sin, and both lost their joyful relationship with each other and God. 3) Sin is damning. The serpent lost its beauty and ability to walk upright, the woman gained multiplied sorrow, Adam hard labor and toil, the whole creation became cursed, and both Adam and Eve received a death sentence. When sin is finished it brings forth nothing but sorrow, and pain, and death, but worst of all it caused our beloved Savior Jesus Christ Jesus to have to die. Yes, sin destroys, but thank God Jesus Saves!