Go And Sin No More

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”  John 8:7-11 (NLT)

 "I committed adultery and I can't live down my past.  I had an abortion and I can't forgive myself. I once was a thief and I cannot forgive myself for this horrible sin. I have ask for forgiveness from the parties involved.  But, how can God forgive me. I am such a horrible person."

If you have not heard these stories, I am sure you have stories that are familiar to these. The truth of the matter is, we all sin. Our strongholds may not be the same but sin is present in all of our lives. There is not a single person on earth who can go a single day without sinning against God, in thought or deed

When you sin against God the key is to quickly acknowledge your sin to Him.  An to turn away from it. In 1 John 1:9, we are told: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God does not want us to be burden with the guilt of unforgiven sin. He wants us to experience the forgiveness that we have in Christ. Jesus took away the guilt of our sin. That frees us up to walk with our heads held high. We don't have to live in shame. We are to walk in the freedom that we have in Christ.

Don't misunderstand me. God never winks at sin, nor does He turns and look the other way. He is fully aware of our sins. But, He see our sins and is ready and fully prepared to offer the forgiveness that Christ has made available to us. When Jesus was crucified and died on the cross all of our sins were nailed to Him. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.

Never let anyone deceive you. Not only does your "big sins" separate you from God but "your little sins" separate you from God also. It is the goodness of His grace that covers your sins. There is nothing that we can do that will ever make up for the sins that we have committed against God. It is only by the blood of Christ that we are forgiven.

Have you sinned against God? Are you having trouble forgiving yourself? Will others not let you live it down. Have you ask for God's forgiveness? If that is the case, in the word's of Jesus "neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."

God Hears Your Prayers

I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

Do you ever wondered if God hears your prayers? Listen to this "Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is." Hagar was a pagan woman yet, the angel told her that God heard her cry and the cry of her son. You are in the Beloved, so without a doubt your prayers are heard by God. How can we be sure of this? Because, Jesus tells us that we can ask God for anything in His name. God always answers Jesus prayers and that is another reason that we know that He not only hears but answers our prayers, because Jesus is praying for us. Isn't that good news? Cry out unto Him, He will deliver you in His time.

Counterfeit Religion Exposed

And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end. 2 Corinthians 11:14,15 (MSG)


Bank employees have to watch for counterfeit money. I have heard many say the way they are able to tell counterfeit money from the real thing is by studying the real thing. They are thoroughly trained in identifying the real thing from front to back. That is the reason they can identify counterfeit money from the genuine. You and I may be deceived by it because we would be looking at it with untrained eyes. But bank employees are specially trained in identifying the real thing. They are always alert because they never know when someone may try to pull a fast one on them.

As Christians we should always be alert for the counterfeit. We need to be saturated with the real thing. God's Word is the real thing. It is Genuine. It is Authentic. It is God approved. When we are able to walk effectively through the word of God, there is no false teaching that will be able to creep into our lives. Sound doctrine is so important. We cannot take something that we like from this religion and that religion and mix it with Christianity. That is counterfeit and come right from the devil who masquerade as an angel of light. If we are studying God's word we will be familiar with sound doctrine and no counterfeit religion from the enemy will be able to overtake us. The word of God is our weapon of defense against Satan and his demon. Familiarize yourself with God's word. Only God's word can unmasked the enemy of our soul.

Seasons Of Life

Call to Me, and I will answer you. I will tell you of great things, things beyond what you can imagine, things you could never have known.  Jeremiah 33:3 (Voice)

Have you ever noticed that just like the seasons of the year our lives can be vibrant or dull? The Lord allows us to enter the seasons of suffering, the seasons of hurt, the death of love ones,  the seasons of leanness and richness of life, and the season of shattered dreams. It is in these seasons we either draw closer to God and learn about His purpose for our lives or we fall away because of unmet expectations. It is in these times of testing that we need to draw from the strength and nearness of God. If you are hurting emotionally or physically, remember God loves you so much that He will do whatever it takes to draw you closer to Him. If it is a season in your life that will pull you nearer, then He will use it to draw you near!  If you are in a hard place like I am, ask Jesus to draw you so close that you can almost feel His nail scarred hands. And be thankful because He will never leave you or forsake you. Please, don't  think for a second that I am minimizing your pain because I don't want anyone to  minimize my struggles or disappointments but, we need to begin to verbalize reasons we have to be thankful. Then we will see that our disappointments in and with life are His appointments to do something greater than we ever dreamed possible for our lives. 

Never be ashamed of your scars. Wear them as a testimony of the power of the Gospel of Christ in your life. Jesus is not ashamed of you He is wearing His scars in heaven before the Father on our behalf. It is a testimony to heaven and earth of His love for us. If that doesn't make you dance like David, send me your address and I will come to your home and personally give you dance lessons!!!

Have You Prayed About It As Much As You Gossiped About It?

A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. James 3 (ESV)




A few weeks back my daughter did a post called "Have You Prayed About It More Than You've Talked About It." She was referring to running to get the opinions of others before getting God's opinion. Today I am going to put a twist on it and ask "have you gossiped about it more than you have prayed about it ?." "Ouch"

That information that he or she shared with you, did you get their permission to share it with others? We, Christians are very good at sharing aren't we? And sharing is used all under the guise of helping. After all "poor little so in so, is having such a tough time." I am going to give it to you straight. Gossip is the name of the game!!! Would you share a confidence that your loved ones or friends shared with you, because they are having such a hard time? Or would you take it to God in prayer and then do everything that you could do to help them? Well others deserve the same. Not only did Jesus die for you and the people that you care about but he die for the sins of the world. That includes them.

The tongue can be a mighty adversary or ally. Maybe that is why God has given us only one. It can be used for good or evil. When someone shares something with you in confidence, take it to God and God alone. He really does care!!! Keep in mind if they are telling you this in confidence, they must be hurting and feeling vulnerable. What would you want others to do with your secrets? Would you want them to pray about it or gossip about it?

The acronym THINK is something that I try to put into practice.

T: Is it true.
H: is it helpful.
I: is it inspiring.
N: Is it nice.
K: Is it kind.

If what you are about to say does not pertain to any of these things then maybe you should pray about it before you gossip about it.


If lips and life do not agree, the testimony will not amount to much.~Harry Ironside

Review: What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an by James White

Review: What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an by James R. White

                                                

 I received a complimentary copy of the book What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an by James R. White from Bethany House to review. My review of this book is my honest opinion.

I am a Christian and I am well informed on the Christian faith and beliefs. Before I was saved I was a part of a cult, so I am very familiar with other religions but  and I am embarrass to say that Islam is a subject that I am very ignorant of. Though I should not be. Christians should be knowledgeable of other religions. I feel not only should we know what we believe but, we should know what people of other faith believe also. Especially Islam which is the fastest growing religion in the world.

I am very familiar with Dr. James White and his teachings. I have listen to his messages and I must say that I was a little turned off by him. He came off as being harsh and unloving. This is the first book that I have read by Dr. White. I was very impress with what he said that his three goals in writing this book were. He said that he wrote this book  to honor Jesus through the defense of the gospel, to bless God's people through sound biblical doctrine... and to be used by God to bring the message of salvation in Jesus Christ to the precious Muslim people who honor the Qur'an.

I see now that Dr. White's motivating factor is love for God and the preserving of His precious word .
Dr. James White does an excellent job in helping believers to understand the Qur'an. He talks about the Muslims founder Mohammad and their belief about Jesus. This book gives a better understanding of the Qur'an and the Muslim belief. It gives a lot of insight into why the Muslim people do some of the things that they do. To the Muslim the Qur'an is just as holy as the bible is to the Christian. Their view of God's word  is warped. Dr. White has done a great job in helping the believer view of the Qur'an not to be warped.

The Lord Is Worthy Of Many Hallelujahs

 The Lord Is Worthy Of Many Hallelujahs 

 

One of the many things that I asked of the Lord is a grateful heart. I want to my heart to always be grateful and never take for granted the work that the Lord has done in my life. The Lord has been so good to me. Mama used to say “He’s been better to me than I’ve been to myself.

I realized the desire in my heart is from Him because, no good thing dwells in my flesh. Since the beginning of time, the desire of the human heart is to elevate itself. I sometimes feel like Peter in John chapter 5, after he had put his net into the deep water as he was instructed to do by Jesus. Peter realizing who Jesus was said “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” I feel like that time and time again. But, I cannot afford to say that to Jesus, it is because of Him that I can stand with confidence before God. Yet, I cannot phantom why the Lord chose me. This alone brings me to my knees.

I absolutely love it when Paul says: “I am the chief of sinners.” I think to myself “move over Paul, because the sinners have a new chief.” Yet I am love by Christ. When the Lord called me I was living in poverty and in an abusive marriage. I thought this was the normal way of living. I had no idea that the Lord had so many wonderful things in store for me. My husband was not a believer, yet he called a Christian and asked him to speak to me, because I was involved in a cult at that time.

That was not a coincidence that was a God ordained appointment. That visit took place over 25 years ago and it changed life. I am in awe that God would be mindful of me. Jesus, who am I, that You would be mindful of me? Who am I that you would call me by name? Who am I that You keep count of the number of hairs that are on my head? Who am I that You would bottle my tears? Who am I that You would seek and save me? I know Gladys, I know Gladys!!! But you know me better than I know myself and You love me in spite of me...

I cannot phantom not sharing my life story with others, because my life story tells of how Jesus really can make a person new. I have nothing to be ashamed of because Christ has made me new. Some people try not to look back at their hurtful past, but I don’t mind because, remembering my past helps me to thank the Lord for my present life. He is a God worthy of many Hallelujah and then some. Jesus, you entrusted me with your gospel. When I stand in your presence may You be pleased with me. Hallelujah what a Savior!!!!